At Emu Plains Public School, we are proud to offer many opportunities for children to participate in optional activities beyond the classroom.
K-2 Dance
Emu Plains Public School proudly showcases the effort and skills in dancing and choreography with our junior dance group. Dancers are from Years 1 and 2, with Kindergarten occasionally given opportunities in Semester 2.
The junior dancers meet every Thursday at lunchtime to rehearse dances for two major events at the school; Grandparents Concert and Christmas Concert. Mrs Hahn and Mrs Garde work collaboratively with the troupe to put together fun dances to match the themes of each concert. Troupe members are given opportunities to choreograph part of the dance.
Stage 2 Dance
Opportunities exist for students in Years 3 and 4 to participate in Dance lessons. Our Stage 2 dance group meet in the hall every Thursday lunchtime. Students are instructed by a qualified Dance teacher, Miss Mae, from Dance on Pointe and work on developing their strength, flexibility and movement skills over a 20 week period. These students then have the opportunity to represent our school by performing at the Blue mountains, Nepean Dance Festival which is held each year at the Joan Sutherland Centre.
Stage 3 Dance
Opportunities exist for students in Years 5 and 6 to participate in Dance lessons. Our Stage 3 dance group meet in the hall every Thursday lunchtime. Students are instructed by a qualified Dance teacher, Miss Mae, from Dance on Pointe and work on developing their strength, flexibility and movement skills over a 20 week period. These students then have the opportunity to represent our school by performing at the Blue mountains, Nepean Dance Festival which is held each year at the Joan Sutherland Centre.
Chess Club
Emu Plains Primary School chess club is open to children from Years 3 to 6 of all abilities, from complete novices who are learning the game to more experienced players.
There are two groups:
- learners, and those who just wanted to play for fun
- players who wanted to compete in the school chess championship.
The first group meets on Tuesdays at lunchtime. The competition players meet every Friday after school. There are two competitions:
- junior competition for players in Years 3 to 4
- senior competition for players in Years 5 and 6.
As well as the school competition, the school enters competitions that give the children an opportunity to play against students from other schools.
3-6 Coding Club
The 3-6 Coding Club meets every Wednesday morning before school 8:10am - 8:50am with Mrs Kay and Mrs Parsley.
Students are provided with a range of challenges to be solved collaboratively with their peers. To solve these problems, students use a range of equipment including Rasberry Pi, Makey Makeys, iPads, computers, Lego WeDo and EV3 sets.
Students are encouraged to develop programming and coding skills using a range of software. They are encouraged to 'think outside the square' in small groups to develop their problem solving and creativity skills with the support of their teachers.
K-2 Coding Club
The K-2 Coding Club meets every Wednesday at lunch times with Mrs Schreurs. Students participate for four weeks at a time, before other students are selected to participate, so that as many children in K-2 are exposed to Coding experiences as possible. The children use BeeBots and Lego WeDo sets to complete small challenges as part of a team.
Debating
The debating team consists of students from Years 5 and 6. The meet up on Thursday mornings 8:15am - 9:00am before school. The debating team is guided by Miss Frendo in researching and strategising for a range of diverse topics. In the past, some of these topics have included 'bottled water is better than tap water'; 'fairy tales are no longer relevant in the 21st century'; or that 'today's children are spoilt'.
To prepare for every debate the students give up hours and hours of their own time, at lunchtime and after school to research, write and practice their arguments. On the day of the debate a team of four students present their arguments, and refute the opposing team’s arguments, in front of an audience of up to 150 of their peers. A benefit of participating in the debating team is an increase in confidence and skills.
The Green Team
At Emu Plains Public School students from Early Stage 1 to Stage 3 are given the opportunity to really make a difference to our environment. Mrs Hahn, Mrs Quinn, Mrs Schreurs, Mrs Garde, Mrs Eijkman, Mrs Miller, Mrs Serebriakov and Mrs Kay actively coordinate sustainability initiatives.
Representatives from each class attend regular Green Team meetings to learn about, and actively participate in activities to make our school more sustainable.
Students are encouraged to take this new knowledge back to their classroom to share and discuss with their peers.
Areas of responsibility include waste management and reduction, educating others on sustainability across our school community, promoting and participating in recycling initiatives and developing composting, worm farming, and the garden areas at Emu Plains Public School.
Junior choir
Junior choir has 50 students from Years 1 and 2. Students volunteer each Tuesday at lunchtime with Mrs Loobeek and Miss Smith to learn new songs and rehearse. Junior choir performs for the K-2 assembly, the annual Grandparents Concert and the annual K to 2 Christmas Concert, and if timing and commitments allow they walk to Edinglasse to sing for the residents in the aged care facility.
Junior choir sing songs from a variety of different artist and from different genres and eras in order to expose them to a variety of experiences. They have performed songs from traditional children's artists such as Justine Clarke, contemporary singers such as Shakira, Australian bush ballads such "bound for Botany Bay" and traditional classics such as "somewhere over the rainbow".
Students do not have to audition, the only requirement is that they must sing and turn up each week. The main aim of this group is to promote a love of singing and to have fun. The school is very proud to be able to promote singing through junior choir.
Primary Choir
The primary choir meets once a week on Wednesdays with Mrs Koutzas and Mrs Spry. The primary choir meets Mondays at the 1st half of lunch and Tuesday afternoons. The emphasis in choir sessions is on enjoying singing together, being part of a large choral group and learning some musical concepts. This year we are planning to perform at some school assemblies and other school events like Harmony Day.
This year the Primary Choir are also joining the Penrith Valley Performing Arts Festival Mass Choir, approximately 400 other students. They will join with several schools from the Penrith Valley area for rehearsals and performances. The Students will perform at the Joan Sutherland Center on one night during Education Week. Keep an eye out for important information about this exciting opportunity for our students.
The choir performs at many important school events, this year will will be performing at the ANZAC Service at school and each Christmas they sing for our neighbours in Edinglassie and at Westfield Shopping Center in Penrith.
Kilometer club
There are many advantages to running including general health and fitness, achieving personal goals, flooding the brain with endorphins and allowing the body to release nervous tension.
The Kilometre Club runs Monday and Friday mornings from 8:00am until 8:30am. During this time the students have a quick stretch whilst chatting about goals and then run a preset course on the oval. Each lap of the course is 330 metres and each student runs with a card. The aim of this card is to record the number of laps that they do in the 20 minutes of running. These statistics assist students with their goals and for them to gauge their individual fitness improvements. Miss Conn-Pospischil & Mr Wood will be running the Kilometre Club this year and look forward to watching the students build fitness, strength and confidence. In the past, parents have been a valuable asset to the program by assisting with monitoring cards and positive reinforcements and their involvement is encouraged.
The number of students in the Kilometre Club is restricted to 50 and must be from Years 3 - 6. A waiting list is kept for students who were not able to be a part of the initial intake.