A toy story at Port Douglas State School this week

At our Douglas Shire schools there is always something happening. Each week Newsport sums up the events, achievements and news from the schools that make our region great.

Toy Swap Day at Port Douglas State School

On Tuesday 6th December, Christmas arrived early at Port Douglas State School with the running of the very first Toy Swap event organised by 5/6 JE.

Classroom teacher of Year 5’s and 6, Jelena Edmonds, said that students have focussed on sustainability and how to best support our local environment throughout the school year.

“What better way to help bring the Christmas Spirit and promote sustainability to school, than by reusing and recycling some pre-loved toys,” she said.

“Parents and students were asked to sort through old toys and donate them to school so others would receive a toy gift before Christmas.

“Excitement levels were through the roof leading up to the event with many students trying to get into 5/6 JE’s Christmas Wonderland classroom to have a sneaky peak at the huge array of donated toys.

“The response from parents and students was overwhelmingly positive and because of the generosity of so many families we had more than enough toys and books for all students to take two or more toys home.

“Gratitude was expressed by many students as they found new toys to love. The smiles on the faces of the students made all the effort worthwhile. 5/6 JE certainly spread the message that Christmas is a time for giving.”

Miallo State School students win Bioquest

Students at Miallo State School proved to be excellent in identifying fauna, flora and fungi as they ended up first place in the ‘Cairns local schools Bioquest competition’.

Questagame is a mobile app game for photographing and identifying fauna, flora and fungi. The sightings are verified by experts and gain points for players and their clan. The aim is to discover, learn about and help monitor biodiversity.

Miallo State School Fatima Patel has been instrumental in introducing Questagame to the school’s students as part of Friday electives.

She said that the Local Cairns Competition came to an end of 7,000 sightings and 1,725 new data points have been put on the Map in the last 8 months by 10 schools in the Cairns region.

“Questagame has been so successful that our region has become the current greatest school team contributor to biodiversity data in Australia.”

“Students have really enjoyed being able to explore our school grounds and nearby creek to find and take photos of living things.

“Some families have also signed up and uploaded photos from camping and reef trips. Other students are also letting the Questagame kids know where they have seen animals and offering to take a photo.

Personally, I have enjoyed the opportunity to take a walk outside with the students and love their enthusiasm to show me what they have found and their photos.”

Alice in Down-Under-Land at Daintree State School

Daintree celebrated their Year 6 graduation on Monday night at the Daintree Café.

The school wishes Nate, Cassidy and Lyndzi all the very best at high school.

This Wednesday night the students will perform a one act play – Alice in Down-Under-Land.

A delightfully unique Australian story combining the timeless tales of Alice in Wonderland, Mary had a little lamb and Waltzing Matilda.

Set in the Australian bush and performed entirely by children the story is designed to appeal to an audience of all ages.

Music, energetic dance numbers, sing-a-longs, audience participation, comedy and suspense combine as we follow the story of Alice who has lost her pet lamb, Jumbuck.