Events & Community
Music and Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Crafts at TPS
Thornbury Primary School has an annual Arts Festival that is a whole school celebration and showcases music and the performing arts and art and craft works of Foundation Year to grade 6 students. Now in its 5th year, the day sees students performing on three stages running simultaneously for the duration of the festival. A year’s worth of craft and visual artworks are displayed along with performances from the drama club. Parents/carers work in class groups to run activities and supply food for the festival, all in an effort to raise funds for the flourishing Arts Department at TPS.
Last year senior students worked with our Musician in Residence Andy Rigby. Students made instruments in their music classes using recycled and found items. They also created a composition with these instruments that were used for the opening of the “Iuk” seat along with a song specially written by our vocalist teacher Emma Tonkin. Students also demonstrated their music compositions in an interactive digital gallery that was on display at the Arts Festival. Group (School Band, Choir, and Orchestra) and solo performances also take place on this day.
As part of our Arts Festival we have a festival artist from our parent/carer community. In 2014 Nikki Fletcher, a felting artist, worked with all our grade 3 to 6 students to create a stunning ‘Felted garden Chandelier’ that is now proudly and majestically hanging in our school foyer. Felting and textile practices are extensively taught in the Steiner craft program at TPS.
In 2015, TPS was successful in securing a Darebin Council arts grant which resulted in the grade 5/6 students collaborating to create a rendered concrete seat in the form of an “Iuk” (WoiWurrung word for eel). The mosaics created and installed in the seat depict the flora and fauna of the Merri Creek within the cycles of the Wurundjeri seven seasons. The seat was officially opened by Sarah Metzner, the mosaic artist, at our 2015 Art Festival.
Primary Flavours from Umbershoot on Vimeo.
NAIDOC week
NAIDOC is always very special at Thornbury Primary School and in particular NAIDOC Day. Many voluntary hours are given by staff to acknowledge our Indigenous students, their communities, history and culture with a variety of multi-age activities planned for all children on this day.
Garden parties
We will be doing fun garden projects – planting, crafting, getting our hands dirty, making our gardens into even more thriving spaces.
This is open to any member of the school community.
Please note, when students join us at 3.30pm they will need to stay in the Food Garden area (away from after school care) and be in the supervision of parent/carers at all times.
Harvest Festival
Thornbury Primary School community organises a Harvest Festival – this is a beautiful opportunity to join together in a celebration of community, through stories and songs.
Fun Run
This whole school event is held in term 2 of the school year. This is a fundraising event that encourages the health and fitness of our students and community alike. Students raise money by having sponsors donate a dollar amount per lap. Students run laps around and through the school premises, which makes for a fun and fit event.
Swimming
As summer approaches and children look forward to heading off to the beach with their families, the importance of learning to swim and be familiar with water safety becomes very important.
As part of the educational program at Thornbury the children from Foundation to Grade 4 will be involved in a Swimming Program at Northcote Aquatic Centre. The program is designed to familiarise and enhance children’s swimming ability and to add on to programs they are already involved in outside of school. For the Foundation year it is also a social event that involves their whole class and is supported by their Teachers and Educational Support staff.