Surrey Downs Primary School

11/06/2026

🌿🪵 International Day of Play at Surrey Downs 🪵🌿

Today, we celebrated the International Day of Play with a whole-school Stick Summit, led by our incredible Student Play Committee!

Students were encouraged to bring a stick to school to help build a collection of resources for unstructured play. In the lead-up to the event, our Student Play Committee visited classes across the school to deliver lessons about stick safety, respectful play, risk awareness, and how to create successful play experiences for everyone.

The highlight of the day was a whole-school unstructured play session, where students used sticks, imagination, teamwork, and creativity to create their own games, structures, stories, and adventures.

Through play, students developed important dispositions for learning including:
🌟 creativity and imagination
🌟 collaboration and communication
🌟 problem-solving and critical thinking
🌟 resilience and persistence
🌟 curiosity and confidence

It was wonderful to see students of all ages engaged in meaningful, child-led play and to witness our Student Play Committee taking on leadership roles to support learning across the school.

A huge congratulations to our Student Play Committee for their planning, leadership, and enthusiasm in making this event such a success! 💛

04/06/2026

📰 Term 2 Week 6 Newsletter Now Available

Our Week 6 newsletter is now live, showcasing a vibrant snapshot of learning, events and student experiences across Surrey Downs Primary School.

This edition highlights:

📚 National Simultaneous Storytime
🌿 Reconciliation Week and National Sorry Day learning
💃 Footsteps Showcase Assembly
🏃‍♂️ SAPSASA sport updates
🔬 Room 5 (Year 2/3) science learning
🤝 Transition visits and new student connections
🎤 Student voice across the school

It has been a rich and engaging period of learning, with students continuing to demonstrate our values of Respect, Integrity, Strength and Empathy as they Belong, Explore and Become.

📌 Read the full newsletter here: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/crkR6FjpDYYoGYt1?ref=Link

We encourage families to take a look and celebrate the wonderful learning happening across our school community.

As we reach the halfway point of the term, it is a timely opportunity to reflect on the rich and engaging learning experiences taking place across our school community. This term has continued to prov

02/06/2026

🌟✨ Celebrating OSHC at Surrey Downs ✨🌟

Our OSHC program is more than just before and after school care — it is a warm, welcoming, and inclusive space where children are supported to relax, connect, play, and grow.

Guided by a strong philosophy of care, belonging, and child-led learning, our program values children as capable, creative, and curious individuals. Every session is designed to give children choice, voice, and opportunities to build friendships in a safe and supportive environment.

Across the program, children are encouraged to explore a rich variety of experiences that support their wellbeing and development, including imaginative play, creative arts, sensory experiences, group games, and opportunities for social connection and collaboration.

These experiences are thoughtfully planned to align with key learning outcomes, supporting children to develop:
🌱 confidence and independence
🌱 social skills and emotional awareness
🌱 creativity and imagination
🌱 cooperation, empathy, and respect
🌱 curiosity and a love of learning through play

At OSHC, we celebrate each child’s individuality and focus on building a positive sense of belonging where every child feels seen, valued, and supported.

💛 It is a space where relationships matter, voices are heard, and children are free to be themselves while engaging in meaningful, play-based experiences each day.

We are proud of the caring, nurturing environment our OSHC team creates for families and children in our community.

29/05/2026

🖤💛❤️ Reconciliation at Surrey Downs ❤️💛🖤

Reconciliation Week has been a meaningful time of learning, reflection, and connection across our school community.

Guided by this year’s theme, “ALL IN: Learning Together on Kaurna Country,” students have engaged in rich, hands-on experiences that encourage curiosity, respect, and a deeper connection to Country.

A highlight has been time spent in our beautiful native garden and bush tucker space, where students took part in a scavenger hunt experience — observing, exploring, and connecting with the natural environment in thoughtful and respectful ways. 🌿

Across these learning moments, students have demonstrated curiosity, teamwork, and care as they engage with the importance of Reconciliation in age-appropriate and meaningful ways.

🌟 It has been wonderful to see our school community learning together, building understanding, and strengthening respect for Kaurna Country.

We are proud of the way our students have approached Reconciliation Week with openness, reflection, and heart 💛

28/05/2026

📚✨ National Simultaneous Storytime at Surrey Downs ✨📚

What an amazing moment of connection for our school community!

Our students joined thousands of schools, libraries, early learning centres and homes across Australia for National Simultaneous Storytime, sharing the same story at the same time as over 2 million children nationwide. 🌏💛

This year’s featured book, Luna Roo the Kangaroo Baller, was enjoyed through a shared read-aloud experience and engaging follow-up activities that brought the story, characters and themes to life. 🦘📖

At 11:30am on 27 May 2026, our students were part of a powerful nationwide moment — all listening to the same story together, celebrating a love of reading and the joy of shared literacy.

It was also a fun and inclusive celebration at school, with students and staff proudly wearing their favourite sporting team colours or uniforms, adding to the excitement of the day. 🏉🎽

🌟 A wonderful celebration of reading, imagination, and connection — both within our school and across the country!

25/05/2026

🌿✨ Time 2 Play – Student Voice in Action at Surrey Downs ✨🌿

We are excited to be part of the ongoing Time 2 Play initiative, with student voice at the heart of how we explore, develop, and improve play across our school.

A recent highlight was a conference event held with local TTG schools, where our upper primary students had the opportunity to connect with peers and think deeply about the importance of unstructured play and what it could look like in our own settings.

Students engaged in rich, hands-on experiences facilitated by Nature Play SA, using natural loose parts, cubby building materials, and potion-making resources to explore creativity, collaboration, and imaginative play. 🪵🧪

Their thinking continued through purposeful reflection and design, as students shared ideas and created dioramas to represent their vision for meaningful play spaces at school.

🌟 Most importantly, this initiative continues beyond a single event — with student voice driving ongoing conversations and ideas about how we can strengthen play opportunities across our site.

We are proud to be forming a Time 2 Play student committee, ensuring our students continue to lead, shape, and influence the future of play at Surrey Downs 💛

20/05/2026

🎨🌟 Electives in Action at Surrey Downs 🌟🎨

Last week, our electives were in full swing, with students enjoying a wide range of creative, hands-on learning experiences across the school.

🧠 Sensory Club made playdough and experimented with colour
🍕 Cooking Group created delicious pizza muffins
🎨 Drawing Group began designing rainforest scenes, starting with amazing creatures
🖌️ Craft Club created their own stickers
🏗️ Construction continued with LEGO, boxes, and imaginative building challenges
📚 Book Club enjoyed sharing storytime and reading together with peers

🌿 Our Nature & Loose Parts group made the most of the changing weather — huddling under the shelter of the sandpit while continuing their imaginative play with mini figures, and happily embracing the water and outdoor elements when the rain arrived! ☔💧

Across all groups, it was wonderful to see creativity, resilience, teamwork, and joy in learning through play 💛

19/05/2026

⚽🌧️ SAPSASA Soccer Success! 🌧️⚽

On Friday, our Year 4–6 students proudly represented Surrey Downs at the SAPSASA Soccer Carnival, with a girl and a boys team braving the wet and challenging weather conditions.

Our boys' team had a fantastic day, finishing second overall with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss — an amazing achievement! 👏

What made us most proud, however, was the outstanding behaviour, sportsmanship, and teamwork shown by all students throughout the day. From encouraging teammates to even stepping in to play for the opposition when teams were short, our students truly demonstrated our school values and showed what it means to RISE above. ⭐

A huge thank you to Miss Mel for organising this wonderful opportunity for our students, and to Alli for her support throughout the day.

Well done to all students involved — you represented our school beautifully!

14/05/2026

🌿☀️ Autumn Moments in Our Outdoor Learning Space at Surrey Downs ☀️🌿

As the autumn sunshine gently begins to fade, our school continues to enjoy the calm and beauty of our outdoor learning space.

Our Year 1/2 students from Room 6 spent time together in the sensory garden — a special place featuring a bush tucker garden, butterfly garden, and yarning circle. 🧺🌱🦋

It was a wonderful opportunity for students to slow down, connect with nature, share a picnic lunch, and enjoy time with friends in a peaceful and welcoming environment.

These moments remind us of the importance of outdoor learning spaces that support wellbeing, connection, and a sense of belonging 💛

13/05/2026

🛠️✨ Learning Through Play at Surrey Downs ✨🛠️

At Surrey Downs, we know that some of the most powerful learning happens through play.

Across our classrooms, students are developing important skills through hands-on, play-based learning experiences that support the curriculum while also strengthening confidence, resilience, creativity, communication, and problem-solving.

It is wonderful to see students showing persistence, trying new ideas, solving problems, collaborating with others, and having another go when things don’t work the first time.

These rich learning opportunities support important curriculum areas including literacy, design technologies, oral language, social development, and critical thinking — all through purposeful play.

Here are some wonderful moments from two of our Junior Primary classes, Rooms 1 and 7, engaging in meaningful learning through play experiences 💛