Choir Update

The school choir is progressing amazingly well. At the end of last term, we had Miss Sarah be an audience for us, and some of the students are so good with their signing that they conduct the choir at times as well. We are still working on ‘Give me a Home among the Gum Trees,’ and we have just started ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight.’

First Hamper Given Away

As part of the school’s current wellbeing focus, we are raffling off a pantry essentials hamper to school families (to the value of $20) each fortnight. This fortnight’s winners are Leni Innes and her family, and Vinnies provided an amazing hamper that we could gift them with. If you have yet to put your entry into the raffle, please contact the office.

Honouring the Anzacs

A couple of weeks ago at the Anzac parade, I had the privilege of praying with the school community to thank God for the sacrifices soldiers and others have made for us. I was also able to organise wooden poppies for the students to decorate and ‘plant’ to honour these men and women. A big thank you to Bunnings for donating the decorated planters and some of the flowers after they used them last year, and also to Mr Andrew, Miss Emma and their friends for preparing the flowers for our students to use and for making extras so we would have enough.

Winter Warmers

Oven-bake recipes are perfect for our colder weather and earlier evenings. Here’s one from taste.com.au that you could try:

Creamy French Chicken Tray Bake

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

600g baby potatoes, quartered

1 brown onion, cut into thick wedges

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

20g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter

4 small chicken breast fillets (1kg total)

40g pkt French onion soup mix

250ml (1 cup) thickened cream

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked

100g green beans, thinly sliced lengthways, steamed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200⁰c (180⁰c fan forced). Arrange the potatoes and onion on a 2.5m-deep, 25x35cm baking dish. Drizzle with 1tbsp oil. Season. Bake for 30 minutes or until the potato starts to turn golden.
2. Meanwhile, heat the butter and remaining oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Whisk the soup mix, cream, mustard and 80ml (1/3 cup) water in a jug.
3. Place the chicken breasts in between the potato and onion on the dish. Pour the cream mixture over the top and sprinkle with the thyme sprigs. Bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and the potato is tender.
4. Serve with green beans for a well-rounded meal.

 Notes

1. Take care not to overheat the pan so you don’t burn the butter.

My role is to support the wellbeing of staff, students, parents, and others in our school community. If you ever need to have a chat or help with something, please contact me. I’m at school on Tuesday (8.30am-11.35am) and Thursday (9.30am-2.35pm), and can also be contacted via email – rsdri0@eq.edu.au.

Hope the term is progressing well,

Chappy Rachel