GHPS Spring Fair Newsletter

The Spring Fair was a wonderful way to bond with fellow families. Magic happens when a community comes together for a common purpose. We raised over $16,000 in just over three months! Thank you to our wonderful sponsors and donors. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Please read to the end to see the full list of companies who contributed to our fundraising efforts.

Thank you for your generous support, Slater & Levin – our Spring Fair Partner and Platinum Sponsor. You added the Mega Xtreme fun factor to the day!

Slater & Levin is a dynamic, results-driven real estate team led by the powerhouse duo, Jack Slater and Ari Levin (https://slaterlevin.com.au/).

Indian street food

As they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and this certainly holds true for the community. A core team consisting of: Kavitha, Padmashree, Sanchita, Ahamed and Lakshmi came together to share their love with the local community by creating delicious food: uttapam and pani puri. Ahead of the Spring Fair, they united with a shared goal of preparing authentic Indian street food. What they didn’t expect was that through their teamwork and culinary passion, a beautiful friendship was about to be born!

Kavitha sys: “Who says school is the place only for kids to make friends? It’s also the birthplace for many friendships and entwined with cherished stories, laughter and inside jokes – when you volunteer at a GHPS’s event. This has been our experience running the Indian food stalls at the Spring Fair. We have forged a new bond. Try volunteering to create or find your group and have fun.”

Padmashree adds: “I had a great experience volunteering at the Indian food stall. It felt like being part of a family. From not knowing each other to sharing such a bond over our common interest in cooking is really special.”

A huge thank you to Quality Groceries for being our Gold Sponsors and generously providing high-quality ingredients that were used to create our dishes, as well as supplying delicious samosas. We truly appreciate your commitment to supporting the local community. A special shout-out to your dedicated chef Harish – it’s not every day that people work on their birthday to make a difference. Thank you to Raju (Quality Groceries) and his incredible team!

BBQ & Sausage Rolls

Si Señor generously sponsored the delicious BBQ sizzling in the spring sun. Sally and volunteers served up a classic sausage sizzle that everyone loved.

Looking for a popular spot to try delicious Mexican dishes this summer? Enjoy a flavourful experience with a variety of options at Si Señor (https://www.sisenor.com.au/).

The sausage rolls and feta and spinach rolls were generously donated by Gold Sponsor Beaver’s Tail School Lunches.

During the Spring Fair, our Platinum Sponsor – Optical Royale, offered a fantastic range of sunglasses. We hope you had a chance to stop by and say ‘hi’! If you missed your chance, make sure to visit them to view the full collection of sunglasses perfect for cricket and all outdoor summer adventures! (https://www.opticalroyale.com.au/). And whilst outdoors, remember to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide! #Optical Royale

Ormond Childcare and Pre-school’s stall was very popular! We are grateful for your involvement in the Spring Fair, and we look forward to more opportunities to work together in the future. Thank you for your generous support!

Luna Cards’ stall was another one hard to resist! The Pokémon fans had a great opportunity to speak to Gabe about their shared passion. Thank you, Luna Cards, for sponsoring some amazing prizes that were auctioned.

CODE Dance Studio’s students put on breathtaking performances and captivated the audience. Two lucky auction winners will now get the opportunity to experience the magic firsthand. Here’s to more dancing and unforgettable moments! Thank you for being our Gold Sponsor!

STAGE ENTERTAINMENT

Glen Huntly Has Got Talent attracted a huge crowd. Have we just started a new annual tradition?!?!?!

The enthusiasm of students to participate, rapidly expanded a proposed 1 hour event to a 3 hour extravaganza. Congratulations to the winners and thank you, Jump, for sponsoring the prizes!

A stellar effort by Moya as Producer and Ruth and Becky as judges for this inaugural event. The judges and audience were truly amazed by the outstanding range of talents displayed by our students. Every performance was exceptional, and it was clear that everyone gave it their all! Congratulations to all the winners and to every performer who made this event such a success.

The Party Hats and the Choir created a fun and upbeat atmosphere, getting everyone to groove along to the music!

And the final act for the Stage Performances was Nothing Stuck band, led by GHPS alumnus Rhapsody (class of 2020).

Teacher Sponge Throw

This must be the photo of the year 2024! Teachers’ contribution to the fundraising efforts was ‘Sponge On’.

Thanks to the “grown UP” GHPS alumni for taking on the dangerous role of holding the great clown facade prepared by Justine.

Shuriken Masters stall has seen many of you competing against each other but also the wind!

Congratulations to:

Adhvik Ernest (2/3B)

Levi Isabelle (Prep in 2025)

Mahati (4/5C) Satang (1B)

Thank you, Pure Boba, for sponsoring the prizes!

Treasure Hunt

How much gold did you dig? May’s welcoming smile attracted a huge crowd of gold seekers!

Thank you to Tara who made the magic possible.

Tara says “I had fun making the treasure chest and I’m glad the effort paid off and it was such a huge hit with the younger kids. I was so pleased to share the Fair experience with my son Hudson (GHPS alumni) who missed so many Fete opportunities due to the Covid years”.

Face Painting & Glitter Tattoos

Thanks to Amanda (Face Painting by Amanda) for sharing her time, expertise and offering training for our volunteer parents. This talented team was kept busy turning the little ones into superheroes and princesses.

Thanks to Lucy and Rueben (Will O’ the Wisp Face Painting and Glitter Tattoos) for the fabulous biodegradable glitter tattoos and contribution to face painting, as well.

Lauren said “My daughter loved the glitter tattoos so much she went back 3 times and ended up looking like a sweaty, sparkling bikie by the end of the day. There was so much joy on the face of the children after their face painting or henna tattoo, as well as whilst they were creating their plaster funhouse masterpieces or digging for “gold” in the Gaga pit. The pony rides were a great hit. My whole family absolutely loved the Indian food stall”.

Henna tattoos

Talented henna artists Fasna and Bhavna created stunning patterns. Did you know in India, the application of henna holds deep cultural and spiritual significance? It is believed to bring good luck, prosperity, and protection. No wonder the stall was so popular!

Fasna said: “It brought me so much joy to see the kids and adults admiring their henna tattoos. A lady mentioned that she came to the fair just so that she could get henna done. And one boy said that he loves his henna tattoo so much, he wishes it lasted forever. These were my favourite memories from the day. I felt really appreciated and I am glad I could share my skills with the community.”

Cake stall

Thank you to everyone who baked delicious goodies! Special thanks to Jenn who ran a mini factory in the lead-up to the event! Anyone else’s eyes were bigger than their stomach?! Great work by Monica to coordinate the stall on the day and keep the cakes cool!

Fairy floss, Snow cones, Lollies & Lucky Jars

If sugar is your thing – Tara is your “go to girl!”

We went through 50 kilograms of ice!!!!!! Was it the coolest stall to be volunteering on that day?!

And how many jelly beans were in that giant jar……………

……………………………. 1815 Jelly Beans. Congratulations Freddie (Prep)!

Tara says “A huge thank you to volunteers at my multi-stall including parents, teachers, students and former students for helping to make the Fair an amazing event, and a great experience as a stall holder. I did manage a walk around and it was great seeing so many smiling faces enjoying our amazing event despite the heat. Looking forward to being part of the next Fair!

Chocolate Trailer was a huge hit – thank you Grade 6 and Mr Macdermid for the sweet challenge!

Plaster Fun

Tara and Sue organised the plaster fun that engaged many children.

Korean Martial Arts and Fitness showcased their (and our!) students’ impressive taekwondo skills.

Warning: Don’t try the tricks at school. You may dislocate your hips!

Kendama Workshops

Many students attended the Kendama workshops focussed on learning a traditional Japanese skill toy that promotes hand-eye coordination, concentration and creativity. Thank you Kendama King for donating all proceeds towards Glen Huntly Primary School.

Pony Rides

It’s not often that you see pony rides at the school’s front door! Hope to see you again Cute and Cuddly Pony Rides!

Craft Activities

Thanks to Lisa & Simon for the trio of children’s craft activities, a popular respite away from the heat and happy screams of those facing The Eliminator! What did you make?

The Origami stall offered a little rest from the crazy fun on the oval! What Pokémon was your favourite?

Hand Made Stall

If you were in a hunt for a unique gift just in time for a Kris Kringle, we are sure you explored the handmade stall. Thank you, Abbi, for putting your creative spin into action again.

Plant stall

The Plant stall was a microcosm of what the Spring Fair is all about. Plant preparation and donations from current families, GHPS alumni families, Helen (part of our GHPS volunteer garden crew) and local business Botanical Creations. All came together to provide a wide array of offerings for established and aspiring “green thumbs”. Nice work, Fiona.

Trash’n’Treasure was hugely popular. We are sure you found your new favourite. In keeping with our aspiring sustainability, we were able to donate much of the unsold “treasure” to local charity shops. Thank you to everyone who donated, Gayle and Sharbani and a volunteer crew for collecting and sorting the “roomful” of wares. A special shout out to those who helped on Sunday to pack up all the unsold goods and get the classrooms back ready for Monday.

Silent auction

A massive ‘thank you’ to our sponsors who donated goods and vouchers to our silent auction. Our heartfelt thanks to all those who put in the effort to source donations and particularly to Daniel, Sylvia, Tara and Sanchita for gold star efforts. Huge shout out to Hayley for final collating, and organising the inaugural online GHPS silent auction that turned all those donations into profit. The interest spread fast and wide! The impressive hampers put together by the teachers and their classes were a success. What did you win?

Raffle

Don’t tell Fiona and Hayley you can’t organise a Raffle in a week (but they don’t recommend it!)

330 tickets sold in 3 days.

Thanks to the generosity of Trek Bicycle Store Carnegie (bike sourced by Daniel), the Vos family (donated Red Balloon voucher), Ritz Carlton Melbourne (dinner sourced by Tara) and Tool Centre McKinnon (94 piece tool kit sourced by Daniel) for the wonderful prizes that made up our raffle.

The magic behind the scenes

It is wonderful and important to have volunteers present and participating in an event but equally as important are the volunteers and hours spent “behind the scenes”. In this case, in addition to the planning, sourcing donations, letter boxing leaflets there was the great team who sourced and assembled the infrastructure for the day – chairs, marquees, generators, a stage. There is just no way to enjoy assembling a marquee in the wind, but it was done.

And after the “fun of the Fair” comes the less glamorous pack up. A shout of appreciation to those who stayed back in the evening to ensure all the equipment was packed away and safe from the rain that came early Sunday morning. And more thanks to the small but efficient team who assembled Sunday morning to ensure the School was ready to “function” on Monday.

The “unseen” but far from unappreciated efforts of the parents, families and GHPS staff in these many and varied roles “behind the scenes” is whole heartedly acknowledged.

And the award for “most learnt from a volunteer experience” without a doubt goes to Claire for taking on the Facilities coordinator role and bravely taking a crash course in electrical circuits and learning how to run a diesel generator, amongst her many volunteer hours “behind the scenes”.

Gayle had a very diverse role, balancing internal communications and budget oversight. She also took on a last-minute responsibility as a Food Stalls coordinator on the day. As a much-appreciated committee member, she demonstrated willingness and ability to stay organized whilst the event kept growing in scale.

Last but far from least be sure to applaud Sylvia when you see her next – relax, she won’t have a job for you to do!! The “Perseverance and Passion award” for Sylvia is uncontested. She took on the Spring Fair project from the beginning and maintained her enthusiasm and optimism to the successful conclusion.

Volunteering creates a sense of community, where shared efforts and interests give people the feeling of belonging. It’s about the connections and moments that make the experience unforgettable.

Spring Fair in focus Photos are courtesy of Stef Hanson, Avi Gulwadi @gulwadimedia and Sylvia Yarnton.