Traditions form an important part of the continuing culture and pride students have in attending and belonging to Giralang Primary School.
School Logo
The star is our symbol because ‘Giralang’ means ‘star’ in the language of the Wirajhuri tribe of central New South Wales.
School Song
We sing our school song at every assembly.
A golden star is the emblem
That we wear.
A symbol for all to share.
For the dreamtime name that we sing
With pride
Is Giralang, our star.
And the stars above that light the darkest night
Were the inspiration for our name.
Chorus:
Giralang. ***, that’s our school
Where we share three simple rules
Caring, cooperation, courtesy
Giralang, our star, our school.
We see a distant ridge of mountains
Shaped by time,
A symbol of strength and endurance.
And the tree studded hills of our neighbourhood
Where we live and work and play.
And the stars above that light the darkest night
Were the inspiration for our name.
Chorus
School Captains
Each year two Captains and Vice Captains are elected from year 5/6. They have an important role in assemblies and in leading our school, particularly in sporting events.
School Houses
The school has four houses. They are named after constellations. House Captains are elected each year by the students themselves. Sporting activities throughout the school year are organised around the four houses.
The children identify strongly with their house and work to earn points for their house throughout the year, not just at sports carnivals. Points are earned for exemplary behaviour, effort, citizenship or achievement. Announcing the current house-point tally is a highlight of each assembly.
The houses and their colours are:
ARCHER - yellow
CENTAUR - white
PHOENIX - red
TOUCAN - blue
Positive Recognition ‘Raffle’ Tickets
‘Raffle’ tickets are issued to students by teachers on the playground or in other school situations. They are issued to recognise positive behaviour such as:
- helping others
- playing fairly
- including other children in games
- looking after our school environment
These tickets are issued to individual students and at the fortnightly assembly they are put in a hat. The student who belongs to the ticket drawn from the hat wins a canteen token.
Class Award
Duncan Smith (Indigenous Artist) has painted a canvas to be awarded to the class that has reflected our school motto most consistently throughout the past fortnight. It is awarded by the SRC at our fortnightly assemblies.
Rats of Tobruk
Giralang Primary School has a special bond with men of The Rats of Tobruk Association (ACT Branch). This relationship was formed in 1993 and continues to grow.
Both the school community and the members of the Association greatly value this relationship. The students are mindful of the significance of this special relationship and through it gain a greater empathy for and understanding of Australians who have served in war.
Giralang has been dubbed “the school with the Anzac spirit” by Mr Peter Collins, President of the Association.
Members from the Rats of Tobruk Association attend the school’s annual Anzac Day ceremonies and representatives from the school attend the Rats of Tobruk annual anniversary service held at the Rats of Tobruk memorial on Anzac Parade. In addition, Giralang students have created a web site documenting this important aspect of Australian war history, with the help of an e-Learning Grant from the Commonwealth Bank (2005).
The e-Learning Grant project involved students interviewing the veterans and digitally recording their oral histories for future generations. Students design the interview questions and collected photographs and movies. The whole process was digitally recorded - a webquest, ICT presentation and CD Rom of these men’s experiences will be created for future generations to use.
The project was also recognised in 2005 with a past teacher Ms Jenny Mendick being awarded the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award.
