Over the past two years, the community of St Joseph's School, Finley has been focused on the development of the central courtyard into an outdoor learning space, which will link the classrooms by providing a space for students and teachers to use.
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“The space is designed to provide an alternative learning environment that caters to the diverse learning styles and needs of students,” said principal Veronica Braybon.
“It includes interconnecting pathways from rooms into the space, a variety of ways to gather and collaborate when learning, and there is also a whole-class amphitheatre, which also links to our library space. We will have so many ways to use this space for the benefit of the students,” she said.
The 2024 Year 5/6 students also wrote letters to the Finley community groups seeking financial support for the project. They also visited some community meetings to share the plans for the project.
This was very successful, with many groups donating.
On Friday Finley Rotary Club president Chris Kelly presented the 2025 school captains, William Harris and Jake Arthur, as well as Veronica Braybon, with a cheque for $5000.
“This amount, together with the kind donations from Finley groups such as Lions Club, Menshed, Apex and the Strawberry Fields Community Grant Program, has contributed roughly 18 per cent of the total cost,” Miss Braybon said.
“We are so grateful for the support of our community to ensure that we continue to provide an excellent learning environment for the students in our care.”
The rest of the project is being funded through the ongoing parent group fundraising efforts and a contribution from Catholic Education Wagga Wagga.
The project will hopefully be completed by late October this year.
Mr Kelly said Finley Rotary Club members were pleased to assist local schools each year with funds raised through the Rotary Opportunity Shop and other grants it can access.
Dr Alam and past president Ray Hehir have also presented donations to the Finley Primary School and Biralee Pre-school earlier this year and in past years.
In addition, Rotary has been a strong supporter of the successful High School agriculture department students showing cattle at the Melbourne Show for several years.
Rotary says it will continue to support school presentation nights and looks forward to helping all local schools in the future.
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Finley Garden Lovers Club members experienced an entertaining afternoon in Barooga for their July meeting, paying a visit to Rob and Sandi Hamilton’s Vintage Wood ‘n’ That.
Rob uses upcycled timber to create unique quirky signs, bird houses, boxes and garden art. These are then given creative touches of colour by Sandi.
The couple added three extra handmade items to the club’s monthly raffle, and a guest was delighted to win the chair planter.
Members took along a lovely selection of goodies to enjoy afternoon tea around Rob’s big pot belly heater, which really added to the enjoyment of the visit.
Sandi advised details of the Community River Arts group’s fundraiser, an Artist Studio Trail, to be held on August 16 with visits to a broad range of artists for presentations and demonstrations. Refreshments are included in the cost and further information can be obtained by visiting the Facebook page.
Finley Garden Lovers Club’s next meeting on Monday, August 4 will be held at the Finley RS Club at 2pm with a presentation and demonstration by Tracey McCluskey from ‘Mud & Tin’ Barooga.
Table judges are Lesley Wilson and Judy Nichols and the three table themes are orchid in flower in a pot or stem in water, one stem of wattle in flower and a cutting struck in a pot.
New members are always welcome.
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There are now only 39 days until the Finley Show on Sunday, September 7.
The show schedule is available on the Show Society website. Hard copies can be found at Finley Post Office and Newsagency, Berrigan Post Office and Tocumwal IGA.
Online entries open on August 1, and the show office will open from 10am Tuesday, September 2. Be sure to read the schedule carefully and check closing times for entries.
A street stall will be held this Friday at the street stall stand or outside IGA (depending on street works). There will be a load of firewood raffled and home baked goods available.
There will also be show schedules and an opportunity to purchase membership tickets.
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What do you think contains the highest proportion of salt? Vegemite, tomato sauce or Keen’s curry powder?
Last week, Finley Health Advisory Committee was joined by a kidney health nurses from the MLHD renal service.
Information and data was shared about kidney disease, including that 12 per cent of deaths in Australia are kidney related and three out of four Australians are at risk of kidney disease.
This data is alarming. However, there are some important things we can do to limit our risk of kidney disease.
These include being more active, getting to a healthy weight, quit smoking, eating healthier and cutting back on alcohol.
For more information on how to identify and manage kidney disease, go to Kidney Health Australia at kidney.org.au.
Alternatively, go to the Finley LHAC Facebook page or email finleylhac@gmail.com and a link will be sent.
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Members of the Finley Lions Club are happy to announce that Rowan McLean was the lucky winner of last Saturday’s wood raffle.
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