Extra Curricular
Camping
School camps are a wonderful growth experience for students, challenging everyone physically, mentally and emotionally. They allow students to develop confidence, build self-esteem, foster new friendships and build on life skills. We encourage every student to participate as well as request the assistance of a small handful of parents who may be willing to volunteer a few days of their week to join us.
Students at Derinya will experience their first school camp in Year 3, starting with an overnight stay and two full days of activities, gradually building up to a full week of camp in Year 6. The following are the current camp destinations for each year level:
- Year 3 Briars Camp, Mt. Martha
- Year 4 The Ranch, Cape Schanck
- Year 5 Kamp Kangaroobie, Princetown
- Year 6 Camp Coonawarra, Glenaladale
Year 6 Challenge Program
The Year 6 Challenge Program has been a part of Year 6 at Derinya for over 15 years, and in that time it has created many fond memories for staff, students and parents alike. In Term 4 students learn the curriculum through the lens of four different challenge programs. In 2022 these were Human Powered Vehicles (HPV), Survivor, Creative License and iDesign. Through the Challenge Program students are able to build new working relationships with their peers and extend their learning beyond the classroom. Each Program is tailored to the students’ needs and therefore evolving each year.
HPV
The Human Powered Vehicle Program allows students to push themselves to their physical limits, whilst investigating engineering, sustainability and healthy bodies. HPV culminates with the Energy Breakthrough event in Maryborough and teams of students riding a recumbent vehicle in a 14 hour race against schools from all over Victoria.
iDesign
Students are exposed to a variety of new technologies and gain experience in skills like coding and robotics. In recent years, iDesign students have participated in the FIRST Lego League, built Derinya inside Minecraft, designed and created their own video games, visited Bosch and created 3D printable objects amongst other things.
Creative License
In Creative License students explore their artistic capabilities and express themselves in a variety of ways. They’ll explore a broad range of artistic methods and what it means to express emotion and voice in art.
Survivor
Students participating in the Survivor program explore the curriculum through hands-on activities that incorporate team building and cooperation. Students learn the basics of First Aid, healthy lifestyles and pushing yourself to new limits.
Dance & Choir
Every year level has the opportunity to participate in the extra-curricular activities of dance and choir. These fantastic lunchtime groups are run by our passionate, expert staff who provide incredible experiences to perform on stage throughout the year.
The various groups are;
- Junior Choir (Yr 1 -2)
- Senior Choir (Yr 3 – 6)
- Prep Perfect Dance
- Yr 1/2 Jazzy Juniors
- Yr 3 Gems
- Yr 4 Dynamos
- Yr 5 Stars
The Year 6 Derinya Dance Team audition at the beginning of the year with every dancer making it on at least one of the following dance groups of Jazz, Lyrical and Pom. These dancers train every day and build amazing skills in dance technique and choreography as they prepare for 3 dance competitions throughout the year.
These competitions are held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre with the Australia All Star Cheer and Dance Federation (AASCF). This program provides wonderful experiences, teaching the students about teamwork, resilience, dedication, stage presence and performance qualities that rival some of the best in town.
Kitchen Garden
The Derinya Kitchen Garden Program runs from the purpose-built Natasha’s Kitchen. Students in Year 3-6 attend kitchen-garden lessons, working with Kim our specialist and a team of parent volunteers. All students learn valuable kitchen and cooking skills as well as general kitchen safety skills. We have a big focus on sustainability, with the vegetable and herb gardens utilised where possible and students taught about waste minimisation.
Maker Space
The Derinya MakerSpace is open daily each lunch time, allowing students of all ages to come and explore and learn about a variety of interesting and exciting technologies. Sessions are often run by expert students who share their skills with their peers. Some of the most popular MakerSpace activities each currently include:
- 3D design and printing using TinkerCad and our 3D printer
- Learning how to use Procreate – digital art creation software
- Warhammer – a fun, model-building and painting experience to go along with the tabletop game
- Minecraft – building missions and challenges
- Bloxels – using the software and kit to create your very own video game
- Robotics – learn robotics and coding using our variety of robots – Spehero, Beebots, Dash & Dot
Production
Senior & Junior School Productions
Each year, Derinya holds two Production performances which the whole community look forward to experiencing. The Senior School from Year 3 – 6 hold their production at the Frankston Arts Centre each year. These Productions incorporate dancing and singing tied together with a dramatic performance from the Year 6 actors who tell the story.
Previous Senior Productions include – Once Upon A Time, A History of Fun, The Case of the Music Festival Thief and Famous! These productions all have terrific themes of fairy tales, time travel, music genres, famous movie stars, pop stars or circus characters and so many new ideas every year. The costumes are spectacular and every student has a wonderful smile on their face as they take to the stage.
The Junior Production from Year Prep – 2 is held on stage at Derinya Primary School with the stadium audience full of family and friends. These performances give the younger students the knowledge, confidence and showmanship to prepare them for what is to come in the later years of Primary School at Derinya.
A School Production is a brilliant way to include all of the Performing Arts subjects of dance, drama and music bringing the skills the students have learnt in class to the stage with confidence and engagement.
School Journalism
‘In the Loop’ is a student-run program where students in years 4-6 can create, write and develop items to be published in the school newspaper. The program allows students to showcase their excellent writing abilities as well as let their creativity shine through artwork, puzzles and more. Students meet weekly to work on their pieces and work together to develop a published newspaper that is distributed to all children and teachers in the school, both electronically and in hard copy. It is a wonderful program allowing student voice and creativity to be shared.
Sport
All Derinya students are in one of four houses – Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn. They compete in;
- House Swimming Carnival for Years 4-6
- House Athletics Carnival for Years 4-6
- House Cross Country races for all year levels
Derinya is a member of the Mt Eliza District for interschool sport and students in Years 4-6 have the opportunity to represent the school in swimming, cross country and athletics.
Year 6 students each participate in a sport for both a Summer Lightning Premiership and Winter Lightning Premiership competition against other schools in the district.
STEM
Learning by Doing at Derinya
STEM is a teaching and learning approach that integrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, offering instruction in practical real-world scenarios. Students are guided in their learning to build up mastery of these disciplines over time. (This is to include Arts if the STEAM umbrella is the word of choice)
It is known as the current trend for solving problems using familiar information, creativity and independent flexible thinking. STEM is also a fun, exciting and often an easier way of quickly understanding Science and Maths
concepts.
STEM successfully enables students of all abilities to engage in their education in an active and exploratory manner through their preferred learning styles. The children ultimately build incredibly valuable skills and mindsets for their future pathways in life.
Derinya Primary School uses the STEM method to encourage children to strategically investigate challenging tasks cooperatively with others in the Science Lab, Maker Space and classrooms regularly throughout the year.
Participating in STEM is pivotal in developing children’s positive self esteem, enthusiasm, motivation and student agency.
Sustainability
At Derinya Primary School we strive to be an environmentally conscious school by engaging in a range of sustainable practices.
Some of the ways Derinya promotes Sustainability include:
- teaching and learning about Sustainability across a range of areas within the curriculum.
- working with CERES Community Environment Park and ResourceSmart Schools to help our school embed sustainability in everything we do.
- being a part of the ‘i sea, i care’ program, in which Year 6 students learn about animal and plant life in our bays and waterways, and the many issues facing them.
- promoting recycling and composting within classrooms, in which students actively participate and coordinate.
- giving students voice and agency through our student led Sustainability Team to develop initiatives and implement them within the school.
Special Events
Throughout the school year, we host a variety of special events. Some of them are fundraisers organised by our Student Voice Team or Parent Community Connect Team. We also like to celebrate other events that connect us to the broader community. Some of the regular events on the school calendar include:
- Book Week – come to school dressed as your favourite book character
- Footy Day – always held on the last day of Term 3, celebrating our favourite football teams
- Discos – junior and senior discos, held twice a year
- School Fair – lots of rides, food and fun at our bi-annual school fair
- Harmony Day – celebrating and appreciating multicultural Australia
- Christmas Charity Breakfast – donate a gift in exchange for a hot breakfast with all proceeds going to the Salvation Army
Christmas Charity Breakfast
Christmas Charity Breakfast
Christmas Charity Breakfast
Christmas Charity Breakfast
Book Week
Disco
Disco
Disco
Disco
Disco
Disco
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Footy Day
Colour Run 1
Colour Run 8
Colour Run 7
Colour Run 6
Colour Run 5
Colour Run 4
Colour Run 3
Colour Run 2
Fair 1
Fair 2
Fair 3
Fair 4
Fair 5
Fair 6
Fair 7
Fair 8
Fair 9
Fair 10
Fair 11
Fair 12
Footy Day 1
Footy Day 2
Footy Day 3
Footy Day 4
Footy Day 5
