Newsletter 30th March 2022
Upcoming Dates
7th April
Last day of Term 1 students
Assembly @ 2.45 pm
8th April
School Closure Day
Staff RE day P/D
15th April
Good Friday
17th April
Easter Sunday
25th April
Anzac Day
26th April
Start of 2nd Term
28th April
School Photos
Full summer uniform
2nd, 16th, 23rd, 30th May & 6th June
Swimming
6th May
Mothers Day Liturgy 12.30
9th May
Athletic Carnival
23rd May - 27th May
Catholic Education Week
Principal News
My goodness! It is hard to believe that we are in Week 10 and have come through the term relatively unscathed due to COVID. We have had times where staff and students have had to isolate once, or twice in some incidents and had a few cases however, overall we have managed to make learning and teaching going without interruption and the term has been productive and rewarding
Thank you to everyone for making sure that our children have been kept safe by following the health guidelines and therefore helping everyone to stay well.
A reminder that the upcoming events are on the school calendar which can be accessed through the new website and the Schoolzine App.
As this is the last newsletter for the term, I want to thank everyone for their support, thoughts, opinions and ideas over the past 11 weeks. Your many contributions are always welcome and appreciated.
Enjoy the Easter break. Safe travels to the many that will be getting away and if you are at home, relax and enjoy the time with the family.
Please remember to share your thoughts with me about what you would like to be part of our promotional material showcasing our schools.
Happy Easter everyone!
Inez
Junior Room News
PEACEFUL KIDS
We have been very lucky this term to have Tina working with us on the Peaceful Kids program. We have learnt about different breathing techniques, we have been for a walk outside to do meditation and we have had fun with the Hoberman ball. Last week Tina graduated from university and we celebrated by sharing a chocolate cake with her. Congratulations Tina!
100 DAYS OF SCHOOL
Did you know we have been at school for 41 days so far this year? We are counting up to 100 days so we can celebrate together. Every day we add a popstick and a dot on the tens frame to keep track of how many days we have been at school. We look at the number as a numeral, a word, we break it up into tens and ones, and we bundle pop sticks to know how many days we have been at school. We’re looking forward to the 100th day so we can celebrate and do some fun activities.
THE LAST SUPPER
On Tuesday afternoon we did a re-enactment of the Last Supper. We learnt that Jesus washed his disciples feet (Clare washed ours!). We also broke bread and shared it and had a drink of…… cordial.
Senior Room News
A very busy couple of weeks in the senior room since our return from camp. The students completed their Place Value post test CFAT last week and the results were tremendous, everyone made an improvement and our overall class goal of getting 50% greens was not only achieved but SMASHED! The kids are excited to share their results but we are currently working on a little project around how we will share the news with you all - stay tuned!
In reading, each year level has begun a "novel study" where we share the reading of a book then discuss and answer questions. Last week we started a new classroom display titled "Reading Master Class" where we display the covers of books we have completed so far. Our goal is to have the entire wall covered by the end of the year.
Writing has been a lot of fun as we have been learning about persuasive devices and developing arguments, so I apologise to any families that have experienced a rise in arguments at home and especially for anyone now losing arguments due to your child's new found knowledge and skills.
In Inquiry we have been learning about Australia's First People and about the impact the arrival of 'The visitors' from the First Fleet had on the country.
I would like to offer a huge thanks for all of the wonderful contributions to our Easter raffle made by your families. The raffle will be drawn at the end of term assembly. Lots of tickets have been sold by the students, it has been incredible. Please remember that all sold tickets and raised money are due to be returned this Friday (1st April).
We look forward to seeing you next week at assembly to wrap up our term and share all of our wonderful learning.
By Callum
Combined Schools Day Response
Last week I sent through an email to all families to gather their thoughts about transporting children to the nominated school when we have Combined Schools Days. I appreciate the honest responses I received from the majority of parents and emphasis again, that the purpose is to save money, never to make things more difficult for parents. Overall, the feeling is that most parents could manage the drop off and pick up, but for some it may be a bit more difficult on particular days. The times and days will always be communicated well in advance and there will always be the option for children to travel in a staff car when necessary. As we move to this model, I would appreciate feedback on how things are going for families and if it is working or not. Buses will continue to be used for the swimming program and for most times when the 2 schools travel together for an event not at either school.
Happy Birthday
Kade will be 12 on the 26th April
Welcome William
On the 17th March, we received the exciting news that Jess Sartori, Garry and Annie welcomed gorgeous William Andrew into their family. Mum and bub are doing well.
Hopefully to get to meet him in person soon.
Congratulations to you all!
Promotions
No one in our school communities need to be reminded the importance of continually promoting our schools in as many ways as possible. We have begun by sending our flyers to kinder, continuing the process begun before COVID times of inviting kinders to our school and providing information sessions for parents. We have also set open days for May and last week at the Principals gathering I spoke to Kev Cummins about how he can help us with our promotional efforts. DOBCEL have appointed Ken in the role of school promotions and our schools have been identified as first priority in the central Dioceses. I met with Ken on Tuesday and we have come up with a plan and timeline to produce a video, similar to those done in the past, take new promotional photos, design flyers for advertising, auditing our websites and Facebook pages to make sure they are relevant and appealing to prospective parents. I am very excited about the opportunities and best of all – IT IS ALL FREE! I would really appreciate your input about what you believe makes our schools unique, why you initially chose the school your children now attend and what would be appealing for new families and their children. I need to come up with a script for our video and the more ideas the better. Please send me an email with your thoughts – dot points is fine. This is your chance to showcase our school and celebrate why we are so special and unique. I would appreciate your thoughts by the end of this term please as we will be starting the process early Term 2 and I will spend some time over the holidays coming up with a script for each promo video.
Term 2
Next Term is already shaping up to be filled with many opportunities to learn, have fun and celebrate together. Just the heads up on a few things – swimming begins on Monday the 2nd of May and will be a 5 week program. There is one interruption to the program and that is on the 9th of May which will be our Sports Day at Llanberris.
Our annual and well attended Mothers’ Day liturgies will be on Friday the 6th of May. St. Brendan’s will be at 12.30pm followed by a luncheon and St. Mary’s at 2.15 followed by afternoon tea. Please pop these dates and times in your dairies. All Mum’s, Grandmothers and other special women are invited to join us.
NCCD
As a school we collect data on all of our children as it helps inform pour teaching and meet the needs of our children. As we are aware some of our students receive extra support and the school receives funding for the adjustments that are made.
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year. The NCCD is a collection that counts:
- the number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability
- the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.
Please read the attached fact sheet about the NCCD. If you have any questions please contact myself or Callum.
Easter Raffles
Thank you to all of the families that have supported the annual Easter Egg raffle at each school by either buying and selling tickets and donating easter goodies for prizes. Please make sure that tickets and donations are returned when requested. The raffles will be drawn next week. Good luck!!
Congratulations Tina
Last week our very own Tina graduated from Fed Uni with a Masters in Social Work. Well done Tina and congratulations on this amazing achievement. No mean feat while working and looking after a family.
School Photos
School photo envelopes went home with the students on Monday. Each child has their own separate envelope and they must present this to the photographer at the time of their photo being taken. You may drop the completed envelope into the office prior if this is more convenient for you. The children are to wear full summer uniform.
Assemblies
Don’t forget that assemblies are back up and running and we cannot wait to see you. St. Mary’s will have their assembly this Thursday at 2.45pm and St. Brendan’s welcome you all on Thursday the 7th at 2.45 pm.
Gardening and Tidying Roster 2022
McKay Family
21st March - 3rd April
Kocovski Family
4th April - 17th April