Newsletter, Week 4, term 4, no 2

Principal's Report

Dear Parents & Carers,

It’s hard to believe we are already four weeks into Term 4. Over the past couple of weeks, our Junior students have enjoyed their version of school camps. Last week our Year 1/2 students enjoyed their sleepover at school on Thursday night, while last night our Foundation students had their turn with the Prep Tea. Thank you to all the staff who participated and helped out in some way to make both of these events a success and a memorable occasion. These events play an important role in developing both social and independent skills. 

Last Thursday our Foundation students joined the Parish mass where they received their own set of rosary beads as October is the month of the rosary and this has been a tradition at St Mary’s. It was lovely to see some families attend the mass. Last weekend a number of our students received the sacrament of Confirmation. This Saturday at the 6pm mass, there will be another group of students continuing their faith journey as they receive the sacrament of First Eucharist. Please keep these children and their families in your prayers during this special time. 

As we start to reach the end of the 2022 school year, we will begin our transition program in the coming weeks for our 2023 Foundation students. Today our Year 8 students visited Robinvale College for a tour of the school followed by morning tea as part of their transition program. 

This week I would like to provide you with a staffing update. Kieran Mays has indicated that he will not be returning to St Mary’s next year. Kieran has enjoyed his time at St Mary’s but has chosen to take a position in Mildura in order to be closer to his young family. We wish Kieran the very best in his new school. Belle Giofrelle has also indicated she will be moving on next year. Belle intends to move from the area and again, we wish her nothing but the best of luck. I am very pleased to tell you that Sophie Westland has accepted a full time teaching position at St Mary’s. Sophie has been working with us as a CRT and many of you will know her through her work as a local swimming coach and instructor. We are excited to have Sophie join us and look forward to working with her on a more permanent basis.

A reminder to families that we have a Pupil Free Day on Monday October 31st followed by a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday. Our staff will be onsite on Monday working on student assessment and reporting. We hope students and their families enjoy the long weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Wednesday. 

Kind regards,

Andrea Welsh

Religion

Best wishes to the students who will receive their First Eucharist on Saturday October 29th. 

May you always know the peace of Jesus, the light of his love, and the joy of his life within you.

Thank you to all the students and staff that supported Catholic Mission by wearing coloured socks on Tuesday October 18th. Our school raised $220, this donation will help support communities less fortunate than us world wide.

Our thoughts are with the many people who are suffering and are worried about the recent floods in our state. May the rain and flood waters lessen so they can rebuild.  At this time, we hold in our minds and hearts all those affected by the floods and pouring rain.

We remember in prayer:

Those whose lives have been devastated,

Those who are feeling vulnerable and weak

Those who are stranded

Those who are facing both long-term and short-term needs

Those who are homeless in this crippling time 

We pray also for all those who are meeting needs at this time:

Volunteers and community workers

Those working to rescue people who are stranded 

Those supplying food, water, equipment, money and urgent supplies

Those working to clear roadways and homes that have been damaged

Police officers, emergency personnel, medical and social welfare responders

We make all our prayers in the name of Jesus, who reached out always to those most in need.

AMEN

Wellbeing

Primary

Foundation

Did you know what is coming up for the foundation students in the next 7 weeks before the school year ends? We have so many amazing things happening... the colour run, swimming lessons, each class has an assembly performance, saying goodbye to our Year 8 buddies, transition days, lots of testing to see how much we have learned, introducing our last tricky words, celebrating the joyous occasions this time of year has in our Religion topic ‘Joy’ and so much more!

Last night we enjoyed our Foundation tea. Students stayed back after school to enjoy a healthy snack followed by activities on the oval, a disco, dinner and dessert before finishing with a concert for our families. Everyone had a great time!

Please make sure that you are keeping connected with Class Dojo to ensure you get all the necessary information regarding these events. Also a friendly reminder that ALL students need to be changing their readers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

So far Foundation students have been introduced to all the initiaLit sounds, and there is only a few tricky words left to learn. That is 39 sounds that they have been introduced to now. In mathematics lessons we are focusing on identifying the tens and ones in teen numbers and learning our 2D shapes. 

Foundation teachers would like to note that with the rain lately there seems to be a lot more mosquitos around and therefore lots of itchy students lately! We ask if your child needs some cream on them that they get this applied at home before coming to school to help with their itchies! 

The countdown begins until the end of the year, and we look forward to enjoying the many fun things coming up. Keep an eye out for all the information so you can join us all too!

Year 1/2

The year 1/2  students had a great time at their sleepover last week. They enjoyed participating in lots of different games after school on Thursday and a mini disco before going to sleep in classrooms. The following day we went for a walk to the Robinvale Oval and although a bit wet and muddy we still managed to enjoy ourselves. I am sure parents had some very sleepy children Friday afternoon. A huge well done to the excellent behaviour of the students over the course of the two days.             

Just a reminder to encourage your child to bring their reader to school and change books regularly please.

Year 3/4

The Yr 3/4s have been busy learning about different rhyming patterns. We have been working on figurative speech in our reading and writing, with particular fun using alliteration and tongue twisters.

In maths, year 4’s are working with concepts of time and the year 3’s are completing a unit on multiplication and division. 

Our geography unit we have us learning about natural and man-made landmarks of Australia, including states and their capitals. 

Please make sure you are checking Class Dojo regularly for any contact from teachers. Daily home reading is encouraged as part of our homework expectations, with students bringing in their homework and reading diaries regularly to their teacher.

Year 5/6

The Year 5/6 students have been busy working on their information reports and researching and learning about current threats to polar bears and other animals . They’ve been focussing on applying the TEEL structure and making sure they are including appropriate language and technical vocabulary. 

In Math, students have been working on units of capacity and exploring the relationship between millilitres and litres. 

Students have been enjoying learning about the topic of ‘Light’ in Science and understanding when light passes through certain matter, it can be absorbed, reflected and refracted. 

In Humanities, students have been identifying different ways that advertising and media can affect our choices and investigating the influences on young consumers when purchasing clothes and accessories. They’re looking forward to the next stage of designing their own fashion clothes and have started their research and are creating moodboards for inspiration.

Specialist

The Foundation students have been busy practising their performance for their Pre Tea. Their hard work payed off and they looked and sounded fantastic. They sang and performed ‘Going on a Bear Hunt.’

Mr Brouwers 1/2 class will perform their dance sequence at their assembly this week. They all know their parts to play and have put together a great routine.

The other 1/ 2 classes are developing a colourful landscape of the river. We have practised drawing a landscape and the students are now drawing their good copies onto A4 and adding bright, bold colours.

The 3/4 students are looking at the work of Gustav Klimt and his painting of the ‘Tree of Life.’ They are drawing their own grateful trees, adding symbols that represent those things they are grateful for, thankful for and things they can’t live without.

The 5/6 students have looked at the work of Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese painter and designer. Her work is very bold and she uses many patterns in her work. We have been building a pattern bank to use in an original artwork. We have also been studying three different colour theories; monochromatic- meaning one colour and its lights and dark tones, complementary - meaning colours opposite on the colour wheel and warm and cool colours.

Secondary

Homeroom 

Year 8 students visited Robinvale College this morning as the initial stages of their transition program. We were invited to join them for morning tea. 

English

All students have been using their improved writing skills to complete a narrative and a persuasive text. Their focus has been to include different language choices that are appropriate for their topic, and detailed descriptions throughout their narratives to give the reader a complete picture.

Arts

Year 7 have been planning scripts for a specified safety ad. Year 8 have been working on their end of year performance, writing, editing and rehearsing their scripts.

Maths

Year 7 students are beginning their new topic “Representing and Interpreting Data” this week. We will also be working hard on  completing our remaining Maths Pathways modules.

Religion

Year 7’s have been learning about what a covenant is and how there were 8 Biblical covenants that God made with different people throughout the Bible. 

Year 8’s have been discussing the variety of Psalms that are in the bible and have been having a go at creating different types of poems in relation to different types of Psalms.

PE

In Pe the Secondary students have been learning the basic skills of soccer and futsal. They have been working on throwing the ball in correctly and kicking with their preferred foot and opposite foot.

Health

Year 7 have been learning about adolescence and the changes that happen during this time in their lives.

Year 8 have been learning about the influences that can occur during adolescence and have been discussing why these might occur.

Humanities

This term in Humanities the topic has been around Business and Economics and learning about the workforce and what life will be like when they leave school and enter their first job/career. There has been plenty of great discussions about the workforce and what their dream jobs are and how they can get there.

Outdoor Ed

Year 7 students have been researching a variety of outdoor camps that they would like to go on and have found camps from all around the world. Their research task is to find out all the key information to organise this camp, including costs, travel, activities and much more. They have been working hard at finishing their google presentation and which is due in two weeks.

Technology

Last week students enjoyed making some pasta for Lasagne and homemade hamburgers including their own bread rolls.

Electives

Students have begun making their chopping boards in woodwork and they are beginning to take shape.

Other students have been enjoying an afternoon of Golf when the weather has been favourable. 

     Robinvale Swim Club 2022/23 season
The pool is almost ready to open and we are starting preparations  for Season 22/23 Swim Club.

The season will begin the first week of November.  Minimum Age 8, and your child will need to be able to swim 1 lap of freestyle unassisted and demonstrate a knowledge of breaststroke and backstroke.  If you are interested, please inbox your child's name and Date of Birth to:
robinvaleswimclub@outlook.com or message our Facebook page Robinvale Swimming and Diving Club