Newsletter, Week 2, Term 3 #1

Principal's Report

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome to our first newsletter for term 3! The term is already well underway and as busy and productive as ever.

As we begin the new term I’d like to start by offering a few friendly reminders. The first is to ask that you make sure you call or email the office, preferably before lunch time, to let us know if there are changes to your children’s daily travel arrangements. It’s really important that we have this information to avoid unnecessary confusion and sometimes missing a bus!

Please remember that all students, other than those travelling on buses, are to enter and exit the school grounds through the Parke Street gate. While it may be tempting to use the main gate on Watkin Street or to come through admin, there is still a lot of building activity at the Nicholls Street end of the school and the last thing we want is for any of our students to get hurt, particularly as we are nearly at the end of the building project. Once the building is complete and everything is operating smoothly we will be delighted to welcome you all through the front gate again.

Towards the end of last term we noticed that there seem to be a significant number of students leaving school early and this trend has continued into this term. We understand that from time to time appointments need to be made during school hours and circumstances occur that require you to pick your children up before the end of the school day but, unless it is absolutely necessary, please think carefully about doing this. Leaving the classroom early can be disruptive to everyone involved and can have an adverse effect on learning programs, impacting the student leaving early and those around them.

Finally, if you have any concerns about your child’s learning, well being or behaviour we are always ready to listen to you and do what we can to help. Please remember that in these instances your child’s classroom teacher is always the first point of contact. Teacher’s can be reached by email or dojo. Phoning the office is not the best option as messages can get lost, misunderstood or delayed as they find their way to the right person to deal with the issue. If the teacher cannot resolve the problem, or you are not satisfied with the outcome then please feel free to contact a Deputy Principal or myself. If your concern is about a teacher or any other member of staff you should contact me directly. Catholic Education Ballarat has developed a flow chart to help direct you to the right place when you have concerns or complaints which we have included in this newsletter for your information.  

We hope you enjoyed reading your child’s Semester One Report. These were sent to your mailing address on the last day of term 2. If you haven’t received yours please contact the office to arrange a replacement. 

We started this term by celebrating NAIDOC Week. The week began with a whole school assembly that featured thIs year’s NAIDOC theme ‘For our Elders” and ended with another assembly that showcased many aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait people’s culture and our student’s very own Acknowledgement of Country. In between assemblies there were many class based activities, stories and experiences shared. The school is currently full of wonderful NAIDOC displays that are worth popping in to look at, if you get a chance. A huge thank you to Jess Baldock, Kirstyn Pepping, Simone Mitchell and Mikayla McGowan-Rickard, our NAIDOC Week planning team, for their wonderful work. Thanks also to the rest of the staff and students who supported them and contributed to the success of the celebrations.

Last week our Year 5/6 students travelled to Red Cliffs to participate in the Sunraysia South Primary Lightning Premierships. Our students were very competitive and a great day was had by all, with many of our teams winning games in their respective divisions and sports. Thanks to all the students, Des Lowry, the Year 5/6 team and Tehan Kelleher for their organisation and participation on the day and for representing our school so well.

This term we welcome Ashleigh Roper to our staff. Ashleigh has relocated to Robinvale with her family and will be working with our Year 7 & 8 students as a Learning Support Officer. We also welcomed several new students to our school. We hope they enjoy their time with us and that they find many opportunities to grow and learn in our community. At the end of next week we farewell Molly Heeps as she moves on to the next exciting stage of her life. Thanks for everything Molly and we wish you the very best of luck!

Kind regards, 

Andrea Welsh

Religion

Last term our Social Justice Leader and Class Captains organised a PJ day and Hot Chocolate fundraiser as well as a non perishable food drive to support St Vincent De Paul’s winter appeal locally in Robinvale. The students raised over $570 and a large donation of food which was gratefully received by St Vinnies members this week.

Please note students in Year 3 and above wishing to register for the sacrament of confirmation need to contact the parish and complete the registration forms by Sunday 13th August.

Confirmation preparation day - Sunday 13th August

Confirmation Mass - Saturday October 21st.

SWPBS

The SWPBS focus for next week is to take care of our own, others and classroom property.

Primary

Foundation

Well done to all Foundation students on such a successful transition back to school after the holidays. Everyone has settled in so well and is incredibly busy with their learning. In our writing this term, we are focusing on how to write our letters correctly using a dotted thirds book which will also be used in Year 1 next year. In Mathematics, we have been learning about the days of the week, as well as identifying Australian notes and coins. Next Thursday the 27th of July is the Foundation students ‘100th Day of School’ celebration day. We are really looking forward to dressing up like we are 100 years old and enjoying some exciting 100 themed activities. Please continue to support your child at home with their reading each night and practising of tricky words.

Year 1/2

Welcome back to Term 3! The year is whizzing by so rapidly. We had such a wonderful time last week immersing ourselves in Dreamtime stories to align with NAIDOC week celebrations. Our current literacy focus has been on recounts and retelling a story. In our maths lessons, we have learned about the jump strategy and the use of doubles in adding and subtraction. 

We continue to encourage daily reading at home, with reader dairies to be returned regularly to be signed by the classroom teachers.

Year 3/4

What a great start to Term 3. The 3/4 students had a wonderful week during NAIDOC week celebrating our First Nations People and their culture. Students also took some time to think about their own elders/grandparents and why they are so special to them. Our students have written some lovely prayers for their grandparents.

Our reading focus at the moment is using strategies to help us read and understand what we are reading. Students are using the questions; does it look right, sound right and make sense while they are reading. Once they have finished reading we are using different levels of questions about what we have read. 

In Humanities we are learning about geography and where other countries are in relation to Australia. Science is all about typography and different soil types and the theme in Religion this term is respect.

Just a reminder that bracelets are not part of the school uniform and need to stay at home.

Year 5/6

Well done to all our students who participated in the Lightning Premership competition last week. We were proud of thier efforts and sportsmanship on the day. In English we are focusing on explanations, students are busy writing about the life cycle of their chosen animal. Camp is fast approaching please remember the packing list and label all items. Miss Jacky will have their assembly tomorrow, with Mrs C Chirchiglia performing their assembly on Friday July 28th.

Lightning Premierships

Perfoming Arts

During Term 3 and 4 students will be participating in Performing Arts lessons. 

Years 1-4 will be focussing on learning about music and have started looking at body percussion, percussion instruments, beat and rhythm. 

Year 5-6 have been participating in Drama lessons and are working on building their confidence, ability to have a go, projecting their voices and improvisation skills. 

We have also been working hard to finish off the toilet paper sculptures years 3-6 started last term in Visual Art. This process involved researching a food item, sketching it and taking note of the shape of the food and the colours. Then students used a combination of dry and wet toilet paper to begin moulding their food shape. Once the sculptures dried the students painted them in realistic colours. So far we have a number of different food sculptures in the making such as cupcakes, fairy floss, hamburgers and pancakes. Keep an eye out for the sculptures displayed at school.

Secondary

Year 7/8 Homeroom

Welcome back students to Term 3! It is hard to believe that the first six months of school have flown by so quickly, and we can only anticipate that the next will go by just as fast. As we embark on this new term, we kindly remind both parents and students that it is essential for students to arrive to class fully equipped and ready for learning. It is expected that all necessary materials and equipment are brought to school each day, as being organized and prepared is the responsibility of every student. Let's continue to make the most of our time together and strive for success in all that we do. Here's to a wonderful Term 3!

Religion

Year 8 students are beginning their unit focusing on Journey and Challenges. We will be reviewing Lebron James journey to the NBA, looking at our own personal journey’s and then focusing on Jesus’ journey.

PE

Students are focusing on developing their skills in shot put, discus, long jump, triple jump, high jump and javelin in preparation for our upcoming athletic carnival.

Health

Year 7 students are developing their knowledge and understanding of the effects of drugs and alcohol and focusing on good decision making and harm minimisation approaches.

Year 8 students are learning about different types of relationships, positive relationships and how this can be applied to our personal lives.

Maths

In Year 8 Math this term we have started a new topic on Measurement. Students will be learning about Perimeter, Area, Volume and the Surface Area of shapes.

Science

Year 7 & 8 students are busy  investigating and preparing their science fair projects. Our Science Fair will be held on Wednesday August 15th - more information to follow in the coming weeks.

Careers

Year 7’s will be learning about careers this semester which will involve learning  about themselves and starting to explore the different pathways.

Food Technology

Year 8 students enjoyed baking chocolate brownies in cooking this week. Our focus was to review past cooking techniques, equipment and kitchen safety.

The Arts

Last week as part of our Art lessons, the students explored different Indigenous artworks in recognition of NAIDOC week. They used these along with symbols as inspiration to create their own dot paintings.