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- Principal's Report
- RE Week 7 - Who do you say I am?
- Library News
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- Working Bee - Sunday 28 March 2021
- Partners: Parenting Ideas
- March Birthdays
- Photos - Award Recipients Term 1 Week 6
- Photos - Yr 3/4 STEM
- Photos - Yr 5/6 Maths
- Photo - Lunchtime cards with Ms Porteus
- Netball Registration
- TeamKids Holiday Program
- Holiday Happenings
- Deanne Calisthenics Come & Try for Free
Dear Parents and Carers,
Family Week
I hope you are all enjoying Fallow Week – a time to stop, refresh and rejuvenate by spending more time with family and friends without the added commitment of homework! We have Fallow Week in Week 7 of each term as the ‘seventh’ is traditionally observed as the Sabbath or a day of rest.
Reading
This week we were privileged to have Dr. Lorraine Hammond work with our Kinder to Year 2 teachers, along with Susan Chant and myself. Lorraine is a world renowned expert in the teaching of reading. She observed our teachers teaching and also demonstrated one of the High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) - the Daily Review. This will be something that all our teachers will be striving to achieve over the next three years of the Catalyst Program and will support us in the reaching of our two Bold Goals:
- Every student is a competent reader;
- High Impact Teaching Practice is visible in every classroom.
The work we did with Lorraine is heavily research based and is described as The Science of Reading:
‘This body of work is not an ideology, a philosophy, a political agenda, a one-size-fits-all approach, a program of instruction, nor a specific component of instruction. It is the emerging consensus from many related disciplines, based on literally thousands of studies, supported by hundreds of millions of research dollars, conducted across the world in many languages. These studies have revealed a great deal about how we learn to read, what goes wrong when students don’t learn, and what kind of instruction is most likely to work the best for the most students’. Dr Louisa Moats
Put simply in a visual model:
To resource this approach to the teaching of reading, the SCC approved the purchase of $10 000 in new reading books and students will also have access to decodable readers for home reading. This is through the WUSHKA app. The teachers and classroom support assistants are very excited about this focus on the explicit teaching of reading that we are adopting.
Canteen Manager
I am pleased to announce that Mrs Victoria Town will be our new Canteen Manager. Victoria is a chef by profession and has extensive experience in running an excellent school canteen. She has a keen interest and knowledge in nutrition and food values and believes that healthy, simple food made from fresh ingredients is a big factor in our children’s health, happiness and ability to learn. Victoria is also a parent of our school and is now a welcome member of our staff. The canteen will resume operating from the beginning of Term 2, on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, recess and lunch. Flexischools will remain the online ordering platform.
Working Bee
The response for helpers at the Working Bee on Sunday March 28th has been a trickle but I am looking forward to the deluge to come! All the details are further on in the newsletter.
You can let us know directly by clicking on this link
or by returning the slip in the newsletter. Please consider coming along and helping out, even if you can only spare an hour. It’s a great community building event and an opportunity to make the school we are all so proud of, look even better.
School Fees
Term 1 fee payments are now overdue. Thank you to the families who have already settled their accounts. Payment can be made using the Qkr app, Bpay or EFTPOS. As always, if you are experiencing difficulty paying the fees, please do not hesitate to contact Naomi Trussler, Office Manager.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews are next week. Bookings close tonight at 5pm, so if you haven’t booked a time with your child/ren’s teacher/s, please do so before then. Here is the booking link:
Yours in partnership
Ursula Jamieson
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 7 - Who do you say I am?
RE Week 7 - Who do you say I am?
We look forward to celebrating Harmony Day with our grandparents and grandfriends on Monday starting at 9:30am under the tree in the playground. A reminder that families are asked to bring something to share amongst themselves for Morning Tea. There will be no shared Morning Tea this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Mini Vinnies team are well prepared to lead some activities on the day and we are blessed to have Simon Carroll from Global School Partners join us also.
Thank you to the many families who have contributed to our fundraising for our partner school in Kenya. Your contributions are much appreciated. If you have not yet contributed but would like to, we will keep this opportunity available until the end of the day on Monday.
Sacramental program
Thank you to the many families who joined us for the Family Prayer Night and for Mass during the week. We look forward to sharing this important time of Sacramental Preparation with you.
Lent
As we draw closer to Holy Week, just a little reminder about our family Lenten activity. I have had some lovely photos sent in of what families are doing together. It is so important the we are joined as a community through common reflection and focus.
Penny Vanzwol
REC
This week in Library we read a book called “I saw Pete and Pete Saw Me”. It is about a little boy who is generous with his time and friendship towards a homeless man. It begins by suggesting that young people see things that adults often walk past. It is an interesting point for reflection. We discussed being generous with time and companionship and that no matter how much love we give out, God will continue to fill our hearts to ensure we never run out. This could be a lovely discussion point over family dinner.
Penny Vanzwol
Teacher Librarian
Date |
Event |
Friday 19 March |
Mass for Sacrament Enrolments (6pm) |
Monday 22 March |
Harmony Day/Grandparents Day 9:30am - 11:30am |
Tuesday 23 March |
Tuggeranong Regional Swimming Carnival |
Wednesday 24 March |
Parent Teacher Interviews |
Sunday 28 March |
Working Bee 8am - 12pm |