Dear Parents and Carers,

Our third term of learning for 2018 is now well underway. The children and their teachers continued with a mainly classroom focussed week.  It is interesting to see how learning focus are unfolding for this term.

I encourage you to talk with your children about the topics that they have been looking at in class.  You never know, they might be able to share with you, a focus or understanding that you have not previously considered in relation to that topic.

Public speaking has been a feature in Years 3-6 and it has been terrific to hear about different stories/events of significance.

With our weather continuing to be very changeable, we have been encouraging the children to put jumpers and coats on outside of the classrooms.  We have also been reminding the children to ensure that they have their jumpers in their schoolbags at the end of each day, in preparation for the continuing cold mornings.

Please continue to ensure that your child’s clothing is clearly labelled for ease of identification.

Over the first few weeks of this term, we have been talking with the children about the importance of aspiring to be our best.  We all know that at times it can be difficult to make right choices when our friends may not.  However, making those difficult choices can prove to ourselves that we are able and willing to do what is right.  These conversations will continue over the coming weeks.

We have also been talking about our understanding that whislt we have a right to a range of different things, this also means that we have a responsibility to ensure that we don’t take those same rights away from others.  Again, this is a challenging topic to have a clear understanding of, however, it has provided for some excellent conversations around how the actions of others can have a negative effect on myself.

School photos –our school photos were taken on Monday. We will let you know when these are available to take home.

Yetu’s Award – on Friday August 10, Yetu will receive her award from the Hon Mr Michael McCormack (deputy prime minister) here at school.  At midday, we will hold an assembly and the award will be presented at this time.  You are welcome to join us at this assembly.

K/1/2 Science – K/1/2 are asking for your help – if you have any empty soft drink bottles that are clean, please send these it to K/1/2.  The bottles will be put to good use in their science unit.

Book Week – Book week is coming…

The theme for 2018 is Find your treasure…

Now is the time to start thinking about the Book Character parade and what characters we might be seeing on the day.  Remember to bring a copy of the book that your character appears in to the parade.

Book Club – please finalise all remaining orders by close of business Friday August 10 (tomorrow).

Changes to routines – thank you to those families who are keeping us informed when there is a change to the routine at the end of the day.  This helps to make departures flow smoothly.

If there has been a change to the regular routine, please let us know.

Sincerely,   

Prayer for those affected by drought

God of all creation hear our prayer; bring us rain to renew the ground,

to replenish our dams, to activate seeds,
to bring the possibility of some reward
to those who have worked so hard.

We turn to you in faith and hope.

We pray for our communities across the

Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn,

and all affected by drought in the Great South Land.
We pray for all those who live under the shadow of drought.

We pray for those who work with the land,
for farmers and their families, for those who rely upon the land for their life and relationships.

We pray for contractors, merchants and truck drivers, for rural counsellors and support workers, for all in our rural communities.

May the revitalisation of your Spirit
present in miraculous and truly human ways,
be with all of us as we move forward into the days ahead.

We pray too, for justice; for fair prices for our stock, our wool and our grain.
We pray for governments, banks and corporations – may they be driven by wisdom, generosity, justice and compassion.

We pray for each other,
keep us aware of the needs of those around us;
for those who are struggling,
and those carrying heavy burdens.

Restore those who are far from you
with the knowledge that they are loved and valued.

Give them not just a sense of renewal,
but a sense of hope and purpose for lives
that are finding the journey hard.

Bring us rain to renew us, Lord.

We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Many blessings to all but particularly those who are suffering because of the drought,

LITERACY

“A good book is an event in my life.” 
― Stendhal, The Red and the Black

Artful artists

Children love to be creative when it comes to drawing, and illustrations add visual imagery to stories.

What you'll need:

Drawing paper, Pens and pencils, Magic markers or crayons

What to do:

Find a fable, fairy tale, or other short story for your child to read. Then ask your child to illustrate a part of the story he or she likes best or describe a favourite character. Have the child dictate or write a few sentences that tell about this picture.

Adapted from readingrockets.org 

NUMERACY

Give your children a boost in maths by encouraging them to work out sums in their head.

Most calculations that we carry out each day we do in our heads. With some calculations, we feel the need to reach for paper and pencil or a calculator. Yet when we play a game of darts or cards or even watch a rugby league game, we rely on carrying out lots of mental calculations. How many points are needed to win? How many converted tries will put our team in front and is there enough time?

Travelling, sharing a bill, shopping, playing or watching sport, and getting dinner ready all involve mental calculations. The methods we use when we work things out in our heads are often not the same methods that we use when we write down a sum.

The processes involved in mental calculations have remained a mystery for many children and even for many adults. Working out 998 x 3 is a hard task, even when using pen and paper if you don't realise that you can find the answer mentally by subtracting 6 from 3,000.

How children learn to work maths out in their heads?

Children begin by counting things they can see and using objects to add and subtract. They begin to think of ways to add and subtract without having to use objects. One of the early ways in which children learn to add two numbers in their head is to start with the larger number and count by ones to add the second number. This is an effective way when adding on small numbers. As children begin to deal with larger numbers, they develop a range of ways other than counting by ones.

For example, to find out the answer to 25 + 89, children could:

• make the 89 up to 90, then add 10 and then 14
• add 20 and 80 to make 100, then add 9 and 5 to make 14, then add 100 and 14
• add 10 twice to 89 and then add 5 more.

One of the interesting things about mental calculations is that people don't all think the same way.

What can parents do to help their children work out maths in their head?

• Ask your child how they mentally worked out the answer to a question. Explain how you would mentally work out the answer. If your child can't work out the answer mentally, give them objects to use for counting.
• Ask your child to work out how much change they will get when paying for something at the shops.
• If your child is saving to buy something, ask how much more money they will need to save before being able to buy it.
• Encourage your child to estimate the cost of two items when shopping.
• When playing games that use two dice, replace dot dice with ones that have numbers on them.
• If watching a game involving two teams, ask your child to work out mentally the difference in the scores.

Involve your child in working out costs associated with holiday travel. For example, "How much will it cost if we stay five nights and the cost each night is $75?"