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Dear parents and carers,
This week has seen each class working busily on various units of study for this term.
This morning we completed our cross-country run. The children did a fantastic job on a course that was very different, we stayed inside the school grounds and completed laps according to age groups.
Thank you to Mrs Best for coordinating this event for us.
Take the time to read the persuasive writing that our K/1’s have been busy with this round of publishing. They have been exploring different ways to convince you about something.
Yr. 2/3/4 have been looking at mapping this week, and making use of a bird’s eye view, this is making for some interesting representations of different scenes.
Our Yr.5/6 class has continued monitoring our water use to determine if or how we could make simple adjustments to daily routines to reduce wastage of our limited resources.
Our new chooks are settling in well and are making short work of our lunch scraps – another form of recycling at work!
We have also had some further work done this week in preparation for the connection to the recycled water – this water will be used to keep our oval green, while not so vital at this time, we can all remember how dry it has been in recent years and we are very excited to be able to complete works that will allow us to maintain green play spaces for the children.
Please be aware that the raised dust and windy weather may lead to extra sniffles or asthma like symptoms this week – please take precautions as appropriate most especially in relation to those who suffer from asthma. Now is a good time to review your child’s asthma plan and provide an updated copy to us at school.
Thank you to those families who have ensured that all clothing is labelled, this has been even more helpful as the weather warms up – it makes everything much easier when returning lost property to the right person.
PLANT-A-DIFFERENCE – our school SRC group has been looking into different options for activities or fundraisers in these challenging times. The team have found an online fundraiser that can be run between now and Term 4. Information about this is included with this newsletter. I encourage you to support this terrific initiative introduced by our school SRC.
This effort to preserve Australia’s biodiversity links well with the work that our Yr. 5/6 children are curretly undertaking as part of their Geography/ Science units for this term.
Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding regarding the updated health guidelines as provided by Health NSW. These protocols will remain in place at least until the end of this term. Reminder all families:
- If your child is unwell, they should not attend school.
- Please ensure that children who present with cold and flu like symptoms/covid-19 symptoms is tested. The results of tests are to be forwarded to school.
End of Year Celebrations - We are hopeful that Term 4 will see a reduction to regulation levels and that our usual end of year events can go ahead as planned.
As such please set aside Thursday December 10 – Speech night and Tuesday December 15 for our graduation/end of year celebration Mass.
We will confirm these dates for you.
P & F – thank you to Mrs Baker for ensuring that our Canteen lunch orders were filled smoothly yesterday. An order form is attached, all orders must be returned to school by Tuesday. We ask that you include correct money amounts where possible.
Changes to routine - Thank you to those families who are keeping us informed when children are absent from school, or there are changes to the regular routine.
Please make it your custom to check in at the office if your children are running late to school – we appreciate your efforts to do this.
Take care and stay safe,
This week I offer all the fathers in our community a belated Father’s Day prayer. Ms Schneider shared this prayer with us this week at our staff meeting and it struck a chord with me. I have been doing a lot of thinking about my past lately, as I share stories of my personal history with the K/1 students. I have some great memories of my dad. I also have a son who is about to become a father for the first time. So, to all the dads and soon-to-be dads out there and in memory of my dad, I offer you this prayer.
A Prayer for Fathers
Let us praise those fathers who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.
Let us praise those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a worthy and virtuous father.
Let us praise those fathers who, by their own account, were not always there for their children, but who continue to offer those children, now grown, their love and support. As well, let us pray for those fathers who have been wounded by words and actions of their children.
Let us praise those fathers who, despite marital discord, have remained in their children's lives.
Let us praise those fathers whose children are adopted, and whose love and support have nurtured a thriving life.
Let us praise those fathers who, as stepfathers, freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earned their stepchildren's love and respect.
Let us praise those fathers who have lost a child to death,
and continue to hold the child in their heart.
Let us praise those men who have no children,
but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.
Let us praise those men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides.
Let us praise those men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children.
And let us praise those fathers who have died but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.
Amen
Prayer retrieved from https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer
Some people are under the impression that Kinder and Year One students only do very easy work. This week, the students have written the class news in order to persuade you that they do some challenging work, even though they are only in Kinder and Year One.
Science
Kindergarten and Year One learn hard Science. We have been learning about materials like wood. The wood is on the window frame. Another material we have learning about is plastic. A chair can be made of plastic. We learned that plastic is waterproof.
By Cayless
We do other hard work in K/1 too…
Mary Poppins
In Kindergarten and Year One we have been listening to our teacher read Mary Poppins. This is a chapter book without any pictures. Mrs King asks us questions to make sure we are listening and thinking about the book. My favourite character is Mary Poppins because she takes the children on adventures.
By Emily
Hard Maths
Kinder and Year 1 students work with large numbers, shapes and measurement.
We count by tens or we can count by other numbers. For example, we can start at 450 and count by tens.
We can do addition and subtraction. For example: 1000 - ? = 100 or
200 + 10 + 7 = ?
We have also done hefting. Hefting is weighing 2 things with your hands or cups to see which one is heaviest.
There are lots of different shapes in maths. A hexagon has 6 sides and 6 corners. A triangle only has 3 sides and 3 corners. A square has 4 sides and 4 corners.
As you can see, we do lots of tricky maths work.
By Charlie
Big Words
We have a special book for the new words that we learn. Each word has a picture to help us remember what it means. Some of our new words are grimace, inflatable and aggressive. Another new word is cumquat, which is a fruit. A calendula is a flower and a perambulator is a pram. Apologetically is a really big word we have been learning!
By Adelaide and Brydie
Religious Education
The students in the K/1 class have been learning about Jewish people and the Passover in Jerusalem. Jesus’ parents were Mary and Joseph. Jesus stayed in Jerusalem after the Passover festival. His parents were worried about him. They went back to Jerusalem and found him in the synagogue asking the priests lots of questions.
By Jed
K\1 learned about the Seder plate. This is a special plate of food for Jewish people. It helps them to remember how hard it was for Jewish people to be slaves in Egypt.
This is what a seder plate has on it. By Jack
