Newsletter #22 August 5
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's Families,
Well, Here we go again! Just when we thought things were getting back to normal, life throws us another challenge. Like all challenges we have two choices, we can run from it or we can meet it head on and embrace it. I know that our children are not overly happpy about remote learning again, as I am sure no one is, however, we need to provide a positive environment for them and us.
Thank you to each and every family for your support so far with the short notice to have pupil free days so that the staff can prepare the remote learning format once more. Like you, we also were caught unaware and have had to adapt very quickly.
Online forms for families who need supervision here at school have been put on daily messages. We do require a letter from your employer if you are identified as an essential worker/service. We are waiting on further advice from the State Government and Catholic education as the list of essential services is being updated. this may impact on who is eligible to attend school. I will inform you if there are any changes.
As we begin Remote learning again, the main entrance gates will open at 8:30am each morning. School will finish at 3.00pm each afternoon. For those children who are attending school onsite , please note that the current covid-19 protocols are still in place.
I cannot stress enough that the most important thing parents can do to keep our community safe is to ensure that if your child has any cold or flu like symptoms that they STAY AT HOME. Any student who presents to school, or develops cold or flu symptoms at school, will be immediately sent home. This requirement will also be applied to all school staff. Symptoms include:
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Headache or body aches
- Moderate to high fever
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhoea
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation during these times.
Students shouldn't be bringing their own hand sanitiser to school unless your child's teacher clearly knows that this is the case. We have strict guidelines that we need to follow as a school in regards to chemical management. This requires us to have a Material and Data Sheet in our chemical register. We have purchased hand sanitiser that is available to students in the classroom, but our current advice is that handwashing with soap is the best method for protecting the community.
On a more positive note, congratulations to this week's Gotcha Award winners. as I have mentioned previously, it is one of the highlights of my day when I get to present the awards to the children.
25 GOTCHA AWARDS:Bianca De Maria, Lily O'Meara-Quayle, Simote Vea, Aidan Silcox, Riana Peiris, Jensen Mitchell, Bella Kennedy, Christian Dobricic
50 GOTCHA AWARDS: Elih Groenen, April Nyabonda, Holliee Tickle, Felix Blanchard, Mia Campbell, Austin Jones, Sophie Lloyd, April Simmons, Jordan Schilling, Alexis Pantazopoulos, Joseph Lloyd, Antonio Holani,Harriet Gibson, Russell Clark, Evan Beyer, Ariani Arden, Mike Hogan
Please be kind to each other as we navigate our way through the uncertainty once more. I will keep you informed of any new changes to remote learning as soon as possible.
More importantly,
Keep the Faith!
Vince Musactello
Principal
Middle Unit News
Hello to all our Middle Unit families,
We are looking forward to connecting with you over remote learning and are working hard right now to ensure that your children are being provided with learning that will be engaging and educational over the next six weeks. Thinking back on last time, if there are any insights or comments you would like to share, don't hesitate to contact us on our emails. All information we have to share with you is done so through the SIMON Everywhere app. If you have not got this or need assistance with it, please call the school on 5023 4567.
At home, students will still be continuing the work we have been doing on persuasive writing. They will use Google Slides to make their own powerful and convincing arguments. In Religion, they are going to be looking at miracle stories and scripture from the Bible. In Reading, we are working on using the text to answers questions. After your child has read any book you could ask them a few questions about it and get them to show you where in the book they got their answer from. Maths will go back to Origo Online and hopefully we can get KAMI up and running for next week.
Best of luck and we hope everyone is well.
Foundation Unit News
Last week the Foundation children were learning about subitising (Instantly recognising the number of objects in a small group, without counting). They were enjoying some hands on activities to help them match the numerals to the visual representation.
This week learning packs have gone home with the children. Please only complete what is in the week 4 folder this week. The rest of the resources are for the remaining weeks and the teachers will let the children know when to complete them. We ask that you encourage your children to read every day. They have all taken home extra books and hopefully they will have some books at home also.
As we head into remote learning again, it is important to have a positive attitude and work together to achieve the best result for the children. We can do this!
Arts News
As well as learning all about communication through the "languange of Emojis", the junior students have had a great time spreading joy and light through the school by creating these wonderful life sized Emojis!
Emojis can help to convey emotions that sometimes words cannot portray, just like the old saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. Emojis are meant to be fun and light hearted, just what the doctor ordered in these uncertain and stressful times.
Check out these beautiful Emoji works of art brought to you by our Grade 1 and 2 students :)
Emoji Art
Hold each other tight, find the beauty in the little things and STAY SAFE.
Jess Freeman x
Physical Education Update
All grades continued to practice their athletic techniques last week. Here are some photos showcasing some shot put, vortex throw and triple jump skills. This week we only had one day at school on site, so the Senior lesson was modified to focus just on team games that cannot be conducted during remote learning. The students had a lot of fun playing Tic Tac Toe, the Splat Hop Challenge and a quick game of Star Wars (dodgeball) at the end. Here are a number of photos from that day too. I had to include the photo of one of the students hanging their mask on the buddy wagon, not a sight I ever thought I would see at school!
While remote learning is certainly a challenge for us all, try and focus on the positive aspects that this time can bring to your family. I look forward to creating an engaging PE curriculum for home, and hope that you have the opportunity to try at least some (preferably all) the activities. At the very least, remember that learning happens best when movement is included throughout the day. Stay safe everyone!
Junior Athletic Skills
Tic Tac Toe
Splat Hop Challenge
Junior Unit News
On Thursday the 30th July; J6 celebrated one hundred days of learning at school. We keep a check of how many days we have been learning by adding one pop stick a day to a plastic container. Once we get to ten we use a rubber band to make it into a bundle. (You may have seen it on the remote learning videos)
To celebrate this milestone occasion, we ate some Freckles and Hundreds and Thousands biscuits and made a 100th day of school crown. We have been enjoying ‘100 days’ activities such as How many small words can make from the words ‘One Hundred’?
100 Days at School
