Newsletter #06 March 10
- Principal's News
- BEGINNING OF YEAR PICNIC
- Senior Unit News
- Middle Unit News
- Junior Unit News
- Foundation Unit News
- Technology News
- ONLINE LEARNING PORTFOLIOS - Grades 3 to 6
- Arts News
- HARMONY WEEK- Everyone Belongs!
- Library News
- Hands Up Mallee
- Sunraysia Catholic Communities Bulletin
- Parent Noticeboard
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's update. I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and had an opportunity to relax and spend time with your family.
There are quite a few things happening at school over the next week. Hopefully you are able to come along and join in. I know it's something that we have missed over the last 12 months.
“Walking off the War Within” - This Friday is a Casual Clothes day for the children as we support a local charity focussing on mental health. We ask the children to bring a gold coin donation in support of this day. The actual Walk is this Saturday 13th March. You will notice the billboard on the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and 14th Street promoting the event. If you are able to get down on the day and support this worthwhile cause it would be great.
Middle Unit Liturgy - This Friday morning at 9.15am in the chapel. If you are to able to come along, please do and join with the children in celebrating their first liturgy.
Whole School Family Picnic Evening- On Monday 15th March from 6.00 - 7.30pm you are invited to come and have a picnic on the school grounds. Our senior student play leaders will be organising activities for the children to participate in while you sit back relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Uniforms- At assembly on Friday I reminded the children to make sure their hats and jumpers are clearly labelled. The weather is quite cool in the mornings but warms up during the day. Children tend to take their jumpers off and forget to put them in their bags. It is so much easier to return a jumper or a hat to a child when it has their name on it.
St Joseph's College Open Evening - Tuesday 16th March from 4.00-7.00pm at the Enright and Mercy Campuses. For those families with children in Year 6, it is an excellent opportunity to tour the college and see what they have to offer.
Congratulations to this week's Bee Milestone Achievers- an outstanding effort.
BEE MILESTONE AWARDS: Mischa Pascale, Niro Arden, Abbie Freeth, Angus Hissey, Joseph Lloyd, Dexter Madden, Olly Morton, Nhu Nguyen, Maggie Slimmon, Dustin Simmons, Jessica Ram, Cienna Pascale, April Nyabonda, Levi Morton, Geordie Moraitis, Max Milsteed, Skylar Humphrey, Oliver Harradine, Ava Fidura, Bridie Cranston and Milan Caristo
As Always
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
BEGINNING OF YEAR PICNIC
You are invited to the Beginning of year Family Picnic
When: 6pm-7.30pm
Where: John Hill Oval
The Play Leaders will be running games for parents and children alike!
BYO chairs and picnic dinner (zooper doopers will be supplied).
Senior Unit News
Let's begin by saying a big thank you to Father Matthew for celebrating with us at our Senior Unit Liturgy last Friday morning, it was so nice to be back in our Chapel with students and parents again after approximately twelve months.
This week students will be spending a good amount of time focussing their attention on the writing of a historical narrative. This task follows on nicely from the MAPPEN unit that they completed in week 5 and hopefully a number of students will be able to include historical facts about our district within their narratives. Senior students will also be given the opportunity in classtime over the next few weeks to be involved in The 'Write 4 Fun' competition. Students' first and last name, along with their age will be entered. If you would NOT like your child's work entered, please let your child's teacher know. For more information, please visit www.write4fun.net
Unfortunately, the current COVID restrictions have resulted in the cancellation of the planned excursion to St Joseph's College for our year 5 students next Tuesday, but hopefully this disappointment will be overshadowed by the fun had on Monday night at our School Family Picnic. We look forward to catching up with as many parents and carers as possible, see you there.
Middle Unit News
Congratulations to all students who bravely delivered a speech to their class, hoping to be elected to the 2021 Student Representative Council (SRC). It was clear that a lot of thought and energy went into these. Congratulations to the newly elected SRC members for 2021: Akesa Toto (M1), Keelan Roper & Emilia Capp (M2), Mia Aranas (M9) Mila Pascale & Aaron Clark (M10).
M2 were treated to a special guest on Thursday morning last week, when Miss Burt brought in her two stick insects! The children loved getting to see the animals and learn a little bit about them.
We enjoyed the Book Fair last week - it was nice to see the students so excited about reading and books! Thank you to our wonderful librarian Ms Marg for running this for us.
In Reading this week we are reading the book Lester and Clyde. This book has some fantastic rich vocabulary in it. We are looking at some of these words and clarifying their meaning. We hope to be able to use these words in our writing. Furthermore the book introduces us to the real life problem of pollution. It makes us stop and think about the impact we are having on our natural environment and our animals. A great discussion for the dinner table could be what can we do to improve our impact?
In Writing this week we are using our skills we learnt last week (how to write great sentence) to write a narrative. We look forward to letting our imaginations run wild.
In Numeracy we will be having some fun with shape.
In Religion we are learning about relationships and the different types of relationships we have. Don’t forget our liturgy this Friday. It would be great to have you all celebrate with us and then join in our shared brain food.
We are loving sharing in our students learning journeys.
The Middle Unit Team.
Junior Unit News
Hello Junior Families! We hope you all had a lovely long weekend.
The Junior students have been busy engaging in their learning.
This week in Maths, we have continued our learning about Place Value. We have been learning how to read, write, order, represent and interpret numbers.
In Writing, we have been learning how to write sentences that make sense and include a capital letter and full stop. Some students have begun writing narratives that include a character, setting and a kick off (the introduction of a problem that will be resolved within the story).
In Reading, we have been learning how to identify rhyming words using familiar Nursery Rhymes.
We have been learning about the ‘Zones of Regulation’ and what it means when we say we are in the ‘Green Zone’. This Zone is when we are feeling happy and are ready to learn.
In Religion, we are continuing our learning about ‘Belonging’ and have begun learning about the Sacrament of Baptism. We have been exploring the symbols of Baptism. It would be lovely if students could bring in some photos of their Baptism to share with their class.
On Friday of Week 8 (19th March) we will be having our Junior Unit Liturgy at 9:15 in the hall. We would love it if families could join us to celebrate.
Foundation Unit News
Tomorrow night the Foundation Unit will be holding their Book Buddy night. It will be a wonderful opportunity to come and learn about what reading looks like in the Foundation Unit at St Paul's. We will have Bec Thurman (Literacy Leader) begin the evening with a discussion about how you can support your child at home with reading. The parents will then join their children and take part in some Reading Activities. At the end of the session parents will have the opportunity to purchase a book that will be donated to the school Library, it will have your child's name and a photo on the inside cover. The school will be providing a crèche for any families who need support , if you would like to use this facility please let your child's teacher know ASAP.
The children are taking home readers every night and it is very important to take the time to sit and listen to them read and encourage a love of reading early on. This will help with their confidence and ability when reading.
On the last day of Term 1 the Foundation Unit have a very funfilled day planned and parents are invited to join in the fun.
9:15am - Holy Thursday Liturgy
10:00am - Brain Food with parents
10:15am - Easter Bonnet Parade (The Foundation students are to make their hats at home and bring them into school the day before the parade)
Technology News
The Technology Room was a buzz of fun and excitment last Wednesday during Year 1 & 2 lessons. Students began learning to create and organise information using digital systems. Our chosen digitial system is our class Chromebooks and we have started by exploring the keyboard; learning the location of different letters and basic punctuation keys. Knowing where to locate letters and basic punctation on the keyboard will help us when we create our own digital texts. The 'Keyboard Builder' game was perfect for helping us practice locating keys on the keyboard.
Free Cyberbullying and Online Drama Webinar
Next week, in conjunction with National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence (19 March 2021), the Office of the eSafety Commissioner are offering a free webinar for parents.
The webinar will cover:
- starting conversations with your child about their online friendships and positive ways to deal with changing relationships
- understanding the rights, laws and community expectations that govern social media use
- where to seek help if your child is involved in a cyberbullying incident.
There are several sessions to choose from:
- Tuesday 16 March 7.30 to 8.30 pm
- Wednesday 17 March 12.30 to 1.30 pm
- Wednesday 17 March 7.30 to 8.30 pm
- Thursday 18 March 3.30 to 4.30 pm
- Monday 22 March 12.30 to 1.30 pm
All sessions are delivered by eSafety's expert education and training team. Use the link below to register.
Until next week remember, the internet gave us access to everything; but it also gave everything access to us.
Mrs Narelle Simms
ONLINE LEARNING PORTFOLIOS - Grades 3 to 6
Students in grades 3 to 6 will move away from the hard copy learning portfolio that has been traditionally handed out at the end of semester 1 and 2. Students in these grades will upload samples of work fortnightly to show parents “snap shots” of their learning. Parents will be able to access student learning through SIMON Everywhere and see what the learning intention for the task was. Samples will begin to be uploaded from next week.
To access your child’s learning, please select the child you want to view, select learning tasks from the drop down menu and click on the task you wish to view.
As always, any questions, please contact your child’s teacher.
Arts News
Our sensational seniors created some fantastic artwork during MAPPEN week. They were learning about the things that shape our region and we spent some time thinking about the things that have shaped us. What makes me "me"?
Check out some of their amazing artwork!
Self Portraits
Check out all the fun our fantastic foundations have been having catching bubbles on their pages to create their Bubble Art!
Bubble Art
HARMONY WEEK- Everyone Belongs!
Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. During this week, St Paul’s students will students will participate in a Harmony Day activity.
Library News
Hands Up Mallee
This week is a reminder that even though the weather may seem to be getting milder, it is not a time to become complacent with being SunSmart. The sun’s UV rays are still consistently hovering around 9 each day, meaning that the potential for long term damage from the sun is still quite high and we need to protect ourselves from harmful UV rays. Please help us to do this by making sure your child has a clearly marked hat for school each day and talk to them about how important it is to wear a hat and to be SunSmart.
Breakfast Club Roster | ||
Friday: 5th March Maddilyn G Yasmin G | Monday: 8th March Naomi H Jacob M | Wednesday: 10th March Ryan M Deji O |
Sunraysia Catholic Communities Bulletin
Parent Noticeboard
Come and play baseball!
Hawks Baseball Club
Junior Registration & Training
Wednesday 7th April
4:30-6pm at
Southern Cross Ballpark (Aero Ovals)
New players will receive a free baseball starter kit.
Under 7 Teeball (Under 7’s can be any age Under 7 )
Under 10, 13, & 16 Baseball
For more information, please contact:
Clint Williams 0438 389 638
Corey Barbary 0409 413 261