Newsletter #17 June 16
- Principal's News
- ST PAUL'S FEAST DAY
- SENIOR UNIT NEWS
- Middle Unit News
- Junior Unit News
- Foundation Unit News
- Technology News
- NEW DATE - Cyber Safety Parent Information Session
- REPORTS AND LEARNING JOURNALS - Semester One
- Arts News
- Learning Diversity News
- Physical Education News
- Hands Up Mallee
- Parent Noticeboard
- Continuous Raffle Draw
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's news.
We are almost at the end of term and halfway through the school year. It's certainly been an interesting first half of the year. Hopefully, the second half will only get better. I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and had a chance to "recharge" your batteries.
Last week I informed our senior students and families that the senior unit camp has been postponed. We are currently looking at other dates and options to ensure the children will get to have a camp experience either in term three or term four. We will certainly keep you informed as more information comes to hand.
As a result of the postponement of the camp, Our St Paul's Feast day will now be held on the last day of term. At this stage I am waiting for further information regarding parents being able to attend onsite for the Mass and assembly to conclude the term. Hopefully, I will know something before the end of this week.
Welcome to Rebecca, Kristy, Maeva and Chloe, who have continued their Learning Support Officer Placements at St Paul's. They are working across the school supporting children as they learn more about what is involved as an LSO.
Today Mr Heath McClaer and some former students from St Paul's came and visited the senior unit children. We have been trying on a number of occasions for this visit to occur. It's a great opportunity for the children to learn more about St Joseph's College and what it has to offer.
Next Monday the First semester reports will be available for Foundation - Gr 6 on the Simon Everywhere App. Portfolios for Foundation - Gr 2 will be sent home with the Students and Gr 3 - 6 students have electronic portfolios as part of their report.
Congratulations to this week's milestone achievers for following our norms.
BEE MILESTONE: Ruby Oliver, Lam Nguyen, Chloe Moir, Jacob Metcalf, Jack Hogan, Elih Groenen, Harper Caristo & Ofa Ahotaeiloa.
HIVE MILESTONE: Leon Zaire, Cooper Wilkens, Abbiegail Peters, Alexis Pantazopoulos, Isla Madden, Dexter Madden, Grace Luo, Xander Hunia, Denim Humphrey, Charlotte Hogan, Annalise Goncalves-Wood, Shivreet Gill & Jessica Allieu.
As always,
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
ST PAUL'S FEAST DAY
SENIOR UNIT NEWS
Welcome to week 9
Today Deputy Principal, Heath McClaer, from St Joseph's College came to talk to the Grade 5 & 6 students about transitioning to secondary school. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions the senior unit students have missed out on attending a transition day to St Joseph's. As restrictions ease hopefully they will get an opportunity later in the year to attend a day onsite at the College.
A reminder to students and parents that you MUST bring your Chromebook to school each day fully charged. The students complete many tasks on it each day and it is an important tool in their learning.
Have a great week, from the Senior Team.
Middle Unit News
Last week our students worked really hard on using the powerful language to write introductions to their narrative. They used Jackie Frenchs books 'Fire' and 'Flood' as inspiration. Attached are some photos of our students amazing work. Unfortunately, we can't put all the amazing work in here but we would welcome parents to come in and read their child's work when allowed back onsite.
Junior Unit News
Last week, the Junior Unit began participating in a ‘Phonics Review’. We have been practicing identifying long vowel sounds and the various letter combinations that can be used to produce the sound. For instance, the long ‘a’ sound can be made using the letter combinations ai, ay or a. The students have been learning how to read and write words that contain the long ‘a’ sound. This week we are moving on to reviewing the long ‘o’ sound using the letter combinations oa and ow. I wonder if your child can locate these sounds in their daily reading?
During Writing on Tuesday, the students worked with a partner to brainstorm a variety of character and setting ideas using pages from picture story books. The students enjoyed using their imagination to think of some of their own characters and had some interesting ideas such as Mrs. Purple Cow, Jackson the chicken and Barry Bear. The students will use some of these ideas in their own narrative writing this week.
'Discover the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream' - Little People, Big Dreams
This week in Religious Education, we are learning to identify the messages within stories. We read some of the books from the series ‘Little People, Big Dreams’. We learnt about famous individuals such as David Attenborough, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo and Amelia Earhart. Together we explored why the stories may have been written, what message/s were the books trying to convey to the reader and what was the individual’s dream for the world. The students loved reading about the famous people and learning about their dream from when they were a child.
Foundation Unit News
We hope that everyone enjoyed their long weekend and took some time to do something special with their family. A lot of the children were very tired yesterday and it seems like they have had an enjoyable and busy long weekend.
We are very quickly approaching the end of the term and cannot believe how quickly Semester 1 has flown by. We are so very proud of how much the children have achieved this year and developed in confidence.
Last Friday the Foundation Unit celebrated their Liturgy with Fr Matt. The concept was "Story". We discussed how everyone has a connection to a story, whether it be a picture story book or a story that has been verbally told or passed down through the family. The children named their favourite story book. We also reflected on what "meaningful" means and the children brought some meaningful things to display on our table. We also learnt what "Sacred" means and what items Catholics perceive as Sacred. We brought a collection of things to our table that are Sacred to Catholics. We also spoke about stories from the Bible and how they can show "love" in the story. The children shared with Fr Matt how they have experienced love or how they have shown love. It was a lovely Liturgy and we hope you enjoy looking at the photos below.
Our rainbow is starting to fill up with the names of the children who have been learning their words. Congratulations to the students who are trying so hard every night to learn their words so they can put their name on the rainbow and then get their next lot of words to learn. We are very proud of your efforts!
Technology News
Recently, students in the Senior Unit have been applying the 'Engineering Design Process' to design solutions to problems.
Last week, students worked in teams as they applied these principles to investigate, create and evaluate solutions to three challenges:
Lego Tower Challenge
Lego Bridge Challenge
Lego Boat Challenge
REMINDER - YEAR 3/4 STUDENTS
Year 3/4 students need to bring at least one old tshirt to their Technology lesson next Monday (21/06/21) to complete their final project for this term.
Until next week, remember - technology is just a tool, what matters is how we use it.
Mrs Simms
NEW DATE - Cyber Safety Parent Information Session
We have a new date for the cyber safety parent information session originally scheduled for this week which had to be postponed due to current COVID restrictions.
When: Wednesday, 25th August
Time: 7pm
Where: St Paul's School Hall
Don't miss this 90 minutes session, Cyber Safety: Raising Kids in a Digital World 2021, presented by Martin McGauran, an Education Consultant and experienced eSafety provider and Carley McGauran, a psychologist and mother of three.
REPORTS AND LEARNING JOURNALS - Semester One
Reports -
Reports will be available on SIMON Everywhere on Monday 21st June from 3.25pm. To access, click on child's profile, then Assessment Reports. This achievement report will show where your child is compared to the Victorian Curriculum. It will also include a comment on your child's social and emotional competence.
Journals - Foundation to Grade 2
Hand copy journals have been compiled for students in F to Grade 2. These will be sent home with the student on Monday 21st June.
Journals - Grades 3-6
Click on your child's profile picture - select Learning Tasks from the drop down menu, then select the task you want to view. Each task should have a comment from the teacher about what the child achieved during the learning.
Student Led Conferences
Student Led Conferences will run (hopefully onsite) on the 20th and 21st of July. More information will follow once bookings are open.
Arts News
Congratulations to all of our wonderful students in the choirs, who have been practicing since the beginning of the year in preparation for the Mildura Eisteddfod. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, all entries had to be filmed and sent in, rather than performed live this year.
The marvelous middle choir singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" and "This Is Me".
The sensational senior choir singing "It's The Hard Knock Life" and "Let It Be".
Even the fantastic foundations had a go with, "Seven Continents" and "Baby Shark"!
Learning Diversity News
Physical Education News
Our Junior students enjoyed our dance unit this term. They learned to change their movements to suit the tempo of music and to participate in musical games. Here are some photos from a few weeks ago when we were all dancing to a song about taking selfies.
Junior Dance Selfies
Hands Up Mallee
Looking for some quick, easy and tasty snack ideas for the kids after school?
Here are 10 top ideas for you to try:
Fresh fruit, Fresh vegetable sticks, Fruit smoothies or fruit milkshakes, Small handful of dried fruit or nuts, Cheese and crackers, Small serve of baked beans on toast, Frozen yogurt, Fruit toast, Dips such as hommus or avocado with vegie sticks, Toasted sandwiches– ham, cheese and tomato.
If your child is in Grade 5/6, please make sure you ask your child to check the breakfast club roster to see when they are rostered on to help prepare and serve breakfast. A weekly roster is also included in each week’s newsletter. We understand that it is not always possible for them to be there, but it is a great opportunity for your child to give back to their school community and help others out.
Breakfast Club Roster | ||
Friday: 17th June Abby D Sofia E | Monday: 20th June Sophie F Gianluca D | Wednesday: 22nd June Bryce B Siennah B |
Parent Noticeboard
Continuous Raffle Draw
Congratulations to the following families who won a prize in the Continuous raffle drawn on Friday 11th June .
- Crayola Mini Art Case & Book & Frisbee donated by Gibson & Strubelj families won by Thannhauser family
- Book & Frisbee & Board Game donated by Moyle & Strubelj families won by Thannhauser family
- Book & Frisbee & Floor puzzle donated by Moyle & Strubelj families won by Treeweek family