Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you enjoyed the winter holiday break with your family. Students have returned to school in a positive way and are happy and well-rested, ready for another term of learning.

This week many classes have launched their Storyline learning with provocations and wondering experiences. Year 5 students participated in a simulation of finding gold in the school grounds while Year 1 and Year 2 have begun to explore the idea of being a zoologist. Storyline is an approach that brings learning to life, where teachers design opportunities for students to step into the lives of real life characters and eventually create their own 'storyline' as they acquire knowledge and understandings.

In the final week of Term 3, parents and other community members are invited into the school to view the Storyline learning in each classroom. Please keep Tuesday 24 September free in your diary for this special school event.

ICAS

ICAS is an educational assessment designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies. Students from Years 2-6 will have the opportunity to enter this online competition for subjects listed, with the exception of Writing, which is only available to students in Years 3-6. It is important to note that the assessments are targeted for students wishing to extend themselves academically and to take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment.
 
Every student who enters will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers in Australia will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

 
ICAS Assessments Sitting Date Schedule
Digital Technologies        Monday 5 August
Writing (Years 3-6)         Tuesday 6 August
English                          Monday 12 August
Science                         Monday 19 August
Spelling Bee                  Thursday 22 August
Mathematics                  Monday 26 August

Cost for each Assessment (excluding Writing)- $19.95
Cost for Writing Assessment- $23.95

Online Parent Payment

If you would like your child to participate in any of the subjects listed above, please visit the online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments. Payment can be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or credit card.

Your school access code is: GWI289

Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

 
Closing date for entry and the online payment system is next Monday 29 July, 2024

Please enter your child’s name accurately into the System as it will appear on their ICAS certificate. 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
 

Southern Region NAIDOC Mass

Aboriginal students, their families and all Year 6 students will attend the Southern Region NAIDOC Mass at the St Bernard's Church this Friday 26 July. The Mass will celebrate the history and culture of the students and community members of our regional Catholic schools, acknowledging this year's NAIDOC theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.

Students will walk to the St Bernard's Church from school at 10.45am and will return to school by 1.00pm following a sausage sizzle lunch. Mass will begin at 11.00am with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country delivered by Trish Ellis (OAM).

Child Safeguarding

Did you know that Catholic Education and our school has a Child Safe Policy which outlines our approach to child safety. This can be accessed on the Catholic Education Safeguarding Page, as well as our school website. We encourage you to visit this page and review our policy. As part of our approach to child safety, I work as Child Safe Advocate working closely with other staff regarding our approach and response to child safety matters. This approach involves pro active strategies to safeguard our students as well as responding to areas of concerns. The area of child safety includes many parts of a schools' operation, such as day to day activities, school events and school camps. We encourage you to contact us should you like to discuss this further. 

Behaviour Curriculum- Classroom Mastery Routines

As you may be aware, we explicitly teach routines for behaviour to support students to achieve their best at school in a calm and ordered environment. Introducing specific behaviour routines is part of Classroom Mastery which aligns with our pedagogical approach to teach with explicit direct instruction. This week we introduced the new routine and expectations for moving safely and efficiently from the playground at the end of recess and lunch time to the classroom areas. Going through these routines in an explicit way and providing opportunities to practice, assists all students to understand expectations and contributes to create a positive and responsible culture among the students. We are very pleased with the way the students have already responded to follow this routine.

Sport and Library Days Term 3

Please note the timetable below of the days where grades are required to wear their sport uniform and bring a library bag for borrowing this term.

On the occasion where a change might be required, teachers will communicate this in their weekly memo email.

School Calendar

Key dates for the term can be found on our school website in a google calendar. Please refer to the google calendar if you would like to see ahead to all events planned for the coming term. A link to the calendar is included here:

I hope that you enjoy the fortnight ahead. 

Kind regards,
Karen Hadley