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CELEBRATING 200 YEARS
Our Diocese will be celebrating 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. From humble beginning in Parramatta, Caholic education has become one of the most important educational services for Australia. Two of our Year 6 leaders will be accompanying me to the Sacred Heart Cathedral to join in the celebration at the Diocesan Liturgy.
GOING PAPERLESS
Parents are probably aware that the school is moving into a new system of finance and people management. The two platforms that are now in operation, COMPASS & TECHONE, are linked closely together to provide a more seamless and intergrated platform to manage the schools finances and student data.
Our first aim is to wean commuication with the community from paper for information, permissions and payments. This week we sent home information about the upcoming athletics carnival which gives parents the ease of reply at the push of a button - rather than having to sign and send back to school.
Parents would have received an email alert that COMPASS had something they needed to act upon. When opening COMPASS for your OLV child, you will have received info about the carninval and a questionaire about volunteering. All you need to do is follow the prompts and click the button to give permission for your child to attend and what ever you are able to help out with on the day. We are able to track immediately who has responded or not and who can help out.
When similar events have payments required you will be able to link your bank accounts and pay at the same time you give permission without having to sign the form, find the cash, send it to school - then for us to collect it, sort it, count it and send reminders home for those who haven't been counted. This can all be done from your mobile device or computer.
Check out this pictorial step by step example of how to respond to the Athletics Carnival Event.
If you have already consented and would like to volunteer on the attached screenshot please press the arrow and go to Update Details.
As this is our first foray into a total paperless information and permission note, there may have been some faux pas and your constructive feedback has been and will be appreciated.
KINDER 2022
The official time period to collect enrolment applications for Knder in 2022 will be closing next week. If you are intendng to make application, please do so ASAP. We will be beginning interviews from Week 8.
YEAR 5/6 CAMP
We sent our Year 5/6 children off to camp yesterday. They will be spending three days challenging their boundaries and learning some good life lessons. We look forward to hearing about their adventures when they return on Friday around 2:30pm. You can check out some of their adventures on our FaceBook page. Looks like fun.
SEMESTER REPORTS
The children will soon begin a period of assessments to link with the ongoing tasks which will guide teachers in preparing the Semester 1 Reports for 2021. As in the past these will be accessible through COMPASS at the end of week 9. Parents should ensure that their COMPASS App is working properly to ensure they can access the reports. Please contact the office if there are any issues.
Up Coming Liturgies
Week 6- Monday 24th May- Mary Help of Christians- Year 4
Week 7- Monday 31st May- Winter- Year 1
Week 8- 7th June- Kindness- Year 4
St Vincent De Paul
This term we will be fundraising for St Vincent De Paul.
St Vincent De Paul provides crisis accommodation, can help in a range of areas, including case management, Centrelink assistance, housing, immigration issues, education and recreational activities, health, and counselling and art therapy.
The Mini Vinnies group have a few fundraising activities organised for this term. Their first event will be a raffle. You could win a hobby horse or a number of pre-loved cuddly toys, and numerous prizes. Tickets will go on sale at the end of this week for 50c a ticket.
We encourage everyone to donate warm blankets or clothes to our Winter Appeal and place them in the St Vincent De Paul bins in the school entry way. All items will be distributed to local people in need.
There will be an out of Uniform day on Friday 11th June where children will be able to wear their a crazy outfit for a gold coin donation.
Our next fundraiser for the term will be a School Sleepout where Year 3-6 students will be able to participate in a sleep out at school. Children will be required to find people to sponsor them for this event. If your child is interested in being part of this they will need to obtain a permission note and more information from Mrs Dunn. The Sleepout will be Thursday 24th June.
Our final fundraiser will be a whole school Pyjama Day, Friday 25th June, where the children will be able to come to school in their pyjamas for a gold coin donation. There will be a sausage sizzle for lunch on this day.
Reminders about all of the events mentioned will go out on Facebook but please note all the dates in your own calendars so your children do not miss out.
Whole School Mass
Kindergarten will organise our next whole school mass on Friday 18th June.
Change to Volunteering at School
The procedure for volunteering at schools in the Diocese is changing. All volunteers are required to have a National Police Check (NPC) registered and full clearance to be approved by the Catholic Schools Office.
In the latest Volunteer Induction Handbook (version 1.6), there is a Statutory Screening Selection Tool for Volunteers in Schools.
Each volunteer is required to complete this form which will determine if a Working with Children’s Check is required (now only required for overnight camps if you are a close relative).
The instructions regarding identification and obtaining the NPC have also changed and this is also included in the handbook. The handbook is available from Admin office.
If you need to complete this booklet you would have had a phonecall this week from the office. If you are unsure please contact Leanne and she can let you know. Any volunteer that has already completed the NPC last year will not need to complete the process again, however everyone else will need to resubmit their handbook and receive clearance.
Kindergarten Enrolments 2022
Our Kindergarten enrolments close at the end of May. If you are a sibling of the school or know anyone that has a child starting Kindergarten next year please contact the office for an enrolment pack. Our Interview process will start in June 2021.
If you want to check the credentials and find out more, click the link below.
https://wwccheck.ccyp.nsw.gov.au/Verifiers/Search
ZONES OF REGULATION
We have been introducing a new Social Emotional Learning program in the school since the beggining of Term 4 last year called ZONES OF REGULATION. Click the links below for an example of the explanations in the program. The whole school participates in fortnightly, explicit instruction of the knowledge and skills needed in regulating their emotions and how to respond to them. From these lessons, children are able to gain the language, confidence and recognigition of their emotions and how they affect their own behaviour and the feelings of others. Charts in the classroom give the cjhildren the opportunity to visualise where their emotions are at and how they they can move within the zones.
Identifying the emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTII0cyUbQo&list=PLj-5cig-690P5Ku7DaBA5m3px03oYu4ez
Green Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzps2iCaMlY
Blue Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM31Xu3d8SU
Yellow Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEtsMoqZOiU
Red Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss-p7q5j0v4
Kindergarten
Kindergarten participate in Literacy groups for half an hour daily. There are four students in each group. I work with a different group each day to develop writing skills using mini whiteboards and markers. Last week we practiced writing the word 'This' and used it in a sentence. I have attached two work samples of sentences beginning with a capital letter, ending with a full stop and using finger spaces between words. This is teacher directed writing.
Another group works independently to develop spelling skills using the game, 'Roll a Sight Word'. The first to fill a row with words is the winner.
I allow one group to choose their own writing/spelling activity from a variety of resources provided. In the photo provided from this group you will see that the children are attempting to sound out their words and are writing approximations (not the correct spelling). This is how they learn to write and all attempts are accepted. I only correct their spelling if they incorrectly spell a word that they should know.
One group logs onto a computer and completes Lexia tasks or opens up Microsoft Paint and completes activities they have been taught in their Library lesson with Mrs Spencer.
Kinder love group work and are very busy engaging in their different tasks. They are progressing well in developing cooperative skills when working in a group.
Year 1
This fortnight in year 1 we have started to look at the structure of a narrative. We are learning about the hamburger model. This is a planning tool that helps us to plan the orientation, complication and series of events, and the resolution of a narrative. To introduce this, Miss Payton gave us a hamburger plan of our current story, 'Too Much Glue'. We looked at what we need to have in the orientation: an introduction to the setting, characters and the hook (a hint about the problem to hook the reader's attention). Together with Miss Payton we co-constructed our own orientation of 'Too Much Glue'. We even used a sizzling start! (We will learn more about those later in the term). Here are some samples of our work. Have a look at some of our self-editing skills too!
Year 2
This week Year 2 are learning to edit other people's work. In the task provided they had to underline what the person was saying and then add the speech marks. This will hopefully flow into their own writing and encourage them to edit their own work.
Year 3
Year 3 has students wrote some ‘Super Sentences’ this week using some of the words from their spelling list. To make a sentences ‘super’, the children tried to include adjectives and adverbs in them. Adjectives describe nouns, and adverbs tell about the verb – ie. how, where and when. Enjoy reading.
Year 4
Last week in Year 4 we started to work on Persuasive Texts.
We had some very interesting and lively discussions on whether or not “Dogs Make the Best Pets”.
We recalled the structure of Persuasive Text and completed a sequencing activity.
Our last topic for discussion last week was “Homework is Unnecessary”. While the majority of students agreed with this statement, there were six students who disagreed.
We were asked to decide on a point of view and then list points that would support our opinion. Everyone was enthusiastic about sharing their ideas.
Below are three examples of our task.
Year 5/6
In 5/6, we were asked to do a Cold Write. A cold write is where a picture stimulus is used and the students plan, write and edit over a 30 minute time period with no help.
What we received absolutely flawed us! We have some amazing writers and we are proud of the commitment they have shown to the development of their writing. The editing done on these have been done by the students.
| Kinder | Charlie M, Lucy C, Ruby H |
| Year 1 | Grace B, Eli O, Savannah E, Evan Shimwe |
| Year 2 | Jesse C, Grace G, Isabella T, Jesse M |
| Year 3 | Charlotte H, Blake B, Joseph B, Virginia T |
| Year 4 | Summer P, Margreit K, Freya B, Summer F |
| Year 5/6 | Annalise F, Sonia K, Lily W, Levi P |
| Principals | |
| Captains | Isla W, Julian A |
| Lexia Awards |
We would like to wish the following children a Happy Birthday
| Kindergarten | |
| Year 1 | Evan S, Eli O, Joyce H |
| Year 2 | Sienna S |
| Year 3 | |
| Year 4 | |
| Year 5/6 |
Congratulations and we hope you had a happy day
Uniform Pool
With winter approaching we are in need of winter uniforms. If anyone has any uniforms that have been outgrown, please consider donating them to the uniform pool. Donations can be left at the school office.
The uniform pool is open MONDAYS 8.45-9.05am
Help Needed – Athletics Carnival
At the upcoming carnival on Thursday the 10th of June, we will be running the canteen for parents and children to access. Notes for the canteen will come out in coming week, including if you may be able to volunteer to assist in the canteen.
Next meeting:
Monday 19th July at 7pm in the school library. Everyone is welcome to come along to meet other parents and find out what is happening at school. A special invitation to those parents who have never been to a P&F meeting before and have been wondering what it is all about. We’d love to see you there. If you have anything you would like to add to the agenda for discussion, please contact the P&F via email olvparentsandfriends@gmail.com
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL 2021
We are nearing the time to try out the skills the children have been learning this term at our annual athletics carninval.
On Thursday 10 June we will be taking the children to the Fearnley Dawes Track at Hamilton for fun competing against each other in running, jumping and throwing. We will be traveling to and from the event by bus and parents are welcome to meet us there to cheer on their children.
We have tried to make the permission process much simpler by posting the details and permission slip to parents via COMPASS. To give permission for your child/ren to attend select the events attached to your child, read the information and click the permission button at the end.
In the past we have asked children to nominate in which events they wish to compete. This year ALL children will be entered in all events - INFANTS: 70m, 100m, Shot Putt & Long Jump PRIMARY: 1000m, 200m, Shot Putt & Long Jump. If children 8-12 years want to compete in the 800m they may nominate themselves. If children do not wish to compete in any of the events, then please indicate which events from which they wish to withdraw on the paper 'NOMINATION FORM' coming home early next week.
You will be able to access the school newsletter here and notifications will come through Schoolzine. Please DO NOT use the old SkoolBag App. It is no longer used for communications of notifications and messages..
Go to this link to download the Schoolzine App:
Check out this link for more info on St Nicholas OOSH.
How to enrol for our OOSH Services: