15 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Message

This week marks a very important time in our faith Story. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. As the children returned from Mass it was evident that this age, having the ashes placed on their forehead was more of a fashion statement rather than a symbol that we are being reminded of our humanity, our imperfection and the need to consider the things that we do wrong in our lives. As we begin our season of Lent, let us reflect upon that and make amends for the wrongs we have committed in preparation for the celebration of Easter.

I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Project Compassion this year with the school captains. It was a beautiful and rich liturgy, which commissioned all schools and parishes to put the needs of others ahead of ours. Here are some of their thoughts:

It was a great experience for us to hear about all the work that Caritas Australia does for people in need around the world and to where the money we collect goes. The pancakes and ice-cream after the liturgy were really good too. (Zoe H)

At the Project Compassion liturgy, we talked about people less fortunate than us. They told us how Project Compassion aims to make a just life for all people by providing better opportunities and education for the poor. Each of us collected donation boxes and a certificate so that we could talk about Project Compassion at our own schools. During the liturgy, a lady was on the altar explaining what was being said in sign language. (Ruby L-P)

I remember the 2 High School students telling us how Project Compassion money helps the poor and it helped a girl start school. A group of children were doing symbols during the prayers and singing. I liked the song “They will know we are Christians by of Love”… PS: the pancakes afterwards were great (Kane E)

We found our seat in the Cathedral and waited for the Liturgy to begin. We listened to Bishop Bill and watched a lady do sign language. The Bishop called all the schools to come out and receive the Mission Boxes. We also received a letter that had a message from the Bishop. (Immanuel S)

Spiritual News

Pancake Tuesday

Pancake Tuesday was a great success in terms of money raised to support Project Compassion. To date we have a total of $210. A wonderful start to this appeal. A big thank you to the staff for providing the pancakes, pikelets and toppings.

Project Compassion

Throughout Lent, our Monday morning Liturgies will focus on the stories that are highlighted in this year’s Project Compassion campaign. Next week, Yr 2/3 will tell us the story of Jamaki from Nepal, and the ways Project Compassion has helped her and her community.

Captains Induction

We inducted our school captains at the Year 6 class Mass last week and recognised them as our new school leaders. School Captains for 2018 are:

(NB – last weeks’ time of 10am was incorrect)

We also took the opportunity at assembly to recognise the importance of all the Year 6 children in the leadership of our school. Sometimes it is harder for those without the “badge” to be leaders by proxy, but I have every faith in all our year 6 children.

Library News

Book Club

Book club brochures were sent home last week. Orders need to be returned to school or completed on-line no later than Friday 16th February, 2018. If returning orders to school, please clearly mark items to be ordered and your child’s name. Place order and money in an envelope and put in classroom note bag.

Library Borrowing

Library borrowing will be each Wednesday. Each student needs to have a library-borrowing bag. Books need to be returned each Wednesday. Please ensure books are kept safe when at home. Returning them to their library bag after each use would be perfect. Lost or damaged books will need to be replaced. Library bags are available from the uniform pool for $10.

P&F News

If parents would like to add to the monthly meeting agenda, please call Kylie Westaway or send an email to OLVparentsandfriends@gmail.com.

Meeting Dates for Term 1

1. Monday – with AGM - POSTPONED

Unfortunately, it has been necessary to postpone our monthly meeting and AGM. The meeting will now be held the following week on Monday 5 March. If you are interested in nominating for a position on the executive or know someone who would make a good exec, please put forward you name. If you are nominating someone else, make sure you ask him or her first. We have provided a little explanation of all the positions for you to consider.

Clothing Pool:

The Uniform Pool is now set up and operating from the “Bell Room” next to the Year 1 classroom. From this week onwards, the Uniform Pool will be open every Thursday morning from 8:40am – 9:10am.

Please Note: we can only take cash sales as no EFTPOS facilities are available.

Canteen Helpers Needed

The canteen is still desperately seeking volunteers for Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you have a couple of hours free on a Wednesday or a Thursday, once a month, the kids would love to see you at school. The canteen hours are from 9am to 11.30am and it is set up so it is a fairly simple process. The children love having the option of having a lunch order and a chance to buy something from the canteen so if you are available we would love to see you on our canteen. Nomination forms were sent home with the newsletter last week and are available from the school website and office

Canteen Roster

Class News

Kinder

In Kinder we are making progress in getting to know each other. We had great fun moving to some upbeat music, “Move and Freeze”, while interacting with our peers. Our Smart board is very engaging and we use it daily to sing counting and alphabet songs. We learnt the 6 L’s rule for sitting on the floor correctly – Look, Listen, Lips, Lap, Legs, Learn and found a special spot for everyone to sit on the floor. We have had so much to learn about rules and routines and how to behave in the classroom, Library, Church and hall and how to line up and walk in lines. We are adjusting very well. Thank you to Yr. 6 buddies who welcomed our new Kinders so enthusiastically and made their transition to ‘Big School’ most enjoyable. Next week Kinders will sit with their class to eat while Year 6 will return to their eating area. We have discussed playing with our class friends in Kinder and allowing Year 6 to go and play with their own friends. We can still talk to our buddies and ask their help if needed. Homework begins next week. Kinders will take home a booklet containing sight words and alphabet letters we have learnt in class. A short practice daily will ensure these are retained and automatically recalled when needed. Kinder Parent /Teacher meeting is on Thursday next week at 3.05pm in the Kinder classroom. I look forward to meeting with you and answering any questions you may have about your child’s transition into ‘Big School.’

Year 1

In Religion this week we thought about and discussed the other names used to refer to Jesus...such as 'Prince of Peace', 'The Good Shepherd' and 'Son of God'. We illustrated some of these names beautifully in our Religion books. We also attended Mass with the whole school yesterday to receive the ashes on our forehead, marking Ash Wednesday as the beginning of Lent. In English, we continued our look at stories centred about animals, growth and new life by viewing 'The Ugly Duckling' online and completing a sequencing activity of the story. Our spelling words this week focus on the 'ee' and 'oo' sounds. In Maths, we have been looking at addition strategies this week. We played some games where we add two dice to find the total, and we know to count on from the highest number. We are becoming confident at using our doubles and near-doubles knowledge through these activities also. In Visual Arts this week, we created our own versions of Henri Matisse's 'The Snail' artwork...cutting and pasting colourful pieces of paper in a spiral shape to create our snails. They are almost finished! They will look bright and attractive hung up around our classroom to link in with our study of insects and mini-beasts in Science.

Year 2/3

This week year 3 are learning about patterns and algebra in maths. Year 2 are describing patterns and identifying missing numbers in sequences. Year 3 are developing their skills at creating patterns that are increasing or decreasing in a variety of ways using numbers, symbols and words. In English we are studying the narrative A Bus called Heaven by Bob Graham. We are noting the key message of the text, the use of past tense verbs and we are developing our own skills at writing a narrative. In religion, we are considering the structure of the Church now and in Jesus’ time. In science we are developing our ability to categorise different living things. In History we are starting to learn about the Awabakal people and their language. In Art we will be drawing bugs and beetles this week and continuing our work on rhythm and rhyme in music.

Year 4

In Religion this week we have been reading some healing stories of Jesus’, and have discussed how people’s lives changed because of the love and kindness that Jesus showed to everyone. In Maths, we have been practicing our skills of addition involving trading, and also looked at patterns in division and multiplication facts. In English, we have finished reading Book the Second in ‘The Tale of Despereaux’. We have completed some summary work and some vocabulary study. In History, we have been looking at the various ways Australian Aborigines lived on the land before European settlement. In PDH, we have discussed some road safety rues around being a pedestrian and also being a passenger in a car or bus.

Year 5

Another busy week! In RE, we completed our assessment task where we created images of God and identified the qualities within the artworks. In English, we have continued our novel, learning more about Barney and Elsie with each one. In Maths with Ms McGann we looked at factors and multiples and used Scootle games to consolidate our learning. In Art, we began creating our own portraits, as we begin to create an artwork similar to the style of Margaret Olley or Kieran Hall. PE on Monday was fantastic fun and we are enjoying being exposed to different types of skills. We look forward to another one on Thursday and Friday of this week. In Science we began conducting experiments to show how plants survive in desert conditions. One will take all week and the other one will be done on Friday. The Shrove Tuesday liturgy was lovely and we listened to what it was all about and then we had the opportunity to buy and eat some delicious pancakes and pikelets, all the while raising money for Project Compassion. Ms McGann is also very happy with the commitment to homework, and to remembering diaries each day.

Year 6

In Religion, we have talked about Jesus’ mission on earth to proclaim God’s Word. In groups, we created a strategic plan for Jesus’ mission and looked at his goals, the challenges, ways he could overcome these challenges and then we stated indicators of ways Jesus' mission was achieved. In English, we have revised adjectives and adjectival phrases to assist in developing more interesting and creative sentences for our stories. We are reading a novel called, “Soraya the Storyteller” by Rosanne Hawke. It is the story of a young girl who comes to Australia as a refugee from Afghanistan. We are also learning some facts about the situation in Afghanistan. In History, we have studied and compared the governments of Australia, Great Britain and the USA. We are completing a 3-circle Venn Diagram to clearly define the similarities and differences of each system. We are really enjoying our Sport activities as well as the PE sessions three mornings a week. We are going to be so fit by the end of the term! A big thank you to all who attended our Opening Mass and the Induction of our Captains last Friday. It was a beautiful ceremony to celebrate our Year 6 School Leaders. Congratulations to all!

LEXIA AT HOME

It is great to hear that so many children have been able to download the Lexia Core 5 program at home. Some are even using it with their Ipads!

Here are the details again if you would like to do Lexia at home.

If you would like to use the program at home, you will need to download this new version. You can download from:

or you can use it via your web browser

You do not need any codes but will need the admin user email address. lady@victories.com.au from their children log on with their usual Lexia username and password. I Pad and I Pad mini users can download the Core 5 app from the App store- search for “Lexia Reading Core 5”.

If you have any problems, please contact me at the school on a Tuesday or Friday. – (Jenny McCallum - Learning Support Teacher)

SPORTS NEWS

Regional Winter Sports Trials

Any children who are interested in trying out for a regional team in Soccer, Rugby League, Netball, Hockey or AFL are invited to express their interest by sending a note to school signed by their parents. Children should be in Year 5 or 6 and must be playing the sport in a regular weekend team competition. Children also need to have had some representative experience displaying their high level of ability.

These trials are not meant for the average players. Gala days will be available later in the year for these children.

Move Over Roger

Not only was Oscar representing the school, he was also representing the Diocese last Friday at the Polding Trials in Tennis. By all reports, Roger is lucky he will be retired by the time Oscar hits the Circuit

Regional Swimming

It is important that all children who are attending the Regional Swimming Carnival next week return their permissions and payments to school by Monday. Transport details will go home on Tuesday, so please consider if you can help with that also. If children wish to pull out of events please let me know by Monday as pulling out of events on the day will mean that they cannot swim in any events for the rest of the day. Thanks to those that have already let me know.

Playground Upgrade

We will be meeting to discuss some ideas with Mr Sean Gale soon. Sean has been involved in a number of projects in schools for the diocese. He comes highly recommended and has some great ideas. If you would like to be involved, the meeting will be at the beginning of week 4, time and date to be confirmed.

New Traffic Rules

There are some interesting changes to some road rules inside school zone. Check out the link below for some interesting reading

Coles Sport for School

For every $10 spent at Coles, customers will receive one SFS voucher. Send these vouchers in to school and put them in the collection box in the foyer. There is also a collection box at Coles, Wallsend for our school. Final days for vouchers will be in May. Get your friends and relatives collecting and send them into school.

Lunch Time Dance

We are calling for expressions of interest to continue our lunchtime dancing. If your child would like to participate, please fill out the form and return to school. The cost is $3 per week ($30per term) and children need to be really committed to the program. Every Wednesday, Cheryl, our dance instructor, will conduct classes at lunchtime. We require a minimum of 20 children to make this activity happen. Please return your form by Monday next week.

Class Awards

Class awards for Week 2

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