12 September 2019

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

Principal’s Messages

WELCOME

Over the last couple of weeks we have welcomed some new students to our school. We now have Maddison H and Abigail N in Year 1 and Pippa M in Kinder with us. We wish them and their families a most productive and fun filled time at OLV.

END OF TERM

We are coming to the end of term so quickly, it makes my head rush. The children have been wonderful in their approach to their work and peer relations. Let’s keep up the great work.

HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE

I have been given the privilege to participate in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with 30 other employees of the Diocese, We will be visiting all the sacred sites in the Footsteps of Jesus through Israel and Jordan. It will be a special privilege to visit those places that make up our faith story as related to us in the 4 Gospels. The group leaves for Israel after a mass and send off with the Bishop on September 26. If you are interested in following this pilgrimage you can go to the link below where I will be recording my thoughts, insights and experiences each day.

MRS NOBLE RETURNS

Mrs Noble will be returning from leave from the beginning of Term 4. She will resume her part-time role of 2 days per week with Year 1. Mrs Hingston will continue in her role as Year 1 teacher but drop back to 3 days per week. Both Mrs Hingston and Mrs Noble have made a great team in the past and we look forward to every success for the children in Year 1.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION DATE

We have had to change the date for the Year 6 Graduation in December. It will now take place on Thursday 12 December. Apologies if this will cause some changes to previous arrangements.

DEBATING CHAMPIONS

In the words of Queen “We are the champions…“ Congratulations to the terrific children in our Debating team who won the Regional Debating Competition this year. Eloise, Jodie, Chloe and Oscar combined well to convince us all that “School is Fun”. Well done everyone, including their wonderful coaches Mrs Carroll and Mrs McCallum.

MULCH MOVERS

Thanks to the great crew that were able to help out on Saturday morning. We managed to move a good proportion of the mulch through some very good coordination from Mrs Johnson. The gardens are looking great because of all the effort.

PASTORAL CARE WORKER

We are coming to the end of our funding for our PCW. We need to make a new submission to continue the program here at OLV. Part of the submission includes consultation with the community. I ask that you take s moment to give your thoughts on the program we are providing. Please return the survey by Monday next week.

RU Ok Day

RU Ok Day is today, Please see attached brochure which follows our school values.

RE News

PATRON’S FEEAST DAY

We will be celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Victories on Friday, 27 September. We will begin the celebrations with Mass led by Year 3/4. We will be having Tabloid Games followed by a BBQ Lunch. We always have a fun celebration and all parents and friends are welcome to join us.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION LITERACY TEST

The assessment of Catholic Religious Literacy takes place annually across all schools in the diocese. This year the Year 6 children will sit the test on Monday 23 September.

It focuses on students’ knowledge and understanding of key concepts that are addressed in the Religious Education program, the achievement of the outcomes set out in the Diocesan Religion syllabus, and the ability of students to communicate this knowledge and understanding about the Catholic tradition.

The program of assessment was trialled in 2010 and implemented from 2011 onwards. Years 4 and 6 in Primary schools and Years 8 and 10 in Secondary schools are assessed each year. Both Years 6 and 10 are given a comprehensive multiple choice test based on knowledge of the RE curriculum. Years 4 and 8 complete a task based on a particular unit being studied during the year.

All together the data produced from the various testing instruments is designed to give RE teachers meaningful feedback about the students’ learning and to assist in developing the classroom teaching of Religion.

FATHER’S DAY BREAKFAST

Thank you to Mr V and Mrs Johnson for helping organise the Father’s Day breakfast. It was a great success where fathers, grandfathers and significant others spent quality time with their children making paper planes. Thank you to Year 5 for leading such a beautiful Liturgy. Great fun was had by all during the paper plane flying competition.

CANTEEN NEWS

We are always looking for volunteers to help out with the activities of the P&F. If you might be available for the canteen in Term 4, please access the following:

TERM 3

Pastoral Care News

Year 2 Liturgy this week was all about being thankful, and I must say how thankful I am for all the workers who attended the working bee on Saturday. The following families came out in the cold and windy conditions to help out at OLV Gemma M, Summer F, Max B, Tahlia B, Bailey and Zoe W, Marie H and Charlotte’s family.

A couple of students have been volunteering at lunch also.

The craft activities last week were creating and hanging milk bottles. OLV students had a lot of fun working on their pots and the finished projects are fantastic.

I will be holding another Afternoon Tea for Parents and relatives Week 10, Tuesday 24th September at 2.20pm in the hall. Please come along for a chat, tea, coffee, biscuits and cake. All Welcome.

Today I count my blessings –
Practice kindness – let go of what I can’t control,
Listen to my heart – be productive, yet calm
Just breathe,
Take Care and God bless

Class News

Kindergarten

In Religion we have started a new unit “Prayer as Talking to God”. We discussed how and why we communicate with God. We found out how talking to God is similar and different to talking to our friends. In English we are learning the ‘ill’ and ‘all’ word families and focusing on the letters Bb and Ff. We are continuing with our literacy unit on Fairy Tales. Last week we shared different versions of Little Red Riding Hood and this week we are looking at The Three Little Pigs. We labelled an illustration of ‘The Big Bad Wolf’ using adjectives eg. scary eyes, sharp teeth, bushy tail. We learnt that adjectives describe nouns. From here we ventured into topics about personal safety such as stranger danger and early warning signs that our body gives us when we feel worried, unsafe or scared. Early warning signs include butterflies in tummy, feeling hot and sweaty, fast heart beat, feeling shaky and feeling sick. We read the book Hansel and Gretel and came up with questions the children could ask the witch to find out if they were safe. We discussed the information Hansel and Gretel would need to remember about the witch and the gingerbread house to tell their parents and/or the police. In Maths we did an assessment on ‘Patterns’ and have started a new unit on measuring ‘Time’. We learnt to read the hour time on an analogue clock and matched activities we do in a day to the correct time eg school time – 9 o’clock.

Year 1

Year 1 have been reading a story called ‘Prince Cinders’ by Babette Cole. We have been comparing this story to Cinderella and finding similarities and differences. We also compared the main characters and found them to be different in looks but similar in personalities.

In Maths last week, we were learning about fractions. Year 1 were finding halves of collections and found it very similar to the division concept of ‘sharing’. This week we are learning about telling the time on both analog and digital clocks to the hour and half hour. In Religion, we started our new unit last week which is all about Hebrew Scriptures. Year 1 have been hearing stories from the Old Testament such as; The Creation Story and Noah’s Ark. In Geography and Science, we have been learning about Seasons in Kakadu and how they are different to our Seasons. Year 1 have also been following and recording weather reports. This helps us make decisions about what to wear, which is particularly useful this time of year when the weather is warm one day and back to Winter the next! Year 1 will be leading the school Liturgy in Week 10 - Monday 23rd September. Children will receive their readings sometime next week to practise for Liturgy. We look forward to sharing our messages with you.

Year 2

Religion

Year 2 have enjoyed looking at different bible stories and discussing the meaning of these in Religion. During Maths last week we worked on Fractions and being able to identify the fraction of a group of objects. In English Year 2 have become email buddies with a Year 2 class from St James Muswellbrook they have been able to ask the students questions to get to know them.

“I liked doing this because I got to meet another person.” by Deegan

This week in Science the children had to design a board game and code their Bee Bot to be able to play the game. This was extremely challenging but we finally got there. The children were also exposed to Scratch Jr a coding game that they could show how creative they really are. Great work Year 2.

“Scratch Jr is really fun and it’s for all different ages and you can make all different creations.” By Harrison

In Health we have been looking at healthy foods and last week the students we put into groups of three and they created a jingle to promote healthy food. I was very impressed with the jingles the students were able to come up with.

Year 3/4

In Religion, we have begun learning about the Christian Scriptures. These scriptures are about the life and times of Jesus. They were written by several people, many years after Jesus’ resurrection, to spread the Word of Jesus around the world. The Christian Scriptures are made up of the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters of St Paul and the Book of Revelations. In Maths, we have been working hard on improving our problem-solving skills as well as increasing our knowledge of fractions, decimals and measurement. In English, we completed reading the book ‘Fern Gully’ and watched the film ‘Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest’. We have been completing activities relating to the book and the movie and comparing the two. We also have completed some forest art work showing the different layers of a rainforest – emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor. In Science, we are learning about the workings of ‘terrariums. We designed and made a terrarium each and waiting eagerly to monitor the growth of the seeds we have planted. We are enjoying the gymnastics lessons on Wednesdays and learning new skills to help us be more agile, flexible and strong.

Liturgy is “the work of the people” and there are many people who help make a liturgy happen. Some liturgical roles are greeter, usher, lector, gift bearer, altar server, sacristan, cantor and musician. In Maths, our focus has been multiplication and division. Yr 4 has learnt some new strategies to multiply 2-digit numbers by 1-digit. Some of these strategies have been doubling (to multiply by 2,4 and 8), the area model and factorising. Yr 4 has also practiced using halving to divide numbers by 2, 4 and 8. Yr 3 has played some multiplication games to consolidate their knowledge of multiplication tables. Two of the games played were the trading game (using base 10 and dice) and salute (using packs of cards). In English, we continue to enjoy reading the book “FernGully” by Diana Young. We have completed some story maps and summaries of chapters and are now working on writing a script for Chapter 19, The Ceremony. In Geography, we have been researching Australia’s natural resources and Japan’s natural resources and making comparisons between the two countries. To date, we have done research on pearls, diamonds, opals, coal and uranium, all of which are located naturally in Australia.

Year 5

In Religion we have started looking at prayer – what it is, what it looks like and sounds like, and the different types of prayer. We have written different types of prayers which we will now use in our daily prayer.

In English, we are almost finished our novel and can’t wait to see what unfolds over the last few chapters. We have written two types of poetry, a haiku and a dialogue poem, and will write some more this week. We are loving the opportunity to be creative and think deeply about the themes and characters in our novel.

In Maths we have been delving into Mass. We discovered that it would take 112 children of an average Year 5 weight to weigh the same as a fully grown African elephant! We also worked out that, using the average weight of a Year 5 bag after lunch and without a water bottle, the school bags of every student in the school would weigh almost HALF A TONNE! We are now looking at how to determine the best price for weighed items at the supermarket, so we should be a HUGE help the next time we go shopping with you!

In Drama, we are beginning filming our news items about our ‘Lost Thing’ and will be using iMovie to put it all together next week, so we can view and evaluate them in the last week of term.

This is our last PE rotation for the term and we are practicing our two handed strike with Mrs Carroll. Gymnastics has a couple of weeks to go and our skills have developed over the term. In PDH we have been looking at media images and the stereotypes that they portray.

Year 6

In Religion we have continued our work on Christian Scriptures. We chose a Gospel story and compared the same story across different Gospels. We determined the similarities and differences in each account. We then chose another Gospel story and drew two corresponding scenes from different versions of the same Gospel story and labelled the differences.

In English we are really enjoying our novel, “Dragonkeeper” by Carole Wilkinson. We are using the story as a basis for discovering new vocabulary and improving our own, particularly in our writing. We also identified various aspects of grammar, such as onomatopoeia, abstract nouns and similes.

In Maths we are studying percentages and discovering their use in everyday life.

In Geography, we have had some fun using an interactive map of Asia while learning more about the various countries on this vast continent.

In Science we are researching volcanoes and tsunamis and finding it very interesting. We are compiling a great resource, through our research, on events that affect the earth’s surface.

In Visual Arts , we have painted a reproduction of a Monet work of our choice, to create a “Postcard from Paris’. We have written a description of our time on our virtual tour of the famous city, to go on the back of our “postcard”. Some Mums and Dads may be lucky enough to receive a postcard soon!

We all attended the North Region Debate Final at St Peter’s, Stockton, on Tuesday and were thrilled to see our team win the debate. We are very proud of our classmates and have enjoyed helping them prepare over the last few weeks. We wish them luck in next Wednesday’s Diocesan Final and we know they will represent OLV well.

Library News

Just a reminder that Library borrowing is each Wednesday. Please ensure your child brings their library bag so they are able to take books home.

Class Awards

OOSH

One issue that may arise is the need for Casual Care on occasions. If you think that you might need this, it will be necessary to be enrolled in the service prior to making a booking. Remember that you need to contact St Nicholas OOSH to book your child in, as we can’t do it through the school.

Their contact details are, Christine 0447 288 040 or tracey.sweetman@stnicholasoosh.org.au

If you intend to use the OOSH either before or after school, you might like to download the application forms, fill them out and send them into school to pass on for processing.

Check out this link for more information on St Nicholas OOSH.

OOSH – Upcoming School Holidays Program

OOSH has a wonderful vacation program to keep the kids amused and active. If you are looking for some time to do those important things that children hate to dragged around to, then why not send them to OOSH for a day. See the flyer below and pick a day that suits your schedule.