Newsletter Term 4 Week 8
Principal's Report
Hello parents,
Week 8 is upon us and once again things are really busy. I am away in Horsham at a Principal's meeting on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
On Thursday Mr Whatnall has organised a town scavenger hunt for the whole school. The children will be finding some famous landmarks around the town. They will all have lunch together somewhere on the hunt and be back at school for the afternoon. Thanks to Mr Whatnall, Mrs Byrne and Mrs McRae for organising and supervising this fun event. The weather might not be in our favour. If it is raining, we will put the scavenger hunt off until next week.
I have spoken to some of the boys. It seems they have been wearing black socks with their uniform. The school uniform is blue socks for the boys. They can wear blue socks every day (no need for white socks on sports day), but they must be blue and not black and they must not have any logos on them. I have also seen a few pairs of non school navy shorts creepng in. The school uniform shorts are available through the office for $15 a pair. No other shorts are acceptable. We also have some navy socks available at the office but not a lot. If your child is not going to be in correct uniform for some reason, please send a note to school with your child explaining why. We understand that sometimes it may take a while for things to come via post or until you can get to the shops, but please let us know with a note.
On Friday we have our last transition day. Vinny, Lila, Madelyn and Mia have had a great time coming to school. I think they will all adapt very well to school next year.
This week we welcome a new family member to one of our St Joey's students. Cooper McGrath has a new baby sister Phoebe. Congratulations to Jess, Tyson, Cooper and Hudson.
We finally got started stripping at our house this week. Let's hope the rain stays away and the farmers can get a good run on now. There is one member of our family who has found a new home! (See photo)
Stay safe and have a great week.
Cate Olive
Acting Principal
Upcoming Dates
24th / 25th November - Principal's Meeting Horsham (Cate away)
25th November - Local Scavenger Hunt
26th November - Transition Day
13th December - Monday Fun Day - CCSA to organise
14th December - Graduation
15th December - Students last day
16th & 17th December - Staff Planning
1st February - Students first day 2022
7th February - Swimming Programme begins
3rd March - School Photos
Foundation, 1, 2 Class News
This week in the Prep/1/2 classroom, the students have begun to explore the stories of the 'Nativity' as outlined in the Gospels. In line with our unit of work around 'Giving', the students have been looking for ways in which 'giving' was undertaken in these stories. In class we've been learning how the students can 'give' with their hands (physical) or with their heart & mind (emotional/mental). It's been great to unpack these concepts as it's easy to think of ways to give in terms of physical means, e.g. money, food, clothes, but looking deeper at the concept of giving has allowed the students opportunities to better reflect on what it means to give and how this can be both tangible and intangible. We walked down to the hospital on Tuesday and delivered the cards to the staff to pass onto the patients in their care. An important part of giving is to 'give without expecting anything in return' and we talked about how making the cards might boost someone's spirit or make them feel happier than they were, but we won't necessarily know or hear back about this and that is just the way it is. God knows our hearts and intentions and that is what counts the most!
On Friday we were lucky to have the new Preps come to visit again for our middle learning session. This week we worked on some counting practice as well as matching a number to a quantity. The students enjoyed playing the counting game as Mr Whatnall called out a number and the students had to work in groups to quickly count the number of teddies to match. After this we read a well-known favourite book ' The Very Hungry Caterpillar' - again counting the fruits and other foods that the caterpillar ate each day and colouring these in on mini loops before connecting these all together to make a counting chain. The new Preps are so excited to start school next year and we can't wait either!
In P.E, the students have been working on whole group games and activities which promote inclusion, encouragement, team work and sportsmanship amongst peers young and old. Our Friday afternoon sessions have been an enjoyable experience for all, as the students work on skills such as balance, coordination, hand/eye coordination, aiming, tracking and throwing all in a fun and engaging way through gameplay-based experiences. Last Friday we had a big game of 'Capture the Flag'. Students played roles of attacking, defending and guarding and enjoyed working together to plan strategic approaches to capturing the opposing team's flag.
Transition Days
3, 4, 5, 6 Class News
Literacy: This week in Shared Reading the students are reading about the Bushranger Captain Moonlight. For writing students are selecting an Australian Bushranger to write an information report on.
Religion: This week the students are looking at gifts of love for gift giving ideas at Christmas Time.
Numeracy: The students are working on their Maths Investigation Booklets. Each Maths task provides a real world maths problem to solve and complete.
Community News
Humour
An Irishman backpacker went into an Australian post office to see if there were any letters for him. “I’ll see, sir,” said the clerk. “What’s your name?”
“You’re having me on now because I’m Irish,” said the Irishman.
“Won’t you see the name on the envelope?”