Year 5 Tent Learning

Last Thursday, students in 5H turned their classrooms upside down and created a tent city in which to work throughout the day.  They used collaborative thinking and persistence to create small group shelters and ensure they did not collapse throughout the day.

Sensory Oasis

We all process things differently and sometimes there are situations in our lives that reduce our capacity to process big feelings that we may encounter each day.

With the help and resources from St Vincent de Paul, we are very thankful to have been able to set up two Sensory Oasis areas. These provide a sanctuary for children who may become overwhelmed by noise, crowds and lights at different times during their education journey.  A Sensory Oasis is set up in 3M and in the Library, and are available for use by all of our students as they need them.  Some of our students tried out parts of the kit this week and reported the calming effect if had on them.

Year 5 and Year 6 English Seminars

One of the wonderful things about being a K-12 school is the ability to draw on the expertise of our Secondary teaching staff to enhance and enrich our learning.  Last week students from Years 5 and 6 participated in an English workshop focusing on improving components of writing.  Students spent time looking at elements of crafting well written poems and how to engage students with their imaginative writing.

Head of School Awards

Congratulations to the following students who achieved the Head of School Award for Week 4:

Evie M, KDL; Samara W, KP; Everly P, 1G; Harper H, 1PH; Alice H, 2G; Tatum C, 2J; Sam A, 3B; Evelyn D, 3K; Cameron Y, 4B; Alexia M, 4M; Madeleine A, 5D; Hannah M, 5H; Sasha V, 5P; Michael M, 6D; Abigail H, 6M and Ryder M, 6T.

Book Week - CURIOUS CREATURES WILD MINDS - Week 5, Friday 28 August

This year Book Week is a student only event, however that will not dampen the fun and deep literacy learning that will take place for our students during Book Week celebrations.

Students are encouraged to dress up as their favourite Book Week character and come along for a day of rich literacy learning and awesome activities. Classes will be creating their own Book Parade video and uploading to share with the whole school.

Several competitions are running in the Library for our students including:

K-2 Colouring Competition

3-4 DIORAMAS (create your favourite book scene)

5-6 DIORAMAS or “Bookstagramme” Picture

COSTUMES

One of the areas I consistently challenge students on is being mindful and considerate of those around us. What we wear and how we behave often affects not just ourselves, but those with who we come in contact.  For this reason we want to extend this consideration to how we dress on days such as Book Week costume day.

Please reflect on the following when preparing your child's costume for Book Week:

• Students should not come to Book Week dressed as witches, warlocks or magicians (including characters from Harry Potter);
• Students should wear a costume that is congruent with their gender, eg male students should dress as male book characters;
• Students should not bring with them any weapons, swords or knives as part of their costumes;
• Students should not represent anything from the occult or spiritual realm such as ghosts;
• Students are encouraged to bring the book that their character is in (this is not compulsory).

There are many many book characters that do not involve purchasing a costume and could easily be created using clothes and accessories already at home. I look forward to seeing the creativity of our students on this fun and exciting day.

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes 

It is the exciting time of year again where our Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes have arrived at the College.  This year we are distributing one box per family in the Primary School.  The boxes will be given to the oldest child in Primary School, along with an information brochure.  A $10 donation is requested by Samaritan’s Purse to cover the postage, and this payment can be made online.  Shoeboxes are due back at the College by Tuesday 20 October 2020.  Thank you for being a blessing to a child in a developing country.  

NSW Health Guidelines for Schools

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are flu like symptoms of fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some patients include aches and pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhoea, loss of taste or smell or a rash on skin or discoloration of fingers or toes.  These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually.  If your child demonstrates any of these symptoms, please keep them home until such time as they are well or have tested negative for COVID-19.  It is still vital that students thoroughly wash their hands during the school day and when they return home from school.

Keep them safe: Thank you for reading through the latest NSW guidelines for schools.

According to NSW Health Guidelines:

• Parents should ensure school pick up and drop off arrangements enable them to physically distance from one another and from staff;
• Physical distancing of students in schools is not required under the AHPPC guidelines;
• Non-essential adults are still not permitted on school grounds or at school events – this includes parents and carers unless specifically approved by the Principal;
• School Assemblies (limited to 15 minutes and no external visitors);
• Parent attendance at assemblies and other school events (eg graduation ceremonies or student speech events);
• Parent volunteers – eg parent reading helpers (Note: Canteen and Uniform Shop volunteers are permitted) https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families#School7 (21.8.2020)

Our Extend OOSH service is open.  If you have a child in Primary School and would like to make use of this service, please contact Extend Before and After School Care support@extend.com.au or call 1300 366 437.