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Dear Parents and Carers,
“at this time, more than ever, we need to co-create hopefulness with others. Hope is really about looking ahead – a long way ahead. Our work in Catholic education is about the daily challenge of keeping hope alive. In an age when faith can be fragile, when COVID-19 has engulfed our lives, how do we patiently keep hope alive?”
During our regular check-ins with families our staff have had countless conversations with parents who are overwhelmed and struggling with the pressures and frustration created by the challenges of juggling work, family, home learning and an endless cycle of negative news and lockdown restrictions. We know and feel this reality acutely ourselves.
Our message to all our families is that our current priority is that all our children feel safe and cared for. No form of learning can happen without these special ingredients. Please do not put too much pressure on yourself or your child/ren ~ learning happens in every minute of the day and has done so from the minute your child was born. Many informal, play activities provide rich learning and social experiences that children will remember in the years to come. As parents we too play a vital role in co-creating hopefulness for our children. We know how acutely we are all reacting to our current situation. I wonder how our current situation must appear when it is viewed through the eyes of a child?
I was certainly filled with hope when I read the simple but beautiful prayer written by Aliyah in Year 1 as I ended the day last Friday. It certainly filled me with much hope.
I hope we learn and are able to teach our children many valuable lessons from this experience about resilience and adaptability.
Most of all, I hope we are able to keep hope alive by exercising patience: patience with ourselves, with others and with God.
As patience is the mother of hope we certainly need to acknowledge we need plenty of it right now in order to deal with the challenges our current circumstances present to us.
But, as Aliyah reminds us, we also still have much to be grateful for.
May Christ guide your way and life in the week ahead.
Tina Murray
Principal
Thank you to the many families who participated in this competition organised by our Year 5 teachers that promoted a little fun in our community. Congratulations to Georgia Z in Year 5 and Sophie R in Year 6 who are the lucky winners of a $30.00 gift card.
The answers to this weeks competition will be shared with students via Google Classroom.
It is an extremely difficult and challenging time and we understand how difficult it can be to manage working from home as well as supervising your child’s learning, however we are requesting your support to limit the risk of COVID-19 by having your child learn from home, rather than school, unless you absolutely have no other option.
As already communicated, students attending the school should only be those whose parents / carers must physically attend a work location outside of the home. I thank the staff, students and parents and carers for ensuring the safety of all in our School Community. Please do not hesitate to make contact to discuss any personal extenuating circumstances related to school attendance.
Please ensure you register your child’s attendance in advance for any day they are expected to attend during the coming week.
The registration form is shared on Thursday each week and can be resubmitted if circumstances change.
Supporting young people impacted by COVID-19 - In response to the current lockdowns, HeadSpace is running additional Parent / Carer mental health education sessions, over the next 6 weeks. Catholic Schools NSW works in partnership with HeadSpace and supports this initiative which provides parents/carers with helpful information during this period of increasing lockdowns and disruptions to daily life.
The list of remote sessions can be found at the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/headspace-national-youth-mental-health-foundation-30549822220
The range of sessions are designed to support young people impacted by COVID-19, and parents who are concerned about the mental health of their children.
Parents and Carers are provided with information and strategies to proactively support their young people during these uncertain times.
BUILDING COMPREHENSION SKILLS
There's a big difference between being able to read words and being able to comprehend the meaning of the sentences you read.
When teachers talk about developing your child's comprehension skills, they're also talking about kids being able to fully understand and follow information they are listening to and watching.
Here are some skills your child can develop to understand what they are reading, viewing and hearing. When you are reading (or watching television) with your child, try to ask questions that help them practise these skills.
Getting the Main Idea - The main idea is what the passage is about. In paragraphs, it is often contained in the first sentence. In longer passages, the main idea may be in the title, chapter headings, proposed solutions to problems or in concluding statements.
Identifying Cause and Effect - Cause and effect is about how events relate to one another. Words which indicate this are:
-
- because
- as a result
- due to.
Example - It rained heavily for three days (cause) and as a result the river burst its banks (effect).
Identifying Fact and Opinion - Facts can be verified from other sources. Opinions are personal judgements and are often expressed by comparisons (strongest, best) or adjectives (brilliant, untrustworthy).
Example - Monet was the founder of French impressionist painting (fact). Monet was the most brilliant artist of his time (opinion).
Making Inference - Information is not clearly stated but is implied by the context.
Example - He grabbed his raincoat and umbrella and ran from the house. The inference is that it is raining or it might rain.
Comparing and Contrasting
Comparing focuses on similarities:
-
- similarly
- likewise
- just as
- in the same way
- both.
Contrasting focuses on differences:
-
- on the other hand
- however
- conversely
- yet
- nevertheless
- although.
Note: For both, we may need to draw on what we already know.
Example - Comparing
Just as weeds are seen to spring up everywhere in the summer, in the same way trees and plants put on growth spurts.
Example - Contrasting
In summer, the temperatures are warmer and plants grow rapidly. On the other hand, winter is cold and plants grow more slowly.
Sequencing - To understand and follow a passage well, the reader needs to know the order in which things happened. Examples of words which indicate sequence are:
-
- first
- then
- finally
- at last.
Example - First he raced into the room, frantically searching for his sports shoes. When at last he had found them under the bed, he ran to the car, leapt in and was finally on his way to school.
Drawing Conclusions - The aim is to consider all that has been said and interpret what it is about. This may include a summary statement at the end or the author's point of view throughout a passage.
Example - Some people keep injured birds they find in the wild. They take them home, look after them and then keep the birds on as pets. But is it good for wild birds to be kept in a cage all the time? Once the birds are strong enough, trained wildlife experts recommend that birds raised in the wild be introduced back into their natural habitat.
The conclusion is that wild birds live best in their natural environment.
LILLIAN DEL GIUDICE
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Well it is that time of the year when we celebrate Book Week, and as with our whole lives at the moment this year it will look different! Book Week is a time to celebrate Australian Authors and Illustrators and the wonderful books they provide to keep us both entertained and informed. Each year since 1945 the Children’s Book Council of Australia has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian Children's Authors and Illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians create colourful displays, develop activities, run competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. At Mary Immaculate we usually celebrate with our annual Book Character parade, as well as a variety of activities in class and in the library centred around the winning books.
Six books are short-listed in each of the categories, and the judges then decide the winners based on select criteria.The Judges assess entries primarily for:
- Literary merit – aesthetic qualities of language, standing the test of time, realistic characters.
- Cohesiveness – language, theme, style.
- Appeal to the implied readership.
- Quality – illustrations, book design, production, editing.
- Originality in the treatment of literary elements as they apply to the form of the work.
Consideration is given to the quality of illustrations, book design, editing, production, printing and binding.
The winners will be announced this Friday 20 August at 12 noon - if you are interested take a look at the CBCA website https://www.cbca.org.au/cbca-book-week
This year the teachers will be organising some fun ways to celebrate online with your class. You can still dress up as your favourite book character and share that with your teacher. We look forward to seeing lots of wonderful characters!
Premiers' Reading Challenge: Remember we still have just over two weeks till 1 September to finalise our PRC entries. Congratulations to the many students who have completed the Challenge, an excellent achievement, especially considering the difficult year we have had! We have quite a few students who are almost there, so if you need to finish remember that you can email your list of books to your class teacher and I can register them for you! Even though the Premiers' Reading Challenge is nearly finished, we do not stop reading – we must continue to put in an effort to read every day, reading is a lifelong skill!
Scholastic Book Club: In response to the current lockdowns, Scholastic has added the temporary option for all parents to have their orders sent directly to your homes. This option will enable you to place and receive orders while your children are undertaking schooling at home.
- When parents place your Issue 6 Book Club orders, you will have the option to select home delivery.
- The home delivery option will automatically be added to schools in the lockdown area.
- The home delivery option can be selected by parents at the time of ordering for $7.50
- If you are interested you can view the catalogue online this week for Issue 6 https://scholastic.com.au/media/6421/bc621web.pdf
Ordering online is the only way to order, and you are able to opt for home delivery. Thank you for your support with this program.
Take care - keep reading!
"If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books."
Happy reading!
Mrs Susan Bryant
Teacher Librarian