Filter Content
Welcome back to Semester 2!
It has been wonderful to return to school and to see the students so well rested and ready for a new term of learning.
On behalf of the staff, I offer my thanks to all parents who were able to attend the Parent / Teacher Conferences at the end of Term 2. These meetings were an important opportunity to set learning goals for the second semester of the year. Goals are a wonderful means of focusing effort and improving motivation.
Several studies have shown improved academic performance when parents are part of this goal setting process with their children. These goals don’t need to be competitive, like being the best at something, or topping the class in a subject. Nor do they need to all be directly related to academic goals; some more personal learning goals are just as relevant. Educational goals should be achievable, but they should also be aspirational. For instance, parents could ask their children what they’d like to do differently this term compared to the first part of the year. Parents may need to ask their children some leading questions and explain that goals at school don’t need to be world changing.
They could be as simple as improving handwriting, listening more closely in class, aiming to get their homework done before dinner, getting dressed into their uniform as soon as they wake up, or even getting to school before the first bell each day.
It always helps to write goals down so they can be referred to throughout the term. Setting goals alone are not sufficient, a strategy or plan on how to go about trying to achieve them is also required. This often requires adjustments to be made by the child, but also by members of the family. What is important is that children are empowered by their parents to come up with their own goals. Children will be more motivated to achieve their goals if they’ve set them themselves because these goals will be important to them.
An important part of this whole goal-setting exercise is celebrating your child’s success when a goal is attained. Parents generally know what best motivates each of their own children and often rewards or enticements are not as effective in helping children achieve goals as personal attention and words of affirmation from their parents.
The following Hey Sigmund article explores what parents can do to help their child stay motivated and accomplish their goals.
Wishing you all a motivated start to a new term of learning.
Tina Murray
Principal
Morning Tea Catering - it is essential that the RSVP form linked below is completed by Friday 22 July 2022
https://forms.gle/gQQuDuef1BCmbc8L7
GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT PERSONS DAY PICNIC LUNCH CANTEEN ORDERING
To order for the picnic lunch for Grandparents and Great Persons Day, visitors and students must order via QuickCliq by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday 27 July 2022 or prior to this date. The canteen will have a Sausage Sizzle on the Menu for the picnic lunch for visitors AND students. The menu will be updated with the Sausage Sizzle by the end of this week.
Lunch Orders from the regular Menu can be ordered via QuickCliq on the day as normal, FOR STUDENTS ONLY.
If you require help to register or login please contact below:
Phone: 1300 11 66 37
E-mail: support @quickcliq.com.au
- Cars proceed to the first 3 spaces of the Kiss and Ride Zone, closest to the School Office entrance.
- Please follow staff directions.
- Only the first 3 cars will drop off children. All other cars will need to line up and wait until they reach this area to drop off their children.
- Adults need to always remain in the car. This means that children will need to have their school bags with them in the car, so that they are able to exit the car from the left-hand side, onto the footpath.
- Cars will exit the Kiss and Ride Zone in the order that they entered. Please do not leave earlier than the car in front or overtake them.
- If the Kiss and Ride Zone is full or you wish to get out of the car, please park in an area away from the Kiss and Ride Zone.
- Please do not . . .
- NO PARKING OR DROP OFF IN THE CHURCH / STAFF CAR PARK AT ANY TIME.
- park or drop off in the Bus Zone.
- double park.
- make U-turns - they are illegal, dangerous and put everyone at risk.
- stay and watch the children walking into the playground.
Parents are reminded that although students are able to enter via the Aquamarine Drive gate in the morning, this area is not a designated Kiss and Ride Zone. The Aquamarine Drive gate needs to be locked on the first bell (8.23am) to enable supervising staff to return to the supervision of the students in their class.
Students arriving after the second bell are considered late and must enter via the Office.
At all times, parents must ensure they adhere to all street signage as rangers and police frequently patrol these areas and impose fines and demerit points.
We have been informed that the Emerald Drive crossing and traffic zones are currently under review by Campbelltown Council. The residents and the school have been provided with an opportunity to provide feedback and make suggestions about the proposed changes. We will keep parents informed regarding any changes once they have been confirmed by Campbelltown Council.
TERM 3 SPORT DAYS
Christmas Story Art Competition
Every year, Catholic schools in our area are invited to take part in ‘The Christmas Story’ – a visual arts exhibition and competition for children in Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6). This is an initiative of the Catholic Education Offices in Wollongong and Sydney to celebrate and explore children’s creative and artistic ability in illustrating the Christmas story.
We have several students across Stage 3 who have expressed an interest in participating in the competition. These students will take part in a range of workshops throughout Term 3, where they will become familiar with the key scripture passages; artistically represent their understanding of the passage and write an extended response (reflection).
This year, they are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work with a previous winner of this competition (her artwork was selected to be hung at the Vatican). We can’t wait to share their successes with you throughout the term.
I have included a link in case you would like to view previous entrants work:
This loving family happens to be the reason for our Grandparents & Great Friends celebration next Thursday!
This image actually show Jesus’ Grandparents;
St Joachim and St Anne and it is their special Feast Day next week. They are actually considered to be the Patron Saints of Grandparents.
Did you know…
St James tells us that an angel appeared to Anne (who had been longing for a child) and told her that she would give birth to a child who would be blessed and extremely holy. This baby of course was Mary who we consider to be Immaculate.
Can you believe that these two special grandparents would eventually be gifted with a grandson, our Saviour, Jesus. What a joyous occasion!
Congratulations to all those students who have returned their loans from last term, but we still have many outstanding loans – almost 300!! We look forward to getting them all back this week. Please remind your children of their Library Day – it coincides with sport for classes, so wearing sports uniform is a good reminder!
Tomorrow:
Thursday – Kindergarten
Next week:
Monday – Year 3 ** Change from Thursday because of Grandparents Day
Tuesday – Year 2
Wednesday – Year 5
Scholastic Book Club
Brochures are going home this week for the next issue of Book Club. Many thanks to those families who are supporting this program through your online purchases. Every purchase you make not only provides your children with some lovely books but also earns points for the school, and enables us to purchase resources for the Library. For Issue 5 Scholastic is giving way FREE books to help celebrate and spread the love of reading. You can get up to 3 free books:
- Receive 1 free book when you spend over $30;
- Receive 2 free books when you spend over $50;
- Receive 3 free books when you spend over $70.
Orders for Issue 5 will close on Tuesday 2 August.
Premiers' Reading Challenge
We now have quite a few students who have already completed the challenge, and more who have logged in and registered their books read so far. There are only 5 weeks left now to complete the challenge, so it is important to ensure that any books read are registered . It would be a shame to miss out by just a few titles. Go to:
https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html
Any student who is having difficulty registering the books is urged to come to the Library at Lunch 2 for assistance.
Don’t forget to read with your children if you have time. Perhaps ask them what they are reading themselves, talk about what their library books are this week.
"The more that you read,
the more things you will know. The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go."
Happy reading!
Mrs Sue Bryant
Teacher-Librarian
Over the past 18 months our Mary Immaculate teachers have been engaged in professional learning that has been focused on improving writing practice.
Part of the learning has prompted teachers to look at ways they can build content knowledge and essential vocabulary that will allow students to be successful when writing. One way that teachers achieve this is through providing an immersion experience for students at the beginning of a teaching and learning cycle. This not only aims to build students' field knowledge of a topic, but it has also been a fantastic way to spark the students’ interest and build excitement for the upcoming learning.
Here are some of the immersion experiences we have created to begin Term Three with:
Year Two
Year Two students participated in rotational activities that focused on individual colours. After completing these tasks the students read ‘The Day The Crayons Quit’. Through this experience the students were challenged to choose the best colour and are developing the vocabulary needed to persuade an audience of their opinion.
Year Three
Year Three students had the opportunity to visit the ‘Mary Immaculate Art Gallery’. During this experience the students were encouraged to be art critics as they went on an art scavenger hunt and viewed some of history’s most famous artworks. The following day the students listened to a guest speaker. Mrs Grados discussed the Aboriginal artworks she has created and displayed in the art exhibition. This experience built essential vocabulary and knowledge that will allow them to write descriptive texts that include a personal response and interpretation of an artwork.
Year Four
Year Four students commenced a unit on waste and sustainability by walking into a classroom that was filled with rubbish from school and home. They then spent the morning discussing different types of waste, they sorted and classified the rubbish and then had an opportunity to reflect on the impact this rubbish has on the environment. This experience provided students with new vocabulary about sustainability that they will build on in the coming weeks and it also got them thinking about how they can build a sustainable world.
Year Six
Year Six students were immersed in Japanese culture as they rotated through four cultural activities: Language, Manga Art, Aikido and Origami. This experience provided students with the necessary content and vocabulary needed to understand the structure, language and grammatical features of an informative text. The students will be writing informative texts about a country in Asia and this will be integrated with their Geography lessons.
Rebecca Sidorenko
Instructional Coach
To RSVP via the Google Form please either download the Grandparents Invitation above to click on the link or click on the followng link: