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Dear Parents and Carers,
Harmony Day, which is officially celebrated around Australia on 21 March. This special celebration allows us to explore as a school community the continuing message that ‘Everyone Belongs’.
Harmony Day calls upon each of us to deal with cultural, racial, and religious intolerance by promoting respect, fairness and a sense of belonging for everyone. This day recognises the truly multicultural nature of our society. It is an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Australians come from all over the world.
Our Australian story is so diverse, and this is very much reflected in our own school community, which is blessed by the mix of so many different cultures. This is especially important considering the cultural diversity of students at Mary Immaculate. Almost 65% of our students are from a language background other than English (LBOTE). Harmony Day is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home – from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world. By participating in Harmony Day activities, we can learn and understand how all Australians from diverse backgrounds equally belong to this nation and enrich it.
We may come from many countries around the world and each of us contributes to making up the pages of the bigger Australian story that we all share together. Yesterday students and staff were invited to participate in a mufti day organised by the students in the RESPECT team. Students wore clothing reflecting the colours from the flag of their family’s country of origin, or aspects of traditional dress. We thank Mrs Grados for supporting the students and for her leadership in providing resources for this event. We are grateful to the staff for deepening the student’s appreciation for the importance of this day through coverage in classrooms.
Harmony Day is an opportunity to celebrate the fact that in Australian and at Mary Immaculate, ‘Everyone Belongs.’ Thank you to the many families who so eagerly shared their cultural heritage with our school family. The playground was abuzz with questions and comments from the students throughout the day.
Wishing you a Lenten week ahead filled with many opportunities to reconnect to God who often appears to us in our interactions with others.
Mrs Tina Murray
Principal
SCHOOL CANTEEN
For several years KC Catering has held the contract for our School Canteen. This contract will be concluding at the end of this term. We would like to express our gratitude to Kelly, Gayle, Sue and Angela who have supported our School Community for a number of years. We are grateful for the essential service they have provided to our School Community.
After a successful tender process, a new contractor Made Fresh will be commencing in the School Canteen from the commencement of Term 2. Please refer to the additional information provided in the attached documents. Made Fresh are currently in the process of establishing a school account using the Flexischools App. Additional information will be provided once this is completed.
CROSS COUNTRY
Please find the proposed timetable for Friday’s Cross Country below.
The times provided are provided as a guide and may vary slightly on the day.
In the event of wet weather, the carnival will be run as a competitor only carnival on a rescheduled date before the end of term.
These arrangements will be communicated via Compass.
NSW K - 2 English and Mathematics Syllabuses
As mentioned in previous newsletters, all schools in NSW are implementing the reformed NSW English and Mathematics K - 2 syllabuses. These syllabuses highlight foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Please find below suggestions about what you can do as a parent or carer to support your child in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 in the area of English.
Helping your Early Stage 1 child at home with English
Print Conventions
Print conventions focus on the knowledge of how books and written language work. This includes understanding how books are used, the reading direction and the difference between letters, words and sentences.
You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:
- pointing your finger under words when you are reading with your child
- making sure your child can see how your finger moves from the end of a line to the next line in a ‘return sweep’
- using different voices to show different characters are speaking when you see speech marks (‘ ’).
Phonic Knowledge
Phonic knowledge focuses on the letter symbol in the alphabet (grapheme) that is used to represent a spoken sound (phoneme) in a word.
You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:
- stretching some simple words into sounds, such as d- o- g, while you are reading and writing together. Make sure you say the sound, not the letter name
- starting an alphabet book and choosing a new word to add after each book you read. For example, your child loves the word ‘pudding’ that they have found in a book. Discuss what sound the word starts with and then they can add the word pudding to the ‘pP’ page of the alphabet book
- playing ‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with …’ Make sure you use the sound, not the letter.
Helping your Stage 1 child at home with English
Reading Fluency
Reading fluency focuses on developing a reading style that is smooth, which uses an expressive voice. Self-correction is used when meaning or reading flow is interrupted.
You can help your Year 1 or Year 2 child at home by:
- reading a range of literature for rich experiences and providing a wide exposure to words, language and text structures
- showing how to read in a steady manner
- continuing to listen to your child read familiar texts so they can practise an expressive voice with confidence
- practising and performing a short, scripted play with you, your child, and other family members as characters.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension focuses on understanding the meaning of words and sentences within longer and more complex texts, while using background knowledge and personal experiences to increase comprehension.
You can help your Year 1 and Year 2 child at home by:
- giving them opportunities to read to themselves for enjoyment
- encouraging them to ask you questions about the book if they are unsure about word meanings or the storyline
- remembering and talking about your family’s experiences about a topic in a book you are reading such as moving house, welcoming a new baby, gardening or looking after a pet
- asking them if their opinions may have changed about a character’s actions or personality as the book progresses. Was there a twist in the storyline that surprised them?
- enjoying discussing idioms found in books you read together. Idioms are sayings or expressions that are not to be taken as they are written but have a hidden meaning. Some examples include It was raining cats and dogs (it was raining heavily) and It was like finding a needle in a haystack (it was hard to find).
Mrs Lillian Del Giudice
Assistant Principal
“One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children."
– Carl Sagan
HOUSEKEEPING
Your child will not be borrowing from the library during their last library lesson this term. This is to allow time for all students to have their books returned prior to the holidays and for all books to be available for borrowing in Term Two. Over the next two weeks, please remind your child to return their library books.
PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE
The Premier’s reading challenge has been underway for a few weeks now.
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. This is a wonderful initiative and we strongly encourage all students to take part!
The passwords for the challenge are auto generated through the PRC website and remain the same each year. Students K - 2 have had their passwords sent home, along with passwords for new students to the school. If your child has previously taken place in the challenge, their passwords remain the same.
If you wish for your child to take place in the challenge and need another copy of the password please contact Mrs Biviano or Mrs Mammone to assist with this.
HOLIDAY READING
Sharing stories often begins with reading aloud. Reading aloud provides a number of opportunities and benefits for children of all ages. Encouraging a child’s love of reading is a partnership between home and school. Please encourage your child to continue to read books over the holidays. These can be from your collections at home, borrowed from the local library or from an online library like SORA.
Keep Reading,
Mrs Biviano and Mrs Mammone
FAITH TEAM
We would like to introduce our Year 6 Faith Team. They are responsible for sharing Jesus’ message of love. The leaders of the faith team are Sebastian and Ethan. We are responsible for taking care of the faith team and helping them grow in their spiritual journey through Jesus' footsteps. Also, we will Strive to show to be good role models to others in school and out of school to kiddy students and parents.
Just a reminder to send your Easter Raffle Tickets and Money back to the School Office by Friday 31 March 2023. There are sixteen different Easter Baskets to be won. If you would like more booklets they can be collected from the office. The raffle will be drawn throughout the school day on Monday 3 April 2023.
