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Ever generous God,
You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop
To live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely or needy.
With confidence in your generous providence
and through the intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop
We ask that you grant our request……………….
We ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit
so that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.
Ever generous God hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Mary MacKillop
Week 4 Newsletter Term 3
Dear Parents and Guardians,
NAIDOC week has been a great opportunity to really celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and recognise the wonderful contributions of Indigenous Australians. We have enjoyed learning about the languages, art, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our school community and have explored the meaning of Voice, Treaty, Truth.
Together we recognise the importance of listening to the voices of our First Nations People and we respect the diversity of our First Nation’s Peoples: their histories, cultures, knowledges and continuing deep spiritual connection to the land, seas and waterways. We celebrate the unique giftedness that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families contribute to the unique context of our school. A huge thanks to Ms Tari Sagigi and Ms Lillian Miller who worked tirelessly all week coordinating activities and the many visitors who came together with us to share their voice throughout the week. Friday’s Whole school Mass was an uplifting experience that showed a true connection of hearts, minds and spirits.
Each week as I visit classes, we continue learning more about Growth Mindset, challenging student and adult learners alike to take risks, grow from mistakes and continually challenge ourselves to improve and refine understandings and skills. We are learning to lean into discomfort i.e. persist with a problem or issue to explore new ways of thinking, working and collaborating to be successful. At the heart of developing effective learners is the concept of pushing through discomfort which in Visible Learning language is referred to as ‘The Learning Pit’ to achieve personal goals. Learners of all ages need opportunities to ‘have a go’. It is an expectation at St Joseph’s that we all take responsibility for our learning, can talk about our learning, know where we are in our learning, what success looks like and our next steps. We encourage student to ask themselves 5 questions about their learning.
- What am I learning?
- How am I doing?
- How do I know?
- What can I do to improve?
- Where do I go to get help?
Parenting expert Michael Grose also highlights the significance of children being able to tolerate discomfort or sit with uncomfortable feelings. In his recent article (attached to the newsletter) “Helping kids to tolerate discomfort” he suggests that it is useful to think of discomfort as a ‘muscle’ that becomes stronger with training.
The Public Health Unit has beuan screening students to identify who may be at risk from Step A. Screening will continue on Monday. Parents are welcome to attend the screening of your child although it will be difficult to give you an accurate time as there is no clear schedule due to the nature of the process. No medical treatment is administered at the school, but any child considered at risk will have parents contacted by the Public Health Unit to organise treatment. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us so we can give you the contact details for the Public Health Unit.
How did St Mary of the Cross MacKillop become a saint?
On Thursday 8th August we celebrated the feast day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is Australia’s first saint. To become recognised as a Saint is more than just being a good person who followed in the footsteps of Jesus.
There are three things to look at if a person is to be considered for sainthood (canonization is the Church’s term). First, the person must be beatified, thought of as having “heroic virtue;” second, they must be thought of as being in heaven, and third, they must be recognized by the Catholic Church to have interceded for those still here on Earth (a miracle). To become canonized, at least two miracles are required, and the miracles come for a petitioner praying to the person for help. The miracles must be documented and investigated. There must not be means other than divine intervention that could have caused the miracle. The process to have MacKillop declared a saint began in the 1920s, and she was beatified in January 1995 by Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI prayed at her tomb during his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day 2008 and in December 2009 approved the Catholic Church's recognition of a second miracle attributed to her intercession. She was canonised on 17 October 2010, during a public ceremony in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. She is the first Australian to be recognised by the Catholic Church as a saint.
God Bless!
News from the APRE – Term 3 Week 4.
This week was our time to celebrate not only NAIDOC Week but to also honour our very first Saint – St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. The Feast of St Mary Of the Cross MacKillop is celebrated on Thursday 8th August.
On Thursday I had the privilege of being invited to prayer with the Year 2 class and the children were very reverent and enthusiastic to learn some facts about Mary MacKillop. Listening to the Year 6 class sing the song – ‘Never see a need’ was very special. Thank you to both classes for the invitations and I look forward to spending some time with other classes over the remainder of the term.
Mary was canonised as our First Australian Saint in October 2010. She was an ordinary Australian who did extraordinary things for God. Mary helped the homeless and hungry, as well as taught children about God’s love. Mary was kind and loving to every person she met as if she was meeting Jesus himself. She is a great example to all of us and we extend an invitation to all of our community to talk with your children about Mary’s activities through conversation about what they have learnt in class and by sharing the You Tube video with them at home (link below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CBQ4XKSjYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U47oWVgFHak
Mary was the founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and it was her works and legacy that helped us select her as one of our patrons to demonstrate the role modelling of ways in which we are challenged to live out our faith and educate our children accordingly.
In the words of Mary MacKillop – “never see a need without doing something about it.”
Blessings for a wonderful weekend,
Amanda
Good mental health helps children develop socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. It will also assist children to deal with challenges and adapt to change, so they can feel good about themselves, build healthy relationships with others and enjoy life.
Having good mental health is key to the healthy development and wellbeing of every child. It is easier to identify physical needs in our children, including nutritious food, warm clothes when it’s cold, housing and sleep. However, a child’s mental and emotional needs may not be as obvious.
Mental health can be influenced by many things, like genetics, family circumstances, school life and life events.
There are several things that can be done to support a good mental health and prevent concerns arising. Some of these things include:
- Unconditional love. Love, security and acceptance are important to everybody. Children need to know that love isn’t dependent on anything. Mistakes should be expected.
- Provide a safe and secure home.
- Nurture children’s confidence and self-esteem. Praise them, set realistic goals, be honest, encourage children.
- Enjoy time with your child and play. Play time with children is important. The best way to do this is by spending time doing things that your child likes, for example – kicking a ball, playing board games, building Lego etc. Children will also enjoy playing with their friends and other peers.
- Appropriate boundaries and guidance. Children need the opportunity to explore and develop new skills and independence. However, they also need to learn that certain behaviours are unacceptable and that they are responsible for the consequences. Be firm, but kind and realistic with your expectations. Set a good example.
- Praise and encourage your child. When they do something well or behave in a way that you like.
- Make time everyday to talk and listen to your child.
- Avoid nagging, threats and bribery.
Talk about emotions – more to be continued in following newsletters.
Welcome to week 4 of Term 3!
In English the Prep students are working towards creating their own narrative. They have been learning about characters, setting, a problem and how to solve the problem in their story. The students are in progress to retell their stories to their peers before we begin drafting their narratives. The students in the class have been interested in sharks and we have been looking at factual information and how it is different from fictional stories.
The story for this week is the Chicken hatched a Cow by Adam Bestwick. It is a funny story where students have to use the predicting strategy to solve the mystery of which animal is in chicken’s egg.
These are some of the tricky words that we have been learning in class:
| the | me | them | have |
| a | were | her | tall |
| my | she | one | with |
| is | are | has | call |
| I | be | there | so |
| to | said | ball | this |
| was | we | of | no |
| you | they | here | then |
| he | look | little | go |
| that | his | all |
In Maths the students are learning about positional language and provided simple directions for locations around the school. This also ties in with our science unit which is based on movement.
The students really enjoyed learning about NAIDOC with Ms Lillian and Ms Tari. They have been teaching us how to use coconut leaves to make balls and whips.
Have a wonderful week.
Kind Regards
Miss Andrieka Knight
Year 1 has thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Catholic Education Week and Naidoc week. We discussed what it means to be part of the Catholic community and identified the many reasons we are grateful for God making each of us special. This week we explored the Naidoc theme of Voice, Treaty, Truth by singing songs, talking about social and cultural norms and making damper. We also celebrated the feast day of St Mary McKillop and discussed our school's focus on never seeing a need without doing something about it. It is a pleasure to witness the students so easily recognising and sharing how they can spread kindness at school.
In English, we have continued using our story plans to create Finding Tales. We have been learning to include "When" words in our writing to make it more interesting for our readers. Yesterday I ... Tomorrow I will... We edited our writing with a focus on checking our split digraphs. Next week we will be learning the grammar rules for doubling f, l and s.
In Maths, we have been learning about 3D shapes and we can sort shaped based on their features (number of sides, number of corners). Next week, we will be consolidating our knowledge of place value and exploring hundred, tens and ones. We will expand numbers, trade numbers, represent our numbers if many ways.
What a busy few weeks we have had! It has been wonderful celebrating Catholic Education Week and NAIDOC week. The students have enjoyed the various activities organised at school to deepen their understanding of these important events. We have participated in liturgies, shared our favourite hymns, read stories about Catholic identity, created dot painting bookmarks and weaved items out of coconut palm leaves. Also, one can’t forget the incredible effort everyone went to for Crazy Hair Day. The donations raised will support children battling cancer.
Please keep your eye out for a homework task about a heritage site around Weipa your family has visited. I would love for the students to share their knowledge of the different local places of historical importance. Places such as Red Beach (Middens and Scar Trees), ANZAC Park and the ANZAC memorial, the old post office and the plane wrecks at Penny Father. Students will be asked to present their significant site to the class.
I look forward to seeing as many parents as possible at our Year 2 assembly next week and hope you are all working on your book week costumes for week 6.
In Year 3 we have been busy engaging with Catholic Education Week and Naidoc Week activities this fortnight. We embedded our catholic identity into the activities we took part in and further understood how we all have a voice that can be apart of one spirit. Weaving was a hit in our Naidoc activities with all students creating either whips or balls from palm leaves. The time together in our liturgies or mass were well received by all and the students showed respect and reverence. In our writing sessions we have been learning about the language features of an information report and how we can put certain phrases on either an object, a person or an animal into sub-headings. Our Math lessons on multiplication has been about the way we set up an equation and number sentences. Have the ability to work out multiplication in various ways shows a deeper understanding of the concepts we are learning about. Our super heros of the bible have now expanded to David and Gideon. Both stories showed us the inner strength to stand up to difficult problems is able to be accomplished as long as we believe in ourselves and those around us. Next friday we will be building our robots so look out for some fantastic creations coming home. Our attendance this past fortnight has been a bit lower than normal with a few of our students suffering sickness. We have had 15 of our students here 100% of the time. Nice effort everyone.
In year 4 this term we have been exploring measurement. We have talked about different units of measurement and thought about what units of measurement would be appropriate for measuring different objects. For example, we would measure a leaf in millimetres but not a football field. We have also started using those units of measurement to work out the perimeter of objects. We have also looked at area and the different formulas we can use to work out area. Ask your child if they can remember how to work area or perimeter of an object in your house.
The students really enjoyed learning about NAIDOC with Ms Lillian and Ms Tari. We have some great weavers amongst us.
Ths students have started looking at recounts for this term’s writing piece. We have been looking at the familiar text ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ and looking at the features that make the book at diary. We have been discussing the purpose and language features that are unique to diaries. The students have been sharing some interesting stories about how their life connects with the story. I’m looking forward to hearing some more tales as we progress through the book.
There was a great improvement in the amount of homework returned this week which is really pleasing to see. The homework goes out on a Tuesday and is returned the following Tuesday to allow for plenty of time for reading to occur. The fluency sheets are being tested this week and the results will be sent home to let you know what set of words or phrases your child should be practising. Feel free to send me any questions you have about this.
Our attendance this week is that 12 students are attending 100% of the time. Some absences are unavoidable but please let myself and the office know as soon as possible to ensure your child does not miss out on too much learning.
In Year 5 in Mathematics we have been working with financial plans. We have combined this with fractions and area and perimeter for a maths investigation in which we are creating a mini golf hole. We are also work hard to improve our times table skills.
We have been looking at Poetry in English and read The Ballad of the Drover by Henry Lawson. The imagery the words brought was discussed at length. Spelling Mastery continues each week and we have been writing using a stimulus. This week our stimulus was, “Bleary-eyed, I went downstairs for breakfast, the house was empty, even the furniture had gone…”.
As well we have begun a short mindfulness session when we come in from the second break. Students are given five to ten minutes just to moderate their breathing to release any tension and then centre themselves to enable them to be in the present for the last session of school.
Students have enjoyed the Naidoc activities this week with many budding weavers emerging. We also did an art activity where we depicted our interpretation of lightning and a few examples are shown below:
The big news for our school leaders is that we have our Year 6 shirts at last. The shirts look great, and represent our school values and the team spirit of our class. Students are encouraged to wear the new shirts to school every Friday. They may also optionally be worn on Wednesdays and other days when the sport uniform is worn. Please note that we will be wearing the shirts for traveling to and from our year 6 camp next term as well.
We are at the point of confirming bookings and the timetable for our camp. A notice will be coming home to parents and caregivers very soon asking for a firm commitment that your child will be attending the camp, together with any travel requests or other special requirements.
This term on Tuesdays and Thursdays the year 6 students are pairing up with buddies in the year 1 class for shared reading. This is a great opportunity for the students from both classes to support each other, to practice their reading, and to build and develop their literacy skills.
Like everyone at our school, in the past two weeks we have enjoyed participating in liturgies and activities for Catholic Education Week and NAIDOC. The year 6 group showed great leadership in a number of these events, and have received many compliments from both visitors and school staff. They have also shown some interesting skills in new areas, including origami, singing, and dot painting. In our History/Civics classes we have been learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and this has tied in nicely with some discussions we have been having about NAIDOC week and the recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples under Australian law.
Year 6 students rocking their new Leaders shirts.
