Newsletter Week 6 Term 1 2024

Hi Everyone,

Our parent engagement focus this week has been on goal-setting meetings. This is an important part of our assessment and reporting process as the school year progresses.

The staff recognised the importance of bringing these meetings to an earlier point in the year to ensure we get off to a great start.

Thanks to parents, carers and students for participating in this process. Our Kindergarten teachers will meet with parents in the coming weeks - information to follow.

Our next step of the process will be our semester reports in term 2. Parents are always welcome to contact classroom teachers to discuss their child's learning.

Lenten Season and Holy Week

Our season of Lent continues in our Gospel reflections at Monday Assembly and classroom programs. Our focus is on Jesus and his journey to the cross.

The students will reflect on the events of Holy Week from Tuesday, 26 March. Each morning, we will gather to remember Palm Sunday, The Last Supper and the Stations of the Cross.

We will gather again when we return after Easter for our celebration of the Resurrection.  

Isaiah's Big Chop

Week 7:

Monday 11 March  

Corpus Christi Cross Country Trials, Years 2-6. Waratah 1 Oval 

(Sport Uniform Years 2-6) 

Tuesday 12 March 

P & F March Meeting, 6:30pm, School Library 

 From Wednesday 13 March 

NAPLAN Assessments Years 3 and 5 

Thursday 14 March 

Project Compassion Fundraiser Day 

Sunday 17 March 

Kinder Parish Welcome Mass 5:30pm  

Week 8:

Wednesday 20 March

2025 Kindergarten Open Morning

Friday 22 March

Harmony Day (Out of Uniform - Wear Orange - details to follow)

Week 9:

Tuesday 26 March

Holy Week Liturgy 9am - Hall -  Kindergarten

Wednesday 27 March

Holy Week Liturgy 9am - Hall -  Stage 2 - Year 3 and 4

Thursday 28 March

Holy Week Liturgy 9am - Church -  Stage 3 - Year 5 and 6

Week 10:

Tuesday 2 April

Easter Resurrection Liturgy - Hall - Stage 1 - Year 1 and 2

Week 11:

Friday 12 Arpil 

School Athletics Carnival

Staff Developmemt Days (Term 2):

Monday 29 April 

Friday 5 July

For younger kids, Lent is a time when we practice new ways of doing good and making good choice, so we can be closer to God.

Here are some easy tips you can incorporate into your day or week to help young kids to enage in Lent.

1:Talk about Lent.

A great way to begin Lent is to talk with your kids about what Lent is. The roots of Lent go back to the early Church, when those wishing to become Christian would undergo a period of preparation before their baptism. Eventually, the whole Church adopted the practice of renewing baptismal promises through a period of penance and recommitment to Christ.

From the Diocese

An opportunity to share feedback about Religious Education and Spirituality

In October 2022, the Diocesan Trustees authorised a review of the Religious Education & Spirituality Team supporting schools, and the Diocesan Pastoral Ministries team.

We want to hear directly from our schools and families as well as our clergy, our parishes and our people on this matter.

You’re welcome to share your feedback, vision and voice. Please click here to answer a few questions.

DEALING WITH REFUSALS

If you ask permission to join in, a refusal is a possibility. In the playground, refusals to play, may be an occurrence your child comes across in their life. Dealing with these Highway Happenings, is an important lesson in coping with disappointments and bouncing back - that is, in being resilient.

However, not all refusals are the same. They can be Normal, Nasty – or even ‘Very
Nasty’ and responding to the latter two is difficult.

Normal Refusals are defined as those where there is no ridicule or abuse of the child; it’s more factual. For example, there’s not the opportunity to join in that game at that particular time, or the child may just need to wait for a turn to speak or to have a go at a toy or equipment.

Nasty Refusals are when it involves criticism and denigration of the child personally or their skills. Responding successfully to a Play Refusal requires skill – which doesn’t come instinctively to most children; it needs to be taught. 

The HIGHWAY TOOL of The Triple A’s 4 Refusals has been introduced this week. We are taking the time to unpack in our classrooms, strategies for dealing with playground refusals in all forms. We will be role playing how and when to ASSERT ourselves when unkind refusals occur, how to avoid ARGUING and when ACCEPTING certain situations when a not nasty refusal occurs. 

You may wish to have a discussion with your child about the way in which they respond
to Play Refusals. Also incorporating some role plays, would be an excellent way to support your child's social and emotional learning.

Please note: It is acknowledged that some children receive frequent and often nasty play refusals, and for a minority, this may continue from year to year. These
experiences are emotionally damaging and require further investigation.

If a child’s play is disruptive, aggressive, developmentally inappropriate, or consistently unco-operative, these behaviours can be the cause of ongoing rejection, and assistance should be sought. The Term 1 Highway Heros Module will be helpful to any child experiencing peer rejection, but it is not a substitute for a thorough assessment of the difficulty.