Newsletter Week 2 Term 3 2024

Hi Everyone, 

We have come back to brand new classrooms and exciting new learning for semsester two.

We are looking forward to many events for students to showcase their talents and to celebrate as a community.

Please join us this Friday with Fr. James as we celebrate the Feast of St Dominic at Mass 9:15am. We look to St Dominic for his model of dedicated prayer, meaningful service, a commitment to learning, and fostering a strong sense of community.

Faith in Focus

In this weekend's Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” As adults, we look to Jesus to provide the spiritual nourishment necessary for a fulfilled and meaningful life. He offers guidance, love, and support that help us navigate life’s challenges and grow in faith.

With children, we explain that just like bread helps our bodies stay strong, Jesus helps our hearts and minds feel happy and full. When Jesus says he’s the “bread of life,” he means that he gives us what we need to feel happy and to be our best selves.

Classroom Refurbishment

The remainder of our classrooms were refurbished during the holidays. This refurbishment was a significant feat in two weeks: Six classrooms were painted, carpeted, and had wall coverings replaced. I thank the teachers for their flexibility at the end of last term and their work at the end of the holidays to have classrooms ready for learning before school commenced.

Playground

We have had to temporarily close the playground play equipment. Despite repairs last year, some items still require attention. We are working with the Diocesan Property team to assess the best course of action, we will communicate with families as the project progresses.

Celebrating St Dominic's Day at Corpus Christi

Together in Truth and Love

You may notice around our school, the words "TOGETHER IN TRUTH AND LOVE". You can hear these words when we sing our school song and recite our school mission statement. You can see this phrase on our school wellbeing posters and on our school rules and expectations.

Our school is founded on the Dominican tradition of Truth, Love and Knowledge, with our school’s motto of ‘Veritas’ meaning ‘Truth’.

Truth – ‘Veritas’, the Latin word for ‘truth’, means honesty with oneself, being one’s own person before God and before others. Searching for Truth for the dignity of all.

Love – St Dominic was once asked what book he used for his wonderful sermons. He answered, “The only book I use is the book of love.”  He always prayed to be filled with true love of neighbour.

Celebrating Mary MacKillop at Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi will celebrate Saint Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day on Thursday 8th August. As a faithful community, we will gather for a liturgy in the hall at 9:00a.m

Mary MacKillop was fierce in the face of adversity and fair where she saw injustice.

Just like Mary, we are each called to be Fierce for Fair.

When Mary saw families living on the margins without access to education, she set up a school to teach children herself.

She and the Sisters of St Joseph went wherever the need was greatest. And despite facing enormous challenges, they continued to walk with people every step of the way.

Semester 2 Student/Parent/Teacher Goal Setting Meetings

We invite all parents and students to meet with teachers to review the learning goals set during Term 1. This is a great opportunity to discuss your child’s strengths and challenges, and to collaborate on setting learning goals for the remainder of the year.
We encourage students from Years 2-6 to attend these meetings with their parents, as their input is valuable in the goal-setting process. Attendance is optional for Kindergarten and Year 1 students.

Timeslots are now available on Compass. If you need to schedule a meeting at a different time, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your child’s teacher via email.

ICAS Competion

In the coming weeks Mr Deed will conduct ICAS assessments with students who have registered through the ICAS portal. Assessments will take place during class time.   

We are excited to announce that we will be celebrating Book Week with a special parade for the first time in several years! The theme for this year's parade is "Reading is Magic," where students are encouraged to dress up as their favorite book characters. While dressing up is optional, we believe it adds to the fun and spirit of the event, students have the option to get creative with their costumes using items from home and recycled materials.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Book Parade: Students are invited to dress up as their favorite book characters to participate in our parade at the start of the day.

• Book Fair: Our Scholastic Book Fair will be open in the library. There will be many books on display for order. Classes/Families will have an allocated time to attend, further information published closer to the day. 

• Activities with Grandparents: Following the parade, we will have various activities planned within class groups for grandparents, parents and visitors to participate in.

• 

Supa Thinkers in Kindergarten

In 2024, Corpus Christi has continued to focus on supporting the social and emotional development of all students, including our youngest students in Early Stage 1.

The Highway Heroes program implemented in Years 1 to 6, also has a sister program called Little Highway Heroes, designed for Kindergarten children. 

Our Kinder class have been learning about:

• Their thinking patterns and how these link to their feelings and behaviour.
• Identifying that everyone meets BUMPS on The Playground and The Classroom Highways, and that Supa Thinkin is a TOOL everyone can use to help them to stay calm.
• Learning that everyone has a choice over what they think.
• Linking the TOOL of Supa Thinkin with being a HIGHWAY HERO.

A big part of the Little Highway Heroes Program is supporting young children to build a sense of belonging in their school community. In Kindergarten, students learn: 

• How to use Highway Heros Tools of The Friendliness TOOL.
• Recognise the difference between friendly and unfriendly behaviour.
• How to build positive realtionships and friendships

Learning how to make new friends and keep them involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a young person’s wellbeing. It gives them a sense of security helping them feel valued which in turn builds their confidence.

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. Adult carers can support their child or teenager by providing guidance in the many social and emotional skills required for a healthy relationship. This will help them to obtain, retain and maintain friendships. However, not all friendship are regarded as positive. Sometimes young people develop negative or toxic friendships. Therefore it is also important for them to learn how to identify, avoid or deal with such a friendship.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to support their young person’s friendship so that they experience a sense of belonging.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Friendship & Belonging edition of SchoolTV

https://waratah.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging

Winter Uniform - School Tie

We have had discussions at recent P&F Meetings regarding the current ties, the uniform committee are currently seeking improved options for the school tie:

* Zipper Tie

* Standard Tie

Both of these options serve as an alternative to the elastic option to improve wearability, aesthetic and practicality.

__________________________________________________________________

In further discussions at a recent P&F Meeting, a sub-committee of parents and staff has been established to explore the possibility of modifying the school winter uniform to make the wearing of the tie optional.

As per guidelines from the P&F Constitution and the Catholic Schools Office Uniform Policy and Procedures, the school community will be surveyed regarding the potential modification in coming weeks.

Option for modification put to the community in this survey will be:

• School tie to become optional with winter uniform**

** With the transition to a long sleeve shirt with the school emblem to ensure the winter uniform retains the school identity.

In considering modification, the committee has reviewed the following factors when considering the modification: 

• The school identity of winter uniform 
• Exploring different tie options including a zipper tie and standard necktie
• Formal and complete look of the winter uniform with the school tie
• Practicality of the school tie during play 
• Wearing of formal/complete uniform at representative events and winter school photos 
• The cost associated with the addition of the school emblem onto the winter shirt (approximated to be an additional $5 to the overall cost of a shirt)

If the wearing of the tie becomes optional all students are welcome to wear their tie with the winter uniform daily.

The survey will be sent out via Compass on the 14th August and remain open for 2 weeks.  

Modification of the school uniform will only be implemented if the modfication is supported by a 60% majority of responses. Any modification would not commence until May 2025. All specifications for the winter uniform will remain unchanged for the remainder of 2024.