Term 1 Week 6 (8/3/2024)
What is On?
*Monday 11th March- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby Union- Coffs Harbour
Wednesday 13th March to Monday 25th March - NAPLAN (Year 3 and 5 students)
SAVE THE DATE - Thursday 21st March - Community Coversation #7, 5:30pm (details below)
Monday 25th March - School Photo Day (see below for details)
Wednesday 27th March 2024 - School Cross Country
Thursday 28th March - Holy Thursday Liturgy
April
Wednesday 3rd April 2024 - Polding Swimming-Sydney
Tuesday 9th April - Zone Cross Country - McAuley Catholic College Grafton
Wednesday 10th April - Catholic Schools Week Liturgy in hall, 10am followed by open classrooms and morning tea. (Note change of date)
Thursday 11th April – Friday 12 April 2024 - PSSA Swimming
Thursday 11th April- Last day Term 1, 2024 for students
Friday 12th April 2024 - Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day
*Further information will be sent home with students eligible to trial for the Winter Sports closer to the trial dates.
Term 2
Monday 29th April - Staff Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 30th April - First day for students Term 2
Friday 10th May - Mother's Day Morning (more details to come)
Dear Parents and Carers
I am pleased to be back at school after a big few days with 200 people including CSO staff, Principals, Priests and Assistant Principals in Coffs Harbour and while the connections we make and maintain are important in the role, there are moments of joy in the learning.
We worked on budgeting, the Mission of Catholic Education, Wellbeing and Resourcing. I will always love the Mass which is held with the Bishop, as this is one of the times when the music and prayer are so beautiful and meaningful for me in my faith.
An interesting comment one of the presenters made which made me think was "If we are what we should be in our schools, we will not set the world on fire. We need to be on fire, we must become fire ourselves." Fire does not grow from the outside, it is no one elses responsibility to create our growth. It is up to us. How are we equipping our schools to be places of fire?
In the coming weeks the community will continue to be a place of "firing up" as we lead into Easter and then Catholic Schools Week. Thank you to all of the families who made time to meet with the teaching teams. If you missed the chance, please ring the office to make an appointment.
Cheers
Ann
RE News
Third Week of Lent
(Week beginning Monday 4 March)
Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.
Leaia lives with her five children, husband, brother and sister-in-law on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water caused Leaia a lot of worry.
Their home is not connected to a piped water system, so they had to rely solely on rainwater collected in old fridges. When their water ran out, Leaia had to walk with her young children to collect water in buckets and containers from a neighbour down the street.
With the support of Caritas Australia's local partner, Caritas Samoa, a water tank was installed at Leaia's home. She and her family now have a steady supply of clean drinking water at home. Next year, they will also have a toilet built, with the support of Caritas Samoa, which will further improve their health and living conditions.
“We are very thankful and grateful for the water tank. It has helped us so much and made our daily life easier,” Leaia said.
Watch Leaia’s Story
Please donate to Project Compassion.
Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.
Learning and Teaching
NAPLAN Parent and Carer Information
Each year the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is undertaken by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Students will participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
NAPLAN 2024 will take place from Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March.
NAPLAN is just one part of our school learning assessment program. The tests assess literacy and numeracy skills your child is already learning at school.
In preparation for NAPLAN, our school will undertake activities to help students become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended.
The public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) is available to see the types of questions, tools and functions used in the NAPLAN tests.
Further information about NAPLAN is available on the NESA website (https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/naplan/parent-information).
If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact the school.
Kind Regards
Alanna Petersen
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing
8 tips for teaching mindfulness to children
1. Purposefully create time for calm in your children's lives
The calmer our homes and classrooms, the better our children cope, and the happier and healthier they are.
Essentially we need to create feel-good brain chemicals to override chemicals linked to stress — simple!
When children feel safe and loved they will have good levels of serotonin. Safe touch, good food, fun times with family, and being acknowledged and encouraged by your parents all create serotonin.
Serotonin could almost be called the most powerful antidepressant available because it has a calming effect on the nervous system and on children’s moods and behaviours.
We want our children to be able to manage living in this chaotic world and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the speediness and busyness of modern life. One of the best ways to do this is by calming our children’s lives.
Do this by carving out time for mindfulness in their day, perhaps cancel a few things of their schedule to allow for calm. Calm will also be created by following the guideline tips for being mindful and including our children below.
2. Mindfully avoid rushing
Stressed parents who rush everywhere are one of the main sources of stress and anxiety in children. Always plan to leave 20 mins before you need to so when things don’t go to plan (do they ever?) you won’t be under so much pressure.
Use visual reminders (for younger children), lists and rosters (for older children) to help prompt children with things like brushing their teeth, remembering to feed the dog or packing their school bag.
3. Find time to meditate & just breathe
Healthy breathing has always helped to soothe our stressed psyches.
There are many breathing techniques that help restore the calmness response in our bodies. A good and simple one is taking three sighs — and pausing after the third one.
Or take three deep breaths with the outward breath being longer than the inward breath, count to five and do it again. This is a simple technique that you can teach children and adolescents, and it won’t do you any harm either!
Use the Smiling Mind meditation app when beginning this technique as many of the mindfulness for children programs will incorporate breathing into the program.
4. Create mindfulness routines for sleep
Consistent boundaries around sleep are important for everyone.
Sleep deprivation and inconsistent bedtimes impact on learning, mood moderation and behaviour. The brain needs deep sleep to renew cells and grow new neurons for learning.
Good sleep also contributes to better emotional stability and a more agreeable demeanour.
Make sure you have family rules about phones and other devices getting switched off at a reasonable hour and kept out of bedrooms, especially for teens.
To help your quiet your child's mind, play them a bedtime meditation each night. Calming their minds in this way will greatly increase their chances of falling off to sleep much more quickly and soundly.
5. Slow everything down to role model mindfulness to children
Try walking slower, talking slower and being more mindful or present in your day-to-day life.
Also ask what you can take out of your life so that you can be a calmer parent, especially in the early years — avoid wearing too many hats when your children are young.
Ask the same of your children’s lives if they have a lot of activities.
Teaching mindfulness to children may simply be a case of role modelling the type of mindful person you'd like to see them become. Understanding and teaching yourself mindfulness first should be a priority.
6. Be comfortable with quiet mindful moments
Homes that consciously create calm and quiet times are building enormous support structures that will help children feel safe, allow them to enjoy their own quiet company and lower stress levels within their growing bodies.
Have regular times in your house where noise is consciously turned down and everything is switched off and everyone in the family takes time out to just ‘be’ instead of doing all the time.
7. Soothe children more to foster mindfulness
Especially when your children are little, really focus on soothing and comforting them quickly, especially through safe touch and low soothing sounds.
As they get older, reassure children they are valued, safe, and that mistakes and accidents are normal. Moments of close intimacy are some of the most magical mindfulness moments ever.
8. Go outside in nature to encourage mindfulness
Spending time in nature has enormous benefits for us all. Make sure you and your family frequently spend time outdoors, whether it’s picnicking on the back lawn, walking on the beach or visiting a park.
Nature has a restorative quality that can trigger mindfulness in children without any effort.
Maggie Dent
Read the full article at https://blog.smilingmind.com.au/teaching-mindfulness-to-children
Awards Assembly
St James' Award –Heath STOWE
Principal's Award - Rashad RICE
Be Your Best Self - Emerald COLE, Lewis MILLER, Lachlan BEWS, Iyla TOWNER, Zahli WICKS, Zoe EDWARDS, Hannah HASLETT,
MJR – Penny TIERNEY, Alessia GRIFFIN, Jake PEARCE, Sienna SHEPHERD
Sports - Charles HOWDEN, Jackson HOWDEN, Remi MURPHY, Ashton MILLER
Achievement - Snow COULSON, Ella VERSTAPPEN, William BROPHY, Ralph UEBERGANG, Declan MAWN, Scarlett LONG, Max CHENNEY
Encouragement - Bentley HODGE, Kingston HAMILTON, Isiah MEHAN, Orson HARDING, Molly O'BRIEN, Rhys JOHNSON, Ash HITCHINGS
Student of the Week - Archer GUY, Joey BYRNE, Sage WRIGHT, Leah SCANLON, Cruz WALTERS, Rhaya BRASH, Joseph DILLON
Sport News
Indie and Jake competed today as memebrs of our Clarence Zone Soccer Teams for the Diocesan Winter Sports Trails today in Grafton. A great day (looks hot!). It is nice to see the children moving beyond our pond into great adventures.
Attendance Information
School Photos - Monday 25th March
School Photo envelopes have been sent home with your child.
As each child has a unique code and only one envelope per child is provided, please ensure these envelopes are not misplaced.
Please return the envelopes to the school by Friday 15th March.
NOT ON PHOTO DAY Please.
Sibling envelopes are available at the school office if required.
Stage 1 News
Creative Arts
Stage One students have been examining the art of Vincent Van Gough. We have been carefully following directions during our Guided Drawing tasks. Please check out the Stage One windows to see our oil pastel versions of Sunflowers!
Maths
In Mathematics, we have been learning about area, length and volume. Students have been examining an empty bucket and estimating and measuring using objects like unifix cubes, teddys and counters. Maybe we could measure objects at home this week?
English
We have been enjoying reading a text called "I'm Australian Too” by Mem Fox. This text has created some rich discussions - connections to ourselves, other texts and the world. We are now in the process of creating a writing response where we reflect on a special memory in our life. We can’t wait to share this learning with you.
Family Games Night- Booking link
Here is the link to book through COMPASS Tix.
Please remember one family ticket is for 4 bingo books.
If I was coming with my family I would only book 1 family ticket for $10. If I needed more books I would plan to buy them at the door.
Birthdays
Lily – 11/3, Lola – 12/3, Clarence – 12/3, Charles – 12/3, Sol – 13/3, Aria – 14/3, Sanne – 14/3, Deja – 14/3, Sienna – 15/3, Ash – 17/3,
Sport dates
*Monday 11th March- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby Union- Coffs Harbour
Wednesday 27th March 2024 - School Cross Country
Wednesday 3rd April 2024 - Polding Swimming-Sydney
Tuesday 9th April - Zone Cross Country - McAuley Catholic College, Grafton
Thursday 11th April – Friday 12 April 2024 - PSSA Swimming
Friday 17th May - Dio Rugby Union Trials
*Further information will be sent home with students eligible to trial for the Winter Sports closer to the trial dates.