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Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
I hope you are all keeping well and keeping your spirits up. We do get a bit of sense of Lockdown Fatigue with many of our students struggling a bit with their online learning at the moment. This current lockdown is very challenging to us all.. but I do like the words about remote learning from Dr Pasi Sahlberg, one of the world's leading educators.....
“To me, learning loss is almost like a myth,” says Sahlberg.
“It is an illusion that by going to school that kids will learn everything that teachers are teaching them,” he says. Children and adolescents will forget, will get distracted, will get unmotivated during the course of in classroom learning. Brunker suggests that within a six-hour school day, accounting for distraction, breaks and so on, children are typically learning for just two or three hours.
Sahlberg says that it is the non-academic factors in children’s lives that have more impact on later success: “Much more important powerful things that explain children’s success and future are often not the academic skills, and those are exactly the things that children can learn outside the school,” he says.
“The mistake adults and education systems make is that we are quick to ask about learning losses, but we forget to ask what these kids have learned during this disruption.”
Some great words to remind us to see what our children have learnt through this time.
What is happening at school? As much as we are in lockdown, lots of things are still happening at school most of which is done remotely. Staff have been still meeting weekly and completing Professional Development and planning with their teams. Last week our Early years Teachers concentrated working on their spelling program and their assessments in this area. We also continue to look at our work around cybersafety to improve our systems and processes. It is certainly a challenge when we have an incident between students at home on social media and what is the role of the school in that situation. Last week I took part on the Australian Council of Educational Research Online Conference looking the latest Education Research. I was also part of one of the presentations on School Reports. This week we have staff taking part in the Agile Leadership Training and Gemma and Madeleine are doing some training on the use of the Community Portal. Michelle Ristovski is very busy managing the staff and timetables which can be disrupted quickly with news of another staff member in isolation having visited an exposure site or waiting on covid test results.
And finally, when looking for something for the newsletter I came across this. I am not too sure if it is appropriate to laugh, but I did find it amusing that the Patron Saint of Pandemics shares a name with a beer.
Patron Saint of Pandemic Sufferers: Saint Corona.
Saint Corona was the wife of an Imperial Roman soldier stationed in Damascus, Syria.
Corona took care of Saint Victor the Martyr when he was arrested for his beliefs.
As a Christian, she was arrested and killed in 165 AD.
Her relics were transferred to Aachen, Germany 1000 AD by Emperor Otto III.
St. Corona is considered as one of the patron saints of pandemics sufferers
God Bless and Stay Safe
Anthony
We are not people of fear: we are people of courage.
We are not people who protect our own safety: we are people who protect our neighbours’ safety.
We are not people of greed: we are people of generosity.
We are your people God, giving and loving, wherever we are, whatever it costs
For as long as it takes, wherever you call us.
Amen
7th Annual Way of the West - LAST WEEK!!
Many thanks to all who have been able to donate so far to the Asylum Seeker Resource Center. Donations can be left on Father Greg’s porch at the presbytery.
What can we donate this week to help in this final week
These donations will then be taken to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray to be distributed to families in need.
Thank you for your amazing support!
Upcoming Events
TERM 3 |
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Way of the West Week 4 - Monday 23rd August - Sunday 29th August
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Other Household Items Dishwashing detergent, washing powder, household cleaning products, nappies (especially larger sizes) & gift Cards (Kmart, Big W, Target) |
Father’s Day Mass Friday 3rd September 9 |
The Year 6 children and teachers are in the process of creating a Loom video that can be viewed by all for this special event! |
Year 5 First Eucharist Saturday 4th September 6pm Sunday 5th September 8.30 & 10.30am
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At the moment we are waiting for an announcement closer to the date to see if these celebrations can go ahead and if so, what numbers will be permitted in the church.
Please direct questions and any concerns that you have directly to Father Greg. |
Year 1 Family Mass Sunday 12th September 10.30am |
Details for the Mass will be released closer to the date. |
TERM 4 |
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Saturday 16th October 6pm Sunday 17th October 8.30 & 10.30am
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Year 4 First Eucharist
Bookings will be transferred from the original date and time to the new date and times
If these new dates create any problems, then please feel free to contact Father Greg directly. |
What’s in a place?
The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life. Skills in the Year 1-2 curriculum include:
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gradually learning to count, read and write two-digit numbers (eg 36), then three-digit numbers (eg 402), up to 1000
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counting by tens and hundreds to build a sense of the size of numbers
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representing numbers with objects (for example, finding out how many buttons are in a jar by making piles of ten)
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comparing numbers and putting them in order, starting with either the smallest number or the largest
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understanding place value.
It’s easy to help your child practise these skills as part of everyday life – just use these simple ideas.
Practice place value
‘Place value’ refers to the way that the same digit has a different value depending on where it is placed in a number. For example, the digit 6 has the value of six hundreds in the number 642, but the value of six tens in the number 462.
These ideas will help your child practice place value as a natural part of games and everyday activities:
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Practise counting by tens and by hundreds while doing other things with your child
Let's count by tens as we walk home. I wonder how far we can get! -
Find large groups of objects and help your child count them by making piles of ten and counting the piles
Let's count how many buttons we have by making groups of ten. -
When you come across two-digit and three-digit numbers, help your child break them down
The newsletter says your school has 361 students - that's 300 + 60 + 1! -
When you find sets of numbers, help your child put them in order from smallest to largest
Let's cut out the pictures for the toys that you like, and order them by their price. Then it will be easy to compare how much they cost. -
Play the Place Challenge together:
Take (or create) a set of cards with the digits 0-9.
Deal each person two cards.
Each person arranges their cards to make the biggest two-digit number they can.
The biggest number wins!
Increase the challenge by taking three cards and creating three-digit numbers.
Family Maths Game of the Week: Place Value Knock Out 2
BOOK WEEK DRESS UP
Don’t forget Friday is Book Week dress up!
Come dressed up as your favourite book character or a book character from another world!
BOOK WEEK - AUTHOR SESSION
On Friday 27th August we have an Author session planned for our students. Daniel Corcoran is an author and illustrator and known to the St Mary community as a past parent. Daniel will present a session for Prep to Year 2 students at 10am and Year 3-6 students at 10:30am.
Teachers will share the link on the google classroom.
You are able to purchase books from Daniel’s website https://carrotsticks.com.au/
Profits from all books purchased will go to Wheelchairs For Kids (https://wheelchairsforkids.org).
Daniel is also offering to sign the books and they can be collected from school. When purchasing use the coupon ‘stmaryspost’ and Daniel will organise for these books to be dropped to school. We will send a message out when they are ready to collect.
A new online mental health communication program, designed and delivered by young people and parents for young people and parents.
The new program, called #ChatStarter, will see a unique and collaborative approach to community mental health support, and comes at a time when the nation continues to face the mental health impacts of pandemic restrictions and COVID-19 outbreaks.
The #ChatStarter program uses social media to connect, engage and promote the benefits of supportive conversations with young people and children who are going through a difficult time.
It works by encouraging young people, parents and their children to share the ways they enjoy connecting with each other across social media, linking their audiences to a library of tools and resources to support those around them through the Australian Government’s Head to Health website.
Click the link here for more information
St Mary’s Lego Station and the Rainbow Retreat
St Mary’s School is gratefully asking for donations of any unwanted lego you might have at home. We have set up “Leah the Lego Lorry” and are looking to increase supplies at school for students to use their creative skills during recess and lunchtimes. We are also seeking any Matchbox cars you no longer need to top up the ones available in the Rainbow Retreat.
Donations are being accepted at the school office.
In continuation of supporting families with guiding students in the online world, please find the following resources to support your family through navigating the world of technology safely with your family.
A reminder that the following interactive webinars are being offered online by the Australian Government’s e-safety Commissioner to help parents and carers.
eSafety's parent guide to popular apps
Learn how to help young people safely use popular apps including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8-13.
It will cover:
- an explanation of the popular apps used by young people
- case studies, research, and targeted advice
- ways you can support the young people in your life to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.
Dates (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Tuesday 31 August 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Monday 6 September 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Tuesday 7 September 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Friday 10 September 12.30 to 1.30 pm
With Father’s Day coming up the P&F Committee have been working hard in the background to keep our community activities moving along despite the disruptions caused due to lockdowns. We hope that at these provide a break or relief at home for all our families. For events that have been scheduled throughout August, September and beyond we will continue to work with the school and new restrictions to bring these to you when we can.
Father’s Day Breakfast at Home
While COVID-19 continues to hamper our efforts in bringing our community together we want to acknowledge the important males in our kids' lives this Father's Day.
We know that some families are feeling disconnected from each other and to our school and that families are really doing it tough in different ways. We hope what we have planned brings a little sunshine your way.
On Friday 3rd September we are inviting dads, grandads, or other important males in your child's life to join their class google meet/s to share our traditional slideshow and have a chat together. More details will follow on time and links. There will be some dads that may need to jump into more than one meet which be a little tricky, but we are sure our super dads will be able zoom around.
Share a photo of dads, grandfather, uncle or special male in your lives with the kids. Maybe take a selfie snap while out for your exercises during lockdown or perhaps a photo that brings back great memories. Send in one image per family to Special Events by Friday 27th August.
Special breakfast packs have been organised for each family, if you live within 5kms of the school we would like to invite you to collect your pack for a "At Home Father's Day Breakfast" organised by the P&F Committee. These packs can be collected from the school between 2-4pm on Tuesday 31st August and Wednesday 1st September.
Father’s Day Gift Stall
Orders for the Father's Day stall will close at 5pm Wednesday 25th August so we can pack all your goodies this coming Friday. ! If you have purchased vouchers and are yet to order your Father’s Day gifts please click the below link and do so asap...
You can pick-up your Father's Day gifts from a manned collection station at the school from 2-4pm on Tuesday 31st August and Wednesday 1st September.
Scholastic Book Club
Issue 6 is now open so while we can’t celebrate book week with the Book Shop at school perhaps families can select some books via book club. Orders need to be in by 3rd September, and these can be home delivered for $7.50
Chocolate Drive
A gentle reminder to our families to organise payment for fundraising chocolates. Boxes can be paid for via CDF Pay, and if you are within 5kms of the school and wish to drop off cash in the envelope provider you can do this during school hours.
For each fully paid box, your family will receive an entry into the golden raffle to win a $150 voucher to Santorini's. Thanks to Craig and the team at Santorini's for their support.
All payments need to be finalised by 10 September as the voucher draw will conducted and awarded in the last week of term..
We realise that lockdowns may have hampered efforts here so please reach out if you are having any issues, contact president@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Jemima Bowen
P&F President (president@smwiliamstown.catholic.edu.au)