Newsletter-Term 2-Week 8-Friday 17th June 2022

Principal's News

Dear Parents,

We have been blessed with beautiful weather over this last week and couldn’t have asked for a nicer
day for our Athletics Carnival yesterday. It was lovely to have our parents join with us as our children strove for personal achievements and house points. A big thank you goes to Mr Paddy Wilde for organising the day and all the staff who assisted in the setup and management of the day.

Special thanks also goes to the Xavier Catholic College children and staff who assisted with the preparations and support on the day. Well done to all children for competing and those who have made it through to the Zone Carnival. We wish you all the best.

Over the years we have had wonderful commitment in both our Parent Assembly and Parent Forum
meetings from a core body of parents. Unfortunately, social conditions of the last couple of years
have prevented these groups from being as active as they had previously been. This is no longer an
issue and we are excited about revitalising our Parent Forum and Parent Assembly groups this year. We will be holding our first Parent Forum meeting this year on Tuesday night July 19th from 5:30pm-6:30pm. This is the evening of our first day back next term, but we would love to see as many parents as possible at this meeting. We fully appreciate that many of our parents might have work and family commitments that prevent them from being able to fully commit to our school parent groups, but I can assure you that those who do support these groups aren’t doing so because they have nothing else to do. Please don’t be afraid that you will be locked into any specific role within the group – we simply want you all to feel welcome to come along and share your thoughts. At this first meeting, we will outline the role of the Parent Forum and address any questions you might have around parent involvement in our school.

We currently have only one Parent Assembly representative, Miss Kristie Pettit whose commitment is greatly appreciated, and are seeking any other parents who might like to nominate as a Parent Assembly rep. This role requires commitment to meet with our Parent Assembly team once a term to discuss and plan ways in which the Catholic Schools Office can support parent education in our school community. If you would like to nominate for this role, please email your expression of interest to our school office.

Enjoy this lovely weather and have a great weekend.

Peace in Christ
Dan Gubby.

School Calendar-Term 2 & 3

Term 2

Term 3

Assistant Principal Mission News...

Last Sunday the 12th of June was the feast of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Solemnity refers to this being a feast of the highest order and the Holy Trinity is deserving of this honour. This special feast was the topic of our Year 6 Prayer Assembly today.

Having a deep understanding of the Holy Trinity can be challenging for adults to understand and even the Catholic Church was divided up until the Council of Nicaea on the meaning of who the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit truly were. The textbook answer would be the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead but there is a far simpler way to explain this complex concept to children.

There are several simple analogies of the Trinity for children to understand. The first is water. Water is H2O but it can be in three different states, ice, steam or liquid. The second analogy is that of an egg. A whole egg can be divided into three parts, the shell, the egg white and the yolk. For the final example, it is said that Saint Patrick used the three-leafed clover to explain the trinity. One clover represents God with three separate leaves to represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Matthew Ritchie

Assistant Principal Mission

Parish News...

Revised NSW Government Restrictions for Places of Worship

• Hand sanitiser is provided at entrances to our Churches
• Masks are not mandatory, personal choice can be made if you prefer to wear a mask
• Receival of Holy Communion in the hand only
• Singing is allowed
• Social distancing not mandatory, but encouraged
• Density limits are not mandatory
• If unwell please stay home until you feel well again

Parish Mass Times

Light of Jesus Awards...

Learning & Teaching News...

KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The students in Kindergarten have been learning about materials and their properties. They have designed and made a habitat for an animal that lost its home in the flood and justified their reasoning for the materials used. Check out their designs!

YEAR ONE MATHEMATICS

In Year One the ‘Maths Legends’ students engaged in an open-ended rich mathematical task. 

The students used concrete materials to support their learning and to encourage visualising quantities and amounts. The students quickly identified patterns that supported their understanding.

YEAR ONE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

In Year One the students have been investigating forces and identifying push and pull movements. Today they planned, designed and made a playground that catered for these forces using a range of materials. Check out their playground designs!

Year One Science

YEAR FOUR MATHEMATICS

In Year Four the students were engaged in a rich multiplication and division task.

Some students visualised the quantity by drawing it, whilst others imagined it. The students drew on their knowledge of repeated addition, skip counting & factors. Whilst others used systematic strategies to conceptually identify patterns, in order to determine how 120 chocolates could be packed.

GARDENING CLUB

I stumbled upon the gardening club yesterday and I was inspired by their passion. Miss Beecher and her team of students across K-6 were actively discussing the planting of garlic and where and why. The students were so engaged, giving up their lunchtime to take on this sustainable practice. I cant wait to try it!

Lisa Conte

Leader of Pedagogy

Sports News...

Enrichment PE

This week in enrichment PE the Stage 3 students walked down to the Ballina Tennis Courts to play doubles on a full size court. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and loved participating in rallies against their classmates. Thank you to Graham from Ballina Tennis Club who allowed us access to the courts. Stage 2 are looking forward to their turn next week!!

SFX Athletics Carnival

Results from the athletics carnival will be in next week's newsletter. Watch this space!

Paddy Wilde

Sports Coordinator

Canteen News...

We Need Volunteers for our School Canteen

Tammy is looking for volunteers for the canteen. If you are able to spare a couple of hours, between 9am and 11:30, once a month please contact the school office on 66863370 or contact Tammy in the canteen and let her know what day suits you.  Please note: to volunteer in the canteen, you will need to be double vaccinated and upon signing into the school, the office staff will need to sight your COVID vaccination certificate.

Canteen Roster-Week 9

Monday, 20th June to Friday, 24th June

Wednesday Special-Week 9

Wednesday, 24th June

Chicken Kebabs x2 with White Rice-$5.50

Please note that all Wednesday Special orders need to be placed via the QKR App by 8:30am Tuesday morning prior to Wednesday Specials Day. 

Sushi Day Special-Term 2

$3.90 each - Chicken, Tuna, Avocado or Vegetarian

Please note that all sushi orders need to be placed via the QKR App by 8:30am Monday morning prior to Sushi Day. 

Week 9

Tuesday, 21st June

Student Awards...

Congratulations to all of our students who received an award today

Happy Birthday...

Wishing all of our students a wonderful birthday!

Friday, 17th June to Thursday, 23rd June

Kinder 2023 Enrolment Information...

A quick reminder for all existing families, if you have a little one starting kinder next year and you are yet to complete an enrolment application please complete one NOW! Our kinder classes for 2023 are filling up fast and first round of acceptances have been emailed out to families. 

We appreciate the support of our existing school families in promoting our school with your friends and colleagues. If you know of any prospective new families it would be appreciated if you could encourage them to contact our school office for more information before they miss out.