Newsletter Term 4 Week 6 (Wednesday 15 November 2023)

Our Front Page with Year 4.

This term in creative arts, Stage 2 have been exploring the concepts of music such as pitch, beat, rhythm, duration and structure. To assist us, we have deepened our learning in this area by experimenting with one of the coolest percussion instruments… the boomwhacker!!

Each week we continue to practice a range of different melodies and rhythms, get to work as a team to perform our favourite songs whilst having lots of fun! 

Here are some photos of us enjoying playing music together as a class. 

Our Gospel Reflection

In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus talks about what it means to be prepared to receive the Kingdom of Heaven. This week’s reading follows a series of warnings and predictions by Jesus about the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus wants his disciples to understand that the exact day and time cannot be predicted. He teaches the disciples that they must remain vigilant so that they will not be caught unprepared.

When thinking about the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, it is important to consider the first-century wedding traditions of Palestine. Scholars tell us that it was the custom of the day for young maidens—friends and family members of the bride—to meet the bridegroom when he came to bring his bride to her new home.

As with many of Jesus’ parables, several levels of interpretation are possible. In last week’s Gospel, we heard Jesus warn against following the example of the Pharisees and scribes. If read in the context of early Christianity’s struggle to define itself against Pharisaic Judaism, this parable is a continuing critique of Judaism. It suggests that the Jewish leaders were like the foolish virgins, unprepared to meet Jesus, the bridegroom of Israel.

In the chapter preceding this parable, however, Jesus warns about the destruction of Jerusalem, the tribulation of the end times, and the coming of the Son of Man. When read in this context, today’s parable is a warning to the Christian community to remain vigilant and prepared to receive Jesus, the Son of Man who will return at the end of time. This interpretation is supported by the reference to the delay of the bridegroom. The Christian community for whom Matthew wrote this Gospel was coming to terms with the realization that the promise of Jesus’ return would not be fulfilled within their lifetimes. The question remains for us to ask ourselves, Are we ready to receive Jesus? Will we be prepared to receive him?

From Our Acting Principal

Our School Forum is a wonderful place to meet with other parents and be involved in the decisions that take place at school. Our final meeting for the year is next Tuesday 21st November in the school library at 3.30pm. These meetings are open to all our school community and I encourage you to come along if you have an hour to spare in the afternoon. There is also an educational component that is attached to each meeting. This component could be about the new curriculum, reading strategies or the InitiaLit program. The educational component next week will be sharing our School Improvement Goals moving into 2024. Come along and share your thoughts!

Ascent Dance Concert

As a school, we have been invited to attend the Ascent Dance Concert at the Memorial Hall next Wednesday 22nd November at 10am. An event has been set up through Compass and all students will need permission to walk down to the free concert. This is a compulsory event as we will not have staff at school to stay behind with students. 

Parish Meeting

An invitation has been extended to our school community to a meeting of discussion about the future direction of our Parish next Monday 20th November. Diocesan Review Panel Leader, Dr Atat, from Sydeney will present this discussion paper. This meeting will begin at 2pm at Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

Year 6 Graduation 

We look forward to our Year 6 Graduation Liturgy and celebrations next Thursday 23rd November. This is such a special time to come together with families to celebrate the 13 years of schooling. The Liturgy will be celebrated in Our Lady of Sorrows Church before moving down to the Kyogle Bowling Club for the formalities. Please finalise the tickets for this event through the Compass App.

Have a wonderful week!

Vanessa Walters                                                                                                                                                               

Acting  Principal

Assistant Principal News - Teaching & Learning

End Of Year DIBELS Testing

All students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have recently completed their Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) testing. The purpose of this testing is to screen for reading success/risk at multiple points throughout the year, and identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in the area of Reading.

The assessments your child has completed vary depending on their grade level. These assessments focus on the essential skills that successful readers need, such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

It is wonderful to see such growth in the student's reading skills, compared to the testing that was administered at the beginning of the year. Some of these results are below:

• 46% of all students achieved at or above the expected level overall!
• There was a decline in the percentage of students achieving below the expected level
• 100% of students in Kindergarten increased their knowledge of letter names and segmenting sounds
• Over 76% of students in Year 1 achieved at or above the expected level in the area of word reading
• 100% of students in Year 2 showed growth in their oral reading fluency
• In Year 3, 66% of students achieved at or above the expected level in the area of oral reading fluency 
• 95% of students in Year 4 increased their oral word reading fluency compared to the beginning of the year
• 62.5% of students in Year 5 achieved at or above the expected level in the area of reading comprehension.
• Positive growth in 100% of Year 6 students’ reading comprehension

These results are definitely worth celebrating!

Congratulations to the students, teachers, staff, and parent support for these wonderful results!

Sarah McManus                                                                                                                             

Acting Assistant Principal                                                                                                         

Teaching & Learning

Assistant Principal News - Mission

Today our Mini Vinnie's students met to brainstorm how we can bring joy to others in our community this Christmas. Some of the fantastic ideas generated include:

-donating to the St Vincent De Paul hampers at school

-giving Christmas cards to the friends they have made at Whiddon Care

-performing Christmas carols for community members

-creating a kindness Advent calendar for families

-chocolate toss to raise money for St Vincent's De Paul

-praying for peace 

The birth of Jesus brought joy and hope to the world. It is wonderful to see our students understanding this and Making Jesus Real by bringing joy to others in the lead up to Christmas. 

Sunday 25th November is our last Family Parish mass for 2023. We would love to see as many families there as possible to celebrate mass together.  There will be Children's Liturgy where younger students can access the Gospel at their level and ask questions. As always, there will be a cuppa and delicious morning tea treats after mass. 

Kelli-Ann Bugden                                                                                                                     

 Assistant Principal, Mission

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L)

Focus for Week 6:  We speak to teachers and friends respectfully at all times. We do not use put downs. If we do not have something nice to say, we say nothing at all.

PBS Awards for Week 5:    

Student Awards Week 5

Congratulations to the following students who have shown tremendous effort and were presented with their awards at our assembly last Friday afternoon:

Ready4Learning - Harvey, Sophie, Isaac, Eli

Kindergarten - Leonardo, Tess, Elvie

Year 1 - Nicholas, Eliza

Year 2 - Stanley, Gloria

Year 3 - Nerida, Judah

Year 4 - Elsie, Peyhton B

Year 5  - Lexi, Hannah

Year 6 - Aleyah, Georgia

Principals Award - Wentworth, Raziel

From the Wellbeing Team.

More about RESILIENCE
Last week we talked about how important the skill of Problem- Solving is to building skills of resilience (the ability to bounce back and adapt to new circumstances). This week we turn our attention to Goal-Setting – another skill known to boost resilience. So, what is it about setting goals that contributes to resilience? Being able to identify and define goals that we would like to work towards makes it possible for us to start planning – and taking – steps towards achieving our goals. Working towards goals is known to build confidence as well as a sense of purpose and accomplishment, all factors that contribute to our overall resilience.

What goals are you (or would you like to be?) working towards?

Parent Forum News

Happy Birthday to You

Wishing the following children all the very best for their special day this week or over the holidays:

November

16th - Michael W

18th - Ben P

21st - Isaac B

Upcoming Dates

November

Sunday 26th - Family Mass 9am @ Our Lady of Sorrows

December

Thursday 7th - Swimming Carnival

Tuesday 12th - End of Year Liturgy & Academic Awards

Wednesday 13th - Christmas Pageant

Friday 15th - Last day of School