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Term 3 Week 6 In God ..... living, loving, learning together 26th August 2020

Principal’s Reflection

Go for Gold Assumption 2020 Theme

‘Keep trying, Keep reaching, Keep dreaming’

Dear Parents,

School Photos

Tuesday, 1st September 2020

Next Tuesday, 1st September Assumption is able to have the students and staff photos taken.

Children need to wear their full winter school uniform.

The photo plan for this year is individual photos which will then be organised into class groups. Family and leadership

group photos will also be taken. There are to be no large group photos.

The Rose and the Cactus

Once upon a time, in a desert far away, there was a rose who was so proud of her beautiful looks. Her only complaint was

growing next to an ugly cactus.

Every day, the beautiful rose would insult and mock the cactus on his looks, all while the cactus remained quiet. All the

other plants nearby tried to make the rose see sense, but she was too swayed by her own looks.

One scorching summer, the desert became dry, and there was no water left for the plants. The rose quickly began to wilt.

Her beautiful petals dried up, losing their lush colour.

Looking to the cactus, she saw a sparrow dip his beak into the cactus to drink some water. Though ashamed, the rose

asked the cactus if she could have some water. The kind cactus readily agreed, helping them both through the tough

summer, as friends.

The moral: Never judge anyone by the way they look.

While the moral of the story above is written as not judging anyone by their looks it could also focus on the importance of

forgiveness, speaking appropriately to those around you and the value of friendships.

Schools offer many things for students. There is a carefully planned curriculum to help students maximise their capabilities

utilising available learning opportunities. While this is essential for a school, the friendships that are found in classrooms and

playgrounds can last a lifetime. Friendships are often developed through common interests or being in the same space. They

develop through personalities that connect and are further enhanced due to considerate statements and a willingness to help

and be there for one another.

Assumption aims to provide a quality learning environment. While the school curriculum is

paramount it is hoped that the students develop excellent, supportive relationships and leave with

long lasting friendships.

Living, Loving and Learning at The Assumption School,

David Maher, Principal

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of our lands, Australia.

We acknowledge the Wiradjuri Nation as the traditional custodians of these lands we now call Bathurst, and we pay our

respects to their Elders both past and present.

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Keeping Our Students Safe The following practices are continuing.

Each day we strive to keep all staff and students as safe as we can whilst at school. Many daily hygienic practices have become second nature to us due to COVID-19. Here are a few of the safe practices Assumption has implemented.

Washing of hands before entering and upon exit of classrooms by all staff and students

All door handles and railings are cleaned

Toilets are cleaned during the day and again at night

Desks wiped with an antibacterial safe cleaning product

Library books wiped upon return

No home readers sent home to eliminate the spread of germs

Seating and eating areas cleaned

Sanitiser and antibacterial hand soap available in every classroom including the library, music and drama

rooms and learning support areas

Playground items such as soccer balls, basketballs and footballs are cleaned

Safety & Hygiene

Vigilance in ensuring that staff and students do not attend school or work if they are

unwell.

Students absent or sent home due to flu like symptoms need to be tested for

COVID-19.

Staff and students must not return to school or work until they return a negative

COVID-19 result and are symptoms free.

Schools must sight the negative COVID-19 test result prior to allowing students and

staff to return to school.

Mr David Maher Principal

Schoolwide Positive Behaviour for Learning (SPB4L)

Behaviour Focus Area

Assumption’s Student Relationship Policy has four main guiding principles:

Be safe, responsible, respectful and a learner.

Each week one aspect from each of these behaviour principles is emphasised through the

school. It is introduced to the students on Monday morning and posters are placed in the

classroom and around the school.

Focus for next week (Week 7, Term 3) is:

Be Respectful - Greet office and canteen staff politely and respectfully.

CANTEEN

Volunteers are currently not permitted to work in the Canteen due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Sunday, 30 August 2020: Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Matthew 16:21-27 Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself.

Gospel Reflection In the gospel this week Jesus tells the disciples that being his followers will cause them to be persecuted as well. His followers are people who care about and serve others. That can be very hard – sometimes it means putting one’s own needs and comforts aside in order to help someone else. Gospel Challenge Can your child think of examples of helping others? Perhaps they have seen people helping a neighbour, possibly making a meal for someone who is sick, or volunteering their time in other ways.

There are parish groups that help others by visiting the sick, welcoming refugees, preparing food parcels for the poor, helping at shelters for the homeless, etc. In all these cases, there were probably many other things they could have done with their time, things they would enjoy. But their needs were put aside in order to serve others. That is the type of thing Jesus is talking about. Prayer Lord, let us turn to our loving God with our needs and the needs of others so that Church will always be there to care for people who are poor or sick or lonely and that this community will take up its cross and follow Christ. Lord, hear our prayer.

More Class Posters from the Feast of the Assumption Here are some more of the beautiful posters about the Assumption of Mary created by the different classes that were placed on the focus for the Feast of the Assumption. These works are a special reminder of the name given to our school.

Please follow the link below to view live streams of Parish Masses. During these times it is more important than ever that we come together as a faith community. The parish website also provides information on Spiritual Communion and other

things that we can do as a family as part of our faith at home. The guidelines for Church Attendance are changing frequently. Please refer to the parish website for updated information. www.cathedralparish.org.au

To keep connected to the Cathedral Parish please follow the link to the Cathedral Parish Bulletin - https://www.cathedralparish.org.au/wp-content/uploads/files/bulletin.pdf

Mrs Catherine Connor REC

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Awards Congratulations to our award winners for Week 6. Students from 3H and KR will be award winners in Week 7.

ICAS Sitting dates for these optional assessments are included in this table. Online Safety

The eSafety online website is a great place for parents to visit to find tips and advice for helping kids navigate the online world. Some of the content areas included are:

Managing time spent online, cyberbullying, gaming and staying safe online. There are currently some excellent free webinars on offer for parents, (1 hour - 7th, 8th, 9th September), that look more specifically at popular apps that your children may be using like, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.

The website address is here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Mrs Karen Smith Assistant Principal

Award Recipients

Class Student of the Week Achievement

Year KH Toby Burgess Billy Rue

Year 4G Tino Bishau Amelia Carr-Wyatt

Year 5L Allarah Mooney Arabella Goodlet

on Tuesday 1st September 2020.

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National Science Week 2020

It’s National Science Week and students have been enjoying hands on investigations linking to the curriculum from a vast array of topics. Students are encouraged and shown how to observe objects and events using their five senses, this is how students learn about the world around them. The ability to make good observations is also essential to the development of scientific process skills, such as communicating, classifying, measuring, inferring, and predicting.

Our Kindergarten students are learning about living things and how food gets from the farm to their families. They have enjoyed learning about cows and the yummy produce they give us. Students this week viewed a short video about a dairy farm followed by the opportunity to turn cream into butter. Once the hard work was complete, all students enjoyed eating delicious fairy bread with the butter they had just made.

Year 2 are investigating mixtures and how they can be combined, changed and how substances are used for a specific purpose. Students conducted an experiment by mixing oil, water and detergent. They discovered that water is heavier than oil and that detergent dissolves in water. They also observed that when water, oil and detergent are mixed vigorously an emulsion occurs.

Perfect weather for Year 1 to make rain gauges in science this week.

Mrs Sonia Peck Primary Coordinator

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Year 3 have been researching the melting points of substances. Discovering that different substances have different melting points. Dark chocolate has a higher melting point than milk or white chocolate!

Grayson did this experiment with his mum. He put white roses in coloured water.

Squeak the guinea pig visited Year 4 to be checked for parasites by our pet parasite detectives.

In Term 3, Year 5 are currently studying the unit of work called “What’s the Matter?” In this unit we look at the 3 main states of matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases – and what properties each state of matter have that are the same. This week we have been studying the properties of solids and, in particular, what do all solids have in common – it’s not as much as you would think!! We had a variety of solids - ranging from marbles to detergent to lolly snakes – and we had to investigate their properties by answering questions such as: Can it be poured? Does it hold its own shape? Does it take up the shape of its container? Can its shape be changed? The results were definitely interesting!!

Year 6 members conducting a scientific experiment testing theoretical probability and experimental probability.

A number of our primary students were given the opportunity to sit the UNSW ICAS Science examination which assesses students’ skills in key scientific areas of observing and measuring, interpreting data, applying data, investigating and higher-order skills. Good luck to all who participated.

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parenting

Ideas

By Michael Grose

Making new friends and staying in touch with old classmates

As a parent there is a great deal you can do to help your child adjust socially during the school year. Here are some

tips to help.

Encourage your child to be open to new friendships

An open, friendly attitude is a child or young person’s best social asset. Students who open to forming new

friendships are more likely to succeed than those who seek solitude, who are critical and who limit themselves to just

one or two familiar faces. Encourage your child or young person to seek out new friendships, even though they may

feel uncomfortable or strange at first.

Encourage healthy relationships

Do all you can to encourage healthy relationships based on respect and common courtesy. Generally, when a

relationship is healthy a child feels safe, valued and able to speak up. Unhealthy relationships, such as cliques, are

restrictive, one-sided and are full of gossip and criticism.

Encourage inclusiveness

Studies have shown inclusiveness to be one of the prime social skills shared by socially successful students.

Encourage your child or young person to include others in games, conversations, team activities and other group

activities. Inclusiveness is not just a wonderful friendship skill, it’s strong leadership attribute as well.

Encourage friendships with both genders

If you are in a co-education environment encourage your child to form friendships with both boys and girls. This is

particularly valid if your child has siblings of their own gender, or don’t have siblings. It’s through these early

relationships that we gain the confidence to mix with different genders in the later years. Forming friends across

genders helps to break down the mystique that sometimes forms, when a child has little contact with the ‘other’

gender.

Stay in touch with former classmates and school friends

Encourage your child to maintain friendships with former classmates and groups outside of school as this helps to

insulate against unfriendly behaviour that they may experience with their close social circle.

Provide social scripts

Your child may benefit from being provided with some social scripts that they can use in common social situations

such as meeting a new friend, joining in a game or asking someone else for help. Boys, in particular, can benefit

when given the words to use in a variety of different social situations.

Forming new friendships can take time

Meeting new students and forming new friendships can be anxiety-inducing. If this is the case for your child, then it

helps to acknowledge their feelings of discomfort, but also remind them that these feelings will pass. As well discuss

the fact that feeling comfortable with new friends often takes time, particularly if your child by nature is reserved or

slow to warm up in social situations.

Helping kids work through friendships can be tricky for a parent as you don’t have a great deal of control over what

happens at school. However, with empathy, patience, encouragement and a supportive attitude you can do a great

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.

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