School Newsletter June 17 2020 Term 2 Week 8

St Mary Star of the Sea School Board

Fr Mariusz Adamczyk Ex-Officio David Kearney Member Steve O’Halloran Ex-Officio Sue Jordan Secretary Jim Andreoli Chairperson Val Shrubb Member Warren Schmidt Vice Chair Susana Svilicich Treasurer Kym Redden P&F Rep

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

Week 8 2020

Wednesday June 17 Board Meeting 7.30pm

Thursday June 18 P & F Meeting 2.45pm

Friday June 19 SRC Meeting 12.10pm

Week 9 2020

Monday June 22 Cross Country Training 7.15am

Wednesday June 24 Cross Country Training 7.15am

Friday June 26 High School Faction Cross Country

Sunday June 28 Confirmation Commitment Mass 9.00am

Week 10 2020

Tuesday June 30 to

Thursday July 2 Year 12 Retreat

Friday July 3 Faction Cross Country Year 3—6

Friday July 3 Lapathon—PP, Year 1 & 2

Friday July 3 Burger day

Friday July 3 Last day of Term 2

Prayer

Burger Day!

Friday July 3

F r o m T h e p r i n c i p a l ’ s d e s k

Dear Parents, Teachers and Friends, As we make our way to the end of this semester, on reflection it has been anything other than a regular year thus far. Events have been cancelled, the biggest change in curriculum delivery in Australia’s history was implemented with a little over three weeks preparation time, and information has been coming thick and fast from all directions as to how schools need to respond to the pandemic situation. This has not been an easy process for parents, staff and students. I imagine many of you, like much of the staff, haven’t had a decent break since the start of the year. Term 1 holidays came and went without a lot of fanfare, and speaking personally, I know many of the staff spent their Term 1 holidays at school preparing for the remote online lesson delivery. The upcoming break will be appreciated by all I’m sure. Time to get out and see more of this wonderful, diverse state that we are blessed to live in. COMMUNION COMMITMENT MASS On the weekend, some students from St Mary’s made their commitment to the First Eucharist programme at the 9:00 am mass. The children were well prepared and participated fully in the mass. Congratulations to all concerned.

The Commitment Mass for Confirmation will be held on Sunday, June 28 at 9:00am. SEMESTER 1 REPORTS Semester 1 Reports will be distributed at the end of this term. There are some changes regarding grades that parents need to be aware of. Instead of the A – E grades students are awarded for achievement in each learning area, this semester students will receive a working towards, at standard or above standard grade for each subject undertaken.

This change is required because of the remote learning platforms that all schools adopted due to the COVID pandemic. CROSS COUNTRY EVENTS Our cross-country events are occurring this coming fortnight. Many of the students have been training hard early in the morning and thanks to Miss Barrett and our breakfast volunteers for enabling this to occur. Our secondary event will occur on Friday, June 26. The primary run will be undertaken the following Friday, July 3. We are encouraging parents to come and support the students on these days and information regarding start and finish times, best vantage points etc. will be forthcoming next week. SCHOOL BOARD AND P & F MEETINGS The school board meets tonight at 7:30 pm and the Parents and Friends will be meeting tomorrow afternoon at 2:45 pm on the outside stage area.

God Bless

Mr Steve O’Halloran Principal

F r o m T h e p r i n c i p a l ’ s d e s k

Year 5— Religion

From the REC desk…

Greetings everyone. I hope this newsletter finds you all well and enjoying the relaxed restrictions of Covid. I hope that those of you who were able to get away for the Long Weekend, were able to enjoy all the wonderful opportunities that our region has to offer.

I have been enjoying meeting with parents of our Year 4 students who recently made their commitment at Mass last Sunday to undertake preparation for their Sacrament of the Eucharist or as we more commonly call it, First Holy Communion. This year we have seven fabulous boys undertaking this beautiful sacrament and I look forward to working more closely with them, Fr Mariusz, their families and their teacher Mrs Durmanich in supporting them throughout this process. Well done to the boys on their beautiful readings on Sunday and to Mrs Durmanich and all parent helpers at the morning tea afterwards.

Next Sunday, we will be holding the Commitment Mass for our Year 6 students in preparation for their Sacrament of Confirmation in July. Similarly, Ms Concannon and I met with parents a few weeks ago to initiate preparations for their program. To assist the students to meet the requirements of their program, I have been escorting them to Mass each week due to the restrictions concerning numbers still in place. We look forward to being able to hopefully host a bigger celebration in July for the Sacrament itself.

Thank you to everyone, including visitors to our Parish who have responded so well to the Lay Salvatorian Congo Care project. We have raised $70 so far and have lots of sewing items with which to begin stocking our bags. Please don’t forget to drop off your items or any monies to the school. We are very grateful for your support!

In light of recent events worldwide in regards to the social unrest, violence and protests, I offer some thoughts from the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner and civil rights leader: Dr Martin Luther King Jnr for his leadership skills in the principles of peace, nonviolence and direct action. With the Feast of Corpus Christi recently celebrated on Sunday, it is a good time to reflect upon the gifts that emanate from Jesus’ body and blood.

Please keep well and safe until next time.

God bless,

Sam Da Luz—Religious Education Coordinator

Mass Times: Saturday 7.00 pm Sunday 9.00 am

Please adhere to all COVID – Safe regulations. Hand sanitiser is available

SECONDARY NEWS With just two and a half weeks to go until the end of term, we are preparing for a busy ending for Semester One! We hope everyone is ready for a bit of a roller coaster ride!!

Last week our single ATAR student in Year 11 underwent her first set of exams in her 4 ATAR courses (three courses through ViSN and one course in-school). To her credit she continued the outstanding results she had been earning in her non-exam assessments in the build up to the exams. Suade should be extremely proud of her efforts this year.

Our ViSN Cert III in Business girls have also continued with great success. They have currently completed more of the course then any other school participating in ViSN. We are very proud of their work ethic.

Our Year 12s are currently working their way through their ESTs (Externally Set Tasks). These are tasks set by an external authority and the same assessment is set for every student participating in that course throughout Western Australia. After COVID- 19 interrupted the original delivery of the ESTs and with short notice, the Year 12s and their teachers quickly began preparing for the assessment.

Also due to COVID-19, we decided to cancel our Semester One exams for our Year 9 and 10 students. However, some teachers have chosen to give our students an exam opportunity by modifying current assessments to give an exam experience. We hope the students make the most of the opportunity and then take the time to reflect on the outcomes to put them in a better position for future exam experiences.

On Friday, our Student Representative Council and the House Captains will be having their second meeting of the term. With a very busy ‘Active Business’ section of our last meeting, we are looking forward to seeing what has been achieved. Mrs Radzevicius has kindly offered to prepare our lunch again this week, so members attending the meeting will not need to bring lunch.

Next Friday sees the Secondary students participate in their first sporting competition between the Houses! Students will be running different distances depending on their sex and their age. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome. Notes went home yesterday with students.

To celebrate the end of a very crazy and abnormal semester, our students will be presented their trophies for the cross-country on the last Friday of the term, after the primaries have completed their cross-country. We will then all share a lunch together consisting of burgers and a drink. This was also included in the note sent home. Students will need to pre-order before they day if they would like to have their lunch provided by the school. After lunch, those students who have worked hard and displayed positive and productive behaviour around the school, will be able to participate in the reward activities. We are busily preparing to make it an afternoon worthwhile.

Until our last newsletter of the term arrives, we hope everyone stays well and safe. Kind regards

Narelle Holtham—Acting Head of Secondary

Book Week 2020

Get your costumes organised early!

October 17-23

Burger Day

Friday July 3 Please remember to return

your green slip!

Yr3-6 Growth Mindset

Sometimes, when we try to change something about our lives, we can find ourselves quickly reverting to our old patterns and behaviours. This can undermine our resilience, mental health and overall happiness, and can leave you feeling stuck or frustrated. When we fail at something, we tend to give up early and sometimes begin a self narrative of criticism that we “are just not good enough”. We need to redesign failure as a learning experience, rather than proof that we don’t have what it takes. We need to adopt a Growth Mindset. A Growth Mindset simply means that with the appropriate chosen attitude, we can learn, grow and improve almost anything with effort and strategies. A Growth Mindset allows us to tell ourselves “I just haven’t learnt this yet or figured this out yet”. The key lessons is we are not born with it, we develop skills and abilities over time. Stay safe! Trudy Cox A/Head of Primary (3-6)

Around the classrooms

CROSS COUNTRY TRAINING

Cross Country training for Year 3-12 students will continue every Monday and Wednesday morning from 7.15-7.45am Breakfast will be provided.

High School Cross Country is scheduled for Week 9—Friday June 26th Primary School Cross Country is scheduled for Week 10—Friday July 3rd

Tiahn Barrett Health and Physical Education Teacher

Year 3 Art

From the Junior Learning

Around the clAssrooms…

Study With a Difference

When students study, it is important that they vary their study techniques. Doing this helps eliminate mental fatigue and optimise information retention. In order to revise for an upcoming assessment, Year 11 students have created their own jigsaw puzzles in English, using recently constructed study notes. Currently completing a demanding ATAR pathway, Year 11 student Suade Watts could see how this technique can be transferred to other subjects that she is studying. Mr Meynell—English Teacher

Balancing Life and Technology This week Year Four participated in a Kidshelpline session: ‘Balancing Life &Technology’. Students learnt about the impacts of technology use on the mind and body and discovered some great tips for having a technology break.

Around the clAssrooms…

The year 11/12 students have been completing their Cert III in Sport and Rec. A unit they are cur-rently completing involves them creating and running a 5 week program with a group of students. The year 7s have been lucky to participate in a familiar or, for many of them, a new sport such as touch rugby or softball. All the students have been having a lot of fun and have learnt a lot from their leaders. Miss Barrett—Health and Physical Education Teacher

Absent Students…

Parents and guardians are reminded to contact the school if their child/ren is absent. The school requires written notification—this can be in the form of : Signed note, Email admin@smsc.wa.edu.au, SEQTA, Skoolbag App Or by texting 0481 883 586 Remember to include your child’s name, date, reason and parent/guardian name.

LOST PROPERTY

There are a number of jackets, lunch boxes and sports clothes in the lost property shelves outside the library— if your child is missing something, please ask them to go and check this area. Please also remember to write your name

on items of clothing—especially jackets!

Please be advised that our next meeting

will be held on:

Thursday June 18 2.45pm

on the outside stage area tables.

All parents and friends are most welcome to attend.

To keep up to date with all things happening on the Parents and Friends

Facebook Page

COMMUNITY NEWS

CARNARVON NETBALL ASSOCIATION