Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome to the end of Week 5.  As the Pope has declared Ash Wednesday a day of fasting and a Prayer for Peace in the Ukraine, I have placed the prayer link below for your reflection. 

I can’t recall of another time in the year when you so clearly put your religious beliefs on show as Ash Wednesday.

The symbolism is powerful and the action, which says you are going to try and become a better person, never loses its relevance or purpose.

https://carfleo.com/prayer-for-peace-mp4/

Covid 19 Practices

A reminder to all families that schools are still seen as High-Risk areas and so if adults are onsite for a specific reason, then masks must still be worn.

Multi-age Classes

As all families know, SJV classes are a combination of straight aged Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 classes as well as multi-age 3/4 and 5/6 classes.  The reason for this is that we lose some students to alternate schools in Year 3 & 4 and given our small school status this is enough to create a multi-age structure. This year however is the first time that some of our families have had any experience with their child being in a multi-age classroom. 

It is important to note that the maturity and academic skill level of a Year 3 student is enough to handle this change.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems, but what is always true is that small classes afford the teacher time to individually help, guide and educate each student. 

I have placed a recent excerpt from the Australian Journal of Teacher Education below that describes the objectives of a multi-age approach

 Australian Journal of Teacher Education 5, May 2019

Classroom practices in multi-age settings ensure a clear focus on individual students where their individuality is recognised, and their individual learning preferences are taken into consideration. Thus, instead of creating a standardised classroom environment, students in multi-age classes are taught according to their individual needs, interests and learning preferences (Aina, 2001; Finegan, 2001) thus, enabling or at least creating an environment for enabling more personalised learning approaches for students. According to Aina (2001) a multi-age class is deemed a “natural community of learners” (p. 219), where the focus is on the interactive quality of the teacher and students based on the assumption that the best way for children to learn is through active engagement with peers and their environment.

The above approach is taken when implementing the Australian Curriculum to students in a way that suits their learning needs.  This does not mean that:

• Students learn the same content every second year - Content is delivered according to the students learning needs and the curriculum
• Students regress due to being associated with students in a lower grade – Younger children look towards the older students as role models and subsequently the older students develop their leadership and mentoring skills
• Students miss out on social interactions – Children make friends with whom they identify common interests with, rather than what age they are.

Parents will note that there is a significant jump in expectations between infants and middle primary, this can sometimes be seen as children being unsure compared to the year before, but is not a result of a multi-age class. 

A drop in confidence between stage levels and a holiday break is understandable, but after a few short weeks in school, students learn the classroom routines and the greater demands of the primary level and adapt accordingly.

Compass – 28^th February Sole Office Communication Platform

A reminder that we have now moved completely across to the Compass System.  This means that all notifications and emails will be delivered to your inbox via the Compass portal. 

Year 7 Moderation Day

In the past some of our student’s used to return to say hello to staff and students or volunteer to work in the school, this has not occurred over the last two years.  Unfortunately, this is one tradition that the pandemic has changed permanently and so we will not be able to offer this ‘former student catch-up’ moving forward. 

Canteen News

This year the school canteen has reduced the menu, this is so it is more manageable for Mel as she is often on her own in the canteen. 

Some of the favourites that you are not seeing at the moment – Lasagne, Jacket Potato’s, Fried Rice, Cup-a-soup etc – will appear on the Winter Menu once we move into Term 2. 

We have tried to keep all the very popular foods, but some items (eg. sushi, which needed to be picked up, taking at least 20 min out of a manager’s day) have been deleted as they weren’t sustainable.

Sometimes parents may log onto Qkr! On a Friday morning only to find a very limited number of choice options.  The reason for this is that at a certain time of the week, usually the night before the canteen day (eg Tuesday & Thursday), Mel will cap the menu options depending on the amount of help coming in for the following day.  This means that the order choices become a ‘first in first served’ system and as the orders arrive the cap comes into play, when the cap is reached the item is deleted off the menu.  This makes it manageable for Mel.

As an example, last week Mel told me that she only had 11 orders on Thursday night and by Friday morning at 9:30am this had ballooned to 54. 

On the Thursday night all of the following foods were available - Nuggets, Hot Dogs, Pizzas, Hash Browns Corn Cobs, Mini quiches, Toasted Sandwiches – By 10am on Friday morning, the menu was down to two choices. 

If however Mel knows she has a volunteer helper or two on Friday, the caps will be increased. If you can’t make it in to help but you can make pikelets, these are always welcome.   

Medication at School Indemnity Forms - Reminder

If your child requires medication for 2022 you will need to fill out the schools Medication Administration and Indemnity Forms.  These need to be completed every year for any students who need medication, or the possibility of medication being administered. 

School Community Council – Positions Available

We have two non-executive positions on the School Community Council.  Our council is the parent governing body at the school which advises on matters such as parent expenditure, family assistance, school uniform, fundraising etc.  We meet as a team twice per term on Monday nights at 6pm.  PL If you would like to assist in any of these areas, your contribution would be gratefully accepted, please email me your expression of interest on peter.rodda@cg.catholic.edu.au

School Lunches

It is wonderful to see such diversity of lunches in our school that are healthy and give students the energy they need to be able to complete a full day at school. 

Sometimes preparation can be quite arduous and I am often asked what constitutes a healthy lunch.  If people are under time pressure, I often advise parents that they can always rely on sandwiches, a piece of fruit/vegetable and a snack all to be washed down with water.  Old school, but very effective. 

Uniform Shop

You will find a new page relating to the Uniform Shop. Our suppliers of uniforms have advised of price increases to come in from our next lot of ordering. 

We have a huge range of good quality second hand clothing available in both boys and girls styles.