Dear Families,
Welcome to term 2. I trust you have had a lovely break from the school routine and maybe your family has had a chance to perhaps have a holiday too!
I had a great two weeks, hooking up my caravan and attending the National U/18 Basketball Championship in Werribee, where we won the Girls Title for the first time in 31 years. In the second week I made my way to the sun on the north coast of NSW, visiting Port Stephens and Port Macquarie.
Now back into the real world!
WELCOME
We warmly welcome to our Star Community Kaya Nicholls-Music Teacher and Elyce Davidson-Year 1 Teacher. Also a special welcome to our new Term 2 Little Stars and families who will be our new Term 3 Intake.
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
As you would know these are to be held over the next two weeks. This information was sent to families via email last term. The following link will bring you to the PTO website. This will be followed by our Semester 1 reports that will come out at the end of term.
PARENTS AND FRIENDS EVENTS
The P&F are running a number of events this year beginning with their first Mothers’ Day stall on Thursday 6th May and then a Ladies Night on Friday 14th May. Later in the year is the Gala Ball, Saturday 23rd October.
AGM
Next week we will be publishing our AGM newsletter. This will contain all the formal reports from the School Board and P&F. There will be a chance to ask questions on the reports at our next School Board meeting, Monday 24th May.
SPORTS DAY
This year we will be celebrating the Tokyo Olympics by holding our Sports Day at Santos Stadium (Mile End) on Tuesday 18th May. Information about this year’s Sports Day/Sports Spectacular came out this week via skoolbag app and an email from class teachers. A response about transport on the day is required via the QKR app by Tuesday 4th May.
MOTHERS’ DAY CUPPA & SONG – FRIDAY 7TH MAY
Come and join us for a cuppa after dropping of your child/ren in the Stella Maris Room (by the green basketball courts). At 9:15am the Reception classes will come down and provide us with a little bit of entertainment.
NAPLAN
For our students in Years 3 & 5 this testing will begin on Monday, 10th May. There is further information in this newsletter about the testing.
MAINTENANCE
A number of projects were completed over the holiday period including painting in various areas but most prominently in the front office where most rooms have been painted. The coping was replaced on the garden brick work by the basketball courts. Most of our
air-conditioners received a service.
NEWSLETTERS THIS TERM
Next week will be our AGM newsletter. Then we will publish newsletters in weeks 5, 8 & 10.
Regards,
Damian Weeks
Recent News
These are great open-ended questions to use to connect with your children, especially at the end of a busy day full of learning. These questions help to open up the dialogue between you and your child whilst also communicating with them that you value the learning journey over a fixed or finite learning outcome; there is no ‘learning finish line’! Since learning is a life-long endeavour, these questions support the development of resilience, social justice, personal endeavour, hope and purpose:
How were you kind today?
What questions did you ask today?
What is one thing you learned today?
What was your favourite mistake today?
How can you make tomorrow great?
For instance, when we ask our children about ‘what questions they asked’ during the day, we are not only communicating that we value our children’s efforts in this area, we are also reminding them of a very important strategy they can use to deepen their understanding, clarify any misconceptions they have and to practice skills of continued inquiry.
Asking ‘what was your favourite mistake’ communicates that mistake making is an important part of life and learning and that children (and adults) can see their mistakes as opportunities for more learning, not as failures. Embracing ‘mistake making’ encourages children to take more learning risks, which in turn enables greater cognitive growth and development, emotional resilience and subsequently improved self – esteem; confidence that they can learn and will learn and mistakes are not the end of the world! Perhaps the favourite mistake was not packing their lunch box in their bag at the end of lunch or forgetting to carry a number during a sum. Or perhaps their favourite mistake was talking whilst the teacher was giving instructions (oops, I’ll try not to make that mistake again because I missed important information) or their favourite mistake was a missed opportunity to put up their hand in class because they just weren’t sure. No matter the mistake, being asked to think about mistakes in general, helps children identify, reflect and discuss this mistake. This reinforces students’ understanding of better ways to learn (metacognition) and provides increased likelihood that children will learn from their mistakes.
Asking ‘how were you kind or who did you help’ shows that you value their efforts to make the world a better place, little bit by little bit. Acts of kindness and offering help to others can increase a student’s self-worth and provide them with a sense of connectedness to their community. This is precisely what Jesus wants for us and this is how the staff team at Star of the Sea School support students to become thriving, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires.
Narelle Sandercock
Acting Deputy Principal
Quick Links
Important Dates
Parent Teacher Interview Week 2 and 3
Mother's Day Stall
School Tour
Lady's Night
Sports Day Santos Stadium
Prayer
Sport Dates For Term 2 2021
SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival - Thursday 6th May
Star of the Sea School Sports Day – Tuesday 18th May
SACPSSA Netball Carnival - Week 10 Day to be confirmed
These are the dates that have been set so far so mark them in your diaries!
​Please note the Athletics carnivals will begin in term 3.
Save the date
Social