Dear Parents and Carers,

This coming Sunday is the beginning of NAIDOC Week 2023. The theme this year is 'For Our Elders' and highlights the key role that Elders play in the passing on of Aboriginal Cultural knowledge and traditions. Our school staff were extremely proud to work alongside schools in our area to create the Buuranbal Marray Art Exhibition. This showcase of the Cultural learning in our school required students to learn how to share stories through visual art and provided the opportunity for Worimi Elders and community members to share their knowledge of stories and traditions to teach our children what they needed to participate in the exhibition. Thank you to the many families who have already visited the Forster Art Gallery to admire the artworks and read the stories told. I encourage you if you haven't yet had a chance, to visit prior to it closing on July 7. The gallery is open every day between 10am and 2pm. 

The Worimi community are hosting a community celebration for NAIDOC on Wednesday 5th July on the Cabarita oval, adjacent to the Tobwabba Medical Service from 10am. Our students have been invited to dance with the community they have been practising with; and are asked to arrive at approximately 9am if they intend to dance with the group. An email went home to families about this opportunity. Girls are asked to wera black tops and tights and both boys and girls will be provided with what they need to dance upon arrival on the day.

I have always felt very grateful for the works completed as part of the current building project, however, I am definitely looking forward to returning to school in Term 2 with 99% of the work completed. I think you will hear a huge sigh of relief from our staff and our students as we open the outdoor classroom spaces along Lake Street and the outdoor playground space in between the primary and infants classrooms. The removal of fences within some of these spaces is going to create a different feel to what was there previously and it will be interesting to see how our students respond to these changes. Thank you to all of our families who contribute each year to the Diocesan Building Levy. It is these funds that have contributed to the works completed at our school. 

In Week 8 of Term 3, Mrs Williamson is taking Long Service Leave for the remainder of the year. We will advertise her position over the holidays to ensure we have plenty of time to transition the new teacher. Mrs Williamson will work with the new teacher to ensure student information is shared and that there is a seamless transition between teachers.

Don't forget that Term 3 commences on Tuesday 18th July for students because our staff have their final Pupil Free Day for 2023 on the Monday. We have an Education Officer from the Digital Innovation and Learning Team working with our teachers to build our digital technolgoy capabilities. This is an exciting new area for our school to develop our practices.

Thank you for a great term and for your support of our staff throughout the term.

Yours sincerely,

Brooke Stephens 

Safety News

Drop Off and Pick Up

Just a reminder to all families that Carawa street is the preferred drop off and pick up point for students. The Lake street entrance is very busy in the afternoon with buses and it would be a great help if you are collecting your students to do so via the back gate. There is a Kiss and Ride zone in Carawa street to drop students off in the  mornings.

Bell Times and Supervision

Our first bell rings each day at 8.45am. Children begin learning promptly at 8.50am and all students are expected to be here by this time. Students are not supervised on the playground until the duty teacher goes out at 8.30 am. If you need to start work early, there is care that can be provided by St Nicholas OOSH. Often we have several students here before 8am which is too early and could be potentially unsafe. If students arrive prior to the 8.30am bell, they are expected to sit with their bags under Kirkangina until the duty teacher arrives.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our PBL team have been working to update our PBL matrix and class rewards menu. The matrix has been simplified and covers behaviours under our 3 pillars of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. 

We have also updated our Class Rewards menu and simplified the document for the Infants classes. Students can receive a Principal's Award when they reach 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and  120 surfboard tokens. Silver badges will be awarded when students have accrued 60 tokens and Gold badges when they have accrued 120 surfboard tokens.

 Congratulations to all our Award winners, in particular Zoya, Makayla, Jax, Olivia,Rocco and Evie for receiving 40 surfboards and to Sophia for being our first student to reach 60 surfboards.

ICAS Tests

The UNSW ICAS tests will be conducted at school next Term. All exams are available to students in Years 2-6 except writing which is available to Years 3-6.

Tests can be purchased through the parent portal at https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps by using the school code  IQH273. If you have any questions, please contact me at school.

Sport

Rugby Union

Over the past few weeks, the Holy Name Rugby Union 7's team have been working hard during lunch times learning the fundamentals of the game. They are a team with football experience with all of them playing some form of football on the weekend but only a very small amount of Rugby Union game time. On Monday the 19^th June, they made the up to Port Macquarie to play against the top teams from Forster to Grafton in the Mid North Coast Regional Rugby 7's Final. Their first two games were up against some extremely well drilled, technical sides however showed a lot of heart and determination - only narrowly going down by a try in their first game and unfortunately not having enough possession in the second game. By their third game, they had gotten the hang of it and managed a convincing win and in their fourth game, were also able to secure a hard-fought victory. Overall, the effort and sportsmanship displayed the team was, as usual, a very high standard and all of the players should be very proud of their efforts. 

I really can't believe how quickly we have arrived at the middle of the 2023 school year. I hope you get to spend some quality time with your children over the next 2 weeks or are lucky enough to be going away for a break.

Kind Regards,

Kyla Loring

Assistant Principal

Yr 1 Visits Holy Name of Jesus Church

Great Learning Happening in Year Two!

Each fortnight we like to put a spotlight on the great learning happening in a particular grade in our school. In this report the spotlight is on Year 2. During reading sessions, Year 2 have been focusing on persuasive texts, where they can develop opinions about the characters and describe a particular character’s point of view. Students have been learning to identify the main idea and supporting details so that they can develop skills for summarising. 

The students have been working hard to develop their comprehension skills. Each week students work together to answer a range of open-ended questions about their focus text: 

1. What do you think the author hoped you would think after reading the text?
2. What do you think about the story/text?
3. Can you summarise the text in just two or three sentences?
4. What was your favourite part?
5. Was the plot/text different than you thought it would be?
6. What would you change in this text if you could write it?

 To promote the love of reading, every Friday the students get to take part in ‘Flashlight Friday’. During this time students can pick a comfy place to sit or lie in the dark classroom and read a book of their choice using a flashlight to see. This has become a highlight of the week for many students.

In writing, Year 2 have been learning to write a persuasive text that convinces a reader of their point of view. Students have been taught to use the ‘Hamburger Model’ when writing their persuasive texts. This model/visual helps students remember what needs to be included in their persuasive writing pieces. Students know they need to have an introduction which is represented by the top bun, then their first argument which is represented by the meat patty, second argument which is represented by the lettuce, third argument which is represented by a second patty and the conclusion which is the bottom bun of the burger. Check out these photos from the Year 2 classroom’s learning walls!

Students were given lots of practise on developing their skills in forming opinions, developing reasons, and explaining the evidence they have. Miss Spinks and Mrs Loring gave students regular feedback on their writing based on the set co-constructed success criteria. This week the chairs in the Year 2 classrooms decided to quit, so the students had fun writing persuasive texts to convince the chairs to come back.

The final assessment was to write a persuasive text on the topic, ‘What makes the best pet?’ Check out some of the awesome examples from our clever Year two writers!

In Maths, Year Two has been focusing on the Big Idea ‘2D Spatial Strucure.’ The students are learning to represent, combine and separate two-dimensional shapes as well as identify and describe the orientation of shapes using quarter turns.  This week the students have taken part in fun stem lessons with pattern blocks to help them identify what shapes look like from different orientations. Students have enjoyed working in teams to problem solve together and explain their thinking and new learning to the class.

In Science, the Year 2 students have had lots of fun engaging in great hands on experiments and investigations. The unit is titled ‘Materials are Used for a Purpose’. The students have been investigating the effects of mixing materials together as well as how materials can be changed or combined for a particular purpose. The investigations started with some hands-on mixing of materials to create slime. In the second learning sequence, the students worked on their design and development skills with a number of tasks requiring them to demonstrate an understanding of the suitability of materials for a purpose. The first task was to make an Aboriginal rain stick out of natural materials. The second task was to design and make a face mask that has three layers which was in line with Government regulations. The final assessment was to design and make a water bottle cooler to experiment with insulators and how they keep liquids cool and warm. Students learnt to record data about the effectiveness of their design and worked collaboratively to improve the effectiveness of their product. Check out these photos are the Year 2 scientists in action!

Well done Year Two students and teachers, keep up the awesome work!

Mrs Suzie Monks

Primary Coordinator

A big well done to Chase Brooks who recently competed in his first piano Eisteddfod. He prepared a piece titled, 'The Lion and the Mouse', and was commended on the way he used the instrument to bring the characters to life. He performed with confidence and created a wonderful sound that left the audience wondering whether the mouse or the lion had won in the end. Congratulations Chase!