Hasn't the sunshine been fabulous! We've had our fair share of rain and tough weather conditions over the last couple of weeks and I imagine many of our farming families have been comparing the stark difference between the droughts and fires, and the flooding rains of recent times. I hope everyone has managed okay during these times and would like to remind our families that you are part of our community and can lean on us during tough times. Please make contact if you need our support.

During the chaos of last week, our amazing athletes, Sophie Scislo and Hamish Carmichael, and their parents (who got them to Sydney in all that rain), represented our Maitland Newcastle Diocese as they competed in Sydney at the NSW Catholic Schools Polding Swimming Carnival. Our students back at school or from home were able to watch via a live stream to see both Sophie and Hamish qualify for the State swimming event. This is an outstanding achievement and we are so very proud of both of you. Congratulations on this awesome result!

Last week, we tested out our NAPLAN procedures and provided the opportunity for the Yr 3 & Yr 5 students to practice the type of conditions they will be under during the upcoming NAPLAN tests. All ran smoothly and our students will continue to prepare for NAPLAN by learning about the 'how to' of taking tests in the online platform and continue to develop their literacy and numeracy skills to demonstrate what they know and can do. If your child is in Year 3 and Year 5, there are plenty of options for you to check out what can be expected on the NAPLAN site. 

The school canteen service has been going well and we thank you for your support. Unfortunately, the canteen service will not operate this week due to prior commitments, however, don't forget to get your access to the Qkr! App to order online from the menu from the start of Term 2 or to drop your orders into the office by 8.45am. When ordering online, it is important to tick whether you want the order at lunch 1 or lunch 2.

Don't forget to get onboard with the Diocesan P&F Cybersafety free workshop. We continue to have so many concerns about what our students are engaging with online and encourage our families to keep up to date with how they can help their children navigate through these issues and be safe.

I would also like to flag with families that Thursday 6th May we are planning a Staff Development day as we pause to look at our pedagogy in writing. We will use the gradual release of responsibility model that we use in reading to apply to the teaching of writing. This will also support our work in making learning visible to students and engaging them in the ownership of their learning growth.

I am looking forward to your feedback following the Student Led Conferences and hope that you are beginning to notice the impact of our work on your child's capacity to talk about what they are learning, why they are learning it, how they are going, where they can go for help and where they can improve. 

I hope your Easter and school holiday break is a joyful time.

Brooke Stephens