AGGIES ARTICLES - Term 4 Week 1 - Friday 8 October 2021
Term 4 - Week 2
Mon 11 October |
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Tue 12 October |
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Wed 13 October |
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Thur 14 October |
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Fri 15 October |
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Dates For The Diary
Mon 18 October |
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Tue 19 October |
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Wed 20 October |
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Tue 26 October |
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Wed 27 October |
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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mark 10:17 - 30) Jesus poses a great challenge, not only to the rich man to whom he is speaking, but also to each one of us. Living as one of Jesus’ followers demands that we not only know what is expected of us but that we also go beyond what is expected to give all of ourselves and our possessions. Jesus knows how hard that is but reminds us all things are possible with God.
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to the final term for 2021. We hope you were able to enjoy quality time with your children as they returned rejuvenated for another action packed term. The term has started well with the students eagerly coming through the front gates and inquiring as to how some of the adults on staff had enjoyed their holidays. It was wonderful to see our school in such a buzz of its usual excitement. Thank you to all of our families for supporting the school to ensure that we all followed the necessary health guidelines and restrictions. We have much to look forward to and celebrate in Term 4, however, we are acutely aware that many of our usual events and processes are unable to proceed as usual. Please be assured that we are planning creative and innovative ways to ensure that our Year 6 students enjoy their final term and that our incoming Kindergarten class of 2022 are able to experience transition, within the realm of the current COVID-19 guidelines.
Welcome Miss Kathryn O’Sullivan - Our new Librarian
We are so very pleased to welcome Miss Kathryn O’Sullivan, our new Teacher Librarian. Kathryn comes to us with a passion for literature and many years of experience teaching English. Kathryn is an avid Reader and Writer and is looking forward to sharing her love of books with the children. The role of Teacher Librarian will bring many exciting opportunities to our school.
Some information about Kathryn to share with your child: Miss O’Sullivan enjoys writing, painting, playing Pokemon Go, and - of course - reading. Some of her favourite books are: Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy, The Wishing Chair series, Skulduggery Pleasant, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children... and so many more!
This term's reading challenges will be A-Z Authors and Titles (for junior readers) and Bookopoly (for senior readers). Stay tuned for further details next week.
P&F Meeting
P&F Meeting - We can’t wait to see you on Zoom!
We are looking forward to having our first P&F Meeting in a few months on Monday 18 October. This meeting will be held via Zoom and we look forward to talking about ways that our families can connect with each other during these restricted times.
Student Uniform
As we draw closer to the end of the year and the warmer weather definitely with us, a reminder that we are due to change to our new uniform from the start of next year. As outlined in previous communications, families will have a changeover period to move to the new items. As stock (both new and old) of the current uniform is dwindling, students will be able to wear sports uniform if their current summer uniform is too small.
Kindergarten 2022
We are so excited to welcome our new children and families next year. We ask that all families of children beginning Kindergarten in 2022, please ensure that you have added ‘Kindergarten 2022’ as a group in the SchoolZine app. This will allow us to communicate all necessary information over the coming term.
New students
Welcome to the following new students that have joined us during this week:
Samrina Adhikari - 5C, Riley Batman - 4T and Liam Batman - 1O
World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day – 10 October – is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. The theme for this year's campaign is to encourage people to “Look up, look out, and look forward!” by noticing their surroundings, taking care of others, and having activities on the horizon to feel enthusiastic about.
There has recently been media attention around the negative impact of social media on young people. To learn practical strategies to support your children to have a positive experience when online register for one of the numerous free eSafety parent webinars on Digital technologies and Mental Health and Online Gaming.
Socktober
Socktober for Mission Month encourages us to engage with mission for children by using our heads to enquire about the reality of the world around us, using our hearts to feel empathy for those in situations of great need, and using our hands to take action for them in whatever way we are able.
This Socktober we are encouraging students to learn what life is like for children from Thailand, specifically those from slum areas in Bangkok, the bustling capital. Through Socktober, students can learn more about how they can be missionary and support children in Thailand and around the world through prayer and fundraising to have the same opportunities we are afforded here in Australia. St Agnes’ students will be participating in Socktober in the coming weeks.
Here is a video for making a ‘socktober ball’ which you may like to do as a family at home. This could then be brought to school for our “socktober shootout” in a couple of weeks time.
Dyslexia Awareness Week October 5 - October 11
Dyslexia Awareness Week is an annual event aimed at further understanding and raising awareness amongst pupils about dyslexia; what it means, what it is and what can be done to support people who have dyslexia.
Georgia Ryan
“I know that teaching is the one occupation that has the potential to change the world. With your help we can change the world for every student that may be struggling.”
Georgia Ryan is an ex St Agnes’ student and Youth Ambassador for the Dyslexia Mid North Coast in New South Wales, Australia. Georgia was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia in her last year of primary school. Since then, she has become a passionate campaigner, petitioning for the inclusion of a compulsory module on learning difficulties for all teachers. Georgia is a creative musician and a formidable global advocate, raising positive awareness for people with dyslexia.
On Friday 15 October, St Agnes’ School staff and students will be encouraged to wear something red in an out of uniform day to recognise Dyslexia which currently impacts other students in our community.
Georgia has kindly taken the time to record a video to shed a light on living with dyslexia and to encourage you to support, embrace and be proactive in creating positive changes for children with Dyslexia. Watch Georgia's welcome video HERE.
ICAS - New Dates
Our ICAS assessments were interrupted due to Blended Learning last term. If your child is enrolled in the ICAS assessments, please be aware of the new sitting dates. The first one is writing, which will begin on Wednesday next week.
Writing - Wed 13 October 2021
Science - Tue 19 October 2021
English - Wed 20 October 2021
Spelling - Tue 26 October 2021
Mathematics - Wed 27 October 2021
Semester Two Reports
Due to our return to blended learning in Term 3, we will again be offering a comment only report for all students in Semester Two. This will include comments on English, Mathematics and a General Comment which will also mention Religious Education. The format for this will be very similar to the 2020 format used in Semester One. We sincerely thank the parents who provided feedback on the parent portal for reporting that was trialled in Semester One. We are always using your feedback to help inform our future processes.
Attendance
Attending school regularly is legally required for all children of school age. If your child is habitually absent, they miss important learning as well as opportunities to connect with their peers. Even being 5-10 minutes late regularly adds up to a lot of missed days. Please see the table below for more information.
If for any reason you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please contact their class teacher or Kate, Donna or Ginaya for assistance. We wish to work in partnership with you to support regular attendance. Please be aware that if your child is habitually absent, we are required to take action to ensure that this does not continue. We thank you for your support in this matter.
We remind all families of the school zone requirements in place around Boronia St. For the safety of all, it is essential that between 8:00am-9:30am and 2:30pm-4:00pm all motorists obey the 40km speed signs. We remind all families that if you drop off at the front gates, you MUST walk your child across the road. We have observed many children being sent to cross the road themselves. Please assist us by modelling safe practices for your child.
Please also be aware that the area in front of the school gates is a no stopping zone. If you drop children off in that area, you may be fined by the police. If you wish to use the kiss and drop service, you need to use the drive through drop off.
We have a very large number of families using the carpark pick up service at the moment. Please assist staff by going round the block when directed by the lollipop controller as we are unable to let the traffic queue. We have had random visits from the police and would not like to see any of our families fined.
Please see the link below to the Diocesan Creative Arts Virtual Gallery. For this submission, Aggies has contributed digital art and can be found in the Port Macquarie section of the site. This is an amazing celebration of the creativity of students and some staff from our Catholic Schools in the Lismore Diocese. You can view the gallery HERE.
Centred In Christ and With Love For One Another, St Agnes’ Learners are:
PBS Focus
This week our focus was on our whole school's expectations of following the 4R’s and being back together at school. Things are still different but together if we all follow and do the right thing we'll all be ok. It is also very exciting that next week our 400 dojo achievers will be having their pizza lunch with Mrs Yarnold.
600 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who have received 600 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
2JW - Makayla Dickson
500 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who have received 500 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
1B - Ashton Moon and Skylah Neale
400 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who have received 400 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
KE - Indi Franklin
KJ - Aubree Dunn
2JW - Emily Krizanec and Shayla Davis
300 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who have received 300 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
1O - Archie Sherd-Booby, Ciaran Ducat, Lucas Robinson, Noah Blair, Norah McIntosh and Sophie Wainwright
1TB - Liam O'Reilly and Miles Gardiner
3P - Nevaeh Tiller and Tyson Elkins
4NS - Mia Bringans
5C - Alyra Buckley, Isaac Buttsworth and Lachlan Walters
5M - Jamie Lombardo
5W - Jonah Waind
6W - Isabelle Reed
200 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who have received 200 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
2M - Reagan Clark
3O - Flynn Wehlow
3TM - Archie Stafford and Casey Murray
4A - Jack Fennell and Joshua Spicer
4NS - Harley Cooper
4T - Pippa Wade
6E - Luke Everson
100 Dojo Awards:
Congratulations to the following students who received 100 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'.
1O - Catherine Fuller
New App
The Raising Healthy Children app was developed by the Raising Children Network as part of its program to support parents’ mental health literacy by building knowledge and confidence concerning the social and emotional wellbeing of children.
The Raising Healthy Children app is targeted towards parents with children aged 12 years and under and includes information on health, development and wellbeing based on the child’s age.
At this point in time, we are still under Level 3 Covid-19 restrictions. This severely limits the sporting opportunities that are available to the school. However, we remain hopeful that this term will see restrictions ease, and we can get our students back into all things sport.
The moment restrictions ease, we will be back into the full swing of things. This time last year, in similar circumstances, we managed to hold smaller versions of our athletics and cross country carnivals, and a full swimming carnival, all in Term 4. So we know we can pack as much sport as we can in a shorter time frame.
In the meantime, our House Leaders are exploring creative options to keep our students active. Watch this space!
Please contact craig.brazel@lism.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions regarding this, or anything else sports related.
This week at Aggies:
On Friday 15 October, St Agnes’ will join many other schools and businesses across the Mid North Coast to ‘Go Red for Dyslexia’. This means that our students and staff will be able to wear red to school in support of creating awareness for Dyslexia.
SPELDNSW are offering a free Dyslexia workshop for Dyslexia Awareness Month.
When - 3:30pm to 4:30pm Wednesday 27 October 2021
Where - ONLINE
For more information please visit the following link SPELDNSW Parent Workshops
Kindergarten Writing
Look at these amazing pieces of work by our kinder kids.
Thank you
We would like to send a big thank you to Mayor Peta Pinson for the $40 donation towards the “Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Community Award” which will be presented to the winner at the end of the year.
Another big thank you to the Catholic Womens League Australia (Inc) NSW Port Macquarie for their kind donation of $30.
JHI - Certificate 3 Individual Support
The course enrolment date is 20 October, and the NSW Government subsidises this training.
If parents want to check if they meet the requirements for the Smart & Skilled funding program, they are encouraged to contact JHI for further details on (02) 6583 2321 or email info@jhi.edu.au
