Wednesday, 25 November 2015 —Term 4, Week 8

Dates to Remember:

27 November Advent Liturgy 1—8.40 am

Room 7

2 December Yr 6 Graduation Mass 5.30 pm

4 December Advent Liturgy 2—8.40 am rm1

followed by Awards assembly

7 December Advent Liturgy 3—1.50 pm Rm 4

8 December P&F meeting 5 pm

10 December Whole school Mass 9 am

Last day of school

2016

28 January Students resume 8.40 am

St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral

90 Smith Street, Darwin

Weekend Mass Times:

Saturday (Vigil) 6.30 pm

Sunday—7.30 am/9.30 am/7.00 pm

Prayer:

Lord of all, you are a God of plenty, a Lord who provides

for us in our need. As I begin these early days of Advent

help me to believe that you know what I need.

Give me the courage to listen to your voice and the freedom

to open my heart to the graces you are offering me to place my trust in you.

Amen

St Mary’s Ukelele group

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Dear families

Year 6 students and teachers are currently preparing for the Year 6 Graduation which will take place

on Wednesday 2nd December in the Cathedral. This is a special ceremony for Year 6 students and families to celebrate the achievements of our Year 6 students and the end of their primary school

journey. The celebration will begin with a Graduation Mass and will be followed by supper in the Mary MacKillop

hall.

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): Parents of students in Year 4 attended a BYOD information session and Cy-bersafety training conducted by NT police last night in preparation for 2016. The BYOD journey has been

a very exciting journey for our Year 5/6 students this year, enabling teachers and students to integrate technology into the learning and teaching program with great success. Current year 4 students will be

joining our BYOD program in 2016 and last night provided an opportunity for families to learn about the

purpose and guidelines for BYOD.

Learning App: The Australian Government has recently launched a special learning App which is designed to

support parents with their children’s learning. The App ‘Learning Potential’ can be downloaded via the following link: https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/

School attendance: During reporting periods, teachers and parents often reflect on the different things that

impact on student learning, one of these being school attendance. As you can see from the information below, absences of even a week begin to impact negatively on student learning.

How many days has your child missed this Semester (Half Year)?

0 –6 days : This is within normal range. A child with this attendance rate is able to take full advantage of the

teaching and learning opportunities available to them.

7 – 10 days: Attendance rate is below average. A child with this attendance rate could miss over one year of

schooling between Transition and year 10.

11 –20 days: Poor attendance rate. A child with this attendance rate could miss out on up to two years of schooling between Transition and year 10.

20+ days: This is a very poor attendance rate. A child with this attendance rate could miss over two and a half years of schooling between Transition and year 10.

Latecomers : A student who comes fifteen minutes late for school everyday is missing more than you think.

15 minutes per day accumulates very quickly to 1 hour 15minutes per week. If we take this out of the Numeracy block where classes generally teach five hours per week, by the end of the year the students has nearly missed

one term’s worth of Maths.

Safety: St Mary’s Working Party has met a number of times this term to review recommendations from the CEO

Risk assessment and NT police Environmental audit in relation to safety and security. Recommendations from

the Working Party will be tabled at our Board meeting next week and communicated to families via the newslet-ter in week 10.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Classes 2016: Teachers spent this week’s staff meeting reviewing class structures and arrangements for

2016, taking into consideration the academic, behaviour and social needs of students in each class. Class lists and structures can change as new enrolments are received over the January period which is the reason why

they are not published until the week prior to school commences in January.

Arty Kids 2016: Exciting news for 2016 is that Ms Pascale Zufferey will be run-

ning Arty kids after school for students beginning in term 1. Please see the news-letter for more details, costs and information on how to enrol your child.

May God bless you and keep you safely in his care,

Mrs Jacqui Langdon

Principal

Arty Kids 2016!! After a bit of a break…I will once again be offering after school art lessons in 2016.

I have a few ideas for classes which include working in the style of famous art-ists, painting canvases, working with pastels, mixed media, sculpture, decorating frames/mirrors…ideas are endless and will depend on the children’s interest.

At the moment I am planning on two groups; one run on a Tuesday and one on Wednesday. Classes will run for 6 weeks of the term from 3:15 until 5pm, are suitable for all ages and will be run at school up-stairs in room 13. If there is demand an extra afternoon maybe offered.

The cost of the 6 classes is $210 per child and $180 for every additional child in the same family. This will need to be paid at enrolment to secure a place. Classes are limited to 12 children and run by myself and another adult.

All materials are provided but students will need to bring afternoon tea if they like.

If you have any queries or would like to enrol your child in the program, please see me in Room 3 Mon-day or Tuesdays, email me at pascale.zufferey@artyobsessions.com, register your interest at www.artyobsessionscom/arty-kids or contact me directly on 0438 845 720.

You will be put on a waiting list if there is a big demand.

Kind regards

Ms Pascale Zufferey

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

Advent This coming Sunday is the first day of Advent. Advent is a season in the Christian year that

lasts for about four weeks. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas

Eve.

The time before Christmas is Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of

Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. In Advent, we’re reminded of how much we ourselves also need

a Savior, and we look forward to our Savior’s second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” In the season with this name, we

keep in mind both “advents” of Christ, the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come. Here’s a quick video that will give

you a 2 minute preview:

http://bustedhalo.com/video/advent-in-two-minutes

In the lead up to Christmas, All members of the St Mary’s Community are warmly invited to join us at our

Advent Liturgies and Celebrations

Friday 27 November Advent Liturgy 1 8.40am Hosted by Room 7

Friday 4 December Advent Liturgy 2 8.40am Hosted by Room 1

(followed by the Awards Assembly)

Monday 7 December Advent Liturgy 3 1.50pm Hosted by Room 4

Thursday 10 December Whole School Mass 9.00am

A reminder about the St Vincent de Paul Society (NT) Christmas Appeal

As a community, we will be collecting donations and each class will present them as gifts at the End of Year Christmas Mass.

The types of goods required:

Cash donations are also welcomed towards items added to the final hamper Over the next 2 weeks, please send in your donations to your child’s class and help to make Christmas for families in our com-

munity a time of joy and hope!

Hampers Canned puddings Biscuits, cookies, pretzels, wafers and

chips Nuts and dried fruit Mustards and sauces Bon-bons Nice teas and coffees Fruit juices and cordials Vouchers from Woolies or Coles

Children’s Gifts Books Toys Art packs Sporting goods

Teenagers gifts (a group often forgotten about) Movie ticket vouchers Makeup Hand creams and moisturisers Hair product Clothing vouchers Sporting goods

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Learning and Teaching Corner

Literacy

Does your child love playing with their friends? Here is one way to make

play dates fun and educational.

Book clubs are a great social activity, particularly for upper-primary chil-

dren to interact with their peers and adults and discuss books in depth.

To start a book club, contact your child’s friends’ parents or carers and invite them to join. Set a venue and a

time, and decide on a book.

Picking a book

Choose a book that is age-appropriate for your child and their friends. Try to pick one that has a storyline

that can be discussed. Make sure everyone is able to borrow or purchase a copy of the book and that they

have enough time to read it before the book club gathering.

The discussion

Hold your book club in a comfortable and quiet place, such as a lounge room or library. Encourage everyone to

sit in a circle and explain there is only to be one person speaking at a time.

The questions

As facilitator, ask open-ended questions that prompt discussion such as, ‘Why did you like this book?’ and

‘Tell me about your favourite character’. Ensure everyone has an opportunity to speak if they want, and try

to discourage the adults from taking over.

Further comprehension

After the discussion, complete some further exercises on the book. Perhaps the children might like to draw

pictures of their favourite characters and scenes, or if they’re old enough, they could re-enact the story or

a scene.

https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/bookworms-devouring-books-together-2

Mathematics- Money

Receipts: When shopping, find things more expensive/cheaper that 50c, $1.00 etc. Which

two items can be bought for $3.00 . Find the cheapest bag of flour, rice etc. Look at the

receipt together and order some items from least to most expensive.

Shops: Use real money to play shops. Label toys/food etc with prices and role play paying and giving change

accurately.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

MJR News: Our Wall of Fame winner for this week is Matilda Reardon (room 4) for

being a happy, cheerful and welcoming person.

This week MJR house team winners were….Matilda Forgie-Liddle (O’Sullivan) cleaning up rub-

bish on the playground...Elaina

Isla Campbell (Chevalier) played with me in the library….Isabelle

Cristo Philip (Little) for always being happy and friendly towards others...Kieza

Tianne Vladcoff (Hartzer) being encouraging and always seeing the good

in people...Jelaine and Aby

Student of the Week Awards

Room 5

Grace Downs

Neha Nogy

Room 6

Lachlan Cowdery

Tyler Watson

Rhianna Lopez

Room 7

Hannah Burris

Luke Brennan

Room 4

Isabelle Baldock

Mehar Sandhu

Kaden Charman

Room 3

Mac Sawyer

Louis Lakin

Georgia Theron

Gabi Fox

Room 2

Noah Vladcoff

Lillie Cannon

Room 1

Messina Finocchiaro

Jack Forgie-Liddle

Room 10

Billy Bennett

Rafael Yayakos

Ajay Misra

Room 11

Andrew Tilbrook

Cristo Philip

Kangaroos

Noah Lakin

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Transition 2016

Does your child turn five by 30

June 2016? If so they are eligible

to start Transition in January

2016.

Please contact the school office for an enrolment

package.

PIANO RECITALS

Music Recitals for piano students will be held on

Sunday, 29 November, 2015, at 2.30p.m, in the

Holy Spirit School Library.

Families of current piano students, and those inter-

ested in enrolling students in the 2016 program, are

welcome to attend.

PIANO ENROLMENT FORMS

Enrolment forms for the 2016 piano program are

now available from the front office.

WEEK 8 PIANO LESSONS

Please note that piano lessons in week 8 Thursday 26 November, will be swapped to Wednesday, 25 November.

Thank you,

Carolyn Gray (piano teacher)

Farewell to April Deeming

(room 5) and family who leave

our school community this

week.

Transition 2015 students -

Transition students photo will be in

the Sunday Territorian this week—

Sunday, 29 November 2015.

Our thoughts and prayers are with

Noah (room 2) and Tianne (room 7)

Vladcoff and family as Noah and Tianne’s

great grandpa passed away recently.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Art for Sale After Christmas presents?

Original artworks will be displayed in the hall from Monday until the end of term. These are available for sale with 15% proceeds going to the school. Prices from $80.

Drop in and have a look at the display or reserve your piece.

Thank you for your support.

In line with the Climate Change talks in Paris the David Suzuki Foundation is raising awareness around the world, currently there are over 2300 events and we have one in Darwin.

Where: end of Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin at 4.30pm on Saturday 28 November

as we march 2km to the Darwin Waterfront for real action on climate change.

Theme: Wear orange or red to show that you love solar, not dirty fossil fuels

January School Holidays—Intensive Swim: Book for a week or two weeks of intensive swimming classes

for your child/ren during the school holidays.

Learn to swim ( 1hour sessions) full week $150*; Parental classes (30 minutes) full week $88*

Block 1 11—15 January 2016; Block 2 18—22 January 2016.

Early Bird Fee: 10% off (non refundable) if booked and paid in full by 13 December 2015.

No makeup and non transferable.

To book or for more information please phone 8948 1000 or info@ntswimschool.com.au

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

ANNOUNCING

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CLUB

“The Messages of Christmas”

FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS T - 6

MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY

14 - 16 DECEMBER

8.30am - 12.30pm

CASUARINA BAPTIST CHURCH

44 Dripstone Rd, Casuarina.

A PROGRAM OF SCRIPTURE UNION NT

$8.00 per day

Register at: www.sunt.org.au

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Term 4, Week 8