School Swimming Carnival: What a wonderful Swimming Carnival we had last week! It was fantastic to see so many families join us and for so many of our students from Year 1 to Year 6 enjoying both competitive and novelty races in the pool. A huge ‘thank you’ to Mrs Carpenter, Mrs Livingstone, Mr Hudson and Ms Covelli for all the work they put into making sure our carnival ran so smoothly. We now look forward to the Southern Region carnival at Cowra this Thursday where 38 of our students will be competing against other schools in our region of the Bathurst Diocese.

Welcome BBQ and Open Classrooms: It was great to see so many families join us for our Welcome BBQ and Open Classrooms last Thursday afternoon. Students were so proud to be able to show their families their classrooms and the work they had already achieved this year. Thank you so much for taking the time to come and meet our teachers and join the McAuley family for one of our first social events since Covid!

Ash Wednesday Mass and Liturgy: Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Church's Lenten Season. The students in Yr 3-6 attended a beautiful Mass in St Mary's Church along with the primary people from St Mary's School today. We were then invited to join the children for Recess while the St Mary's Staff hosted our teachers for morning tea. This was such a lovely day, with children and staff alike mixing and enjoying each other's company as we celebrated the beginning of our journey to Easter. Our Infants children also celebrated Ash wednesday with a beautiful Liturgy in Kenna Hall, organised by Mrs Cain. It was such a delight to see so many families able to join us for this Liturgy, and then stay for a picnic lunch after. Congratulations to all the children who contributed to both our celebrations, they were wonderful ambassadors for our School.

School Tours of McAuley: Starting next Tuesday, 28th February, we will once again be having our School Tours for parents of prospective students for Kindergarten 2024 and beyond. These tours will take place each Tuesday at 10am and Thursday after School at 4pm for the next three weeks. These tours of the school are a great opportunity for anyone thinking of sending their child to McAuley, to see our facilities and gain a sense of who we are. In previous years parents, Grandparents and community members have been delighted to find how spacious our McAuley grounds are, which is not evident when looking at our school from the road. Our wonderful flexible learning spaces cater for small group work and can also be opened up to accommodate inquiry based learning. They have also been impressed with our upgraded playground facilities, the Before and After School Care facilities and all that is on offer for our children at break times, especially the synthetic grass. It is lovely to able to showcase our facilities while students are engaged in learning, and we hope our prospective families can feel the welcoming atmosphere of McAuley in the lovely classrooms and engaging resources on offer. If you know of someone who is considering sending their children to McAuley, especially in Kinder 2024, please let them know it’s not too late to join one of our tours. To book for a tour please ring the school on 6361334 or go onto the mcauleyorange website to book.

Dibels Testing: Now that routines have been established and children are familiar with their teachers and classmates, we are moving into our formal testing phase. Teachers are working to analyse their student’s strengths in a number of areas, especially reading. One of the key areas we test across the school is a child’s Oral Reading Fluency. This is the ability to effortlessly translate letters to sounds and sounds to words. A fluent reader is able to decode words automatically, without being conscious of what they are doing. This then enables readers to be able to focus their attention on comprehending the meaning of the text. It’s a little like reading a medical text – for those of us who are not medics, we may be able to work out the words but the meaning is lost as our brain was too busy sorting the pronunciation of the words to spend time working out the meaning of what we were reading. Our aim is to enable all students to reach a level of oral fluency, which empowers them to make meaning from text. The testing tool we use is the acronym ‘Dibels’. Each child from Kinder to Year 6 will sit with a Teacher who administers a standardized set of reading procedures which are designed to identify children’s progress and enable teachers to determine appropriate levels of instructional support as well as monitor their progress. The passages and other tests are calibrated for each grade level. After reading fluency levels have been established, teachers work across the grade to devise programs, which target the students’ areas of need.

Week 3 Focus of the Week We Wear a Hat with our Summer Uniform and are Responsible for our Belongings. This week we are looking at our Summer Uniform, which includes our School hat. We are proud to be members of McAuley, and we show that to everyone we see throughout the day. People recognise our uniform, and they immediately associate us with Catherine McAuley School. Therefore, when we wear our uniform, we should do so with pride. This means making sure we wear the proper uniform. Some rules about our uniform have been made for safety reasons, like, tying back long hair, only wearing stud or sleeper earrings, or no jewellery. This is because hair or jewellery can get caught when we are playing, and cause harm. Other rules are made to keep our uniform simple, like not wearing brand name items, or hair accessories that are ornate. This assists those who are unable to afford expensive decorative items. Please also remember our School Hat is a very important part of our Summer Uniform. We need to wear it each time we go outside. Our hat, along with sunscreen, helps to keep us safe from the damage of the sun. Our rule of “No hat, no play” will be in force from this week. Please also make sure all your belongings are labelled with your name, and you collect them at the end of each break, and put them neatly back in bags. Safety in the corridors is also important, so put bags on hooks and keep the corridors free from items and mess.

Remember:

Wear correct uniform without other items
Hats must be worn whenever going out for breaks
Label all clothing and other belongings and put them tidily back in your bag. Put your bag neatly on the hook and keep the corridors clear and safe.

Week 4 Focus of the Week: Welfare At McAuley – WAM! This week we are reviewing and refining our WAM policy with students. This policy has an emphasis on being pro-active and supporting student behaviour with rewards for both personal and house achievements. Our WAM policy will continue to give students positive rewards, as well as add more initiatives to follow school rules. Last year we introduced a “Level” system to each class. All students will begin on “Level Zero”. Depending on behaviour, they will move up or down the level system. If a student achieves the required number of days without Majors or Minors, they will go up a level and receive a certificate. Should they do something against the school rules and receive a Major or a Minor, they may go down a level, or have to wait for a longer period of time before going up a level. However, if they do go down, after a set number of days without incident, they can move back up a level. All records will be kept in classrooms. Should a child get a Major, the class teacher will contact the parents, as it is important both parents and teachers are able to support each student.

All students will begin next Monday on ‘Neutral Level’. After 15 days if they have not received any majors or minors, they will move to the next level – Blue and receive a Blue Band.
There are 8 Levels above ‘neutral’, finishing with ‘McAuley Level’. There are also 4 levels below Neutral.
Certificates will be awarded for each level achieved.
All children have the chance to reach McAuley level.

Parish News

"You have great reason to rejoice and return many thanks to God for blessing your humble efforts." - Catherine McAuley