SCHOOL NEWS
Learning
KINDERGARTEN LEARNING
This term the Kindergarten children have been learning all about God’s creation. They have read the Story of Creation from the Bible and have discussed how amazing God is to create this world and everything in it. The children have identified their favourite part of creation as well as viewed the creation story.
The children have been busy exploring the natural and constructed elements in the outdoor environment. They have collected items and used the iPad to take photos of their observations and then sorted them accordingly. The children have investigated ways of caring and sustaining our environment.
From class discussions about the Creation Story the children have identified areas that they would like to explore more deeply. These are farm animals, growing plants and mini beasts. The children have developed wonder questions about what they would like to learn about these areas.
Some of the Wonder questions are:
- I wonder why God made these creatures with different bodies?
- I wonder what plants and animals need to grow?
- I wonder what these animals eat?
- I wonder where these animals live?
In the area of literacy, the children have been encouraged to write for different purposes. For example, label their drawings/paintings, recount events and write letters to their friends. Any attempt to write is praised and cherished, as we want the children to feel relaxed and confident in their attempts to write, rather than feeling anxious about making a mistake. We want the children to “have a go” with their writing.
We have continued to support the children’s learning about rhyming words. The children will be involved in many different activities where they will need to identify initial sounds in familiar words, such as their names and other words through fun activities and games.
In Mathematics this term, the children have continued to explore and extend knowledge of number and recall what number is missing in a number line 1-10 and beyond. The have identified and compared collections of objects and described if there is more, less, the same or not the same. To develop their spacial awareness, they have explored positional language using the book Rosie’s Walk.
In Science, the children have integrated measurement by comparing the heights of the plants they have been growing in class.
FOOTY FINALS FUN DAY
On 15 September (Friday of Week 9) The Wellness Ministry will be holding an afternoon (after lunch) of football and sporting skills. All year levels from Pre-Primary to Year 6 will be placed in different AFL and WAFL teams and will rotate around a variety of activities containing different skills. The children are allowed to wear a piece of clothing of their favourite football team for a gold coin donation. All money raised will go to our Infant Jesus Parish.
This will be a fun afternoon, but we will need some parent helpers to lead the different activities. Please complete the following form to let us know if you can help.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FootyFinalsDay
The Wellness Ministry
CAMP QUALITY
On Monday the fourth of September everyone went to an assembly in the hall. It was about cancer. They taught us that you can not catch cancer from someone else, it is very rare to get cancer when you're born and there are lots of different types of cancer like breast cancer, blood cell cancer and prostate cancer. When you have cancer you get a type of medicine called Chemotherapy. It has some side effects. These include: losing your hair, eyebrows, having a sore tummy and getting very tired.
Being sun smart prevents skin cancer.
If you know someone who has cancer, a great thing to do is make them laugh.
- Year Three Students
MERIT CERTIFICATES
At Infant Jesus School we are proud to celebrate the achievements of our children and all their hard work. Congratulations to the following students who will receive an Honour Certificate at our assembly next Thursday morning.
We congratulate the following students:
PPB Dru Blanchard, Tahlia Erceg, Eva Del Borrello,
Nicholas Lucano
PPW Abigail Tutt , Owen Eyre, Gilbert Nguyen, Maria Pugliese
1B Isla Di Dio, Tessa Kolarikal, Oliver Martinovich
1W Grace Allpike, Alessio Castrianni, Anton Di Nella,
Leah McManus, Albert Nguyen
2B Marco Boni, Ethan Johnson, Dylan Vu, Ava Rozario
2W Bianca Roxburgh, Olivia Gatti, Ella Adams, Ryan Bai
3B Charlie Jackson, Lucia Cugola, Dominic Kosovich,
Zara Thaung
3W Sebastian Gibson, Erin D'Silva, Brigitte McMenemy,
Cyara Quartermaine
4B Madeline Autunno, Chloe Firns, Simon Tran
4W Jenna King, Julian Romeo, Lydia Sammells,
Jacob Wilathgamuwa
5B Emily Civello, Mikayla Giglia, Natalia Truong, Joseph Miraudo
5W Ruben Dewitt, Gabrielle Fernandes, Declan McNamee
6B Brian Nguyen, Ella King, Sasha Stepanko
6W Amanda Joseph, Layla Firns, Akiena Gunawardene
FACTION ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
As you are aware the Infant Jesus School Athletics Carnival is scheduled for Wednesday 20 September. The details are below.
Athletics Carnival Details:
Venue: Noranda Sporting Complex Athletics
Date: Wednesday 20 September 2017
Year Levels:Year 1 - Year 6 students (Pre Primary for second half of the day)
Mode of Transport: Westside Bus Company
Departure Time: 8:40am (Pre Primary departing school at 12:00pm)
Return Time: 2:30pm
Information for children:
• Students will need to bring food, water and a hat.
• Students are to wear their sport uniform.
• The children may wear a shirt that is the same colour as their
faction with no other writing, pictures etc. A coloured bib will be
provided where necessary.
• The children may bring running shoes.
• Our Year 6 Leaders will be providing extra support on the day.
Engagement
PARENT & FRIENDS NEWS
QUIZ NIGHT
The committee has decided to open the last tickets for individual purchase. Tickets available for $15 each, please email president.pafc@gmail.com to book.
QUIZ NIGHT FOOD ORDERS
Pizzas and dip platters are available for pre-order before Monday 11 September. Please see the attached form to order.
QUIZ NIGHT DONATIONS
We are still in need of donations to be used as prizes on the night. In particular chocolates and items we can include in hampers. Any businesses who donate vouchers or products will be promoted on Facebook and on the night of the event. Please drop items into the school office or email president.pafc@gmail.com if you would like us to collect them.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL SAUSAGE SIZZLE
A sausage sizzle lunch will be available to purchase for both adults and children attending the Athletics Carnival. To order please see the attached form and return by Friday 15 September.
Nicola Cecchele - P&F President
YEAR 5 PARENT DINNER
When: Friday, 8 September at 7pm
Venue: Italians Restaurant, Morley
RSVP: ASAP, Maria 0410 151 110
Hope you can make it!
YEAR 6 CATCH UP
When: Thursday 5 October at 7pm
Venue: Jamocca (Noranda Shopping Centre)
RSVP: by 28 October to Liselle 0409297193,
Connie 0412036072 or Ida 0409977524.
Let's have a bite to eat and organise the Year 6 Dinner/Dance. All welcome, more the merrier, many hands make light work etc.
YEAR 5 INFANT JESUS NETBALL
Infant Jesus Pink Diamonds won 2017 Premiership for their division in Junior Netball.
FATHER AND SON CAMP
Please see attached information regarding this year's Father and Son Camp.
CANTEEN ROSTER
Term 3
Friday 8 September
Rosanna Franceschino, Lisa McCarthy, Marisa Gulluni
Monday 11 September
Louise Staltari, Wanita Gentile
Wednesday 13 September
Pramila Crasta, Emily Dayan, Louise Murace
The attached Winter Menu continues for Term 3.
Accountability
VOLUNTEER WORKSHOP AND CODE OF CONDUCT
To assist with school based events, please ensure that both of these have been completed.
1. Complete the Volunteer Workshop
2. Read and Sign the Code of Conduct which is new in 2017.
It is a requirement that not only the Parent Volunteer Workshop has been completed, but the school based Code of Conduct has been signed and returned to the office.
Copies of the Code of Conduct are available from the front office.
VISITING THE SCHOOL - NEW SIGN IN PROCEDURES
An iPad is now available for entering the school during school hours. This replaces the sign in book. Please follow these procedures:
- Sign in and receive a Lanyard or Exit Card
- Enter the school
- Sign out and return the Lanyard
All visitors to the school must sign in i.e. Parents dropping things off, Parents picking up students, Volunteers helping Canteen or Class, Students arriving late, Maintenance workers etc.
PROLONGED ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL OF A STUDENT DURING SCHOOL TERM
There is an approval procedure that must be followed if you are taking your children out of school for several days.
- Letter or email must be sent to the Principal and Teacher advising the school of the circumstances of the absence.
- School then formally approves the absence with a letter sent to Parents.
It is important to note that the Education Act states that all children need to be at school at all times during the school year.
Prolonged absences should only be taken if it is essential for illness, pastoral and family reasons. In this instance it is a requirement that parents provide a valid explanation, in writing, for children’s
non-attendance at school.
It is also important to note that prolonged absence from school will impact on children’s learning.
Discipleship
SAINT TERESA OF CALCUTTA 5 SEPTEMBER
When we think about the difference that love can make, many people very often think of one person: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. A tiny woman, just under five feet tall, with no tools except prayer, love, and the unique qualities God had given her, Mother Teresa is probably the most powerful symbol of the virtue of charity today.
Mother Teresa wasn’t, of course, born with that name. Her parents named her Agnes—or Gonxha in her own language—when she was born to them in Albania, a country north of Greece.
Agnes was one of four children. Her childhood was a busy, ordinary one. Although Agnes was very interested in missionary work around the world, as a child she didn’t really think about becoming a nun; but when she turned 18, she felt that God was beginning to tug at her heart, to call her, asking her to follow him.
Now Agnes, like all of us, had a choice. She could have ignored the tug on her heart. She could have filled her life up with other things so maybe she wouldn't hear God’s call. But of course, she didn’t do that. She listened and followed, joining a religious order called the Sisters of Loreto, who were based in Dublin, Ireland.
After two months in Ireland, spent mostly learning how to speak English, Agnes got on a boat (in 1928, hardly anyone took trips by plane), and 37 days later she arrived in the beautiful, busy, complicated country of India. In India, Agnes took her final vows as a sister and took the name Teresa, after Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She spent 15 years teaching in a girl’s school in Calcutta, a job that she loved and was very good at. But then one day, she heard that call again.The voice in her heart was telling her that she was to make a very big change in her life—that she should leave her teaching position and go into the streets of Calcutta and care for the poor.
So Sister Teresa listened and said yes. She had lived in India for years, and she knew how desperate the poor of that country were, especially in the big cities. It was these people, the dying poor, that Sister Teresa felt a special call to love. After all, these were people who had absolutely no one else in the world to love them. Not only were they poor, but they were also dying. Why did their feelings matter? Wouldn’t they be gone soon enough? Teresa saw these people differently. She saw them through God’s eyes, which means that she saw each of them as his dear child, suffering and yearning for some kind touch or word, some comfort in their last days on earth. She heard that call and chose to live it out—to let God love the forgotten ones through her charity.
As is the case with all great things, Teresa’s efforts started out small. She got permission to leave her order, to live with the poor, and to dress like them, too. She changed her habit from the traditional one to the sari worn by Indian women. Her sari would be white with blue trim, the blue symbolizing the love of Mary. She didn’t waste time, either. On her very first day among the poor of Calcutta, Mother Teresa started a school with five students, a school for poor children. That school still exists today. She quickly got some training in basic medical care and went right into the homes of the poor to help them.
Within two years, Teresa had been joined by other women in her efforts, all of them her former students. She was soon “Mother Teresa” because she was the head of a new religious order: the Missionaries of Charity.
The Missionaries of Charity tried to care for as many of the dying as they could. They bought an old Hindu temple and made it into what they called a home for the dying. Hospitals had no room or interest in caring for the dying—especially the dying poor—so the dying had no choice but to lie on the streets and suffer. The sisters knew this, so they didn’t wait for the poor to come to them. They constantly roamed the streets, picking up what looked from the outside like nothing but a pile of rags, but was actually a sick child or a frail old person.
When a dying person came or was brought to Mother Teresa and her sisters, they were met with nothing but love. They were washed and given clean clothes, medicine, and—most important—someone who could hold their hand, listen, stroke their foreheads, and comfort them with love in their last days. Mother Teresa’s work of love started out small, but it isn’t small anymore. There are more than four thousand Missionaries of Charity today, living, praying, and caring for the helpless in more than a hundred different houses around the world, including in the United States.
Mother Teresa died in 1997, but even now, when we think about her work, we can learn all we need to know about love: It doesn’t take any money or power to love. It doesn’t take great talent or intelligence. It simply takes love. Mother Teresa did wonderful, brave work in caring for the forgotten, but if there’s one thing she would want you to remember about love, it’s that you don’t have to travel to foreign countries to practice the virtue of charity. In fact, love has to start where you live.
POPE FRANCIS AND THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL
"Keeping our missionary fervour alive calls for firm trust in the Holy Spirit, for it is he who "helps us in our weakness" (Rom 8:26) (Evangelii Gaudium "Joy of the Gospel" #280).
PARISH NEWS
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
Important Reminders:
First Eucharist Retreat and final practice:
Friday, 8 September starts at 9:00am at Infant Jesus Parish Centre
This is a free dress day - Infant Jesus School children will be brought to the Church by their teachers. Please remember to bring a plate to share. Remind your children to bring their jacket and pencil case.
First Eucharist Masses:
· Saturday 9 September at 6.30pm
· Sunday 10 September at 9.30am and at 11.30am
Please arrive one hour before the Mass and bring your child to the Parish Centre. Please check your email for other information and your child's allocated Mass time.
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Enrolment Masses:
Families who wish to enrol their child in the Sacrament of Reconciliation this year will need to attend one of the Enrolment Masses below:
Saturday 16 September at 6.30pm OR
Sunday 17 September at 9.30am OR
Sunday 17 September at 6.00pm
Please remember to register your child's name at the Church Foyer before or after the Mass.
Commitment Masses:
Saturday 14 October at 6.30pm OR
Sunday 15 October at 9.30am OR
Sunday 15 October at 6.00pm
Reconciliation - Parents Information Night:
Monday 23 October at 7pm at the Parish Centre
Reconciliation Retreat at Schoenstatt Shrine:
Wednesday 25 October
First Reconciliation and Family Retreat:
Monday 6 November at 5.30pm or 6pm or 6.30pm or
Thursday 9 November at 5.30pm or 6pm
INFANT JESUS PARISH 24:7 MORLEY YOUTH GROUP
All youth in Years 6-12 are invited to join us this Friday night, 6-8pm in the Parish Hall. For more info call Roger 0434 988 711 or Elizabeth 0410 554 393.