SCHOOL NEWS
Learning
Innovation and Technology
The Innovation and Technology Centre is a brand new addition to Infant Jesus School this year.
This learning environment is rich with possibilities where students and teachers come together and learn new skills and are not fixed by a set of materials and spaces. It provides many opportunities for learning to be enhanced through collaboration and project based work.
The space provides creative time and space for teachers and students to explore, fail and retry, bounce ideas off one another and build something together which may not always have digital technologies as the focus.
This wonderful new learning space will focus on the Technologies Curriculum and will integrate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) into the student’s classroom learning. Students will visit the Innovation Centre with teachers once a week, with sessions making cross-curricular links with class themes/topics.
The last five weeks have been spent getting the room ready, installing new carpet, building a lego wall and moving in new flexible furniture.
All classes have now had a session in the room and the excitement levels were high! Here is a brief snapshot of what the Year 1, 3 and 5 classes have been learning .
The Year 1 students started the term learning about constructed, managed and natural areas. In STEAM time, the class visited Peter’s Place and used iPads to take photos of the different areas they could see. They turned these photos into a short video using Adobe Spark. They will spend the remainder of the term constructing their own area and will use the iPads to document this process.
The Year 3 students have been busy learning all about Chinese New Year in class and creating a Pic Collage to share their information. In STEAM sessions, they followed the design process of researching, designing and constructing a Chinese Dragon prototype. There was plenty of mess during the construction period with paint, boxes and craft materials being used with much delight by the children. They then used the App, Chatterpix to bring their Chinese Dragons to life which have been shared on See Saw.
Last week, the Year 5 students were lucky enough to have a special 45 minute incursion via Skype all the way from Sydney University. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki is a well-known author and science commentator on Australian radio and television. The students brainstormed different questions to ask Dr Karl, who responded with a staggering breadth of knowledge and provided the students with easy-to-follow explanations. The Year 5’s asked a mix of science questions and about their current unit of work and government. Some of their questions included -
Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?
Why do they call it quick-sand when you go down slowly?
What’s the best scientific moment you (Dr Karl) have experienced?
Who creates Australia’s rules and laws?
Why is 18 the age you become an adult in Australia?
We will continue to share the learning from Pre-Primary, Year 2, 4 & 6 next week.
All parents are welcome to pop in and check out the fantastic new addition to Infant Jesus School!
If any families have unused lego pieces/blocks at home the school would love take it off your hands. Lego donations can be given to Miss Phoebe or placed in the Innovation Centre - Thank you.
PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR PROGRAM -
PRE-PRIMARY
This term our Pre-Primary children will be commencing a Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) two mornings a week. Perceptual deals with obtaining information and motor refers to the outcome of movement. Thus, perceptual-motor activities require children to use their brain and body together to accomplish tasks—for example, walking on a balance beam while reciting the alphabet.
Participation in perceptual-motor activities enables children to develop greater levels of body control and encourages greater effort in all areas of the school curriculum. Research has shown young children who possess adequate perceptual-motor skills enjoy better coordination, greater body awareness, stronger intellectual skills, and a more positive self-image.
The key areas of development through PMP are:
Gross motor skills: The acquisition of large scale movements e.g. walking, running, jumping, skipping, climbing and moving in and out of positions.
Fine motor skills: The acquisition of small scale movements e.g. performing building tasks and isolating various fingers.
Crossing the midline of the body (laterality): Children who fail to develop this skill are at risk of changing hands at the midline when performing tasks involving movement on a horizontal place. Eyes must also learn to track across the body midline to avoid potential difficulties with reading.
Balance: Closely associated with the development of gross motor skills.
Body and space awareness: Spatial concepts such as behind, between, backwards, forwards and up/down.
Visual and spatial skills: Students are helped to track objects in all directions, match shapes and copy patterns.
Rhythm sequence, memory and listening: Activities such as clapping to rhythms, fast vs slow movements, counting claps, steps and jumps.
The program will be running on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning for a half hour session
(8:45am-9:15am). To run this important program, we need the assistance of 10 parents each morning. We are hoping to start Week 7 so we ask that if you are available to help on any morning to speak to the Pre-Primary Staff or Mrs Jenkins.
Thank you
Mrs Jenkins
Sport Specialist (Pre-Primary and Year 1)
YEAR 3 and YEAR 5 NAPLAN 2017
Parents of Year 3 and Year 5 students will have received an information brochure on NAPLAN 2017. Any questions about NAPLAN in addition to the information provided are to be directed to classroom teachers.
Engagement
Library News - Book Club
Scholastic Book Club is the easiest, most reliable way to get your child excited about reading! There is a Book Club for every grade, from preschool through to junior high. Each Club is exclusively school-based, and is run by volunteers. In each issue in the Scholastic Book Club student catalogue, your child will find a terrific selection of new and noteworthy fiction, classics, award-winning titles, perennial favourites, reference and sports books and more. Book Club offers a convenient way to purchase the best books at huge discounts.
We are looking for volunteers to start Book Club at our school. If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer please complete link.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LF6J2PQ
Thank you for your support.
Jenny Houwen
Library Officer
Seesaw Parent Information Evening
As you are aware, this year Infant Jesus has embraced the application Seesaw across all year levels. We are using this to transform our learning journey from the classroom and into our individual households. Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share what's happening in the classroom. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it, including photos, videos, drawings, or notes.
A parent workshop has been scheduled for the 16 March at 3:30pm - 4:00pm & then repeated again at 6:30-7:00pm. Please fill in the survey to indicate your attendance at these workshops.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FX53WLP
P & F News
FREE DRESS DAY!
Get ready, Free Dress is coming on Friday 17 March! Children are encouraged to come to school in appropriate clothing of their choice for a gold coin donation. Please send your child in closed shoes. The P&F will be handing out free ice creams to the kids, so this is a day they will not want to miss!
Nicola Cecchele - P&F President
MORNING TEA AFTER THE YEAR TWO ASSEMBLY
YEAR 3 MUMS COFFEE CATCHUP ☕️
Thursday 16 March at The Coffee Club, Morley Galleria from 8:45am. All welcome, see you there!
MAD CAMP
It’s that time of year again, MAD Camp. Let’s get physical and have fun with our friends while meeting new ones. This year promises to be full of fun with lots of laughs. The camp will be held on 26-28 May 2017 at Point Walter Reserve. Please fill in your Registration Form, pay the deposit via EFT and pass your form into the office for collection. The deposit needs to be paid by Friday 31st March 2017 and the form handed into the office. Any queries please contact one of us on the form.
INFANT JESUS FAMILY CAMP 2017
A big hello to all the families.
At this stage we have confirmed the date for the 2017 Family Camp. This will be during the middle weekend of September/October school holidays, being Friday 29 September, and concluding Sunday 1 October.
We have reduced it by one night, but extended the last day until the afternoon. This will not be the long weekend, giving families the option to still make use of the Queen's birthday long weekend.
We will be having another meeting on Monday 27 March, 8pm at 32 Browning Street, Yokine.
We are hoping to get the old, and some new fresh faces attending, whether you are willing to join this exciting committee, or just volunteer your time to help out. Family camp has been going for over 40 years, and we need to keep this tradition going as it has made some of the best school memories for both the parents and the kids of those who have ever attended.
If you could please let me know if you are able to attend, otherwise if Monday doesn't seem to suit, I can change it around.
Kind regards
Commandants
Linda Prestianni 0433 925 857
and
Ardrian Gonsalves 0403 439 888
Accountability
PARENT - TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Our Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held in Week 8.
Next Tuesday afternoon teachers will have timetables displayed outside classrooms for parents to select a time to meet with their teacher.
This meeting is to to discuss your child’s progress
and to ensure that the school and home continue the important partnership of working together.
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 or online.
Discipleship
Feastday of St John of God 8 March
committed to a mental institution. John of Ávila calmed John and persuaded him to spend his energy caring for people who were sick and poor. John rented a house near Granada where those who were lepers, lame, mentally ill, paralyzed, and deaf found shelter.
At first, John begged for money to support those in need, but soon people volunteered to help. John led a life of total givin
As a 16th-century Spanish soldier, John gave up religion and led a wild life. When he left the military at age 40, he became a shepherd. John decided to make a radical conversion—to go to Muslim North Africa and free Christian slaves. He saw himself dying as a martyr. His confessor helped John settle on a more prudent plan: to open a religious bookstore in Granada, Spain. He successfully managed this project.
One day, John heard John of Ávila preach and felt he must do something to show he had converted. John began publicly beating himself, tearing his hair, behaving wildly. He gave his books away. People threw stones at him, and he was
g and constant prayer. He found work for unemployed people. When the archbishop called John to his office because people complained that John kept immoral women in his hospital, he was silenced by John’s humility. John fell on his knees, saying, “I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself, who am unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” John soon had a flourishing hospital. His helpers formed a community called the Brothers Hospitallers.
John of God died from pneumonia contracted while saving a drowning man. When John realised he was dying, he went over all the accounts, revised the rules and timetable, and appointed a new leader. He died kneeling before the altar in his hospital chapel. John is the patron of hospitals.
Excerpted from Christ Our Life, by Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio
Image credit: Saint John of God by Bartolome
Lenten Reflection Video
Parish News
FAMILY MASS
A focus for 2017 for Infant Jesus School is to strengthen the links between the Parish and the School. As a school community we have been invited to organise and lead parts of the Mass at Infant Jesus Church at 6.30pm this Saturday 11 March. This Mass is also one of the Enrolment Masses for the children who are commencing their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The School Choir will be leading the singing for this celebration. If you, and your family, would like to help in any way please contact Ms Clare Moffat or Mr Frank Colangelo
We are looking forward to seeing all families at this special occasion.
SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION ENROLMENT MASSES- THIS WEEKEND
All families who wish to enrol their child for the Sacrament of Confirmation at Infant Jesus Church this year are required to attend ONE of the following enrolment Masses:
- Saturday 11th of March at 6.30pm OR
- Sunday 12th of March at 9.30am OR
- Sunday 12th of March at 6.00pm
Please remember to register your child's name and your contact details at the church foyer before or after the Mass.
MORLEY YOUTH GROUP
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
***ADVENTURE WORLD TRIP*** (Flyer attached)
Youth from all 24:7 Youth Groups are invited to Adventure World on the 1st of April! For more information & to get a permission slip, please contact Roger 0434 988 711 or Elizabeth 0410 554 393
Canteen Roster
Friday 10 March
Mina Pillera, Marisa Gulluni, Lisa McCarthy
Monday 13 March
Jessica Musca, Renae Levings, Paige Di Dio
Wednesday 15 March
Jenny Allpike, Belinda Poat, Pramila Crasta
Project Compassion
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR
For Martina, Caritas Australia’s Protection Program offered far more than just shelter from domestic violence. "After I left Uma PAS, I felt confident for my future." Martina
For Martina, an East Timorese mother of eight, escaping domestic violence was the first step in her journey to a new life. But at first, her future seemed very uncertain. Timor-Leste is one of the least developed countries in the world, with extremely low levels of basic health, literacy and income. Most East Timorese live in rural areas, with very limited access to basic services or livelihood training, and many households don’t have enough food year round.
The shelter where Martina sought refuge, Uma PAS, offered her many ways to transcend these challenges. Uma PAS is a partner in Caritas Australia’s Protection Program, a holistic community-wide program in Timor-Leste that offers women like Martina economic empowerment and a life of safety in a supportive community.
Through the program, she was linked with a network of support services, and this enabled her to undertake livelihood training and start a small business to support her children. The program also linked her with a supportive community.
Martina from Timor-Leste “Martina is a person who did not want to give up, but wanted to be able to support her family,” her counsellor at the shelter says. Through the Protection Program, Martina says, “I have learnt how to change my life to support myself, and my children.”
"Education is the most important thing to change my children’s lives" - Martina.
Joy in the morning!
Am I a carrier of stress? Some words of wisdom from the Little Brown Book
"I could not go with my sad face among the poor Sisters" - Mary MacKillop 1869
It takes a special kind of strength to put our hurts aside. Mary MacKillop does not want to have a depressing impact upon her Sisters. She knows that spontaneity and humour have the ability to lift people.
Mary shared this outlook with the great Saint Thomas More, whose determination to enjoy life made a difference to all around him. Mary tried not to burden others with her problems. Rejoice in the Lord!
(from Sisters of St Joseph Newsletter 8 March 2017)