YEAR 6 EXCURSION

Our Year 6 students had a fantastic fun-filled experience on their Canberra Excursion. Some popular highlights were the “Free Fall Drop” at Questacon, the Big Slide and whirlpool at Canberra Aquatic Centre and the sports simulations at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Who knew you could fit so much fun and learning into one excursion?!! They visited so many iconic Canberra landmarks such as the Royal Australia Mint, National Film and Sound Archive, Australian War Memorial as well as a driving tour of the Embassy and Lodge District. They took part in their own parliamentary role play at Parliament House and learnt about Australia's voting system and political history at the National Electoral Education Centre and Museum of Australian Democracy respectively. They enjoyed Canberra’s stunning panoramic views from the Mount Ainslie lookout and enjoyed the playground overlooking the natural beauty and tranquility of the National Arboretum.

Each evening they took part in fun activities such as movie and popcorn night and trivia night. They also participated in a spectacular Night Sky Program run by amateur astronomers. They used telescopes to view Saturn and some beautiful clusters of stars and as a special bonus, they even got to see the International Space Station pass overhead.

The students thoroughly enjoyed being given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy in Australia's capital city.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government contributed funding to our school in the amount of $112.50 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

A huge thank you to our school staff who organised this excursion as well as Mr Frend, Mrs McInnes, Miss Squire and Mrs Nott who attended with the students.

To view more photos from the excursion, please visit our Facebook page.

PRESBYTERY VISIT

Last Wednesday, our Kindergarten students treated our Parish community to a special performance. They visited the Presbytery during the Octogenarian Mass to sing the children’s nursery rhyme Skidamirinky Dinky Dink. It was a lovely treat for all Parishioners.

LEAGUE STARS INSPIRE WORKSHOP

Last Tuesday, our Stage 2 and 3 students were given the opportunity to attend a fun and inspirational respect, health and wellbeing workshop with NRL superstars Ben Roberts and Joel Thompson.

The workshop aimed to explore how success, challenge and failure can strengthen our identities as well as acknowledging that working hard at a difficult task builds self confidence, and that confidence pushes us to try new things. They also identified the different ways we can respond positively to challenges and failure, such as using self-talk, seeking help and the power of positive thinking.

Ben and Joel talked about the great game of rugby league and the connection between the skills taught in the sport and how it teaches the fundamentals of resilience, support and gratitude.

A portion of this session was held under the COLA and engaged the students by playing a variety of ball games. These games demonstrated the importance of teamwork, listening to others and following instructions.

Huge thanks to Ben and Joel for an unforgettable visit!

WII GAAY LEARNING HUB 2

Last week, Andiah Walsh and Amalia Suckling attended the second Wii Gaay Learning Hub for 2024. A total of 31 students from across the Armidale Diocese attended as well as Mr Hynch and Miss Maddy from St Francis Xavier’s. The students travelled by train to Sydney and were welcomed to the National Centre of Indigenous of Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern by Elder in Residence, Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo who was the founder of Yaama Dhiiyaan, Australia’s first and only hospitality college specialising in Indigenous culture and cuisine.

As well as attending the Learning Hub sessions focusing on literacy, mathematics and information technology, the group enjoyed a Tribal Warrior cruise to Be-lang-le-wool (Clark Island), visited the Reconciliation Church hosted by the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry - Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, played basketball with the Redfern Jarjum College students and meet First Nation Illawarra Hawks basketball player William “Davo” Hickey and Sydney Kings basketball players Tyler Robertson and Keli Leaupepe.

Andiah and Amalia thoroughly enjoyed last week’s Learning Hub. They returned inspired by the rich cultural experiences they had and are eager to apply this new information at school.

LITERACY - YEAR 1

Year 1 students have been learning to write contraction words with the help of Doctor Contraction!! Dr Contraction is a fun learning tool to help demonstrate to the students how two words can join together to form a contraction. As a class, the children identified which letters needed to be removed in a given word and replaced with an apostrophe. Donning a surgical cap and shoe covers, they took turns to cut out the removed letters and glue down the apostrophe followed by the remaining letters.

Year 1 enjoyed performing "word surgeries" and combining words like "he is" to make "he’s" or "I will" to make "I’ll." This interactive approach not only strengthens their understanding but also builds confidence in their reading and writing skills. Using Dr Contraction has made learning these tricky words exciting and memorable.

REMEMBRANCE DAY PRAYER SERVICE

Today our whole school attended a special Remembrance Day Prayer Service. Mrs McInnes led the service supported by our School Vice Captains, Ebony and Walter . The staff and students reflected on the significance of Remembrance Day and listened to Mrs Rily read the poem ‘In Flanders Field’. Fr Paul read from the Gospel of St John and in his address highlighted that war reminds us of the importance of peace. We listened with respect to Lilian Davies play ‘The Last Post’.

Our School Captains Isabela and Angus, accompanied by Mr Frend, were invited to attend a special service at the RSL.

Library News

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