Wek 5, Term 2

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Hi Everyone,

Principal Conference

Lachie is away this week as part of the South Central Principal's Network conference. The principals will spend the week in Broome visiting remote schools. This is a follow up to the Indigenous culture and culturally safe environments work these school leaders took part in two years ago in Darwin.

Assessment for Reporting

This week marks the beginning of our mid-year assessment period. Students from Prep to Year 6 will complete a number of online, adaptive tests in Mathematics and Reading as well as a range of one-to-one tests with their teachers. These adaptive testing platforms have questions directly addressing curriculum outcomes. The questions get harder or easier depending on whether they are answered correctly or incorrectly. Teacher assessment and analysis platforms allow us the chance to look at individual, cohort and whole school growth in curriculum areas such as Reading and Mathematics. These assessments, as well as others completed throughout the semester, inform teacher decisions for Semester One Reports. The assessment and reporting period is a busy time for our staff. Beginning Monday 2nd June, classroom teachers are provided with a ‘report writing release’ day and our specialist teachers play an important role by covering the classes. More information will be provided around the specifics of the Semester One Reports in an upcoming newsletter.

Staffing update

Lynn Miller is recovering well after her foot surgery two weeks ago. Despite being off work, she continues to assist with organising our ‘Biggest Morning Tea’. We wish Lynn all the best as she continues to rest at home. Amelia Bell will be attending a family wedding in Fiji from the 26th - 30th May. Aggie Gorski will cover Year 2 from Monday to Wednesday and Kylie Smith will cover Thursday and Friday. Kylie is one of our regular CRTs and has taught the Year 2 children previously. Liz Graydon has been appointed as a Learning Support Officer (LSO) to join our amazing team of LSOs. She will commence her time at St Agnes’ on 2nd July. Liz has worked at Haileybury for the past 12 months as an LSO and is in her final year of a Masters of Teaching at Melbourne Uni. Liz will work three days a week.

Cybersafety

Last Thursday night we had the Parent Cybersafety and Digital Webinar run by Marty and Carley from ‘Inform and Empower’. Thank you to Levi Otto for organising our school to take part in this important event. Many thanks to those families who attended the webinar. Understanding and promoting cybersafety is a critical part of keeping our students safe online and is an important aspect for both parents and our school to be aligned on. Here is the link to the webinar.

Raising Kids in a Digital World www.informandempower.com.au/schools-webinars/community-webinar (this will be available to view for 30 days).

First Eucharist Family Faith Night

Last Wednesday evening, our Year 4 students commenced their First Eucharist preparation with their families and teachers. They engaged in activities and prayers with their peers and families. Fr Alan spoke with the parents and children about the meaning of this special sacrament. The children will make their First Eucharist at Mass on Saturday 21st June. Thank you to Tracey Law and Aggie Gorski for their preparation of the children.

Number Fact Fluency

Last year we trialed an exciting online program called ‘TTrockstars’. This year, we have rolled it out to Years 3 to 6 and also introduced ‘Numbots’ for Prep to Year 2. Number fact fluency is a critical foundation in mathematics, enabling students to recall basic maths facts quickly and accurately. This fluency supports the development of key numerical skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, to the point of automaticity. When children can access these facts effortlessly, they free up cognitive resources, allowing them to tackle more complex maths problems with confidence and efficiency. Ultimately, this foundational skill sets the stage for a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies.

The ‘TTrockstars’ and ‘Numbots’ platforms allow teachers to track and monitor the progress of each student. Below are some links to ‘heat maps’ from Years 3 to 6 that show the progress of the whole class from mid-March to this week. You can see the progress of the class as the red changes through the colours of orange, light green and then dark green. We are aiming to get the whole heat map coloured dark green, meaning everyone in the class knows all their multiplication tables and can recall them at a fast rate.

Year 3 Fluency Heat Map, Year 4 Fluency Heat Map, Year 5 Fluency Heat Map, Year 6 Fluency Heat Map

Special Shout Outs!

Year 5 averaged 1,243 questions answered correctly per day for the last 7 days.
Seren Cummings in Year 3 answered 1,001 questions correctly in the last 7 days.
Aishi Sothilingam in Year 4 answered 2,420 questions correctly in the last 7 days.

Well done to all of our students for their effort and commitment in learning their number facts.

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival

On Monday 12th May, we held our annual St Agnes’ Sports Carnival. It was a day full of energy, team spirit and participation. The students are to be commended for their efforts in all of their events and for cheering each other on throughout the day. A big thank you to our parent volunteers who helped run some of the rotation events and hand out ribbons. Congratulations must also go to our Sports Captains. It was very commendable to see the way they encouraged their teammates and gave 100% effort in every activity.

Mother's Day Breakfast and Liturgy

On Thursday 8th May we paid tribute to the amazing mothers, grandmas and special ladies in our community. The morning kicked off with a fabulous breakfast for our special visitors. This was organised and cooked by our team of dads, ably led by Tim Goodingham and Lukas Bray. The Mother’s Day Liturgy in the church was a chance to reflect and celebrate the role our mums and special ladies play in all our lives. Jane Clark (mum of Gemma in Year 6), spoke beautifully and there were not many dry eyes after her heartfelt speech. Thank you to all of the mums and special friends that were able to attend the morning. A special thanks to Aggie Gorski and the staff for their efforts in making the liturgy very special.

100 Skips a Day in May

There has been a fantastic buzz in the playground over the past week as we began our ‘Skipping Challenge’. This new skipping challenge promotes wellbeing, celebrates our healthy bodies and encourages staying active together. Starting the day with skipping energises the body and mind, and improves focus and mood for a positive, productive day of learning. We are working towards students being able to do 100 skips as part of our daily routine. Once a child completes their 100 skips, they will tally it in class. Skipping will happen every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before school. Parents and siblings are welcome to join in. The class with the highest total will be announced and rewarded at our Biggest Morning Tea.

Upcoming Events

SSV Soccer - Friday 23rd May

This Friday 23rd May, our Year 5 and 6 students will be participating in the SSV Soccer Lightning Premiership. There will be two teams from St Agnes’. Students will take part in a number of games against other Catholic schools in our area. We wish our soccer stars good luck!

Year 3/4 Parish Mass - Friday 23rd May

Our Year 3 and 4 students will participate in Friday morning Mass with the weekday Mass-goers at 9am on Friday 23rd May. Parents are welcome to attend.

Incursion with Drew Lane - Monday 26th May

We are very excited to announce that on Monday 26th May, our students will have the opportunity to participate in a special incursion with Drew Lane – a well-known Australian religious songwriter, musician, sound engineer, and performing arts teacher. Drew’s music is regularly featured in our school Masses and special liturgies, with favourites such as “We Are One”, “God Is Everywhere”, “I Like The Way God Made Me”, “Part of Me” (sung during the Grandparents Day Liturgy), and “As You Go” (a special blessing sung at the graduation liturgy), bringing energy and meaning to our celebrations. Throughout the day, Drew will work with different year levels in separate sessions.This promises to be a joyful and faith-filled day, and we look forward to sharing Drew’s inspiring music with our school community.

Beachside Division Cross Country - Tuesday 27th May

Congratulations to Wilhelm Mindt, Gracelyn Warnes and Thomas Harber who will be competing in the Beachside Division Cross Country Championships on Tuesday 27th May at Bald Hill, Clarinda. We wish these students all the best as they compete against some of the best runners in the area.

Prep Prayers in Pyjamas - Wednesday 28th May

We are excited to host our Prep Prayers in Pyjamas night once again this year. The children are asked to come along to school with mum and/or dad, dressed in their PJs to learn as a family about prayer. This will be held in the Prep classrooms and commences at 7pm, so there is time for children to have dinner, pop their pyjamas on and come to school. Parents are certainly not required to wear PJs, but you are welcome to if you wish!

Biggest Morning Tea - Thursday 29th May

Sadly, cancer touches all of us in some way during our lives. Inspired by this shared experience, St Agnes’ is proud to once again host our Annual Biggest Morning Tea in support of the Cancer Council. This year, our theme is a bell, symbolising hope and celebration for those who have survived cancer, and honouring the strength of all those affected. This year marks our 9th Morning Tea, and we warmly invite all parents, carers, grandparents and younger siblings to join us on Thursday 29th May at 10:15am-11:00am in the hall. Bring along your morning tea and enjoy recess together with our school community. Our Student Representative Council (SRC) will be selling raffle tickets before school. If you don't have cash you can purchase tickets by pressing on the button below

or scan the QR code below to donate to the Cancer Council

SSV Football and Netball Lightning Premierships - Thursday 12th June & Friday 13th June

The school will have representative teams from Years 5 and 6 heading to the Holt District Netball and Football Lightning Premiership competitions on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th June. Operoos will be coming out with more detail over the next few days.

Assembly

Assemblies are in the hall on Wednesday afternoons at 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements from student leaders.

Wed 21st May - Year 3

Wed 28th May - Social Justice Leaders

Wed 4th June - Year 2

Wed 11th June - Year 6 Leaders

Wed 18th June - Year 1

Wed 25th June - Prep B and Prep D

Wed 2nd July - Social Justice Leaders

Other Term Two Key dates

Playgroup - Friday 30th May

Report Writing Week - commencing Monday 2nd June

First Eucharist Mass - Saturday 21st June

Reports go home - Friday 27th June

Parent/Teacher Interviews - Tuesday 1st July

Term Two concludes - Friday 4th July

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Kind regards,

Amanda Baker

St Agnes' Newsletter

Learning - Community - Belonging - Wellbeing

Issue 8 · 21 May 2025

In this issue