Assistant Principal News

Week 5 Greetings

As we settle into the cooler months, the recent weather has brought some very chilly mornings to our school days here in Victoria. With winter quickly approaching, I’d like to encourage all our families to stay warm, healthy, and well. Please make sure your children are dressed appropriately for the weather, with layers and jackets to help them start their day comfortably. Despite the cold, we’ve had some wonderful moments to keep our spirits high! A highlight from the past fortnight was our Japanese Children's Day celebration, where our students enjoyed beautifully prepared bento boxes thanks to the incredible efforts of our Parents and Friends Club. It was a joy to see our students engaging with Japanese culture in such a meaningful and delicious way. Last Friday, we also saw great participation and sportsmanship at the District Cross Country event. Our Year 3 to 6 students represented our school proudly, and we’re excited to share that some of them have qualified for the upcoming Division event. A huge thank you to Miss Molloy, Miss Gibson, and Miss Zhao for their support and encouragement throughout the day.  On the same Friday, we were delighted to see so many students take part in Walk Safely to School Day. It was a pleasure to greet so many happy faces at the gate and welcome them into the school. A big thank you to all the families who chose to walk or ride instead of driving. Congratulations to Prep A, the winning class for our 2025 Walk Safely to School Day!　５月も下旬に入り、突然寒い朝が増えてきましたが皆様いかがお過ごしでしょうか。朝と昼の気温の差も大きくなってきたので、暖かい洋服や、ジャケットを準備して健康管理に気をつけたいですね。寒さにも関わらず、CPSの生徒達は楽しい毎日を過ごしております。２週間前の月曜日には、日本のお祝い「子供の日」にちなんで、Parents and Friends Clubの父兄の方々がとても美味しいお弁当を用意してくださいました。また、金曜日には学校のクロスカントリーで上位に入った生徒達が、学校を代表してDistrictのイベントに参加してまいりました。それぞれスポーツマンシップを発揮して頑張った子供達、中にはDivisionに進んだ生徒達もいました。また、同じく先週の金曜日には、歩いて学校に登校する日というイベントもありました。車ではなく、徒歩や自転車、スクーターなどで登校した子供達を校門でお迎えし、とてもポジティブな１日の始まりとなりました。今年、この日に一番多くの生徒が車以外の方法で登校したクラスはプレップAでした！おめでとうございます!

Bikes and Scooters

We would also like to remind families that bicycles and scooters are not permitted to be ridden in the school grounds. For the safety of all our students and families, we ask that children dismount once they enter the school gate and walk their bike or scooter to the designated racks. Please supervise your child closely during this time, both before and after school, to ensure everyone’s safety. This applies to everyone comes into our school ground.　始業前・始業後の行程での自転車やスクーターの使用は禁止されております。校庭にいるすべての人たちの身の安全を確保できるよう、お子様の自転車の使用にご注意くださいますようご協力お願い致します。このルールは大人や小さなお子様にも適用されますので、ご理解いただけますようお願い致します。

Late Arrivals

We are seeing a number of students arriving late to school each day. While we understand that mornings can be busy, arriving late does not support your child’s learning or wellbeing. Entering the classroom after the day has begun can be compared to walking into a movie after it’s already started—it's harder to settle in, you miss important introductions, and it can be disruptive for others. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and restlessness, potentially making it difficult for your child to start the day positively. Please make every effort to ensure your child arrives at school on time, ready to learn from the very beginning of the day.　遅刻者が急増しています。朝には予期せぬ事態が起こることは避けられないことだとは思います。ですが、お子様がポジティブに１日を始められるように、始業時間には教室にいられるようにしましょう。学校の授業に遅刻してくることは、映画に遅れて行くことに例えられます。物語の初めを逃し、その後のストーリーについて行くために必要以上の推測が必要になる、周りに迷惑をかける、落ち着かない、など。お子様が問題なく学習に集中できるよう、ご協力をお願い致します。

Lost Property

On another note, we’ve noticed that our lost and found area near the student toilets in the main building is currently overflowing. If your child is missing a jumper, drink bottle, lunchbox, or any other belongings, we strongly encourage you to stop by and have a look. It’s also a timely reminder to label all personal items clearly with your child’s name. Every day, we find several jumpers left behind in the playground, and without names, it becomes very difficult to return them to their owners. A simple name label can make all the difference in ensuring lost items are reunited quickly.　朝と昼の気温の差が大きいため、ジャケットなどの落とし物が急増しています。メインビルディングの生徒用のトイレの付近に落とし物コーナーがありますので、探し物がある場合にはチェックしてみてください。また、お子様が持ってくるアイテム全て（制服・お弁当箱・水筒）にきちんと名前が表記してあることも、この機会にご確認ください。

Snapshots from our classrooms

I had the pleasure of visiting the Year 5/6 classroom with Mrs Newman, where students were engaged in a lesson on inferencing. They were given the sentence: 'The girl sat quietly on the beach, gazing out to the ocean, her face calm.' After reading it aloud, Mrs Newman guided the class through a series of thoughtful questions, explicitly teaching them how to identify clues within the text to support their answers. This clear and focused approach to teaching inferencing not only deepens comprehension but showcases high-quality teaching and learning in action. Well done to everyone involved!

ニューマン先生の５・６年生の教室を訪ねてきました。生徒達は、Inference（推測して文章を理解する）について勉強していました。'The girl sat quietly on the beach, gazing out to the ocean, her face calm.'　という文章を読んでから、ニューマン先生が出す質問にInferenceのスキルを使ってどのように答えるか、どこからヒントを探すか、などを学習していました。

In the Year 5/6 Japanese classroom, students were actively engaged in speaking activities with Onda Sensei. Using a variety of photos as prompts, students responded to questions related to the text they had previously read, Thursday Island. Onda Sensei maintained a lively and engaging pace, which helped keep the whole class focused and involved in the discussion. It was wonderful to see our students responding with such fluency and confidence, using the correct vocabulary so naturally and quickly.

また、５・６年生の日本語のクラスでは、生徒達は写真をもとにスピーキングのアクティビティをしていました。「木曜島の人々」というCPSオリジナルのテキストをもとに恩田先生が次々としていく質問に子供達は正確な言葉を使って答えていました。少し早めのペースでテンポよく出される質問に、子供達はとても集中して聞き入っていました。

I also had the opportunity to visit Miss Pyrcz’s classroom as she introduced the Learning Intention and Success Criteria for the lesson. Focusing the learning is a vital component of explicit teaching, helping students clearly understand what they are learning and what they are expected to achieve by the end of the lesson. This clarity not only supports students in guiding and reflecting on their own learning but also enables teachers to assess progress effectively. Miss Pyrcz skilfully unpacked both the Learning Intention and Success Criteria with her students, ensuring that everyone had a clear and accurate understanding from the outset.

パーチ先生の３・４年生のクラスも訪問してきました。私が教室に入った時はちょうど授業の始まりのステージで、パーチ先生はLearning Intention（勉強すること）とSuccess Criteria（達成すること）を生徒達に提示していました。これはExplicit teachingの大切な要素で、学習目的を確認できるだけではなく、授業中や授業の最後に再度確認することで、生徒達は先生と一緒に自分の到達度を確認することもできます。パーチ先生はとてもわかりやすく説明してくれていました。

Until next fortnight,

Miharu Morioka