Attendance Matters:

You may have noticed our school, along with all other schools in the Diocese have become very active in contacting parents when their children have not arrived for school, or have had a number of days away from school. This is because there is a legal responsibility for the education of all school age students in NSW, and we have been tasked by the Government to act in accordance with these laws, making sure we account for each of our students on every day the school is open.

What does this mean and what are the Legal responsibilities of Parents? Education in New South Wales is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age of 17 years. The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at and regularly attend school. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students. If a child is not at school, then parents have the responsibility to let the school know why they are not there. If they are sick or need to be away for family reasons, this needs to be recorded for each day using the Compass app. A medical certificate is required if a child is away for either an extended period of time, or if they are away often for medical reasons. If this is the case, we would also require a medical plan from their doctor so we are able to support their medical needs. Extended holidays and other absences from school require Principal approval. It is expected that students will have an attendance rate of above 90% each year. Even with this high percentage, this means that students will have missed over 4 weeks of learning throughout the year, which is almost half a term. This can lead to gaps in a student's learning and problems catching up in future grades. Attendance is a very important part of supporting the continued learning journey of all students, and should be given priority when making family commitment decisions. For further information on attendance, please contact the school or visit the NSW Government website on Attendance: https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/school-community/attendance-matters-resources-for-schools/compulsory-school-attendance

Dibels Testing: As a Diocese, we conduct Dibels Testing three times a year to gauge the growth of our students in reading. This testing is being conducted at the moment. Thank you to our Learning Support Teacher, Mrs Staniforth, for all the work she does in coordinating this testing, data gathering and data interpretation which assists our teachers in being able to support their students with appropriate resources to further enhance their learning.

Excursions: Last Friday our Year 3 students had the opportunity to visit Lake Canobolas as part of their English studies. This beautiful area holds special signifigance for the Wiradjuri people, and our students were lucky enough to experience the expertise of Jakob and Jordan. So we had Jordon and Jakob from Three Rivers Cultural Services, we went on Country to Lake Canobolas and Jordon and Jakob had Aboriginal artifacts to show the students and teachers. They went through each one and shared the Wiradjuri Language with each artifact. Jakob was showing the students what the plants mean for Aboriginal people and how we take care of the land. Jordon then brought the children over to water, letting them close their eyes to see what noises they could hear. He then told the students where he is from Brewarinna they have fish traps and told them that that's how they use to catch fish, they would sit and listen to how the fish would go into the fish trap and how they would trap them in there. He grabbed some rocks to show the students how fish traps look and how they are made with rocks, he grabbed a few of the students and got them to throw the rocks back where he got them from to teach them to look after the land. After this the students had some lunch and then we made some wattleseed johnny cakes. The students asked so many questions and they were amazed with how Aboriginal people have lived in this Country for so long and how they survived with their tools. From all accounts it was a wonderful learning experience, as well as lots of fun! Next Monday our Year 4 are off to the Blue Mountains for their excursion, connected with their Geography topic on the Earth's Environment. We look forward to them sharing their new learnings with us!

Life Education Van: Over the past two weeks Maree and Harold have been educating our students on many different aspects of safe and healthy living. As their time with us come to an end, we would like to thank Maree for all the work she puts into making the lessons interesting and interactive. We look forward to having Maree and the Life Education Van visit us again next year.

WAM Level Bands: This week our students who have been working hard at our school expectations of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe will be receiving their Gold bands! These people can be very proud of their efforts this year. Our final level of bands are the McAuley Level. This is due about the end of Week 8. All those who receive the McAuley Level Award will also receive a reward to show our appreciation for their continued excellent behaviour throughout the year.

Student Teacher Angela Nicholson: We currently have the privledge of having Miss Nicholson working with our students in Year 4B as she completes her teaching degree. Miss Nicholson has written the following on the work she has been doing with Ms Fitzgerald and the class;

Hi! My name is Angela Nicholson, and I am a fourth-year teacher education student currently completing my practicum here at Catherine McAuley. For the past three weeks I have been working with Ms Sharyn Fitzgerald in the class 4 Blue. During my time at the school, I have been teaching different subjects in the classroom while getting to know the amazing students within the class. For the next three weeks I will continue to work with the class and Ms Fitzgerald, teaching lessons while further developing my teaching skills and professional relationship with the students of the class. The time I have spent in the classroom thus far has been educational and enjoyable and I am looking forward to the new experiences I will gain during the second half of my practicum.
Thank you for allowing me to work in your amazing school!
Angela Nicholson

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Robyn Petty

Assistant Principal

Catherine McAuley Newsletter

Term 4, Week 5 · 13 Nov 2024

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