Primary News

Melanie Sluyters

Restorative Practice

Last Wednesday our Restorative Practice Leaders came together as a group for the first of two training sessions. As leaders they were upskilled in how to listen to concerns voiced in the playground, to solve problems through conversations and to repair harm that may have occurred within friendship groups. Our leaders now have a sense of confidence when working with students issues within the playground. Throughout the morning the Restorative Practice Leaders reenacted issues faced in the playground, explored the language required to be a RP Leader and spoke with passion and purpose about why they believe the restorative process is an essential component of our College. The girls' responses were sincere, clever in how they were articulated and celebrated a clear understanding of expectations.

Year 5 Camp

Thank you to the staff, students and parents for what was truly a very successful Year 5 camp. The work that goes on behind the scenes by the Year 5 staff, our compliance team and you as parents does not go unnoticed and I thank all of you for what you did.

A Message from Marty Ogle

Last week our Years 5 and 6 students participated in a series of conversations and workshops with Marty Ogle as he delivered his ‘Making Jesus Real’ program. Below is a letter from Marty to our Year 5 and 6 parents.

What a privilege it was to recently work with staff and students sharing ideas about ‘Making Someone’s Day’, striving to bring JOY to those around us by making good choices. Sadly, many of the students shared that they back chat or talk back at home. We discussed how this can become a habit that creates hardship for parents and carers – AND I reminded them that parenting is a hard job! A few teachers stated that this habit is one that they don’t want to see in the classroom.

Some of the children would have come home with ‘OK’ written on their hands – this is to remind them that when they are asked to help with a chore, stop gaming, going to bed etc that by getting into the habit of saying ‘Ok’ (with a smile), it can create a positive atmosphere at home. This is a much more desired response rather than answering back or saying ‘No!’ We also spoke about ‘Choices’ and that everyone has choices and we must get into the habit of making GOOD decisions based on the values Jesus constantly taught and spoke about. The students were forth-coming with great ideas on how to do this at home, school and in the communities they are involved in with sport, hobbies etc. some students even said (I wondered if they did this?) that they would ask people at home to help them to stop back chatting.

We spoke about ‘Spirit of Jesus’ moments that occur all around us – there are so many, we just have to look for them and name them up. Please ask your children about ‘THE MAGIC’ they can create because we had many magic moments during the two sessions with the Year 5’s and Year 6’s.

Finally, as a visitor, I must say how impressed I was with the listening and interaction of the students and your school certainly has amazing staff that strive to bring out the best in your children.

God Bless

Marty Ogle

NAPLAN in the Primary

NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, is a standardised testing initiative designed to assess students' skills in literacy and numeracy. This week in Year 3 and 5, students participated in NAPLAN testing with all students doing their absolute best during this time, a time that can be stressful for some.

Information about how our students went will be provided at a later date allowing us as educators and parents valuable insights into the academic progress and help identify strengths as well as areas for improvement.

A Celebration of Literacy

Yesterday a flyer came home highlighting all the fabulous things we at Mount Carmel do in regard to literacy. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact your daughter’s classroom teacher or Ms Nicola Smith who is our Literacy Lead.

Literacy Flyer (1).pdf