SPOTLIGHT

YEAR 6

This term our students have been focused on preparing for their Sacrament of Confirmation, which is the final sacrament of Initiation. Students have been learning about the symbols and significance of Initiation Sacraments, renewing their Baptismal Promises, choosing a Saint name, preparing and performing a speech on their chosen saint and making an artwork to represent the life of their Saint. Our students celebrated their Sacrament of Confirmation on the 7th and 8th of September. 

In Week 6, we were visited by local lifeguard Cameron McFarlane to complete a one hour CPR course. Students learnt all about how to perform CPR, how to put someone in the recovery position and how to keep themselves safe in an emergency situation. We thank Mr McFarlane for his time in teaching our students this life saving content and for the engaging and practical way he presented. 

Our Year 6 students celebrated their final Book Week Parade in Week 5. It was fantastic to see students excited and keen to dress up one final time. We had characters from The Three Little Pigs, Alice in Wonderland, Despicable Me, The Twits, Fancy Nancy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter, Where’s Wally, Cat in the Hat and many more. 

TOURNAMENT OF THE MINDS

St Nicholas' had two teams represent them at the North West Tournament of the Minds finals which took place at Nemingha Public School on Saturday. Tournament of Minds is a problem solving program for teams of students from both primary and secondary years. Tournament's aim is to enhance the potential of young people by developing diverse skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a challenging and competitive environment. 

The Wonders - Zoe, Ivy, Sara, Sophia, Kate, Lily and Aggie participated in the Language Literature section, requiring them to research into different text genres and solve the problem of a major protagonist of a text arriving unexpectedly at the launch of their biography.

The Clovers - Lucy, Isabella, Klara, Molly, Lilly, Eleanor and Maddy participated in the Social Sciences section. Their challenge required them to imagine what might happen if the tectonic plates shifted and rearranged our continents, whilst 'the Spirit of TOM' was released, encouraging resilience, acceptance and cooperation across the world.

These students have been preparing for these challenges in their own time - lunch breaks at school and at home, for over 6 weeks. It was exciting to see their efforts come to fruition on Saturday. Both teams were awarded Honours for their sections, narrowly missing out on first place behind Armidale City Public.

A huge thank you to all parents and friends who came and supported us on the day, provided cardboard and other bits and pieces for props for the performance. Thanks in particular to Mrs Crockett for supervising our rehearsals and the Stage 3 teachers for putting up with our mess whilst we prepared!