PRIMARY NEWS
from the Assistant Principal

Mr Shayne Smith
ssmith14@arm.catholic.edu.au

Weekly Overview

Sometimes we need some time to reset and focus...

This week was an interesting week full of energy, buzz and decision-making.

Whilst walking around the school playground so many students are engaged in conversations and playing games and activities. Students burn through energy and, unfortunately, make impulsive decisions. By making impulsive decisions, aggression and frustration may come out without a thought process. We all make decisions each day, some we enjoy and some we may regret. Our purpose at school is to create a caring and positive environment that supports students in navigating between social dilemmas, problem-solving and decision-making. Speaking to our SRC leaders this week informed me of how we can make a difference when we express ourselves in a calm and non-judgemental manner. We reach resolutions and come to agreements when both voices are heard and acknowledged.

I encourage you to ask your child/children how they feel they are travelling at school, not just academically but also emotionally and socially.

Responsibility and Expectations

Some keywords that have been mentioned around the school lately are Responsibility and Expectations.

Responsibility refers to the ability to understand and respond in a manner of respect and care. In a school environment students are expected to:

Listen to instructions
Play fairly
Make good choices
Respect others

Having these responsibilities leads our school context to be a safe environment for all and a supportive framework to ensure our students live life to the full. This framework is also known as the Living Well, Learning Well policy to ensure equitability and justice are maintained. This may require time to readjust behaviours and communication between school and home is vital in this supportive framework.

Expectations are defined as the ability to respond accordingly and appropriately following a set structure as well as rules.

In a school environment this can be seen when:

Students follow classroom routines and structure
School structures and policies (including uniforms/ICT)
Students classroom rules/School Rules

Expectations guide us in the correct mannerisms on how we act and respond in various settings. Students must follow these rules and structures as this ensures our students are safe and ready to learn.

As children develop and grow there are more expectations and responsibilities of actions to help support our children to be life-long learners that are respectful and abide by the laws and rules of our national constitution.

Winter Trials

Good luck to our winter trial athletes this Friday. We know that you will give your best and have great sportsmanship within your sport.

Congratulations...

Well done to those students who had entered into the Inverell Show colouring competition. Further congratulations to those who won ribbons and in particular Harriet Devlin and Henry Hekendorf for being overall champions in their age group.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is fast approaching and will be administered through Weeks 7, 8 and 9 (Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March).

These tests are for students in Years 3,5,7 and 9 regardless of age. They are broken into 4 areas:

Writing
Reading Comprehension
Language conventions
Numeracy

Please note that if your child/children are away when the test is administered there are make up sessions available.

Teacher-parent conferences

On Tuesday 26 March, Week 9 we will be holding our Teacher-parent Conferences. These conferences are a time to find out the progress your child has been making and observations of what our Teachers have been noticing. It is a great time to connect and build a strong connection between school and home to support the learning and education of each student. After all, we "Live life to the Full!"

More information about when the booking becomes available will be in next week's Newsletter. We use the Compass platform to organise a meeting time in the afternoon on Tuesday (Approximately from 3:30-7 pm for some classes). On the day of the conferences you will need to head to your child's class, please be punctual and on time as this draws onto the flow of the timetable.

Congratulations to the following Award Winners this week
KD	Chase Carter, Isla Ticehurst, Freya Grima
KS	Amelia Fisher, Alex Butcher, Cooper Irwin
1M	Harrison Fenton, Sophia Boland, Savannah Stevens
1E	Havana Smith, Willow Forsyth, Harrison McGregor
2M	Ollie Gaias, Florence Wright, William Irwin
2G	Flynn Simpson, Campbell Read, Maisie Fuda-Riley
3W	Chloe Younger, Philippa Shephard, Nolan Morgan
3M
4LD	Isabel Caskey, Harley Horwood
4WL	Sam Postrak, Luca Johnson, Roco Pettiford, Zara De Stefani
5B	George Devlin, Millie Maddigan
5F	Kate Parella, Liam Guest, Fletcher White
6T	Marley Schutz, Josie Langan
6D	Jordi Cummins, Darcy Kennedy
6M	George Xavier, Jaxon Fishburn