MOTHER'S DAY

We wish all the mothers, grandmothers and women mentors a very happy Mothers Day for Sunday. The day is important because it offers a chance to reflect on and celebrate the lives of people who are very important.

Mother’s Day originated from humble beginnings in 1908 as a simple tradition to honour all mothers, living and deceased. However, it did not take long for florists, confectioners and card companies to jump onboard and commercialise the day, much to the disappointment of its founder, Ann Jarvis.

Mother’s Day is a great annual reminder to say thanks to the mums and other special carers who play an important role in our lives, but it is essential we mark the day with love and sincerity.

CROSS COUNTRY

Best wishes to the St Patrick's Cross Country Squad who are travelling to Barraba for the Diocesan Cross Country tomorrow Friday 6th May.

Pioneer Cottage Excursion for Years 3-6

I was very privileged accompanying our Year 3-6 students to Pioneer Cottage yesterday. All of the students were fascinated to view and hear stories about various items most particularly the Blacksmith's Shop as well as the Tiger Moth plane. Photos of our time at the museum are included in the Classroom News/Gallery section of this newsletter.

Red Cross Pillow Program Visit

Last Friday we were very lucky to have both Ellen and Moira from Red Cross visit the Year 3-4 students. The workshop that the students were involved with encourages them to be active participants in their own emergency preparedness. The topics that were covered are useful for all kinds of emergencies and includes activities to highlight the importance of being prepared. Each student was given a pillowcase to decorate during this session and then take home, to start their own personal emergency kit.

THE 38TH ARMIDALE EISTEDDFOD 2022

Earlier in the week, we received the program of events for the Eisteddfod. Our Infants choir have been scheduled to perform at the NEGS Multipurpose Centre on Wednesday 25th May at 9.45am. The 3-6 Primary Choir have been timetabled for Thursday, May 26th at the same venue. The choir will perform at 10.15am and then head straight to the cathedral for the Catholic Schools Week Deanery Mass.

Also Year 3-4 and Year 5-6 have been allocated to perform their various recorder items on Wednesday 8th June at 9.00am at the Old Teacher's College. This clashes with our visit to St Joseph's Primary, Uralla for our Year 6 and 4 students to participate in the Real Talk program as well as the rest of Years 2, 3 and 5 students will participating in a number of challenges against the St Joseph's students. Again we have requested a change. As soon as dates and times have been finalised, I will let everyone know.

Audience Fees:

Adult $5.00 for a single session or $10.00 for the day.

Concession $3.00 single session or $6.00 for a day ticket.

www.armidale-eisteddfod.org.au

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 22-28th May

The Armidale Diocese will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week in Week 5 (22nd-28th May). As mentioned in the section above, our students will be taking part in the Armidale Eisteddfod on the Wednesday and Thursday during this week. Also on Thursday our students will be celebrating Mass with other schools in the Armidale Deanery.

On Friday 27th May, the school will be hosting a House Challenge Day. This will see both the Red and Blue team resume their rivalry by competing in a number of scientific based challenges on the day. Parents, grandparents and carers are definitely welcome to come and view and even take part in some of the challenges. We plan to finish the day off by having a picnic on the green. Hopefully, we will have a nice and sunny day. Fingers crossed!

Principal for the Day

We wish Shaun all of the best as he will be the Principal for the Day this upcoming Monday. I am sure on Monday afternoon, Shaun will be inspired to consider a career with teaching. We'll have to wait and see.

Polding Winter Trials

Well done to both Annie (Girls Hockey) and Frankie (Girls Football) who participated at the Polding Winter Trials at Bathurst last Friday. Both girls should be extremely proud of their efforts as they were competing against the best from all of the catholic schools through the northern half of NSW. We are all very proud of you.

P&F Meeting

The next P&F meeting will be held this upcoming Tuesday 10th May at 6pm in the library. All parents and friends are welcome to attend.

Pie & Lamington Drive

Thank you Trina Fletcher and Aimee Norton for organising the Pie & Lamington Drive. Please see the P & F Page in the newsletter for more details.

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

As you may be aware yesterday a large number of teachers and support staff in the government education sector walked off the job to hold a strike in the hope of receiving a wage increase, more release (non teaching time) and various other items. At this time, the Independent Education Union in which all of the Catholic Schools across the various regions in NSW and the ACT have involved with meetings in an attempt to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement for our teaching and support staff. At the moment, both parties have not agreed upon a new agreement. The Independent Education Union is trying to get their members to take protected industrial action in Term 2. Personally, I am not planning to take industrial action in order to get a new Enterprise Agreement that all partied will agree and act upon. Hopefully, we will not get to that stage. Below is a letter from the Catholic Schools Office in regards to the situation that we are now in that was sent home earlier this week via COMPASS.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing will take place in Week 3 & 4 of this term. Students in Year 3 & 5 will sit tests for Writing 10th May, Reading & Language Conventions 12th May and Numeracy 17th May. Please refrain from making appointments during school time on these tests days. It is important that your child is available on the day unless they are unwell. In the case of illness students will be able to sit the test on the Wednesday 18th May.

Further information for parents and carers can be found here:

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

I encourage all parents of students in Years 3 and 5 to explore the Public Demonstration Site with your child (click on button below). Here you will find sample questions for each of the areas assessed.

https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

Click below to see a short video showing how to navigate the Public Demonstration Site.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ElaxjY7xKzPkl4QijbH_YPs9IRtkr8FU/view

Mini Vinnies