Principal's News

Dear Families,

It is sometimes hard to keep pace with how quickly our school weeks begin and end and I think this is because we pack so much into each day. It is, however, very rewarding to look back on the week and all that is achieved by our children, teachers and our families. Knowing what it takes to have our children ready for school, with correct uniforms, lunches, water bottles and bags packed, is a great feat in itself and we appreciate all that is done so that children are ready for school each day.  Our Monday morning gatherings and Friday afternoon assemblies have been well attended and your presence, when it is possible, is also greatly appreciated. 

Thank you to all our parents who joined us for our Parent Chats last Thursday and to those who will join us this evening for the Parent Information sessions. We know it can be difficult to be here for all these activities but we believe it is very important that we can connect as a whole school community more often than has been possible these past two years. 

Learning Overviews

Each Term our teachers plan out the learning for their classes based on the Victorian Curriculum and our Faith Based Inquiry Units. I have included below, links to each year levels Learning Overviews for Term 1. These overviews are a great way for parents to gain an understanding of what will be covered in each of the curriculum areas including our specialist subjects. 

The Examen

The Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to reflect on God’s presence and discern his direction for us. The Examen is an ancient practice in the Church that can help us see God’s hand at work in our daily experiences.

The method presented below is adapted from a technique described by Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises. St. Ignatius thought that the Examen was a gift that came directly from God, and that God wanted it to be shared as widely as possible. One of the few rules of prayer that Ignatius made for the Jesuit order was the requirement that Jesuits practice the Examen twice daily—at noon and at the end of the day. It’s a habit that Jesuits, and many other Christians, practice to this day.  At Trinity our children are taught this practice and as a whole school we use the Examen process each Wednesday after our snack break. You may wish to use the Examen at home with your family. 

Prayer: 

Thank you God for all the good things that have happened to me today.

Forgive me if I have hurt others.

Help me to learn from today. 

I pray that tomorrow will be a new day filled with hope, joy and good decisions.

Be with me Lord as I try each day to grow closer to you.

Amen

From our Family Engagement in Learning Leader, Ms O'Connor

Hello to the Trinity Primary School community. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Bridget O’Connor and I am a 5/6 teacher and also the Family Engagement Leader. This is a new role for me, and one I am very excited and honoured to be taking up.

My role this year will primarily be focused on engaging families in the process of their child’s learning as well involving families in school events. We recognise that parents are the first and continual teachers of their children, and my aim is to develop a strong partnership to enhance the relationship between school and home. 

What is engagement in learning?

To engage in a child’s learning is to make a pledge to continually reflect, question and take the learning beyond the classroom and into the child’s own world at home. Another beautiful definition that I read was that “engagement is contact by fitting together… a meshing of gears”. I think that this is a nice sentiment to consider when we look at the partnership between the home and school. Just as mechanical gears work together to make a car run, teachers and families mesh together for the benefit of the student. It takes a village to raise a child, and at Trinity we aim to be a part of your village. 

What is the difference between engagement and involvement?

The line between involvement and engagement can often be blurred. While both are extremely necessary for a child to see the connection between home and school, there are considerable differences between the two. Family involvement is when families attend school events, however family engagement is when families are recognised and included as an integral part of a child’s learning and wellbeing.

My aim this year is to provide you with the opportunities and tools to be actively engaged and involved in your child’s learning. We are rolling out the use of Seesaw in Prep-6 this Term. Over the coming weeks I will provide you with some tips and resources on how to use Seesaw to open up the discussion between yourself and your child and how you can bring their learning into their home context. 

Please feel free to introduce yourself to me or send me an email at boconnor@tcs.catholic.edu.au should you have any questions or suggestions for me!

References:

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). (2016). National school improvement tool. https://research.acer.edu. au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=tll_misc 

District Swimming

Congratulations to all our students who attended the District Swimming Trials yesterday and to Mrs McLeary, Mr Ru and Douglas' mum Tam who supervised our students. 

Special congratulations to Douglas and Henryk who both finished well in their events.

Community Calendar - Keep up with our important dates!

Trinity Fete -  Save the Date! Saturday 1st April 2023

A message from theP&F

Hi all, 

Fete Fete Fete Fete!!

Planning and preparations are now well underway for our awesome Trinity Primary School Fete on 1st April (lock that into your diaries everyone!). There is a lot planned for the day so I'll just mention a few here:

• the school will be showcasing our beautiful children's amazing work 
• the students will have wonderful stalls 
• there will be incredible prizes to be won in the raffle 
• amazing food to eat at the bake stall 
• tasty sausages at the sausage sizzle 
• beautifully homemade Thai spring rolls for sale 
• a petting farm
• popcorn
• a coffee van!!!
• a performance from our local martial arts group Vovinam
• lots of local market stalls to peruse at your leisure.

In the coming weeks there will be a lot of shout outs for volunteers and items we need for the day. Be it from made up Tombola jars, gazebos, baked goods, assistance making spring rolls, being a volunteer on the day, and donation buckets etc (you get the idea!). Please help make this a wonderfully successful event with your donations of items or offers of help that we need. 

Finally for this week, if you have a business or you work in Richmond please take a flyer from the office to hang it up at your work. Let's spread the word!

Thank you very much!

Jenny

IT’S TIME TO SIZZLE!

Call out to all BBQ lovers – we need volunteers to help with the Sausage Sizzle at the Fete on the 1st of April. Donations of quality supplies for the sausage sizzle will also be most welcome.

Every parent who volunteers for at least an hour will get a free sausage and drink. Help out for at least two hours and you’ll be given a free entry into the school fete raffle!

It’s a great and fun money maker for the school. Get to know other parents in a friendly environment and be part of one of the most popular stalls.

Please reach out to Archie on 0414 863 901if you can help. You will also see her wandering around after school trying to rope you in, so be warned. We need volunteers for the following time slots.  

SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWS

SIMONDS COLLEGE - Enrolling for Now

Kind Regards

Nigel Rodrigues

Principal