Junior School News
Learning in Year 1
Year 1 have been learning about the sacrament of Baptism in Religious Education. The students learned about the symbols used and even had an opportunity to re-enact baptising the class doll.
Here are what some of our students said:
‘Anyone can get baptised! When you are baptised, you are welcomed into the Church family. The priest says ‘in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen.’ - Emily
‘When you are Baptised, you get godparents. They look after you forever.’ - Emilia
‘Baptism is a special meeting with God’. - Arabella
Mrs Ashley Mazzo, Religious Education Coordinator
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Last Wednesday the 26th of February, we celebrated Ash Wednesday as a Junior School. Ash Wednesday begins the forty-day season of Lent that leads us to Easter.
We had wonderful leaders from the Senior School come down and run a liturgy in each Grade and mark the students’ foreheads with ashes. It was lovely to see many parents come along to a session as well.
Lent is a time when we try to get closer to God. The children in their classrooms are being encouraged to think of things that they could do to achieve this, for example having conversations with God, doing good deeds and giving to our Lenten Appeal which raises money for Marist Solidarity.
Please take some time during this Lenten season to talk with your children about the meaning of Lent and discuss together what could be a meaningful sacrifice during this time.
Mrs Ashley Mazzo, Religious Education Coordinator
Visit to Junior School by Mr MacMaster and Charlie Guymer (Year 10 Boarder)
As part of our unit titled ‘Who We Are’, Year 6 are learning that ‘relationships are complex and require nurturing to prosper’.
Throughout this unit, we have read many books around the theme of friendships and exploring the untold stories of characters; shared our own experiences and talked to our parents about their experiences in relationships. Last week, we invited Mr MacMaster and Charlie to the Junior School to share their experiences in relationships. Mr MacMaster spoke about his long term friendships and how they have changed over time. He also spoke of how he nurtures relationships within his family.
Charlie spoke about his relationships with his family while he is boarding at St Greg’s and how to maintain friendships with people you spend a lot of time with. Both Mr MacMaster and Charlie gave some great advice the Year 6 students can apply to their lives.
Ms Jennifer Wheeler, Year 6 Teacher
Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) 2020
On Tuesday 3rd March the Junior School launched the Premier’s Reading Challenge with a “Reading is COOL” whole of school reading afternoon.
Kindergarten students read with their Year 6 buddies and all of our other classes read together in the Library for the last 20 minutes of the day. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the opening of this year’s PRC and share our enthusiasm for reading.
The NSW PRC runs each year from March through to August. It is designed to encourage students to read more, particularly, but not exclusively, reading a variety of Australian authors and illustrators.
To compete in the Challenge students from Kindergarten to Year 2 must read (or have read to them), thirty books from the PRC K-2 Book List. Students in Years 3-6 need to read 20 books from the 3-4 list or the 5-6 list. After achieving these goals, students receive a certificate from the NSW Premier during Term 4. The Booklists for each level can be found at the Challenge website here: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html
If students complete the Challenge for four years, they receive a Gold Certificate. If they complete it for seven years, they receive a Platinum Certificate. Students completing the Challenge every year from Years 3 to 9 will receive a Medal. The Challenge rules can be found here: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/rules.html
A new Student site was also launched last year, making it easier for students to find and log books themselves. The student site can be found here: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/
Student log on details were provided last year to all 2018 enrolled students and these remain the same from year to year. We are in the process of creating stickers to go into students’ diaries to ensure that they don’t get lost.
Our 2020 Kindergarten students and all other new students will have their records added or merged to our school profile as soon as the new data is received from the PRC team.
Look out for a link to the “How to log books on the PRC site” video, coming soon.
Rachael Cosentino, Teacher Librarian/Literacy Specialist
