Primary News

MATHS K-6

With a new school planning cycle beginning, K-6 teachers are currently engaged in professional learning related to effectively teaching and differentiating in the key learning area; Mathematics. This journey was started in 2020 with a consult from a Principal of a Western Region school who has led the achievement of excelling in Mathematics. Mrs Schaefer and Mrs Honeyman have gone on to complete intensive extra training and are leading our staff in regular professional learning sessions. There are many components to this role of Mathematics Professional Learning and already we are seeing great success with growth in teachers progressing with their understanding of and development in skills using the Number Framework. This competence has flowed down to our students extending themselves, as demonstrated in daily Number Talks. This year our students from Years 1-6 have undergone a Mathematics Diagnostic Assessment ensuring that we have a thorough understanding of where children may have gaps in their learning as well as topics that students need extension in. 

With the Department’s Covid intensive tutoring program combined with our Learning and Support Teacher and an extra Student Learning and Support Officer, our student’s are enjoying intensive, targeted mini-lessons. Just as importantly, we are working with identified students to ensure that they are challenged and extended. We would encourage as many students as possible to engage with the ICAS Assessments, with information coming soon regarding nomination.

WESTERN SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2021

The Western Swimming Carnival was held in Dubbo on Friday the 12th of March. It was a brilliant opportunity to bring together the best swimmers from across the region to compete.  Molong Central School had 12 students represent the Orange District.  The results were outstanding with many of our students achieving in the top 6 in a number of events. Although these children will not qualify to go on to State, it is an amazing achievement when you consider how vast the Western Region is. Our Junior Boys Relay Team only just missed out on a place and proved to be highly competitive. We congratulate Zoe Strahorn who is heading off to State on the 31st March and 1st April to compete. Well done team Molong who is proudly made up of swimmers from a range of clubs from around our district. You’ve worked so hard and have reaped the benefits of consistent training and outstanding coaching.

The Western region is a vast area and includes all of the public schools from the following districts: Bathurst, Dubbo, Heritage Country Schools, Lachlan, Lithgow, Lower Lachlan, Orange, Narraf/Gobondery and Nyngbar.

A total of 750 competitors raced on the day.

Molong Central School fielded one of its largest swimming teams off the back of the team’s success at the Orange District Primary Schools Sports Association (ODPSSA) carnival held on the 26th of February.

At the ODPSSA Carnival Molong Central won the Perpetual Trophy for the school, gaining the highest points score which is divided by the number of students enrolled.

A total of 12 Molong Central School swimmers represented the Orange District at Western.

The day started with the Open 100m Freestyle event. Zoe Strahorn swam a gutsy race to shave 1.91 sec from her PB time to finish in third place. Zoe’s time of 1.15.12 also meant she qualified for the upcoming NSW State Age Championships.

The next events were the 50m Freestyle age events. Molong Central was represented by Jack Brazier 8 yrs, Hugh McDouall 9yrs, Ayden Penson and George Davis 10 yrs, with Will Kirby and Ben Brazier in the 12 yrs Freestyle event.

The boys swam incredibly well, Jack Brazier, swimming at his first Western carnival, finished  8th, Hugh McDouall  swam a 0.51 sec PB to finish 9th and Ayden Penson gave it everything to finish 5th with a 1.49 sec PB, followed by George Davis with a 0.45 PB finishing 19th. Ben Brazier and Will Kirby swam in very fast heats, placing 8th and 10th overall.

Zoe Strahorn and Indy Vandervelde swam in the 11 yrs girls 50m freestyle. Indy swam a great race in lane one in front of a very boisterous group of Molong Supporters cheering her on and came 23rd overall. Zoe executed a great race plan to come first with a 1.17 sec PB with time of 34.39 to also qualify her for the NSW Stage Age Championships in this event.

Breastroke was the next event. George Davis swam a 0.62 sec PB to finish 16th, Charlotte McDouall took 1.31 seconds off her time and came 8th and Zoe Strahorn finished 4th with a 1.11 PB. Ben Brazier swam the race of his life in the Senior Boys Breaststroke swimming an epic 2.18 sec PB to place 4th, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the State PSSA carnival by just 0.56 of a second.

In the Backstroke events all of our swimmers achieved massive PBs, with Phoebe Lyons dropping a staggering 4.97 seconds in her event to come 17th, George Davis dropped 2.74 seconds and placed 12th, followed by Ayden Penson dropping 5.14 seconds to come 13th.  Zoe Strahorn dropped 0.54 seconds and placed 2nd overall.

Butterfly is a gruelling event, Ayden Penson’s strength in this event placed him 5th overall in the Junior boys butterfly. Ben Brazier and Will Kirby also swam strongly placing 7th and 11th overall in the Senior Boys butterfly. Zoe Strahorn dropped 0.84 seconds and came 4th in the 11yrs Butterfly.

The second last event of the day is the 200m Individual Medley. For many competitors who have swam multiple races it’s a test of their fitness. George Davis dropped a staggering 5.09 seconds to place 7th overall, Ayden Penson dropped 2.21 sec to come 9th , Harry Lee did a 0.91 sec PB and came 11th.  Ben Brazier in the Senior Boys Individual Medley finished 13th overall and Zoe Strahorn 4th overall in the Senior Girls Individual Medley.

The final event for the day are the relays. Molong Centrals Junior Boys relay team made up of Aiden Duncan, George Davis, Harry Lee and Ayden Penson executed a flawless race with each swimmer lifting and throwing everything at it to very narrowly finish 4th behind Milthorpe Public School , Dubbo Public School and Orange Public School. Together the boys swam a 9.96 second PB, which is incredible improvement in just two weeks following District!

The Molong Central School team should be incredibly proud of the great day of swimming the team put in at this year’s Western Region swimming carnival. As always, Molong Central School’s spirit and genuine encouragement and support for each other was second to none.

Swimming is a great sport, it’s a tough sport and all of the Molong Central School swimmers should be very proud of their results.

Zoe Strahorn will compete in the 100m and 50m Freestyle and the 50m Backstroke events at the State PSSA swimming carnival later in the month.

Results from the day

Jack Brazier

9th – 8 yrs 50m Freestyle

Ben Brazier

8th – 12 yrs 50m Freestyle

4th – Senior 50m Breaststroke

13th – Senior 200m IM

7th – Senior Butterfly

George Davis

19th – 10 yrs 50m Freestyle

16th – 8-10 yrs Breaststroke

7th– Junior 200m IM

12th - 8-10 yrs Backstroke

4th – Boys 4x50m Freestyle Relay

Aiden Duncan

4th – Boys 4x50m Freestyle Relay

Will Kirby

10th – 12m Freestyle

11th – 12-13 50m Butterfly

Harry Lee

4th – Boys 4x50m Freestyle Relay

11th - Junior 8-10 yrs 50m IM

Phoebe Lyons

17th - Junior 8-10 yrs 50m Backstroke

Charlotte McDouall

8th– 11 yrs 50m Breastroke

Hugh McDouall

9th – 9 yrs 50m Freestyle

Ayden Penson

5th - 10yrs 50m Freestyle

5th - Junior 8-10 yrs 50m Butterfly

9th Junior 8-10 yrs 50m IM

4th – Boys 4x50m Freestyle Relay

Zoe Strahorn

3rd  - Open 100m Freestyle

1st  - 11yrs 50m Freestyle

2nd – 11 yrs 50m Backstroke

4th – 11 yrs 50m Breastroke

4th – 11 yrs 50m Butterfly

4th – 11 yrs 200m IM

Indy Vandervelde

23rd - 11yrs 50m Freestyle

PEER SUPPORT

Week 1 – Valuing Each Other

We are commencing our Peer Support lessons this week. The whole school participates in Peer Support for 30 minutes each week. Two Year 6 Peer leaders facilitate a small group of 8-10 students from Kindergarten to Year 5, who work together through a number of structured activities. Each teacher will supervise 2-3 groups in their classroom. We are working on a module called Promoting Harmony helping us define individual and community values, build relationships and improve decision making skills. The module runs for 8 sessions. Our first session enables the children to get to know everyone in their group, agreeing on how they will work together and interact cooperatively with others. They will also begin to think about what is a value and something they value in themselves. We recommend you talk to your children about Peer Support every week, as it will help to reinforce the concepts learned in each session.

Week 2 – Showing You Care

During Peer Support this week the children will look at the notion that what they choose to spend their time on often reflects the values they have. The activities will also assist them in identifying ways they care for themselves and others, developing their understanding of empathy that you are caring when you notice the feelings and needs of yourself and others.

During the week, encourage your child to demonstrate they are caring by doing something helpful or displaying kindness around the home.

Week 3 – Caring For Friends

This week in Peer Support the children will be participating in activities helping them to identify and accept differences in people. Children will also identify ways they can demonstrate being caring through their actions.

Discuss with your child the importance of accepting differences in other people. Perhaps take the time to identify and discuss the various differences people may have, for example, appearance, religion, culture, disabilities. Ask your child to share the qualities they appreciate in their friends.

Week 4 – Respecting Others

Respect is the focus of the Peer Support sessions this week. Through various activities the children will be identifying what it means to have respect and discuss ways they can demonstrate respect for others. By completing a maze comprising of scenarios, the children will need to select the correct way to respond to a situation, progressing through the maze and reaching the ‘Certificate of Respect.'

Encourage your child to discuss with you different people they respect and why. It is important to remind them that although we may not always agree or get along with people, we still need to respect them.

Week 5 – Our Rights

In this week’s Peer Support session the children will be looking at rights, how we as individuals have rights and so do other people. Activities will also remind the children that although they may find themselves in difficult or awkward positions, they still need to remember to do the right thing. 

Discuss with your child a situation you were in that was potentially difficult or awkward and explain the decision you made and why it was the right thing to do.

Week 6 – Making Choices

During Peer Support this week, the children will be discussing and developing ways to be responsible. The activities will reinforce the concept that being responsible is doing what we say we will do and to the best of our ability.

This week help develop with your child 2-3 things they can do around the home to show they are responsible i.e. feed the dog each night or set the table at 6.30pm each day.

Week 7 – Doing My Best

In Peer Support this week the children will be encouraged to attempt new and unfamiliar tasks by trying the best they can. The activity involves the Peer Support group being separated into 3 groups and rotating through 3 different tasks. The different tasks will help the children to identify different strengths in each other and that everyone’s different strengths can be used to solve a problem or complete a task. 

Discuss with your child their individual strengths and provide them with opportunities to utilise these strengths during the week. Remind them you will be proud of them in all situations if they always do their best.

Week 8 – What Can I Do?

In this week’s final session of the Peer Support module Promoting Harmony the children will be creating a chatterbox, helping them reflect on what they have learned over the past 7 weeks. They will be reminded to reflect on their values and how they can demonstrate these to other people. Each Peer Support group will have the opportunity to celebrate what they have learned and the new friendships and connections they have made.