PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Parents and Guardians,

NOTHING.This is the classic response to the question "What did you learn at school today?"

'Nothing' in this situation can mean a number of things and the least likely is actually nothing. Children often find it difficult to articulate with enough words the context that allows you to understand a scenario fully. Thus they may have tried in the past to explain what they did at school but your clarifying questions (to get more context and better understand) frustrated them and they simply learned that 'Nothing' is a quick response to avoiding this series of question and responses.

As children learn new concepts they can be challenged when asked to explain. Learning is a messy business. Sometimes you feel lost, sometimes dumb, sometimes annoyed, sometimes worried and sometimes just like you are wandering around int he dark bumping into things. In this situation a child will also say 'Nothing' as they really do believe they haven't learnt anything - in fact they often during the process of learning feel like they have lost something (the confidence and automaticity of the previous level of knowledge).

Another really common reason for 'Nothing' as a response is that this stops the conversation and the child is then free to embark on more interesting activities - playing outside, listening to music, using a device etc.

If in conversation you discover that your child actually has learned nothing that day it is a great teachable moment. Ask your child if they think it might be important for them to share that with their teacher. Discuss respectful ways to give this feedback to a teacher who may not have been aware that the child already knows that content. Children who are naturally respectful may not realise that it is important for them to have a voice and let their teacher know if they are not learning anything new. While revision is an important step in connecting prior knowledge to new knowledge there should always be part of a lesson that introduces something new. If your child is not able to articulate this to their teacher this might be where you will need to offer to meet with the teacher or send an email to clarify.

Learning is the key that will unlock your child's future. We want them to be excited and curious about it; willing to get a bit messy during learning and to be actively learning every day.

2020 PREP TRANSITION

We will have 4 transition days in Term 4 in preparation for school in 2020. Each session will be 11.30am - 1.30pm. Children can wear comfortable clothes and shoes, bring lunch to eat and a hat to wear at play. The days are as follows:

Tuesday Oct 15th - Parent meeting during this first orientation
Tuesday Oct 29th
Tuesday Nov 12th – P & F and uniform shop available
Tuesday Nov 26th

There will be a short information session on the first day (15th October) with Kate Dourley. On some of the other orientation days there will be chance for you to visit the **uniform shop, meet members from the Parents and Friends and get any help needed with our communication and banking apps such as PAM, CDFPay and Flexibuzz. **UNIFORM FOR 2020 STUDENTS: All preps and new enrolments are now on CDFpay. You can order uniform at any time. There is a page included in this newsletter called CDFpay that has all the information on it. Please do not hesitate to talk to us on one of the transition days if you are having problems getting it working.

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY: MONDAY 18th NOVEMBER

THIS IS A DOSCEL SCHOOL REVIEW DAY

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CLASS PLACEMENT REQUESTS: Requests received after the cut off date will not be accepted.

Parents will need to have requests in writing and submit via email to

principal@stlleongatha.catholic.edu.au by Friday October 18th. For full details refer to the previous newsletter.

Congratulations

The school community congratulate Luis Robles (Rio's dad) , Sheena, Joel and Angeline Tomy and Ranjodh Singh (Joyt's dad) who very recently become Australian Citizens. We share with you in celebrating this wonderful occasion.

Thank you

We wish to thank Deb Carmody for her dedication and enthusiasm for all things hot lunch related. This is Deb's last year with us. Deb has always been a delight to work with, is generous and kind and we will miss her smiling face around the school next year. On behalf of all the children and staff a huge thank you. Pictured is Deb and Matisse.

PRAYER

Lord, may I live in the light of your love.

You have brought me to the beginning of a new day.

As the world is renewed fresh and clean,

so I ask You to renew my heart with Your strength and purpose.

Amen