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Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to Term 2. We have a jam-packed term full of many fantastic learning opportunities and occasions that we can share with our families this term, including, Mother’s Day, Catholic Schools Week, School Athletics Carnival, and JAFA (Joey’s Annual Festival of the Arts).
Outdoor Learning Area Update.....
During the holidays, our building works started, and we returned to school with the new outdoor learning area well underway. Unfortunately, the rain has slowed our progress, but we are hoping that by June our new area will be open for students and teachers to enjoy.
This work has included removing the old pavers from the area between Kindergarten and the COLA. The construction of the multi-level decking, new garden beds and a new concrete path. We look forward to sharing updates as the work progresses.
Congratulations Evie
Last year Evie entered the Aspire Songwriters competition successfully won the Primary School category. We are extremely excited that Evie has been selected as a 2024 finalist and wish her all the best in the showcase next week.
Well Done Ashlea and Eleanor
Anzac Day
Thank you to the many students who represented our school on ANZAC Day at the community march and ceremony. On Friday we held our school ANZAC Day liturgy hosted by Year 2 who led a very respectful and meaningful liturgy.
A SPECIAL REPORT: Trauma Recovery
Trauma in children significantly disturbs their sense of safety and normalcy, leading to substantial emotional and behavioural changes. Such disturbances often result from exposure to traumatic events, which may be exacerbated by continuous media coverage. This exposure can trigger stress, anxiety, and trauma, with varying recovery timelines due to the unpredictable nature of trauma's impact. Observing young people grappling with these effects can be highly distressing for parents and caregivers.It's important to establish a nurturing environment to help restore a child's sense of security to help promote resilience. Active involvement in their recovery is essential, as is recognising the unique, personalised needs of each child in responding to trauma. Depending on their age, children may present with different symptoms, such as regressive behaviours in younger ones or withdrawal and agitation in older children and teens. It is important to monitor and manage the type of information children may access to reduce their emotional distress.
The brain stores traumatic events as powerful emotional memories, influencing behaviour through mechanisms beyond a child's conscious awareness. By providing young people with support and equipping them with coping mechanisms to handle uncertainty, parents and carers can greatly enhance a child's capacity to recover and build long-term emotional resilience.
This Special Report will help you identify a child experiencing trauma and how you can support them to overcome it.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.
If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your special report:
https://wingham.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-trauma-recovery
Spelling and Maths Bee
Last week we held our school Spelling and Maths Bee Finals. Congratulations to all students who participated in our class finals and then the school finals. Jai, Susannah and Eleanor will now represent our school in the Regional Maths Bee Finals and Finn, Alyssandra and Willow will represent our school in the Regional Spelling Bee Finals.
School Cross Country
On the last day of Term 1 our students from Years 2 – 6 travelled to Taree to compete in our School Cross Country. Thank you to Mr Knoke for organising a fabulous day and to all the parents who were able to help as well as come along to support our students on the day. Good luck to our school Cross country team who will travel to Newcastle on the 15th of May.
Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is an important celebration in our community. The mother figures in our lives do so much to guide and support us in our development as children and for many of us they have helped to shape us to become the adults that we are. I look forward to welcoming all our special mother figures to our school this Friday for our Mother’s Day Liturgy, Open Classrooms, and morning tea. We will also draw our raffle at the conclusion of the liturgy. Please remember to send in raffle tickets if you have not done so.
I found this short prayer on christianity.com to share with you.
"Lord God, we lift up all mothers to You. Grant them the strength to face the daily challenges with courage and the wisdom to guide their children towards a life of faith and service. Encourage them when they are weary and inspire them when they feel overwhelmed. Bless them with Your peace and love, now and forever.”
God Bless
Mel
Prime Minister Award
‘Being a steward of creation’, ‘Trying your best’, ‘Speaking with kindness’ and ‘Being a responsible learner’ are some of the qualities that teachers consider when awarding ‘Prime Minister’ at our weekly assembly. It is an acknowledgement of the student’s efforts and they have the privilege of wearing the badge with honour, of suggesting a focus the school can work on, award Gotchas to other students at lunch time as well as earning Gotchas for themselves. Congratulations goes to Mia Nash (Week 2).
MJR Awards
As part of our MJR system ,we acknowledge that the following students, Scarlett Falzon and Dylan Horsburgh have reached 100 Gotchas and Jai Neaves has reached 200 Gotchas. Well Done!
Library
CogAT
In Term 2, students in years 2 and 4 will participate in the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). This test evaluates students' reasoning abilities in three key areas essential for success in school:
- Verbal Battery: Assesses students' ability to reason with words and concepts, crucial for reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and verbal learning tasks.
- Quantitative Battery: Measures students' ability to reason with quantitative symbols and concepts, which are vital for problem-solving in mathematics and other disciplines.
- Nonverbal Battery: Evaluates students' ability to reason with geometric shapes and figures, requiring them to implement strategies for solving novel problems.
These batteries provide a comprehensive view of each student's learned reasoning abilities, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. CogAT aims to support differentiated practice in education by helping teachers adapt instruction to meet the unique needs and abilities of each student.
It's important to note that CogAT scores are not integrated into report grades or other conventional measures of school achievement. The focus is on tailoring instruction and fostering a supportive, inclusive learning environment based on each child's ability.
If you have any concerns or questions about your child's academic progress or specific educational needs, please schedule a meeting with your child's teacher. They will discuss your child's strengths and areas for growth based on various assessments. Additionally, you can contact our Gifted Education Mentor (GEM), Gary Pomplun (gary.pomplun@mn.catholic.edu.au) or Education Officer - Gifted Education, Maree Karaka (maree.karaka@mn.catholic.edu.au) for further assistance.
Thank you for your continued support in ensuring the best educational outcomes for our students.
GARY POMPLUN
PROJECT OFFICER - GIFTED EDUCATION MENTOR, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
