Newman News Term 1 Week 8: From the Leader of Early Childhood
When our children start school, parents recognise the importance of reading, writing and numeracy. Often, parents read to their children to encourage pre-literacy skills and sing number songs and rhymes which they know will assist them in their journey to become literate and numerate. What we sometimes fail to overlook, particularly in our increasingly digital world, is the importance of fundamental movement and gross motor skills in the learning journey of each child.
In early childhood, educators place a great importance on the development of fundamental movement skills, not only as a pre-cursor to athletic skills and abilities, but because we recognise the vital role they play to children’s success in reading, writing and general learning. Some examples include:
- Without good core strength, children will be unable to sit at a desk and write effectively
- The skill of crossing the midline allows both sides of the brain to coordinate smooth, controlled, and complex movement. It is an important skill that allows children to undertake daily tasks such as reading, writing, and tying shoelaces.
- Planning and sequencing movement allows children to follow multi-step instructions. This is vital for children to be able to successfully follow classroom and learning instructions, or to be able to sequence and retell stories (a key comprehension skill)
- Children’s vestibular development helps them to identify where their body is in space and is also linked to eye movements. This is needed for children to be able to track moving objects, scan and discriminate between objects. This skill impacts activities such as reading, playing sports, adjusting visual attention whilst moving, and maintaining attention when alternating between looking at the whiteboard and then at their own work.
Further, all the key skills such as balancing, climbing, jumping, throwing, catching, skipping, and running all play a huge role in contributing to children’s physical, cognitive and social development and are thought to provide the foundation for an active lifestyle.
HASS and Harmony Week celebrations
Thank you to the children who participated in our Harmony and HASS dress-up day today. It was lovely to see such a wide range of cultures represented, and to hear from the children the reasons behind their costume.
The children engaged in a range of old-style games as part of our Family Fun Friday activities, including quoits, elastics, skipping and hopscotch, as a nod to the history learning area.
To read more and to view photos from the day click here.
School Photo Day
Families should take note that the day for our school photos has been set for this year – Friday 14 May. More information will be made available to families around uniform requirements and the photo ordering process as we get closer to the date. It is important that all students attend on the day, as school photos become treasured memories over the years, and we would love for all students to be represented in their class.
Easter Liturgy & Raffle
Our Year 1 students will be hosting our Easter Liturgy next Thursday 1 April commencing at 9.00am in St Cecilia’s Parish. There will be a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross by our Year 1 students.
Our annual Easter Raffle to raise funds for Caritas’ Project Compassion appeal will be held in the Marian Hall after lunch on Thursday. I would like to thank parents for their generous donations of Easter Eggs, and the purchase of raffle tickets. I would also like to extend my thanks to Kirsten Button and her team of volunteers for their time in assembling all the prizes for our raffle.
Parent Reps 2021
The role of the Parent Representative is to support the teacher and the other parents in building up a sense of community in the sub-groups of the Newman College Pre K-6 community. This years Parent Representatives are as follows:
- Pre-Kindy: Katie Houlahan
- Kindy Red: Angela McGrath
- Kindy Green: Maree Hutcheon and Bree Summerfield
- Kindy Blue: Steph D’Allesandro
- Pre-Primary Red: Anastasia Diamond
- Pre-Primary Green: Melody Ridge and Michaela Gill
- Pre-Primary Blue: Rowena Reid
- 1 Red: Amanda Wright
- 1 Green: Carmel Lowson
- 1 Blue: Carla Cardaci-Anza
- 2 Red: Joy Gondariya
- 2 Green: Kirsten Button
- 2 Blue: Veronika Panzic
Pre-Primary Excursion to Landsdale Farm
Last Friday, our Pre-Primary students had an exciting excursion to Landsdale Farm. They all came back looking hot, tired but very happy – the sign of a great day!
