Newman News Term 2 Week 4: From the Leader of Primary
This week marked the beginning of NAPLAN with our Years 3 and 5 students taking part in Reading and Writing assessments. There are lots of different ways people choose to view NAPLAN, however our message to students has been really simple. We have encouraged all students this week to see NAPLAN as an opportunity to celebrate. To celebrate their learning, their growth and the great determination and effort they have made in improving their learning not just this year, but over all their years at Newman College.
On Monday we did some story writing in Year 3 to prepare for our Writing assessment. One student in our class had written half a page for their writing and had said they were finished, but when encouraged to go a little further, or to think about ‘is that the best they could give’, they were able to go on and write a further page and a half! This happened for a couple of other students in the group too. This was a great example that often there are different points in our learning or in life where we need to make a choice between what we think we can do and what we can actually do. Often there is a very big difference – especially for young children who are still coming to understand themselves and their capabilities. I shared this message with all of our students at morning assembly – that the mindset we choose to adopt can have such powerful consequences on the results of our work. We hope of course, that all students can adopt this growth mindset and live with a ‘can do’ attitude towards all challenges they encounter.
Highlights from Past Two Weeks
NAPLAN
We have had a good week of NAPLAN testing, with everything going well across the week. The following assessments will take place next week:
- Monday – Language & Grammar Conventions (Year 3)
- Tuesday – Language & Grammar conventions (Year 5)
- Wednesday – Numeracy (Year 3)
- Thursday – Numeracy (Year 5)
It is very important that all students bring headphones, especially for the Language & Grammar Conventions assessment as they will need them to complete their tests. We owe a big thanks to our Leader of Learning K-6, Miss Katya Anderson and our Administration Assistant Mrs Amanda Johnson for all of their support in getting us up and running with everything this year.
SHINE through Challenge
Last term, 16 Years 5 and 6 students competed in their first Da Vinci Decathlon. The Da Vinci Decathlon is an annual academic competition designed to challenge and extend students in a wide range of disciplines in a day full of fun, challenge, and teamwork. The ten disciplines included in the challenges are: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography, and legacy.
It was wonderful to see the students’ collaboration in solving complex problems, assigning tasks to each other based on their unique strengths and navigating the day independently. It is with much pride that I can report that the Year 5 team received second place for the Cartography category. This team consisted of Deoin Fernando, Joshua Woods, Zac Sindall, Kaydee Van Deventer, Ivy Sawkins, Luke Rombouts, Gabrielle Ferreira-Ballinger and Maxwell Moller. The Year 6 team should be commended for their performance too. They received second place for Science and first place for Cartography. The Year 6 team included Nya Casotti, Benji Davies, Jensen Rutherford, Brayden Lim, Gabriella Mason, Benji Thompson, Anabel Raguseo and Joss Arnold.
Congratulations to all the students involved.
Mrs Lara Ognenis, Gifted and Talented Teacher
Year 3 Reconciliation Retreat
Two weeks ago our Year 3 students gathered together to take part in a retreat centred around the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Students had the chance to explore what it means to show love and forgiveness for others in the same way that God shows love and forgiveness to us, as well as how we are all blessed with the gift of conscience to help us make good choices in life. It was wonderful to see students engaged so positively with the activities and reflections of the day.
Year 4 Eucharist Retreat
This morning our Year 4 students gathered in the Marist Auditorium to take part in their own retreat, as they finalise their preparations for receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time. Students reflected on the significance of The Last Supper, as well as examine how Holy Communion unites people with Jesus in a special way. It was great to visit the students this morning and to see them enjoying the day so much.
Uniform
Last week we had our school photo day, and I must say it was a beautiful sight to see so many students looking so sharp in preparation for their picture. Hopefully this is something we can look to adopt every day. We have spoken as a school community about the importance of representing ourselves and each other with pride, and how wearing our uniform correctly shows that we value being a part of the community. Students and teachers will be working together over the coming weeks to really focus on two important aspects of our uniform:
- Wearing our College blazer to and from school each day (for students in Years 4-6)
- Making sure our shirts are tucked in and looking smart when we are in the classroom
We hope that we will continue to enjoy the support of students and families in adhering to these strong standards.
Important Information For The Next Two Weeks
There are a number of important events coming up over the next two weeks in the College calendar. These include:
Week 5
- Wednesday 19 May – Years 5/6 Art extension Artist in Residence Program
- Wednesday 19 May – Year 3 guest speaker (Mr Bailey)
- Thursday 20 May – Year 6 Interschool Sports Afternoon (John XXIII College)
- Friday 21 May – Year 6 Blue Assembly
Week 6
- Wednesday 26 May – Year 5 Unit mass in the Chapel commencing 9.00am (parents welcome to attend)
- Friday 28 May – Lavalla Assembly