Newman News Term 3 Week 4: From the Leader of Early Childhood
Wellbeing Week
It has been a wonderful week centered around student wellbeing and the many facets that contribute to our overall wellbeing. Students excitedly arrived on a rainy Monday morning to the theme ‘Get Active’ and enjoyed a range of activities that got their bodies moving. From running to skipping to some fitness led by Mrs Simpson, all activities resulted in a healthy dose of fun and smiles. It was great seeing the Year 12 students join the Marian students for these fitness activities too.
There was bundles of fun at Marian Campus on Tuesday with a bouncy castle, animal farm, yard games and bubble blowing. Our students wore lots of big smiles as they participated in these activities and focused on the wellbeing topic of “Mindfulness”. Research tells us that mindfulness helps to lower anxiety and stress, which in today’s world is an important skill for our growing students to develop. Teachers reinforced the concept of mindfulness with activities in their classrooms.
Wednesday’s wellbeing theme was Gratitude and students participated in a range of gratitude activities in their classroom and across the campus. Thank you to the Marian families who took part in our Gratitude staff feedback opportunity. The staff were very grateful for the kind comments and appreciative feedback – these small gestures go a long way.
Today ’s Buddy Day was thoroughly enjoyed by all, particularly as it was the first Buddy Day that we have been able to celebrate face to face this year. Marian and Lavalla students joined together to start the morning with two beautiful and reverent liturgical celebrations dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption. Thanks to the Years 2, 4 and 6 students for leading these services. Following this, the classes jumped into their Buddy Activities and our annual Lapathon, with monies raised going to support Marist Solidarity. It was a fantastic day and the opportunity to witness the relationships between older and younger students provided a wonderful reflection of our school’s mission as a composite community.
Pre Primary Red Assembly
A big thank you to Mrs Simpson, Mrs Hunter and Ms Smith who led the Pre Primary Red class in an entertaining and music filled assembly last week. The students gave us an insight into their dreams based around their in-class reading of the story “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers. There are some wonderful, big dreams in Pre Primary Red!
Marcellin Award
Congratulations to the following student who received a Marcellin Award in Weeks 3 and 4:
- William Burton, Year 2: For displaying the Marist characteristic of “Family Spirit” by always making good choices and putting others first. Thank you Will for caring about your classmates and helping them when they need it.
- Alexandra Simpson, Year 1: For being a model for how we live our life ‘in the way of Mary’ with patience, gentleness and love. Alexandra, you always have a smile and friendly greeting for every person that you encounter. Thank you for shining your light on us all.
The Marcellin Award at Marian Campus is drawn from submitted nominations each Wednesday morning at Prayer Assembly.
Year 2 Excursion – Kings Park
Year 2 students embarked on an excursion to Kings Park to explore the native flora and fauna in preparation for an activity at our STEM festival. They were blessed with a cold but dry day and reported lots of learning and enjoyment from the experience. I was lucky enough to read some of the students Recount Writing about the excursion and was amazed to learn some very interesting facts about the Boab Tree and the Eternal Flame.
A big thank you to the parent volunteers who joined the Year 2 classes. We are so grateful for the commitment of parents to our students’ educational experiences.
BYODD Program – Year 3 2021
As your child moves from the Marian Campus to the Lavalla Campus, families are required to provide an electronic device to support their child’s learning. Marian campus students have had access to a classroom bank of iPads which have been regularly utilised to support their learning. From Year 3, the College commences with a BYODD device program which allow students to have 1:1 access to a device.
Current Year 2 parents will receive further information in the coming months regarding the Year 3-6 BYOD iPad program. Our IT Team is currently in negotiations with Winthrop Australia to facilitate the best value package possible for families. As I appreciate this is a significant expense, we aim to provide as much time and notice as possible, so that families can budget for this purchase.
The Great Book Swap
The annual Marian book swap will take place on Friday 4 September before school until the bell goes.
Students are encouraged to donate a book they already own and place in one of the boxes located in the library and in the foyer.
On the day of the event, students are asked to bring a gold coin donation to purchase a book to take home. The money raised will then be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Students can of course purchase more than one book at the Book Swap.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation is a national charity, which aims to reduce the disadvantage experienced by children in remote communities across Australia. The foundation promotes the idea of schools holding a book swap in order to raise funds for the charity.
Marian Campus Toilets
We have recently had some repairs undertaken to the students’ toilets across the campus to improve the access and usability of these facilities. In conjunction with this, I have spoken to all PP- Year 2 students regarding the respect and care that they need to take in order to maintain the cleanliness of these facilities.
I would greatly appreciate if parents can emphasise with their child at home, the importance of leaving the toilets as clean as they first found them. Common complaints centre around children’s failure to flush the toilet after use and their failure to clean up any mess that they may make on the floor and toilet seats. Teachers are also giving friendly reminders to their class about this.