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WELCOME BACK!
With the short return to learning onsite at the end of last term, it feels like such a long time since we were together, so we are very grateful that we have made a full return to school this week.
We are hopeful that we will continue to be at school together throughout this term and remain safe and healthy. We are still in Level 3 restrictions, as we were at the end of Term 3. A letter came out to families with information about this prior to us starting school. Dependent on the directives from the Government, we are also hopeful of a reduction in some of the restrictions to allow us to do some of the things we currently can’t. We will continue to update you as we can.
UNIFORMS - GETTING THROUGH TO THE END OF 2021
In Term 3, parents and carers received a letter outlining the final result of the Uniform Review and changes across St Agnes’ Parish schools, commencing in 2022. We are unsure at this point on a date when the new uniforms will be released for purchase for 2022, but expect this to be late in 2021.
We remind families that there is a phase in period for the new uniforms so that current uniforms in good condition can remain in use for 2022, should families wish to. To ensure all students can make it through 2021 with correct uniforms, there has been an agreed decision for students from Kindergarten to Year 6 across our three schools. If students are growing out of, or wearing out their current summer uniforms (particularly Year 6 who will be leaving at the end of the year), they are allowed to continue wearing their correct sports uniform on any day of Term 4. If families still have their summer uniform in good condition, they can continue to follow the roster of which uniform to wear that has been updated for Term 4 and shared with you today in the Sport Spotlight article of the newsletter.
Please also remember that we have many items of clothing in our second hand room at school, and any family requiring a uniform is welcome to visit and select what they need to ensure their child has the correct uniform. We cannot guarantee the sizes, but will do our best to assist. If you have any items you are able to donate to others, please let us know.
GOING RED FOR DYSLEXIA
You may be aware that October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects children and adults’ ability to read and has a significant impact on their schooling and life. St Agnes’ Parish and our schools are supporting awareness of dyslexia through two key ways this year. On Friday 15th October, staff and students are invited and encouraged to wear something red. We are also going to use some resources from Dyslexia Mid North Coast to work with our students and families across the month of October to help understand dyslexia.
A local student and member of St Agnes’ Parish, is Georgia Ryan. Below is a little about her and a video explaining why she has become a Dyslexia Youth Ambassador. We also would like to acknowledge that our very own Blake Herbert in Year 4 is a Dyslexia Ambassador, and will be involved with our month of awareness. You will hear more of his story in the coming weeks.
Georgia has been a Dyslexia Mid North Coast Youth Ambassador since 2019 and is a student at MacKillop College. We were first introduced when Georgia reached out to Dyslexia Mid North Coast to attend Luminosity in 2018 to see one of her heroes, dyslexic sailor Jessica Watson.
Since then Georgia has gone from strength to strength petitioning Federal and State governments to improve teacher training in specific learning difficulties and has been recognised in NSW Parliament for her contribution. Fairfax newspapers called Georgia a ‘trailblazer’, MindFood journalist Cat Rodie referred to Georgia as a Dyslexia Warrior, and we think she is truly an amazing young lady who is creating positive change for all children with dyslexia.
October is Dyslexia Awareness month and Georgia has kindly taken the time to record a video to shed a light on living with dyslexia and to encourage you to support, embrace and be proactive in creating positive changes for children with Dyslexia.
Tess Koning
Principal
Jeannine Ucdereli
Assisant Principal Learning and Teaching
Nathan Porter
Assistant Principal Mission
The Rosary
According to Catholic tradition, the rosary was instituted by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. In the 13th century, she is said to have appeared to St. Dominic (founder of the Dominicans), given him a rosary, and asked that Christians pray the Hail Mary, Our Father and Glory Be prayers instead of the Psalms.
The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on 7th October.
“God asks us for “a prayer which is within our reach: the Rosary, which can be recited either in common or in private, either in church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament or at home, either when travelling or while walking quietly in the fields,” she explains. “A mother of a family can say the Rosary while she rocks her baby’s cradle or does the house work. Our day has 24 hours in it. It is not asking a great deal to set aside a quarter of an hour for the spiritual life, for our intimate and familiar converse with God.” - Sister Lucia, one of the three children from Fatima.
SOCKTOBER SHOOT OUT!
Next term St Joseph’s will be celebrating our mission by raising funds for vulnerable children in Thailand during the month of October. We look forward to kicking some goals for those in need for the Socktober Shoot Out on Friday 29th October.
Students can seek sponsors and have an opportunity to raise funds for every goal kicked!! Total goals kicked will add to their Sports House tally for a whole team prize!!
Here are the links for each of the Sports Houses. Please click on to your relevant team to register and start helping your Sports House kick some goals!!!
Oxley - https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/oxley
Hastings - https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/hastings
Mitchell - https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/mitchell
Macquarie - https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/macquarie
UNSW ICAS RESULTS
Some of our Primary students recently participated in the UNSW Global ICAS Assessments. ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence, students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. Due to lockdowns, they were unable to complete all ICAS assessments before the end of Term, however, they have all been rescheduled for this term.
Before we went into lockdown we were able to complete the Digital Technologies Assessment. This week we would like to congratulate the following students for their achievement:-
Aryan Vishanth (Yr 4), Gene Smith (Yr 5) & Eva Francis (Yr 6) - all these students were awarded a credit.
BUS SAFETY
Many of our students travel on a bus to and from school. Over the next few weeks we will share some simple safety tips to ensure your child is safe on the bus. You can access more information about keeping children safe around school zones at NSW government site Safety Town.
Keeping your children safe when dropping off and picking up at school
Here are some tips for keeping your children and others safe during drop off and pick up times during the school week:-- Make sure your children are fastened in the correct child seat for their age and size and that it is correctly fitted.
- Observe the 40km/h speed limit in a school zone and look out for children who may be about.
- Watch for flashing lights on buses. The flashing lights let you know that children are crossing or about to cross. A 40km/h speed limit is in place around flashing lights.
- Always park and turn legally. Manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns are dangerous during busy school drop off and pick up times.
Individual and small group instrumental lessons can continue but will be tutored in grade groups.
The new timetable is being finalised and will be placed on student morning messages.
Mental Health Month
The month of October brings us into Mental Health Month.
The term ‘mental health’ refers to the general state of a person’s mental wellbeing. Like our physical health, our mental health can change over time and in response to things happening around us.
Even when we are in top physical health we do a number of things to help prevent ill-health (healthy eating, regular exercise etc). If we are in top mental health we can do a number of things to keep us this way as well such as ‘Tune In’ - the theme for Mental Health Month 2021.
‘Tune in’ simply refers to being present in the moment, being aware of what is happening around and within you.
‘Tuning In’ can help in a number of ways such as:
- Building positive connections
- Building self-awareness
- Reducing worrying
- Improving decision making
There are many things you can tune into:
- Yourself - what do you feel?
- Others - What are others feeling? How can we connect?
- Communities - What can you be part of?
- Stigma - How do attitudes around mental health and wellbeing impact a person’s ability to live the lives they want?
The calendar below has some ideas for each day of October that you may be able to try if you want to ‘Tune In’.
https://wayahead.org.au/download/tune-in-calendar/?wpdmdl=15019&refresh=6153bf39010e01632878393
Kelly Russell
School Counsellor
Sporting Schools Funding
We are excited to have received Sporting Schools funding for this term again and were hoping to have tennis coach Greg Alchin come in to teach our students in K-6 skills to play tennis. Unfortunately we can’t do this at Level 3 restrictions.
Last term we had James Single come into school and teach Years 2-6 skills in Golf. Unfortunately our time with James had to be shortened so we hope to have James back again in the near future.
This year we have been so fortunate to receive the funding every term equating to $12,000 for the year, which has gone towards professional sports coaches teaching our students. We look forward to continuing this in the future.
Grade Sport Uniform Days
Leah Toole and David Lynch
Sports Coordinator and Assistant Sports Coordinator
MEDICATIONS
Please be mindful of informing the school of any diagnosis or change in medical condition for your child so that school plans and records are current and accurate. This is especially important for those students with Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Diabetes, and other medical illnesses.
CONTACT DETAILS
Please also let the school know if any contact details including phone numbers, address and emergency contacts have changed for your child.
Student Medical Appointments and Early Departure
We strongly encourage parents to organise medical appointments outside of school hours (Start 8.55am and Finish 3.10pm) but are conscious that this is not always possible. For your convenience if you have to make a medical appointment for your child during school time please be aware of our breaks for your planning as there will be a delay in getting your child to the office if they are out at lunch play:
Lunch 1 is at 11:00am-11:40am
Lunch 2 is at 1:40pm-2:10pm
Hometime messages
If there is a change to your child's hometime travel arrangements please let your child know before they leave the house or write a note to your child's teacher. Some parents also write a "H" (homelines) or a "B" (buslines) on their child's hand. We understand that plans may change during the day and ask that you phone the office Aunties on 6583 3848 between the hours of 8.30am and 2.30pm. This enables us to ensure that your child gets the message in a timely manner. Do NOT email the school or message your child's teacher directly as it may not be seen in the timeframe you require. If an emergency occurs or there is a late change to your child's home time plan we will do everything we can to get the message to your child after 2.30pm. Please be aware that a warning school bell sounds at 3:00pm for classes to prepare to leave the class for hometime at 3.10pm which makes it difficult to guarantee that a message will get to your child.
volunteers
Unfortunately we still cannot have volunteers in the canteen until further notice.
BIRTHDAY BUCKETS
Birthday Buckets are always very popular with lots of excited children coming to collect them to share with their classmates for their special day.
How much do they cost?
Just $10.00 per bucket.
The bucket will be decorated for your child’s birthday and collected during the day as directed by the teacher to share with their class. The buckets are reusable and will need to be returned to the canteen.
How do you order them?
They can be ordered via Flexischools on the day you would like your child to share them or can be ordered in advance. Alternatively, if you don’t use Flexischools, you can call the school office to order directly from the Canteen.
Fruit for Crunch’n’Sip
Fruit can be ordered in a lunch order for Fruit Break (Crunch’n’Sip) but please remember to let your child know that it is part of their lunch order and that they will need to collect it from the Canteen. Fruit can be ordered with over the counter lunch orders or Flexischool online orders (preferred method).
CANTEEN REMINDERS
- Flexischools cut off time for daily orders is 8:30am. You can place your orders the day before, or at the beginning of the week, to make sure they are in on time. The cut off time is set to ensure that there is enough time to process, prepare and pack all of the lunch orders each day.
- Please remind your children if they have a hand written lunch order to drop it off first thing in the morning or if they need to pick up their fruit break items from the canteen.
- We do not offer an IOU service. If you don't use Flexischools and do not have cash for lunch orders you can pay in the office using EFTPOS. If there are any issues with providing lunch please call the office to discuss.
lunch orders
Canteen lunch orders can be placed via Flexischools or by dropping them in the basket on the counter each morning.
Flexischools is our preferred method for submitting lunch orders.
Reminder - Cutoff time for online orders is 8.30am.
- Download the Flexischools app from the App Store or from Google Play.
Note: for iPhone and iPad please select ‘Allow’ notification - Click “Register Now” to create account
- Top-up your balance
- Start ordering immediately
- Alternatively Go to www.flexischools.com.au or you can find the link on the school website.
Don’t forget you can place your online orders days or even weeks in advance, making the morning rush even easier!
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coodinator
Glasshouse Concert and Dance Eisteddfod
As you will have read in the note home this week, our students were to be performing in two concerts at The Glasshouse this year. Students who chose to be in the Port Macquarie Dance Eisteddfod groups were due to perform in both the Glasshouse Concerts and the Eisteddfod.
It was with great disappointment that the decision to cancel both of these was necessary, due to Level 3 and Level 4 restrictions on schools and community events and planning. We held out as long as possible to be certain, and had investigated possibilities for adapting, but these will not be able to go ahead in any way for 2021.
As the preparation had been successful in Term 3 during our Creative Arts lessons, we will hold this wonderful theme and its performances over to 2022 and work towards it being even better than planned this year.
We thank all the students for their hard work in rehearsals. You’re all stars to us!
Yours in Creative and Performing Arts
Leah Toole
Creative Arts Co-ordinator
Week 2 Term 4 |
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Monday 11th October |
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Tuesday 12th October |
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Wednesday |
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Friday 15th October |
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Week 3 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 18th October |
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Tuesday 19th October |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 21st October |
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Week 4 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 25th October |
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Wednesday |
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Friday 29th October |
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Week 5 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 1st November |
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Wednesday |
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Friday 5th November |
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Please note these dates can change from time to time due to unforeseen circumstances and we will endeavour to advise you of any changes at the earliest possible opportunity. Our school Google calendar can be accessed via this link for additional advanced dates -
For your convenience 2021 school term dates are listed below. They are also located on our website. Click on the words “TERM DATES” on the home page.
TERM 4
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes Term 4 – Tuesday 5th October 2021
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Friday 5th November 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes from Term 4 - Wednesday 15th December 2021
Other Holidays in 2021
Christmas Day - Saturday 25th December 2021
Boxing Day - Sunday 26th December 2021
Return to Term 4 - Schools at Level 3 Restrictions
Whole School Glasshouse Concert and Dance Eisteddfod Cancellation
2S - Letter to families for Mr Spannari's Leave