CELEBRATING STUDENTS

Many parents and carers in our school wouldn’t be aware of some of the amazing things our students are involved in at school and beyond, unless their children are involved. We try where possible to showcase some of this in our newsletter at times when they occur. In past newsletters we have showcased areas such as STEM, Sport and Creative Arts.

Year 2 have thoroughly enjoyed improving their cricket skills during our cricket program and Year 3 are exploring states of matter and the changes between those states during their science program. 

This week a couple of examples of the great experiences that students are engaged in that are related to other learning areas.

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

 Tournament of Minds is an Australia-wide program designed to give students the opportunity to participate in creative activities involving stimulating open-ended challenges, which demand experimentation and reward divergent thinking. 

This year we have three teams of seven students from Years 5 and 6 who are participating in Tournament of Minds. These students were chosen for their ability to think creatively, work as a team member, and exhibit exceptional performance skills. They have been giving their time after school one day a week with the support of Mrs Toole, Ms Hatherly and Mrs McDougall, to complete a long term challenge, which they have six weeks to solve. They will present this at the Regional Tournament on Saturday 31st August in Coffs Harbour. On Tournament day, the teams will also be given a spontaneous challenge, where they will have a short time to discuss, plan and present a response. 

We are hoping the teams will be able to present their long term challenges to students in our school on the day before they go to Coffs Harbour, as a practice and to show other students the possibilities.

INTER SCHOOL DEBATING COMPETITION

This term, some of our Year 6 students are participating in an inter school debating competition with St Joseph’s Wauchope, St Agnes’ Port Macquarie and St Joseph’s Laurieton. There are several rounds, with students debating either at our school or away at one of the other schools. The team of four is given the affirmative or negative side of the debate and must work as a team to convince the judges that their argument is the strongest. 

One of our teams won the first round with the topic “Zoos should be abolished”. Look out parents and carers, if they are able to produce a convincing argument in debating, they may have a challenge for you! 

GLASSHOUSE PERFORMANCE

Our students in all classes have been busy preparing for our big event at The Glasshouse in September. You will be very impressed with the ideas that have gone into the performances and the amount of effort to make those ideas come to life! It has also been wonderful to see students getting involved in designing the images and covers for the programs and DVDs.

Congratulations Erin Little for winning our Glasshouse concert desgin competition. the runners up were Christie Preston, Millie Paine and Sophie Pynaert with their wonderful art designs. Thank you to all who entered.

Along with the work at school to prepare all of this, we need help to bring it to life with costume items. A comprehensive list has been put together with Mrs Toole gathering information and formatting it to go home to you shortly. Please take a look when you receive it at what your child will need. We really encourage families to see what friends and family may already have that may help. If there are any questions around this please speak to the teachers involved for advice.

BOOK WEEK 

We will be celebrating Book Week this year with a dress up parade and some other fun activities. Our staff already have some fantastic ideas that we will build on for so much fun! We will speak with the students as well to get their input on what they would like. Officially, Book Week this year is celebrated from 18th-23rd August, and I shared this in a previous newsletter. On reflection around a super busy term where we are already asking so much of parents, carers and teachers, we would like to acknowledge Book Week in August but to celebrate it in a special way in October. The second part of this thinking is that we can match it with National Grandparents Day in October and have our whole school community involved. 

Please save the date in your calendars for Friday 25th October and we will provide more details of the events as we refine them. The theme is “Reading is my secret power” - this could inspire some of the dress ups and characters that children choose. This also gives you plenty of time to think about and gather what you need for those fantastic costumes.

I am always inspired by the words of the great writer Dr Seuss, so what a fitting way to end the week with some of my favourite quotes about learning and life for our kids, which we can strive to live…..