Term 1 Week 3 (16/2/2024)
What is On?
*Monday 19th February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Netball- Woolgoolga
*Tuesday 20th February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Soccer- Grafton
Tuesday 20th February - Beginning School Mass at St James Catholic Church, Yamba 12pm. All welcome!
*Wednesday 21st February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby League- Coffs Harbour
Monday 26th February 2024 - Zone Swimming Carnival -Maclean
March
Friday 1st March - Awards Assembly 9:00 – 10:00am
Friday 1st March 2024 - Dio Swimming Carnival-Macksville
Friday 8th March 2024 -Dio Winter Sport Trials (Soccer, Netball, Rugby League)
*Monday 11th March- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby Union- Coffs Harbour
Wednesday 13th March to Friday 22nd March - NAPLAN (Year 3 and 5 students) see below
SAVE THE DATE - Thursday 21st March - Community Coversation #7, 5:30pm (see details below)
Monday 25th March - School Photos
Wednesday 27th March 2024 - School Cross Country
Thursday 28th March - Holy Thursday Liturgy
April
Wednesday 3rd April - Polding Swimming-Sydney
Tuesday 9th April - Zone Cross Country- McAuley Catholic College Grafton (please note change of date)
Thursday 11th April – Friday 12 April 2024 - PSSA Swimming
Thursday 11th April- Last day Term 1, 2024 for students
Friday 12th April 2024 - Staff Development Day - Pupil Free Day
*Further information will be sent home with students eligible to trial for the Winter Sports closer to the trial dates.
Dear Parents and Carers
First week of learning and data gathering within the Diocesan structure has been very busy. As you know all schools in the Lismore Diocese complete the MAI (Maths assessment Interviews) at the commencement of the term and this information will be available to all families within the coming weeks. Your children will have informed you that they have one casual teacher per stage to allow the data to be gathered while the learning is continued. Over the next 3 weeks once the MAIs are completed the staff also need to meet the Diocesan requirements for literacy monitoring with the DIBELS assessment. This will require support in classrooms as well.
Tuesday night was a lovely evening. Thank you to the families who joined us and to the staff for their work. It is so nice to have families on site and making connections. Please remember families are always welcome on site.
Next Tuesday 20th February is an opening school Mass at St James Church Yamba 12pm. All are welcome.
It seems a funny thing to say but could you please ensure 2025 enrolments for Kindergarten are completed as soon as possible. I am beginning enrolment interviews next week! And want to ensure that our siblings are not missed. We think we have all names but just want to check.
Have a great weekend.
Ann
Community Conversation # 7 Save the Date
Thursday 21st March Community Conversation #7 which is a Maths game session followed by community Bingo. This will be held at the Yamba Golf Club starting at 5:30pm. More details to come for families but please put this on your calendar as the families that attended the Orcas Bingo over the holidays said it was a great event. Looks like fun!
RE News
Our Beginning School Mass will be held on Tuesday 20th February at 12pm at St James Catholic Church, Yamba. All families are warmly invited to attend and celebrate with us.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Year 6 students will be presented with their Leaders badges and presented to the school community.
2024 Sacrament Dates
Confirmation- Monday 17th June 2024, 5pm at St Mary’s Church, Maclean.
Reconciliation- Wednesday 4th September, 11:35am at school.
First Holy Communion- Saturday 7th September, 5:30pm Mass at St James Church, Yamba
The order of Sacraments in the Lismore Diocese is:
Baptism, Confirmation (Year 3), Reconciliation (Year 4), First Eucharist (Year 4)
If you need more information regarding Baptism for your child, please contact the Parish Office in Maclean on 6645 1188 (Open Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday 9am-1:30pm).
If you would like your child to receive any other Sacraments, please contact Mrs Howland at school. For your child to receive any of these Sacraments they must first be Baptised.
If your child has received the Sacrament of Confirmation last year, they will be invited to receive Reconciliation and First Communion this year. All preparation is completed at school as part of Religion lessons.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me at school.
PROJECT COMPASSION
Ash Wednesday – 14 February 2024
This week, the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.
Please give generously to Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help vulnerable people around the world, now and for all future generations.
With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to assist communities around the world through income generation, water and sanitation, food security, education and disaster risk reduction programs.
Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.
Classes will be collecting donations in their boxes for Project Compassion. The class who raises the most money will win a “fun afternoon” with their teachers! Children may speak to you about this initiative and are learning about the people who they are supporting through their donations. Thank you for your generosity.
Renee Howland
Assistant Principal- Mission
NAPLAN
Please note, children in Yr 3 & 5 will participate in NAPLAN this year. Tests will commence March 13th. If you wish to discuss your child’s participation or adjustments for NAPLAN please contact the school by Wednesday, February 21.
AP Teaching and Learning - NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge
The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) is an initiative of the NSW State Government. It aims to encourage in students a love of reading for leisure and pleasure and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition, but a challenge to each student to increase their reading stamina. The students in K-2 will automatically participate in the challenge, however, this year students in years 3-6 will be asked to nominate themselves if they would like to participate in this year’s challenge. If your child would like to participate in the PRC for 2023 please notify your interest with Mrs Petersen.
Kind Regards
Mrs Petersen
AP Teaching and Learning
Pastoral Care & Wellbeing News - Calm Connected Tweens and Teens Summit
Calm Connected Tweens and Teens Summit.
Parents can sign up for free to Spark Education Parent Seminar with Maggie Dent
https://www.sparkseducation.com.au/summit-home/?affiliate=maggie_dent
Stage 2 News
Welcome to Stage 2 2024! We’ve had a wonderful first few weeks getting to know all the people in our class team.
We created some art pieces that used positive adjectives to describe our personalities. Together we brainstormed some great adjectives like: Generous, compassionate, trustworthy, and courageous. The final results turned out awesome!
Surfing
This week we were lucky enough to start surfing again for sport! Before we started, some of us were a bit nervous about surfing for the first time. By the end, we had a class full of very happy (and tired) Stage 2 students. How lucky are we to get to spend 2 hours at the beach during school time!
Birthdays
Declan – 8/2, Siaan – 10/2, Chase – 12/2, Fletcher – 13/2, Jake – 3/2, Poppy – 14/2, Rhys – 14/2, Bently – 15/2, Edward – 15/2, Kingston – 18/2, Mrs Howland – 17/2, Miss Haines – 17/2, Bradley – 21/2, Zoe – 23/2, Ella 28/2, Jack 7/3
Sport Dates
Friday 2nd February 2024 - School Swimming Carnival
*Monday 19th February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Netball- Woolgoolga
*Tuesday 20th February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Soccer- Grafton
*Wednesday 21st February- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby League- Coffs Harbour
Monday 26th February 2024 - Zone Swimming Carnival -Maclean
Friday 1st March 2024 - Dio Swimming Carnival-Macksville
Friday 8th - March 2024 -Dio Winter Sport Trials (Soccer, Netball, Rugby League)
*Monday 11th March- Zone Winter Sport Trials- Rugby Union- Coffs Harbour
Wednesday 27th March 2024 - School Cross Country
Wednesday 3rd April 2024 - Polding Swimming-Sydney
Tuesday 9th April - Zone Cross Country - McAuley Catholic College, Grafton (Note change of date)
Thursday 11th April – Friday 12 April 2024 - PSSA Swimming
Friday 17th May - Dio Rugby Union Trials
*Further information will be sent home with students eligible to trial for the Winter Sports closer to the trial dates.