Issue 4 - 11th March 2022

Another busy week in our school!  We had school photos taken outside, and on such a lovely day, it was a wonderful idea.  We were also very fortunate to have been able to have our Swimming Carnival.  We are in a very good place with COVID at the moment that allowed us to be able to run the carnival, when so many other schools have had to postpone. Whilst we can attribute our current situation to good fortune, it is also due to our consistent measures. I appreciate the disappointment families might have in not being at the carnival to watch your children, and we appreciate your ongoing support of our COVID management to ensure we can give our students as many normal experiences as possible.

Our Buddy Benches have arrived and have been placed in the yard. We thank the P&F for funding this initiative.  What is a Buddy Bench?  Well, they can be used in different ways in different schools.  At SPC we are promoting the use of the Buddy Benches in the following ways:

• If a student is without a friend on a particular day (perhaps their friend is away), they can sit on the seat and other students will know to ask him or her to play
• To have some time out
• To have a chat with a friend or staff member
• As a strategy given to a student when they need to self-regulate
• Just having a rest

Whenever a student is on a Buddy Bench, a staff member will check in to determine if there is something to follow up on.

I have witnessed some wonderful work in progress as I have roamed around the classrooms.  I’ve also witnessed a great sense of cooperation in our new Ga Ga Pit as our students have come to know the rules, played so well together and await their turn.  It’s proving very popular!

Last week our students celebrated the start of the Lenten season with our Shrove Tuesday pancakes and our Ash Wednesday prayer services. This year due to covid restrictions, the service was done a little differently with each grade celebrating in the classrooms. During these services the children reflected on the meaning of Lent, exploring it through the lens of being loving and forgiving people.

A Prayer for the Lenten Season

Lent is a time of reflection and renewal, 

a time for us to think about how we treat others, 

the way we act, the way we live our lives 

and how we can be more peaceful people. 

Loving God, 

be with us in a special way during this time of Lent 

so that we can become people of love and forgiveness. 

We make this prayer in Jesus’ name. 

Amen.

 

18 March 2022 for the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative celebrates 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.

The theme for 2022 is Kindness Culture. By building Kindness Culture together, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students in schools across Australia.

Coming soon will be a Health and Wellbeing newsletter from Donna our Chaplain. This will come to families via seesaw. Watch this space!

This year Catholic Education Tasmania have launched a state-wide literacy initiative called: “Literate Learners for Life, Every student … every subject … every year”

This initiative aligns to the best current practice and knowledge of how students acquire critical Literacy skills, and is largely based on the Science of Reading Concept.

 Key elements of this project involve:

• Appointing of Literacy Practice Leader to lead the Literacy development
• Implementation of a Synthetic and systematic phonics and reading program
• Resource and support provision for all Catholic Schools

I have been fortunate enough to be elected the Literacy Practice Leader and drive the positive outcomes in literacy for our students.

This year we aim to roll out the InitiaLit program and continue to develop our current phonics focus, through streamed groups across Prep to Year 2. InitiaLit is a support program to our already highly successful synthetic phonics program Read Write Inc.

We have also identified students in grades 3-6 needing extra support with Literacy and began the intervention program that aims to close the gaps that may be present in students’ reading acquisition.

As we navigate through this space of learning, we will extend our focus to upper primary, to ensure continuity for our students and common elements are carried through. This year we began implementing the Read Write Inc. Spelling program in the space of 3-6 and we are already hearing positive feedback from the staff and students about the positive impact it is making.

Thousands of research studies in classrooms and clinics have repeatedly shown that virtually all kids can learn to read — if the instruction approach aligns with what science has proven about how our brains work.

The science of reading says five essential components are necessary for effective reading instruction:

• Phonological awareness – awareness of the sound structure of words
• Phonics* – correlating sounds with letters or groups of letters
• Fluency – accuracy, rate and expression while reading
• Vocabulary – the body of words a child has learned
• Reading comprehension – the understanding and interpretation of what is read

Systematic synthetic phonics is key to teaching children reading and writing. It provides them with strategies to decode words, which is especially important because English is such a difficult language to learn with many ways to make the same sounds from different letters or combinations of letters.

When taught systematically it provides a sequence for students’ progress from learning simple, broadly applicable sound relationships to studying those that are more complex and unusual. In the early years, lessons also incorporate decodable texts to teach reading.

Decodable texts are aimed to provide instruction based on the level of sound knowledge, the children are exposed to and understand. As children master more of the alphabetic code and progress through a series of decodable books, the vocabulary and story structure become more sophisticated.

Eventually, when students are fully versed and confident with their sound knowledge and decode with automaticity, they move from learning to read, to reading to learn. This is where comprehension, fluency and vocabulary become the focus of learning.

Your Feedback is Welcome:

Currently, the Literacy Advisory Panel (the Panel) is developing a community-wide framework to improve literacy in Tasmania. The Panel is running community consultation (until 25 March, 2022), and your responses will help to inform the development of the framework. 

The Panel welcomes and appreciates your interest in participating in this survey. 

There are a variety of ways to provide feedback. This survey is primarily for those who have experienced literacy challenges. 

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. 

Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/literacy22

 

 

Our Parents and Friends will be running the Easter Raffle again this year. Donations from families is what makes our annual raffle such a success, if you are able to donate towards this year's raffle, items can be dropped into the school office. 

The Parents and Friends have purchased two ‘Buddy Benches’ for the school. See Mrs Flynn’s description of the use of our Buddy Benches in her segment above.

Congratulations to last weeks Bake Raffle winner, Taite! If you would like to purchase tickets for our next Bake Raffle (Thursday, 17th March), tickets are just $1.00 available on the Qkr! App. 

Kinder - Leo & Rylee

Prep - Tilly & Macklen 

Grade 1 - Isla & Reegan

Grade 2 - Kaley & Darcy

Grade 3 - Taite & Airelle

Grade 4 - Jordana & Max

Grade 5 - Jeremiah & Sabannah

Grade 6 - Caitlin & Luke 

In our School Uniform Policy it states "It is an enrolment requirement of St Peter Chanel Catholic School that all children attending the school should wear an approved school uniform" this also includes students' hairstyles. Hairstyles need to be clean, neat and not hanging in their face. Hair below the shoulder must be tied back and hairstyles should not be significantly different lengths. 

Please do not hesitate to contact the school with any questions.

Yesterday, our Grade 3-6 students participated in the annual Swimming Carnival. The carnival was a wonderful day, with great sportsmanship in and out of the pool.  Congratulations to all of our students who participated and congratulations to the winning House Gibson.

Results are as follows:

25m Freestyle

Grade 6 Boys

1st – Logan

2nd – Calvin

3rd – Isaac

4th – Grayson

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Jewel

2nd – Charli

3rd – Heidi

4th – Caitlin

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Kye

2nd – Harvey

3rd – Ryan

4th – Jedda

 

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Hali

3rd – Tayla

4th – Peppa

 

Grade 4 Boys

1st – Liam

2nd – Ajai

3rd – Hendrix

4th – Jaiden  & Naite

 

Grade 4 Girls

1st –  Charlotte

2nd – Arah

3rd – Harper

4th – Indianna

 

Grade 3 Boys

1st – Hamish

2nd – Charlie

3rd – River

4th – Taite

 

Grade 3 Girls

1st – Myla

2nd – Georgina

3rd – Sophia

4th – Nina

25m Breaststroke

 Grade 6 Boys

1st – Calvin

2nd – Luke

3rd – Grayson

4th – Logan

 

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Jewel

2nd – Charli

3rd – Caitlin

 

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Kye

2nd – Thomas

3rd – Ryan

4th – Jedda

 

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Tayla

3rd – Peppa

4th – Olivia

 

Grade 4 Boys

1st – Liam

2nd – Ajai

3rd – Jaiden

4th – Naite

 

Grade 4 Girls

1st – Arah

2nd – Charlotte

3rd – Indianna

4th – Harper

 

Grade 3 Boys

1st – Charlie

2nd – Hamish

3rd – Taite

4th – River

 

Grade 3 Girls

1st – Myla

2nd – Nina

3rd – Quinn

4th – Sophia

25m Backstroke

Grade 6 Boys

1st – Grayson

2nd – Calvin

3rd – Logan

4th – Luke

 

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Charli

2nd – Jewel

3rd – Caitlin

4th – Heidi

 

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Harvey

2nd – Kye

3rd – Ryan

4th – Jedda

 

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Hali

3rd – Tayla

4th – Peppa

 

Grade 4 Boys

1st – Liam

2nd – Hendrix

3rd – Jaiden

4th – Naite

 

Grade 4 Girls

1st – Charlotte

2nd – Harper

3rd – Arah

4th – Indianna

 

Grade 3 Boys

1st – Charlie

2nd – Hamish

3rd – River

4th – Taite

 

Grade 3 Girls

1st – Georgina

2nd – Myla

3rd – Quinn

4th – Sophia

50m Freestyle

Grade 6 Boys

1st – Logan

2nd – Issac

3rd – Jhett

4th – Luke

 

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Jewel

2nd – Charli

3rd – Heidi

4th – Caitlin

 

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Kye

2nd – Harvey

3rd – Jedda

4th – Ryan

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Hali

3rd – Peppa

4th – Tayla

50m Breaststroke

Grade 6 Boys

1st – Calvin

2nd – Isaac

3rd – Luke

4th - Logan

 

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Jewel

2nd – Charli

3rd – Caitlin

 

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Jedda

2nd – Ryan

3rd – Thomas

 

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Tayla

3rd – Peppa

4th – Lilly

50m Backstroke

Grade 6 Boys

1st – Grayson

2nd – Owen

3rd – Calvin

4th – Logan

 

Grade 6 Girls

1st – Charli

2nd – Jewel

3rd – Caitlin

4th – Heidi

 

Grade 5 Boys

1st – Harvey

2nd – Jedda

3rd – Ryan

4th – Jeremiah

 

Grade 5 Girls

1st – Asta

2nd – Tayla

3rd – Hali

4th – Peppa

 

The winning House will be announced in the coming days.

This term in our Science unit, Grade Five are investigating the effects of light color on plant growth.

“When you look out on a sunny day, the light appears colorless.  In fact, that light contains all the colors of the visible light spectrum, from red to violet.  Each color has a different wavelength.  Red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest wavelength.  When all the waves are seen together, they make white light.  Light is essential in a plant's life.  Without light a plant cannot grow, reproduce, or photosynthesize.  Plants utilize the different colors found in visible light to control different aspects of their growth.  Different wavelengths of light can trigger or inhibit growth and flowering in plants".

In the photos, you will notice how the students have set up their experiment. They have been measuring plant growth and making general observations. This data will be used to inform their investigation.  Students will present their investigation using the scientific method as the basis for their written work.

Thank you, Mrs Ling, for supporting each group of students. The students have enjoyed your company while collecting their data and they have benefited from your gardening expertise.

Yesterday, families should have receive a copy of the latest Catholic Standard. There is a special article on page 8!

A reminder for families, as per the letter home there is no swimming next Wednesday, 16th March. Students will have normal PE Lessons on this day.

Postponement of the NW Swimming Carnival

The combined North West Swimming Carnival has been postponed from next week until Term 4 due to the number of students that are away from schools with Covid along the coast.

A reminder that Monday, 14th is a Public holiday. Enjoy the long weekend.

Issue 2 Book Club is due Thursday, 24th March.

On Thursday, 7th April all students are invited to ‘dress up like Fred’ for our last Read Write Inc Phonics groups for the end of term! Fred is our Read Write Inc Mascot. This can be as simple as a green item of clothing.

For the last four weeks, we have been lucky enough to have had three students from St Peter Chanel participate each Friday at a cricket afternoon in Wynyard. The program is currently being run by the Wynyard Districts Cricket Club, for students between 8 and 12 years old. Circular Head is fortunate enough to have filled an entire team, made up of students from Smithton Primary, Smithton High, and Stanley Primary. Liam Bell, Logan Poke and Lewis Sheehan played off against a different team each week under the guidance of Gregg Sharman. All boys were given the opportunity to bat, bowl and wicket-keep, and did a fantastic job at all. Cienna Bell also went along to support her big brother, even trying her hand with the gloves!  They represented the school with great enthusiasm, pride, and sportsmanship. Well done to all involved.