St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

We’ve reached the end of week 9, and I’m sure many people have started the countdown until the Easter School Holidays - only 5 more school days.

The start of this week saw our Parent Teacher Interviews take place on Monday and Tuesday evening. There are many positives to come out of parent teacher interviews, which can include (but certainly not limited to) some of the following:

involve the parents in the educational process
document the student’s progress for the parents
reflect on learning outcomes and goals
give parents the opportunity to express feelings, questions and concerns, and;
establish ongoing communication networks between the teacher, parents and student.

As a school we certainly value the importance of the relationship between parents and teachers in the education of our students. This is reflected in the statement found in our school Value of Learning, where;

“We are called to openly listen to one another, engaging all members of the community in the pursuit of growing wisdom. We celebrate learning as a result of hard work, discipline and resilience.”

If you have been unable to meet with your child’s teacher yet (which we understand - life can be very busy), I would highly recommend that you make contact with your child’s teacher to try and organise a time to meet, if not before the end of this term, then to begin Term 2.

Blessings,

Ros

Welcome to the end of Week 9! Year 5 Jellyfish presented assembly today on the theme of ‘Harmony Day’. They urged us all to think about how we are called to think about how we achieve harmony in our lives and relationships. They defined that being in harmony with others means living together peacefully, bringing together different ideas, feelings and actions. They finally reminded us that this doesn’t mean we have to think the same, but we can be accepting and tolerant of others’ ways of doing things. Harmony Day is certainly a great reminder to us to stop and think about how we can be accepting of others in all facets of our lives, regardless of where they are from, or how different they might be than ourselves.

Fun Run (repeat)

Friday 31st March will see all of our students participating in our annual school Fun Run. All of our students are catered for throughout the event; from our most competitive runners, who are encouraged to go through the course as fast as they can, to those competitors or would rather take it a bit easy, with fun and enjoyable obstacles set up for them along the course. We would like to welcome those parents who are able to attend to come and watch the races. There will be areas allocated for our spectators to allow for the smooth running of the event. Please note, we have had to make some changes, with the 11 Year old and 12 Year old races now set to take place on Thursday 30th March at 2:00pm. Again, parents are welcome to attend and watch these races. This change has been made to allow for students to be able to represent our school at the Northern Region Rugby League and Netball Cups, which will be taking place on those days.

Project Compassion

Each week, Project Compassion has a video to show how they are supporting people and communities around the world. Please see the link below to see one of the many projects around the world and to see where your donations might be spent. This week's story takes us to Vietnam and is about a man named Thu.

If you’re interested, you may want to learn more at the following link:

https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/thu-story/

A reminder that each classroom has a donation box, where any funds, even small contributions, can be placed to do something for someone else.

Pax,

Nick

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Early Years Data Meeting (Prep - Year 2)

This week Prep - Year 2 teachers were released from class to analyse literacy and numeracy data with myself, our Speech Pathologist Tegan Golding, and the Early Years System Adviser from Catholic Education Amanda Banister. It was very pleasing to see that our data is on track with the expectations of our Diocese. Teachers then used the data to establish next steps and goals for student learning. The literacy test was broken up into 2 parts - Phonological Awareness and Language. I will now briefly explain the difference between the two and include some ways you support your children at home.

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize the individual sounds of speech. Did you know there are 44 sounds (or phonemes) in the English Language You can help your children develop phonological awareness by engaging in activities such as:

rhyming games & songs
clapping out syllables in words
recognising sounds in words (eg. What sound does the word snake begin with? - ‘ssssss’)
I spy, using sounds (“I spy with my little eye something that starts with the ‘mmm’ sound)
Year 1 can use Reading Eggs, particularly ‘Fast Phonics.’ (see teachers for login)
Phonics Song (this will help you and your child to pronounce each of the basic 26 sounds - please note that at school students learn their are 44 sounds in the English Language, made up by many different spelling choices - this youtube clip may help you, as a parent, identify and pronounce the 44 sounds ‘Pronunciation - 44 phonic sounds). At school, we use the THRASS chart as a tool for students to choose spelling choices from the 44 sounds.

Language development is the process of learning how to communicate using words and sentences. It is an important part of a child’s development, as it helps them to express their thoughts and needs. In the early years, children learn language through listening, speaking, and interacting with others. You can help your child develop language skills by:

talking to them many times throughout the day
reading to them every day
playing games that encourage communication (eg. board games, eye spy, car games)

Phonological Awareness and Language skills are the building blocks children need to be able to read and write. They play a strong part in the Early Years Australian Curriculum and our early years teachers heavily focus on these skills. Furthermore, by providing a supportive environment at home, parents can help their children develop strong literacy skills that will serve them well in life.

Yours in Learning,

Aleesha Rockemer

Learning and Teaching Adviser and Acting Assistant Principal - Administration

How To Build Resilience In Your Child

Resilience is one of those skills that all kids need and should have. It refers to their ability to cope and adapt in situations when confronted with challenges such as adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even stress. It is essential to their mental health and wellbeing as part of their journey to adulthood. It is a skill that can be learned from an early age through the support of an adult role model.

However, being resilient does not mean your child won't experience any difficulties, but it will better equip them to manage those situations. Over-protective parenting can be viewed as being unhelpful towards the building of resilience. Although this may be a natural instinct, potentially experiencing failure is all part of the process. Encouraging children to take healthy risks will help them trust their capacity to deal with uncomfortable situations and increase their capacity for courage.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will gain an understanding of how to support their child’s brave behaviour to help them adapt and build resilience.

Here is the link to the Resilience edition of SchoolTV
https://stbenedicts.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience

Yours in Support

Rhylie Mathiesen

Pastoral Care Coordinator

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