Last Sunday’s Gospel...

We hear the story of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of wind and fire to the Apostles and our Blessed Mother. It gave them the skills they needed to go out to all the world and spread the Good News – that Jesus had died but had risen to eternal life and in doing so, has brought us all back to God so we too may have life.

Did you know...

Our Lady was looked after by the apostle John after Jesus died. He took her into his home because unless women were very wealthy at the time, they lived in poverty if they were alone.

From the Principal...

We have had a very successful return to full time schooling over the last two weeks. The students have settled into their routines very well and have grown a new independence carrying in their own bags and washing hands before going to the playground. Teachers report that students moving straight to class without assemblies has increased learning time so the hand washing isn’t stopping that at all. It is making for a smoother transition into lessons too.

We have been trying hard with our awards assemblies to include you all. Please feel free to give us feedback about the different ways we are sharing celebrations with you. It looks like we still have a long way to go before we’ll be physically together again so please let us know what you think works well and share any great ideas with us!

I am mindful that morning assembly in the past may have allowed parents to think that they didn’t need to have students at school when the bell goes because the school was gathered at assembly. This is no longer the case so please have students at school by 8.45am at the latest. They are missing instructions when they are getting here after that time because students are already in class. We are making note of which students that might be this week to see if we need to provide any assistance. Please don’t worry if you have a late morning now and again. It happens to all of us!

Now we are getting back into our routines we can focus again on our School Review and Improvement (SRI) goals for the year. We have begun working on the teaching of reading. This is based on data gained from NAPLAN, PAT – R testing and school based assessments. We are looking at areas such as teaching vocabulary and field knowledge which will lead to increased comprehension. In addition, we will look at transferring this to numeracy. Students need to be able to ‘comprehend’ a Maths problem before they can solve it. We have already seen some data to suggest the e-readers have boosted levels because students have more chance to practice reading. Please keep encouraging your children as much as possible. It is a vital life skill for them and also builds their self esteem and confidence.

I pray some of you are able to again attend Mass in person with the easing of restrictions. While I am finding comfort and peace in watching online, nothing makes up for the real thing!

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal