ABOUT - Term 3 Week 4 - 15 August 2024

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

WESTERN REGION ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

We have now received the official results from the Western Region Athletics Carnival held in Dubbo last week.  The following students placed at the carnival and will now compete at the Diocesan Athletics Carnival to be held in Dubbo on Friday, 23 August:  Isabelle Peart - 1st Senior 800m, 2nd Senior Shot Put, 1st Senior 200m, 1st Senior High Jump, 1st Senior Long Jump, 1st 12 years 100m, Mitch Beaton - 3rd 11 years 800m, Katie Colwell - 2nd Junior High Jump, 2nd Junior 200m, 1st Junior Long Jump, 1st Junior Discus, 2nd 10 years 100m,  Rose Howard - 2nd Junior 800m, 3rd Junior High Jump, 3rd Junior 1500m, 3rd 10 years 100m, Chloe Heffer - 1st 11 years Long Jump, 2nd 11 years 200m, Thomas McIsaac - 1st Senior MC Shot Put, 1st Senior MC Discus, Heidi Colwell - 2nd Senior Long Jump, 3rd Senior Discus, Michael Vermeulen - 3rd Junior 200m, 2nd Junior Discus, 3rd 10 years 100m, Estelle Hazelton - 3rd 11 years Shot Put, Layla Walker - 3rd Junior Shot Put, Lisa-Marie Vermeulen - 1st 8 years 100m, Thomas Colwell - 3rd 8 years 100m, Hannah Peart - 3rd 9 years 100m, Jack Howard - 2nd 9 years 100m, 3rd Junior 800m. We were also successful in the relays as follows:  Junior Girls Relay - 2nd - Hannah, Rose, Katie, Mary, Senior Girls Relay - 1st- Heidi, Bella, Isabelle, Alana.

Our Junior & Senior Relay Teams

SOCCER GALA DAY

We had a successful day in Dubbo last Friday at the St Laurence’s School Soccer Gala Day.  Our six teams played some scintillating soccer with all players “Giving Of Their Best”. Congratulations to:  Amelia Altmann, Liam Cosier, Tiffany Fong, Cruz Hazelton, Billy Jeffery, Charlie Jones-Copelin, Mary Lesslie, Tom Mudford, Sterling Newton, Hannah Peart, James Riley, Aaron Robin, George Taylor, Lochie Thomas, Ryle Walker, Allie Claire Williams, Harper Wykes, Mia Buckley, Oliver Buckley, Katie Colwell, Charlie Cruickshank, Tiaki Diamond, Regan Godber, Bella Hammond, Laycee Hazelton, Jack Howard, Rose Howard, Dusty Jordan, Maci-Jae Lomax, William Luckie, Pearl Mudford, Archie O'Connor, Alice Peart, Michael Vermeulen, Layla Walker, Olivia Yates, Darcy Adams, Mitchell Beaton, Estelle Hazelton, Charlie Howard, Mack Hutchison, Clancy Larkin, Jakirah McKenzie, Oscar Medd, Tex Mudford, Braxten Towns, Jackson Towns, Neve Walker, Caitlin Younghusband, Jocelyn Altmann, Akhiro Baker, Arabella Chandler, Oli Chandler, Heidi Colwell, Mitch Cosier, Bayley Dent, Lottie Duffy, Bella Ferguson, Claudia Harrison, Kellie Hutchison, Lily Johnson-Honey, Connor Jones-Copelin, Keaghan Lummis, Kurt McBurnie, Thomas McIsaac, Milla Morris, Harrison Newton, Jessie O'Connor, Isabelle Peart, Oliver Peart, Lucy Profke, Lucas Riley, Mackenzie Skinner, Alana Spora, Andrew Standing, Indy Thomas, Harry Thurlow, Holly Wykes, Lucy Zell.

Some of our Soccer Stars!

ICAS SCIENCE & SPELLING COMPETITIONS

The ICAS Science Competition will be held next Monday, 19 August and the ICAS Spelling Competition on Thursday, 22 August, for those children who have entered these competitions.

PRAISE & WORSHIP EMMANUEL WORKSHOP

As part of the students’ faith formation, our Years 5 and 6 classes will be attending a Praise and Worship Emmanuel Workshop in Dubbo next Tuesday, 20 August.  The venue for this event has changed and will now be held at the Dubbo Regional Theatre & Convention Centre.  The purpose of the day is to bring students from our diocese together to share time in prayer and worship that point people, young and old, to the love and mercy of Christ.  We hope our Years 5 and 6 students enjoy this day in Dubbo.

Permission notes were sent home last week with all Years 5 and 6 students.  Please ensure the completed notes are returned to school by tomorrow, Friday, 16 August.

EXCURSION SNIPPETS

The Years 5 and 6 students have written some 'Snippets' in groups about their time on the Canberra/Snowy Excursion that was held earlier this term.  Over the next few weeks, we will include the snippets in the About for you to all enjoy!

Questacon
Woah! That was insane! On Tuesday night we visited Questacon. At Questacon we got to enjoy many fun and entertaining activities. Some of the fun activities included the free fall slide in the 'Excite' room, building our own lego models in the 'Lego' room,  an 'Awesome Earth' room, where we saw a massive lightning bolt and the 'Q Lab' where we got to do some cool experiments. 
Lottie Duffy, Bella Ferguson, Milla Morris, Indy Thomas, Heidi Colwell

Parliament House
Parliament House was so special. We got to see both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was cool to learn about each room and where everyone sits. We enjoyed role playing and giving our opinion if we should have 3 hours of sport a week or not. We sat on the cross-bench and got to vote on either side. We highly recommend visiting.
Neve Walker, Caitlin Younghusband, Clancy Larkin

Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre
Wow! What a great experience! We headed to the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre on day two of our school excursion. When we arrived we were greeted by our amazing tour guide. She walked us into a room with chairs and we had a seat and watched a slideshow of memories and the history of the Snowy Hydro. It was astonishing to find out all those cool, interesting facts. Afterwards, we headed to another room, partnered with someone and were given a clipboard and quiz sheet where we had to find information and interesting facts out about the Snowy Hydro. We loved our little journey at the Snowy Hydro!! 
Lucy Zell, Lucy Profke, Jessie O'Connor, Jocelyn Altmann

National Arboretum 
The National Arboretum was where we lost all our energy! We had fun racing our peers to look for the special hole punches that were hidden in the trees and bushes. Rolling down the big hill was fun, but tiring when we had to walk back up. We loved it!  
Charlie Howard, Oscar Medd, Tex Mudford 

AUGUST P&F MEETING

The August P & F Meeting with be held next Tuesday, 20 August at 5:30 p.m. at school.  Please come along and show your support for our hardworking P & F Association.  Refreshments will be provided.

ST JOHN'S COLLEGE ORIENTATION DAY

Those students from our Year 6 class who will be attending St Johns College, Dubbo next year, will be participating in their first Orientation Day, next Wednesday, 21 August at the college.  We hope the students have a great day at their new school and enjoy meeting Year 6 children from other schools.

Full details about this day was shared with the relevant Year 6 families, via the Compass portal, on Monday, as well as a hardcopy flyer sent home.

YEAR 2 LITURGY

Next Thursday, 22 August, our Year 2 students will celebrate a class Liturgy in St Joseph's Church at 10:30 a.m.  Morning tea will be served after the Liturgy.  Please bring a plate to share.

FATHER'S DAY STALL

ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY

Our Father’s Day Stall is only two weeks away and will be held on Friday, 30 August. Thank you to Bianca Williams who is the coordinator of the stall this year.  The stall is run along the same lines as the Mother’s Day Stall.  Each year parents are asked to donate gifts for the Father’s Day Stall.  This gives the children the opportunity to purchase a gift for their fathers and grandfathers that they have selected themselves, whilst raising money for our P&F Association. Your contributions can be sent in at any time and left at the school office.   Ideas for the stall include chocolates, keyrings, mugs, caps, pens, tools, hose fittings, car care items, beanies, socks, etc.  It would be wonderful if we could have enough gifts for the children to purchase 2 gifts each.  Please keep an eye out for presents no matter how big or small….it all helps!  If the gifts could be wrapped in clear cellophane, that would be greatly appreciated.  There will be a raffle run in conjunction with the stall.  Tickets are $2.00 each and a book of five tickets will be sent home as soon as the raffle prizes have been finalised.

PICTURE PLATE PROJECT

Completed Picture Plate templates and payments are due back to school tomorrow, Friday, 16 August, for those families wanting a picture plate.

Thank you to Mrs McIsaac for meeting with many children in the library on Monday during lunch, to help them complete their masterpieces here at school!  Payment for these plates is required ASAP.

Payment can be made by calling into the school office and paying by cash or EFTPOS.  Payments can also be made over the phone.

PRIMARY LUNCHTIME CRICKET PROGRAM CONTINUES NEXT MONDAY

Our first lunchtime cricket session with Cricket NSW was an absolute blast on Monday, with 56 of our primary student participating in the session. 

Cricket sessions will continue next Monday, 19 August and the following two Mondays for those primary students (Years 3-6) who have registered online.

BOOK WEEK - INFANTS DRESS UP DAY

To celebrate Book Week this year, we will be holding a 'Dress Up Day' for all infants students from Kinder to Year 2, on Friday, 23 August.  This year, the theme for Book Week is "Reading is Magic" and we would love to see the infants students come to school next Friday as their favourite book character, magical or not!  If you experience any problems with a costume for your child, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will try to help you out.

We are holding a parade in the school square at 11:30 a.m. next Friday, 23 August for those parents who wish to attend and watch our infants children show off their wonderful outfits!

CANTEEN HELPERS NEEDED

We still have two canteen shifts to fill this term.  Helpers are needed on Wednesday, 28 August and Wednesday, 18 September.  If you can assist, please inform the ladies in the office ASAP.  If we don't have helpers for these dates, we will have to close the canteen.

NEW COMMITTEE REQUIRED FOR ST JOSEPH'S DEBUTANTE BALL

We are still in need of volunteers to take over the running of the debutante ball to ensure that this major fundraiser for our P&F Association can continue next year.  If you can assist, would you please contact the ladies in the office as soon possible. 

NEEDED FOR FETE - A COW (OR PODDY CALF!)

We need a quiet cow, or poddy calf, that can be led around the yard for the Cow Pat Lotto.  If anyone has a suitable cow, could you please let us know.

POSITION VACANT: ASSISTED TRAVEL SUPPORT OFFICER

The Department of Education currently has a position to fill to assist with the transport of a student with additional needs to travel safely to and from school.  This position is for three days a week.

The Assisted School Travel Program (ASTP) plays a significant role in meeting the needs of eligible students with a disability by providing free specialised transport to and from school where parents and carers are unable to provide or arrange transport for the student either fully or in part.

Benefits & Perks:

• Work reduced hours, twice a day and time to pursue other interests in your free time.
• ‘Feel-good’ work opportunity while giving back to your local community.
• Providing support to the disability community and their families.
• Only work school terms and enjoy school holidays.

As an ATSO you will:

• Play a significant role in meeting the needs of eligible students with a disability by ensuring they get to school safely and ready to engage in learning.
• Work with the school, parents, contractors and drivers to provide a high level of supervision.
• Be provided training in Child Protection, Code of Conduct, Anaphylaxis, emergency care and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Be provided with individual training on the specific travel support needs of students on transport.

Further information on the role can be found at:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/astp/atsos  

All successful applicants need to obtain a Working with Children Check, obtain the necessary proof of identity and complete the Expression of Interest form online.

HOW TO APPLY: The EOI and documents should be sent to ASTP at atso.astp@det.nsw.edu.au

MERIT AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who received Merit Awards at Assembly on Tuesday: 

KINDER: Molly Armstrong for a great explanation about the use of apostrophes in words, Jackie Gronow for working well in Science, Chase Copelin for showing great enthusiasm in our Olympics unit and Jazmyn Aberley for super sounding in Phonics.

YEAR 1: Thomas Riley for trying his best with sharing activities in Maths, Clark Baker for happily contributing to class discussions, Hamish Burrell for wonderful work in Reading Groups and Becky Hutchison for fantastic work with her ‘Rosie’s Walk’ writing task.

YEAR 2: Thomas Colwell, Grace Johnston, Lola Newton and Isabelle Sandry for working hard to tell the time when it is quarter past and quarter to.

YEAR 3: Ryle Walker for completing all work quickly and quietly, Harper Wykes for her expert knowledge of fractions and McKenzie Harvey for working hard to spell her words correctly. 

YEAR 4: Archie O’Connor for great contributions to our class novel discussions, Bella Hammond for showing great perseverance when completing tasks, Jack Howard for displaying a keen and interested attitude towards tasks and Liam Millstead for working diligently in Maths.

YEAR 5:  Clancy Larkin and Sophie Lacey for fantastic work identifying the characteristics of our class novel characters,  'August' and 'Jones'. 

YEAR 6:  Chloe Alexander for great work adding and subtracting fractions, Heidi Colwell for a conscientious effort in all areas, Kellie Hutchison for an awesome attitude and great participation in class activities and Oliver Peart for taking time and giving his Christmas artwork careful consideration.

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten this week our spelling focus has been the sound 'Jj' and we enjoyed brainstorming words that began with this sound. We wrote some excellent stories about things we could see in the jungle and we are trying really hard to use interesting vocabulary. During our Mathematics activities we combined groups to 20 using counters and a number line and continued focusing on teen numbers. Today we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption with a beautiful Mass prepared by our Year 5 friends. Our Kinder Liturgy is fast approaching and will be celebrated in Week 6. All our family and friends are welcome to attend. Remember to keep reading each night and revising sight words. As “practice makes perfect”! Have a lovely weekend. 
Mrs Alison Newstead & Miss Lisa  Harvey

Year 1

This week we received some very exciting mail! We received a postcard all the way from the Netherlands from Flynn and some photos from Mae at Agnes Water and Australia Zoo. In English, Year 1 has continued exploring narratives. We looked at the book, “The Wall in the Middle of the Book" and examined how the pictures support the text and give the reader more information about the characters and the story. In Maths we have been using concrete materials to model both half and quarters of a whole length and reading analog clocks to the half-hour using the terms ‘o'clock’ and ‘half past’. We all loved watching "Joseph the Dreamer" in Religion and learning about the meaning behind this story. As the Olympic Games came to an end this week, so did our unit of work. We concluded our learning of the Olympic Games with a colourful art activity displaying the Olympic Rings. Have a wonderful weekend! 
Mrs Julia Jeffery & Mrs Prue Best

Year 2

During Science we have been learning about natural materials and we watched a video about basket weaving in Indigenous culture. We tried our own weaving and it proved quite tricky! We have begun preparations for our liturgy next Thursday, ‘Love Like Jesus Did’, and we hope our family and friends are able to join us for the morning. Complex sentences have been our focus in Spelling and we have been playing cultural games in Sport. During writing time we typed our expositions, ‘Homework Should Be Banned’. The students were very passionate about the topic and came up with some pretty convincing arguments. Book Week is next Friday, so start looking in the dress up box for a costume of your favourite book character. Have a lovely weekend! 
Mrs Nikkola Thomas

Year 3

We celebrated a lovely Mass this morning for the Feast of the Assumption where Mary ascended into heaven body and soul. Thank you Year 5! We’ve read Chapter 3 of “Rowan of Rin” this week where we were introduced to the character of Allun. We completed a venn diagram to compare this character to the character of Rowan and then we attempted to write a comparison of these characters using subordinating conjunctions to write complex sentences. We also read Chapter 4 and found all the saying verbs in this chapter and wrote them into a table under the heading of the character that used them. We discussed how Emily Rodda used saying verbs to develop characterisation and chose a character to illustrate and write a description of based on the saying verbs they used. We finished up our Maths unit on fractions this week and began our unit on time, 2D space and angles. We began by identifying 30 minutes as being a half-hour and 60 minutes as an hour, connecting the quarter-hour to 15 minutes and recognising that the position of the numerals on an analog timepiece often represents two different values. Have a wonderful weekend! 
Mrs Phillipa Haling & Mrs Swade Wilson

Year 4

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Soccer Gala Day last Friday. You all displayed great sportsmanship and friendship throughout the day. We thank St Laurence’s Dubbo for organising such a fun day. In class we have been working on time in Maths and we are learning to represent and interpret digital time displays and learning to use the am and pm notations. In English we have been making inferences based on the text about characters. We then wrote a paragraph about Quin’s character based on these inferences. In Religion we’ve continued learning about Mary and enjoyed a lovely Mass today to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. Thank you Year 5. Have a lovely weekend! 
Mrs Melinda Morris

Year 5

Another week has flown by! We’ve been busy all week preparing for our Feast of the Assumption Mass. Thank you to all the Year 5 students for participating and 'Giving Of Your Best'. In our novel study we looked at how our senses are evoked throughout the novel and wrote a descriptive paragraph focusing on bringing our senses alive. In Maths this week we focused on addition and subtraction and learnt a new strategy called levelling to make these equations easier for us. In PDH with Mr Gibbons we learnt about peer pressure and watched a video about a swimmer who was peer pressured into smoking. We discussed what peer pressure is and shared examples of where we might find peer pressure. Have a fabulous weekend! 
Miss Abigail Dobson

Year 6

The Feast of the Assumption Mass this morning was a beautiful celebration of Mary and we thank Year 5 for sharing this celebration with us. In Maths this week we have been working on multiplicative relations and have explored prime numbers, products, factors and various strategies that can be applied when dividing. In Grammar we expanded our knowledge on causal conjunctions and their application in our writing. During Geography we have revised continents and oceans and refreshed our understanding of managed, natural and man-made environments. We enjoyed a gallery walk of our completed Christmas Artworks and have admired each other's dedication, skill and hard work that has been applied to create these. They look fantastic Year 6! We are looking forward to the Praise and Worship Emmanuel workshop next Tuesday in Dubbo. It will be a wonderful experience to share time in prayer and worship with other students from the diocese. Have a great weekend! 
Mrs Meichelle Schier, Mrs Donna Colwell, Mrs Haylee Barry

ALTAR SERVERS

CANTEEN ROSTER

NOTICEBOARD

As mentioned in last week's About, an Aboriginal Community Hub day is scheduled for Tuesday, 27 August, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Gilgandra Shire Hall.

If you would like to host a table at this event, please register using the link below:

https://form.jotform.com/tamarafrancis/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-island