Week 8 Term 1 2023

 Good afternoon parents,

It has been a lovely last couple of weeks preparing those students who will be receiving Eucharist for this first time this coming Sunday.  Both the candidate children and prayer buddies have been absolutely amazing in their preparation for this event. 

I am very much looking forward to celebrating this special occasion together Sunday 26th March!

A few quick reminders for Sunday...

Candidates (and families) are to come dressed in their Sunday best - white or light coloured clothing is most appropriate for this occasion as white symbolises that purity and being transformed.

• Please make sure that you are seated in your assigned seat by 8.15am. Getting there a few minutes before will allow time for a few photos outside if you wish. 
• A reminder that there is only room for immediate family in the pews - there is plenty of seating at the back and upstairs. Your child will have a dedicated pew with their name on a chalice image at the end. 
• You will be invited up as a family to receive the Eucharist with Fr Ian giving it to the candidate first. He will then offer it you, if you do not wish to receive the sacrament, please indicate this by crossing your arms over your chest that you only wish to receive a blessing.
• Once all members have received either Eucharist or a blessing, you will then return to your seat.You will then kneel down to say a small prayer in silence.
• Your child has been instructed on how to approach the sanctuary when your turn comes, you will move up on to the sanctuary and wait until it is your child's turn.
• If you can please make sure that upon arrival you are mindful of noise, this is a joyful occasion of course but we want to maintain the reverent nature of the event.  Similarly, when the time for Eucharist comes, please be mindful of maintaining a silent and reverent manner - we want each child to feel special in this moment!

Parent meetings

Parent Meetings - 4K parent meeting will be next week Week 9 for those of you that would like to come in and have a chat. Each block is for 15 minutes, however, interviews are approximately 10 - 12 minutes long. This allows me a couple of minutes to get ready for the next interview.  Please contact me via email if you would like a longer meeting to discuss any complex issues.  

Below is a link to my Outlook Calendar Booking Page and click on the words. From there, you will be able to see the available dates (calendar on the left) and times (time sheet on the right) and make a booking for a time that suits you. You may be sent a code if you do not use outlook and just click on 'guest' option to have access to this booking.

Click here for access to booking

Other reminders for this coming week...

Easter Egg Raffle - As one of the many amazing initiatives of the P&F, the Year 4 families will be donating Easter eggs to be used to create baskets to be raffled off!  This will be our year group fundraiser for the year.  Please bring in donations into the class and our parent reps will collect them up for the raffle.    

OUR LEARNING - WEEK...

We began working on our adventure narrative stories and planning out interesting events for our characters.  This week the students will begin writing their own character descriptions for a character of their choice - they will work on these all week and then publish!

In maths we are moving on from multiplication and onto addition and subtraction with larger numbers before completing our first investigation.  

In spelling we are looking at the sound below:

fish is most frequently represented by the grapheme f (e.g. fun, after, leaf). 

We usually use ff after short vowel sounds at the end of single-syllable words (e.g. off, puff).

The grapheme ph can represent fish (e.g. phone, graph). Words containing ph for fish usually originate from Greek. 

The grapheme gh represents fish in a small set of words, usually at the end of words (e.g. laugh, enough).

Character Strength of the Week - 

This week is another great one, yes, I know I say that every week but a super relevant one...it is the strength of Gratitude. .

St Ignatius Loyola was an expert in the art of spiritual direction. 

His Prayer the daily Examen was a way to reflect and show gratitude to God for our blessings.

Do you easily find what went well in your day and are thankful for it? 

Do you feel blessed?

Reminders for the coming week...

Harmony Day - We will be celebrating Harmony Day as a class on Tuesday 21st March, this is a day to celebrate that we all belong and that racism, bullying and inequity in society is not welcome any longer.

Extended Leave - Please note that if you are planning on starting your holidays earlier, can you please make sure that you fill in an extended leave form, these are available from the office.

Homework...

We are back into the world of Homework this week, please make sure that your child is reading out loud each night AND choosing a different question to answer each night.  All homework is to be brought in on this Friday morning to be marked, checked and new sheets collected ready for the following fortnight!

Thank you all for a great term so far, I am very much looking forward to seeing you all next week in our meetings.

Penny and Gemma

Week 6 Term 1 2023

Good morning parents,

I hope that the long weekend had come at just the right for you and your family and gave everyone a timely break.  Here we are over halfway through the first term of Year 4 facing the end of Week 6!

Eucharist Parent Child Evening

Thank you to those parents and their children who spent some time last Tuesday preparing for their First Eucharist later this month.  It was an informative and gentle insight into your child's upcoming sacrament and a great way to see some of the church teachings your child participates in at school.  Please be aware that the commitment mass will be 18th March.  

Laptops

Thank you to those parents who read last fortnight's blog and spent some additional time reviewing family use and expectations with laptops in your home.  The students are settling in with their use at school and understanding that they are an awesome learning tool.  Some students have added cursor apps and features but I have explained they need to know how to change them back to normal as they will be asked to return them to standard look and size when at school to minimize distractions to learning and the tasks at hand.   

Parent Teacher Meeting 

I will be conducting parent interviews in Week 9 for those of you that would like to come in and have a chat. Each block is for 15 minutes, however, interviews are approximately 10 - 12 minutes long. This allows me a couple of minutes to get ready for the next interview.  Please contact me via email if you would like a longer meeting to discuss any complex issues.  

Below is a link to my Outlook Calendar Booking Page and click on the words. From there, you will be able to see the available dates (calendar on the left) and times (time sheet on the right) and make a booking for a time that suits you. You may be sent a code if you do not use outlook and just click on 'guest' option to have access to this booking.

Click here for access to booking

P&F Carwash - Please see the flyers located around the school and shared through the socials and the newsletter about this great initiative.

Seesaw

Our busy term of learning continues and I am looking forward to having some more work ready for you to look at via Seesaw in the next week or two. You should have seen a great example of your child's writing skills and our current work with writing a narrative with an interesting opening paragraph called a sizzling starter.  Coming up next week will be an example of your child's current oral reading skills and comprehension understanding of a text they have read, followed by an example of our maths learning later this term.  

Please feel free to give your child's work a like or a comment - they love seeing your input when they use the Seesaw app.  Also feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding these formal learning samples or any other queries in regards to your child's current learning or achievement levels.  

Character Strength of the Week - 

This week we are looking at a super important one! It is the character strength of Fairness. 

It is one that is at play in many areas of life and often one of the hardest to maintain...especially with those that challenge us most!

St John Baptist De La Salle was known for his contributions to education reform and to equality in education for all in France. 

He strongly advocated for the “the last, the least and the lost”. Some great questions to bring to the family dinner table are:

• Do you treat everybody the same? 
• Do you not let your feelings bias your decisions? 

Homework - Week 6 

Just a quick reminder about the process of completing our homework in Year 4.

If you can, please make sure that your child is reading each night, preferably out loud for at least ten minutes and that your child is choosing a question to answer, writes this answer in the given space and then has you sign it.

This gets them thinking about what they have just read and is super important in helping them connect to their reading and make sense of what they have read, giving it purpose.The mental maths number sentences are meant to be a simple review of basic facts. 

This needs to be brought in each fortnight and are due this Friday to be collected, review and returned ready to complete on Monday.  

Please let me know if you have any questions, wishing you all a great week!

IMPORTANT DATES (more information can be found on the school website)

10th March: General assembly

12th March: Year Six Car Wash

15th March: NAPLAN Online Test Window (15th - 24th March)

18th March: Year Four Family Mass and Eucharist Commitment Mass

23rd March: Interschool Swimming Carnival (4-6)

26th March: Year Four Sacrament of  First Eucharist

27th March: Parent Interview Week

Thank you for your continued support and assistance, 

Penny and Gemma