St Raphael’s Catholic School Term 3, Week 2/B Newsletter 25 July 2016
Dear Parents Tonight the P&F Association meets in thestaff room at 7pm for the first of three Term 3 meetings. All parents and friends of the school are warmly welcomed. Next week (Tuesday) an information evening will be conducted for parents and children in Stage 3 who are preparing to progress to Stage 4. Parents of and children in Years Five and Six will have the chance to familiarize yourselves with the offerings of the secondary department. This week a formal orientation sessionwill be conducted specifically for the Year 6 students. At various times throughout the term Stage 3 students will use secondary learning facilities as has become the normal practice. Secondary elective courses are up for re-selection. So parents and students of both Year 8 and 9 will be guided through the process of elective course selection. Each student will study three courses from the range offered. Kindy Start is a chance we offer, later in Term 3 and into Term 4, for parents and children to have a very close look at the offerings of “big school” and to determine readiness for kindergarten. If you want to be included in our communications pleasenotifyGenevieve at the front office. Year 11 Courses for next year are virtually finalised and patterns of study letters will be circulated in the near future. Thank you for your full and timely participation in these decision-making processes. The decisions made are important and should not be rushed, so our early action in these matters actually gives us all the time we need to invest in the process.
Michael Gallagher Principal
Luke 11:1 “Lord teach us to pray...” Prayer Relationships thrive on good communication. To grow in love and friendship we need to communicate honestly and often. When we pray, we express our desire to grow closer to God. When we pray, we become closer to Jesus who gives us grace to be good, holy people.
Monday 25 P&F Meeting 7pm Tuesday 26 First Eucharist Parent Meeting Wednesday 27 Cyber Safety: Saving Lil & Archie (K-11)
Thursday 28 Happy birthday to Bradey Trethewey Yr 6 to 7 Transition Day Friday 29 Happy birthday to Felicity Henderson, Sophie Johnston and Matilda Proctor Primary Assembly
Happy birthday to Chloe Wilson for Saturday.
P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Dates for the Calendar Tuesday 26th July - Eucharist Enrolment meetings with parents 3.30pm or 7pm in St Brigid’s Hall. Altar Servers’ Roster th Sat 30 : Alisha Azzopardi, Tianna Azzopardi School Readers for Weekend Parish Masses: th Sat 30 : Price Family School Eucharistic Ministers for Weekend Parish Masses: st Sun 31 : Mrs S Whiteley School Computer Roster th Sat 30 : Miss R Downes Sun31st: Mrs P Bischof
Year 6 into 7 Orientation Day School transitions can be daunting experiences. They often involvestudents’ expectations and concerns, and the processes of leaving one location, settling into another, leaving old friends, making new friends, and continuing learning and development. Recent research indicates that the support offered to children and youngpeople by families and school at these important times can determine whether students remain engaged and connected to school and ultimately have a successful educational experience. At St Raphael’s we try to make all school transitions positive, informative, inclusive and welcoming. This week Year 6 students will be involved in the Year 6 into 7 Orientation Day. Students will be involved in various activities in order to orient themselves with secondary subjects and facilities. Following this event the Year 6 into Year 7 Parent/student information night will be held on Tuesday 2nd August at 6.30pm Secondary Mathematics News – “MATHS MATTERS!!!” Year 7 – 10 ~ One week back into term and all classes are now innew rooms and settling into newareas of Mathematics. New topics give the students a chance to show their understanding with other areas that they may feel more comfortable with (or have to work harder on the challenges that might pop up with different questioning styles). To assist your child with these new concepts, please be aware that each student needs to be working through some home/external tasks which are given on the Mathematics Application Portfolio information setup. Students should be using some individual initiatives to extend their understanding of newly taught information (e.g. Work through questions from their Online Pearson Textbooks, Google an interactive game relating to the topic, watch a Maths video to listen to other explanations (Khan Academy is a great website – just search the topic needed) are all options that they can have a go at). Just remember, as parents we are to keep prompting our P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
child/ren to look for these options of learning, and ask your child/ren about what they may have done in class each day. Working with teenagers is always interesting, let alone parenting….. I challenge all parents to have these daily conversations and it would be encouraging to expect their responses to be more than one word answers. As we know, they do not like to talk much about their lessons of the day; however, by having this recall opportunity, it assists the child/ren to imbed their new learning into long term memory. So please, ask them about their current Maths topic. Reminder: At the end of each even week, students need to hand in their attempted and parental signed Mathematics Application portfolio pack. It will be collected and they will receive a new pack at the beginning of a new topic. Thank you for your continuous assistance to help our students/ your child/ren. Yr 11 General Mathematics ~ As adults, the idea of the Financial Year turn around can be demanding. The Yr 11 students are finalising the last of their Money Maths – Taxation Topic. At the same time, it has been wonderful to see the students putting a huge effort into the Driving Assessment task that is due very soon. Reminders: Week 3 - some students are on Work Placement and will not be in class for that time – it is important for them to see me regarding work that continues to be covered. Due to time limitations, work will need to be caught up and understood. Week 10 - Preliminary Exams – please be aware that your child needs to be reviewing all work that has been covered over the three terms of Yr11. Viewing past papers from the internet is a great way to study for this exam. Last Week's Challenge Answer ~ 35 This Week's Challenge Question -
If there are any questions about the Student Application Portfolios (not the Challenge Question), please don't hesitate to contact the Secondary Mathematics teachers. Mrs Cherie MacCabe
Year 4 Information Excursion: We are all getting excited about our excursion to the Hyde Park Convict Barracks in
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au
Sydney nextTuesday. A note that includes the itinerary and what is required has been sent home today with eachstudent. Recycled Art: Students have been asked to bring to school any recyclable or reusable materials for their art projects this term. Library News Week 2 Term 3 2016 BOOK WEEK 2016: In week 6 the Book of the Year winners will be announced and once againwe will have a Book Parade during the week. This is an early notice for students/parents tostart thinking about the book character they want to come to school as on the day. CHESS: the end of term two saw the conclusion of the stage two chess knockout. Yoi Yap wasthe winner of a many hard fought games, well done. Runner up was Jack Campbell, with RorySullivan in third place. Congratulations. PREMIER READING CHALLENGE 2016: Students in years 3 to 9 need to have their list of texts read to me by August 19th. MS READATHON: This is a chance to read books, get sponsorship and support people sufferingfrom MS. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system and fundraising enablespeople living with multiple sclerosis to get support to meet their goals and live well. Studentsread books throughout July and raise funds. Details available at www.msreathathon.org.au https://www.doitforms.org.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=reg ister.start&eventID=504is theregister access; students will need to search for our school and select it to process theirparticipation. Thank you to all of the students who have returned books following the holidays. Mrs Skinner, Librarian Canberra Super Stem Excursion What a great day! At the end of last term all students in Stages 4 and 5 and 14 teachers spent a day inCanberra immersed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) experiences. In a jam packed program visits were made to Questacon, the Royal Australian Mint and the Ian Potter Technology Learning Centre.
recycled materials and using state of the art equipment to build structures which could solve everyday problems. Students negotiated, consulted, experimented and designed a variety of structures. The range of designs was truly amazing and indicative of the active minds and enthusiasm of StRaphael’s students to embrace STEM and the challenges of learning.
National Australian Youth Dressage Titles Congratulations to Sarah Clarke who recently competed in the National Australian Youth Dressage Titles. The field consisted of entrants up to 25 years nd th th and Sarah outdid herself by obtaining a 2 , 4 and 7 placing at the event. Well done Sarah!
Book club Book club orders are due back this Friday. Please make sure that your child’s name and class are clearly marked. Thank you. Canteen Update This week’s roster is as follows: Tues Wed 26 27 Karen Campbell
Thurs 28 CLOSED
Fri 29 Lisa Mallon
Mon 1 Mary Campbell
Angela Kollas
Tracey Gunnyon
Nicky Hudson
Sally Bruncher
In small groups students actively experienced a multitude of creative, analytical and problem-solving challenges as well as investigating scientific processes involved in the making of money. Workshops at the Technology Learning Centre focused on taking P.O. Box 7, Cowra 2794 Tel: 6342.2940
Email: straphaels@bth.catholic.edu.au School Website: www.straphaelscowra.catholic.edu.au