Term 3, Week 8, 2 September 2021
Principal's Message
We are almost finished the fourth week of Blended Learning during lockdown. I am fortunate to get to go along to many class zooms and see a lot of student work. I am inspired by the students engagement in learning and there is much to celebrate. Check out the video for this week's award winners.
During Lockdown it is not unusual to feel fatigued and it is important you take a break when needed by doing such things as going for a family walk or playing a board game together. Although I did hear that board games have gotten a little competitive in some households. This made me smile as it reminded me of when I used to play monopoly with my family growing up. I remember my brother flipping the board over when things didn't quite go his way. Needless to say it was a little too competitive in my house too.
Spring Photo Competition
On Wednesday I got a pinch and a punch for the last day of the month from one of our Kinder students. It reminded me that spring was here and how could one forget with such glorious weather. So what better than a photo competition. Thanks to all the students who entered and we have 4 winners. Congratulations to........
Kiara - Spring Coloured Water Balloons
Webber Girls - The picture of the girls in clover with their dogs
Max N - Make a wish Dandelion
You have each won a book prize which will either sent to you or given to you at school. A video of all entries is included in this newsletter.
Let's hope it is only one more week of lockdown!
Stay safe and well,
Renay Condon
Assistant Principal's Message
Learning at Home- Support for Families Once again during the past two weeks I have seen many examples of outstanding student learning in the blended learning world. Both on zooms and in work samples uploaded onto Seesaw. Congratulations must go to the parents and the teachers who are supporting their learning efforts.
During this period of ‘blended learning’ we have a large majority of St John’s students learning from home. Last newsletter I wrote about and shared resources relating to wellbeing whilst learning from home. I hope you found the resources helpful.
This week I’m going to share a fantastic site designed to provide support for families whilst learning at home set up by the Catholic Schools Office in Lismore.
Click this link to open the site; Learning from Home - Families This site is very user friendly and includes a wide range of resources, ideas and support for families regarding both learning and wellbeing while children are engaged in learning at home. The link has resources related to the following areas;
- Learning
- Technology
- Additional needs
- Break activities
- Wellbeing students/parents
- Prayer & Catholic faith
Below is a sample of the type of resources found at the site. It is basically a set of questions parents can employ to support student learning over the course of a day. These questions over time come naturally to teachers, however, for many parents it’s a new frontier and scaffolds such as this one may be helpful.
Best regards Greg
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Super STEM Learning
During Blended Learning students in Kinder and S1 have been engaging in some super STEM learning activities. Their teachers have worked together to link quality literature texts to STEM. The children were introduced to the book through an audiovisual clip and then set a STEM problem to solve based on the story. These activities link closely with the investigations students would normally be involved in through our play-based learning at school.
The tasks promote creative thinking, problem-solving, designing and making, hands-on construction, mathematical ideas and fine and gross motor skills.
Last week, after reading "Who Sank The Boat" by Pamela Allen the students were asked to help by designing a boat or a bridge to get the animals across the lake. This week they were asked to design something to catch Pig the Pug when he falls out the window or create a new friend for Trevor.
Students shared their designs during their zoom sessions today and presented their ideas to their friends. Other students posted videos of their creations on Seesaw. It is amazing to see the creativity emerging from these young minds. I am sure we are seeing some STEM experts of the future at work here!
Kinder Religous Education
STAGE 2
National Aborigional and Torres Strait Islander Literacy Day The 1st of September was National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Literacy Day. The day is to raise awareness about closing the literacy gap for Indigenous students. This week the Stage 2 and 3 students have engaged in Zoom Sessions with players from the Sydney Rabbitohs. On Wedensday we listened to Braiden Burns Read a story called “Alfie’s Wish”. On Thursday, Cody Walkers spoke to us about the importance of taking care of our bodies mentally and physically.
Stage 3
SCHOOL NEWS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Our birthday people
Daisy, Kiara, Antonia, Theodore & Mrs Condon
