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Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan
This week the Year 6 students are living the Benedictan value of Hospitality. In his Rule, Benedict defines hospitality as offering warmth, acceptance and joy when welcoming another. Year 6 are looking forward to welcoming our community in prayer Friday.
Benedict says, Let all be received as Christ [RB 53]. This understanding of hospitality is based on relating to another as guest, on cultivating an openness to others. Whilst our students are coming to understand Hospitality in a literal sense, they are also working towards understanding hospitality as St Benedict teaches - not as a social event but rather a holy event. Hospitality is costly, not in terms of money, but in the demands it makes on our hearts, our time, and our personal resources.
This leads me to reflect on the work that our Year 6 students are doing throughout this year. Overall, they are contributing so much back into our community by way of hosting assemblies, welcoming visitors into our school, leading the celebration of liturgies and leading the student community with great responsibility.
Through all of this they are not asking What will I get out of this? But rather, What more can I give?
We are, indeed blessed, to have such great student leaders who are having such a positive influence on our student community. Our Year 6 parents should be very proud!
As we journey together into the student holiday period, with Jesus,
Toni Sillis
Principal
COVID-19 Update - Mask Requirements:
As you would know through media reports, NSW Health has advised that masks are now mandatory on public transport and in all public indoor venues in all of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour (excluding the Central Coast and Hunter) until 12.01am on Thursday 1 July 2021. Click here for more detail on face mask rules.
Good Samaritan has received confirmation from Catholic Schools NSW (via CEDoW) that schools are NOT included in the list of indoor areas where a face mask must be worn.
However, while schools are not directly identified as a public indoor venue, we strongly encourage parents to wear face masks whilst in classrooms.
Thank you for wearing masks in our classrooms during parent teacher interviews this week.
Thank You:
As we conclude Term 3, I would like to thank all our parents who work tirelessly to support our school community by ensuring that your child is Ready to Learn each day. Thanks is also extended for the positive relationship between parents and staff which continues to be strengthened each day.
Only when we work together and adopt a positive and hope filled attitude do we see students strive in their work, relationships and spirit.
Getting Ready for Book Week:
Book Week is just around the corner. Book Week is the annual celebration of books and Australian authors and illustrators. The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week since 1945.
Book Week for 2021 will run from 21 August - 27 August. Good Samaritan’s Book Week Parade will be held on Thursday 26 August.
The Theme of Book Week this year is Old Worlds New Worlds Other Worlds. Below is a colouring competition for Year 1 students. The design was completed by Eadie Cychowski in 2Blue.
Our Captains & Vice Captains invite you to:
GSFM Teddy Bear’s Picnic
The picnic will be held following the postponed Mother’s Day Liturgy as a celebration of the end of Term 2 on Friday 25 June.
The Liturgy will begin at 12noon.
Year 6 will be living the Benedictan value of HOSPITALITY with a selection of cakes and slices to share with you on the day.
Please note that in the event of poor weather Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 & Year 6 will join together for the Liturgy. Following the liturgy we will join together for the Teddy Bear’s picnic.
Given the current communication regarding restrictions, all parents & visitors are asked to wear face masks if attending the school site on Friday.
If the school receives further advice regarding restrictions following the publication of this newsletter a Compass alert will be sent to parents.
Screen Time and School Holidays:
As the school holidays approach it may be time to relook at the agreements you have with your child about the use of technology at home. Promoting healthy online habits and that includes a balanced use of devices supports children to use digital technologies with confidence. Your routines at home can include device-free times and places in your home.
It is important to remember that devices should always be kept out of children’s bedrooms. The temptation to use the device instead of sleeping is too great for primary school aged children.
You will find further information from the below.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-advice
Throughout Term 3 Good Samaritan will participate in Jump Rope for Heart.
The link below is the launch video that the students will watch in the first week of Term 3. The students will jump rope for fitness lessons throughout the term. The focus of Jump Rope for Heart is to promote healthy living and fitness whilst also raising funds for the Heart Foundation. More information will be communicated in Term 3.
Claim the Date:
On Tuesday 7 September Good Samaritan Staff will be attending the annual Staff Spirituality Day. This is a Pupil Free Day so students will not attend school on this day.
Staff will be working off site on the day at The Hermitage Retreat Centre in Mittagong.
The staff have been working throughout the year to gain a greater understanding of the PDHPE syllabus and how it can be targeted to meet the needs of each student. In our last professional development day we looked at the five core social and emotional competencies (SELS) that support students and adults understand how their unique identities support and shape their learning. We looked at the data we have for each class to decide where our focus needs to be in the following five core competencies:
- Self Awareness
- Self Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Skills
- Responsible Decision Making
This is what the teaching of these competencies have looked like in Amaroo and the Learning support Centre this term.
Amaroo Blue
The teachers in Amaroo and the Learning support Centre have been working hard to develop the students’ self awareness.
In Amaroo Blue students have been learning about what the 5 social norms mean to us. We read about them, discussed them and then acted them out in a role play. The students were able to choose how they would represent the ideas involved in the social norms. Here are some great photos of their work:
Amaroo Gold
In Religious Education, we have been learning about the sacrament of Baptism.
The key symbols of Baptism are:
We also visited our church and saw the Baptismal font and Easter Candle that is used during the celebration of Baptism.
In Personal Development we have been learning to understand, express and manage our emotions. We have read books about our emotions, played emotions board games, painted pictures of our emotions and written about times that we have felt a wide range of emotions.
I feel excited when I go to the basketball and the Illawarra Hawks win!
By Nicholas
I feel happy when I play with my new puppy
I feel shy when I meet new people.
I feel cheeky when I trick my friends.
I feel upset when Nicholas is not at school.
By Leo
I feel happy when I hug my dog Frankie.
I feel tired after playing soccer.
I feel angry when my brother Raf annoys me.
I feel surprised when I open my presents.
By Roman.
I feel happy when I play with my friends.
I feel sad when it rains.
By Jack
Learning Support Centre
In the Learning Support Centre lately we have been focussing on Active Listening and Appropriate Responses in a conversation.
A question needs to be on topic and seek more information about what the person just said.
A comment needs to be on topic and add on to another person’s comment or question.
A connection relates what the other person just said to an experience of your own.
We have learned that when making a connection we need to be careful not to take over the conversation with a story about ourselves!
We have also been holding ‘Yarning Circles’ to practice these skills.
Yarning circles have been used by Indigenous peoples from around the world for centuries to learn from a collective group, build respectful relationships, and to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge.
In a yarning circle:
- people sit in a circle and listen deeply while taking turns to talk.
- a ‘power instrument’ is passed around clockwise and only the person with the item speaks.
- understanding and respect.
As the disciples began to witness Jesus performing miracles, they were at times bewildered and frightened. In our own faith journey it can be scary and sometimes confusing as we grow to realise how powerful God is. That one so powerful would love us so profoundly is simply breathtaking.
First Holy Communion Parent Meeting:
Wednesday 30 June and Thursday 1 July, 2021 at 6.30pm SJV Co-Cathedral.
Book Week is coming
Theme: Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.
When: Thursday 26 August
Please join us for our Book Parade and Book Fair. More information to come early next term.
Book Week Poster Competition
Thank you to all of the students who entered our Book Week Poster Competition. The winner and highly recommended prizes will be awarded at our first Assembly next term.
Colouring Competition Kindergarten & Year 1.
A big thank you to Eadie, Year 2 who designed our Book Week Colouring Competition for Kinder and Year 1. Please find attached to this newsletter. All Kindergarten and Year 1 who wish to enter, please bring your entries to school by Thursday 15 July for judging. Prizes to be awarded at our first Friday Assembly on 16 July.
Premier’s Reading Challenge 2021
We encourage all our students to continue to read over the holidays. The Premier’s Reading Challenge finishes in August and we are hoping a number of our Year 6 students might receive their platinum award and our Year 3-5 students who may be eligible for their gold award.
When you enter the Kindergarten classrooms each morning you will see the children happily engaged in lots of fun activities.
These fun activities are known as their OT rotations. The aim of these rotations is to improve hand strength, core strength and the child’s proprioception. The OT rotations help the students develop their fine motor skills and get their hands and fingers ready for writing.
Fine motor skills are necessary for every task that a child completes. From play, to handwriting, to managing buttons on clothing, and colouring. Motor skills like the pincer grasp and hand strength are essential for a child’s development and the ability to use their hands in small motor movements. Fine motor skills, involving small muscle movements in the hand, are an essential component of writing.
On Friday, Kindergarten and Year 1 had a visit from representatives of Athlete's Foot and Ascent footwear. The children had lots of fun learning how to tie shoelaces.
In English, Kindergarten students have also been learning to write sentences using their High Frequency Words and other known words. The children have been practicing using a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence and a full stop at the end of each sentence.
Canteen News:
Canteen is only open Wednesday to Friday
The Uniform Shop is now open on
Tuesday mornings 8.30am to 9.30am
Thursday afternoons 2pm to 3.15pm
Appointments Only
Winter Uniforms are now available
In order to manage the physical distancing requirements, parents will continue to make appointments at the uniform shop to purchase uniforms.
This can be done through the Compass Portal.
If you would like to place an order with the uniform shop an order form has been added to the school website under parents/uniform.
Please complete the form and return with the correct money to the school office.
These orders will be filled on uniform shop days.
Social Norms:
In PDHPE, students are provided with opportunities to develop self-management and interpersonal skills to build and maintain personal and social capabilities. Students develop skills and competency to navigate through changes and challenges in life. They are provided with opportunities to learn to appreciate diversity and understand the importance of building caring and respectful relationships.
Social norms and coming to know how they affect their relationships aids students as they grow and change in primary school. At Good Samaritan we have 5 social norms that the students are coming to know and understand. These are promoted particularly on our playgrounds but are proving important in many social situations.
Social norm #1: Meet and greet politely.
- Say greetings, introductions, and goodbyes.
- Politely offer and receive compliments.
- Be able to start and finish conversations.
Social norm #2: Take turns talking.
- Listen when others are speaking and look them in the eye.
- Wait if adults are talking.
- Respond appropriately and at the right time.
Social norm #3: Pay attention to others.
- Stop what you’re doing so you can listen.
- Read people’s emotions through their body language and facial expressions.
- Change your behaviour to match what other people are doing, such as quieting down with the rest of the room.
Social norm #4: Think about others before acting.
- Ask for consent.
- Don’t cut in line.
- Wait your turn.
- Stand a comfortable distance away when talking.
From the School Handbook:
Parents Supporting Student Learning: Replenishing Equipment for the New School Term
As we approach the upcoming holidays parents are asked to ensure that their child’s pencil case and school supplies are replenished. Having everything at their fingertips each day aids in the learning process allowing children to focus on the task at hand rather than worrying about not having the equipment to complete the task.
Uniform Check:
Throughout the holidays please check your child’s uniform is clearly labelled with their name. Also, if your child needs new school shoes or joggers they must be within the uniform requirements i.e: black school shoes and predominately white joggers similar to the images below. Your child’s uniform, including school hat, school shoes and joggers, needs to ‘last the distance’ until the end of the year. This is particularly important for Year 6 students.
June
- Monday-Friday 21-25 June Parent Teacher Interview Week
- Friday 25 June Mother's Day Liturgy and Picnic
- Friday 25 June Last Day Term 2
- Wednesday 30 June First Holy Communion Parent Meeting 6.30pm SJV Co-Cathedral
TERM 3 DATES:
JULY:
- Thursday 1 July First Holy Communion Parent Meeting 6.30pm SJV Co-Cathedral
- Monday 12 July Feast of St Benedict
- Friday 16 July Grandparent’s Day
- Monday 12 July P&F meeting ALL WELCOME 7pm School Library
AUGUST:
- Tuesday 3 August Sth Coast Region Athletics
- Thursday -Friday 5-6 August Year 6 Camp
- Monday 8 August Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
- Mon-Fri 23-27 August Book Week
- Thursday 26 August Book Week Parade
SEPTEMBER:
- Friday 3 september - Father’s Day Breakfast/Prayer & Stall
- Monday 6 September Students return to wearing Summer Uniforms
- Tuesday 7 September Staff Spirituality Day - PUPIL FREE DAY
- Wednesday-Thursday 8-9 September Assistant Principal Overnight Retreat
- Thursday-Friday 9-10 September Basketball Gala Days (Junior & Senior)
- Monday 13 September MacKillop Athletics Carnival
- Friday 17 September Term 3 Concludes
GSFM OSHC
Coomaditchie NAIDOC apparel order form
Please find attached our NAIDOC gear & order form for this year.
We have done a bulk order and hope to be able to fill everyone’s orders. The polo & singlets will arrive for NAIDOC week but the other items will be about 2 weeks later, due to an issue with the supplier.
If this isn’t possible we will do another order – which will take 6 weeks from the date the order is submitted to the supplier.
Our zip jackets are fleecy lined hence the reason for the price jump. There is a mesh option which slightly cheaper, if you would like the mesh option please indicate on the order form.
Products come in sizes – Kids 4 – 14 & XS-7XL
Hoody - $75
Polo - $45
Singlet - $40
Compression pants - $95
Zip jacket – fleece option - $95
Zip Jacket – mesh option - $85
