Dear Parents and Carers,

Over the past week I have had the pleasure of working very closely with students in their classrooms. On Monday I taught a lesson for Year 1 where several of our teachers critiqued the lesson. A lesson study such as this aims to support teachers in improving their planning and delivery of learning for their students.

At Good Samaritan we strategically map the improvement agenda of the school based on what we already know about the way that children learn and also what we continue to learn about the most efficient way of learning. This year we are taking a particular focus on the teaching of reading.

Teaching of any subject area is more than the delivery of skills. Primary school is a time for building socialisation and it is through this socialisation that children are able to express themselves as individuals. In order to socialise successfully, children need to master the shared conventions of the English language. This means that they have a shared knowledge, shared approach to reading, spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation. 

As we delve deeper into the research of the teaching of reading, we are coming to further understand the science behind how a person learns to read. Currently, there are researchers releasing papers and information that are informing our practice. Hence, the necessity to look very closely at our lessons with lesson studies. As teachers, we continue to thrive on building up the critical knowledge of language and literacy that is needed to take our students on the amazing and life changing journey of becoming effective and efficient readers.

With any learning, comes elements of change. As a Catholic school community we look to the lives and role models throughout the history of the church to help guide and understand the necessity for change. St Benedict is one such model.

Throughout his life, Benedict faced many challenges where he had to adjust to a new reality. Benedict’s skill lay in the ability to bring new voice, new life, new direction. St Benedict’s life shows us that challenges can be unsettling but must be confronted; that change is hard and can be slow; a new vision is required for change to manifest itself and that change comes, not by hoping for it, but by doing it.

Our work at Good Samaritan can be challenging but we hold a vision that:

Through our Catholicity we will inspire excellence in learning and teaching so that the school’s culture will allow all to flourish within our school community.

The teaching of the English language - reading & writing - aims to ultimately ensure that our students are able to actively participate in a society where they can flourish as an individual who shares a common language with those around them. Our continuous school improvement plan supports the introduction and implementation of the new English and Mathematics syllabus in 2022/2023. Our school plan will continue to support the implementation of the full curriculum by the end of 2024.

As we journey together through the week, with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal

A huge thank you is extended to our P&F who hosted the Welcome BBQ on Monday evening. It was just fantastic to be able to hold this Good Samaritan tradition once again this year after two years of cancellations.

Parents, students and staff enjoyed being together, seeing old friends again and making new connections that potentially will be life lasting.

Thank you to our parent volunteers who cooked close to 400 sausages and many kilos of onions.

These photos say it all about the positive energy, excitement and delight of our community being back together again.

Whilst the gates open at approximately 2:45pm for parents to come on site, it is important that parents and carers understand that lessons are still continuing at this time. Please be mindful not to go on verandahs, tap on the windows or try to get students’ attention during this learning time. Distractions such as this not only slow learning but also prevent an efficient dismissal. We appreciate parents waiting on the grass areas in the K-2 playground and towards the edge of the COLA near Year 5 on the primary playground.

This week’s assembly will be a full school assembly on Friday beginning at 2:15pm under the Primary shade sail. Parents are most welcome to come along.

On Friday 8 April, students will participate in an Easter Hat Parade. All students are invited to participate. The Easter Hat Parade has its  historical roots as a fancy head covering that people wore in readiness for the Easter celebration. During the Great Depression the Easter Hat was a simple luxury. It represents the harmony associated with having something new and the new life that we, as a Catholic community, celebrate at Easter.

The parade will begin at 1pm and all parents are invited to come along. The Easter Raffle will be drawn following the parade.

We have purchased new readers for the classrooms which are now ready to be covered. If you can spare some time on Friday 1 April 9am-11am, Monday 4 April 9am-11am OR Tuesday 5 April 9am-11am you are welcome to join Mrs Medina in the Library. You can come along for the whole time, a short time or some time in between.

Don’t worry if you can’t make these times, as you can assist by taking some books home to cover as well.

Please complete this form if you can help out - we’d love to see you there!

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE (PRC) 2022

PRC is back again.  From Monday 21 March, students will be able to borrow any books from their respective challenge group (3-4 or 5-6).

Those students doing the PRC can check in SORA and find one of the Premier's Reading Challenge categories matching the right challenge level.  If students are having trouble, they can download the reading log from the PRC website (https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html) to keep a track of what has been read.  We will assist them to enter their data.

Students from Yrs 3-4 need to log 20 titles in which 5 of them are free choices.  Yrs 5-6 need to log 20 titles of which 5 are free choices. Students from K-2 will do the Challenge (K-2) as a classroom.

The last day to log PRC titles is 19 August 2022 for students.

Mrs Medina

PRC Co-ordinator

Library Borrowing has started!

This week students have been heading to the Library with their class teacher in order to reorientate themselves to the Library space and borrowing. Below is the Library borrowing timetable so your child will need to bring along a Library bag on their rostered day.

VEGETABLE WEEK AND THE BIG VEGIE CRUNCH

Did you know that only 5% of NSW children eat enough vegetables? Our school is on a mission to change this statistic, by encouraging munch and crunch everyday to get kids excited about vegetables!

Vegetable Week 2022 will run from Monday 28 March to Friday 1 April, with The Big Vegie Crunch to be held at 10am on Thursday 31 March.

We invite all students to bring in vegetables during Week 10, especially on Thursday for Munch and Crunch to take part in this event. 

Please find attached an information flyer for how to increase Vegetables at home. 

Parent Info Vegetable Week.pdf

Learning in Year 1 

Year 1 have been very busy during Term 1! We have been reading and viewing digital texts with a focus on the characters in the story. We have been focusing on what the characters look like and how they feel and act. We have created lists that describe the characters and from the list we have written sentences that start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

Some of our favourite characters are –

. Yirrikipayi from No Way Yirrikipai!

. The Gruffalo and mouse from The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

. Elmer from Elmer The Patchwork Elephant by David McKee and

. Pig and Trevor from Pig The Pug by Aaron Blabey

We have also been learning about Lent and the Year 6 students came to our classroom to tell us about Project Compassion and how we can help others.

We love going to Music with Mrs McCabe and we love going to PE with Mrs Olima.

We loved it when our buddies came to visit us!

Life is great in Year 1 and we love learning new things!

In English we have been learning about the structure of stories through books such as 'The Rainbow Fish' and some Dreamtime stories like 'Tiddalick the Greedy Frog' and 'How the Bird got their Colours'. The students have been exploring the characters of the stories through drama and art. 

In Maths, the children have been working hard to understand how to use the jump strategy to complete addition and subtraction questions. 

Science has seen the children learning about the different states of matter and how matter can change when heated, cooled or mixed. We had a great time making pancakes, using solid and liquid ingredients to create a yummy treat.

This week has been a very busy week for Diocesian representative trials! Due to the recent rainy weather a number of Diocesian trials had been delayed.

Best wishes to the girls who are participating in the netball trials that are being held today and the boys trialling for rugby league tomorrow.

Wollongong Diocesean Hockey Trials

Last Friday, trials were held at Narellan in warm and humid conditions for selection in the Wollongong  team. Chloe O. demonstrated some amazing hockey skills and represented herself and the school with enthusiasm and pride. Well done Chloe!

Diocesean Football trials (Soccer) Boys and Girls

The Diocesian football trials were held on Monday in the indoor stadium in Unanderra. We had a number of extremely talented girls and boys who showcase their skills very well. Congratulations to Ruby R,  Vienna G, Jonas M, Callum C, Jensen N and Edward P who were selected to trial. Watch this space for more information once the Wollongong team has been named. 

New South Wales Catholic Primary Schools (NSWCPS): Swimming

Congratulations to Sarah, Bonnie, Hope and Macy who swam as a relay team yesterday at Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre Homebush. They gave it all they had and had a tremendous experience.

If you have a sibling that will be ready to begin school in 2023 contact the office for an enrolment pack.

Love of Learning

How Can We Build & Maintain Empathy in Our Community?

• Show kindness towards others through actions and/or words.
• Use active listening & showing this with your whole body 
• Think through what you say before you say it
• Be aware and supportive of those less fortunate
• Value the perspective others even though you may not always agree 
• Turn taking when listening and speaking
• Setting expectations for social interactions
• Recognise different opinions and viewpoints are ok
• Speak up when you know or hear something that is not right

A Closer Look at:

The Good Samaritan Vianney House is named after St John Vianney.

John Vianney was born on 8 May 1786, in the French town of Dardilly, France (near Lyon), and was baptized the same day. His parents, Matthieu Vianney and his wife Marie (Belize),  had six children, of whom John was the fourth. The Vianneys were devout Catholics who helped the poor. Vianney's paternal grandparents once gave hospitality to Benedict Joseph Labre, the patron saint of the homeless, who passed through Dardilly on his pilgrimage to Rome in 1770. Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. 

Vianney is often referred to as the Curé d'Ars (i.e. the parish priest of Ars), internationally known for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish in Ars, France, because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings. Catholics attribute this to his saintly life, mortification, persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His feast day is 4 August  in the Novus Ordo calendar, is 8 August in the Missal of 1962 calendar, and is 9 August in the pre-1955 calendar.

Vianney came to be known internationally, and people from distant places began travelling to consult him as early as 1827.

"By 1855, the number of pilgrims had reached 20,000 a year. During the last ten years of his life, he spent 16 to 18 hours a day in the confessional. Even the bishop forbade him to attend the annual retreats of the diocesan clergy because of the souls awaiting him yonder".

He spent at least 11 or 12 hours a day in the confessional during winter, and up to 16 in the summer.  In his article "How does the Church Respond to Suicide?" Shaun McAfee references an incident described in the book Cure of Ars:

"...a woman...told....Vianney that she was devastated because her husband had committed suicide. She wanted to approach the great priest but his line often lasted for hours and she could not reach him. She was ready to give up and in a moment of mystical insight that only a great saint can receive,...Vianney exclaimed through the crowd, “He is saved!” The woman was incredulous so the saint repeated, stressing each word, “I tell you he is saved. He is in Purgatory, and you must pray for him. Between the parapet of the bridge and the water he had time to make an act of contrition.”

Vianney had a great devotion to Saint Philomena. Vianney regarded her as his guardian and erected a chapel and shrine in honor of the saint. During May 1843, Vianney fell so ill he thought that his life was coming to its end. Vianney attributed his cure to her intercession.

Vianney yearned for the contemplative life of a monk, and four times ran away from Ars, the last time in 1853. He was a champion of the poor as a Franciscan tertiary and was a recipient of the coveted French Legion of Honour.

At Good Samaritan Vianney House is represented by the colour Red.

From the School Handbook:

Why have a School Newsletter?

The school newsletter/bulletin is the major form of consistent communication between the school and parents/carers. The newsletter is the means by which the school acknowledges all that is done within classrooms at the grade, class or individual level, on playgrounds and within the community.

It is also an opportunity for me, as Principal, to reflect on our community and how we can work toward further improving all that we do. As a Catholic school principal it is most important that this is done within the context of our faith, hence the references that are written to the Sunday Mass readings, theological reflections or information about spirituality. This is one aspect that works toward keeping the Catholicity of our school at the front of our minds.

The newsletter is the place from which the school is able to ensure that parents, and the community, have a good understanding of the processes and procedures of the school. This is done through reminders, excerpts from the School Handbook, publication of School Policies etc. Some may feel that this is unnecessary but in any school it is most important that we maintain as much consistency as possible. This helps to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all within the school.

For some parents the newsletter is the only contact that they have with the school. This may be due to work commitments or to family/personal circumstances so the newsletter has to cover a wide audience hence, some parents may feel that certain aspects of the newsletter may not be needed or be relevant. However, they may just be aspects that are of great relevance to another parent or family.

I continue to encourage parents to read the newsletter regularly to know what is happening within the school.

P&F Meeting - March:

The next P&F meeting will be Monday 28 March 7pm in the Library or via Zoom (link below).

Topic: P&F Meeting

Time: Mar 28, 2022 07:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:

https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/61428330846?pwd=OTUrUHZtNFc3ajU2RXUvL0o4UzR2dz09

 Password: 183224

2022 

March

Thurtsday 17 March 

St Patrick'sDay 

Friday 18 March 

McKillop Touch Trials  

Monday 21 March 

P&F Welcome BBQ

Wednesday 23 March

Open School Twilight 5pm-6.30pm

April

Wednesday 6 April 

Confirmation Parent Meeting 6.30pm SJV Co- Cathedral Fairy Meadow 

Thursday 7 April

Confirmation Parent Meeting 6.30pm SJV Co- Cathedral Fairy Meadow 

Friday 8 April 

Holy Week Liturgy and Easter Hat Parade /Last Day of Term 1

Thursday 14 April 

Holy Thursday 

Friday 15 April 

Good Friday 

Saturday 16 April 

Easter Saturday 

Sunday 17 April 

Easter Sunday 

Monday 18 April 

Easter Monday 

May

 Thursday 5 May

Mother's Day Liturgy & Morning Tea (COVID restrictions may apply)

Friday 6 May 

Mother's Day Stall 

June

June 29/30

2022 Sacramental Programme Parent Meeting & enrolment evening 6.30pm SJV 

July

 Friday 22 July

Grandparents & Great People Day 

September 

Friday 2 September

Father's Day BBQ Breakfast & Stall

Wednesday 14 September

Feast of the Holy Cross - Feast Day 10 Years of Good Samaritan 

18-25 September

UCI 2022 Road World Championships- Wollongong 

Band:

Parents who would like their child/ren to be involved in the band or singing with the Academy Music Dance Drama in Term 2 are invited to an online information session. Details are below.