今日吃瓜

Key Dates

鈥� In recent times, our school calendar has changed regularly.

NAPLAN 鈥� Year 3 and 5

As children progress through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics 鈥� skills that will set them upon the path to success as adults.

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents and teachers to see how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia.

Years 3 and 5 students are to be congratulated for the mature way they have undertaken the NAPLAN assessments over the past two weeks. Whilst the data that is provided by the NAPLAN assessments is useful in understanding student learning and growth, it is also very important to remember that it is only one measurement of student learning. Maggie Dent recently reminded us to 鈥渞emember, we are raising a child, a whole child. We鈥檙e raising a mind, a body, a heart and a soul 鈥� not just a brain on a seat鈥�.

Scitech Incursion

Year 2 students were amazed by our recent Scitech incursion, with the learning consolidating their current Science unit on mixtures.

Pre Primary Excursion

Our Pre Primary students braved the cold, wet weather last Friday and paid a visit to Caversham Wildlife Park. They had a wonderful time exploring and visiting all the animals. A big thank you to the parent helpers that also assisted our students throughout the excursion.

Student Wellbeing 鈥� Growth Mindset

Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’听

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Year 6 camp.听One of my highlights of the camp was watching students climb the pamper pole. This is an 8m high pole that students climb, stand on a small landing, and leap off. It is my favourite activity to observe, because very often students are put off by its challenge or talk themselves into believing they can only go so far. I can recall one student this year who was sure they could only climb halfway up the pole, only for them to eventually reach the top, squat on the edge, stand up on the landing, and finally leap off.听听

The theme of the Year 6 camp is ‘expand your paradigm’, encouraging students to think beyond what they think they can do, and instead of those things they can actually do. In the classroom, this looks like students adopting growth mindsets – a mindset where students feel their skills and intelligence can be improved with effort and persistence; that they can become better at things through dedication, time, effort and energy. The benefits of a growth mindset include improved self-esteem, learning new skills, and an openness to new experiences.  

It is very easy for students to take the easy way out – to give up, to complain, or to just not try…and there is safety in this. However, real growth comes from being comfortable in the uncomfortable; from putting ourselves at the edge of what we can do, and pushing forward to challenge ourselves to do more (with the support of others of course). If I could, I would encourage families to have a conversation at home about how it feels to take on a challenge. A few suggestions could be: 

• Mum or Dad could share a story around a challenging moment from their life and how they overcame it 
• Discuss how it feels when you are ‘in the pit’ – in the midst of a difficult challenge and how to cope with this 
• Reflect on something you once struggled with, but with determination and dedication you can now count as a skill 
• Discuss how it feels to encounter new experiences 

If you would like to read more about growth mindsets I can suggest the following links: 

The research of growth mindsets –  

Nurturing a growth mindset in kids –  

Growth mindset vs Fixed mindset Quiz (Big Life Journal) –  

I hope that we can continue to go forward into the rest of this term with a growth mindset amongst our students, ready and prepared to encounter all challenges! 

Mr Stuart McClorey, Leader of Wellbeing PK-6听

We extend our warmest wishes to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunts and mother figures in our community as we approach this Sunday鈥檚 celebration of Mother鈥檚 Day. It is always such a special time in the year where we can pause and show our gratitude for the many ways that mothers and mother-figures, light up our lives and those of our children.

Students across both Marian and Lavalla campuses have been discussing the upcoming Mother鈥檚 Day celebration and I would like to share some of their beautiful (and sometimes funny) reflections on their Mums.

鈥淢y Mum has very long brown hair like me. She is 34. She likes walking with her friends, Karen and Sharon. They are good friends. I love my Mum because she is so pretty. I鈥檓 so glad she got me!鈥� – Evie (Pre-Primary)

鈥淢y Mum looks beautiful cause she has a pretty face. She is kind and caring. I think she is 32. She used to do work but now she likes to do cleaning work at home. She likes to eat chicken curry. She likes to go to the shops and buy food and sometimes she buys clothes. Mum is a good dancer. Sometimes she dances with Dad. I love that my Mum plays Nintendo Switch with me and I always beat her. Maybe she lets me win?鈥� – Sidney (Pre-Primary)

鈥淢y Mum looks beautiful. She has long brown hair and blue eyes just like me. I think she is maybe 26. 26 is a big number. Her name is Alice. Her favourite food is spinach pie and she likes cups of tea. This morning I had a cup of tea with her. I liked it! My Mum likes to play with me and hug me. She likes to sing 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be good tonight鈥�. It鈥檚 so funny. I love my Mum because she is pretty鈥� – Lily (Pre-Primary)

鈥淢y favourite thing to do with Mummy is “giving her a big hug”. She is so beautiful because “she is amazing”. – Lucas (Kindy)

When I am at school, mummy spends her time “waiting”. She is so beautiful because “of her earrings”. – Yasmine (Kindy)

鈥淭hank you for putting food on my table, even if I don鈥檛 like it.鈥� – Emelie (Year 3)

鈥淵ou鈥檙e cooking is so yum and I just like that you鈥檙e beautiful! You are the best joker and they make me laugh so hard.鈥� Arijen (Year 3)

鈥淵ou are the best mum and I love you. Wherever you go I follow you everywhere that鈥檚 why I love you so much鈥� – Zechary (Year 3)

鈥淢ummy is beautiful. She has green eyes and she speaks in a lady voice and she always says I鈥檓 the best person she could ever look after.鈥� 鈥� Samuel (Kindy)

Key Dates

鈥� In recent times, our school calendar has changed regularly. 

Year 6 Forest Edge Recreation Camp

On Wednesday, we bid farewell to our Year 6 students as they boarded the bus, bound for Forest Edge Recreation Camp in Waroona. There were lots of very excited faces as students loaded their bags aboard the bus and set-off for 3 days of adventures and activities.

Students undertook a range of different activities including raft building, flying fox, abseiling and orienteering. One of the things that impressed me the most during my visit to the camp, was the attitude that students brought to each activity 鈥� they were willing to 鈥榟ave-a-go’ and also provide support and encouragement to their peers.

I extend my sincere thanks to the teaching staff who attended the camp and in doing so, gave up their own precious family and personal time, in order to provide this experience for our students. I expect that there will be some very weary faces on the bus ride home this afternoon.

Marian Campus Mother鈥檚 Day Liturgy

Thank you to our Pre Primary Unit for their efforts in preparing a wonderful Liturgical celebration of our mother鈥檚. The focus on Mary, Mother of Jesus throughout the Liturgy, provided a beautiful reminder that we should all strive to live our lives with open, joyful hearts and a willingness to say 鈥榶es鈥� to God, even in times of uncertainty.

Thank you to the Marian mothers and grandmothers that joined us for this very special celebration.

Year 5 Blue Assembly

Thank you to 5 Blue for the preparation of this morning鈥檚 assembly. It was so lovely to gather as a whole campus in the auditorium again, and also to have our families present.

5 Blue dazzled us with their talents throughout their assembly performance. Thank you to Mrs Sankar for her work in preparing the assembly item. I also extend my congratulations to the Merit Award winners for their fantastic efforts.

Marian Campus School Photos

School photos for students at Marian Campus are scheduled for Thursday 12 May (please note change of date from Friday 13 May).

Students should be dressed in full school uniform with neat and tidy presentation.

Teaching and Learning Message – NAPLAN

As we head into NAPLAN next week, I am reminded of the following quote by Carol S. Dweck, “Test scores and measures of achievement tell you where a student is at, but they don’t tell you where the student could end up.”

Next week, NAPLAN will begin with the writing assessment on Tuesday the 10th of May for years three and five. We wish all our students the best of luck and that they enter the week feeling confident and ready to give it their best. Students will need to ensure that their iPads are fully charged each evening and that they have working headphones.

We ask that our school community keep the students in their thoughts and prayers.

The last NAPLAN assessment will take place Thursday 19 May.
Miss Katya Anderson 鈥� Leader of Learning (PK-6)

Wellbeing Message – Screen Time

Over the school holidays, it is not unusual for students to enjoy some extra screen time either by themselves or with friends. This can include gaming, messaging via the iPad, or enjoying numerous streaming services. However, for some students when they go back to school, it can be hard to return to their normal routine.

It is important to strike a balance between appropriate screen time use (which can bring many benefits), and unregulated screen time which can have some very negative effects on children. These can include exposure to age-inappropriate materials, disruption of sleep patterns, and even addiction (you can google ‘screen dependency disorder’ to learn more about this). Additionally, often the social issues we deal with in the upper years of primary school are a result of things that have occurred online.

Experts recommend that for children aged 6 and over, parents should place consistent limits on the time children spend on devices, as well as the type of information they are accessing. They recommend that families set ground rules early and enforce them by setting aside device free time and have regular conversation with their children about the things they are doing and seeing online. We know there are many families in our community who do this already. One way families can seek support in this area is with Family Digital Agreements. These are a set of rules about how devices like iPads, or phones will be used in your home, and the expectations you have for your children. These agreements are designed to be created in consultation with your children. There are many examples of these agreements in place, including the ones below:

How to set up your own agreement with Jocelyn Brewer: https://jocelynbrewer.com/explainer-family-technology-use-agreements/

Setting up an agreement – E-Safety Australia:

Family Nature Plan – Nature Play W.A.

Internet Matters example agreement:

If there are any families that feel they could benefit from support around this issue, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with myself or your child’s teacher.
Mr Stuart McClorey – Leader of Wellbeing (PK-6)