News

Special thanks also to all of our guests who attended the Opening of our Prayer Garden Space, during this Advent season of our 'Laudato Si', on Tuesday. It was a lovely occasion celebrated by Fr John. Thanks to all of our special guests, especially Mr Nicoletti and Mr Moroney, the designers of the prayer space.

Wow! We can’t believe how fast this year has gone and now we are all ready to go to Pre Primary.  We have had a fabulous few weeks in Kindy. Last week, we spent some time in the Pre Primary classrooms getting ourselves familiar with our new classroom environment. Christmas activities have been our main focus over the last few weeks.  We have made some special presents for our families and have been learning about the time when Jesus was born. We also had an amazing time on Friday with our Kindy Christmas Concert, morning tea and Waterslide Day.

All the teachers and assistants in Kindy thank the families for a rewarding year and wish you a safe Christmas and New Year.

This week, the Year Three students have been making their First Reconciliation.  Here are some thoughts on the experience.
 
“I was nervous but it felt really easy.”  - Lochlan
 
“I was nervous at first but then I realised it was quite easy and really short.” – Sam
 
“It was a bit nerve wracking but it was really easy to get through it.  After I felt pleased with myself because I did it.” – Keefe
 
“It was nerve wracking at first and then I got used to it and it wasn’t so bad.  After I felt happy that I was able to do it and had made my Reconciliation” – Sophie
 
“It was good.  I was a little bit nervous because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen” – Savannah
 
“When I was making my reconciliation I felt nervous and I didn’t really know what to say.  After I felt it was really quick and I was happy.” – Sahara
 
“I felt like I didn’t want to do it.  After it I felt happy.” - Lucas

In Year 2, we have been recapping Narratives and Persuasive Writing. We have really impressed our teachers with our improved use of punctuation and more detailed sentences. We have focused on Mapping in Geography and have been learning to draw Bird’s Eye View Maps. We had our Year 2 Class Liturgy and impressed our family members with our beautiful singing.

At the beginning of this term, we began our unit on Restoring Our Relationship. We learnt about our conscience, read bible stories, and discussed the elements of the Rite of Reconciliation. As the Year 3 students are making their First Reconciliation this week, we wish them all of God’s graces during this special time.

Our new unit of work is “Helped by the Word”. We began this unit, by discussing the differences between physical and inner strength. Once we had an understanding of these two types of strengths, we watched a short video about Nick Vijicic. This video gave us a real understanding of inner strength, how Nick grew his inner strength, the battles he faced and how he overcame adversity.

We also read “The Tortoise and The Hare”. This story deepened our understanding of both inner strength and physical strength. The moral of the story was to never give up, believe in yourself and even though you think you can’t win, always try your best until the end.  We are looking forward to the remainder of the unit.

Last Friday, the Year 6 classes coordinated the beautiful Remembrance Day service. On Tuesday of next week, both Year 6G and 6B classes will have  completed their exciting transition to High School Science program with Mrs Lombardo from Mater Dei College over the course of the semester. Tomorrow, our Year 6 students have prepared and auditioned students for the Talent Assembly and we congratulate the following students who have made it through to the Final:

Act 1.  Year 4: Tayana, Emily and Hayley - Dancing (Gimme that Swing)
Act 2. Year 6: Nick, Sean & Rylan - Magic
Act 3. Year 1 Kaylee, Michelle and Zahli - Gym
Act 4. Year 2 Dylan “Lush Life” - Singing
Act 5   Year 5  Maddie and Molly - Dancing
Act 6   Year 5  Ava - Singing
Act 7   Year 3 Lyla and Gracie - Musical
Next Monday, the new Principal of Mater Dei College Mrs Annette Morey, will present Ian Vincent o(Year 6) with his Academic Scholarship for 2018.

We are all busily still collecting  for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas and Clothing Appeal so please help the Great work of the Mini-Vinnies and donate to this great Charity and look for the Vinnies Clothing Bin in our school grounds near the Year 1 Rooms!

In Year One we have been learning about how God shows his love for us in the things he created.

The Pre Primary classes enjoyed an excursion to Cicerello's Fremantle last week.  We had the opportunity to touch starfish, sea apples, crayfish and even a shark! Then we went to the beach for a beach-combing activity where we found rocks, sea sponge, seaweed, cuttlefish and much more. Finally we enjoyed a delicious fish and chip lunch before the long drive home.

In our Religious Education lessons this term, the Kindy students have been looking into God’s wonderful sea creations. We discovered how clever God is, creating many different sea creatures of many sizes, shapes and colours, as well as the beautiful seaside and all the natural treasures of the sea.

We have read many Bible stories about the sea and other bodies of water, including Noah’s Ark and the Loaves and the Fishes. We have sung a Sea Prayer and, this week, we will be talking about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

In Year Four, we have been learning about sustainability and ways to protect the environment.  We have been looking after the school vegetable garden which we planted last term and have taken an active role in supporting Nude Food Days by collecting the food scraps from around the school and either putting them in the worm farm or using them for compost.  We have got some cherry tomatoes ripening, baby carrots peeking out from under the soil and in the last couple of days some snow peas have begun to grow.  We are coming up with new ideas to take care of our common home as Pope Francis has asked us to in his letter, Laudato Si’.  Tomorrow, we are going to the zoo to explore some of the different animals that are found across the globe and the variety of vegetation they need to survive, particularly in Africa.