NEWSLETTER - Minerva School · Place a large tray or baking dish into the oven and preheat oven to...
Transcript of NEWSLETTER - Minerva School · Place a large tray or baking dish into the oven and preheat oven to...
Week 5 Term 3 2016
NEWSLETTER
DATES TO
REMEMBER
TERM 3 2016
AUGUST
HEALTHY
HAROLD
INCURSION Tuesday 23rd to
Thursday 25th
SEPTEMBER
COMEDY FOR
A CAUSE
FUNDRAISER
Saturday 10th
LAST DAY OF
TERM 3 FOR
STUDENTS
AND STAFF
Friday 23rd
Minerva School
Learning for Life
Eton Street SUTHERLAND NSW 2232 Telephone: 9521 3433 Fax: 9545 3316
E-mail: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.minerva-s.schools.nsw.edu.au
Donations to Minerva School are now tax deductible.
THANK YOU TO THE STAFF
FROM THE COMMONWEALTH BANK
We have been fortunate to have won a grant of $10 000 from the
Commonwealth Bank Community Grants Program. This program is
made possible with donations from the very generous staff of the
Commonwealth Bank.
We would like to thank them for their support and generosity. We
will be using the grant money to help set up an indoor gross motor
gym for our students.
Staff members from the Commonwealth Bank Sutherland Branch
came along to our School Assembly, where they presented the
cheque to our Principal Ms Sara Swift and our SRC students. Our
School Captains, Michael and Sebi presented flowers to the ladies
from the Commonwealth Bank as a token of our appreciation.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Dear parents/carers, Well they say time flies when you’re having fun – but
this is ridiculous!! We are already half way through
Term 3 with so much more to pack into this term.
This term we have celebrated Education Week with
our families and students. Or Buddy Reading library
sessions were well attended by parents and it was a
pleasure to see the obvious enjoyment our students
gained from sharing stories with their families. Many
thanks go to Jenny, our librarian, for her organisation
of the days
Our students have enjoyed a fascinating incursion presented by the Taronga Zoomobile.
Uncle Col and Rod brought along a variety of native animals, including a shingleback lizard, an
echidna, a possum and a snake! Uncle Col told Dreamtime stories and created an interactive
learning environment, introducing students to traditional Aboriginal instruments such as the
didgeridoo. Everyone enjoyed singing and
learning about Tidalik
the frog and Tommy
the termite.
Our focus on fitness and healthy living continues this term and so far our students have
participated in a swimming program and rugby clinics each Monday. As well as this, we were
to have held parents vs. students’ sports afternoon during Education Week but we were
unfortunately foiled by bad weather. The afternoon promises to be a great deal of fun,
thanks to the impeccable organisation of Miss Sarah and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all
when it is re-scheduled in the coming weeks.
As usual, many thanks are due this term to some very hard working and generous parents. In
particular this term I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary effort and time
commitment of Patricia Bakouris and Slavica Filipovski. These two ladies have between them
transformed our resource room from a disordered mountain of mis-matched puzzle pieces
to an orderly, user-friendly borrowing centre. Resources are neatly labelled and sorted with
Week 5 Term 3 2016
a colour coded borrowing system which makes it
easy for staff to locate the exact resource they
are after. The months of hard work have
definitely been appreciated by staff and
students who are now using classroom resources
we didn’t even know we had!
This Friday we are looking forward to our inaugural Parent Coffee and
Chat session, which will be held in the library from 10 – 11am. Our guest speaker this term
is Paediatric Occupational Therapist, Kaya Lyons who will speak about sensory regulation and
how this impacts on engagement and learning for our students. Kaya is a font of knowledge
and will be sure to offer some practical strategies and supports for use in the classroom
and home.
During week 3 of term Kaya presented an afternoon professional learning session for our
staff. She presented some theory and research about sensory processing, sensory
integration and sensory regulation and arousal with a particular focus on child development,
the effects on learning and associated behaviours. The second half of Kaya’s session
involved a practical, hands-on component during which staff experienced a range of sensory
classroom support strategies. Some found it more relaxing than others!
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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE (continued) Throughout this term and leading in to next term, Minerva School will be part of a number
of local schools who are transitioning to a new business management system, called Learning
and Business Management Reform (LMBR). This is a major change for Department of
Education Public Schools and as you can appreciate, the scope of this change across such a
large number of schools is quite enormous. In simple terms, the change to LMBR will mean a
new finance system and a new student administration and learning management system.
During this transitioning period, school staff – in particular the School Administration
Manager (Trish), the School Administration Officer (Mel) and the Principal – will be
required to attend several days out of the school receiving professional training in the new
systems. There will be minimal disruption to the transactions that parents make with the
school however as with any change, there are bound to be glitches, hold ups and even some
inconveniences. Trish and I will send home relevant information to you as needed, so please
take the time to read any notes as they come home.
Still to come this term we have several items for you to note in your diaries.
Work Experience Thursday 18th August and then each Thursday (5 wks.)
Healthy Harold Tues, Wed, Thurs 23/8, 24/8, 25/8
SASS recognition week Mon-Fri 29/8 – 2/9
Farewell to Miss Sarah! Friday 2/9
Father’s Day stall Friday 2/9
Comedy for a Cause Saturday 10/9 – PLEASE BUY SOME TICKETS!!!!
Student reviews Monday 5/9
Finally, I would like to remind you all about our upcoming fundraiser, Comedy for a Cause.
This will be Minerva School’s major fundraiser for the year and we really need all your
help to make this a successful event. I have been sending home weekly updates about how
our ticket sales are going, we have sent home raffle tickets for you to sell and this week I
have sent home an update of all the wonderful silent auction items we have for auction on
the night. Many thanks to those who have donated prizes and canvassed for sponsors for
the night, particularly: the Bakouris family; the Damcevski family; the Youssef family; the
Ashford-Cox family and Silvana Ristevski, as well as many local businesses.
All of our wonderful sponsors will be advertised in our newsletters and on the night.
So please, get a group of friends and family together,
get online at https://comedyforacause/minerva.net and book your tickets now!
Looking forward to a busy and productive second half of term 3 and I hope to see many of
you at our Comedy night – remember, laughter is the best medicine. J
Sara Swift
Principal
Week 5 Term 3 2016
Wattle Class
This term Wattle Class have been attempting to cook more substantial dishes in the
kitchen within the lesson time. We have learnt how to make a simple cheese sauce which
can be used in cauliflower and broccoli bake and macaroni cheese. The sauce was also used
when we baked a delicious beef lasagne.
In HSIE we have been investigating the water cycle and water conservation.
Here we are in action.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
HEALTHY EATING TIPS Did you know…?
8 to 12 hot chips (100 g) have around 3 teaspoons of fat and 1000 kJ. Compare this to a
small baked potato (100 g) with a light spray of oil that has less than ¼ teaspoon of fat and
400 kJ. The main difference is added fat, hence the added energy or kilojoules. Here is a
quick, easy and delicious way to make healthy, hot chips:
Ingredients
2 large potatoes cut into chips or wedges
1 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Method
Place a large tray or baking dish into the oven and preheat oven to 200°C.
Place all ingredients into a small plastic bag and shake.
Take hot tray or baking dish from oven using an oven mitt, and empty bag of potato lightly
coated with oil and soy sauce onto the hot tray. Discard the plastic bag. You can cover the
tray with a piece of oven paper (optional). Return to the oven to cook for about 12 minutes
or until the potato is golden brown and cooked, then serve.
Rainy day activities
Keeping kids active and occupied during wet days can be challenging. Here are
some active play ideas for children indoors:
build a cubby house with sheets, chairs or cardboard boxes
play hide and seek
play basket softball and see how many times you can throw a foam ball into a
washing basket - keep increasing the distance to make it more challenging
have a dance competition or disco at home
set a limit on the amount of time children spend in front of a screen (tv, computer etc).
Our Term 3 update:
The Team is continuing to meet regularly and as a result
of our collated surveys we have decided to focus on
Component 3 of the Mind Matters Framework. Feedback
suggests that our parents and community would
appreciate some information support and some communication about youth development and
mental health issues. Last term we planned to establish a parent resource room and I am
pleased to say that work is well underway. Shelving and furniture has been sourced and we
are gathering useful information on local services and resources for you. At this stage we
think the grand opening of our parent room will be at the beginning of term 4.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
BUDDY READING. A big thankyou to all the parents, carers and
grandparents who visited the library during education week to support our buddy
reading program, it was wonderful to share part of our school day with you all.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
Happy Birthday to the following students for the
month of August.
Corey, Jake, James, Chris and Julian.
Class Waratah have been participating in Rugby lessons every Tuesday
with Drew. The students are being encouraged to join in, do their personal
best and demonstrate good sportsmanship amongst their peers.
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Banksia Class Banksia class and friends celebrated Jake’s 18th Birthday party recently. We
ate party pies, sausage rolls, pastizzis, pizzas, chips, lollies, chocolate and an
amazing chocolate cake! We popped party streamers, we played pass the
parcel and musical chairs. After all the food we all collapsed into a food coma.
A big thank you to Jake’s mum Jo for providing all the food. We all had great
fun! Happy Birthday Jake.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
Banksia class were invited to Sylvanvale Garden House on Wednesday the
3rd of August, to celebrate the opening of their new inclusive classroom, as
well as improvements to their garden and grounds. We were joined by our
work placement coordinator, Jen Marshall and our Wednesday SLSO, Jane
Wilkie. This was achieved from donations from Scetre Group, Westfield
Miranda and Sutherland Shire Council. We were all warmly welcomed along
with the Mayor and other dignitaries. The boys were given a morning tea of
Devonshire tea and cookies. They were then invited to plant some succulents
in concrete pots made by Sylvanvale House clientele. A lovely morning was
shared by all.
Katrina Shacallis
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THANK YOU TO THE STAFF FROM
THE COMMONWEALTH BANK
Week 5 Term 3 2016
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR LEARNING
Since last term, all classes have introduced the updated Minerva School
expectations to their rooms: SAFETY, CARING & LEARNING.
Staff and students have also looked at the school rules that help our students
meet the school expectations. As you can see, they are a lot more specific but
relate directly to the expectation.
These have also been embedded in our weekly assemblies through the SRC
Good Choice of the Week. Each week we focus on one of these rules by
putting posters up, discussing in our classes ways to be successful, and
recognising and rewarding students for their effort.
The school will become a lot more colourful this term as more of these signs
appear around the buildings and playgrounds.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
PROTEA CLASS
We have been attending weekly swimming lessons. Perry has really enjoyed the water. He
has even dipped his chin in the water! Perry’s big kicks have improved and he will be ready
for swimming in summer in no time.
Work Experience
We had a great start to semester 2 of work experience with the ‘Green Team’ back in
action and taking pride in our school environment as well as attending a workshop on
herbs and worms at the Sylvanvale Garden House. The Civic team had a lovely day to
travel and have morning tea in the park before starting work. Anthony and Mitchell are
supporting their Tafe courses with their work placements. Anthony has joined CDSWEP
the combined schools program at Bunnings, Caringbah; and Mitchell has an independent
placement at Hanrob Pet hotels, Heathcote.
Work experience runs for 5 weeks this semester finishing on the 15.9.16
Week 5 Term 3 2016
BOTTLEBRUSH CLASS
Class Bottlebrush have been doing
yoga for PDHPE on Fridays.
We listen to calming music, choose
a pose and hold it for 5-10
seconds. We have been getting
better each week!
Class Bottlebrush won the
SRC good choice of the
week: “Being in the right
place at the right time”
and got to play with the
Wii all week.
Week 5 Term 3 2016
GREVILLEA CLASS
Class Grevillea has been attending Sutherland Leisure Centre every Monday
Since the beginning of the term. The whole class have had great fun further
developing their swimming skills.
Class Grevillea have also been practicing their cooking skills.
Week 5 Term 3 2016