Term 2 Week 2 Newsletter 2021

Catholic Education Week  

This week we celebrate teaching and learning during Catholic Education Week. The theme for this year is Raising Hearts and Minds to the wonder and awe of God's Creation. As we reflect on this theme you are invited to consider the following questions:
    Has God's creation inspired awe and wonder for you? 
    How can we Raise Hearts and Minds to the wonder and awe of God's creation? 
    How are we called to be caretakers of each other and God's world?

Celebrating the Feast Day of St Catherine 

August 29th we celebrated the Feast Day of St Catherine of Siena by joining together in Mass and taking part in activities within our classes. Students explored the life of St Catherine and some of the symbols which represent her life experiences. The influence of St Catherine of Siena to our school with her spiritual and moral commitment remain central to our schools Catholic Identity.  

Project Compassion 

This year our fundraising efforts for project compassion were driven by our School Captains. It is a pleasure to report that we were able to raise over $1400 through the school based activities, casual day and home collection boxes. These funds will go a long way to assist those who are marginalised and require additional assistance. Taking part in these social justice initiatives is an important part of Catholic Social Teaching principles. As well as assisting others in need, we not only develop a greater sense of gratitude for our many blessings but also contribute to a more just and loving world. 

Friday May 14th 2021

Walk Safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy and active way to get around. Although walking all the way to school isn’t always realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure our how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.

You can commit to the healthy habit of walking more by

Walking with your child the whole way to school
If you use public transport, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop instead
If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way

Regular exercise like walking with your child, not only helps them beat chronic health problems like obesity and heart disease but has also been shown to improve mental health. It also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic and improve our environmental footprint.

On Friday May 14th staff from St Catherine’s School will be walking to school from the Stirling Library departing at 8.10am. Parents and students are invited to also walk to school from this location as part of our commitment to Walk Safely to School Day. We hope to see you there.

Sports Day and SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival

Sports Day 2021

Congratulations to the Siena (Red) team on winning the Sports Day Shield on the final day of the Term at Stirling Oval. Also well done to the Veritas (Green) team on winning the Spirit Shield for the day. St Catherine’s was blessed with some fantastic weather and wonderful supportive parents and friends on the day cheering on the children.

Special thanks to the P&F for all their hard work organising the sausage sizzle, ice cream van, coffee van and recess for the children. Also thank you to all the teachers for their support on the day and leading up to Sports Day.

Big thank you to Mr Simon Roos-Freeman for all his help transporting equipment to and from the venue and Mr Donny Pascale for his help transporting the BBQ to the oval.

SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival

A reminder to all students born in 2011, 2010 and 2009 if you would like to participate in SAPSASA Cross Country Carnival on Tuesday, 25th May 2021, please fill out the Skoolbag eForm ASAP to register your interest.

In preparation for these carnivals your child will be required to train. Training sessions will be conducted around our school grounds in preparation for the Carnival. It is essential students attend training sessions to ensure they are prepared for the Carnival.

Training Days will be as follows (At lunch- Meeting time 12.50pm) 
Week 3 - Monday 10th May (Lunch), Wednesday 12th May (Lunch) 
Week 4- Monday 17th May (Lunch), Wednesday 19th May (Lunch)
Week 5- Carnival – Tuesday 25th May 

Mr De Giovanniello(Physical Education Teacher/Sports Coordinator)

Anzac Day

The Year 1/2JD class reflected on Anzac Day and read the story ‘Anzac Ted’, we discussed why people went to war.  We learnt about the significance of poppies and how the soldiers were so young.

Mother’s Day

We have been very busy with our artistic skills making special keepsakes for our Mum’s for Mother’s Day.

In 2F we have been learning about many fun and exciting topics.   

In HASS we have been learning about our school and what is the same or different. We have been historians and have researched St Catherine’s School using the ‘St Catherine’s Stirling 1947-1997: A School History’ book written by Elisabeth Anderson. From this research, the children are creating a St Catherine’s School History Book.

In maths we have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and their features. The children use manipulative materials to make shapes out of playdough and pop sticks. The children have also been learning how to perform simple addition and subtraction calculations using a range of strategies to help solve maths problems.

In Religion, it was St Catherine’s Feast Day on the 29th of April. We learnt about St Catherine’s life and how she had a kind and courageous heart. We then created artworks of St Catherine using oil pastels.

In English we have been learning how to write narratives. We understand that a narrative has a structure and that we must use descriptive writing to engage the reader. The Year 2’s planned, drafted and produced a narrative in their books before publishing their narrative using the app ‘Book Creator’, which are available to view on Seesaw. 

In Science we have been learning about the chickens at our school. We have undertaken observations and predictions and look forward to learning about the chicken’s lifecycle and their chicks, through the help and knowledge of Gerry.

We have a strong focus on belonging in 2F, so to show this in our environment we have created a belonging flower on our classroom door to remind the children that they all belong in our class!  

Personalised learning  

At St Catherine’s our staff recognise that all learners are diverse. Through Personalised Learning we provide for individual learning needs and talents. Personalised Plans for Learning (PPL’s) help to promote excellence and equity in education for all learners and it supports the obligation to ensure learning opportunities and engagement.  

Teachers prepare a PPL document in consultation with students and parents.  This document promotes learner engagement and achievement. It enables flexible design of curriculum so that learners can co-construct and apply their learning in real life authentic contexts. It captures the diverse scope of learning and promotes the highest quality education for all.  

 A PPL is required for children and young people in care and learners identifying as Aboriginal in all South Australian Catholic schools. It is highly recommended for learners with disability.  

It may also be used to document the personalised learning and teaching provided to:  

• Learners requiring intensive behaviour support  
• Newly arrived learners for whom English is an additional language or dialect requiring specialised language and literacy support  
• Learners identified as gifted (IQ 145 and above or IQ 130 and above with a disability)  
• Learners who require short term monitoring 

Some students who have a PPL will be included in our Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with a Disability (NCCD).  Teachers will work closely to look at support provided to our students and will work in collaboration to decide as a school team which students qualify to be included in our NCCD data. 

Further information regarding the collection of NCCD has been sent to families via Skoolbag.

Melinda James 

Leader of Learning: Wellbeing and Inclusion 

Check out the new books in the library from last term.

There will be more new books coming soon!