Week 5 Update - Hump Week!

Good afternoon parents,

For those looking for an embarrassing or dramatic story this week, I am sorry to disappoint! 

This weekend has been all about a bit of family time and for me, catching up on a the last two Matthew Reilly novels...knocked those out yesterday so hit me up if you have any recommendations! 

I also finished the Will Smith autobiography this week if anyone is looking for a really great read!

It has been an interesting week trying to process what is happening here in WA as well as what is happening overseas...I can't even imagine what it must be like for families just like us to be gripped by war. 

Like many parents, I am struggling to explain it to my own children who have some grasp of what is happening but also a child like fear as well...I just don't know what to say?

With this in mind, you may have seen on Facebook that as a school community, we are offering families the opportunity to attend a prayer vigil on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 4pm on our school oval to offer our support to those affected.

Reminders for this week...

Ash Wednesday - On Wednesday as a group we will be celebrating a class liturgy in which we mark the start of Lent. 

Students will have ashes sprinkled on the top of their heads rather than a cross placed on their forehead.

Donations for Timor-Leste - On Friday, Peter Snell will be coming to collect donations for schools in Timor Leste. If you have any items in good condition that you would like to donate, please take them to the side of the hall...think books, left over stationery or bookshelves...anything that can be re-purposed within a school classroom.

We will conclude our PAT Assessments this week if you can please support your child to bring their laptops each day!

Favourite Place Photo - if you still need to send this to your child, please email it to them directly. If you open their Mail App, will see their email address that you can use to send it to them directly. 

If possible, can you please NOT send it to me as 22 photos to be distributed is a lot...they will need to be able to insert it into a Word document in order to publish their setting descriptions this week.

Masks - A reminder for your child that they are encouraged to wear these in class. Whilst not compulsory, it is being shown that they can help in slowing the spread of COVID within classrooms.

Additional communication was sent out on Friday with some further information from Eugene Lee.

Our Character Strength for this week is another great one - Fairness. This is a great prompt for the dinner table, ask your child for times when they say fairness in action, either in themselves or others.

WHAT IS FAIRNESS?

Fairness is treating people justly, not letting your personal feelings bias your decisions about others. 

You want to give everyone a fair chance, and believe there should be equal opportunity for all, though you also realize that what is fair for one person might not be fair for another.

Fairness is a cognitive judgment capacity that involves reasoning and making judgments. It involves 2 types of reasoning:

• Justice reasoning which emphasizes logic and weighing principles to determine moral rights and responsibilities.
• Care reasoning which includes empathy and compassion; the ability to put yourself in somebody else's shoes.

CONGRATULATIONS!

I would like to congratulate Marlee for being our award winner for Week 4...a very deserving winner.

Marlee is someone who is always prepared and ready for her lessons and shows a positive attitude towards her tasks. Well done Marlee!

Our Learning - Week 5 

This week in our Writing sessions, the students have continued working on their own setting descriptions. 

The goal here is to make sure that the students are using a variety of descriptive language to help transport their reader to their favourite place. I always say to the students, we want to avoid sound robotic or as if we are writing a shopping list...I can see...I can hear...I can smell...this is not fun for their reader!

In Maths this week, we will continue looking at fractions of a collection and ordering of fractions before our assessment on Wednesday. 

We will then begin our new unit in the Measurement and Geometry strand looking at Units of Length, starting with mm...any chance you get to practise these skills in incidental moments with your child are always super helpful! 

Hopefully you have noticed your child working hard on their fractions...particularly the number of children in your house! 

Our Spelling focus for this week is e ea sound found in words like fence, brick, breakfast, eagle, feather, earring, eggplant and eighty.

Our Religion sessions have been discussing the connection between Passover and the Last Supper. In particular, how these two are connected and the fact that we still celebrate Passover each time we celebrate Eucharist at mass.

HOMEWORK - WEEK 5

Last week was a tough one...I had multiple students that had not completed all or any of their homework, additionally reading logs on One Note had not been filled in or commented upon. Please ensure this is a positive comment that supports your child's enjoyment in reading.

We would like to avoid having to print a hard copy of a reading log, but if this is not filled in we may do so.

I went through this again with the students to make sure they were clear on what was expected...they all assured me that they knew what to do.

Just to clarify these need to be in line with the success criteria that has been placed on One Note.

I have made it clear to the students that if they are not following these instructions that they will be asked to redo them. 

I am trying to encourage care and respect within homework and this starts with how it is presented. Your support on this is greatly appreciated.

Times Tables - 

• These must be different each week.
• Neatly ruled up
• Written in lead pencil and marked in red pen (preferably)
• They must follow the left margin - not be written all over the page.
• Have clear headings.

Reading Logs - 

• Are to be completed for the week - it is okay if they type it all in later in the week.
• Have a positive comment from their grownups.

Wishing you a great Week 5 rolling into a long weekend next week!

Kindest regards,

Mrs Delane