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I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
As I sit and write this message I am looking out at our blooming front garden (courtesy of Ned!) and am feeling hope and joy at the change in season that's upon us. Although it's still bitterly cold we can sense that Spring is just around the corner.
This term we have witnessed lots of amazing and engaging learning experiences occurring across the school. I have seen rockets flying, taiko drums drumming and 100 day old Foundation students celebrating. Seeing us get back to some of the old and familiar celebrations has been heartwarming.
This week we have also celebrated St Alipius Feast Day. From humble beginnings on the Goldfields to a vibrant, diverse and inclusive community in 2022, we have much to be proud of. We joined together for a special liturgy at the church and some time in family groups where we explored 'what does in mean to be a St Alipius person?'. This year we have celebrated 169 years in Catholic Education in Ballarat. 2023 will be a significant year for us all as we reach 170 years.
Learning communities are currently busy preparing for the Art Expo on the 14th September. I am really looking forward to opening the doors and celebrating our year of Visual Arts together as a community. Our disposition of 'Creativity' has been well utilised this term and I know you will see this in action at the Art Expo.
We also look forward to seeing all the special men in our community in a couple of weeks as we celebrate Father's Day with a liturgy and sausage sizzle.
Kind regards,
Emily
We made the FRONT PAGE!
The Foundation students are 100 days older with 100 (or more) reasons to celebrate this wonderful acheievement.
We had a wonderful time with our Japanese students! It helped us to practise our Japanese by asking the our visitors questions we had written down. We also played maths games with each other to help practise English!
So much fun 🤩
As part of our Earth and Space unit of work, our students were set the challenge of designing a rocket.
August 10 was launch day! We had such great fun seeing our rockets fly (or not!!) We reflected afterwards about what worked well and what they would do differently next time.
Last week we had Nick from the Planetarium chat to us about all things Space!
After our session with Nick we chatted about our wonderings and the things that we learnt.
There were a few great talking points and questions, such as:
Why do we have leap years?
What is a blood moon?
Is there really a rabbit on the moon?
When does a solar eclipse occur?
Recently, students have been learning to compare everyday objects (Measurement).
Students have learned language for comparing and measuring, such as "longer/shorter than", "heavier/light than", "holds more/less than".
Planting trees in our local community.
We had a wonderful time planting native trees and grasses!
The Sovereign Hill tent school experience brings learning alive; focusing on the 1850’s gold rush heritage and the environment of the Ballarat region during this time.
Across two days the Year 6 students stepped back in time and experienced learning as it would have been like in the early days of the St Alipius history; back when our school was a tent school in the goldfields!
This is a highlight on our school calendar and something our students look forward to each year.
Some themes covered during this experience include:
Colonial Life.
19th Century Migration.
Aboriginal People and the Goldfields.
Goldfields Technology.
Industrial Revolution.
We are learning about Earth as a dynamic system of planets that orbit the Sun. We are creating a representation of the Solar System that includes constellations, planets, moons, asteroids, and other key features of this dynamic system!
The key idea behind Laudato Si is that of “integral ecology”, i.e. that people and planet are part of one family where the Earth is our common home. Recently, we celebrated the appointment of a team of students to our Laudato Si Action Team. These students will support and help to drive environmental action in our school.
Congratualtions to Nerida, Ruby, Judah, Daniel, Mitchell, Isla, Leni, Frankie B, Elsie, Blake, Frankie R, Jasper, and Joseph.
We are learning about clouds.
I can explain how clouds are formed.
I can explain different types of clouds.
Learning dispositions: I can be creative and inquisitive.
PSIP is an initiative/Victoria Police run program designed to reduce the incidence of youth and general crime within the community.
The program is offered to primary and secondary schools and is designed to give a balanced approach to the issues of good citizenship, the consequences of crime, rights rules and responsibilities.
The program provides children and teenagers an insight into the role of the police, how our legal system works and assist them to resist peer pressure and other negative influences.
The program emphasises the need to seek assistance from the community to achieve their objectives by working closer with the community.
By helping youths becomes better citizens, the community becomes a better and safer place to live as well as reducing the financial and physical burden on Victoria Police.
Our engagement was high!!!
CREATIVITY in bucket loads, or rather box loads! So much fun was had by some of our student recently when the opportunity of excess office recycling was snapped up for a wonderful play opportunity!
An Acknowledgement of Country can be offered by any person and like a Welcome to Country, is given at the beginning of a meeting, speech or event. There is no specific wording for an Acknowledgement of Country, just be sincere and, if possible, do some research on the Country you are acknowledging, however, there are some specific features to include.
To write our acknowledgements of Country we made sure to:
acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land i.e. Wadawurrung people
acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging
extend respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples present.
Our goal is to become familiar with the key elements of an Acknowledgement of Country so that we can confidently deliver an Acknowledgement of Country anywhere and anytime.
Before moving on to high school, each year, we take the opportunity to mix and mingle with other Year 5 and 6 students from across Catholic school in Ballarat to participate in fun and inclusive sporting experiences. The activities range from soccer, basketball, tennis, indoor games, board games, AFL and much more!
We take it in turns to host and to visit various schools. Establishing community connections is so valuable. Thank you to Maria Nunn for the ongoing effort and organisation she puts into making this experience a success!
22/08 - 26/08 | Book Week (Monday 22nd Dress Up - Parade at 9:15am in the McInerney Centre - families welcome to attend)
23/08 | Maths Games Day @ Damascus
24/08 | Divisional Basketball (Y5/6)
24/08 | Laudato Si Student Action Group meeting (F-6)
26/08 | (Friday) Whole School Prayer 9:15am
26/08 | Catholic Schools Athletics (Y5/6)
29/08 | (Monday) Whole School Prayer 9:00am*
29/08 | Police in Schools with Des Hudson (Y5/6)
31/08 | SEED Day at St Patrick's and Loreto College (Y5)
02/09 | Fathers (and father figures) Day Liturgy & BBQ Lunch
05/09 | (Monday) Whole School Prayer 9:15am
07/09 | Sacrament of Reconciliation
08/09 | Express Yourself! Hip Hop workship (Y5)
09/09 | Divisional Athletics
09/09 | Interschool Sports (Y5/6)
12/09 | (Monday) Whole School Prayer 9:15am
14/09 | ART EXPO 3-6pm (F-6)
15/09 | ART EXPO 8:30am - 9:30am (F-6)
16/09 | (Friday) Footy Colours Day & LAST DAY OF TERM 3
******* Further ahead:
03/10 | First day back at school for Term 4
31/10 | School Closure Day - REPORT WRITING & ASSESSMENT