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T2 | April Recap 2023

Dear God,

We open the doors wide of our school and invite you in.

Fill us with delight as we discover more about the world.

Guide our creativity to express ourselves and see opportunity in all things.

Help us to share, care for and love one another.

Watch over us and protect us in our day.

Fill us with Your spirit, we pray.

Amen.

A message from Emily.

St Alipius Principal | Emily Clarke

I always love to write my monthly reflection after everything has been inserted into the newsletter. Looking over all the joyful experiences, learning opportunities and photos of smiling and proud faces makes me so happy.

As I write this message, we are preparing for our Mother's Day celebrations tomorrow. I am continually in awe and strengthened by the generous and brilliant women that surround me in the St Alipius community. I wish all our mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers and mother figures a wonderful day on Sunday. I also keep in my thoughts those that feel a deep sense of loss on this day. My love goes out to all.

At the beginning of April we gathered together for our Holy Week liturgy. Our students experienced and witnessed the last days of Jesus' life. After returning from our holidays we gathered again, this time to watch a reenactment of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is a symbol of hope and renewal, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, there is always a chance for redemption and new beginnings.

We are excited for some new beginnings at St Alipius..... today I met with our site manager who has given us some great news about the beginning of our building works. Demolition will begin next month which is such promising news after a long wait. As the works commence we will communicate with our community any changes or adjustments to access to Hopetoun St. It will be wonderful to see our new multipurpose room and admin wing take shape over the rest of the year.

Enjoy this month's edition of the newsletter. There's some great things happening at St Alipius!!

Emily

A Glimpse into Our Learning Communities.

Open to God's presence, St Alipius is a Catholic learning community of excellence, equity, and empowerment.

As learners, we are COLLABORATIVE | REFLECTIVE | PERSISTENT | CREATIVE & INQUISITIVE.

1/2 Learning Community

After the Term 1 school break, we are looking forward to a great term ahead!

Foundation Learning Community

This term we are learning about Jesus, the communities he was a part of, and how the world was different during his time. It is important to explore the historical and cultural context when engaging with Bible stories, to support our understanding. It also helps us learn more about the life of Jesus. We have been linking our Investigations theme, Community, to RE. Focusing on “The boy Jesus at the temple” passage in the Gospel of Luke, we have discovered that Jesus was part of the Jewish community and spent most of his childhood in the Nazareth community.

Students identified four communities they are a part of.

1/2 Learning Community

There is so much learning that can take place in a kitchen.

This may include: measuring, interpreting units of time, setting & monitoring temperature, safe food handling, learning about and following procedures, fractions, reading and interpreting recipes, science - heat, chemical reactions & solids, liquids, and gases, language development (particularly when describing the scrumptious food!), personal and social skills - like taking turns, thinking critically, being patient, and so much more.

Trash Free Tuesday

Introducing our first ‘Trash Free Tuesday Champions!’

Our goal is to reduce single-use plastic, foil containers, or wrapping across the school and use reusable transport options for food like containers or paper packaging.

Each week students across Foundation to Year 6 will record their total number of wrappers on a Tuesday and the lowest total for that day will be named the 'Trash Free Tuesday Champions!’

Philip & Anne-Maree's 1/2 Learning Community

Foundation Learning Community

Digby, Jack and Nadia are playing together in the police station during investigations. Jack is calling Digby (the policeman) about a problem. Nadia is the clever detective trying to solve the problem.

Glitter Jars.

We made glitter jars. Glitter jars are a resource that we can use to help regulate our emotions. We had a great time making these and had a great discussion about the different emotions we can feel at school and situations that can lead to us feeling overwhelmed.

Year 3 Learning Community

"God who created all things" - Ephesians 3:8

As a Catholic community, we are learning to explore and imagine different images of God and how they reflect the sacredness of life. We have discussed that God can be reflected in all things and through all things.

The distinguishing factor is the meaning we apply to the image and its relevance to Catholic perspectives, teachings, Scripture, and tradition.

Here are some of our insights - we explored 7 images in total.

Year 4/5 Learning Community

This term, we are reading Wonder by R.J Palacio as our Novel Study. We introduced the book by exploring the word 'wonder' and its many forms and meanings.

We also discovered the author's inspiration for the storyline, the title, the characters' names, and cover art. During our sessions, we will work together to better understand the plot and discuss the many themes and messages we can learn from this great story.

Each child has a copy of the book to take home and read in sections. We also have access to an audiobook for this novel to support us in our learning.

Year 4/5 Learning Community

This term in digi-tech, we are learning to write binary code. We are learning how to turn the light on or off for each pixel to make black and white and now we are learning to change the bits per pixel to make colours.

SAPS Admin. Staff

Last Friday it was ‘Admin Appreciation Day’.

Lauren and Danielle do an extraordinary amount of work behind the scenes to keep our school running smoothly.

We are incredibly grateful for their care and commitment to St Alipius.

Year 4/5 Learning Community

Novel Study continued...

This term, we are reading The BFG for our novel study. Last week, we began by discussing what we know about Roald Dahl and his books. This will help us to better understand the novel when we read it by giving us some things to expect.

Year 6 Learning Community

This term we are researching about particular animals and how their adaptations help them to survive in their environment. To deepen our knowledge we are beginning an animal investigation. Students will build their understanding of animal adaptations and survival while developing their scientific observational skills.

SAPS Playgroup!

It was great to commence "Playgroup" at St Alipius with our first playgroup session for the year!

We loved seeing lots of new and familiar faces join our community for a social morning of play. It was also a great opportunity for our Year 6 leaders to come and support our youngest community members to feel comfortable and have fun.

Our playgroup is open to all in the Ballarat and wider community! See you each Tuesday!

2024 Foundation

A reminder that Expressions of Interest for 2024 Foundation positions close on Thursday 25th May.

We have loved meeting so many parents and children on our school tours and we look forward to welcoming many of you in 2024.

If you still need to complete the form, please follow the link below. Group and personal tours are still available for those that are yet to decide on a school for 2024.

Please visit our website or contact the front office on 0353311816 to book a tour.

We can’t wait to meet and get to know our 2024 Foundation community!

https://dobcel.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/enrolments-application-form/?fbclid=IwAR2xorOm_5NQdeJfprY8-jV2RYPlNZR7IVU6-Uh-sGJ2ieJllYCysfGR6Rk&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Lawn Bowls

Recently, students from Years 4 to 6 represented St Alipius in Ararat to compete in the Regional bowls tournament.

Well done on your incredible sportspersonship and all the best for future tournaments - we predict many more rolls down the green are to come!

Thanks Victoria Bowls Club for the ongoing support!

Ballarat East Community Day

What a turnout! Thank you to our amazing community for coming along to support our Ballarat East Community Day. For our first one we felt it was a great success! Great weather, great stalls, great food, great music and a wonderful atmosphere.

A big thank you to all our stallholders and parent volunteers who helped make the day such a success.

Our Taiko drummers and Choir were also fabulous. Bravo!

We might need to begin planning for 2024….

Emily

Learning Support

Personalised learning and support

Every student has their own aspirations, learning needs, strengths and interests and it is the responsibility of schools to respond to every student, and their unique characteristics, with high expectations for achievement. Providing personalised learning and targeted support is one way to achieve this.

The NCCD captures the work of schools in providing personalised learning and support for students.

For further information about NCCD, please contact Leela our Learning Diversity Leader.