AGGIES ARTICLES - Term 3 Week 1 - Friday 16 July 2021

Welcome back to Term Three. It has been wonderful to hear about all of the fun had by the children whilst on holidays. The staff began the term with a very full day of learning on Monday. We continued our learning in partnership with Lyn Sharratt, as well as having a wonderful professional learning experience with Occupational Therapist Tania Slack-Smith.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Monday's Confirmation Reflection Day for all Year 3 students and Primary Candidates will still go ahead, but instead of being held at the Youth Hub, it will now be held in our School Hall. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions we are unable to invite parents to our Liturgy of the Word and Afternoon Tea. Children are still to wear Sports Uniform, and now that we are staying at school, lunch orders are available for these students. The Year 3 team have done a wonderful job in preparing to ensure that the students have a special day.

Please keep an eye on your emails for updates from the Parish in regards to the workshops that are due to commence next week.

St Vincent de Paul - Thank You

The staff from St Vincent de Paul asked Mr Oxley to pass on their sincere thanks to our school community when he dropped off your generous donations. Thank you again to everyone who supported our Winter Woolies Appeal.

Pick Up/Drop Off - Changed Arrangements Due to Restrictions

As communicated via the School App this week, we ask all parents to ensure that they are following social distancing practices when picking up their children in the afternoons. There are signs on the gates to indicate which pick up area your child will be in, as well as a staff member with a microphone calling out names. We thank everyone for their patience and support this week as we undertook these new arrangements. Please remember that formal supervision is open until 3:30pm, so if there are many parents waiting for their child, it may be beneficial to remain in the car and wait until some families leave.

Carpark Pick Up Reminder

We remind all families to please ensure that they display the name plates they received when they signed the carpark pick up agreement. With an increase in families using carpark pick up at the moment, it is essential that we are able to keep the traffic flowing. If you have not yet signed a form or have lost your name plate, please contact the school office.

We remind all families of the school zone requirements in place around Boronia St. For the safety of all, it is essential that between 8:00am-9:30am and 2:30pm-4:00pm all motorists obey the 40km speed signs. We remind all families that if you drop off at the front gates, you MUST walk your child across the road. We have observed many children being sent to cross the road themselves. Please assist us by modelling safe practices for your child.

Please also be aware that the area in front of the school gates is a no stopping zone. If you drop children off in that area, you may be fined by the Council. If you wish to use the car park pick up service, you need to use the drive through drop off.

Year 3 News

As you would be aware that Mrs Jenny Mercer has been teaching 3TM Thursday and Friday each week. Jenny's contract finished at the end of Term 2 and she has decided to pursue Casual Teaching opportunities again. We are so very grateful for the support and genuine love and care that Jenny has shown to the children in 3TM.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Mrs Jessica Stewart will be appointed to the role of 3TM Teacher replacing Jenny and moving into the five day per week role to replace Eloise as well. Jessica is a highly experienced and well-loved member of our staff and I know the children will be very excited to have her as their teacher. Jessica taught the children in this grade back when they were in Year 1, so she is already well known to the children.

We will update you all in the coming weeks as to who will be taking on the Leader of Inclusion role.

Kindergarten Support Update

It is with great pleasure that we welcome back the wonderful Mrs Robyn McCartney to our staff. Mrs McCartney has been on leave and will be joining us to support the Kindergarten children with Reading. For our new families, Robyn has been a valued member of the St Agnes’ staff for many, many years. We are so excited to have her expertise.

Compulsory School Attendance

Attending school regularly is legally required for all children of school age. If your child is habitually absent they miss important learning as well as opportunities to connect with their peers. Even being 5-10 minutes late regularly adds up to a lot of missed days. Please see the table below for more information. If for any reason you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please contact their class teacher or Kate, Donna or Ginaya for assistance. We wish to work in partnership with you to support regular attendance. Please be aware that if your child is habitually absent we are required to take action to ensure that this does not continue. We thank you for your support in this matter.

We are halfway through the year. A new term with a fresh start. This week’s focus is about building our relationships back up since we all have had a break. It is a fresh and new start for us all. If we all use the Golden Rule: “Treat others as we would like to be treated” our school community will be a happy place.

Our whole school slide presentation this week:

Term 2 House Cup Winners

Congratulations to all Clarence house students who celebrated winning the house cup last term for following whole school expectations. They received the most dojos (11493) and enjoyed a fun sport, games, movie and treat session.

Family Resources

Random Acts of Kindness is a free resource for families around kindness. This site provides quick convenient kindness activities for families of all ages and useful discussion topics. 

Brain Basics

A great resource explaining anxiety. 

CONGRATULATIONS to our first 500 Dojo recipient for 2021…

Makayla Dickson - 2JW

Congratulations to the following students who have received 200 dojos this week for following our 4 R’s at St Agnes'. 

KJ - Ava Rangel and Georgia Howard
1O - Madelyn Field, Noah Blair and Sophie Wainwright
1TB - Bella Richards, Miles Gardiner and Ryder Atkins
2W - Enzo Waind and Kitt Quirk
3O - Avinav Sivaraj
3P - Elkie Lynn
3TM - Emily Lonergan
5C - Lilah Beck and Nickson Vatalidis
5M - Lucas Blair
5W - Mia Hodge and Noah Joyce
6W - Darcy Middleton and Madeline Innes

100 Dojo Awards:

www.flexischools.com.au