From The Principal Week 7
Dear SCA Families
This Sunday is St Patrick’s Day. But did you know that, two days later, we also celebrate the feast day of Saint Joseph?
We know little about the life of St Joseph but what we do know is that God chose him to play a special role in the salvation story. Joseph stood by Mary and trusted her account of God’s intervention in her life through an unexplained pregnancy. It was Joseph who protected the infant Jesus and Mary when they fled to Egypt to escape certain death. Under Joseph’s care and influence, together with that of Mary, “Jesus grew in wisdom and grace, finding favour with God and among people”. (Luke)
St Joseph is a model for us of good living, of living and acting in such a way that reflects God’s goodness and love by constantly doing what is right and good. We celebrate the Feast of St Joseph on 19th March.
May St Joseph and St Patrick bless our school community this week with a desire to always do what is right, and with a firm faith in God’s loving presence within and among us.
Jewellery and Hair
To work effectively as partners, we respectfully ask parents to ensure each child follows the school guidelines, as documented on our website, in relation to jewellery and hair:
- No jewellery may be worn other than small, plain (silver or gold, no colour) ear studs, a watch and medical alert identification.
In some cases the wearing of small, plain sleepers may be permitted If there is a health reason. Only one stud or sleeper per ear (i.e. earlobe) - Hair should be clean and neat. A student’s hair should be cut off their face and, if longer than shoulder length, it must be tied back in an appropriate school coloured band. Hair should also be of natural colour and extreme haircuts are not allowed. Rats tails, dreadlocks and geometric shapes cut into the hair are not permitted.
Year 6 Camp
Congratulations to the Year 6 student for your participation, cooperation and team work shown in Jindabyne on your camp last week. I extend a sincere vote of thanks to Mrs Thomson, Mrs Wilkes, Mr Purcell, Mr Aifantis, Mr Wells and Mrs Reed for giving of their time to ensure the children had a great time.
Fence, and closed gates
Our fence is certainly not to keep our families away. It is to ensure a safe environment for all in our community. Visitors are welcome, but we need to know, especially in case of emergency, exactly who is on the school grounds. If visiting, please sign in via the Front Office while saying “g’day” to our friendly office team. We also have a couple of children who need the fence to keep them from going astray and into danger.
Principals’ Gathering and Retreat
Last Thursday and Friday, I attended the Catholic School Principals’ Retreat at Bowral. This is an annual retreat generally held at a location which is a midpoint in our archdiocese. Most schools in this region are located in the ACT; however, a significant number are situated in regional areas of New South Wales. The archdiocese stretches from Pambula in the South to Lake Cargelligo in the West. As a visiting lecturer once remarked “Good Lord! That’s about as big as Ireland.”
Given the significant distances between schools, this was only one of two occasions this year that principals throughout the archdiocese have an opportunity to meet and catch up.
The retreat leader was Fr Timothy Radcliffe. Fr Timothy is a distinguished figure within the Catholic Church, acclaimed for his profound contributions as both an English Catholic priest and a Dominican friar. Fr Timothy told many stories, most of them humorous, on the themes of hope, finding God, friendship, leadership and truth.
Should you have a couple of hours spare on Thursday evening this week (14th March) you too could listen to the engaging and positive speaker, Fr Timothy Radcliffe, at Merici College from 5.30pm. For details, please check out https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/where-to-next-with-the-synod-an-evening-with-fr-timothy-radcliffe-op-tickets-799041182687?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Community Council
Our Community Council will have its second meeting of the year next Tuesday (19th March) evening. Should you wish to send a message to our Council, we would love to hear from you on council.scaconder@cg.catholic.edu.au.
Our Council is looking for a person to take on the role of Secretary. It’s not an onerous task, and, other than two meetings a term, only requires a small amount of time each term in preparing the agenda and minutes of our meetings. Please feel free to chat with me for further details.
Items of discussion at next week’s meeting will include:
- New Council Charter
- Annual School Council Plan
- 30th Anniversary Celebrations
NAPLAN Weeks
This week, our students will participate in NAPLAN, the national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar, and punctuation) and numeracy. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
Schools have transitioned from paper-based to computer-based assessments. All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper. Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are more engaging for students. One of the main benefits is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test presents questions which may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.
See the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at the public demonstration site. More information for parents and carers can be found here.
It was once said…
Lenten blessings to you and your family.
Matt Egan-Richards
Principal