2023 Term 3 - Mid Term Newsletter

Principal’s Report

Dear Families,

As I reflect on the last 5 weeks, I cannot help but be excited by the incredible range of activities that have kept the school buzzing with joy, creativity, and healthy competition. It continues to prove to me that excitement and thinking outside of the box is one of our special talents of students and staff across St Dominic’s. The students have been fully immersed and engaged in the different activities, even asking me to be a part of their fun, which is far more enticing than sitting at my desk doing paperwork. When I have a chance to participate, the joy on our students’ faces is data enough for me! The enthusiasm and enjoyment are expressed through squeals of laughter and delight. The activities have promoted self-confidence and pride they have in learning new skills exudes with their retell of their adventures. Students have returned as the future Lleyton Hewitt and Ash Barty’s after playing tennis, whilst our budding artists are producing artworks destined for the NSW Art Gallery.

August 8th had us come together with our hosts San Clemente, and St Columban’s representatives, to observe St Dominic’s day, where we celebrated the feast day of Guzman. Our school representatives, Dakota and Harry, participated in the mass by bringing forward the St Dominic’s school candle, before joining their classmates for the liturgy.

Many memorable moments and meaningful activities. Thank you to the students (and staff) for allowing me to be part of your learning days. Thank you to our families who continue to support us.

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Assistant Principal Report

Thank you to all families who have booked appointments and liaised with external therapists and support networks to collaborate around the educational, emotional, social, sensory, physical and wellbeing needs of their child.

We look forward to holding the PP review meetings in Week 6 to share and celebrate the successes of our students and to plan for successful end to 2023.

Thank you to Ethan James (Occupational Therapist) and Kate Mahony (Speech Therapists), representatives from our therapist team who presented at our Term 2 Parent Engagement Meeting. They spoke about how the therapy team is working in consultation with school staff. The therapist, have and will continue to observe, trial and facilitate strategies for teachers and support staff to support student engagement and participation in the school. Some examples of the work that they are doing include:

1. Observe current routines
2. Observe current strategies/tools implemented
3. Facilitate social interactions during class
4. Facilitate social participation during breaks (lunch club and playgrounds)
5. Set up movement and sensory spaces appropriately
6. Provide education to teachers and support staff
7. Implement visual strategies during class (i.e., visual schedule, facilitate use of visuals as a communicative tool)
8. Interpret reports and provide information back to class teachers

This is another great partnership that is happening at St Dominic’s and we look forward to it continuing to unfold.

Coordinators Report

During Week 1 we celebrated NAIDOC by participating in dot painting on bark to make a collaborative art piece, learnt how to weave with Samara and Sierra, tasted crocodile kebabs and had a disco dancing to some awesome Indigenous artists. It was a great afternoon experiencing and reflecting on our First Nations rich culture.

NAPLAN results were distributed early in Term 3 for Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. We are proud of all the students who participated in the activities, they tried their best and persisted through the activities. If you have any questions about the results please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Our Aboriginal secondary and primary students were lucky enough to participate in a cultural event at San Clemente during Week 3. Hilary McEntyre, from Dreamtime Dance Company, taught us dances including the eagle, goanna, kangaroo, emu and some deadly modern Aboriginal dance moves. We also listened to Bryan Rowe play the yidaki (commonly known as the didgeridoo) and we could paint our face or hands with ochre. Check out the special Worimi design on the girls faces.

Red

We are busy engaging in lots of different learning experiences in Red Class. With Mrs John we are exploring weather during our Science lessons and in Geography, we are investigating how we can look after the places we live in. In PDHPE with Miss Ange, we are learning about how to establish and manage happy, healthy and active lifestyles, as well as developing our ball skills, including passing the ball to each other, dribbling and shooting for a hoop. The persistence that we are demonstrating is fantastic. Miss Ange is encouraging us to move safely and expressively in dance during our Creative Arts unit. This is complimented with our weekly dance sessions on a Friday with Miss Mel from Galaxy Dance Academy – one favourite lesson has been learning about rhythm with buckets and drumsticks. Noisy but fun!

Everyday we participate in English, Maths and Religion activities. Each week we focus on another sound through our Promoting Literacy Development (PLD) program when we are ready to move forward. So far, we have looked at the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m, r, h. We are beginning to blend them together to make words like tap, sat, map. Nursery rhymes are also our focus during the morning session for English this term. We had fun acting out Goldilocks and the Three Bears with props. During the middle session of the day, we engage in Maths activities. We have explored addition, subtraction, grouping, and then we will move on to data, time, position, mass and 2D shapes throughout the remainder of the term. Our topic for Religion is Knowing God the Holy Spirit. We have made some beautiful artworks to decorate our classroom and are practising making the sign of the cross during our daily prayer.

Everyday we work towards receiving helping hands on our class reward chart. We read our class social story that reminds us to make good choices when we are angry and to always use safe hands and feet at school. This will be a major focus in Weeks 5 and 6 as we work together as a class to look after one another. Please keep an eye out for photos on Seesaw – we love showing you all the amazing things we are achieving in kinder.

Blue

What a welcome to Term 3! All students returned to school ready to learn and have fun. We have been enjoying a lot of challenging and enjoyable activities including dance, mosaic plate making, and this week will see us begin a series of 3 gymnastic sessions onsite with Primarily Active group- shout out to Mrs Allen for sourcing these external services for us.

In Literacy we are continuing to meet our goals in reading, spelling and dictation. Our fluency and comprehension skills are at an impressive level and students enjoy sharing rich texts and then exploring the content in creative ways.

Our little mathematicians have been hard at work, and we have been using several platforms to explore our world with a mathematical lense.  Our focus this term is number patterns and skip counting. Everyone is enjoying the songs and choral counting activities.

Our other KLA’s have us exploring the natural resources our earth has to offer, our place in the world and how to care for our world and others.  

Book Week promises to be lots of fun and hopefully we can make another trip to Mayfield Library.

Our overarching religion focus this term has been on our Patron Saint, Dominic and exploring our Dominican history. Every day we aim to live our lives reflecting our faith pillars.  We care for ourselves, our community and our world. Blue Class tries every day to speak respectfully to each other, show empathy and walk together peacefully.

Here’s to a great Term 😊         

Teal

Welcome to Term 3 Teal Families!

We have had a fantastic start to the term with lots of exciting events. Teal were lucky enough to head to the museum to learn all about the history of Newcastle. This linked well with our studies last term in HSIE. The class especially enjoyed the BHP steelworks show with all the lights and smoke.

We have begun tennis for sport and have been walking down to our local courts to learn new skills from a professional.

On the 3^rd of August Teal was selected to represent St Dominic’s at the St Dominic’s Day liturgy at San Clemente High School. Well done for showing off our school so nicely Teal.

In English we have learnt all about environment and sustainability. We have been reading lots of interesting books and have been using our imagination to create weather reports after reading ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’. We now have a special Teal Class weather report book that we have been able to show off to visitors.

I look forward to another term full of learning fun with these amazing Teal students.        

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Stage 5 and 6

Class Teachers

School Community

Secondary students have continued to lead the school community in their example of how to build relationships. They have displayed empathy, honesty and responsibility in their approach towards their peers and teachers. This has been reflected in their commitment and engagement to learning.

Student Learning

Term 3 has provided students with many learning opportunities in a variety of contexts and styles to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge of the skills learnt and gained within the context of a subject area. Students have especially enjoyed participating in practical lessons.

Community Access

During Term 3 students have been eager to attend new community access events across Newcastle. The aim of community access within the school context is to provide students with access to recreation tasks and social opportunities that enables them to develop skills and competencies.

Students have shown their sporting skills and prowess learning to play tennis at Merewether Tennis Courts under the instruction of Michael Mills Tennis Academy.  They have also enjoyed outings to local Mayfield businesses such as KFC and antique shops, where students have used their financial Mathematics and English communication skills to purchase goods and services.

Workplace Learning Visits

Stage 6 students have spent the past several weeks undertaking Travel Training and Workplace Learning Visits to Martha’s Cafe located at the Cathedral Functions Centre as part of their Stage 6 Work and Community Practical Learning Experience. The aim of these workplace visits is for students to explore first hand the world of work, gain job ready skills and knowledge and practice general and industry specific skills.

Pastoral Care

Welcome back to school families! Get ready for an exciting term ahead, filled with lots of great activities and fundraisers.

Macca's Fun Night raised $238, which bought the Painting on the Pathway project to life. The pathway painting project exemplify the power of community support, creative initiatives, and collaborative efforts in enhancing the school environment and creating meaningful experiences for students. The alphabet rainbow serpent, number crocodile, and other elements on the pathway will continue to brighten the school's atmosphere and inspire young minds for years to come. Allowing students to participate by using chalk to add on to the artwork encourages their creativity and artistic expression. Such involvement empowers students, making them active contributors to their school's visual appeal. We also would like to thank Broadmeadow McDonald's for hosting us and look forward to joining forces another night.

We have been lucky enough to be granted a grant from NCIG for $1048. The project is Garden to Plate this amazing initiative that will not only benefit the school community but also promote sustainable and healthy practices. With the grant covering various essential items like soil, matting, garden shed, tools, shelving, wheelbarrows, hose, garden gloves, and plants, you're already well-equipped to start the project. And the donation of garden beds from Viking Builders is a fantastic addition to your resources, showcasing the support from the local community. A working bee is on the drawing board and excellent way to kickstart the project and get everyone involved.

Lucky again, SchoolSports grant has been approved for $2420, Lime, Green, and Teal classes are already participating in Tennis on Mondays. The continuation of this activity until the last week of the term will undoubtedly be a fun and engaging experience for the students. Who knows, with their skills honed through regular practice, you might have future tennis stars in the making, and the Australian Open might not be too far off! With more ideas on the drawing board, the school community can look forward to additional exciting activities in the pipeline. Once these activities are confirmed, information and details will be sent home.

Thompson Pie's fundraiser raised $424.57. Thank you for putting on the stretchy pants and ordering up big. With these funds we have been able to purchase a new basketball stand. Playdough, games, chalk and craft kits have also been purchased for our Lunch Club.

UPDATE: Our Bunnings BBQ fundraiser will happen later this year. We will need volunteers to help us cook and serve the sausages, as well as donations of soft drinks, onions, and sausages. Information will be put up on FB and Compass once a new date has been confirmed.

Our current fundraiser is the Father’s Day socks and chocs… for $10 you will receive a pair of socks and some homemade Rocky Road. The combination of a jolly pair of socks and homemade Rocky Road is sure to put a smile on any Dad's face. Order forms have been sent home and orders are coming in. Orders can be paid via cash or by card. If you need more order forms please contact your classroom teacher or phone the school to make an over the phone order. Numbers are limited. Orders are to be in by 18^th August.

As we continue to work together, remember that each contribution, no matter how big or small, plays a significant role in achieving our goals.

Safeguarding Information

2023 Term 3 Planner