Dear Families,
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school during these turbulent times. We remain extremely fortunate in South Australia with our management of COVID 19. My heart goes out to the people of the eastern seaboard of Australia. I was interested to read the story of Roald Dahl who, sadly, lost a daughter to measles encephalitis when she was 7 years of age. At that stage an effective vaccine had not been discovered and deaths were quite common. Dahl went on to be a strong advocate for vaccines and I am sure he would speak in favour of getting a jab for COVID. We see very few deaths from measles today, hopefully the same will be said of COVID in the future.
COVID 19
With the high number of cases in the eastern states it is important that we remain vigilant and keep on following the recommendations from the Chief Medical Officer, Nicola Spurrier. It has worked well for us so far. Hence we continue to adhere to the restrictions and guidance provided to us from Catholic Education SA. Nothing has really changed over the past couple of weeks so I cannot offer you any new information at this point. As a principal I love seeing parents walking their children into and out of school and being a key part of our community. Being able to make connections with other families is really important for building community and supporting each other. I certainly feel for our new Receptions, but they have developed independence by walking in and out of school on their own. I do thank each of you for playing your part in following the rules and keeping everyone safe.
Catholic Education Week
This week is Catholic Education Week and this year is the 200th Year of Catholic Education in Australia. Normally we would have classrooms open for parents to spend some time sharing in their child's learning journey but unfortunately we have not been able to make this happen. Hopefully you would have seen the Catholic Schools insert in The Advertiser last weekend. We look forward to a more promising CEW in 2022.
LLL Survey
Recently we emailed out the Living, Learning, Leading Framework Survey for parents to complete. Thank you to those who have completed this survey to help provide feedback to Catholic Education SA about how our school is travelling. If you have not responded then you still have one week to complete the survey at this link. The code is TWLLLP. Our teachers and students (from Year 2 – 6) have also completed the LLL survey. Thank you to those families who also completed the survey from Camp Australia about before school care and vacation care. I will wait now for Camp Australia to collate the results and discern whether these services are offered at Tenison Woods.
Hats
Please remember that hats are now to be worn by students in Term 3. With lockdown and the overcast/wet weather over the past few weeks we have not enforced this requirement. However we recognise that the UV rating is now starting to rise again so hats will need to be worn from Monday 16 August. Thank you for your support in ensuring your child(ren) is in their correct school uniform. Hopefully they looked good for their school photo taken today.
Confirmation
Next Thursday, 19 August, a number of our children will receive the sacrament of Confirmation at St John Bosco Church at Brooklyn Park. During Confirmation we ask the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of our candidates to receive some precious gifts and fruits. The seven gifts we refer to are wisdom, knowledge, understanding, reverence, right judgment, courage and wonder and awe. The twelve fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I am sure these are already present in our children but I believe they will be experienced in a new way through Confirmation. We pray for our young candidates and their families at this very special time in their faith journey.
Testing
Over the past couple of weeks our children have been completing some tests in the area of Reading and Maths, known as Pat M and Pat R (Progressive Assessment Tests). These tests provide the teachers with information with what children are able (or not able) to do. They can then use this data to inform their teaching programme and tailor student learning to support each student. Next week our Year 4 students will undertake the RELAT (Religious Education Literacy Assessment Test). Again this test provides teachers with information about the students' understanding in the area of Religious Education. All Year 4 students in Catholic Education SA participate in this assessment each year.
Book Week
We will celebrate Book Week in Week 6, although this year we will not have a dress up parade. The Book Fair is on Monday 23 August, but sadly parents will not be able to view the books in person with their child. They might have to trust in their children's judgment or do a Google search on the books their children are interested in to discern whether that book(s) is right for them. On the Wednesday we have an online NED Show and a Baker's Delight Pizza lunch organised by the P&F. NED stands for: Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best. The show is about developing a positive mindset in children and makes use of 'yoyos'. It fits in with what we are doing in Wellbeing throughout the school. We will then have yoyos available for children to purchase in the following couple of weeks. And if that wasn't enough for this week, the teachers are really keen to have a Pyjama Day in that week on Friday 27th August. The children will be able to curl up in their comfy pjs and read a book with their friends to end the week!
School Concert
Our School Concert is on Thursday September 16 at the Christian Family Centre at Seaton. As you would understand COVID may well impact on this event and numbers may have to be restricted. At this stage we ask that parents only purchase tickets for immediate family members (parents and siblings). Closer to the event we hope to have a clearer picture of restrictions and then be able to open up to others. Tickets will be available soon on QKR for $15, $10 concession and children under 5 free. Please look out for further information in the coming week.
Nut Allergies
Please remember that TWCS is a 'nut free' school. We ask that you do not send food products to school that contain traces of nuts. We do have a number of students in different year levels who are severely allergic to them. One of the main culprits are the various bars, such as Kinder Hippo Bars, Nutella Bars, etc. Please remain vigilant in checking the products that you buy for your children to ensure they do not contain nuts.
Sand Pit Toys
A big thank you to our Parents and Friends Committee for providing some new, high quality and heavy duty toys for the sand pits.
Bunnings BBQ
Our school P&F is operating the Bunnings BBQ at Mile End on Sunday 22nd August (Sunday week). I encourage you to consider helping out on this stall if you are able. Proceeds from the sales goes towards supporting the P&F which in turn supports your children. Please check the email from our P&F about offering even a short bit of time helping out. If you are unable to help in this way then please consider calling past on the day to encourage others and buy a snag/drink or two!