Principal’s Report – Issue 10

Dear Parents

The Season of Easter

We can now rejoice in the glory of Jesus and the joy he has given us in his resurrection. Easter is not just one day. It is the whole season of 50 days, which will last until Pentecost. Easter, is a reminder that from death (failure) comes the possibility of new life (hope). Easter time is about new life. We rejoice in the new life of Jesus.

The season of Easter is a very special time in our church year. The Resurrection of Jesus provides us with a great symbol of hope. Jesus has triumphed over death and has returned to us to be a guide to the reality of His Father’s Kingdom of Heaven. His message of ‘love for God and each other’ is very simple but one that many of us fail to be able to completely realize.

End of Term

As we come to the end of another very busy term, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all members of the Infant Jesus School community for their endeavours and efforts. Where has the term gone? The last eleven weeks have just flown by and the students, in particular, have been most active coping with the rigors of life in a primary school.

We have been involved in a number of activities over the term, including First Day Welcome Back Morning Tea for Parents, Parent Information Nights, Back to School Picnic, Year Six Sleepover, Lent, Stations of the Cross Liturgy, Project Compassion, Easter, Football Colours Day, and Parent-Teacher Interviews and Daily Reflections during Holy Week.

Some classes have been on excursions to Fremantle as part of HASS and the Dockers Training facility at Cockburn as part of Physical Education. Incursions included the Constitution Centre, Local Government (Bayswater Council), Graphic Design and Catholic Marriage and Fertility Services and the Year 6 Sleepover.

We have been entertained by the Year 4 and Year 3 children at their assemblies. The Year 3-6 children enjoyed the Faction Swimming Carnival. Most importantly, the Year Six children have commenced their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation that will take place next term. There has been a great deal of learning, caring and involvement in the classrooms at Infant Jesus School. Wow!

The atmosphere around the school this term has been very positive. It has been tremendous to see staff, students and parents working collaboratively in many of the school activities. Most parents by now would have had the opportunity to meet with their child’s class teacher and discuss their progress. I acknowledge the efforts of the class teachers for making themselves available for this very important communication and reporting strategy. No doubt, both students and teachers are looking forward to a well-earned rest and an enjoyable holiday! Thank you to all members of the community who have contributed in some way to the education of the students and the development of this school.

Congratulations to all the ministries for their efforts this term. As parents are aware, all Year 6 students are aligned to the various ministries in the school. From all reports, the students have been very enthusiastic and productive in their undertakings. Thank you to the teachers who generously give of their time to assist these students with their ministry work. We look forward to more exciting things in the future.

Lastly, thank you to all members of the Infant Jesus School community who have contributed in some way to the education of the students and the development of this school over the term. Enjoy the break with your children and we look forward to seeing everyone return to school refreshed and ready for the start of a new term.

School resumes on Monday 30 April.

Nine Key Drivers ~ Contemporary Learners

At Infant Jesus School, we believe in the development of the whole child and that our children must be equipped for the future. We understand that the children of today do not live in the world of yesterday and as such believe in an innovative, curiosity driven education based upon traditional and new pedagogy and understanding.

Infant Jesus School offers so many exciting opportunities and I encourage students and parents to attend relevant events and to be as involved as possible in the life of the school. Our aspiration, at Infant Jesus School, is to provide a world-class Catholic school where students and staff flourish. As A LEADing Learning School, the following nine key drivers support our beliefs and approach to developing successful learners.

Our students and staff are very much aware of these nine key drivers. You will see them in classrooms and on banners around the school. The second driver I would like to share is Contemporary Learners.

A contemporary learning approach is personalised, responding to the learning needs, interests and experiences of each student. Contemporary learning aims to empower students with the knowledge, skills and capacities to respond creatively to the challenges of their world.

Today’s world promises new educational opportunities for our students and we strive to develop and enhance new technologies and learning styles that will empower all children to flourish.

At Infant Jesus School, we believe in:

Providing opportunities for children to work in flexible learning spaces that accommodate their individual learning styles.
Encouraging movement and interaction where the role of the teacher facilitates and supports learning.
Children making decisions and choices to suit their learning needs.
A rich curriculum that engages the contemporary learner.
Children working independently and collaboratively and taking ownership of their actions.
A culture of learning that builds capacity to deepen insight and meaning.
A pedagogy designed to empower the learner.
A learning community built on strong partnerships that connect, challenge and collaborate to #ExpectGreatThings.

Colour Run

There is great excitement within our school as we prepare to hold our first ever Colour Run tomorrow. The children are very enthusiastic to participate in this event as they are blasted with colour. They certainly will end up being very, very colourful!! We must thank the P&F, especially Marissa Gulluni, the P&F President, and her many helpers to make this event become a reality. This fundraiser has definitely been very successful, not only in raising money for the School, but to end the term with an exciting event for all our children. The money has already be handed to the school and we are excited to announce the total amount raised next term.

iHour Program

At Infant Jesus School, we believe that we should provide challenging and highly motivating learning opportunities for all of our students, catering for all ability levels, capacity and creative talents. We want our students to be creating solutions and to be critiquing, analysing and evaluating problems. We want our students to recognise needs or opportunities, not just in our school or community, but globally to identify and create solutions. We want our students to be challenged and to develop the skills required in a contemporary educational setting.

In order to provide our students with these rich learning opportunities, a new initiative, iHour was introduced into our teaching and learning program at the start of 2017, as staff strive to become A LEADing Learning School.

In line with the Australian Curriculum, iHour aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that students:

Investigate, design, plan and create solutions.
Are creative, innovative and enterprising.
Engage confidently with and responsibly select appropriate technologies when designing solutions.

In the iHour Program, every student in Years Four to Year Six is given the opportunity over the course of the year to participate in an intensive five-week learning block where they leave class to participate in a 100-minute iHour session every week. These sessions focus on the use of design and computational thinking to help generate and produce solutions for authentic needs.

Last week, our first group of students in Year Four to Year Six presented their solutions to a global world problem. Please read the report in the Innovation Section of the newsletter to see how it all went.

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is a national public holiday and is considered by many Australians to be one of the most solemn days of the year. Marches held in cities and towns nationwide by veterans from all past wars, as well as current serving members of the Australian Defence Force and Reserves, with allied veterans and the Australian Defence Force Cadets and Australian Air League and supported by members of Scouts Australia, Guides Australia, and other uniformed service groups as well as schools and community groups.

ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. ANZAC Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand, a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same Remembrance Day but making reference to both countries in its name.

As a school we will be commemorating ANZAC Day on the first day of school next term, Monday 30 April, at 11.00 am in the Piazza. All are welcome to join us for this special event.

Confirmation Parent Information Night

The Parish invites all Year Six parents whose children will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation to the Parish on Monday 7 May at 7.00pm. More information will follow from the Parish.

Prayer for the Week

As we end this term, we consider how we might have changed, grown and

become more like Jesus during this time.

Jesus said, ‘Everyone will know you are my friends if you love one another.’

Let us show our love by making peace and trying to make things better.

Let us show our love by caring about the happiness of others and by thanking them for their goodness to us.

Let us love one another as we share our meals and laugh and celebrate together.

Help us, Lord, to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Amen.

Infant Jesus Family

Congratulations to Jennifer and Gary Clare on the arrival of their beautiful son Oliver.

Our condolences and prayers go to the Lombardi Family (Eva 5B) and D’Alessandro Family (Alana 6B) on the sad loss of their Nonna. May she rest in the peace of Christ forever.

Mother’s Day

On Thursday 10 May we will be taking time, as a school, to celebrate some very special women in our lives, our mothers. A whole school Mass will be celebrated in the Infant Jesus Church commencing at 9:00am followed by morning tea.

Winter Uniform

A reminder to all parents that next term all students are required to be in winter uniform. To assist parents and students in this transition, a two-week change-over period will be permitted. However, all students are required to be in full winter uniform by the commencement of Week 3. Please refer to the uniform policy on the school website for further information.

2019 Kindergarten Enrolments

Enrolments are now being taken for siblings and new students wishing to commence Kindergarten at Infant Jesus School in 2019. Families with children eligible for Kindergarten in 2019 are required to fill out a Kindergarten Enrolment Application Form. Forms can be obtained from the office. Interviews for Kindergarten 2019 will commence at the beginning of Term 2.

Appointments will be arranged for families to attend an interview with either Ms Moffat (Assistant Principal), Mr Colangelo (Assistant Principal) or myself. Infant Jesus School will continue to operate two concurrent Kindergarten groups next year with the days of attendance being Monday, Wednesday and Friday ~ 9.00am -2.30pm.

Term One ~ School Holiday Dates

Term One School Holidays Monday 16th April – Friday 27th April

Term Two Commences Monday 30th April

The holidays provide many opportunities to have a break from school to spend quality time with your child. The following list provides a few more ideas for families for the holidays:

Talk with and to your child – promote and encourage conversation… try to find out as much as you can about your child’s day. Finding out even small things gives you a common experience to discuss.
Find out what is happening at school …e.g. the current topic/theme special event.
Make the best use of time… play word games, have discussions in the car on the way to holiday activities, holiday destinations, sporting events etc.
To make the best use of the holiday time – leave household chores until later if possible!
Have an organised / expected time of the day / evening to share the experiences of the day, stories
Use the holidays to ‘catch-up’ on literacy activities —e.g. visit or join the local library, visit the museum.
If your job involves literacy in any way, try to make this a part of your child’s experience, e.g. visiting mum/dad’s workplace, watching mum/dad with the work that they bring home
Involve children in everyday literacy activities, e.g. reading a recipe, instructions, labels on food items, menus, TV guides, the newspaper, making a shopping list, doing the shopping, writing a letter, sending a birthday card.

Did you Know . . . ?

An apple, potato and onion all taste the same if you eat them with your nose plugged.
The human heart pumps 5.6 million litre of blood a year.
On average, when asked for a colour, 3 out of 5 people will say red.

Thought for the Week

Kindness is a language which the deaf man can hear and the blind man can read.

(Mark Twain)

Have a Great Holiday!