Principal’s Report – Issue 12

Dear Parents

The Genius that Belongs to Women

Picture to yourself a woman standing next to a wishing well. She has a coin in her hand and she is saying aloud, “I wish for – no housework, no cooking, no cleaning, and less work.” She tosses the coin into the well and immediately there is a loud ‘bang’ and she is enveloped in a white cloud. The cloud soon breaks up and to her astonishment she’s turned into a man! Of course, it is only a dream and no woman would ever want to relinquish the advantages of her gender.

During the 17^th Century in England, the 4^th Sunday of Lent was called Mothering Sunday to honour the mothers of England. In this period of English history many poor people worked as servants for the wealthy. Because many of these servants gained employment far from their homes, they lived at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday, the servants would be given the day off to allow them to return home for the day. Quite often a “Mothering Cake” was provided for them to share with their mothers.

In 1914, after a period of evolution, the American President, Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the 2^nd Sunday in May to be Mother’s Day; this day is likewise celebrated in Australia.

The Jewish people have a proverb which says, “God could not be everywhere and therefore he created mothers.”

St Pope John Paul reinforced this some years ago when he addressed the women of Croatia: “In a special way God has entrusted children to your care and thus you are called to become an important support in the life of every person, especially within the context of the family. The frenetic pace of modern life can lead to an obscuring or even loss of what is truly human. Perhaps more than in other periods of history, our time is in need of that genius which belongs to women, and which can ensure sensitivity for human beings in every circumstance.

The old saying that “The warmth of a home comes from the heart of the mother”, is a true expression of the constant giving of nurture by a mother to her family. There have been countless attempts to list the “occupations” in which a mother has to be skilled or place a “monetary value” on all a mother does for society. However, it sometimes takes the simple words of a young person to highlight the legacy of mother’s life-giving for her family:

“From seeds you watered us.

As we sprouted you helped us grow

With warmth of your radiant love.

Along the way you trimmed us to keep us safe from harm.

When we grew out of our little pods

You replanted us where you gave us hope

And showed us faith that we may be able to

Do for others as you did for us.”

As a school community we celebrated Mother’s Day with a Mass and a delicious morning tea. At Infant Jesus School, we are so very fortunate to have the support and involvement of our MUMS in so many different facets of school life. Without this support, the opportunities for the students would be diminished.

Mother’s Day presents us with a chance to reflect on the many things that our mothers do for us and continue to do for us each and every day. It would be a tremendously difficult task to count the number of meals they have prepared, the number of items they have washed and ironed and the number of tears they have wiped away. More significantly, to count the number of hugs, kisses and cuddles they have given to each of their children and loved ones would be insurmountable. A mother’s love for her child is never ending.

To all the Mothers

And Grandmothers

Of our School Community.

When God Created Mothers…

When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

And the Lord said, “Have you read the specifications on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic…have 180 moveable parts – all replaceable…run on black coffee and leftovers…have a lap that disappears when she stands up…a kiss than can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointing love affair…and six pairs of hands. The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands? No way!”

“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”

“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, “What are you kids

doing in there?” when she already knows. Another pair in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know and of course, the ones in front that can look at a child when he gets himself into trouble and say,

“I understand, and I love you”, without so much as uttering a word.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching his sleeve gently, “go to bed. Tomorrow is another….”

“I can’t,” said the Lord. “I am so close now. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on half a kilo of mince, and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”

The angel circled the model of a mother slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.

“But tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”

“Can it think?”

“Not only think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced.

“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”

“What’s it for?”

“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.”

“You’re a genius,” said the angel

The Lord looked sombre. “I didn’t put it there.”

Interschool Swimming

We wish all the students who will be representing the school in the Interschool Swimming Championships tomorrow at Challenge Stadium. This year our team is competing in “A” Division after taking out the shield in “B” Division in 2017. We wish all competitors the best of luck. I am sure we can #ExpectGreatThings from them all!

Infant Jesus Mobile App

Today, we have launched a new Mobile App called ‘Connected’ (see picture of App on right). We hope that through this App we will further strengthen the communication and information shared between the School and home. There is further information and details regarding the setup of this App contain with the ‘Veritas’ . We hope you enjoy using the App!

Year 6 Camp

It is an exciting time for our Year 6 students as they prepare themselves for their school camp. The students and staff will be setting off early next Wednesday morning to Forest Edge Bush Camp in Waroona.

The purpose of this camp is fundamentally about developing the leaders of the school. The school camp builds confidence, resilience and responsibility, turning students into empowered, inspiring leaders.

All children learn from the unique experience of community living; sharing, working and living as a team. Being inter-dependant with peers affords the child an opportunity to make new friends, to view each other out of the context of school, and to witness and appreciate the different talents of others. School camps expose children to different environments that they would not normally experience in daily suburban living. Out of this they build personal competencies such as self-identity, self-worth, self-esteem, leadership and self-respect.

Camps help develop self-esteem as children learn to try different activities in a supportive and friendly environment. Professionally trained, outdoor instructors help children feel secure and capable. This will help children grow by providing a supervised, positive environment that has safety as a primary commitment.

Students participate in activities they have never experienced before and are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Camp is therefore a wonderful experience for all children as they learn new skills and develop a sense of autonomy and trust in their decisions.

The aims of the camp are:

to develop within the students their leadership skills.
to build and develop new friendships.
to build personal competencies such as self-identify, self-worth, self-esteem and self-respect.
to participate in activities that perhaps students have never experienced before.
to develop new skills and develop a sense of autonomy and trust in their decisions.

Staff members attending the camp:

Mrs Janelle White
Mrs Amanda Edwards
Miss Mitzi Phoebe
Miss Kate Witkowski
Mrs Jenny Houwen
Mr Frank Colangelo
Mr Paul Hille

We wish all the students and the teachers all the best for the three days. We hope that they have a great time and participate in some wonderful and memorable experiences.

NAPLAN Testing

As parents are aware, the national tests in literacy and numeracy will be conducted next week. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will involve students at this school in Year 3 and 5. However, children in Year 7 and 9 are also assessed. These NAPLAN assessments are conducted in all states and territories in Australia at the same time. The results from NAPLAN will provide an important measure of how Australian students are performing in the content strands of numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

A major purpose of the assessment is to provide parents with information about the progress of their children in relation to nationally agreed benchmarks. Benchmarks represent the minimum expected standard of achievement in literacy and numeracy. Parents will receive a report on their child’s performance later in the year. However, it must be realised this assessment cannot replace the richer judgements made about your child by the classroom teacher throughout the school year and should be viewed in this light. We wish all students the best of luck.

The timetable is as follows:

Tuesday 15 May Writing Year 3 (9.00am) Year 5 (9.15am)

Wednesday 16 May Reading Year 3 (9.15am) Year 5 (11.00am)

Thursday 17 May Language Year 3 (9.00am) Year 5 (11.00am)

Friday 18 May Numeracy Year 3 (9.00am) Year 5 (9.00am)

School Uniform

This term, all students are required to be in winter uniform. To assist parents and students in this transition, a two-week change over period is permitted. However, all students are required to be in full winter uniform by next week. This means all our students in Year 1 – Year 6 will be responsible for wearing the school tie, which includes the top button being buttoned up correctly.

The school uniform also includes items such as the hairstyles we wear, and the jewellery worn at school. Included below are the expectations for these. Most importantly we need to continue to wear our school uniform with pride.

Term Two Calendar Updates

The following events have been updated for this term

Parish Mass Year 1 & 6 – Thursday 31 May
Confirmation Retreat – Thursday 7 June
Class Assembly Year 6 – Thursday 14 June
Parish Mass Year 3 & 4 – Thursday 21 June

Parent Information Session – Occupational Therapy

On Wednesday 23 May we will be hosting a Parent Information Night on the topic of Occupational Therapy, with a particular focus on areas of development in the early years. Occupational Therapists from Therapy Focus will be presenting a Parent Information Session highlighting and providing more information about:

milestones and norms for young children
foundation skills to develop and support fine motor skills such as writing
strategies to develop fine and gross motor skills

Therapy Focus provide services that are delivered by allied health professionals, including Speech pathologists, Physiotherapists and Occupational therapists. As an organisation they aim to give children the best possible start in life and provide parents and/or carers with the correct information and resources to support their child.

Therapy focus offer a wide range of services one of which is Early Intervention where information is shared to help with all areas of child development in the early years.

All parents are very welcome to attend on Wednesday 23 May at 6.30pm in the Hall. Please use the link below to register your attendance.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Iy-FxTM2KU-zhlHaU-NeI2_eQieF-KhGs26VsZBufqFUNDVORUM2SkpUTVFVNk5ZN01UTTU1TE1NVS4u