Term 1, Week 6

Important Dates

Principal's Message: Mrs Angela Muller

Our Assumption Family: Parent/Community Charter

We are blessed to have an incredible catholic community that we call Our Assumption Family. Our Assumption Family refers to our parents, students and staff of the school and all other persons who have a connection with the school. We are blessed that each of you is here. We know that students thrive at school when there are positive relationships between school and home; home and school. I count my blessings knowing that I have the privilege to witness all of our students grow at Assumption and the incredible efforts our staff go to everyday. 

In the past two weeks, you received a Compass notification for you to acknowledge the 2025 Parent/Community Charter. I thank you for reviewing the charter and confirming your acknowledgement. If you have not yet been able to do so, please:

• Open the Compass App
• Select More 
• Select Course Confirmation
• Follow steps provided

As our Learning Framework highlights We work as a contemporary and future-focused learning community through a shared approach to build knowledge, skills and understanding to encourage and promote personal growth, wellbeing and future success. 

“Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you in all your life”
- St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 

Yours in Education

Angela

Leadership Insights: Mr Matthew Gibson

NAPLAN

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 began NAPLAN today. All students sat the writing test this morning. Over the next 3 school days, our students will sit the Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy tests. We are excited for them to demonstrate their skills in these learning areas.

Tips for NAPLAN

1. Talk to your children positively about NAPLAN assessments.
2. Encourage your child to simply give their best effort.
3. Celebrate their success during learning, particularly leading up to NAPLAN.
4. Don’t over prepare for the assessments.

Afternoon Pick-up

A continued thanks for the smooth transition home that we have each afternoon. A couple of reminders for the safety of all of our students:

• Our only pick-up zone should be the basketball court, not the front gate near the office 
• We kindly ask that once you have collected your children, please don’t linger on the basketball court, so that we are able to see who has been collected and who has not.

REC News: Mrs Catherine Connor

Sunday, 17 Mar 2019: Second Sunday of Lent - Year C

Lk 9:28-36 As Jesus prayed, the aspect of his face was changed, and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.

Gospel Reflection

This Weeks’ gospel tells about a very special thing that happened to three of Jesus' disciples. It tells about the time that they finally began to understand who Jesus was and what he was doing. The apostles had been with Jesus for almost three years. They had watched him, listened to him, talked with him, prayed with him, but they were still confused. God told them that Jesus was his beloved Son, and that they should listen to him.

 Talk to the children about how we listen to Jesus today, and share ways that we can listen to and follow Jesus this week. Ask your child/children what they think Jesus is calling them to do this week.

Gospel Challenge

We have to take up the challenge that Jesus gave us - love each other, forgive, feed the hungry, house the homeless.... We have to live the message of love that Jesus gave us. We have to listen to him.

Give the children a minute of quiet and ask them to think of ways that we can listen to Jesus in our lives this week. When we think about, and are connected to Jesus, we will hear what he wants from us.

Prayer

Lord, let everything I do this day and in this season of Lent come from You and be inspired by You. Help me to use Your love as a way to persevere in my Lenten intentions. Let me be aware of the many ways You reach out to help me today and let me stand in awe of the power that You use in such loving ways. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Joseph's Feast Day Liturgy

You are invited to a Liturgy in the

Assumption School Hall at
10.30 AM, Wednesday, 19th March

to celebrate the Feast Day of St Joseph and St Patrick whose Feast Day is Monday 17th March.

To find out more about Project Compassion go to  https://www.caritas.org.au/ 

Junior Joeys 2025

With the support of Mrs Lisa Lynch and myself the Assumption School is working with students from Years 5 and 6  to support Project Compassion - They have run a very successful Pancake Tuesday to start their Social Justice Fundraing for Caritas. Their other proposed fundraising events are -  Week 7: Colouring-In Competition;  Week 9: “Walk for Water”. 

Mary MacKillop Awards

Congratulations to the recipients of the Mary MacKillop Awards last week. They are gentle, peaceful people and ‘never see a need without doing something about it.

To keep connected to the Cathedral Parish please follow the link to the Cathedral Parish Bulletin.

Learning: Ms Melanie Kelley

Primary Years 3-6

Real - Life Literacy and Numeracy Skills

Developed in partnership with Education Services Australia

These ideas will help turn travelling with your child into literacy and numeracy practice – and help to develop your child’s road awareness at the same time:

• Ask your child to navigate – even if you know the way
• "You're in charge this trip. Find our destination, choose a route, and then give me step-by-step instructions as we drive. Remember I need plenty of warning before changing lanes or making a turn, so look and plan ahead!"

• Ask your child to read and interpret parking signs
• "Are we allowed to park here? For how long? Does the car have to be facing a certain way?"

• Talk about safe driving
• "How much gap should we leave behind the car in front? When should we leave a bigger gap? Why?"
  
  
• Ask your child to estimate the time needed to cover different distances
• "This is a 60km/hr road and it’s about 10km to your friend’s house. How long til we get there?"
  
  
• When filling up with fuel, ask your child to estimate how much you’ll need to pay (eg by multiplying the kilometres you’ve travelled by your average fuel consumption by the price of the fuel – rounding the numbers to make things easier)
  
  
• Play games based on road signs – eg looking for a street sign with a certain combination of letters. Games like this help your child to learn where the signs are, and to read them quickly – another useful skill for the future!

For more ideas, go to https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/

The Sports Arena: Mrs Alison Hanley

Diocesan Swimming Carnival - 11th March 

Congratulations to the 24 swimmers who represented the Assumption School yesterday at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Dubbo. It was a fantastic day with plenty of great swimming under a cloudy Dubbo sky. Amelia took home the Senior Girls Age Champion trophy with wins in the Back, Fly, 200m IM and the 100m and 50m Free and a second in the Breast. Leo came third in his Backstroke and the Junior Girls Relay (Willow, Isabella, Lexie and Addison) and came a nail biting second in their race. These talented swimmers will now advance through to represent the Bathurst Diocese at the CPS Swimming Championships at Homebush on Wednesday 2nd April. Our students always make us proud with their achievements and great sportsmanship. Thank you to our wonderful parents for making the trip and cheering on our team.

Cross Country Carnival - Save the Date 

Our annual Cross Country Carnival will be run at St Stanislaus College on Wednesday 26th March. Students in Year 2 - 6 will attend the entire day, with students in Kindergarten and Year 1 completing some novelty races at school in the afternoon. More information about the day will be sent out in Week 7.

Winter Sports Trials

The school trials for our Winter Sports representatives for Hockey, Football, Rugby League and Netball have been finalised and all information and permission can be accessed on the Compass event. Please note that this is a two step process. Our school permission needs to be filled out on Compass and then your child needs to be registered on the CSNSW Sports Portal. The help sheet is attached in the resources if needed. The Winter Sports Trials will be held on March 28th in Bathurst but the registration needs to be completed by March 21st. Any student who is not registered by then cannot compete in the trials.

Rugby 7s Gala Day

The Assumption School (Stage 3) have been invited to compete at a Rugby 7s Gala Day to be held on Monday March 26th at Bathurst. Mrs Hanley will be taking expressions of interest in the hope of putting together a few teams to compete on this day.

Paul Kelly Cup

Some Stage 3 students will be putting the training they received at the beginning of this term to the test by competing at the Paul Kelly Cup on Thursday April 3rd at Learmonth Park. Stay tuned for more information as it comes to hand.

Student Wellbeing: Mrs Sonia Peck

Fostering a Growth Mindset in Students

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. Fostering a growth mindset in our students can enhance their motivation, resilience, and overall academic performance.

Classroom Strategies

Our teachers are implementing strategies to promote a growth mindset. This includes praising effort rather than innate ability, encouraging students to take on challenges, and teaching the value of perseverance.

Parent Involvement

Parents play a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset. Here are some tips:

• Praise Effort: Focus on praising your child’s effort, strategies, and progress rather than their intelligence or talent.
• Encourage Challenges: Encourage your child to take on challenges and view failures as opportunities to learn and grow.
• Model a Growth Mindset: Share your own experiences of learning and overcoming obstacles.

We believe that by working together, we can help our students develop a positive attitude towards learning and growth.

Sonia Peck
Leader of Student Wellbeing

Pip Hatch Learn Program

Excitement was an understatement as our school community eagerly awaited the arrival of 9 fertilized chicken eggs on Monday 17th February. It was interesting to see the eggs in the incubator and even more fascinating to see our first 2 hatchlings flopping around the incubator early on Wednesday morning. All eyes were glued to the library windows observing day old chicks settling into their new home, aka brooder box. Students were in awe of the process and the science behind this amazing natural phenomenon. More hatchlings followed and some of us were lucky enough to watch a chick hatch from it's egg and to have a cuddle with a chick.

On Site School Safety

Entering our School Grounds between 9 AM and 3 PM

Kindly be reminded that if you are entering the school grounds between 9 AM and 3 PM, you must report to the school office and sign in using the Compass Kiosk. Thank you for your cooperation.