Term 2 Week 4 Newsletter
A message from Linda
Dear Calwell Families,
It is with mixed feelings that I write this message to let you know that I have made the decision to retire at the end of my current period of leave. While there is sadness in finishing a career that I’ve loved, I am also looking forward to a less hectic pace of life and the opportunity to spend more time with my family and doing things I enjoy.
My career in education has been ever changing. At times challenging, but always interesting, fulfilling and rewarding. I have worked with many wonderful teachers and school leaders, helped hundreds of children to learn, and shared with families the joy of their achievements and successes.
It has been a privilege to be principal of Calwell Primary. I am pleased to have led the introduction of PBL and the Learning Assets. To support many teachers to build their knowledge and skills, guide regular review and renew of curriculum delivery; as well as seeing Calwell students achieve comparable NAPLAN results to similar schools for over ten years. Significant improvements have also been made to the buildings and grounds, including the building of the library and the addition of the artificial grass oval.
My very best wishes to you all. May Calwell Primary continue to prosper and provide its students with quality learning opportunities and experiences.
Farewell
Linda
From the Principal
Dear Calwell Community,
It was so exciting to see our year 4, 5 and 6 students head off for their first school camp last week. On Wednesday morning there was much excitement and some nerves from our students as they boarded the bus bright and early. Thank you to our staff and Brenton who assisted in making this camp such a big success.
Last week we were thrilled to welcome Julie Murkins, Linda Francis and Jenny Priest to the school to undertake the school review process. The week provided a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the past 5 years and to begin thinking about our new strategic plan. Thank you to the community members who were able to come in and meet with the review panel. The affirmations, commendations and recommendations from the review will be shared with the community later in the term.
Over the past week we have seen a dip in temperatures as we head into the winter months. As we all know the cooler months also bring the unwanted increase in sickness which impacts staff and children. At this time of year, we often see an increase in staffing absences as staff and their families become unwell. In the past we have been able to access a ready supply of relief teachers but this is no longer the case due to the ongoing impact of the nationwide teacher shortages. When staff are absent we initially try to employ a relief teacher for the day, if this is not possible we look at other staff from within the school to cover the class. When we have exhausted these options, the class will be split across the school. Children who are split engage in the class learning and or complete a learning grid / split book. Over the coming months if we have multiple staff away at any point it may be necessary to restructure programs or implement scheduled supervised learning onsite for short periods to accommodate staffing absences. We will always be proactive and communicate with you if your child’s teacher is going to be away for an extended period.
During my walk throughs over the past week I have noticed engaged learners across the school who have been working hard on class tasks. It has been especially exciting to see our kindergarten students taking off with their reading and writing as their knowledge and skills grow. Later this term you will receive a mid-year academic report which will outline your child’s progress toward the achievement standards.
I hope all our mothers, grandmothers, aunties and significant females enjoyed Mother’s Day on Sunday. Thank you for joining us to celebrate yesterday and for all of the volunteers who wrapped gifts and managed the Mother’s Day stall.
Katie Brown
Acting Principal
Calwell CARES
Gold Awards
Notes Home/Due & Dates to Remember
A reminder for parent's to please download the SZapp to view our Newsletters and upcoming events. If you access the calendar and click on the date on an excursion/incursion permission notes are attached to re-print if needed.
- Stay and Play Thursday 18th May
- Ride/Walk Safely to School Friday 19th May
- Regional Cross Country (selected students) Tuesday 23rd May
- Kinder Health Checks 25th-26th May
- Reconcilliation Day public holiday Monday 29th May
Preschool
This term preschool are taking on the roles of storytellers, writers, illustrators, artists, musicians, mathematicians and performers as we explore our big concept – communication. We have been looking at the ways in which we communicate to share our ideas, thoughts, opinions, needs and wants. We are looking at this concept primarily through the lens of an artist and author. We have been busy creating artworks using new materials, tools and techniques. Children are encouraged to share a story associated with their artwork, building on their conversation skills and describing the process taken to create their masterpieces. As we continue our learning, we will be looking at Indigenous art as a form of communication and how stories are told and knowledge is passed down, through imagery.
Scrivener
Happy Mother’s Day! We hope you all enjoyed a relaxing and family filled weekend. This fortnight in kindergarten the children have been working hard making sure our assembly items are coming together. We are looking forward to showing everyone our hard work, we hope you can make it on Friday at 2:30pm. For science this term the children are looking at the weather and the impact it has on our daily routines. We have enjoyed spending time outside being weather watchers and observing our environment.
Corin
This fortnight Year 1 /2 have been using scales to explore mass and weight. We placed different objects in each basket of the scale to determine which is heavier and which is lighter before writing these statements in our books. We are going to start using kitchen scales to find the weight of objects in grams.
Googong
Students in 3/4 have started their unit of work on ‘Time’. As part of the introduction lesson we explored the features of an analogue clock such as a circular-face, numbers one to twelve around the outside and two hands, a shorter one to measure hours and a longer one to measure minutes. Students were then given the challenge of creating their very own clocks using a variety of craft materials. It was wonderful to see everyone working collaboratively.
Bendora
Last week was our 4-6 camp, students and teachers had a blast doing archery, pioneering, the mud run, BMX and much more. It was a great opportunity to collaborate and have fun together outside of school.
P.s Just in case he hasn’t told you yet, Mr Beatie scored two bulls eyes!
Supporting Students Experiencing Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal part of childhood development, and it is not unusual for students to sometimes worry about attending school. However, intense, excessive, and persistent worry can impact a student’s school attendance and their overall health or happiness.
To help parents and carers support students experiencing anxiety and promote school attendance the Education Directorate has compiled the following resources:
· ACT Government – Education: Wellbeing Support Resources for students and families – including, a short video series to help families support their child if they are feeling anxious.
· Raising Children Network: Anxiety in teens: what it is & how to help o Generalised anxiety in children
· Emerging Minds: Anxiety information for different age groups and for parents
· Headspace: Tips to support young people with school stress
· Mindmap – ACT Youth Portal: Find Resources | MindMap - Canberra’s mental health resources (act.gov.au)
· Kids Helpline: Anxiety in kids and teens | What is anxiety? | Kids Helpline
· The BRAVE Program: The BRAVE Program is an interactive, online intervention for the prevention and treatment of childhood and adolescent anxiety. The programs are free and provide ways for children and teenagers to better cope with their worries. There are also programs for parents.
Stay & Play
Walk Safely to School Day
This term we will be celebrating the Walk Safely to School Day as part of the Ride or Walk to School Safely program on Friday 19 May 2023. We will be encouraging our students to ride, walk, skate or scoot to school. It is the perfect opportunity for students and school communities across Australia to embrace active travel and healthier habits. Ride or Walk to School program reminds us to consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more riding or walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around.
This term, we will be running a ‘walking school bus’ to Calwell Primary School again. This will be held on Friday 19 May 2023. It was a great walk last term, and we are hoping to get even more students and parents involved this term. We know that walking all the way to school isn’t realistic for many of us, therefore we will meet in the car park at the bottom of Casey Cres at the start of Calwell District Playing fields next to the netball courts where it’s easy to park. Staff members will meet students from 8am and will walk together to school from there. Parents/carers are more than welcome to join us on the walk. We will start the walk at 8.15am.
We hope to see as many students, teachers and parents/carers walking to school as possible.