Newsletter Number 8 22nd March 2018

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1 Newsletter Number 8 22nd March 2018 Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love Where there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light And where there is sadness, joy. ST BENEDICT S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL 3 9 CENTRAL AVENUE BURWOOD St Benedict s Primary School Burwood During our Information Evenings, parents were also asked to nominate an address that they were happy to have shared on a friendship list for their child s class. Without parental or caregiver consent to share addresses, we are unable to share any contact details with other members of our community. If you were unable to attend our evenings and you would like Leadership Day It is hard to put into words the sense of gratitude and amazement that I felt on Saturday at our Twilight Fair. Our wonderful school was transformed into an amazing world of happiness and enjoyment through the hard work and dedication of our amazing community and their willingness to support our school. An amazing day such as this is not the success it was without the work and planning of a Fair Committee. Thank you to Gen Walton, Emma Quick, Justine Percey, Sarah Wearne, Kate Pearson, Annmaree Hoy, Louise Hedley, Claudia Stow and Kathryn Woolridge for the many hours of planning, organisation and hard work that they completed towards the end of last year and before our Fair on Saturday. A large percentage of the work that this committee did has gone unnoticed, as they simply got to it and organised everything. A huge thank you to David Pearson who spent hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday setting up lights, picking up marquees and organising our soccer activity. Special thanks to all of our wonderful parents and members of our community who worked on stalls, made cakes and slices and supported our Fair and to our wonderful staff for organising and running the Lucky Dip Stall. It was wonderful to step back and take in the great community feel on Saturday. This is truly what it means to be part of St Benedict s and this is what makes it an amazing school that is growing from strength to strength. Thank you to all of our amazing sponsors who supported our Fair with donations and advertising. As a school community, I encourage everyone to support these businesses who have supported us. A list of all of our sponsors will be sent home next week. Camp Our Year Five/Six children returned from a very enjoyable three days at camp yesterday. All of our children were a credit to our school and their families in the way that they conducted themselves whilst they were away. It was wonderful to see and hear each of the children encouraging each other to do their best and celebrating their successes with each other.

2 I certainly enjoyed my evening and morning with everyone, especially watching the Giant Swing, Leap of Faith, Flying Fox, Ropes Course and Archery. Thank you to Tanya Petersen, Mel Norton, Ro O Dwyer, Jane Michael, Daniel McNairn and Brian Moore for organising and attending such a successful camp. I am sure that the children have many stories to share with their families and our school from their time away. Burwood Festival This Saturday, the annual Burwood Festival is being held between 1pm and 6pm. This year St Benedict s will be running the Plaster Fun House stall, near Fairview Avenue. It is a wonderful family day out and it will be wonderful to see lots of smiling St Ben s families coming to see us. There will also be lots of free activities including an animal farm, lots of rides, face painting, live music and entertainment. Holy Week Our prayer services for Holy Week will take place next week at the beginning of each day. Each class will lead our prayer and celebration of a day in Holy Week at 8:45am in place of our regular whole school assembly in the Undercroft. Our celebrations will take place in different areas of our school to highlight the different places that the events occurred and to also ensure a prayerful atmosphere is maintained. Please read Mary Brooks RE News for further information in relation to where each of our prayer services will be held. All families and members of our community are invited to join us. As our last week of term is Holy Week, I ask that we do not bring Easter Eggs to school to share with each other until Term Two. Whilst I can understand the children s excitement around Easter Eggs, I want to ensure that they have a deep understanding of our tradition. Any children are welcome to share Easter Eggs with each other at the beginning of Term Two. Enhancing Catholic School Identity Every four years, Catholic schools are externally reviewed to highlight our strengths and areas that require further development. Part of this review process is our Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) surveys. Our surveys are now open and can be accessed using the following details. Scroll down and choose St Benedict s Burwood (E1152) or enter the group code T5zH54. You will then be given a login and password. Please write these details down as the different surveys can be completed at different

3 times. These surveys collect information relating to ourselves as a Catholic school and how we see our tradition moving forward. Coles Sports for Schools We are participating in Coles Sports for Schools. This initiative runs until the 3rd of April. All vouchers need sent to school by Friday 27th April. Each shopper is rewarded with a voucher for every $10 spent at Coles. Each voucher goes towards our school being able to purchase new sporting gear which will be delivered from the beginning of Term Three. We have a collection box at school and one at Coles East Burwood. If you shop at Coles, please remember to ask for a voucher or two every time you shop! Meredith Bennett Principal TERM ONE Diary Dates March 24 th Burwood Festival 1:00pm 8:00pm March 28 th Harmony Day March 29 th Term 1 concludes 3:15pm March 30 th April 2 nd April 16 th Easter Term 2 commences April 26 th Sacrament of Reconciliation, Year Three 7:00pm 8:00pm June 29 th Term Two concludes 3:15pm July 16 th Term Three commences July 24 th First Communion Faith Night, Year Four 7:00pm 8:00pm August 10 th First Communion Reflection Day, Year Four 9:00am- 3:00pm August 12 th Sacrament of First Communion, Year Four 10:00 am Mass September 5 th School Concert 6:30pm September 21 st Term Three concludes 3:15pm FRIDAY ASSEMBLY 2.45pm Alternate Fridays TUCKSHOP OPEN TOMORROW FRIDAY, 23rd March Shift One K.Palma, R.Ceveri, N.Hendricks Shift Two K.Palma, K.Pearson, K.Woolridge, M.Filopovic

4 On March 21st, Australia celebrates Harmony Day, a day where we celebrate cultural diversity, inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Due to our Year Five/Six camp occurring at this time, at St Benedict s we will be celebrating Harmony Day one week later on the 28th March (the last Wednesday of Term One). This also compliments with all classes learning about Harmony through our Inquiry concept this term. On this day, all members of our school community are invited to wear orange to school - the colour of Harmony. Orange is the colour chosen because it traditionally signifies communication, meaningful conversations and mutual respect. Throughout the day, all classes will complete activities relating to Harmony Day including finishing the sentence Everyone belongs at St Benedict s because

5 Education in Faith Whole School Holy Week Liturgy Next week we will begin each day reflecting on one of the days of Holy Week through a liturgy prepared by one of the classes. These will take place in different areas of the school grounds. All of this will take place as part of our morning prayer at 8:45am. Monday Palm Sunday - Prep F - on winding path on school/tennis court side of the church, Tuesday Holy Thursday Last Supper One/Two PH - undercroft Washing of the Feet Five/Six PN - undercroft Wednesday Holy Thursday Garden of Gethsemane Three/Four C - big tree near senior adventure playground Thursday Good Friday Crucifixion Five/Six O - top corner of playground, near big gates Term 2, Week 1 Tuesday Easter Sunday Resurrection Three/Four B - undercroft Palm Sunday Year B Gospel: Mark 15: 1-39 Gospel Reflection By the time the gospel accounts came to be written, it was more than 35 years after the death of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark is now very widely held to have been the first of the four gospels, written in about the year 70 CE. One of the reasons for the writing of the gospels was the fact that those who had walked and talked with Jesus were becoming old and dying. There was a sense of capturing the story before the last eyewitnesses were gone. This is very evident in the Passion narrative from the gospel of Mark. One can almost hear an elderly voice dictating the events: then this happened ; then he said ; then we all thought Like so much of this particular gospel, there is very little embellishment. It s like an old time detective show, Just give us the facts! The gospel of Mark presents the story of the Passion as a sequence of events with little commentary or theological reflection. (That is partly why it lends itself so well to being read by several voices.) One of the best examples that the gospel is a straightforward recollection of events is the inclusion of the scene in Gethsemane when the young man ran away naked. No storyteller would create such a bizarre, unexplained event. There is no explanation of who the young man is, why he was wearing only a loincloth, nor why the armed men tried to seize hold of him. It is reported in exactly the same style as the rest of the story very matter-of-fact. The presence of the young man both in Gethsemane and in the gospel has puzzled scholars for many years, yet if nothing else, it provides evidence of the way in which this Passion narrative was transmitted from lived experience, to memory, to oral account, to written gospel. Gospel Focus This man was a son of God By the time we have stood and listened to this lengthy Passion narrative, the listener may have started to wilt by the time we get to the death of Jesus. Yet the gospel writer keeps one of the most important messages for this moment. As Jesus dies, a centurion standing by utters the inspired words, In truth, this man was a son of God. Famously played by John Wayne in the movie, The Greatest Story Ever Told, the centurion is the voice of the gentile the non-jew representing all those throughout the world who will recognise the truth of Jesus life and purpose. Have you thought? Passion of the Passion The Passion narrative is very aptly named. The emotion and power of this story is nothing short of passionate. The gospel writer s style of fast paced, unadorned factual narrative is a very effective way of helping the reader/listener to engage in the story. It is, after all, the first half of the most important Christian story finished off by the resurrection that is celebrated on Easter Sunday. It is easy to see why this stark, narrative style was embellished and expanded upon by the later gospel writers and yet it is perhaps the more passionate for the lack of explanation and theologising. Living the Gospel Before the cock crows Peter is an interesting character in the gospels. He is one of the first of the disciples to be called; Jesus changes his name and places great trust in him; he is witness to the most significant moments of Jesus life; he is able to profess his faith in Jesus as the Christ and yet it is he who denies even knowing Jesus. We might have thought that Peter was Jesus most loyal and faithful follower, yet it is he who can t stand up and claim that he was a follower of Jesus. Is it any wonder that it is difficult for us today sometimes? Greg Sunter Weekday Mass and Adoration Week Day & Date Mass School Events 9 28/03/17 PrepF Holy Week Liturgy Monday - Thursday 8:45am Ms Mary Brooks Religious Education Leader

6 Learning and Teaching Student Awards Congratulations to the following students Prep F Benedict M. & Bettina T. Year One/Two PH Tahlia S. & Dimi G. Year Three/Four B Kobe J. & Ava N. Year Three/Four C James H. & Chloe S. Year Five/Six O Nathaniel G. & Alecia W. Year Five/Six PN Tara K. & Madeline O.

7 Learning and Teaching cont d Year Five/Six News We had a fabulous time on camp and can t believe it is now all over! The students were very well behaved and showed great initiative and resilience. It was fantastic to seem them willing to step outside their comfort zone and take risks. We all might take a few days to recover though! In Mathematics we are currently working on Location. The students have completed a pre assessment task so we can address any areas they need with some revision and consolidation. We will then use these understandings to look at grid references and Cartesian coordinates. In English we have been focussing on Persuasive texts. The students all picked a topic and wrote a piece to persuade their classmates to agree with them. We have been focusing on using emotive language to persuade our audience and engage them in our writing. We will be moving onto Narrative texts next term with a focus on realistic events. In Religious Education we were fortunate to have two guest speakers to come in and talk to the Year Fives/Sixes. Melina Natsioulas kindly came in to speak about Lent and Easter in the Greek Orthodox Church. Melina put in a lot of time making a slideshow to share her Easter traditions and celebrations. Father Rem also came in to discuss Lent with the students. He was impressed with the knowledge the students displayed about the Lenten season. We appreciate him giving up his time to come and talk to us. We have now moved onto exploring the events of Holy Week and preparing for school wide prayer services in the final week of term. Homework will now run for a two week block with students being given nine tasks to pick from. Throughout the two weeks students will complete six of the given activities, as well as practising their reading and spelling every night. Homework tasks will reinforce the learning in the classroom. We ask that you look at your child's homework and support us in striving for a high standard of homework both in content and presentation. This term we have had a focus on Harmony and how we get along with our neighbouring countries. Students have begun an investigation of their choosing about harmony within Australia or our neighbouring countries. Students can work on these during the holidays and will be given time to complete them in the new term. It was lovely meeting you all at the Child/Parent/Teacher conversations last week and we believe that the time was well spent discussing the goals the students have chosen and demonstrating how we can show our support for them. We wish you all a very happy and safe holiday. See you next term! Many thanks Ro, Melanie and Tanya

8 Learning and Teaching cont d Maths Why we use concrete materials when we are teaching Mathematical Concepts? Manipulatives are physical tools of teaching, engaging students visually and physically with objects such as coins, blocks, puzzles, markers, etc. The use of manipulatives is constructivist because students are actively engaged in discovery during the learning process. They can be used to introduce, practice or remediate a concept. A manipulative may be as simple as grains of rice or as sophisticated as a model of our solar system. Concrete models can help children represent their thinking in relation to a Mathematical concept. Examples of concrete materials that can be used to model, for instance geometric concepts, including pattern blocks and geo-blocks. Graphs using real objects introduce children to organising data. Hands-on projects obviously engage children who are tactile or kinaesthetic learners, who need movement to learn best. They also engage students who are auditory learners, who talk about what they're doing and visual learners who have the opportunity to see what everyone else is creating. Concrete modelling and the use of manipulatives are used throughout the school, from Prep to Year Six. In Year Five and Six we have been investigating location, in particular Cartesian Planes. Victorian Curriculum Outcome: Plot tables of values or ordered pairs, and find values for a point on a Cartesian plane 1. understanding that the Cartesian plane provides a graphical or visual way of describing location We made learning discoveries by building up a concrete model of a Cartesian plane and then plotting ordered pairs (coordinates) on our model. We discovered there were four quadrants. We found where 0 went on our graph. We began to place our positive and negative numbers. We finished plotting our numbers and made sure that our increments were of equal spacing.

9 Learning and Teaching cont d We discovered that there was an X and Y axis We found that each quadrant had a different plotting pattern- positive, positive positive, negative negative, positive negative, negative. We began plotting our ordered pairs. Each child had to explain to the rest of the class the reason why he/she was plotting his/her coordinates in that location. At the end of the session each student had to write statements about what he/she had learnt about a Cartesian plane. For some it consolidated his/her learning and for some it cleared up some misconceptions that he/she had. Here is a sample of their statements: I learnt that the X axis was horizontal and the Y axis was vertical. I leant what a quadrant was. I learnt what positive and negative numbers are. That in this type of graph you included an X and Y axis/ I learnt how to set out a Cartesian Plane. When reading an ordered pair the X axis comes before the Y axis. I learnt how to find coordinates on a Cartesian Plane. Today I learnt you say negative and not minus when you read negative numbers.

10 Learning and Teaching cont d Performing Arts Our Performing Arts lessons have started and there is much excitement! Look out for a draft copy of the script ed to your family s address. Students may like to begin memorising their lines. You will be able to find most songs on YouTube to begin learning the songs. Students may even like to begin making up dance moves at home. Each child will have his/her own individual speaking part using a microphone. He/she will also have singing and dancing parts, Students in Years Three to Six will have optional items of hip hop, gymnastics and ballet and well as singing. I encourage each one of them to make the most of this opportunity. For many students, this is a very exciting time but it can also cause anxiety and stress. Don t hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance in this area, cellis@sbburwood.catholic.edu.au. Here are some details; Venue: Forest Hill College, Mahoneys Rd, East Burwood Rehearsal date: Tuesday 4 September 9am 2pm The students will travel via bus to and from the venue. No costumes required. Concert date: Wednesday 5 September. Arrival time: 6.30 pm Concert begins: 7.00pm Finishing time TBA Costumes Parents will not need to sew or buy costumes for the concert. Costumes will be hired from K&C Performing Arts at a cost of $15 per student. An envelope will be sent home this term correct money please. Cathy Ellis will fit all students with their costumes. Costumes will be sent home in late August after a dress rehearsal in the hall. Costumes are to be returned by Friday 7 September. I will send out more information regularly to keep families informed. Many thanks Cathy Ellis Performing Arts

11 YEAR FIVE/SIX CAMP BRIARS 2018

12 ST. BENEDICT S TWILIGHT FAIR Thank you to everyone who contributed to a great day!

13 School Community Extend OSHC at St. Benedict's Our weekly recap: Hello! Had an amazing week at Extend last week. We explored our inner artists and created some marvellous master pieces which are put up on our wow work for the week board at the service. Experimenting with crayons and watercolour paint along with lots of outdoor fun games! Cannot wait to do more of that with the other students that missed out last week, along with some science and of course our Masterchef Fridays are back once again! Last but not least, the Twilight festival was SO MUCH FUN! Gilbert sure had a blast! He was delighted with all the hugs and high fives, and of course enjoyed most of the activities too! His favourite was the wall climbing and the basketball! Regards, Aisha S. Next week s activities Monday 26th March: Portraits with charcoal crayons Tuesday 27th March: Magicians in the making Wednesday 28th March: Easter egg crafts Thursday 29th March: Easter cards

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