Dear Parents,

As previously advised we were saddened to hear the news of the passing of one of our school mums and board member, Mrs Kristy Telford. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Scott, Anna and Isobel. This loss is sure to raise emotions for many within our school community. A reflective space has been set up in our school boardroom for any families who wish to bring their children in to say a prayer, write a note to the family or share a memory in the diary provided.

Funeral Prayers for Kristy will be offered at St Ita’s Catholic Church, 50 Victoria St, Drouin on Saturday October 8, 1:30pm.

It is quite common that when someone within a community dies, children ask questions of us. We suggest it is important for you as parents to answer any questions truthfully, in an age appropriate way.

Below is a prayer that you may like to share as a family, keeping the Telford family in mind:

Father, we pray for the Telford family.

We ask You to help them at this time of loss.

We reach out to You, the Father of compassion asking You to look over them with Your unfailing love and kindness.

Please comfort them and bring them through the tough times ahead.

Be alongside them in their pain, and strengthen them.

May they sense Your presence in this time of need.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Camp
I write this newsletter from Sovereign Hill in Ballarat as we enjoy camp with our Homegroup L class, our first school camp at St Angela’s! There has been a lot of media and discussion in recent times about the purpose and future of schools going on camp. School camps build confidence and resilience, ignite creativity and problem-solving, stimulate a sense of adventure, encourage social interaction and team-building, and promote independence. All lifelong skills that we as parents hope for our children.

School camps are a big part of growing up and we aim to create fun adventures that will leave lasting memories. See the photos below of just some of the activities we have experienced so far this week.

Uniform
A reminder that term four is Summer Uniform for all students. Students must wear a hat when outside at recess and lunch times.

Feedback from parents in the school community has indicated that many are confused and worried about different apps and games that their children may be accessing or may request to access in the near future. To help parents to gain some information about these apps and games and how to keep their children safe while using them, we will be focusing on one app/game per newsletter for the next few weeks.The information is intended for informational purposes only. Parents and Guardians need to weigh the risks and benefits and make their own decisions about what is right for their family and child/ren. 

This week we will be looking at “Minecraft”. Please click on the links below for more information about what minecraft is and how to keep children safe when using the game.

At the end of Term 3, Paramedics from Ambulance Victoria came to St Angela's to teach us about how to call 000 and in what instances people may need to call 000. Students learnt that knowing their address is important so the paramedics will know which house to go to. The senior students learnt how to move an unconscious person into the recovery position to help their breathing. A big thank you to John, Jess and Leigh from Ambulance Victoria for visiting our school!

The Triple Zero Kids’ Challenge app is a tool children and parents can use at home. It provides children with knowledge and skills, through game play and mystery challenges. They’ll learn about safety messages and hear what happens when you call Triple Zero. The game consists of several quests that address a range of emergency situations, including medical emergencies, major accidents, house fires, bushfires, serious crimes and suspicious behaviours.

Go to the app store on your device to download. 

Samaritans

Samaritans pop up a number of times in the gospels. Unlike their appearance elsewhere, the gospels often portray them as the good guys, rather than the despised outsiders of Jewish tradition. Modern scholarship indicates they are a separated branch of Israelites. A bit like Protestant v Catholic separation, they drifted further apart over the centuries and the relationship became poisonous. Jesus, as a neighbouring Galilean, understood that culture and those prejudices.

Hatred and mistrust percolated for many years across the racial, ethnic and religious barriers between the Jews and their near neighbours, the Samaritans. As an earlier gospel mildly puts it, “Jews do not associate with Samaritans.” Jesus rises above such prejudices, highlighting good and faithful Samaritans.  We are all familiar with the “Good Samaritan” parable and the Samaritan woman at the well and here we have the Samaritan leper who alone of the ten who were cured returns to thank Jesus.

As with last week’s gospel, Jesus highlights the power of faith to cut across division and enmity. Ten lepers plead for Jesus help and are cured, but only this one faithfully and wholly gives himself to Jesus (Luke 17:11-19).

What is Jesus’ message for us here? Maybe it becomes clearer if we substitute “white bread Aussies” for observant Jews and then “refugees, migrants, Africans, Muslims, others” for Samaritans. Perhaps all are equally beloved. Perhaps too, others can be equally faithful.

Can we learn from those with whom we “don’t associate”? Asking Jesus to fix our immediate problems, is one thing, offering ourselves, as the Samaritan leper does, in recognition that Jesus himself is the true source of our wholeness, is another.

We too are called to sit at Jesus feet in wondrous gratitude, recognising that the bounty he offers me is offered to all his children, precious to him whatever their race, ethnicity or religion.

Deacon Mark Kelly        

During Term 4, Homegroup TP and L  will be focusing on the following areas:

Phonics
Students will continue to work in their phonics and grammar groups. The teachers use ongoing assessment to determine each child’s area of need and place them into groups accordingly. Some students will continue using the Sounds Write program to build their knowledge of more complex sound patterns and how to segment and blend sounds to read and write words, while others will build their knowledge of morphemes to extend their awareness of word structures and meanings within words. 

Reading
Students will begin the term by exploring the messages within texts and how those messages relate to their lives. They will then look at different forms of fiction including historical fiction, realistic fiction and myths and legends. 

Writing
In Writing, students will revisit narrative writing and will further develop their skills in creating imaginative narratives with engaging characters, a logical structure and a problem and resolution. Students will also explore transactional writing forms including diaries and letters and will revisit persuasive writing structures. 

Maths
During Term 4, students will continue to develop their knowledge of multiplication and division as well as begin some learning about fractions and decimals, chance and probability. Students will also explore measurement including lots of hands-on practical activities involving measuring length, area, capacity and mass. 

Inquiry
During our history unit, students will take on the role of a historian and will examine how objects can tell us about our past and present lives. Students will examine artefacts loaned from the Melbourne Museum to learn about the contributions that people from diverse groups have made to many aspects of the Australian way of life. They will also explore how to sequence significant events in their past and in Australia’s past in chronological order. 

Religion
During our Religion Inquiry this term, students are learning about the birth of Jesus as written in two pieces of scripture by Matthew and Luke, who wrote about and included different aspects and details of this event. Students will compare the two scriptures and look for similarities and differences within the scripture and discuss their findings. 

We warmly welcome our students and families back to Term 4! During Term 4, our Junior students will be busily working on the following:

Literacy

Phonics 
Students will continue to build on their knowledge that sounds can be represented by letters (spellings). They will be introduced to the idea of two-letter spellings such as ff, ll, ss and zz and that they represent the same sound as the individual letters do on their own. Students will also explore the idea that two-letter spellings can represent one sound, such as sh, ch and th.  They will continue building, reading and spelling longer words through a variety of engaging hands-on activities to consolidate their learning. Some students will continue using the Sounds Write program to build their knowledge of more complex sound patterns and how to segment and blend sounds to read and write words. 

Reading
During shared reading, students will be learning about the features of non-fiction texts. They will learn that text features are used to help navigate and locate specific information, in an easier and more efficient manner. Together we will explore text features such as headings, sub headings, bold words, captions and glossaries. Students will also continue to expand their vocabulary through exposure to a variety of fiction texts and will use this knowledge to facilitate their ability to comprehend what they are reading. In Grade 1, students will be focusing on characters, their actions and feelings and then making connections to themselves. 

Writing
Students will be exposed to the genre of informative writing. They will learn to use facts to describe people, places, animals and objects and will learn about the basic structure of an Information Report. Students will continue to show emerging use of word choice, spelling and punctuation when writing personal recounts, short imaginative stories and transactional writing pieces, such as letters, cards and emails. They will begin editing their own writing to check for spelling, basic punctuation and to ensure their writing makes sense. In Grade 1, students will revisit narrative writing and will further develop their skills in creating imaginative narratives with engaging characters, a logical structure and a problem and resolution.

Numeracy

Number and Algebra
Students will further develop their understanding of two-digit numbers. They will be introduced to the language of digits, place and value and will explore numbers and their meaning using resources such as tens frames, bundles of ten and ones, arrow cards and bead strings. They will learn about Australian notes and coins using money to pay for goods in play situations and will have lots of fun shopping in St Angela’s very own version of K-Mart! In Grade 1, students will explore fractions and how to read, write and make ½ and ¼. 

Measurement and Geometry
Students will learn about telling time to the hour and the features of an analogue clock. They will identify days of the week and make connections with their everyday school and family routines. Students will sequence familiar events in time order and will learn to compare and order the duration of events using the everyday language of time.

Inquiry
In our Inquiry, ‘Then and Now’, students will explore stories from and about the past. They will begin to understand how things have changed from long ago to today and will investigate these changes by making many comparisons. Students will learn how daily life of the present is different to the past and will also explore how it could change for them in the future. Together, we look forward to exploring the past by going on a journey of endless discovery aboard Puffing Billy later on in the term!

Religion
In our Inquiry, ‘Making a Difference’, students will explore ways in which they can contribute to a society that accepts, respects and values others. They will be encouraged to empathise and learn more about people unlike themselves and will explore the emotion of gratitude. Students will learn through initiatives such as Socktober, how our school community can make a difference for children in need all around the world.