It’s been a busy time in Infants as we enter the last few weeks of school for 2023.
We have hosted the Kindergarten and Prep Readiness Days and the children have had the opportunity to ‘Step Up’ to the next grade.

Our current Prep children had a wonderful time when they spent the morning in kindergarten. One prep student was overheard saying, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to be in Kindergarten”.

Kindergarten students also had an exciting experience when they ‘Stepped Up’ to year 1.
They loved being in the Year 1 classrooms and look forward to next year when they will be the leaders in infants.

Last week Year 1 students visited Sydney Zoo as part of the Geography unit, 'Special Places'. It was a busy and engaging day for students, teachers, and parent volunteers who no doubt slept well that night.

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students are working hard rehearsing for the Infants Christmas Concert. We look forward to presenting, 'The Christmas Story', to our families on Monday 4 December.

The virtue we ahve been workin gon in the Junior School is Gratitude.

Definition:

Having gratitude means that you are thankful for the good things in your life. It is an attitude that seeks the good things in every situation and tries to see the silver lining around every cloud. Instead of going straight to negativity and panic, a thankful person focuses on the positives and manages to maintain a healthy perspective.

What does gratitude look like?

Gratitude on the most basic level means saying please and thank you to people. It is also not taking them for granted and realising that their effort makes our lives easiest.·

I am practicing gratitude when I:

· Appreciate my own abilities instead of envying others

· See difficulties as opportunities to learn

· Am receptive to gifts

· Appreciate the beauty of this Earth

· Count my blessings every day

Where does Gratitude fit?

Gratitude

• Appreciation

• Thankfulness

For older students:

😊Do the people in my life know I’m grateful to them?

😊How could focussing on gratitude impact my relationships this term?

😊 What am I thankful for today, this week or this month?

The girls have had a wonderful start to Term 4 in Year 3 Rust.

The Term started off with a fun excursion to watch ‘The Alphabet of Awesome Science’ show. Josie and Isabella M wrote about the experience afterwards:

World Kindness Day

World Kindness Day was celebrated earlier this week. It was a good reminder of the positive impact that kindness has on individuals, families and the world at large! It’s always touching to notice the small acts of kindness that happen in the playground each day. We continually remind the students to take care of each other and make good choices.

Welcome New Students

Next week we will welcome new students who will join the Primary grades in 2024. We know that our current girls will give them a big, happy Tangara welcome.

Gratitude

In the Junior School we have been working on the virtue of Gratitude. As we near the end of the year I encourage you to remind the girls to thank their teachers, admin staff and chaplains for all the care and attention they have given to all students throughout the year.

Guess Who?

Competition is rife in the Namoi Building with a Guess Who competition raging. Many of the teachers have provided photographs of themselves as children and both students and staff alike have been trying to match the faces to the names!

Lost Property

As part of our REAL program, we were honoured to welcome Mr and Mrs Abdallah to our school. Danny and Leila shared their remarkable journey about 'The Power of Forgiveness'.

In the wake of an unimaginable tragedy that took the lives of their three children, Antony, Angelina and Sienna, they founded the i4Give Foundation and i4Give Day, grounded on the idea that forgiveness is a gift to the forgiver as much as to the forgiven.

The impact of words was a central theme. Danny likened forgiveness to a muscle and the sacrament of Confession to the gym. Their story illustrated the incredible power of forgiveness in their own family's healing.

Their story also sheds light on the driver who tragically took the lives of their three children. Forgiveness touched his heart and set him on a spiritual journey towards faith and conversion.

The Peripatetic Soiree held this past Sunday showcased the wonderful musical talent of our students and the valuable contributions of our dedicated Peripatetic tutors.

Special recognition is extended to the Peripatetic tutors—Mrs. Tamika Crosbie, Miss Jessica Kelly, Mrs. Anna Szydlowski, Mrs. Lucy Roh, Mrs. Lee Akinsanya, Ms. Celia Kearin, Mrs. Lily Minasyan, and Mrs. Rivga Kim—whose passion and expertise played a pivotal role in shaping the musical journey of our students. Their dedication was evident in the outstanding quality and diversity of the performances, showcasing the collaborative effort between tutors and students.

We celebrate the success of the Peripatetic Soiree and express our gratitude to the students for their hard work and congratulate them for their performances. The event not only demonstrated the musical talents of our students but also underscored the importance of music education in fostering creativity and community. Congratulations to all involved for a spectacular day of music!

Last Sunday, Year 4 student Alayna Leung performed her Suzuki Level 1 Piano Graduation Recital at the Sydney Opera House.

Alayna gained valuable experience for her first performance where she played Minuet in G Minor from Klavier Suite in G Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Congratulations Alayna!

A reminder that the Primary and Secondary Chapel Choirs will be spreading the festive spirit on Monday, December 4th, at 8am in the school chapel.

Join us for a heartwarming performance of classic Christmas carols as our talented students come together to serenade us with their beautiful voices. It's a perfect opportunity to kick off the holiday season and experience the joy of music in the spirit of togetherness.

Don't miss this enchanting morning as we celebrate the magic of the season with our Chapel Choirs.

In 2024, we are excited about the prospect of introducing Speech and Drama peripatetic lessons for students ranging from Years 2 to 12.

These lessons would aim to develop interpretative and performance skills across a broad spectrum of styles, genres and eras. Students will work to achieve secure vocal technique, integrated physical response and imaginative and insightful presentation of texts. They will develop the skills required for interpreting to audiences in a variety of performance spaces. Please take a moment to complete the Expression of Interest form provided below. Your input will play a crucial role in shaping this exciting opportunity for our school community.

Expression of Interest Form

Fiona D Souza (6R) was selected to participate in the NSW State Championships for Acrobatic Gymnastics. The event was held on 12th November. Several gymnastics clubs from all over NSW participated. She secured a silver medal (second place) and should be proud of this fantastic achievement! Congratulations Fiona!

Second overdue notices have been emailed to students and parents with books still outstanding from last term. If you have received a notice, could you please assist your child in locating and returning the book/s as soon as possible? Books not returned by the end of the year will be assumed lost and charged to your account together with a $5 processing fee per item. Thanking you in anticipation for your assistance.

Christmas came early in the Library last weel, as first Year2, and then Years 3 and 4, joined us at lunchtime for Christmas craft!

Year 2 made some beautiful scratch-it decirations, which we're sure will joyfully adorn your Christmas trees this year. Years 3 and 4 had great fun creating their own Christmas crackers.  

We are looking forward to joining with Years 5 and 6 next week to create some amazing decorations!

Upcoming webinar. How You Can Build Resilience in Your Child

We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education's next free webinar will be taking place on Wednesday 22nd November.

Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:   

Wednesday 22nd November @ 6:30pm (AEDT)

How You Can Build Resilience in Your Child

Click here to register for free

In this webinar Elevate will be showing parents:

 What resilience means, what it doesn’t mean, and why it’s important;

 How to help build your child’s resilience levels, both in and out of school

 How to help your child break their ‘fear of failure’

Congratulations to Ruvita and Luis Dsouza who recently welcomed little Mateus into their family. A younger brother to Zoanna in Year 3R.

Proudly supported by the Hills Shire Council, the Symphonic Training Program provides the opportunity for young musicians.  

The training will be focused on well-known symphonies by famous composers. This training program will broaden their potential music career by building up classical orchestral music repertoires, as well as imparting to them the value of communication, teamwork, and discipline.

Directed by an experienced conductor, this program has 40 scheduled rehearsals and two concerts with carefully selected programs covering a variety of cultural aspects and artistic values. 

For more information:

https://www.sys.org.au/symphonic-training-program