Northern Newsletter | 15 June

From the
Pastoral Care Coordinator

The Zones of Regulation…

As a school, we use a variety of strategies to support students with their social and emotional development. These may be whole school, classroom or even individual strategies and programs. This year as a school, we are introducing The Zones of Regulation™ curriculum (or “The Zones” for short). Each class will spend some time throughout the year participating in lessons and activities that help to teach skills in the area of self-regulation. Here is a partial excerpt of what the program aims to achieve:

“Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. It is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for the specific situation. For example, when a student plays on the playground or in a competitive game, it is beneficial to have a higher state of alertness. However, that same state would not be appropriate in the library. The lessons and learning activities are designed to help the students recognize when they are in the different Zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the Zone they are in. In addition to addressing self-regulation, the students will gain an increased vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading other people’s facial expressions, perspective about how others see and react to their behaviour, insight into events that trigger their behaviour, calming and alerting strategies, and problem-solving skills”.

It will take time to implement this curriculum across the school.
We expect that all students and staff will become familiar with the overarching concepts, skills and terminology from the curriculum.
This will help us to have a common understanding and framework that is consistent across the school. We are excited to get this program underway to support the students with self-regulation.

Samuel Whittle - Pastoral Care Coordinator

School Calendar

TERM 2 - JUNE

17 | Subway Lunch - Order via QKR! before Thursday 9.00am
17 | Little Learners - Jack and the Beanstalk 9.00am - 11.00am
17 | Light Festival 5.00pm - 7.30pm RSVP Via Facebook
23 | Discover Emmanuel 2023 / 2024 event RSVP via Facebook
24 | Subway Lunch - Order via QKR! before Thursday 9.00am
24 | Little Learners - Construction Play 9.00am - 11.00am
29 | Kinder Mid-Year Reports Home
29 - 30 | Great Book Swap

TERM 2 - JULY

1 | Mid-Year Academic Reports sent home
5 - 6 | Student Parent Teacher Interviews from 3.20pm
8 | Aussie Bush Dance
8 | LAST DAY OF TERM 2

A list of Term Dates for 2022 can be found on our Parents Page and also on the School Calendar.

VIEW FULL SCHOOL CALENDAR

The Light Festival is Nearly Upon Us…

As previously communicated, current Northern families are warmly invited to enjoy our new community event on Friday, 17 June from 5.00pm - 7.30pm. Experience live music around our fire pits on the Oval (BYO camp chair if you have one), with hot soup and dessert provided! There will also be an art exhibition in the PAC with the theme of ‘Let Your Light Shine’. This free event will include a special activity to light up the night. We'd love to see you there!

Please note due to COVID-19 minimisation, catering and car parking, only immediate families of current Northern students are invited to attend. Unfortunately, this means, unless they are the primary carers, we are not able to welcome grandparents, cousins, aunties or uncles to this event. We have other events coming up that we can extend to the greater Northern community.

Car parking
We encourage where possible for families to bring one car per household as there will be limited car parking on the oval and in our car parks. If you would like to reserve a Disabled Parking space, please contact us so we can ensure your needs are catered for.

Children
A friendly reminder that at this community event, parents and carers will be asked to supervise their children.

COVID-19
Due to ongoing COVID-19 regulations, entry to the PAC for the Art Exhibition will all patrons over 12 years of age to wear a mask.
If you do not have one we will have masks available at the entry. Please stay at home if you are displaying COVID-19 symptoms.

We look forward to seeing you all this Friday!

Reports and
Parent / Teacher Interviews

Semester 1 Academic Reports will be available on Wednesday 29 June for Kinder students and Friday 1 July for Prep - Year 6 students. The report will be sent home with each child on this day. If your child is not present at school on this day, or your child does not return to your household this day, additional reports will be distributed the following week, with any remaining reports to be posted on Friday 8 July.

Parent / Teacher Interviews will be held on:
Tuesday 5 July from 3.20pm - 7.20pm
Wednesday 6 July from 3.20pm - 6.20pm

Please use our online booking system to book an interview with your child’s teacher.

BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT

The Student Representative Council (SRC) received feedback from students about bringing back the 'Hot Milo and Treat Day’ as we’ve done in the past. What a great idea, especially in this cold weather!

Therefore, the SRC will be hosting a 'Hot Milo and Brownie Day’ on Tuesday 28 June. The cost will be $3.00 and orders must be made via QKR by 4.00pm on Friday 24 June. No late orders will be accepted and no cash is to be brought to the Office or on the day.

The Brownie is gluten-free (GF), but the Milo is not, so we will have a GF option for those students who need it.

This will be a very special day – you won’t want to miss out!

Ruth Douglas, on behalf of the SRC

Friday 8 July: Free-Dress and Pizza Day

On the last day of Term 2 we will be holding an Aussie Bush Dance!

Parents are welcome to join the students as they kick their heels up to the ‘Heel and Toe Polka’, ‘Strip the Willow’ and many other bush dance favourites while enjoying some ‘Dancing Food!'

As previously communicated, the School Council are fundraising to focus on resourcing STEM with resources such as robotics kits this year. Thank you for your support so far. To date, the School Council events have raised $577.15.

To continue the fundraising, the School Council will be taking pre-orders for 2 slices of pizza (variety on the day - GF options available) and a juice box for $3.50 via QKR! No cash/food will be able to be purchased on the day so please make sure you get your orders in by 4.00pm Tuesday, 28 June.

This will be a bush dance-themed free-dress day for students, so get your dosey-doe on and come join us:

Prep - Year 2 from 11.30am - 12.10pm
Years 3 - 6 from 12.10pm - 1.00pm

Lunch will be served at 1:00pm outside the PAC. The School Council invites partnership from parents to assist with serving on the day, please contact us if you are able to assist.

Jo Green and Geoff Earl - School Council

Kinder Update

Kinder students have been working hard both in the classroom and outside. In the playground, students have been assisting in the maintenance of the garden, playing in the mud kitchen, digging in the sandpit as well as joining in various other games and activities. Playing chasing games and going on the monkey bars have been particular favourites.

This term, the Kinder students began to visit the bush each week.
Each session in the bush has had a challenge or activity that the students try to complete. There has also lots of time to explore, dig, build and generally engage with God’s creation. These visits will continue throughout the rest of the year.

In the classroom, students have started to learn about rhymes and rhyming words. There has been lots of sharing of nursery rhymes and rhyming stories. One of the fun activities has been trying to swap out names in some of the rhymes with the names of students in the class.

Another focus in the classroom has been learning and sharing about our families. Students have been able to share photos of their families and talk about who each person is. This has sparked conversations about how we all are part of a family even if your family is different to someone else’s.

Overall, we have had a great start to school and are looking forward to the adventures still to come.

Sam Whittle - Kindergarten Teacher

Wednesday, 29 June and Thursday, 30 June

We are holding the Great Book Swap to support Indigenous Literacy in remote Australian communities. The Great Book Swap is a fantastic way to celebrate reading locally, learn more about Indigenous languages and culture, while raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

How it works:
Students can bring in books to donate leading up to the event. There will be a collection bin in the Office and Library. Please note that books must be in good condition.

Each child wanting to participate in the event is required to make a donation of $10 via QKR prior to the event, which will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

On the day of the event, students can fill a shopping bag (BYO) with books.

Rachael Herring - Librarian

From the Office

Term 3 Student Arrival Time: 8.30am

Due to renovations happening to the Administration building in the July holidays, from Term 3, student arrival time is strictly 8.30am.

There is no supervision available for students prior to this time.

Upon arrival, students can go straight to the playground or their classroom. The Multi-Purpose Hall will no longer be available to supervise students who arrive early.

Endeavour Community Health Audit 2022

As part of Northern Christian School’s ongoing commitment to evaluate all areas of school life, the leadership has once again engaged the services of a Christian community relations company, Endeavour Community Relations & Development Pty Ltd. Part of their work for us is to conduct a Community Health Audit of the school. A vital part of the audit is the opinions of our parents, staff and Year 6 students.

This year, a small survey will be conducted via on an online platform.

Your opinions and comments are important to us. The link for parent participation will be sent shortly. Please look out for more information regarding this in the coming weeks.

Your Feedback

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All Absentees

Fill out the webform at the bottom of the Parents Page on our website or email us.

Policies and Parents Page

Please ensure you are aware of our latest Policies and don't forget our Parents Page with Handbooks, Term Dates, Medical Forms, and lots more!