St Denis School Newsletter
Term 2 Week 7 2023
- Year 6 Camp
- Swimming Carnival
- Anxiety In Schools
- Harmony Day
A Prayer for International Women’s Day – 08/03/2022
God of all, God of hope.
We pray for women and girls today.
That they will be all they can be.
Give us courage to speak and work for equality and justice.
Until the world is filled with righteousness and love.
Amen
Wednesday 15 March: NAPLAN commences (Year 3 & 5)
Tuesday 21 March: Harmony Day
- Friday 24 March: Supa Saints Cricket Carnival (selected students Year 4 -6)
- Wednesday 29 March: Parent/Teacher Interviews – Kindy, Year 2, 4 & 6
- Thursday 30 March: Parent/Teacher Interviews – Pre Primary, Year 1, 3 & 5
- Friday 31 March: Year 5 Assembly & MJR Award
- Friday 31 March: Caritas Fundraiser
Dear Parents and Members of our School Community
Year 6 Camp
Congratulations to our Year 6 class who completed a successful camp last week. Their behaviour, manners and participation were first rate. A BIG thank you to Mrs Bakunowicz for attending and supporting the students and to Mr Franchina for his efforts, attention to detail and patience in organising a fantastic few days away.
Kindy Enrolments
Enrolment interviews for Kindergarten 2023 have commenced. We are oversubscribed for the 30 spots we have in that class. Therefore, this is a final reminder that, if you intend to enrol a younger sibling into the Kindy program for 2024 and beyond, you must submit an enrolment form ASAP. Once we have finalised our 30 positions, there will be no room for movement. Parents with students in Pre Kindy are also required to submit an application form for Kindy. Parents, please ensure you are aware of new regulations around immunisation and enrolment in Kindy.
St Denis Swimming Carnival
A big thanks to Mrs McNamara, parent helpers and staff for their efforts at the St Denis swimming carnival. Also, a hearty congratulations to the students for their participation, sportspersonship, camaraderie and demonstrating MJR values, in particular W.E.S.T. values (E – encouragement) and celebration of each other’s achievements.
Caritas Fundraiser WALKATHON – Ks for CARITAS
Every day, thousands of individuals around the world need to cover many kilometres to fetch water, obtain food, get to school or market, or simply to survive. To raise money for vulnerable communities, the Ministry Committee have organised a fun WALKATHON for PP-Year 6 on Friday 31 March 2023 following the Year 5 assembly. Students should come to school in free dress with comfortable walking shoes and a small donation (gold coins) to put in their collection box. Students are invited to do as many laps of the course as they can with their classmates. No need for sponsorship, just a one-off gold coin donation.
CODE OF CONDUCT
St. Denis introduced a Code of Conduct at the start of the 2017 school year and it clearly states the behaviours and expectations required by all staff at St Denis, parents, students and volunteers, and anyone who spends significant time at St Denis.
The St Denis Code of Conduct can be found on the school website. Any Breach of this code must be reported to the school principal. All school community members are expected to have the safety and welfare of our children/students as our primary priority. Throughout the remainder of the year, I will briefly outline what each Conduct Statement is and highlight a few examples of what this may look like from a parent’s perspective.
Conduct Statement 1: You act safely and competently.
The following examples are ways parents can adhere to Conduct Statement 1:
- Drop off and pick up your child in accordance with school guidelines, this includes proper procedures for late drop offs and early pickups and entry to school grounds during the school day.
- Ensure your child is at school on time, dressed appropriately and has the necessary school supplies, including appropriate food.
- Information and photos of students is not to be taken and/or circulated without the express permission of the individual student’s parents. This includes discussion of students, families and staff on the world-wide web and amongst community members.
- Be mindful and vigilant of your child/rens internet activity.
- Seek advice and assistance from experts and/or the school Principal/staff as necessary.
NAPLAN
Best of luck to all Year 3 & 5 students who will be completing NAPLAN over the next week.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Parent/Teacher Interviews will take place in Week 9 of this term.
Wednesday 29 March: Kindy, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6
Thursday 30 March: Pre Primary, Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5
Merit Award Winners
Year 1: Eva A
Year 2: None
Year 3: Eloise
Year 4: Alexis
Year 5: None
Year 6: Poppy
With regards and best wishes
Justin Tuohy
Principal
St Denis School
Year 6 Adventure Camp
On the 8th of March, our Year 6 class went to Ern Halliday Adventure Camp in Hillarys.
We did a number of fun activities, including, Archery, Lost Pilot, Crate Climb and Zip-Lining. We were split into 2 groups of 15 and had to work together as a TEAM for most of the activities. Our favourite activity on camp was Lost Pilot, which was where we were given items around the camp that we had to locate. We learnt how to use a walkie talkie and a map and had to be aware of the dangers as we discovered the exact location of the lost pilot. Another favourite was the Big Swing. It was a hair-raising experience that we will never forget – being raised high in the sky – before we swung through the air like a bird! All our activities were a challenge by choice, which meant that we had the option to push ourselves as far as we felt comfortable.
We all enjoyed our dinner which was spaghetti, salad and bread made by the camp chef. There was also a Mexican night with tacos and a Minute to Win it Challenge later in the evening. The food was a definite highlight. We all enjoyed our delicious morning and afternoon treats and we had plenty of nutritious meals to give us the energy to keep going throughout the day.
We all learnt the importance of working together to make the most of our activities, whilst supporting and encouraging one another. The friendships that we have built, will help us all in our class tasks, committee groups and inspire us to work collaboratively and inclusively.
Having the opportunity to go away together has been an experience we will never forget. Sharing a laugh in our dorms, morning and evening walks and the time to get to learn more about one another will always be one of the most memorable experiences of our time at St Denis.
By Kade and Mia
HARMONY DAY
Harmony Week is the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds.
It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
We are wearing orange to show our support of this important day as we learn a bit more about diversity in our classrooms. You could choose to wear an orange accessory like a ribbon or socks, or an orange article of clothing like a tshirt.
NO GOLD COIN DONATION IS REQUIRED
Swimming Carnival
MAKING JESUS REAL NEWS
TEAM
Today we are going to share what TEAM stands for
T – stands for Together
E – stands for Everyone
A – stands for Achieves
M – is MORE
Together Everyone Achieves More.
This means that when everyone co-operates together and puts their skills to a task then everyone can achieve the goal or target rather than just some people in the group.
You can have different sorts of teams – your sporting teams, small group Maths or English teams in class, dance teams, chess teams, or book club. Really, it is whenever a group of people come together to have fun and achieve a goal or challenge.
Many of the tasks on CAMP involved the whole team or group learning to work together to solve a problem or complication. Lost pilot taught us how to survive by solving the questions and challenges by using maps to find the missing pilot. The Crate Climb made us cooperate to get every team member to touch the ball hanging from the roof using crates. The Big Swing meant that everyone had a job to get the swing and the person attached to the top!
We learnt that there is no “I” in Team – everyone is given an opportunity to succeed and work together!
We hope that this week you will try to work together in your classes as a team – trying to give everyone the chance to be a WINNER!
GO TEAM!