Week 3 Term 2

Acknowledgment to Country

Coming up in Week 4

Monday 20th

• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 9:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• Stay & Play 9am - 10:30am Pre-School space
  

Tuesday 21st

• JC Regional Cross Country Carnival
• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 9:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• JC U R Fab Program 9am - 10:30am
• JC Menslink Tribe group year 6 Boys
• SC Chilled skills group - Interventions team
• SC Bridge Abseil 122
• Envisage - parent workshop 7:30pm - 9pm

Wedensday 22nd

• JC Kindy Health Check
• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 9:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• JC Drum Beat program year 5/6 Girls 9:30am - 10:30am
• SC Combined Band Rehearsal @ Namadgi HS

Thursday 23rd

• JC World's biggest morning tea 8:30am
• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am-9:30am (stay on for the World's biggest morning tea)2:30pm-3:30pm
• JC Assembly -years 5/6  2:15pm
• SC Buroinjin Carnival

Friday 24th

• JC Buroinjin carnival years 5/6
• JC Scholastic book fair 8:30am - 9:30am & 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• Dance Nation 10am - 11am
• 3Bs Coffee Van JC carpark 8am - 9:30am

Coming up in Week 5

Monday 27th

• Reconciliation Day - Public Holiday
  

Tuesday 28th

• JC   U R Fab Program 9am - 10:30am
• JC   Menslink Tribe Group year 6 Boys 12:45pm - 1:45pm
• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 9:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• SC Chilled Skills Group - Early Intervention team 10:10am - 11:10am
• SC Tuesday Bridge Abseil 103 11:30am - 12:40pm
• SC Enrolment Information Session 4pm - 5pm
• Envisage Parent Workshop 7:30pm - 9pm

Wedensday 29th

• JC Child DevelopmentService Parent information session 9am - 10am
• JC Drum Beat Program year 5/6 Girls 9:30am - 10:30am
• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 3:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• SC Assembly TB2
• SC Bridge Abseil 101 12:50pm - 2:30pm
• SC Regional Secondary Cross Country Combined 9am - 3pm

Thursday 30th

• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 3:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• SC Ice Skating 102 9:20am - 10:40am

Friday 31st

• JC Scholastic Book Fair 8:30am - 9:30am + 2:30pm - 3:30pm
• Dance Nation 10am - 11am
• Cultural Integrity Meeting 10:10am 
• SC Shakespeare is Dead 1:50pm - 3pm
• 3Bs Coffee Van JC carpark 8am - 9:30am

Message from the Principal

Learning

I have observed several lessons this term across both campuses. This week I joined a year 7 Visual Art lesson focussed on perspective drawing and the work of artist, Howard Arkley, a painter of Australian suburbia. Mr Davis cleverly used a short 2-minute clip from the movie The Castle to illustrate the notion of classic Australian suburbia. Students were able to see the pride that Darryl Kerrigan has in his family home. Students also identified some key familiar features of traditional Australian suburban houses such as the Hills Hoist and being proud of the front lawn via the use of a news clip. Students are working towards a project to draw their own house using their perspective drawing skills.

In November 2023, the ACT Government set up an independent inquiry into literacy and numeracy performance in the ACT. The inquiry was focused on teaching in ACT public schools. The final report was recently release and provides the ACT Government with 8 future-focused key recommendations to strengthen literacy and numeracy outcomes for all ACT public school students, with a particular focus on equity. The ACT Government has accepted all 8 recommendations in-principle. The Community Summary can be accessed here.

One of the findings from the evidence is There are specific literacy teaching practices that should be common in classrooms. The report recommends teachers in primary schools use a systematic approach that includes the explicit teaching of phonological awareness and phonics. This year CCS Junior Campus has introduced University of Florida Literacy Institute Foundations (UFLI). UFLI is an explicit and systematic program that teaches students the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading. It follows a carefully developed scope and sequence designed to ensure that students systematically acquire each skill needed and learn to apply each skill with automaticity and confidence. UFLI Foundations strikes the balance between structure and responsiveness to students’ needs. The program features ample opportunities for students to practice, along with built-in gradual release. Teachers are using UFLI in combination with quality literature to support students to develop the ability to read words, comprehend what they have read and develop a love of reading.

Recently I have observed UFLI lessons in kindergarten and in year 1/2L. It is evident that students are now familiar with routines associated with the lessons, are developing a rich understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds and developing the skills to blend sounds together to read words. Kindergarten students were able to demonstrate their ability to rhyme, identify the initial and final sound in a word and the associated letter making the sound, segment and blend words, write letters using correct formation and much more. Students in year 1/2L were focussed on the ck/k sound. Students were reading words such as pick, back, luck, clock and were able to identify and name ck as a consonant diagraph. Students used blending boards to make words using letter tiles e.g. make the word sack, change the first letter to make the word back etc. These are important foundation skills in learning to read and write.

Blending Boards

CCS P&C

CCS is lucky to have a highly engaged family community, and this is reflected in parent/caregiver representation on the School P&C this year. This week we had a P&C meeting, and it was wonderful to hear reflections on the many successes the P&C have already had this year. Most recently, the Mother’s Day stall was an enormous success. If you have a little bit of time, please consider reaching out to the P&C to see if there is any way you may be able to contribute. ccs.pandc.contact@gmail.com

CCS is lucky to have an operating canteen service on each campus, unfortunately many schools have been unable to keep canteen services operating over the past few years. The Junior Campus canteen is open for lunch orders Wednesday to Friday and counter sales at break 2 on these days, and the Senior Campus canteen is open Monday to Friday. Families are encouraged to take advantage of these services to support the CCS P&C who work tirelessly to keep this service operating for all families P-10.

Warm Regards

Julie

Bidjiwang Pre-School news

Philosophy

In 2023 we started the process of updating CCS Preschool philosophy. With input from parents, staff and even the children, we developed a series of statements to reflect the ideas of what we all value and see as important in Preschool for our children at CCS. To accompany these statements, an infographic was designed to demonstrate how the Preschool philosophy links in with CCS values.

The Bidjiwang preschoolers have settled into a new space. We still enjoy the opportunity to use the new Community space for our weekly GymbaROO sessions with Ms Kristie. The use of small equipment and large body movements require a large space for safety and comfort, which makes our old room perfect. Some parents and families had firsthand experience of all that one GymbaROO session involves including joining in our Hokey Pokey dance last term. From hand rhymes, small equipment, animal movements, body awareness and skills like jumping, balance and hopping to dances, relaxation and parachute, we fit a lot into our GymbaROO session! Children often say it is a favourite part of our day.

We visit the JC each week for Gross Motor. This term we will also start visiting the library some weeks to borrow books. We will also be borrowing from Preschool other weeks. Please make sure your child has a bag for borrowing. The children have also requested visits to the Kindergarten playground so we will be doing more of those this term. Our 5/6 buddy visits will start shortly and as the year goes on we will also start to go to the JC assemblies.

Last term we started a literacy project that encourages children to explore their emerging literacy knowledge, foster their sense of belonging and promote active engagement in the preschool community. We call it ‘Our Bidjiwang Friend’. One child from the group is chosen and over the week, each child is encouraged to complete a literacy task in our friend’s book. We have started with drawing a picture for our friend and are encouraged to write their name and to have a go at trying some letters of their friend’s name. We share the pictures we have made- noticing different aspects of our drawings such as writing their name, letter formation, children’s writing, interesting drawing techniques and storytelling. The child gets to take the book home made by their peers. We also keep a copy so your will have a book of their drawings.

Bidjiwang

Year 5/6 News

Rostrum

This term, the students have been working extremely hard on creating a rostrum piece in their classes. Rostrum has been running this competition for schools in the ACT and surrounding areas of New South Wales for over 50 years. Each school is invited to enter one competitor into the competition after running a selection process in their own school. Schools select a Winner and Reserve. (The Reserve is needed in case the Winner is unable to attend the Quarter Final). The topics for this term are:

• A new Olympic sport
• Bad advice
• Choirs
• Earth’s magnetic field
• Get involved
• How exhausting
• Let it snow
• Think big

In classes, we have class finals Tuesday week 4 and a 5/6 finals to select our winner and reserve week 4 Thursday.

Digital Technology

On Monday afternoons, we are learning about algorithms and coding Micro:Bit computers. We have been tinkering, testing and ‘debugging’ to create working programs.

• “Digital technology inspires us to use our creativity and imagination with using Micro:Bits.” – Mahdi Souweid.
• “We are inspired to become digital technology workers when we grow up.” – Tiffany Spoor
• “Coding can be tricky but it has taught me to never give up and keep on trying.” – Ellie Brooks-Johnson.

Drama

In arts this term, the 5/6 cohort are very excited to be doing drama. So far, they have explored all the elements of drama as well as the importance working collaboratively in drama. This week, we will be investigating script writing through work in pairs or small groups to interpret and perform a scene from a play.

• “I love drama so far because all the activities have been very fun” – Hudson Webb.
• “I step out of my comfort zone a lot and get more confident” – Lacey Caddick- Beyer

year 7&8 Camp news

Year 7 and year 8 students had the opportunity to attend 3 days of camp at Camp Kianinny in week 1, term 2. Below are some student reflections –

My favourite thing about camp was the ‘Monster stand up paddle boards’ because we had to use team work to get anywhere. I also got to jump in the water after which was freezing but really fun!
- Maite, Year 8

I liked it all, but I really liked spending time with my friends, especially at dinner, talking about our day. - Marley, Year 8

Being in a cabin with my mates was fun. I loved the zip line, but also really liked the orienteering because we had to work together to find things. - Lachlan L, year 8

Last year, I didn’t try the zip line because it was too high, but this year I was able to go on it because it was lower, and I really enjoyed it. Our cabin also had more space and I liked that! - Santi, Year 8

P&C news

Hello CCS Community,

We had our second P&C meeting this week and the atmosphere was just as exciting as the first. It is such a thrill to have such a big team this year, and I’m so pleased to see what fundraising ideas they have bought to the table.

We hope that all our Mothers and Carers had a wonderful Mother’s Day and that you enjoyed your gifts from the Mother’s Day stall. It is always a highlight for the volunteers and the students alike. The pre ordered sale went well, and we’ll be continuing that system moving forward, encouraging more families to pre purchase gifts using our online Flexischools system, or cash if you’d prefer. It allows us to have an accurate number of gifts to purchase. Students were given a gift card to exchange for a gift on the day so they weren’t missing out at all. Thank you to those that bought in donations to add to the stall.

Part of our discussions at P&C meetings revolve around the responsibility we have with the 3 businesses we run within the P&C. While the JC and SC Canteens, and the Uniform shops are not for profit, we do hope that they run within their means so that we do not need to fundraise to continue their operation. Our canteens are currently running at a loss. While we did have a slight increase in price at the beginning of this year, we did not account for all of our supplier costs to increase in the way that they did. We have looked into canteens in the area surrounding our school and we are, by some margin, the cheapest canteen, while we still want to maintain an affordable service for our community to enjoy, we do need to ensure that it is viable for us to remain open. We also run at a loss with a 3 day Junior canteen, because while our community cries out for the 3 days a week on Junior Campus when we have a 2 day canteen, it isn’t utilised as well on the Wednesday. We want to come up with solutions that solve problems, rather than cut days to remove the problem, so please, make use of the canteen on the days we have it. Use Flexischools to pre order your lunches ahead of time on both campuses, use the snack pre order system for your little people on Junior, and if you can, come in and volunteer some time in the canteen. All food handling volunteers need to have completed the Do Food Safely online webinar that takes 1-2 hours to complete (link below) but your time will be very appreciated by us!

https://dofoodsafely.health.vic.gov.au/index.php/en/

In regard to any lunch orders made through Flexischools, if your child is going to be away for any reason, you can cancel the order before the cut off and the money will be returned to your account. However, if it is after the cut off, please make sure to tell the lovely front office staff that your child has a lunch order when you call to let them know about your child’s absence, that way they can let the canteen staff know and we won’t make the order on that day. We keep the order aside so we can provide it on another day.

There are some exciting things coming up, so please keep an eye and ear out for how you can help. Like the CCS P&C Facebook Page to hear it first! https://www.facebook.com/ccspandc/

Thank you for all your support!

The P&C Comittee

Scholastic Book Fair

Scholastic Book Fair begins Monday 20th May until Friday 3rd June. you are invited enjoy our Book fair between 8:30 am - 9:30am or 2:30pm - 3:30 pm each day.

Worlds biggest Morning Tea will be held on thursday 23rd May starting at 8:30 am, please do come and enjoy a cuppa with us while raising money to support Cancer Research.

Cookie Dough Fundraising

Community Callout

Understanding and Responding to Feelings and Behaviours - UR FaB

Wild Mushroom Warning

Do not touch, pick or eat any wild mushrooms

The ACT Health Directorate is reminding all school communities that death cap mushrooms are growing in the ACT. They are a deadly poisonous fungus. There have been multiple poisonings and deaths associated with death caps in Canberra.

Death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) are one of the world’s deadliest mushrooms. They often grow near established oak trees, although they have also been found in other places. Death caps grow in the ACT at different times of the year, and autumn is usually the peak growing period.

All parts of the death cap mushroom are poisonous and eating just part of a mushroom can be fatal. Death caps cannot be made safe by cooking, soaking, peeling, freezing or drying.

If you suspect someone might have eaten a death cap mushroom, they must seek urgent medical attention at a hospital emergency department. Do not wait for symptoms to occur. The chances of survival increase when treatment is started early. If possible, take any remaining mushroom sample to hospital with the patient.

The key message is not to touch, pick or eat any wild mushrooms.

If you see death cap mushrooms growing on your property:

• keep children and animals away
• remove the whole mushroom using gloves or a tool, including any part under the ground
• secure it in a plastic bag
• place it into a rubbish bin that cannot be accessed by children, to go to landfill, and
• wash your hands.

Also, monitor the site frequently for further growth, remove mushrooms before mowing to prevent spreading and do not compost them.

Death cap mushrooms in public places can be reported at Fix My Street, or by calling Access Canberra on 13 22 81.

More information is available at www.act.gov.au by searching death cap mushrooms, including some translated resources.

Death cap Mushroom

Monash Commemorative Service 2024

Gungahlin College and The Spirit of Australia Foundation invite community members to be part of the Canberra Monash Commemorative Service to be held at Gungahlin College Theatre on Wednesday 29 May 2024 at 9:30am – 10:45am (please arrive by 9.15 am). To RSVP complete the 2024 ACT Monash Commemorative Service Registration form.

This annual occasion is dedicated to recognising the profound contributions and legacy of General Sir John Monash, a distinguished figure renowned for his multifaceted roles as a scholar, engineer, soldier, and pivotal nation builder. Morning tea will be provided.

Service Canberra Invitation

Help fight the spread of Illness

With Winter around the corner, one of the best ways to help protect you and your family is to get the flu vaccine. It’s important to vaccinate your child as they’re at a higher risk of serious complications if they get sick and are more likely to spread it to others.

Help fight the spread of illness by staying home if you’re sick and wash your hands regularly. Visit ACT Health Influenza (Flu) page for more information.

Protect your child this Winter

Think you know Presentation

There was a great turn out to the Think U Know Parent Presentation on the 6^th of May, with positive feedback from attendees.

The session provided parents, carers, and educators information to raise awareness and to assist with prevention of online child sexual exploitation.

The topics covered included preventing and managing online safety challenges and action that can be taken including where to seek help.

Please read the attached fact sheet- Staying Safe for further information or go to Think U Know Website About | ThinkUKnow

Caroline Chisholm School will facilitate another session later in 2024. If you have interest in attending a future session please provide your information via link https://forms.gle/pLZyHVCv9W8jNA949

Thank you to all who attended.

Alex Conroy

Family and Community Co-ordinator

Woden Library Alert

Woden Library temporary closure

The Woden Library will be closed to the public from Wednesday 8 May 2024 until mid-August 2024 for upgrade works. A temporary pop-up library will be operating from 26 Corinna Street, Phillip, between 10:00 am and 5:30 pm Monday to Friday.

Libraries ACT apologises for any inconvenience this may cause and they look forward to welcoming you back when they reopen mid-August 2024. For more information on the services available during the closure, visit www.library.act.gov.au.

Online Safety

Connected Conversations

ParentLine ACT