Dear families and carers,

We have had a wonderful week of teaching and learning in Week 6.

As our staff prepare for the upcoming end of semester reports and Learning conferences we celebrate how the The IB learning community views the world as the broadest context for learning, where everyone involved in the life of the school is recognized: students and their families, all school staff members, other important adults in the students’ lives and the community at large.

Learning communities build shared understandings and agreements for the highest quality learning and teaching, and for the well-being of their members. In PYP schools, these understandings encourage critical and creative thinking through continual inquiry, action and reflection, which places students at the heart of learning.

We invite you to book in for a Learning Conference in Week 9 with your child’s teacher. In K-2 the Learning conference is between the parents and the teacher, in Years 3-6 the Learning Conference is a three-way conversation between the learner, the teacher and the parents. This is an opportunity to share in your child’s learning journey, with an emphasis on growth, progress and development. Our Learning Conference bookings will be open tomorrow.

Community Council Meeting

The Community Council will be meeting next Tuesday June 11 at 7:00pm. We look forward to as many people joining us as possible. We will be looking at the plans for events across the next 2 terms and beginning our intial conversation around the 2025 Fete. All parents and friends are invited in the school staffroom. The heater will be on and the wine chilling!

Interests and Pursuits

Earlier this term, our Year 6 learners proudly launched the “Interest and Pursuits Hour,” an initiative conceived at the end of 2023 as the culmination of their year-long Year 5 inquiry into the central idea, “Actions are influenced by values.” During this inquiry, they explored the value of wellbeing and asked thought-provoking questions such as: What is wellbeing? How can we enhance wellbeing? Can we improve the wellbeing of our wider community? How do we achieve balance in our school? Through their investigation, they discovered that enhancing psychological, relational, and social functioning is key to building wellbeing.

These insights laid the groundwork for the Interest and Pursuits Hour. Backed by research, our Year 6 learners believe that authentic experiences in areas of interest foster meaningful relationships. They also recognise that providing space and time for students to pursue their passions strengthens their sense of connection.

So, what is the Interest and Pursuits Hour? Our learners from Years 2 to 6 had the opportunity to choose from 12 different passion areas offered by our teachers, including bike riding, baking, coding, AFL, art, gardening, and many more. Committing to these interests for the school term, they collaborate with our teachers and fellow students on most Fridays from 12:40 to 1:40, diving deeper into their chosen pursuits.

Even though we have only had two sessions so far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Many learners have shared their excitement about forming new relationships and delving into concepts they are passionate about. The enthusiasm is palpable, and we’re thrilled to see our learners flourish in this new initiative. Check out some of the photos below to see the Interest and Pursuits Hour in action.

Hats Off

As per our Sun Protection Policy, children (and staff) are not required to wear a hat while outside during the months of June and July. Children who wish to wear a hat, can do so. Families are encouraged to give hats a wash and keep them safe at home until August.

Special Tuck Day

A huge thank you to our Community Council Chair, Cath Day and Henry Day for the organisation of the tuckshop day on Tuesday. The lunch was perfect on a cold day and just what we needed in Week 6! 

Have a wonderful long weekend with your loved ones and stay warm! For those who are travelling, we wish you safe travels.

Prue

Global Schools Partners Fundraising – Coin Heart

Thank you all for your generous contributions for our Coin Heart Fundraiser on Friday. We raised a grand total of $1,233.95! The class that made the Coin Heart of the largest value was 5 Red with an individual total of $194.10. Congratulations to Mr Roweth & 5 Red! Our money will go a long way to supporting our partner school in Kenya, Evaland Hekima.

 

Confirmation Presentation Masses

Our Year 6 candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation attended a presentation mass at the Holy Trinity Church over the weekend. We keep these students in our thoughts and prayers as they prepare to make this sacrament.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Please ensure that your child is signed up for a home group and select your date preference for your child to make this sacrament.

Event	Date	Location
Stole Night	Thursday 6th June 5:30pm	Holy Trinity Hall
Confirmation Retreat Day	Friday 14th June	Holy Trinity
Sacrament of Confirmation	Tuesday 18th June 6pm Wednesday 19th June 6pm	Holy Trinity Church

If you have any questions, please contact Catherine Grinsell-Jones at the parish office on 6281 3999.

 

Catherine Joy

Acting Religious Education Coordinator 

In 2023 and 2024, Year 5 and 6 engaged in an appreciative inquiry into how we can enhance unity within our School through the development of House Group identities. Through this process we recognised that a strong identity can promote a sense of belonging and by developing House identities we could further build this within our school. It was also identified that our current house groups did not have a clear identity and this may cause students to lack connection to their House Group. This was something that we wanted to take action on for the betterment of our community.

We recognised that it was important that the new identities were meaningful to our community and represented the students and families of our School. To achieve this we engaged in an appreciation process where we considered many elements of what makes our school so special. Some of these included:

• Our School values and beliefs.
• Our connection to First Nations People and the traditional owners of this land, the Ngunnawal people.
• The history of our school.
• The diverse identities of our students, staff, families and community members.

We engaged with a range of community members including staff and families to ensure we considered a range of perspectives. We also consulted with our First Nations Families through our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group and with Ngunnawal Elders Aunty Caroline and Aunty Jude to ensure that Frist Nations culture, tradition and meaning was embedded into these identifities in an authentic and respectful way. 

We used the knowledge that we gained in this appreciation process to develop new House Identities that have now been launched. Each house has an associated Ngunnawal name, school value, earth element, colour and animal symbol. For the next four weeks we are excited to share a story of each house group in the Newsletter. 

Maliyin House

Maliyan is the Ngunnawal word for wedgetail eagle.

Maliyin, a symbol of creation and spirituality to the Ngunnawal people, is the shining symbol of this house. Maliyin house proudly wears the colour gold and leads with the value of faith under the golden light of the sun.

Like the sun, Faith is our guiding light through life that leads us to make decisions guided by our Christian values and the teachings of Jesus.  Just as the sun's warmth and light illuminates the world, faith has the power to illuminate our lives with hope, inspiration, and purpose. The light of the sun can pierce through even the darkest of clouds and this parallels the capacity of our faith to guide us through life's darkest moments. At Holy Trinity we are committed to following the guidance of our Faith in becoming global citizens who are committed to taking action for the betterment of our community and wider society.

Dear Families,

Term 2 Overdue Notices will be sent out tomorrow. Please send back all overdue books ASAP.

I find that books often turn up in the most unusual places and are often ‘somewhere safe’ at home or are even back on the library shelves.

Please look carefully and if needed send in a note or pop in and have a look on the library shelves. Another option is to do a computer search to find a picture of the missing book. This can sometimes cause a light bulb moment.

If you are sending in money to replace a book (or books) the prices are usually written on the overdue notice. If not, we have decided a flat rate of; $15 for smaller books and $20 for the big picture books.

Once books have been returned or paid for, names are cleared.

203 children received overdue notices today. Some are books that are a little overdue and some are books are months overdue.

Thanks in advance and happy reading to you all,
Kate x

PS Don’t forget that Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge finishes up in 5 weeks.

South Weston Cross Country

On Tuesday 4th of June a number of students represented our school at the South Weston Cross Country Carnival at Stromlo Forest Park. The students all ran extremely well despite the cold conditions. Congratulations to Leo M, Romeo B, Grace Z, Ivy E, Felicity G and  Rose H who have qualified for the ACT Championships. Thank you to all the parents who came along to support their children on the day.

Students and teachers celebrating their birthday this week are: Amelia H, Willow S, Matilda L, Elliot T, Madeline M, Alameta B, Molly W, Aaliyah A, Finnian I, Romeo C and Signore Rover. Congratulations, wishing you all a fantastic birthday.

Week 8
Friday 21st June	2:30pm 3R Class Assembly
Week 9
Friday 28th June	2:30pm KG Class Assembly
Week 10
All Week- Global Schools	Lolly Jar Guessing $1 per guess
Friday 5th July	2:30pm Whole School Awards Assembly