Week 5 Term 3 2016

NEWSLETTER

DATES TO

REMEMBER

TERM 3 2016

AUGUST

HEALTHY

HAROLD

INCURSION Tuesday 23rd to

Thursday 25th

SEPTEMBER

COMEDY FOR

A CAUSE

FUNDRAISER

Saturday 10th

LAST DAY OF

TERM 3 FOR

STUDENTS

AND STAFF

Friday 23rd

Minerva School

Learning for Life

Eton Street SUTHERLAND NSW 2232 Telephone: 9521 3433 Fax: 9545 3316

E-mail: minerva-s.school@det.nsw.edu.au

WEBSITE: www.minerva-s.schools.nsw.edu.au

Donations to Minerva School are now tax deductible.

THANK YOU TO THE STAFF

FROM THE COMMONWEALTH BANK

We have been fortunate to have won a grant of $10 000 from the

Commonwealth Bank Community Grants Program. This program is

made possible with donations from the very generous staff of the

Commonwealth Bank.

We would like to thank them for their support and generosity. We

will be using the grant money to help set up an indoor gross motor

gym for our students.

Staff members from the Commonwealth Bank Sutherland Branch

came along to our School Assembly, where they presented the

cheque to our Principal Ms Sara Swift and our SRC students. Our

School Captains, Michael and Sebi presented flowers to the ladies

from the Commonwealth Bank as a token of our appreciation.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear parents/carers, Well they say time flies when you’re having fun – but

this is ridiculous!! We are already half way through

Term 3 with so much more to pack into this term.

This term we have celebrated Education Week with

our families and students. Or Buddy Reading library

sessions were well attended by parents and it was a

pleasure to see the obvious enjoyment our students

gained from sharing stories with their families. Many

thanks go to Jenny, our librarian, for her organisation

of the days

Our students have enjoyed a fascinating incursion presented by the Taronga Zoomobile.

Uncle Col and Rod brought along a variety of native animals, including a shingleback lizard, an

echidna, a possum and a snake! Uncle Col told Dreamtime stories and created an interactive

learning environment, introducing students to traditional Aboriginal instruments such as the

didgeridoo. Everyone enjoyed singing and

learning about Tidalik

the frog and Tommy

the termite.

Our focus on fitness and healthy living continues this term and so far our students have

participated in a swimming program and rugby clinics each Monday. As well as this, we were

to have held parents vs. students’ sports afternoon during Education Week but we were

unfortunately foiled by bad weather. The afternoon promises to be a great deal of fun,

thanks to the impeccable organisation of Miss Sarah and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all

when it is re-scheduled in the coming weeks.

As usual, many thanks are due this term to some very hard working and generous parents. In

particular this term I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary effort and time

commitment of Patricia Bakouris and Slavica Filipovski. These two ladies have between them

transformed our resource room from a disordered mountain of mis-matched puzzle pieces

to an orderly, user-friendly borrowing centre. Resources are neatly labelled and sorted with

Week 5 Term 3 2016

a colour coded borrowing system which makes it

easy for staff to locate the exact resource they

are after. The months of hard work have

definitely been appreciated by staff and

students who are now using classroom resources

we didn’t even know we had!

This Friday we are looking forward to our inaugural Parent Coffee and

Chat session, which will be held in the library from 10 – 11am. Our guest speaker this term

is Paediatric Occupational Therapist, Kaya Lyons who will speak about sensory regulation and

how this impacts on engagement and learning for our students. Kaya is a font of knowledge

and will be sure to offer some practical strategies and supports for use in the classroom

and home.

During week 3 of term Kaya presented an afternoon professional learning session for our

staff. She presented some theory and research about sensory processing, sensory

integration and sensory regulation and arousal with a particular focus on child development,

the effects on learning and associated behaviours. The second half of Kaya’s session

involved a practical, hands-on component during which staff experienced a range of sensory

classroom support strategies. Some found it more relaxing than others!

Week 5 Term 3 2016

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE (continued) Throughout this term and leading in to next term, Minerva School will be part of a number

of local schools who are transitioning to a new business management system, called Learning

and Business Management Reform (LMBR). This is a major change for Department of

Education Public Schools and as you can appreciate, the scope of this change across such a

large number of schools is quite enormous. In simple terms, the change to LMBR will mean a

new finance system and a new student administration and learning management system.

During this transitioning period, school staff – in particular the School Administration

Manager (Trish), the School Administration Officer (Mel) and the Principal – will be

required to attend several days out of the school receiving professional training in the new

systems. There will be minimal disruption to the transactions that parents make with the

school however as with any change, there are bound to be glitches, hold ups and even some

inconveniences. Trish and I will send home relevant information to you as needed, so please

take the time to read any notes as they come home.

Still to come this term we have several items for you to note in your diaries.

Work Experience Thursday 18th August and then each Thursday (5 wks.)

Healthy Harold Tues, Wed, Thurs 23/8, 24/8, 25/8

SASS recognition week Mon-Fri 29/8 – 2/9

Farewell to Miss Sarah! Friday 2/9

Father’s Day stall Friday 2/9

Comedy for a Cause Saturday 10/9 – PLEASE BUY SOME TICKETS!!!!

Student reviews Monday 5/9

Finally, I would like to remind you all about our upcoming fundraiser, Comedy for a Cause.

This will be Minerva School’s major fundraiser for the year and we really need all your

help to make this a successful event. I have been sending home weekly updates about how

our ticket sales are going, we have sent home raffle tickets for you to sell and this week I

have sent home an update of all the wonderful silent auction items we have for auction on

the night. Many thanks to those who have donated prizes and canvassed for sponsors for

the night, particularly: the Bakouris family; the Damcevski family; the Youssef family; the

Ashford-Cox family and Silvana Ristevski, as well as many local businesses.

All of our wonderful sponsors will be advertised in our newsletters and on the night.

So please, get a group of friends and family together,

get online at https://comedyforacause/minerva.net and book your tickets now!

Looking forward to a busy and productive second half of term 3 and I hope to see many of

you at our Comedy night – remember, laughter is the best medicine. J

Sara Swift

Principal

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Wattle Class

This term Wattle Class have been attempting to cook more substantial dishes in the

kitchen within the lesson time. We have learnt how to make a simple cheese sauce which

can be used in cauliflower and broccoli bake and macaroni cheese. The sauce was also used

when we baked a delicious beef lasagne.

In HSIE we have been investigating the water cycle and water conservation.

Here we are in action.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

HEALTHY EATING TIPS Did you know…?

8 to 12 hot chips (100 g) have around 3 teaspoons of fat and 1000 kJ. Compare this to a

small baked potato (100 g) with a light spray of oil that has less than ¼ teaspoon of fat and

400 kJ. The main difference is added fat, hence the added energy or kilojoules. Here is a

quick, easy and delicious way to make healthy, hot chips:

Ingredients

2 large potatoes cut into chips or wedges

1 teaspoons canola oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Method

Place a large tray or baking dish into the oven and preheat oven to 200°C.

Place all ingredients into a small plastic bag and shake.

Take hot tray or baking dish from oven using an oven mitt, and empty bag of potato lightly

coated with oil and soy sauce onto the hot tray. Discard the plastic bag. You can cover the

tray with a piece of oven paper (optional). Return to the oven to cook for about 12 minutes

or until the potato is golden brown and cooked, then serve.

Rainy day activities

Keeping kids active and occupied during wet days can be challenging. Here are

some active play ideas for children indoors:

build a cubby house with sheets, chairs or cardboard boxes

play hide and seek

play basket softball and see how many times you can throw a foam ball into a

washing basket - keep increasing the distance to make it more challenging

have a dance competition or disco at home

set a limit on the amount of time children spend in front of a screen (tv, computer etc).

Our Term 3 update:

The Team is continuing to meet regularly and as a result

of our collated surveys we have decided to focus on

Component 3 of the Mind Matters Framework. Feedback

suggests that our parents and community would

appreciate some information support and some communication about youth development and

mental health issues. Last term we planned to establish a parent resource room and I am

pleased to say that work is well underway. Shelving and furniture has been sourced and we

are gathering useful information on local services and resources for you. At this stage we

think the grand opening of our parent room will be at the beginning of term 4.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

BUDDY READING. A big thankyou to all the parents, carers and

grandparents who visited the library during education week to support our buddy

reading program, it was wonderful to share part of our school day with you all.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Happy Birthday to the following students for the

month of August.

Corey, Jake, James, Chris and Julian.

Class Waratah have been participating in Rugby lessons every Tuesday

with Drew. The students are being encouraged to join in, do their personal

best and demonstrate good sportsmanship amongst their peers.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Banksia Class Banksia class and friends celebrated Jake’s 18th Birthday party recently. We

ate party pies, sausage rolls, pastizzis, pizzas, chips, lollies, chocolate and an

amazing chocolate cake! We popped party streamers, we played pass the

parcel and musical chairs. After all the food we all collapsed into a food coma.

A big thank you to Jake’s mum Jo for providing all the food. We all had great

fun! Happy Birthday Jake.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Banksia class were invited to Sylvanvale Garden House on Wednesday the

3rd of August, to celebrate the opening of their new inclusive classroom, as

well as improvements to their garden and grounds. We were joined by our

work placement coordinator, Jen Marshall and our Wednesday SLSO, Jane

Wilkie. This was achieved from donations from Scetre Group, Westfield

Miranda and Sutherland Shire Council. We were all warmly welcomed along

with the Mayor and other dignitaries. The boys were given a morning tea of

Devonshire tea and cookies. They were then invited to plant some succulents

in concrete pots made by Sylvanvale House clientele. A lovely morning was

shared by all.

Katrina Shacallis

Week 5 Term 3 2016

Week 5 Term 3 2016

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THANK YOU TO THE STAFF FROM

THE COMMONWEALTH BANK

Week 5 Term 3 2016

POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR LEARNING

Since last term, all classes have introduced the updated Minerva School

expectations to their rooms: SAFETY, CARING & LEARNING.

Staff and students have also looked at the school rules that help our students

meet the school expectations. As you can see, they are a lot more specific but

relate directly to the expectation.

These have also been embedded in our weekly assemblies through the SRC

Good Choice of the Week. Each week we focus on one of these rules by

putting posters up, discussing in our classes ways to be successful, and

recognising and rewarding students for their effort.

The school will become a lot more colourful this term as more of these signs

appear around the buildings and playgrounds.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

PROTEA CLASS

We have been attending weekly swimming lessons. Perry has really enjoyed the water. He

has even dipped his chin in the water! Perry’s big kicks have improved and he will be ready

for swimming in summer in no time.

Work Experience

We had a great start to semester 2 of work experience with the ‘Green Team’ back in

action and taking pride in our school environment as well as attending a workshop on

herbs and worms at the Sylvanvale Garden House. The Civic team had a lovely day to

travel and have morning tea in the park before starting work. Anthony and Mitchell are

supporting their Tafe courses with their work placements. Anthony has joined CDSWEP

the combined schools program at Bunnings, Caringbah; and Mitchell has an independent

placement at Hanrob Pet hotels, Heathcote.

Work experience runs for 5 weeks this semester finishing on the 15.9.16

Week 5 Term 3 2016

BOTTLEBRUSH CLASS

Class Bottlebrush have been doing

yoga for PDHPE on Fridays.

We listen to calming music, choose

a pose and hold it for 5-10

seconds. We have been getting

better each week!

Class Bottlebrush won the

SRC good choice of the

week: “Being in the right

place at the right time”

and got to play with the

Wii all week.

Week 5 Term 3 2016

GREVILLEA CLASS

Class Grevillea has been attending Sutherland Leisure Centre every Monday

Since the beginning of the term. The whole class have had great fun further

developing their swimming skills.

Class Grevillea have also been practicing their cooking skills.

Week 5 Term 3 2016