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| Wednesday 6th December | Celebration of Learning Assembly 9.30am |
| Friday 15th December | Last Day of Term 4 |
Dear families,
Welcome to a time of farewells and greetings.
We concluded both SRE (Special Religious Education) and The Kings Boys ‘service’ days for the year. SRE appreciate that we have a range of special opportunities over these next 2 weeks, so will offer SRE again in the new school year. The Kings Y9 boys are caught up in concluding their own school year so enjoyed a last visit this week, where playing with your children on the playgrounds was a highlight.
Additionally, Jack, our Music Therapist has sadly relinquished his position after 3 years with us. He had a long commute to Karonga three times a week which has finally taken its toll. We wish him well in his work closer to Wollongong.
He is assisting the P&C in recruiting another qualified Music Therapist, so keep your eyes on their segment in the newsletter for any update.
While we have waved ‘goodbye’ to some, we held the second of our Orientations this week as we have 7 new students join us in 2024 and want to make the transition as seamless as possible. It was my pleasure to take the new parents on a tour of our school, and we are excited to be working with these new students in the new school year: Sophie, Mike, Stavya, Maddison, Hasnain, Gabriel and Farjaad.
We celebrated 2 significant events this week:
Agam, from Room 12, was additionally recognized as an award recipient for her Christmas Card entry to the State Premiers office.
We are so proud of them both.
We are completing the planning around student groupings and staff preferences currently. Our plan is to send this information out to families in the envelope containing end of year reports along with a school calendar. By the new year we hope to have recruited both the Music Therapist and new Occupational Therapist for Karonga as well as be ready to launch the new Mini-Woolies (February 13th 2024). Exciting times ahead.
This term Room 4 looked at protecting Australian wildlife. We really enjoyed studying the book 'Koala Ark' and learning all about the different Australian animals.
The students of Room 8 have continued to build their socialising skills with each other, and this they have demonstrated on a daily basis. During indoor activities such as crafting poppies for Remembrance Day, William, Timothy, Sadie and Farhan joined together to make poppies by sharing tasks and cooperating with each other to complete the work.
Learning has been an enjoyable practice for Room 8 using board games such as Monopoly and Junior Scrabble. Timothy was observed to learn with enthusiasm the concept of using money while engaging in Monopoly, together with a visiting student from Kings College.
During outdoor breaks, Oscar and Jordan demonstrated their developing socialising skills as they shared the see-saw amidst much laughter.
The daily walking programme demonstrated the Room 8 students’ ability to be kind and caring towards each other as they held hands to walk, displaying concern towards each other. This activity contributed to their health and wellbeing, and ability to regulate themselves for learning as well. The walking programme was further enriched by incorporating outdoor play activities such as playing catch with balls, scoring baskets and kicking balls at the Gibson outdoor play space. They shared resources, took turns and learned to tidy up, further improving their socialising skills.
The Karonga school traffic lights introduced authentic learning to Room 8 due to students practicing to cross the road with care during the walking programme on a daily basis as well. They used this invaluable opportunity to learn to hold hands, wait, and cross safely, demonstrating their ability to follow instructions and be safe.
Hettige & Kerrie
Well, here we are, almost at the end of another year. How time flies!
This term has seen us gain a new member of Room 13. Pranay has settled in quickly to his new school routines and has been enjoying exploring his new surroundings, particularly Aston playground where he enjoys climbing, and Seach to try out all of the bikes.
We were very sad to hear that our music therapist, Jack, is leaving us but we wish him the best of luck for the future. Music therapy is very popular in Room 13. Mason enjoys counting songs and has recently learnt to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ on the xylophone. Haley loves it when Jack plays “really, really fast” and Thomas enjoys songs with actions.
We have also been enjoying our art therapy sessions with Lisette. George and Julie are the first ones to arrive and often the last to leave, drawing rainbows, buildings, and faces and experimenting with different art materials.
Jedi has made great progress with his literacy this term and has been demonstrating his skills matching upper- and lowercase letters using magnetic letters. We have also enjoyed reading our featured book as a whole class. Recently we read ‘Do not open this book’ by Andy Lee. Of course, we always open the book, and we all think it’s funny when the monster gets angry about it!
We are now looking forward to the end of term and the school holidays.
Until next time,
Emma and Sophie.
When you talk about being kind, Jack is right up there. For the last three years Jack Piano, as he is affectionately known, has introduced students and staff to some incredibly fun music therapy and I've been very lucky to sit in on a few jam sessions.
Music Therapy
Sadly, Jack, Music Therapist, had his last day at Karonga after three years working with Karonga students. Jack will be missed. We understand that all the students enjoy music therapy and the P&C will be looking to find a replacement so that this popular activity can continue in 2024.
Uniform orders
As a small school, we don't hold a lot of stock of uniforms. If you are wanting new uniforms for 2024, please place your order now. These can be collected from the school office on the 31st January before students return to classes.
CPA Short Term Accommodation
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