Dear families,

We got terrific feedback from a school-generated ‘School Tour’ video when we were unable to have people on-site during Covid. We see it as a great way to celebrate and share what we do with the wider community, so we have committed to replace it with a fresh version. We are additionally engaging a company to develop a promotional video for us. Keep your eyes out for Oscar winning performances by the end of the semester. Both will be available from our website which helps to orientate new families, new staff and the wider public who want to find out about us.

We have commissioned a great special education practitioner called Sue Larkey to offer some targeted professional learning for our staff. Entitled ‘De-escalation strategies, and re-engaging learning’ staff have committed to extended hours over the next 2 weeks to collaborate and put into practice some great learning.

Carlingford Court Woolworths approached Karonga last week in order to do something special for us. They joined us at the opening of the Mini Woolies and were amazed at the work we do. On Tuesday (March 19th) they provided a brunch for all staff. This was really appreciated – and enjoyed!

We have been reminded by the Department of Education to manage our time, energy levels and work-life balance well. They have asked us to not send, nor expect emails out of hours. In this way I am reminding the broader school community of this so that parents are not expecting responses to emails, nor addressing matters out of hours. On a personal level I may utilise the delay functionality of email issue- so 9am in any given morning may initiate Principal emails in future. Thanks everyone for your understanding.

Harmony Day was a terrific occasion to come together as a school and celebrate our cultural diversity. With many families in cultural dress we gathered, shared food, and enjoyed each other’s company.
What a great atmosphere it was, and it was a pleasure to engage with so many of our lovely families. A big shout-out to The Kings School, who provided 30 Y9 boys to serve, facilitate and clean up during our annual event.

Ruth Rogers
Principal

 

 

 

Room 2 students have been very excited to settle back into school this term and boy have we been busy! We have been settling into the new routines and getting to know our classmates with many fun activities including group walks most mornings. We have been utilising the new walking path around the oval, where Tarnae has been leading our group and using his cane to walk independently. We have also been utilising time at the oval to help make our curriculum more hands on and relatable to the real world. In maths, for example, Tim and Jordan have been using leaves and sticks to practice their number sense and addition.
Continuing outside of the classroom we have been exploring the new Mini Woolies and all of the fun roles that are available there. Farhan enjoyed being the customer and choosing his items to shop for, while David scanned and packaged the items for him. We all enjoyed discovering the different produce that was available both in the fridges and on the shelves. In the future, we will use this to help us in our cooking classes!
In the classroom we have been learning about how Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples lived including using symbols and images to tell stories and pass on knowledge. William really enjoyed using the Dharug symbols to create stories about native Australian animals.
On top of all of our work, we have been learning through art and music therapy in Room 2. Both offer amazing opportunities for the students to express themselves, learn new skills, refine their dexterity, and have a lot of fun! Mark and Tarnae have a wonderful time with the noise makers.
Thanks for coming along with Room 2 for this busy week!

Regards
Montana, Michell and Sophie.

The students of Room 7 have begun their school year with outdoor learning and collaborative work.
After morning circle, the students of Room 7 have displayed their interest to wear their hats and line up for their daily walk on the oval. Paige distributes hats before leaving. Oscar leads the students in singing, with Adam joining in by suggesting songs such as , “Doe, a deer”. Adam then waits to step on a warm patch of sunlight on the foot path when the students sing “Ray, a drop of golden sun.” While walking the students learn about direction such as ‘Lets STOP for our friends to catch up.’, ‘Lets turn to the RIGHT.’ The students are guided to count the number of steps they take, for example 1 to 20. They communicate their understanding of the weather verbally or with gestures. The students learn literacy such as, big or small by picking leaves and comparing while walking.
During the daily walking programme, Genesis leads the class towards the Gibson play area. He is observed to wait eagerly for a ball to be handed to him so that he could throw, or kick it together with his teacher. Ruby is observed to engage in aiming balls at the basketball ring. Stavya is enthusiastic to engage in playing throw and catch the ball with his peers and the teacher. Steven holds hands with the teacher and prefers to run with her and kick the ball. The next destination is Room 7, through the Karonga Pedestrian crossing. Adam, Ruby, Paige, Oscar or Steven take turns to press the button and wait for the ‘Green man’ to appear at Karonga pedestrian crossing, and then cross the road safely.

Room 7 students are eager participants in music therapy, and they have shown their preference to engage in the outdoor area. While Adam and Stavya have displayed interest in strumming the guitar, Paige, Ruby, Steven and Genesis engage with instruments such as clappers, shakers and the xylophone.

Literacy: Cooee Mittigar - Collage about a story recited in the Darug Language
Mathematics - Learning about 2 D shapes

During Art therapy the students developed a collage about their literacy reader “Cooee Mittigar”, i.e., “Come here friend” in the Darug language. They collected natural material such as leaves and bark to complete their collage. Another location that engages the Room 7 students is the Immersive Classroom. They engage in sensory activities such as swishing orange leaves in the Autumn season as well as popping bubbles. Indoor learning continues each day on the varying subjects that they are taught.

The positive engagement of student learning in Room 7 has been due to the involvement of their parents / carers. We were therefore very pleased to welcome our parents on Harmony Day which we celebrated on the 21st of March 2024 at Karonga School.

Regards
Hetti, Agnes and Pam.

 

Room 12 has had a very active start to 2024! We have a busy schedule where we are finding opportunities to learn and grow as a group both in and out of our classroom.
In the mornings, our class goes on a walk around the oval where we talk about the weather and practice skills like following instructions and staying together as a group. Gregory and Daniel have kindly taken charge of leading our walks around the oval. After this, we play skills on the tennis courts. Nakissa and Ishan love to play our ‘Stop/Go’ running games. Sebastian and Agam are our ball players, often bouncing and throwing a basketball or kicking around a soccer ball.
Inside Room 12, our class is working hard across the curriculum. Our students are increasing their skills completing our letter of the week activities in English and doing some great work exploring shapes and numbers in Maths. The students of Room 12 have been making crafts to represent their learning from our Science and History units of work.
We have come so far already! Javier and Rupak are really looking forward to seeing how our students progress this year and we can’t wait to share it.

Regards
Javier and Rupak.

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