I trust everyone is well.

I sent an email to all parents yesterday – so let our office know if you have a different email address you would prefer us to use, or if you have reconsidered us being able to use your child’s photo in Schoolzine.

We look forward to having ALL students attend school for at least one day from week 3 (an absence note is required if they cannot attend the minimum 1 day) and building up to full attendance as soon as possible.

Please enjoy this edition of Schoolzine where almost all students are mentioned and we celebrate the great work you have done in keeping your children busy, engaged and safe.

Ruth Rogers (Relieving Principal)

All the students in Room 1 are continuing to learn from home for the first few weeks this term.

Sadev is enjoying a range of music apps on his iPad. James has been participating in a lot of sensory activities. James’ mum came up with a great way for James to enjoy some very messy sensory activities – in the bath! What a fantastic idea! Kugan turned 15 in April – Happy birthday from all of us! Timmie and Julian are also enjoying activities online.

Each of the students has a work package that they are working through with the amazing help of their mums and dads. Thank you to all the parents for their amazing efforts!

Karen (Classroom Teacher) and Mandy (SLSO)

Room 2 students continue to explore the world around them and engage in activities that are of interest to them and beneficial to their well-being.

Christian is missing school and is looking forward to returning to on-site learning and seeing all his peers.

Learning as true geographers, Sarah and Sidney have both been exploring their local environments with regular car trips. Sidney also enjoys having his brother along for a good car ride. 

Tomochika is a keen physical education student and enjoys pacing around a room or going for walks. Tomochika knows that when you are very tall with long legs, you need to keep them moving!

Ever the sensory seeker, William has been exploring different textures, with shaving cream being a definite favourite. William always ensures he is outside for these activities.  He is pictured below.

Melanie (Assistant Principal/Classroom Teacher)

Classmates, Brendan, Matilda, Elijah, Lachlan, Jayden and Amy have been busy at home completing their morning routines, listening to stories and following the antics of our animal friends at Taronga Zoo, Australian Reptile Park and the Aquarium.

This week Room 3 remembered the sacrifices the ANZACs made for us. Rupak and I are missing everyone and we are eagerly waiting for the time we can all be together at school again.

Keep safe.

Mary (Classroom Teacher)

Room 4 has been busy this past month.

• Leila has been enjoying spending time and sharing her activities with her brother and sister.
• Zena watched videos about animals and completed some activities on the computer.
• Jesse has been enjoying doing recreational and learning activities
• Dakotah has been communicating and doing learning activities
• Jayden is pictured below watching the Morning Song. He has been enjoying watching and doing educational games on the IPad.

 Lowenna (Classroom Teacher)

Firstly, thank you to Room 5 parents for their support, kindness, patience, flexibility and positivity during what has been an unprecedented term. While COVID – 19 has brought many challenges, our students and parents demonstrated on a daily basis – Love of Learning, Curiosity, Creativity, Hope, Gratitude and Self-Regulation to name a few!

Room 5 students had worked really hard over recent weeks to keep our school a safe and positive learning environment both for those coming to the school and for those learning at home.  Here are some photos - from left to right

Aiden working on his Maths task activities / Ethan completing his English task activities

Gianni washing the car with his brother / Gianni working on his tracing skills

Until next time,

Kamaldeep (Class Teacher) and Emma (SLSO)

Most Room 6 students were learning from home at the end of Term 1. 

• Gordon was busy learning and practicing life skills. He is now able to independently take the rubbish out to the bin and take the bin to the kerb.
• Sharon has been busy learning through various iPad apps, such as Code-a-pillar and Word Puzzles.
• Omar celebrated his 14^th Birthday and Bavan and Hannah have continued to develop their choice making, communication and emotional regulation skills. 

Room 6 has welcomed a new teacher to the class, Liam Stevens. Liam and Kelly will be working together to support Gordon, Hannah, Bavan, Omar and Sharon to work towards achieving their PLP goals, by providing them with fun and engaging hands on activities.

Below are photos of our new teacher Liam and Gordon placing rubbish in the bin!

We can’t wait for everyone to return to school so we can be kind, safe and learn.

Kelly (DP-Instructional Leader / Assistant Principal (R))

Learning from home has been both a challenging and positive time for students from Rm 7 (Raj, Om, Harry, Oras and Sunday) and their families.

We are very proud of how our students, whilst missing school and their routines, have adapted to learning from home with the wonderful support of their parents. I am thrilled by how well parents have taken up the challenge.

I am both encouraged and excited by the opportunity that the current circumstances have provided for us to strengthen the partnership between home and school through daily communications.

Raj and Om have been busy doing colouring in and puzzles; Oras has been engaging with new Apps on his iPad, Harry has moved house and has increased his independence by having his own bedroom and Sunday has been very good with adapting to a new learning environment at home.

During the holidays Janelle took up our neighbourhood challenge of putting bears out for the children’s daily bear hunt during their walks for exercise. This has proved to be a wonderful daily mental health boost for elderly neighbours, children, relatives and staff.

This Term I will be sharing them with Rm 7 students and families to also boost everyone’s positivity. I have included one for this newsletter that I know will be a favourite for Rm 7 students.

We’re all in this together and our students are definitely benefiting from these stronger relationships between home and school.

Janelle (Assistant Principal/Classroom Teacher) and Banu (SLSO)

I’d like to send big hello to all families. I hope you are all safe. During my 34-year teaching career, I have never witnessed an event that has so severely impacted students and their learning.

Kindergarten students Paige, Viki and Ma’afu had only just started their schooling before the CO-VID19 virus effects were felt. The 3 students had successfully made the transition to school and were beginning to consistently follow class routines.

Genesis and Steven have been learning remotely by accessing Barefoot books on the internet.

Parents have reported that all students are bored at home and are longing to get back to school. During lockdown, I have had time to reflect on the impact of students learning from home. We can often forget, that as well as being centres of learning, school are places of community and social connections.

When the lockdown is over and students return to school I will have a renewed sense of gratitude and pride teaching public education in New South Wales.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon

Megan (Classroom Teacher)

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.

Jessica has sent some amazing photos completing worksheets at home. Suzie has been working hard at school. Naya is enjoying spending time with her little sister. Anita has been loving sleeping in. Louisa has been working so hard she needs another package of work and Ria has been keeping very busy during the day with her mum. 

It has been amazing hearing feedback about your time at home and all the activities you are doing with your families. 

Stay safe and hope to see you very soon.

Michell (Classroom Teacher)

Room 12 have been very busy learning from home.

• Sophia has been using playdough to make 2D shapes, practising her alphabet using the laptop and working on her fitness on the treadmill.
• Sylvia has been working on her fine motor skills, completing some beautiful work practising her alphabet and handwriting skills.
• Ruby has been doing lots of work on her colours and numbers.
• Oscar made some fantastic Easter craft, working on his colouring, cutting and pasting skills.
• Mustafa’s favourite activity is matching colours and he has been practising his drawing skills on the whiteboard. Yeting has been busy working on matching activities.

Sophia is pictured below.

Keep it up Room 12, I am so proud of you all!

Alison (Classroom Teacher)

Students in Room 13 have been very busy:

• Aria has been both counting and reading to his dad.
• Chris has been reading and doing number work with his sister and running around outside.
• Timothy has been doing lots of reading with his mum
• Jordan has been doing number work and reading his words
• Arthur has been doing reading comprehensions and zooming ahead in “Reading Eggs”.
• Geonwoo has been working on his number work with mum and reading stories
• Jake has been working hard on developing his literacy skills, particularly sight words, using his communication device

Below is a photo of Aria working on his numbers.

Sujung and I are looking forward to when we can all be together.

Deb (Classroom Teacher)

Anna and I are missing the young men of Room 14. We imagine they will be even taller when we see each other again! Thanks to the families who have been keeping us up to date of what the guys have been doing. It's been great to hear how everyone is coping during this challenging time.

Through emails and phone calls we heard that John was camping and playing golf in his backyard. Joshua has been very busy keeping to his daily schedule of activities, including learning about Poland, which is Room 14's Harmony Day adopted country. Jaehyun and Gavin are enjoying their time at home with their families. George is regularly gardening and likes the fresh air. Winfred takes long walks every day to keep up his fitness. Isa has been a good big sibling to his baby brother, especially as Ramadan has only recently started.

We look forward to seeing everyone back at school soon so we can continue with our senior transition program. PS - The chickens miss you!

Photos below show John enjoying both his camping and his golf.

Kind regards,

Shani (Classroom Teacher)

During Term 1 in PDHPE we have focused on gross motor skills with an emphasis on specifically targeted skills leading up to the students developing skills to play Boccia.

Boccia is a precision ball sport and is related to bowls. All students have made fantastic progress with their skills and Boccia has been a hit. The students have also practised waiting, sitting and sportsmanship whilst developing their Boccia skills. Later in the year Room 14 will be taking part in an inter-school Boccia tournament where they will be able to represent Karonga demonstrating their fantastic Boccia and sportsmanship skills.  John (left) and Joshua (right) are pictured below.

Swimming began in week 6 of Term 1 and all students were very excited to be back in the water and develop their personal swimming skills. Aiden, Aria, Jackson, William L, Joshua and Winfred all represented Karonga with pride and fantastic sportsmanship as they took part in the Combined Schools swimming gala in Concord. Hopefully we will all be back in the pool soon. 

Pictured below (left to right) are Tomochicka, Aiden, Sarah and Timmie.

In term 2 we are focusing on improving our gross motor skills, precision with boccia as well as introducing sitting volleyball.

Debra (PDHP Co-ordinator)

In Term one, Karonga students practised using iPads for a range of different learning activities, including coding. They were also excited to learn how to code Beebots, Bluebots, Dash and Lego WeDo robotics, making them do fancy tricks! Some students have even been using iPad-coding apps such as Kodable and Tynker during this period of home learning. It has been amazing to see how engaged students have been during technology lessons throughout first term. 

In Term two we are turning our focus onto multimedia. Students will be learning how to take photos and videos and add visual effects with apps such as PicCollage and ChatterPix. As the world becomes more and more digital, the use of technology for creativity is an important step in helping to develop confidence and independence.

As a starter, I have created a digital tutorial for students to begin their journey into multimedia. Click on this link to take you through the steps of ‘How to take a photo with an iPad’:

https://read.bookcreator.com/n73mT5hKsVSzYF8RT6rZalwkahE3/iPevjMB2SIqbbr-aeIiYMQ

I can’t wait to see what the students at Karonga will create!

Kerrie (Technology RFF Teacher)

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