Hello everyone,

Superhero day was held in week 7 and it was a delight to see so many students tolerating the change in clothing. They all looked so bright and colourful on the playground, and it was a nice tradition where staff too joined in, for a bit of end-of-term fun. Superheroes took all forms, but my personal favourite was Haley from Room 11 who dressed as a paramedic, proving that ‘not all superheroes wear capes’.

We held the second of our Orientations this week. This gives us a chance to meet the nine 2023 starters, and for them to orientate to our school. The new starters comprise of: one Year 7, one Year 6, one year 4, one year 1 and five Kindy children. They used a playground and a classroom while family members had refreshments and a Q&A session with me outside the canteen. Some of them brought siblings, some brought grandparents but all of them brought smiles as they enjoyed a lovely morning in the sunshine.

Do check out our Facebook site before the end of term, as staff have been working on a fun choreographed recording for a Christmas classic. One of our talented SLSO’s has agreed to stitch all the video footage together before setting it to music. 

The countdown has started. As we race towards the end of Term 4, it’s been exciting to see all students of Room 1 continue with their learning through this term. Recognising and learning about the common community signs was the highlight of literacy while data representation took the form of numeracy. Rajveer and Anita showed their understanding by recognising and matching the community signs. Oras and Sunday were quick at acquiring the skills of representing a set of given data.

The class had fun with Art therapy sessions making the Christmas tree. Sidney engaged well in papier mâché and Halloween activities. Anita showed her art skills in painting the tree. In Science, the focus was understanding the Solar system. One of the favourite activities was watching the planet song and arranging the planets according to their distance from the sun.

The class welcomed Tomochika AU to Room1. Tomochika adapted well to the routines of the class and engaged in good learning. He displayed his understanding of sun safety by wearing the hat and using sunscreen for outdoor play during break times.

Sidney and Raj enjoyed playing with stretchy sand. Oras and the others tried out different musical instrument and enjoyed the experience thoroughly,

The class are now having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas with art and craft activities and looking forward to well-deserved summer holidays!

At the beginning of Term 4, Room 4 celebrated the graduation of Jayden. Many of his classmates, Karonga School staff members and Jayden’s family enjoyed a special evening with Jayden at the Epping Club. We will miss Jayden and we wish him all the best for his journey after school.

During Term 4, Room 4 students have been engaging in lots of learning activities.

Every morning, we are choosing a few songs for morning circle.

We made papier mâché in art therapy and created a hot air balloon, learnt about space and watched Tess having a bath. We also created some scary Halloween pumpkins, enjoyed swimming and sensory activities. Every now and then we have a furry and a feathery visitor in Room 4. Have a look at the photos.

Zena and Christian accompanied by Nicky went out for a special adventure. They joined Room 9 students and staff for a sailing trip near Rushcutters Bay. Zena and Christian had a fantastic time being pirates for a day, and thoroughly enjoyed their time on the boat.  

 

While our Karonga students are the recipients of care and assistance from so many of us: parents, extended family, teachers, service providers, etc; many of them have limited opportunities at school to be of service to others.

With this in mind, Karonga staff embraced the opportunity to introduce to our students a philosophy of ‘service for others’ through the ‘Compassionate Christmas Project’.

Spread over Terms 3 and 4, the project has involved creating Christmas cards for people who are incarcerated and are estranged from their families. Each participating class was provided with green and red cards with matching envelopes. No student photos or identification of any nature was included in the cards. The staff explained the concept of ‘helping others’ to our students and assisted them in preparing colourful, cheerful and unique Christmas cards. Our students’ creativity was quite evident in the variety of cards made by them.

Lisette, our art therapist also delivered the same learning outcomes in her sessions with different class groups.

Rupak and Lesley need a special mention, as they took the blank cards home over the September holidays and decorated them for the project.

The cards will be delivered to Cyril who works at the John Moroney Correctional Centre.  Please see below, an excerpt from Cyril’s email:

‘We will be delighted to receive cards from students at Karonga School as it is an indication of hope, encouragement and an affirmation that our inmates are not forgotten.

In all probability, the cards will be distributed to those inmates who do not receive visitors or letters from family and/or friends. They will be asked to identify themselves a few weeks prior, as an indication of their willingness to receive letters/ cards from the wider community.

Your contribution will go directly to the inmates as a sign of hope and encouragement. Last year an inmate who received a card from you told me it was the only mail he received while in prison as he had no family or friends.’

Thank you, Karonga staff and students, for embracing this project so wholeheartedly.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Sabrina