Week 5 Term 3 2022

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to BOOK WEEK where we celebrate reading as a chance to “Dream with eyes open”, and the important role that children’s literature, books and stories play in our world.

Reading to and with your child is one of the easiest and best things you can do for your child and their education. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. Even after children learn to read by themselves, it is still important for you to read aloud together and enjoy books.

Our Book Week Parade will be held this Friday 26^th August and all are welcome. Masks must be worn by parents. Children will be dressed as favourite book characters or according to the theme, and will parade within the school and around the neighborhood if weather permits.

Student Centred Conferences -  Best Practice at IHM

One of the ways we foster student agency is through our ‘Student Centred Conferences’ which we have had in place as an important part of our assessment and reporting practices since 2016. All best practice research in education refers to the importance of student agency and self-evaluation in maximising outcomes. As a staff we have been focusing on building student agency across the school. Professor John Hattie who has researched the world’s largest evidence base into what works best in schools to improve learning, identifies "student self-reporting as the most significant indicator linked to raised student achievement."( Visible learning, 2009).

A letter and an invitation to attend these with your child has been distributed to students today.

Please note that these differ from the traditional Parent Teacher Interviews because they directly involve the student and their learning. It is a time for the students to demonstrate their communication and reflection skills by sharing and demonstrating their individual growth and achievements. It is also a time for students to receive feedback from their parents and teachers and to set new goals.

Parent engagement and student responsibility for their learning are key factors proven to improve student success, and we are pleased to offer this opportunity to support your child’s learning, independence, growth and flourishing.

SRC News

Congratulations to our new appointed SRC children for Semester Two 2022.  In our Week 6
Assembly on Friday 2^nd September students will be provided their badges and formally accept their role and responsibility.  Parents are welcome to attend. 

Disability Awareness Incursion Sessions

It was wonderful to once again see the children participating in special disability awareness sessions this week. Our children learnt about disabilities in general, the implications, the rights of people with disabilities and famous people who live with disabilities. (R/1M and R/D will attend these sessions next week). They also participated in hands on activities specifically developed to offer an experience of the challenges faced by students with a disability which was a great eye opener! Hopefully through these discussions and experiences our pillar of inclusivity is reinforced in the children’s hearts, minds and actions. This is important for us at IHM. Thanks to the Adelaide West Special Education Outreach Team who led the days.

Hope you’re all keeping warm on these chilly days and nights.

Warm wishes,

Pauline Kinsman
PRINCIPAL

This year the House Leaders along with the support of the P & F are holding a disco in the IHM School Hall.  This will be on Friday 23^rd September.  Information about the disco will be given to families in the coming week.  We hope you can make it!

Book Week Dress Up Parade - Friday 26^th August

It’s that time of year again…time to get creative and think of some fantastic dress up ideas for our Book Week Dress Up Parade.  The theme this year is ‘Dreaming with eyes open’ - we encourage the students to come dressed as a favourite book character or within the scope of the theme.  

Our Dress Up Parade will immediately follow the announcement of our IHM school vote results. Our school leaders will facilitate these proceedings alongside Ms Kinsman.  The house leaders will choose the best dressed in each class, and these students will be awarded a small prize. 

Students will parade around the school block beginning on Drayton Street. It will certainly be a fantastic opportunity for the students to showcase their costumes!

Healthy Eating = Fuel for Our Brain

As I have been moving around the school and handing out tickets to those students who have Nude Food I have noticed many of our classes stopping for Brain Food. Eating well is good for our mental as well as our physical health. The brain requires nutrients just like our heart, lungs and muscles do.

Here at IHM children are encouraged to bring healthy foods to school to eat daily, with many classes stopping throughout the day for Brain Food snack time. Wholegrain breads, fresh fruit and vegetables are easy to manage Brain Foods children should be eating on a regular basis. A helpful tip when choosing snacks for your children is; if it comes with packaging it generally is high in salt, sugar and/or fat so avoid these snacks where possible.

Sacramental News - Confirmation/Communion

This Sunday 28^th of August, five of our students will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation and First Communion.  The students are Kayleigh, Alia, Jacob G, Jake and Matthew.  This is a major step in their faith lives as they prepare to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and First Communion. Please keep these students and their families in your prayers.

Annette Diassinas
APRIM

What’s the Matter?

In Year 2/3 PB we have been learning about matter and studying the properties and transformations of solids, liquids and gases.

As part of Science Week, we studied the manufacture of glass and the properties of the materials during each stage of the process. 

We simulated glass making in our school kitchen by creating glass lollies instead and we compared similarities between each process.

N.B.
Sand is a solid that has the ability to pour like a liquid and take the shape of its container. It is still a solid, as each individual grain of sand has a shape of its own and keeps that shape.

We compared both processes: