Welcome to the Week 8 Newsletter. The theme of this week is resilience, risk taking and student voice. In what has been our largest pool of nominations for student leadership since we started the Student Parliament, we have been privileged to witness over 30 different leadership speeches across 3 days for 20 Parliament leadership roles. Students spoke with a deep understanding of what it means to be a leader and continued to stand for these roles in different groups with different responsibilities, tailoring their speech each time. The attention of the younger students and the voting that followed was equally reflective of students’ understanding of how important it is to consider who would be the best person to represent them as student voice in our school (and not just their mates or their sibling’s mates). And most of all we witnessed the camaraderie and support the year 5 student gave their peers as they navigated the courage to take the risk, the emotions of excitement for some and disappointment for others and ultimately the emerging hope of being part of a great year in student leadership in 2025. As I said, if this is not an example of resilience and risk taking to finish the year off, I am not sure what it. The staff could not be prouder of every single Year 5 student and we hope they are equally proud of themselves. 

While formal commissioning of the 2025 student parliament will happen at the School Opening Mass next year, we are pleased to confirm those who have received leadership portfolios this week.

School Leaders	Adam Tinawin, Jack Fry, Archer Guihot, Lily Cassel-Denmeade
Active Lifestyle Leaders (Sports)	Hope Fenwick, Willow Garven, Lexi Schumacher, Axel Ferguson Allira Weet, Layla Creek, Audrey Stanton, Leo Gosper
Service Leaders	Elijah Hughes, Evie White
Social Leaders	Amelia MacKay, Charlotte Grace Carter
Environmental Leaders	Payton Kinnaird, Michael O’Neill
Comms and Safety Leaders	Bailey Smith, TBC

Semester 2 Reports 

Reports will go live to COMPASS this Friday.  Thank you again to the staff for their committed focus in this area. It is always a challenge to succinctly communicate a Semester's worth of learning that is celebratory of achievements / progress and constructive in ways to support next steps in student learning. I do invite parents to take the time to read the report in detail, especially the subject descriptors that effectively unpacks the exact learning on which a grade is being awarded and the learning dispositions which describe for parents the learning habits we observe in students that will equip them for learning across any number of areas. 

I would also like to draw parent’s attention to what I consider to be the most pertinent grade across the reports and that is the Commitment to learning in each KLA.  Commitment to learning refers to a student’s interest, motivation and engagement in the Key Learning Area and is demonstrated by their attitude, completion of tasks, pride in their work presentation, self-regulation and interaction with peers. It is assessed on a 3- point scale – Emerging, Developing or High.

In a world where not everyone will be achieving at the same level, it is reasonable to expect that a student’s actual commitment to learning is of the highest possible. It is essentially celebrating and reporting on the notion of being YOUR best, and not necessarily THE best. 

I don't mind owning that this is the grade I seek first and foremost when looking at my own son's report and I have been known to ask him the challenging question as to why his commitment to learning may not be HIS best. On the flip side, I have been known to celebrate a commitment of High when his grade may not yet be at “sound”. It is important that we talk about this grade as much as the others, so students understand that learning is about one’s participation in the journey as much as it is about arriving at a destination.

Dates for Week 9 & 10 

Please keep a close eye on the next two weeks (see below). They truly are our busiest of the year. We will continue to use Compass to update and remind parents as each event fast approaches. 

Have a great week, 

Jules Mulhearn 

End of Year Organisation

As we approach the end of the current academic year, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our hard working staff for their time and effort in assessing, gathering and contemplating in order to complete their Semester 2 reports. Throughout this term, and in the coming weeks, our dedicated team of teachers engage in completing handover data and records to pass over to the 2025 teachers to ensure a smooth transition for each child into the upcoming academic year. We're having a change this year to our handover meetings, which will now take place in weeks 2 and 3 next year instead of the end of 2024. We feel this information fresh in the new year, after having a chance to meet each child and spend some time with them, will be most benefical in this transition. The teachers will collaboratively discuss the strengths and challenges of each student in the class, providing valuable insights that will help guide the teaching approach for the academic year.

This handover is aimed at gaining a comprehensive understanding of each child's unique learning style, preferences, and any specific areas that may require additional attention. Our teachers are committed to ensuring that the transition to the new academic year is seamless and that each student receives the personalised support they need to thrive.

We are excited to announce that this Friday, 6^th December, each students Semester report will be published on Compass. Please ensure that you check Compass on Friday afternoon to access your child’s Semester 2 report.

There will also be a Compass chronicle notifiction to inform each child of their class and teacher for 2025. This will also be published on Friday afternoon. 

Next Monday will also be our whole school step-up morning. After assembly, children will spend the morning session with their teacher and class for 2025. Miss Tessa Mills-King will be teaching Year One in 2025 alongside Mrs Lisa Reid. Due to other committments and location restrictions, Miss Mills is unable to join us next Monday. She has sent us a little information about herself to share with our SBE community and has prepared a video and slide show to show her class on Monday morning.

Year 4 Science Show

This term the Year 4 students had a fabulous time during our Science Incursion, brought to our school by The University of Newcastle. Students were able to participate in various experiments of the 'Force and Motion' Science Show. They explored the effects of common contact and non-contact forces, including gravity, air-resistance, and magnetism. The presenters also demonstrated ‘spin’ force and rocket science. It was so much fun.

The Season of Advent

We live in a fast paced, somewhat instant world. We turn on our TVs and watch the movies we want – on demand THANK YOU Netflix, Foxtel, Stan and the World Wide Web. We expect service and want what we want, when we want it. Things we used to wait for seem to be available now in the blink of an eye. I remember growing up coming home every day from school hoping I had received a letter (I’m not sure where I thought these letters were going to come from, but I lived in hope.) now my Inboxes and Messenger are full of “mail”. I must say I still long for the “snail mail” especially those without “windows”. 

Waiting, especially patient waiting is not something many of us do very well. In this
fast paced, somewhat instant world, Advent is an extremely radical and different idea. These four weeks call us to focus on waiting patiently for the Lord. Instead of instant results and rapid fulfilment, we are called to yearn and wait with expectation for the Lord.  

How can you use these days to strengthen your patience and develop a real sense of

I have included a link below on Advent for you to share with your family. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8_lah83UY0 

2024 Christmas Appeal

Our final fundraiser to support those in need will take place next Friday, 13th December as part of our Christmas Celebration Day. Students in different stages are asked to donate a gold coin and an item of "Christmas Fare" so that we can contribute to christmas hampers delivered to those most in need. We will also send "what to bring in" lists for each stage via COMPASS news feeds but you can see the spread of goodies we are collecting in the gallery below. By doing this we ensure a good variety of items. We will only collect these items on Friday 13th December as there is no place to store them here in the meantime. We will send reminders the day before but please consider adding an item or two to your weekly shopping list between now and then. 

Yours in faith,

Miss Michelle Collins 

(Religious Education Co-ordinator) 

The Final Aspire Workshop at Warners Bay Theatre

Throughout the year, three talented students from our school had the incredible opportunity to attend a Young Script Writers Workshop. This enriching experience allowed them to hone their writing skills, explore their creativity, and collaborate with peers who share their passion for storytelling. The culmination of their hard work was showcased last week, where they presented their final pieces. The event was a vibrant celebration of their journey, highlighting their growth and the diverse voices they bring to the world of literature. The students' enthusiasm and dedication shone brightly, leaving a lasting impression on everyone who attended.

Jack and Edith expressed how valuable they thought the Workshop was:

On Thursday the 21^{st of} November this year all of us (Edith, Jack and Scarlett) went to the Final Young Script Writers Workshop. By the end of the day, we had written then performed our scripts at least 4 times. We showed all our scripts Infront of the parents and friends after being at Warners Bay theatre for the whole day. We also wanted to give a big thanks to Anna Kerrigan who supported and got us to where we were on that day so thank you very much Anna and we really enjoyed being able to be part of the Young Scriptwriters Program. We also wanted to thank Mr. Morris and Mrs. Hunt for being able to get us into the workshop.

Year 1 3D Space

This week Year 1 have been learning about 3D space. Today, they had the opportunity to make some 3D shapes and describe their properties.

Kinder 2024 Orientation 

This morning, our "almost ready for big school" Kindergarten Cohort for 2025 finished their 4-week Orientation program. We were very proud of each of them as each received a certificate for completing these important first steps to Kindergarten. Those few steps up onto stage must have felt like giant leaps in their journey. I want to acknowledge and thank the 2025 Kindergarten Teachers (Jacqui and Leah), the learning support team (Michelle C, Asheligh Garven and Jo Franks) and countless others, whose leg work assured the program ran smoothly as we welcomed our newest members to our school in the best possible way. Below are two books the children took home so they can continue to read about their new school over hte long summer break. I think we can rest assured the Kinder 2025 is already raring to go. Bring on February 6^th, 2025 (first day for our Kindergarten Cohort next year). 

COME WITH ME TO SBE 

WELCOME TO KINDY 

Polding and NSW football achievement

Congratulations to Archer Guihot who received his certificates and medal for competing in the polding and NSW schools sports football competition this year. This is the first time our Polding team made the quarter finals ever!

We acknowledged his achievements at assembly this week. Well done Archer! 

Congratulations to the following students who were recognised for their efforts in Learning, Improvement and Kindness to Others last week.