Dear Parents,

Our excursion to the National Zoo and Aquarium is this Friday. The bus will depart school at 7:00am and return back to Batlow by 6:00pm. We are all very excited to be venturing to the nation’s capital for a special day. Please refer to the note below for finer details and to complete permission if you have yet to do so.

Aside from the permission note an additional Indemnity Note needs to be signed to give permission for your child to pat or feed an animal while on the guided tour. These notes were sent home today, if you would like for your child to participate please sign and send back to school before Thursday.

If your child is showing cold/flu symptoms please keep them home. Please phone 0429472233 before 7am if your child will not be able to attend.

We have been making plans for the coming year and are now in the final stages. The class structure can change from year to year as our numbers in year groups change. Next year our three classes will be:

1. Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 (15 students)
2. Year 3 and Year 4  (12 students)
3. Year 5 and Year 6  (12 students)

This balances the classes out in the most equitable way, otherwise one class would be too large and the other too small. Our classes are small and just perfect to support all student needs.

Catholic Education is also transitioning to a new literacy programme for our Kindergarten to Year 2 students called InitiaLit. Ms Buckmaster and myself have already undergone training. It makes sense to have our K,1, 2 students together to support a smooth delivery. InitiaLit provides our students with a ‘systematic and synthetic phonics’ programme which is supported by current research. We are looking forward to sharing more details of the programme with parents early next year.

And finally, on a different note the new structure also brings our classes into line with New South Wales Curriculum stages. This makes planning and programming more streamlined for teachers.

 If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to ask the question.

 Have a lovely week everyone.

 Jannine

This Thursday 19 November, our K/1 students will be presenting Mass. The theme is on Creation which is part of their Religious Education unit this term. It will be special to have our youngest members leading the liturgy with Father.

Next Tueday 24th November JADE & LIAM W will be our radio announcers.

Tune into 96.3FM Sounds of the Mountains at 1.45pm

At 11am on 11 November 1918, fighting in the First World War came to an end

Over 100 years later we pause for a minute at 11am on Wednesday 11 November 2020 to remember the service and sacrifice of our veterans.

The tradition of stopping at 11am started on the very first anniversary of Armistice Day in 1919 and has continued for over 100 years.

This year marks the 102nd anniversary of the First World War Armistice, where a peace settlement was signed to end 4 years of brutal conflict.

Almost 62,000 Australians died fighting for our freedom and in service of our nation.

2020 is the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and we also take this opportunity to acknowledge the service of our living veterans from WW2 and those who have passed defending our nation.

Our annual Awards Evening is going ahead on Wednesday 9th December at 6pm.

Venue to be advised.

Yesterday saw our last tennis lesson for 2020. The students loved the lessons and they have come a long way since the lessons begn earlier this term.

Tennis was funded by the Sporting Schools Grant for Term 4.