St Matthew’s School Narrogin

St Matthew’s School Narrogin

School Vision

 

St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.

 

BOOKS GIVE

A SOUL TO THE UNIVERSE,

WINGS TO THE MIND,

FLIGHT TO THE IMAGINATION,

AND LIFE TO

EVERYTHING.

***  PLATO  ***

Dear Parents & Carers,

What an amazing week! We were so lucky to have members of the Narrogin community join us to celebrate NAIDOC. I would like to thank:

Andrea Cowcher from Narrogin Primary School
Basil “Pop” Kickett from Narrogin Primary School
Latia Kickett and the Narrogin Senior High School Shooting Stars representatives
Ross Story
Jaxon Taylor from Narrogin Senior High School
Raylene and Lucas Kickett
Maria Lee

Thanks to these generous people, our students were able to celebrate the history, achievements and culture of aboriginal people through dance, story, art and music. I feel very fortunate to live in a community that so willingly gives up its time to help us all become more informed and connected.

 

 

 

Happy Book Week!

Each year since 1945, the Children’s Book Council Australia has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. The theme for this year is “Dreaming With Eyes Open‘’. This week, we will celebrate books and Australian children’s authors and illustrators through class activities, competitions and of course, our fabulous book character parade.

Book Week Parade

On Tuesday, 23 August, we will be celebrating Book Week by holding a whole school dress-up day. Children are invited to dress as their favourite book characters. Children are asked to please bring along the book or a printout of the cover page to help our secret judges choose several award winners. This year’s prizes are:

Best dressed
Most creative
Best group/family
Best character

Parents are most welcome to join us for our parade at 9:00 am in the Sr Isabel Hall. You can even dress up if you like!

Congratulations Celine!

A huge congratulations to Celine in Year 5 who was announced as the Primary School Winner of the prestigious Fra Angelico Art Award on Tuesday night. The ceremony was held at the Forrest Centre in Perth. In attendance at the presentation evening was the Most Reverend, Timothy Cottesloe SDB DD, the Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia, award recipients from Catholic primary and secondary schools and their parents.
Celine’s self-portrait piece was titled: “Lavendula” (Scientific name for Lavender) and was selected out of hundreds of other entries. Celine’s statement: “How dull the world would be if we were all exactly alike. Thank you, God, for making me unique” accompanied her art piece.

I also extend our congratulations to Mrs Jessie Allington who was Celine’s Visual Art teacher and helped inspire this amazing piece.

 

New School App Ready

I am pleased to announce that the new school app is ready. This St Matthew’s School app is directly connected to our school website. This, in conjunction with our newsletter, will now be our primary source of communication. It will have the same features as the Connected App, including the ability to check important dates, log absentees and access the newsletter.

 

Delete CONNECTED App

Parents are reminded to delete the Connected App as soon as possible. This is no longer operational.

 

First Holy Communion

Sunday, 18 September, children will be celebrating their First Holy Communion at St Matthew’s Parish. This is such an important time when the communicants will receive Jesus in the most special way for the first time. They have been preparing for this day with the help of their parents, Father Jayan and their teachers. May they take the friendship of Jesus with them wherever they go in their lives.
May God’s blessings be with the 2022 Communicants:

Vien

Morgane

Liam

Estella

Adrian

Iyana

Zara

 

 

‘Our Story’ Fence Pickets

On Wednesday, all new families were invited to paint a family picket to add to our “Our Story” fence. I am pleased to say that 10 families joint us and have now completed their pickets to add their cultural story to this art piece. If you were unable to attend, and would like to complete a family picket, please let us know. You can either come to school on a specified afternoon, or collect a picket and complete it at home. It is through sharing our stories that we come together as a community.

 

P&F Meeting

All parents are invited to attend our P&F meeting tomorrow, Tuesday 23rd of August, at 7pm in the school library. If you would like to attend via Zoom, please use the details below:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75890651237?pwd=xNvGUIF4od_DLThpHyEL-Fqv2HsxxR.1#successMeeting ID: 758 9065 1237Passcode: Dz3VPU
 

Free Rapid Antigen Tests

The free rapid antigen tests (RATs) package allocated for your child/children is ready for collection. Each child receives an allocation of 20 RATs. This allocation supports the strategy to keep the school community COVID-19 safe. Use a RAT to test your child for COVID-19 if they have symptoms or are a household close contact. If your child is a close contact, they are required to attend school, as long as they receive a negative daily RAT result and remain asymptomatic, and wear a mask.

 

Catholic School Parents Australia 2022 Parent Survey on Student Wellbeing and Learning

Have your say on what matters regarding the wellbeing and learning of your child. For example, has COVID or your partnership with the school affected your child’s wellbeing and learning? If you are a parent or carer with a child in a Catholic school, CSPA would love to hear from you. Click on the survey link and share your feedback to assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal Government and Catholic education. Your feedback will remain anonymous.

Click here for CSPA Parent Survey

 

Athletic Carnivals Week 7

The St Matthew’s School Faction Athletics Carnivals will be held on Tuesday 30 August (at school) and Friday 2 September (at Thomas Hogg Oval on Bannister Street, Narrogin). Each child from Year One to Six will be given a programme of events, highlighted with the events he/she is in. It is essential that we are informed if your child is unable to attend either of the carnival days.

Parental assistance on the day is essential for the carnival to run smoothly. If you would like to help, please contact Linda Kilpatrick (linda.kilpatrick@cewa.edu.au). We will need helpers for both Jumps and Throws on 30 August and the main events on 2 September.

Kindy Enrolments

I will commence conducting Kindy interviews for 2023 in Week 7 of this term. These interviews give families an opportunity to learn about our Kindy curriculum and school procedures. More importantly, it provides us with an opportunity to welcome new families into our community. If you know of any families ready to send their little people to Kindy, please encourage them to pop into the Office to pick up an enrolment pack.

Principal Focus – Time for a book!

I think, as parents, we are all aware of how important it is to read to our children. As Raisingchildren.net.au explains:

  • Reading and sharing stories can:
    help your child get to know sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills
  • learn to value books and stories
  • spark your child’s imagination and stimulate curiosity
  • help develop your child’s brain, ability to focus, concentration, social skills and communication skills
  • help your child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’

Although this is all very important, a growing body of research shows that reading to and with your children on a regular basis also has a significant and positive effect on their mental health.

There is a well-established link between children’s early language and literacy skills and school success. We know that children who are read to often have more extensive vocabularies and more developed cognitive skills than those who aren’t read to. Those same skills can be applied to mental and emotional health. Children who can name an emotion and express their feelings in words are better able to manage emotions. They don’t just feel “bad.” They may feel scared, nervous, sad, embarrassed, lonely, frustrated or angry. Naming a feeling is the first step in understanding it and dealing with it.

Sharing books with children does much more than help them label their emotions. Recent research reveals that young children who are read to on a regular basis and later enjoy reading on their own consistently score higher on mental health assessments than children who don’t have positive reading experiences. They have greater self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-regulation skills. Australian researches found that reading aloud with children who were experiencing neglect and maltreatment tripled their emotional resilience. Another study of children who were war refugees found that reading with the children changed their emotional perceptions in a positive way.

The simple act of reading a book with a child creates a bonding experience that includes physical closeness, undivided attention, relative calm, and sharing thoughts and feelings. That, in itself, has a powerful effect on children’s emotional and mental well-being.

There are many ways you can use books to nurture your children’s mental health:

  • Use books as discussion starters to talk with your child about what they are thinking and feeling. Books can be a gentle way to starts conversations about difficult or sensitive topics.
  • Read books that help your children recognize and name feelings and show ways to cope with unpleasant emotions.
  • Read books that serve as “windows” and “mirrors.” Books that portray children who are experiencing similar circumstances and emotions help children realize they aren’t outcasts or alone in what they are dealing with. Books that show children who may be struggling with other types of challenges help children develop empathy and compassion.
  • Read books that focus on specific issues your child may be dealing with and suggest ways to cope.

It is important that we keep reading to and with our children even after they are reading on their own. A survey of 9 – 11 year olds found 60% were no longer being read to at home but over 1/3 of those wanted read aloud time with their caregivers.

Keep Reading,

Susan Milton

Principal

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