Our students this week have definitely been a little stir-crazy, because they haven’t been able to go outside to run, play, and soak up some fresh air. I won’t mention how this lack of a break is impacting our teachers. We all need to be a little more patient than usual… and fingers crossed, we might see some consistent sunshine by the end of next week if we can believe the weather apps.  

The assault on our senses is never ending isn’t it! It’s hard to know what to think, feel and say about what we are experiencing in our own country and our own community, let alone in countries beyond our own. In the last two years alone we have had bushfires, ongoing drought, COVID and all that has been associated, more COVID, and now floods in Australia. Beyond our shores, in the past two years there has been and still is: COVID, political unrest in the United States, the Afghanistan conflict, the humanitarian crises in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, South Sudan and Somalia…just to name a few, and now the war in Ukraine. 

This week, Ms McKersie shared with staff some practical tips to know how to talk to the students about the war that has broken out with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She has shared a similar article for parents below, and I recommend that you read this so that we are all able to talk about war in a way that the children can understand at their level, with empathy and compassion. 

We have begun to look for the best ways our school community can raise money for the Ukrainian children and send resources to a school or community in NSW or Queensland, that has been devastated by the floods. We are considering which charities will best ensure that our support reaches the children affected and will in turn, give our children a meaningful way to get involved with a humanitarian understanding. In next week’s newsletter we will let you know these details and how to get involved.  

As we wrap up the Goal Setting meetings this week, we hope that the Years 1-6 parents have all found these a valuable time and opportunity to meet with your child’s go-to teacher and to talk about your child’s goals with them. At the school level, later this term we will be touching base with all the children to discuss how they are tracking to meet their goals, and to give them support with this process. We also hope the Kindy parents have found their meetings with their go-to teacher informative and fruitful. 

Please don't forget that Monday is a Pupil Free Day. It is a day where we have a whole staff focus on the priorities for the year, once the staff have begun to know the students they are teaching. 

This week our thoughts and prayers go out to the flood victims in NSW and Queensland, and the people of Ukraine. You might like to say/share this prayer with your children:

Lord, please keep all children safe. We ask that you keep them safe from any harm caused by the floods or selfish intent caused by the war in Ukraine. We ask you to cover the children with your care and keep them in the safety of your powerful presence. We pray that you will protect them and their families and remind them that you are always with them. (Adapted form ‘A Prayer Over Your Children” by Debbie McDaniel)

And for our school community:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and all your strength. Love your neighbour as yourself. No other commandments are greater than these. Mark 12:30

Stay well, stay dry, stay safe. 

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

News headlines and images of war can provoke a range of uncomfortable emotions like anxiety, fear, anger and sadness in us all, no matter our age. For children, conversations with parents can help facilitate the child’s understanding and process their emotional response to the situation. Following are some considerations for how to structure those conversations. We would also like to acknowledge that each family will also possess their own historical and socio-cultural experiences of 'war' and this will influence your child's and your own understanding and perspective on this conflict and thus the conversations that you have together as a family. 

In thinking about having the conversation, choose a time and location that allows you to bring up the topic naturally and your child to feel comfortable so they can talk openly and honestly with you. Aim to avoid talking about the topic at bedtime.  If your child is the one to raise the war first, try to make time in the moment to listen to your child’s concern. If you feel the situation doesn’t support the conversation taking place at that time, gently let your child know that this is a conversation that you want to have with them so you can understand their thoughts and feelings about the situation and then make an agreed upon time and place to have the conversation.

When having the conversation, a good starting point is to ask your child what they know and how they are feeling. Some children may know very little about what is happening and also not be interested in talking about it, others might be worrying about it and scared to bring up the topic with you. Your child may have formed a completely different picture of the situation than you have. Take the time to listen to what they think, and what they have seen or heard and how they feel about this. 

Be mindful of the child’s age, personality characteristics and experiences as you approach the conversation with them. Young children may not understand what conflict or war means and require an age-appropriate explanation. Keep messages factual. Younger children may be satisfied by understanding that sometimes countries fight. For children 5-8 years the messages should be short and clear. Messages could include: “There’s a war far away. We’re safe but we’re praying for the people there.” If a child asks, “Why are they fighting?” you can say, “They’re fighting over who should be in charge but it is far away from here.” Children may have many questions. These should be addressed directly and simply at a level they can understand. Be careful not to over-explain the situation or go into too much detail as this can make children unnecessarily anxious. 

Some primary school-aged children can be fascinated and preoccupied by war, weapons, and strategy. While we don’t want to scare children, it is important for them to understand the seriousness of war and that wars help remind us of the importance of safety and respectful behaviour all the time.  It is also helpful to refrain from using stereotypical language of ‘goodies and baddies’. Older children are more likely to understand what war means but may still benefit from talking with you about the situation. In fact, older children will often be more concerned by talk of war because they tend to understand the dangers better than younger children do. 

We appreciate that war is an emotive topic of conversation. However, when having this conversation with your child, try to stay calm. Children will often adopt the feelings and opinions of their caregivers. If you are worried and upset about the situation, chances are your child will be as well. 

Validate their feelings and show empathy and compassion. When children share a fear, whether it seems logical or not, be respectful, accepting, and understanding. Encourage your child to describe her feelings or those she has for children in war zones. Listening to fears is a simple way to show support as you get a clearer picture of what your child is thinking and experiencing. Express empathy by telling the child it’s understandable to be afraid or to feel sad. It is important that children feel supported in the conversation. They should not feel judged or have their concerns dismissed. When children have the chance to have an open and honest conversation about things upsetting them, it can create a sense of relief and safety. 

Children may express fears so they can be reminded that they are loved, cared for and protected. It never hurts to let them know that keeping them safe is your priority. Provide reassurance to children and that they can come and speak to you if they have more feelings or concerns. 

As well as their own personal safety, children may be worried about the well-being of their family, peers, and other adults in their lives (e.g., teachers, neighbours, coaches). Reassure them that adults all over the world are working hard to resolve this situation. Children may express that they feel guilty about playing, seeing their friends, and doing the things that they enjoy. Let them know that it is understandable.  But it may be more helpful for us to feel a sense of gratitude for those things. Your family members may want to share with each other what the war has reminded you to be grateful for in your lives.  

Studies have shown that when we are helping others, we improve our coping and reduce our distress. If we can support children who want to help and provide the children ideas on what they can do - such as praying for the people in the war, donating to specific charities, this may help them at this time. 

Catherine McKersie
School Counsellor

It has been wonderful to welcome back cross-cohort activities such as band, string ensemble and recess all together! While we are thrilled to be mixing together again, we still need to remain vigilant and aware of ways to make our school activities COVID Safe. The key safety measures remain in place:

• Ventilation
• Physical distancing where possible
• Masks (optional for staff from Monday 7 March)
• Good hygiene practices                                                                     

A few important reminders:

• If your child/ren are displaying symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, extreme tiredness, unexplained chest pain or conjunctivitis (eye infection), please keep them home and complete a RAHT test.
• If your child returns a positive RAHT result, please log it via the Service NSW app or website, and inform the school via email [email protected]

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

Mrs Alanna James
Acting Deputy Principal

Integrity. Yes, so many of us show kindness, compassion, respect and honesty. But do we still do this when no one is watching us? Next week’s behaviour focus is all about showing positive behaviours and qualities, when you are around others, and when you’re also alone. 

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness of how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world. Hearing loss can either be congenital (occurring or identified at birth), or acquired (occur due to age, a disease, process, or injury). In Australia, the most common causes of hearing loss are age-related, and excessive exposure to loud noise. 

World Hearing Day is an opportunity to learn about the experience of those living with hearing loss. Read here about the amazing things people with hearing loss have achieved through technology, support, and a never give up attitude. 

Loud Noises and Hearing Loss

Hearing loss caused by exposure to loud noise is preventable. The best interventions for hearing loss are early interventions, no matter how old you are. Suggestions on how to protect your ears from noise include:

• Avoid exposure to noise when you can.
• When unavoidably exposed to loud noise, wear personal hearing protection such as earplugs, ear muffs or both.
• Wear earplugs in noisy environments, such as music concerts.
• Remember that everyday equipment, such as lawn mowers and power tools, may be loud enough to be damaging ears. 

Injury and Hearing Damage

The middle and inner ears are protected by the temporal bones, located at the base and sides of the skull. Head injury that involves trauma to the temporal bones can cause hearing loss. Concussion may be enough to cause hearing damage, even if the skull bones aren’t broken. Suggestions to avoid hearing damage through injury include:

• Wear a helmet while cycling and playing contact sports.
• Wear a seat belt when travelling by car.
• Avoid falls – for example, don’t stand on the top rung of a ladder.

Where to Get Help

• Your doctor
• Audiologist
• Ear, nose and throat specialist
• Hearing Australia

Renee DeRossi
Head of Learning

Whilst we give priority for enrolments to siblings, placement can not be guaranteed. If you have a preschooler who is due to begin school in 2023, please ensure that your application form is lodged or your child might miss out on a place. Additional references are not required for sibling application.

Should you have any questions or require confirmation that an application has been submitted, please contact Mrs Rochester.

Term 1 2022

Term 2 2022

2022 Term 3

Term 4

The children in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 are very excited about welcoming their Grandparents and/or Special Friends to the school on Friday, 25 March (9:00am - 10:40am). Your child will bring home two invitations for the event and we ask that you please share the details on this invite with a maximum of four Grandparents or Special Friends. The RSVP sticker in your child’s diary needs to be completed and returned by Friday 18 March. 

Unfortunately, with so many visitors at the school on this day, we cannot extend the invitation to parents and younger siblings on this occasion. We would ask that you assist us in this matter by explaining to your child that this is a day for their Grandparents and/or Special Friends and that you will come and visit them in their learning space on another day. 

We ask that visitors be seated in the playground by 8:50am. The area directly in front of the school on Coogee Bay Road will be a drop off zone between 8:30am - 8:45am and pick up zone between 10:15am - 10:40am. There are always some mums and dads who drop visitors to the school for this event. This is a great idea as it alleviates parking issues. We will have some helpers at the gates to direct our visitors and to provide assistance if necessary.

In the case of wet weather, we will relocate from the playground to the undercroft. 

We will commence our morning on the school playground with some entertainment provided by each grade starting at 9:00am. The children will then show their visitors around their learning space (we do have a small lift for those who require assistance) and will return with them to the playground for morning tea. Our Year 2 Parent Reps will be providing refreshments and morning tea for our visitors on the playground. 

We are looking forward to this very special occasion and we thank you for your cooperation and support. 

Mrs Emily Eu
Head of Infants

Year 6 National Young Leaders Day

Year 6 - Canberra Excursion

Kindergarten News - Term 1 Week 5

National Young Leaders Day - Event Note

Year 6 - 3 Day Excursion to Canberra Event Note

Concert Band notice

Next week, Concert Band will be held at the regular time of 7:45am on Tuesday in the hall. 

In this rehearsal, students will be assessed on their current ability level. Based on this assessment, band will be divided into two (Junior Band and Senior Band). There will be details of these two (Junior and Senior) rehearsal times in next week’s newsletter. 

For this session, students are to prepare any song of their choosing along with a concert Bb major scale. Instead of preparing the Bb major scale, percussionists are encouraged to prepare a technical exercise (not compulsory). 

This process aims to provide strong foundations and continued quality teaching, targeting specific skills needed based on your child's level of experience and musical development. 

Thank you for your understanding of this process. I am looking forward to building enjoyable and rewarding ensembles! 

Miss Laura Gilbert
Music Teacher

Term 2 2022 Debating Program

Thank you to those who have registered their child’s interest in being a part of our debating program. The program is now full. 

All parents who registered their child’s interest should have received information on how to pay the fees and general information regarding the program. 

If you have not received this, please email me via the Office. 

We are so excited to once again offer this excellent program to our Year 5 and 6 students. 

Ms Rachel Shiels
Year 5 Teacher

New Picture Book to the Library Collection

We have added several more books to the collection from two popular series.

Timothy Filigia Cahill AO is a former professional footballer who played for the Socceroos for 15 years. Off the field, the father of four discovered another passion as an author. The stories are centred around young Timmy, playing in soccer games, his friendships, soccer camp, training camps and juggling school life with his passion for soccer. 

The books are based on his own childhood and football career, and inspired by his own family. He includes his own children in the stories. 

The illustrations are fun and from author illustrator Heath McKenzie. McKenzie has illustrated countless titles for children and has worked with some of Australia’s well known authors, including Anh Do. 

Recommended for children aged 7 to 10 years old.

Hotdog is a friendly sausage dog who has plenty of adventures with his friends. The best-selling series introduces the reader to Hotdog’s delightful animal friends, Lizzie the gutsy lizard and Kev the goofy cat. The author is the talented actor, producer, comedian and painter Anh Do. The fun illustrations are on every page and provided by the talented Dan McGuiness. 

Recommended for children aged 6 to 9 years old.

Mrs Susan Kesur
Teacher Librarian

Key Dates

Important Dates for Term 1

K- 6 Sport
Wednesday 2 February - 6 April

Claremont Cross Country Carnival
Wednesday 9 March

IPSHA Cross Country Carnival
Saturday 26 March

IPSHA Swimming

On Wednesday, 36 Claremont Students represented our College at the IPSHA Swimming Championships. Our swimmers competed against the best swimmers from over 50 schools on the day. They all tried their hardest, swam their best and achieved lots of PB’s (Personal Bests). At the end of the day, everyone was tired (including the teachers!) It was great to hear the students reflect on their efforts and take pride in their achievements! Many students commented about what a great experience it was to race in the Olympic Pool against such strong competition and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and opportunity. Each event had up to 100 swimmers competing to be one of the 5 swimmers that progresses to CIS. Although we didn’t have any swimmers qualify for CIS, there were quite few who achieved impressive results in their heats. Well done to all our swimmers for representing Claremont in such an excellent way. 

Claremont Cross Country

The 2022 Cross Country carnival will be held on 9th March at Centennial Park. Students will arrive at school at normal time and catch a bus to Centennial Park. They will return via bus to school at lunchtime and will resume normal lessons in the afternoon. It is expected that all students will be travelling via bus (no students being dropped off directly at the venue). Please read the event note for further details. 

As there is still forecast to be some rain early next week, in addition to what is outlined in the event note, students should also bring something to sit on (e.g. towel, picnic rug), a raincoat and a change of shirt/clothes in case of rain during the race. If further changes have to be made due to the weather, these will be communicated next week. 

UPDATED Cross Country Carnival Event Note  

Cross Country Parent Helpers

It is almost impossible to run an event like this without parent volunteers, so we would be very grateful to any parents that are able to assist on the day. This would likely involve being stationed on a checkpoint scattered around the course (away from the start/finish line). Thank you to the parents who registered to volunteer after last week’s newsletter! Unfortunately, we are still a long way off having the amount of volunteers we need to run the day safely and efficiently. If you are available to help out for the morning and have a current WWC number, please complete the following form by clicking HERE. We will email out further information to those parents at the beginning of next week. 

Claremont Champions

Congratulations to all the Claremont students who competed in the State Nippers Championships in Queenscliff last week. Despite the rainy weather, a number of Claremont students achieved some great results and had a lot of fun along the way. Angus B (Year 5) competed in the U10s flags and individual sprint reaching the quarterfinals for both. He also competed as part of the boys relay where his team finished 6th.

Gia G (Year 6) and her surf swimming team won a Silver medal in really rough surf conditions. She also made it through quarter finals and semi finals to reach Ironwoman Finals and placed 14th overall in the Final.

Marnie L (Year 5) won a Gold (State Champion) in the Beach Sprint and Silver and Bronze in the girls relay and mixed relay.

Well done to these students on your incredible achievements!

Congratulations to Sam EL (Year 4) and Yasmin EL (Year 2) who competed in their first triathlon over the weekend. They entered the 7-9 TriKids event in Huskisson and both finished in under 9 mins 35s.

Mr Joel Geering
Head of Sport

Inter-School Chess Competition

It is nearly that time of the year again. Students in Years 3 to 6 have the opportunity to sign up for the annual Inter-School Chess Competition. (Infants students have the opportunity to sign up if their ability is at Primary level.) 

The competition runs every Friday afternoon in Term 2 for at least 8 weeks. Games are played on a rotation between ‘home games’ (at school) and ‘away games’ (at another school). Parents of children on each team are asked to help out by providing transport when the team is playing an away game. 

Participation in the competition is entirely dependent on the number of children to make a team in each experience level (Intermediate, Rookies and Junior Rookies). A minimum of 4 children are required to register a team in each level. 

While chess is a friendly and social game, games can be highly competitive and opponents have a range of abilities. It is therefore important that students participating in the competition have substantial experience with playing chess and have attained a reasonable understanding of the rules in order to be competitive. With this in mind, please ensure you speak with your child before entering him or her into the competition. 

The chess coaching sessions are run by ‘The Sydney Academy of Chess’ on Friday mornings. The sessions have been highly successful and the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning new moves and strategies from the chess coach. 

Ideas for your child: 

• Encourage your child to join our chess coaching program;
• Buy a chess board and play some games (explain the rules and possibilities as you play);
• Use a chess app on your iPad, laptop or smartphone and allow them to discover the rules for themselves;
• Teach them the ‘four-move-checkmate’ and how to defend against it and
• Use tools that will give you a great understanding of your child’s level of readiness. 

If your child is interested in playing in this year’s Inter-School chess competition, and you are willing to provide transport assistance if your child is selected to play, could you please click here and complete the registration form, indicating your child’s level of experience, by Monday 14 March. 

The Chess Team

Orders can be placed for both recess and lunch through an online ordering system called Flexischools (www.flexischools.com.au). You can also download the app and order from any smartphone or tablet device. Orders are required to be placed by 8:30am on the day the order is required, however, you can place orders up to four weeks in advance. 

Recess orders are collected from the canteen by each child who has an order. Lunch orders are collected by class lunch monitors from each grade and brought back to the learning space. Each child’s order is placed in individual bags with their name and ordered item on the bag.  If frozen items are ordered, your child will receive either a separate slip from the canteen or a stamp on their brown bag and will need to collect it from the canteen. The slip or bag will need to be presented to the canteen staff. 

If you have any concerns with your orders or would like to discuss anything with the canteen staff, please feel free to email us at [email protected]

ART LESSONS 

Art Lessons will recommence in Term 2. More information will be available shortly.

Code Camp

Code Camp will commence their lessons in Term 2. More information will be available shortly. 

Curtain Call

Curtain Call returns next Wednesday 9 March. There are still spots available if you would like to register by clicking HERE. 

Lessons are held each Wednesday as follows: 

Kindy to Year 2 - 3:00pm-4:00pm
Years 3 - 6 - 4:00pm-5:00pm

Greek

Greek lessons will recommence in Term 2. Please register by clicking HERE.

CLICK HERE to read the most recent newsletter from TeamKids.

A reminder for ALL families to BOOK & VERIFY their bookings for the term. If there are no confirmed bookings the service will be closed.

Please visit teamkids.com.au to secure your spot! Alternatively, call Customer Service on 1300 035 000.

Out of Stock Items 

School bags: We are currently waiting for our order of new school bags to arrive. For the interim, students may use the school sports bag or alternate backpack until they are able to be purchased. We also encourage those seeking bags to reach out on WhatsApp groups as some second hand bags may be available. We will advise you when they are back in stock. 

Boys summer socks: Some sizes of boys socks are unavailable. In the interim, the uniform shop will stock a plain grey sock that can be worn until the correct socks arrive. 

Please continue to check the newsletter for stock updates. 

General Information

The Uniform Shop is run by Ranier on the school premises during school terms on the following days: 

Monday: 2:30pm – 5:30pm
Wednesday: 8:00am - 11:00am 

Methods of Payment: Cash, EFTPOS, MasterCard and Visa.

For new students, fittings are by appointment. Simply book online at ww.shop.ranier.com.au 

The Uniform Shop is located within the main body of the School. Please access the Clothing Pool via Coogee Bay Road lower side gate. 

CONTACT

Email: [email protected] 
Phone: 9213 0720
Responses will be provided during opening hours.

Note: The website can answer most of your questions at www.shop.ranier.com.au 

For more immediate assistance, head office details are:

Online: ranier.com.au/contact
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 02 8337 7290