No words can express how amazing Mothers are, so please enjoy the gallery of photos of many of the Claremont children and parents, taken as we have been planning for and celebrating Mothers’ Day.

THANK YOU DADS

Our beautiful Mothers’ Day breakfast would not be the special event that it is without the Dads who turn up in their black ties, looking so dapper, preparing a beautiful breakfast spread for the Claremont Mums (and some Grandmothers and Aunties) and their children.

Dads…you are amazing! Thank you especially to Greg Tremain, Scott Groves, Adam Larby, Paul Brickell, Dave Rodgers, Jon Francis, Jim Copland, Damien Chee, Pedro Mihailou, Eric Setiawan and Daniel Gibson. Also, a special thankyou to Pedro Mihailou as this is his last Mothers’ Day with us. It is also the ‘captain of the team’s’ last year too… thank you to Scott Groves for your tireless work over the years. We have a saying thanks to Jess King (Year 5) about teamwork, that I thought, when I arrived at school this morning, was perfectly applicable to this great team of Dads…

Teamwork makes the dream work!

MOTHERS’ DAY STALL THANK YOU

Thank you to the wonderful band of mothers who ‘womaned’ the Mothers' Day Stall yesterday. A special thank you to Karen Jackaman (Jack Kirby, Year 5, and Tasha Kirby, Year 3) and Rebecca Mahony (Lacey, Year 5 and Levi, Kindy) for coordinating the purchase of the gifts and running the stall. An astounding 428 gifts were ordered and picked up on Thursday for all of the Mothers and Grandmothers in our Claremont community.

OUR SCHOOL LEADERS

I would also like to share the words from our four school leaders, their thoughts were so meaningful, laced with humour, and they did such a great job, even with the microphone abandoning us during Jade’s speech. Here they are:

Harry Awad

Thank you everyone for coming today to share this special occasion on this special day. Today we celebrate all our awesome mums. From stay at home mums to working mums to single mums to sporty mums to cooking mums to academic mums and everywhere in between. Life just wouldn’t work without you.

What do I love about my mum?

I could honestly go on for ages, but if I had to pick one thing, it would have to be the encouragement my mum gives me every single day. She has always encouraged me to be the best I can be. She encouraged me to go for school captain when I doubted myself, and I now love doing what I do.

Without my mum’s encouragement I wouldn’t be speaking in front of all you today, and without my mum, well, I wouldn’t be here at all. I really love my mum. She’s super cool.

She’s also really funny. One day my mum received a DNA test saying that there was a 5% chance that she was 1% Spanish. She was so excited! For the next three months she danced the flamenco like she was from Barcelona. Except, it was more like jazz hands crossed with Skippy the bush kangaroo.

Thanks so much mums! You’re really the best! Have a great day!

Zoe Costa

Who rules the world? Mums. Mums are the real life superheroes! They are the best multi-taskers. You can usually find them washing, cooking, cleaning, working and that’s all at the same time. On top of that they also have full time jobs and organise the house… including Dad’s!!

Where would we be without our mums? For me my mum is my rock. From being my morning alarm clock, to chef, to uber driver, to my personal Marie Condo, she does it all and sometimes with a smile!  All jokes aside my mum is the best! I love her and appreciate all the unconditional love and support she gives me, as I’m sure all the mums give their kids.

I will leave you with a quote from Reese Witherspoon who said, “I always say if you aren’t yelling at your kids you’re not spending enough time with them”. Happy Mother’s Day!

Jack Tremain

My mum. Well there are a lot of ways to describe my mum. She is always there for me. She takes me to all my sporting activities and still has time to have a full time job and complete two full iron-men’s in between. I mean... that’s pretty good.

One of the best things about my mum is that she is always there for me and always understands me. So this Mother's Day I want to make it special. I want all mothers to remember this day. The one day that all mothers will remember their children spoiling them rotten with hugs, kisses and the presents.

Mum, I love you and I just want thank you for being the best mum in the world and for believing in. I love you mum, have a great Mother’s Day.

Jade Hastings

The thing I love most about my Mum is how she’s always there for me. All our mum’s here today always have time for us, to listen to our problems, to encourage us and to love us. They have time for us, no matter what is happening at work or in any other situation. They put our needs first. My Mum also makes me laugh. Her latest hobby is fly-catching. When she sees a fly, she turns into Mr Miyagi from Karate Kid and gets her swatter out. She catches them every time, even if it takes her an hour. Thank You Mum for everything you do for me and on behalf of the students of Claremont College, thank you all Mum’s for being encouraging, kind, patient and understanding. You guys rock! I will now say a prayer to bless our Mums over this weekend.  

Our Father in Heaven, Thank you Lord for all our amazing mothers and grandmothers. Thank you for making each mother special and loving. We pray that around the world all Grandmothers and Mothers can feel safe, cherished and blessed by your ultimate love. Help us to support our Mum’s and keep them in our prayers. May you bless them now on this very special day. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

CHELSEA POTTENGER

Mums…PLEASE come along to ‘Our Night For Mums With Chelsea Pottenger’ on Friday 31 May. You do so much for everyone else in your lives, this is a night for you to come along and spend some time looking after yourselves. At this stage we only have limited numbers, so I am asking you to add your name via the parent portal, see details below in ‘Upcoming Events’ and ‘Items To Be Actioned’, bring a friend if you like, but please bring yourself, to share a night of friendship with other Claremont mums and Claremont staff (females).

MINISTRY OF TOURISM, REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

This week I had the privilege of joining Mrs Jill Shoebridge in attending an evening promoting educational excursions in and around the many islands of Indonesia. It was a really interesting evening of dance, Indonesian culture, tourism, cooking and places to go, other than Bali… there is so much more.

Yes this is a photo of Mrs Shoebridge who had her arm twisted by Margalena Zakaria to help with the cooking demonstration. Margalena (mother of Jeremy Lim Year 6) was representing the Indonesian Restaurant Association. She made the most scrumptious Dadar Gulung (Indonesian Coconut Pancakes) for us to try.

Enjoy your weekend and especially enjoy Mothers’ Day.

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

God Bless,

Janelle Ford
Acting Principal

Each year students from all year groups in Claremont College participate in our Peer Support Program. This program is a student-led multi age program which provides engaging and positive workshops for students to focus on social issues. It encourages peer connections throughout the school and assists students in developing practical skills to enhance social and emotional wellbeing by developing and sustaining positive relationships, agency, sense of self and responsibility for self and others. It aims to assist in achieving and maintaining a positive school culture. The program empowers students to support each other and contribute positively to our school and community. Over the years, themes such as Resilience, Positive Behaviour, Respect and Anti-Bullying have been covered. This year, our theme will be focused on Health and Wellbeing.

Last term, our Year 5 and Year 6 students undertook an intensive training course as part of their Leadership Development Program. The training course will assist them to lead their allocated group of students through a series of sessions during Term 2. This year our Health and Wellbeing sessions will focus on the areas of:

• Compassion and Empathy;
• Healthy Eating;
• Mindfulness; and
• Exercise and Sleep.

To culminate the learning that will take place this term, all students will be participating in Claremont College's 'Health and Wellbeing Challenge' at Grant Reserve on Friday 28 June. Here we will participate in some fitness activities, with the added aim of raising money for the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation. Look out for more details about this special fundraising event in the coming weeks.

Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

If you shop at Woolworths, please bring in you Earn n Learn stickers to the front office, as we will collect them to earn educational resources. Miss King and Mrs Speranza have kindly offered to coordinate this for us.

Monday 13 May - NO test
Tuesday 14 May - Language Conventions and Writing
Wednesday 15 May - Reading
Thursday 16 May - Numeracy
Friday 17 May - Catch up day for any students who were absent

By popular demand, this year we have invited Chelsea Pottenger to come back for another Mums (and Friends) night, in May. Again this year, we will offer our Claremont Mums to invite a friend if this is something you would like to do, to extend our community beyond our immediate families. So that we can make May the month to focus of Mums this year, we will have our usual:

• Mothers' Day Stall,
• Mother' Day Breakfast, and
• Mothers' Day (of course)...
• And this, our second evening for Mums, also in May.

Please note this will not be a repeat of last year’s workshop, but a new evening of warmth, energy, friendship and mindfulness.

To book and pay for your spot please click HERE. 

Last year Chelsea was a great hit:

It was a real treat hearing Chelsea’s talk on Wednesday evening, she was so authentic and shared some simple but highly effective strategies on how we can better manage stress in our lives and live to be the best version of ourselves. I think all the mums and teachers in the room left with a greater sense of connectedness with each other and gratitude. Katy Rowden

It was lovely to meet some other Claremont Mums and staff, and also som Kindy Mums of 2019. The company was lovely, the night was well planned and entertaining with a lovely supper and wine accompaniment. Interesting story from Chelsea, a fantastic ambassador for mental health and mindfulness, hopefully we can instil some grace and generosity in our kids. Thanks to everyone who was involved in making the night a success, especially the Claremont staff. Look forward to the next one! Debbie Lattin

Chelsea was so easy to listen to, and had so many practical tips for all of us to apply. I also loved the opportunity to chat to other mums in our school. It was truly a lovely night! I hope to see many more like this. Betty Preshaw

Thank You Chelsea for sharing your courageous journey, truly inspiring ...and for providing me with new insights into self care. Kim Ogle

It was a lovely informal and welcoming event for school staff , current mums and new Kindy mums to mingle, share stories about their children and school experiences over a nice glass of champagne and nibbles. Very nice catering by the way. The guest speaker Chelsea was a nice addition to the event , she was very engaging focusing on women's issues  that we all could share our own stories together with her guidance on self help strategies the we can take away and apply in our daily life. Overall a pleasant experience for me and I look forward to our next "mums night" get together. Christina Marks

I am so grateful that I went to the Mums Mindfulness Evening on Wednesday night at Claremont to hear and meet Chelsea Pottenger.  What a beautiful, brave and honest woman! Her story is so inspiring and you could hear a pin drop in the hall the entire time she spoke. I love how she turned her life around and has now obviously found her calling in helping others. I would strongly recommend Chelsea returns for the mums that missed out. She is so straight to the point and offers simple tips we could all use. As mums we are great at organising the fun mums night outs but this is so much more than that. I’m sure everyone went home motivated. Victoria Giannikouris

Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Tuesday 25 June.  More details will be provided shortly including when bookings are open.

More details to come

Please note, school photos are in 

TERM 3, WEEK 2 - 29 & 30 JULY

The following items require immediate action.

Year 1 - Vaucluse House  Excursion - Parent Portal
Year 2 – NSW Schoolhouse Museum Excursion - Parent Portal
Year 3 – Watsons Bay/Kadoo Tours Excursion -  Parent Portal
K-2 - Reconciliation Day Incursion -  Parent Portal
Years 4-6 - Reconciliation Day / Koojay Corroboree Excursion -  Parent Portal
K-6 - Athletics Carnival Permission Registration - Event Note 2019 Athletics Carnival
Year 6 - Bondi Golf Course Excursion -  Parent Portal
K-6 - Opera Australia Incursion -  Parent Portal
Chelsea Pottenger Returns to Claremont - click HERE to book

Kindy Maths Groups 

A reminder that ‘Kindy Groups’ will be starting on Friday 17 May (Week 3) from 9:20am - 9:50am.
On the day you have been assigned to help, please try to arrive at 9:15am to ensure you have enough time to sign in at the front office and see one of the teachers so you will know what to do. We are all looking forward to you visiting our classroom!

Kindy Goes to Calmsley Hill City Farm

On Tuesday Kindergarten went on their very first excursion to visit Calmsley Hill City Farm. We were lucky enough to be able to see and pat many different farm animals in the nursery. Students investigated the basic needs of animals, as well as the food products that animals supply for humans. Everyone was very excited to milk a cow, as well go for a bumpy ride on the big red tractor!

Kindergarten watched three different shows that taught us about working at a farm, including how to shear a sheep, how working dogs round up sheep and how stockman use a whip. Some of the children were able to have a turn of cracking the whip, and after all the students cheered to encourage her to have a go, Mrs Parker looked like a natural when she displayed her whipping skills.

Thank you to all the parents who attended on the day! We had a wonderful time and we are looking forward to learning more about the farm this term.

Kindy Quotes

“My favourite part was when I went on the tractor ride because it was so scary and I loved that we could scream as loud as we wanted.” James Power

“I liked the tractor ride and I liked patting the animals and the shows.” Finlay Peters

“I liked the bunny because we got to pat it.” Esther Lord

“My favourite part was when we got to pat the animals.” Charlotte Lattin

“I liked the peacock because I liked the feathers going out to impress the female.” Charlotte Care

“I liked when we went on the tractor because you could go down a hill and we saw a cow with big horns.” Marcus Reitz

Tour guide: “Where do Camels come from?”
Kindy student: “Italy?”

Tour guide:”Which types of foods do we get from pigs?”
Kindy student: “Pork belly!”

Tour guide: “What is the camel’s hump for?”
Kindy student: “To hold all their babies!”

Mrs Jesse Hitchen, Miss Meg Duff, Mrs Fiona Vula and Mrs Michelle Parker
Kindy Teaching Team

With 4 authors, a cat called Mouse and a dog called Pumpkin, we couldn’t help but be

entertained. Oh the stories they told! Year 3 and Year 6 spent Monday at Town Hall attending the Sydney Writers’ Festival. Along with primary students from all over New South Wales, students discovered what inspired each author, how they developed their characters and how to create an interesting story full of adventure and drama. Some children from Claremont even had the opportunity to ask the authors some questions. 

The authors we heard from were:

Katherine Rundell, author of the Wolf Wilder
Megan McDonald, author of Judy Moody
R.A. Spratt, author of The Pesky Kids
Oliver Pommovanh, author of Thai-riffic

The students came away inspired to read more books and live interesting and active lives that they could write about. #inspiredforlife

“I liked listening to R.A Spratt because she was very interesting and told suspenseful stories. I learnt how to write an interesting prologue to a story.” Kristina Clemence

“I loved the fact that Katherine Rundell started with humour, by saying ‘If I’m too British, you can throw your shoe at me’. I learnt that authors physically try and go through the same experiences as their characters. She actually patted wolves and took the risk of possibly losing her hand, just so she could describe how it felt to touch a wolf. She also ate a tarantula for one of her books!” Oscar Danta

“I liked Oliver Pommovanh because he said he still acts like a child, and has fun with his writing - it’s not just sitting at a desk. We met him in Year 4, and it was cool to see him again and feel his energy and love for writing.” Will Le Poer Trench

“R.A Spratt was very humorous on stage by relating everything to her own life. Her stories are really funny, and it makes me want to read her books.” Amy Stone 

Mrs Irwin, Miss Morrison, Miss Lim, Mrs James, Mr Ryan, Mrs Giles
Years 3 and 6 Teaching Teams

Claremont College will be running a ‘Nude Food Day’ every Tuesday (beginning next Tuesday 14 May) in order to focus on building greater understanding of the affect food choices have on our students’ health and the effects of rubbish/waste on the health of our environment.

But what does this mean? Nude Food is simply food that is not wrapped in foil, plastic or commercial packaging. The best type of nude food consists mainly of fresh food, so that it is healthy and nutritious PLUS environmentally friendly.

It is our vision that promoting Nude Food will empower our students to make conscious choices about what they eat, and encourage them to think about their impact on the environment (and their health).

We also recognise that our lives are busy and many of us are time poor so we would like to offer some helpful tips for packing Nude Food Lunches:

• Try to use reusable plastic or metal drink bottles for refilling water.
• Using reusable containers for putting all your food, snacks and drinks into.
• Lunch boxes that have lots of separate sections can be useful to avoid lost lids/containers and to separate foods.
• Try to pack the lunches the night before and store in the fridge overnight to avoid the mad rush in the morning. 

• If your child normally enjoys chips, yoghurt or other pre-packaged snacks, buy these in a larger format and you can decant these into smaller reusable containers or in the lunchbox. 

• If your child does enjoy chips, why not try making your own veggie versions using sliced beetroot, parsnip or sweet potato and baking in the oven? 

• Try to use fruit and vegetables that are in season. Seasonal produce is friendly to the environment as well as to your budget, as less fuels are used to store and transport these into your supermarket. 

• Try to involve the kids in helping decide what to take to school. This will help to reduce uneaten foods being thrown out, plus it could help your family save money.

Try to Avoid

• Zip lock or plastic bags, plastic wrap or aluminium foil.
• Tetra packed drinks, single serve yoghurts and cheese containers.
• Single use plastic forks and spoons.
• Pre-packaged food, i.e. biscuits, snack bars and chips.

Throughout this initiative, we will be collecting data in order to find out how these changes can impact our school environment. We appreciate your support with this and we cannot wait to spark the students’ curiosity and interest in sustainable practices.

Miss Sinead Kelly, on behalf of the Eco Warriors

Library Literature Lessons

This term, students will be exploring a range of wonderful texts in the Library during their Literature Lessons to be able to think imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically. 

Kindergarten

Students will be learning about folktales around the world. Each week, students will identify the country of origin and locate the country on a world map. They will investigate the morals/lessons learned from the stories and take part in drama and literacy activities based on the chosen text.

Year 1

This unit is about the different cultures that coexist in the local community and in Australia. It explores the ways in which people from these cultures express their beliefs and values through art, music, dance, drama, and especially story. Students will compare the similarities and differences between a variety of cultures that are significant in the school and local community including Indigenous Australian culture.

Year 2

Students will explore countries of the Asia region and the connections Australia has with other countries across the world. Students will learn about the diversity of the world’s people, including the Indigenous peoples of other countries. Year 2 students will explore and reflect upon similarities, differences and the importance of intercultural understanding.

Year 3

Students know the alphabet, however this unit challenges the traditional rhyme as it encourages children to think creatively and to challenge the alphabet as they know it. After exposure to a number of different alphabet books, Year 3 will go through the planning process to create their own alphabet book or song or poem on a theme of their choice.

Year 4

While we have the Internet and an endless supply of digital books, there is still something to be said for learning to navigate the library. Have you ever been to the library and wondered how we keep track of all those books? Well the Claremont library uses a system called the Dewey Decimal System and it helps organise all these books. Year 4 students are learning about this system, how it is organised and structured.

Year 5

When do good intentions go too far? What are the elements that make up a dystopian world? In this unit students will read a variety of dystopian and utopian short texts and participate in discussions and analysis of these. Students will also write a literature analysis piece in which they examine a common theme in their work and in real life.

Year 6

The question “Who am I?” is especially critical for students during adolescence. The goal of this unit is to prompt students to consider how the answer to this question arises from the relationship between the individual and society, taught through the Australian ‘Archibald Prize’. Understanding identity is not only valuable for students’ own social, moral, and intellectual development, it also serves as a foundation for examining the choices made by individuals and groups in the historical case study later in the unit. There will be a large digital component that should push and challenge the students.

Mrs Stephane Affleck
Teacher/Librarian

New Titles To The Collection

New Graphic Novel

This is the first title in the magical Hilda adventure series. The author, Luke Person is a British comic book artist and illustrator. He has become one of the leading talents of the UK comics scene and won several awards. The series has been adapted for television and is currently screening on Netflix.

The protagonist of the story, Hilda, is a brave, adventurous and curious, but also a compassionate character. Hilda is unable to sit still for long without setting off on another adventure. She loves to explore a magical world where trolls walk, crows speak and mountains move. This time Hilda stumbles upon a mysterious troll-shaped stone and then gets lost in snowstorm! 

The oversized pages of this graphic novel are full of detailed, imaginative artwork that enhance this whimsical story.

Recommended for ages 8-12 Years.

This is the second book written by American author Dan Gemeinhart. Dan was a teacher librarian for fourteen years before he went on to be a published author.

The story is set in 1890 Washington and is a historical western adventure story. Joseph Johnson has lost just about everyone he’s ever loved and then his beloved pony Sarah disappears. Joseph is determined they will be reunited and is ready to face deadly animals, dangerous men and the fury of nature in his quest!

Recommended for ages 8-12 Years. 

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Singing and drama play an inspiring role in the education of children.  We are excited to have Opera Australia visit Claremont to perform “By the Light of the Moon”. This opera incursion aims to foster a love of the performing arts by involving the children aurally and emotionally.  This incursion provides a real-life opportunity for students to see professional musicians in concert and to build upon the musical foundation learnt in our weekly music lessons.  This performance is directly tied to each year groups’ music program.

John Sheldon
Music Teacher

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 28 May - Claremont Athletics Carnival @ ES Marks Athletics Field, Kensington

Claremont Athletics Carnival 

Please clear your diary and prepare for our very special annual Athletics Carnival to be held at ES Marks Field in Kensington on Tuesday 28 May. Students from K-6 will compete in sprint races, field events and novelties throughout the day. More information will be sent home soon, including how our points system works to determine our Age Champions and IPSHA Team. This day simply cannot run smoothly without the assistance of many parent volunteers, so please consider helping so that every child has a sense of pride, achievement and enjoyment from this day. We thank you in advance for your help!

Walk to School Day

Don’t forget we would love to see as many students as possible walking to school on Friday 17 May! Students across Australia are encouraged to walk to school to encourage healthy habits and happy learners while reducing the impact of cars on our environment. We will keep a tally in our classrooms on this day, and hope to announce a great number of walkers taking up the challenge.

For more info, please visit www.walk.com.au 

Joel Geering
Sport and PDHPE

We are pleased to introduce Gabrielle Jung, our new violin tutor. Gabrielle has a Bachelor of Music Performance in Violin at Sydney Conservatorium of Music as well as a Post-graduate Diploma in Music Performance at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Gabrielle currently teaches violin and viola at St Mary's and St Joseph's College. Her current and previous students are music scholarship recipients at private schools in Sydney and Melbourne.

Gabrielle is also an active member of chamber music including a piano trio and a string quartet. 

Gabrielle started teaching Suzuki method in violin and piano and has over ten years of teaching students for their AMEB/HSC exams and music scholarship auditions for private high schools.

If you are interested in learning more about your child receiving violin or viola lessons, please complete the attached LINK.

What an eventful morning we’ve had today! The enthusiasm from the ‘Mother’s Day Breakfast’ flowed into the hall and set the tone for an exciting service. We introduced our new theme this morning which is, ‘Inspired for Life.’  These words are the motto of our school and we wanted to unpack this by exploring the book of Mark. Every week a teacher will be sharing a story from this book about how Jesus inspired others, and/or a character who was inspired by Jesus to do greater things. After introducing the theme, I spoke to the students about John the Baptist, found in Mark 1.

He was no ordinary man, however God used him extraordinarily by preparing the way for Jesus. John shared stories from the prophets of the past and spoke words of encouragement to those present that Jesus was coming really soon. Many people responded so well that they wanted to show their dedication by being baptised by John. We can imagine the excitement the people and John must have felt knowing that Jesus was present and He was ready to connect us to our Father in heaven. Our prayer for our school community this term is to be inspired by God by allowing His Word to come alive in us today. 

We are definitely in for an exciting ride through this theme and we would love to invite you to join us Friday mornings from 8:45am-9:15am.

Verse of the Week:

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘ Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” Proverbs 31:28-31

God Bless!

Charlie Blevins
Chapel Coordinator

The Canteen is open 5 days a week. Please place your orders via Flexischools.

All members of the extended Claremont family are warmly invited to come along and pray for our school community. Toddlers are also more than welcome.

The prayer group meets fortnightly on Thursdays at 8:45am. Please sign in at the school office.

Dates for Term 2 are 23 May, 6 June and 20 June

For those parents who would like to pray for the school but are unable to attend the Prayer Group, you are now able to receive fortnightly prayer points. If you are interested in receiving the fortnightly prayer points or have any questions, please contact Vivian Yang via email vivian@yang.id.au

The Uniform Shop will be open every Wednesday fortnight from 8am - 9am this year. The dates for Term 2 are: 

15 May, 29 May, 12 June, 26 June

The Uniform Shop is situated below the School Hall with entry via the small gate next to the units. Whether you can make it at this time or not, parents are encouraged to place online orders (especially if you are purchasing accessories) via Flexischools.

Please note, the Uniform Shop does not accept any second hand clothing except for Claremont school uniforms. It is very inconvenient if you leave other items. Thank you.