If you drop into the school make sure you see the fabulous Reconciliation display in the office, created by Ms Shiels and the Year 5 students. It is truly a showcase of their understanding of the importance of Reconciliation and the students’ artistic skills. Refer to the Year 5 section below for more details.

This week we are all continuing to receive messages about how fortunate we have been in Australia as we relax isolation restrictions across the country. It feels like business as usual at Claremont, as unlike many workplaces, the majority of staff and students are on site.

We are, however, being reminded not to be complacent about social distancing, hand sanitising, and vigilance in regard to staying in isolation if any of us have any flu-like symptoms. It is because of these expectations, we must ensure that we are following all of the medical guidelines to keep you, your children, and our staff safe.

If your child is unwell or exhibiting any of the symptoms listed below, you are required to keep them home from School until their symptoms have gone. Therefore all children must stay at home if they have:

😷 Fever or

😷 Runny nose or

😷 Coughing or

😷 Persistent Headaches or

😷 Sore throat or

😷 Generalised aches and pains normally associated with flu.

If your child has ANY of these symptoms at school, you will be asked to collect them and seek medical attention if the symptoms persist.

When informing the school of absences, we require you to inform us if the absence is due to illness, by contacting the office (before 10am) on the same day. At the moment when you log onto the parent portal you have the option of ‘absent’ and this is not enough information for us, under COVID-19 protocols. We are trying to change this through the app developer. As well, you still need to record the reason for your child’s absence through the parent portal.

When your child returns to school, we also need you to email the school on the first morning (before 10am) of your child’s return, to confirm that your child is free of flu-like symptoms, or has been cleared by a doctor to return to school.

Thankyou Ms Neville for putting these guidelines together for us, and for providing ongoing clarity. 

We appreciate ongoing assistance from all parents to keep our School and wider community safe.

There is a change of date and venue for Speech Day this year. Assuming this event will be able to go ahead, the details are as follows:

Date:    Wednesday 2 December                   
Venue: Science Theatre, UNSW

Thank you to everyone who is trying to ensure our car lines run smoothly and safely.

Some key reminders:

• Do not choose to park directly in front of the school gates. Move forward to the front of the zone as much as possible to enable as many cars as possible to pull up behind you. Please do this even if you are the only car in the zone upon your arrival.
• Do not jump the queue of traffic. We consider this to be very bad manners!
• Please do not get out of your car as teachers will assist children if this is necessary.
• Despite the fact that we wish to move things quickly, please ensure that your child’s seat belt is securely fastened before pulling away from the curb.
• Do not do U-turns anywhere within the vicinity of the school.
• Please be patient with each other.

Stay safe, stay well.

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and all that may go well with you. 
3 John 1:2

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal

Let's be respectful, safe and be ready for great learning by…

Walking around our school sensibly, responsibly and quietly. Also remember to look both ways when crossing Judge Lane with the supervision of your teachers.

Mrs Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

A Year 1 boy was leaving the Music Room this week, as he crossed the street and shouted back to Mrs Barr, 'MISS YOU ALREADY!'

In line with the recent developments and measures undertaken by the Australian Government, NSW Health and the Department of Education to control the spread of the Coronavirus in our community, all upcoming school events and activities have been cancelled until further notice for Term 2.   

The following events are scheduled for Terms 3 and 4 and will proceed depending on advice from the Australian Government, NSW Health and the Department of Education in accordance with the current COVID 19 situation.

Term 3

Term 4

Year 4  - Collaroy Camp - 29-31 July - Permission via Parent Portal

Year 4 - Please complete the Student Medical & Dietary Information Form by CLICKING HERE

Year 4 Environmental Art

The ‘Polluted Whale’ was an inspiration for Year 4 this week as they looked at the impact of pollution on the environment and the creatures that live in it. They have tried to include their environmental message within their artwork.

Students represented their chosen sea creature in the water with a line showing the effect of the pollution that can occur in some creatures. They have used a combination of watercolour and pencil for their artworks.

Sustainable Forms of Energy

In Year 4 we are exploring sustainable forms of energy. The students designed their own sustainable towns which we connected together to form our Year 4 community. They were super proud of themselves and somewhat devastated when their town was flooded in order to build a dam for a hydro electricity plant.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Movie Permission

To Year 4 parents,

As we wrap up our ‘Magic in Writing’ English unit based on Harry Potter we are going to consolidate our understanding of the text by watching the movie.

On Thursday 25 June, Year 4 will be watching the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone at school.

If you DO NOT wish your child to watch a PG rated movie, can you please email us through the office to let us know.

Kind Regards,
Year 4 Team

Last week, the Claremont College community celebrated Reconciliation Week which is one of the most important and significant events in the school calendar.  Students from all year groups engaged in learning activities aimed at developing their knowledge and appreciation of Australia’s Indigenous people, culture and land.

In Year 5, the week was spent listening to our Year 6 School Leaders talk about what Reconciliation Week means, what it looks like at Claremont and why we commemorate it.  Students watched a video created by our Indigenous Claremont students and which featured the beautiful singing from our school choir.  Year 5 students also designed and created hands using oil pastels which have been put on display in the reception area.  Hands are an iconic symbol of reconciliation and a way for the students to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and events through art. Surrounding the hands are students' reflections on what reconciliation means to them as young Australians.   

Here is what some of our Year 5 students said:

It means that my ancestors were mean to Aboriginal people and that we must stand and pay our respects to the Aboriginal people, say sorry for the past and that we will try to have a brighter future. Micah

Personally, Reconciliation Week means dignity, compassion and fixing what terrible stuff we have done in the past so we can have a community of diversity, dignity, compassion and respect. Tilly  

Drama

It was a fun day in Year 5 today!  Students were given their script for the play The Lorax, which they will be performing in class time.  

If they wish, each student is allowed to use ONE prop on the day.  This prop needs to match their character. For example, if your child is the Old Once-ler, they might like to wear a scarf or a pair of glasses. Or if your child is a Bear, they might like to wear a set of brown ears.

This is optional for the students. 

The Year 5 Teaching Team

It may no longer be Reconciliation Week… but the world is speaking up and taking notice. Why stop speaking out now.

We are so lucky at Claremont to have kids from all cultures all over the world. This week, we thought it would be nice to focus on the Riley family (Rocco and Tex) for sharing a bit about their amazing culture and what Reconciliation means to them as a family and as kids. We are very proud of you sharing what makes you special and why your family is unique. We have a lot to learn from what you have shared with us! CLICK HERE to watch.

Tara Barr
Head of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Committee

Library News

New Titles to the Collection

A Murder Most Unladylike is a best selling and award-winning of series of books. The author Robin Stevens spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries. It has been suggested that she could be the new Agatha Christie for young readers. The stories are set in 1934, at a British boarding school for girls. Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up a secret detective agency to find mysteries to investigate. Each book in the series has a focus on a new mystery that has taken place and the girls have to use all their cunning and intuition to solve each crime.

Recommended for ages 9 -12 years old.

For the Younger Reader

This delightful book is by Carl Johanson, a Swedish artist and illustrator. He has put together a colourful collection of fact and fiction flying machines. It encourages the reader to decide what planes and other forms of air transportation are real and imaginary.

Recommended for ages 4 years plus.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

It is pleasing to note that several students have already completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge. In term one all students received their individual login details via the classroom teachers. If you would like further information about the new rules due to COVID-19 please click on the link below.

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/rules.html

Mrs Susan Kesur
Library Assistant

Daily Physical Activity

One of the challenges in recent months for students (and parents) has been achieving daily physical activity. With community sport shut down, gyms and pools closed and recreational playgrounds off limits it has meant that the normal opportunities for physical activity haven’t been there.

This term in PDHPE,  the primary grades have been learning about the importance of fitness for a healthy lifestyle. Year 2 has also been exploring what it looks like to have a healthy and balanced lifestyle and the importance of achieving 60 minutes a day of physical activity as part of this.

Finding ways to be physically active without the usual access to the facilities and opportunities mentioned above has been a key focus of discussions in class. While there have been Daily Physical Activity tasks posted on SeeSaw every day, students have been encouraged to think of other ways they can enjoy being physically active. One super simple way is walking and it’s a great way that parents can get involved and be active with their children. Why not lace up the joggers this weekend and head out for a walk with the family!

Joel Geering
Sports & PDHPE Coordinator

Coaching

On Wednesday mornings, we have a session of coaching that helps us learn ways to debate. We get to learn how to structure a debating argument and we learn how to rebut against the opposition. We get to write miniature debates in a small team with a time limit and we get to practise them on each other. Our coach, Azzy, is really nice and she helps us improve our arguments and gives us feedback. Azzy gives us our topic on Wednesday morning before school starts at 7:45am and ends at and ends at 8:30am and we have to work at lunch time on Wednesday and Thursday to get our debate done. We have the competition for 5 weeks so that gives everyone a turn as a different speaker. And usually we will have a little activity to do each Wednesday morning. We like debating because it is good to grow your skills and teamwork. It is also good to find new friends from different years from both Year 5 and 6.

Competition

Each Friday afternoon we have the competition for debating.

This year it’s very different to usual debating because your opposition is online and your adjudicator is online. Last week Claremont B versed Claremont C with the topic “classes should be single gender”. Claremont A had a bye, so got to write their debate but then had a session where the adjudicator online gave us feedback. We read her our speeches and she told us how to improve them. She also taught us more about rebuttals and we got to write them on the spot, as if she was the opposition. We took notes and learnt a lot. We can’t wait for this week's competition. Overall, debating is really fun. We learn heaps and have fun while we’re doing it. We enjoy the coaching and the competition.

Eliza and Tyson (Year 6)

This week in Chapel we focused on one of Mrs Irwin’s favourite stories in the bible, ‘The Parable of the Two Builders.’ She shared how she really likes this parable as it reminds us to put our trust and faith is Jesus who is a firm foundation.

We love seeing the students getting involved in the Chapel videos each week.

You can watch this week's chapel by CLICKING HERE. 

Tiffany Knoll
Chapel Coordinator

Welcomeasy are delivering recess and lunch orders to school.

Orders must be placed by 10:59pm the night before for delivery on the next school day.

If you are ordering a snack item, please specify in the notes area whether the snack is for Recess or Lunch.

Please note that orders are to be placed on the ‘Welcomeasy’ website and NOT Flexischools.

You must firstly create an account by following some simple steps. Go to www.welcomeasy.com.au  

The Uniform Shop is closed however, if you need to purchase any items, please place your order online via Flexischools. If you need to purchase any second hand items, please email clothingpool@claremont.nsw.edu.au to arrange an appointment to visit the shop.

On the assumption that the Uniform Shop will be open in Term 3, please note the following dates

22 July
5 August
19 August
2 September
16 September

All new uniform items can be purchased from ‘Wileys’ at

3/17 Green St, Banksmeadow (02) 9344 5796.

Please note that all communication should be through the email address: clothingpool@claremont.nsw.edu.au

School Holiday Bookings now open

School holidays are just around the corner. Our partner, TeamKids have a wonderful mix of incursions and in-house days planned that promise to keep the kids happy, engaged and having FUN. 

Download the Winter Timetable HERE.