Given the 'cold snap' this week, it was timely to hold a 'Warm Winter Woolies' Mufti Day to raise awareness and money for the homeless people in Sydney. Thank you to our Year 6 House Captain leaders for the organisation leading up to today, and thank you to the school community for your wonderful generosity. We were able to raise $621 for the Warm4Winter campaign, run by a charity group called ‘Kids Giving Back’. Today's Chapel talk also focused on helping others who are in need, and it served as a perfect opportunity to teach and encourage our students to demonstrate empathy and compassion for others. 

Positive Behaviour

Over the course of this week and next, Mrs James (Acting Deputy Principal) and Miss McKersie (School Counsellor) have been working with the teachers in all grades (K-6) delivering 'Expectations of Behaviour' lessons. These lessons covered positive/expected behaviours such as displaying manners, showing respect, engaging in learning, encouraging others and helping others in need. The lessons also addressed unacceptable behaviours such as lying to a teacher, excluding and hurting others. The lessons also focussed on the qualities of a good friend.

This week the children also watched Brainstorm Productions perform a play about friendships, kindness, manners and anti-bullying messages. This engaging show always proves to be a worthwhile event. We ask that you have a conversation with your child/ren about what they have learnt, and to please reinforce these important messages with them. Thank you for your support.

Drop Off and Pick Up

A couple of years ago, we made a change from the arrival time of 8:30am to 8:15am, to allow parents a longer window of time to bring their children to school. Parent feedback was very positive, as this helped alleviate some pressure for parents who drop their children to school before heading to work/appointments. Recently, however, staff have noticed that there are many children who are arriving at school earlier than the 8:15am arrival time. Please be mindful that staff are unable to supervise your child before 8:15am. Teachers are expected to meet with their teaching teams before students arrive to school, and therefore will be busy in meetings. If you need to drop your child off before 8:15am, please make arrangements with TeamKids, our before school care program.

We have also noticed that some parents have been collecting their children on foot at the Judge St gate. As the Judge St gate is a more commonly used gate, we ask that this gate be used for car pick up only. If you would like to collect your child on foot, please arrange to have your child be collected from Coogee Bay Rd gate only. For safety reasons, please ensure you move on once you have collected your child. Staying around the front of the school increases the safety risk for our students. Thank you for your understanding. 

Compassion - Empathy with Action

This is Christian.
Christian is compassionate.
When Christian found out that his friend George hurt his head, he was moved to tears, hugged George and said,
"I just couldn't bear it if I lost you!"
Christian is caring.
Be like Christian. 

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 
— 1 Peter 3:8

Be blessed. We hope you have a wonderful long weekend with your children. Our love and prayers are with you. 

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

Follow us

Website: www.claremont.nsw.edu.au
Instagram: @claremontcollege
Twitter: @claremont2031

This week we have needed to send a number of children home with cold/flu symptoms. We understand that keeping children home is an added pressure for parents, however we do not want more of our students and staff becoming unwell, especially with the winter months ahead. We would like to remind everyone again, if a student displays a fever, cold or flu symptoms, the school policy remains in place to request a COVID-19 test. Teachers, students and parents who have COVID-19 symptoms should not return until a negative test has been received by the school. Please be advised that cold or flu symptoms include a runny nose, sore throat, or cough, and students will continue to be sent home from school if they are displaying any of these symptoms. We fully appreciate the imposition placed on busy families, however in the interests of keeping staff, students and our wider community safe, these measures have become necessary. 

Mrs Alanna James
Acting Deputy Principal

All Semester 1 reports will be available online today.

The aim of our School Report is to communicate with you, your child's individual progress in all aspects of school life, thus promoting discussion and cooperation between home and school.

The report has not been designed to compare child against child, but to reflect individual application and achievement based upon continuous monitoring of schoolwork, assessments and other set tasks for this specific semester.

To assist in your understanding of this report, please refer to the Key on the second page. In Kindergarten, children are assessed using a three-grade scale while in Years 1 to 6, we apply the NESA 5 grade scale, which indicates each child’s level of understanding of the content taught and the application they have displayed.

Through our assessment of effort, achievement, dispositional development and school involvement, and through the written comments made by teachers, we trust that you feel well informed of your child's progress.

Please discuss this report with your child and encourage him or her with the progress that has been made. It has been our pleasure to witness your child's social, emotional and academic growth this semester, and we thank you for this opportunity.

To help you to understand your child’s School Report, I would like to refer you to two previous newsletter articles: 

Reading Your Child’s Report, Part 1 of 2,

Reading Your Child’s Report, Part 2 of 2 

Mrs Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

When: Tuesday 15 June 2021
Time: 1:00pm-8:00pm
Where: Claremont College School Hall or via Zoom

Meetings booked between 1:00pm - 4:00pm are face to face meetings only in the School Hall.

Meetings from 4:30pm - 8:00pm are Zoom meetings only.

If you have booked a Zoom meeting with your child’s teacher, the links were emailed to parents on Thursday afternoon, so please check your inbox for details.

Please note: Children do not attend these interviews.

As you may be aware, in the past our school has used a company called MMG Education to survey our Kindergarten, Year 3 and Year 6 parents to gain feedback and insight into various key areas of our school. This year, we will be using a different service for our surveys. This service is Perspectives: Your School in Focus, which is developed by AISNSW to support school improvement endeavours. The information gathered will assist in furthering the growth and development of our school community. We will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

These surveys have been specifically designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions of five important areas: School Environment, Teaching and Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership and Community. All staff, students, parents/guardians, leaders and board members will be invited to participate.

The surveys will be available early Term 3 and are conducted online, taking approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. We will be asking all parents to complete the survey.

Your input and contribution are important to the success of our school’s progress, as we aspire to focus on the learning experience for everyone at our school.

You will receive more information regarding our surveys in the coming weeks.

Mrs Janelle Ford & Mrs Alanna James
Co-Principal & Acting Deputy Principal

Our Expansion Project - What’s happening in Term 3

Dr Marc Williams, the Chair of the Claremont College School has written a letter to all parents regarding the next steps for Term 3. If you did not receive the email, you can click HERE to view the letter which has been uploaded to the school website.

Parent Consultation – A second opportunity

Thank you to the many parents who continue to express their interest in our expansion explorations. As this project has evolved, it has been such a pleasure for me to work with so many who have given up their time to attend ‘Think Tank’ and other meetings. You have generously shared your expertise and connected me with industry specialists. You have guided, supported, encouraged and helped me to make some good progress. I am very grateful. 

Due to the success of the parent meeting on 2 June and to provide a further opportunity to the parents who could not attend, I will hold another meeting on Wednesday 16 June, 4:30pm-5:30pm (I shall also hold further consultation meetings in Term 3). The workshop will be a repeat of what was covered in the previous meeting, and will be interactive and engaging - as I seek your thoughts and perspectives on your hopes and thoughts about how Claremont might look in the future. A valuable way that you can assist the project is by contributing to the conversation around ‘education for the future’. It is important for us to understand what is a high priority to our parent community, particularly relating to what a Claremont secondary education might prioritise and deliver. You can RSVP your attendance HERE. 

My prayers are with every Claremont family for a safe and relaxing long weekend. I do hope you get the chance to catch up with family and friends over the next three days.

Mr Doug Thomas
Principal

Let's be a community that supports equity. Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and therefore each individual requires different support, opportunities and resources to reach an equal outcome. You would never say to a child, 'Take your glasses off' if they required them. Children’s needs are to be taken into consideration. We cannot have the same expectations, opportunities or consequences. We must be understanding that everyone is on a learning journey, and each learning journey looks different. When you think about it, it’s actually unfair to be treated exactly the same. At Claremont College, we aim to support everyone the way they need to succeed. 

Larissa Cameron
Co-Principal

Congratulations to the following students who received their Gold Certificates on Monday.

Gold Certificates

Georgia B, Harry B, Maelyn G, Victoria G, Bella M, Micah C, Xavier P, Magnus R, Benjamin F, Sofia J, Juliette F, Isabella Z, Simona P, Alexander P, Maleia G, Audrey F, Taka M, Amelia T, Lauren C.

Whilst we give priority for enrolments to siblings, placement can not be guaranteed. If you have a pre-schooler 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.

In the near future we will be farewelling one of our amazing bus drivers and with that this opens up an opportunity for someone else to join our team at Claremont College. This is a position that would be great for someone who loves kids, is a great team player, is interested in part time work Monday to Friday and has a minimum of a light rigid NSW licence. 

If you are interested in transporting our children to and from school, or if you know of anyone in the community that this position may be of interest to, please call the office and speak with Gaye Crafts for further details - Ph 9399 3217.

If your child uses the school bus, or you would like to register to use the school bus for Term 3, please complete the registration form by CLICKING HERE. Please note that the buses are only able to carry 24 passengers each, and also service certain areas.

If you have any questions in relation to the school bus service, please email [email protected]

With the end of Term 2 approaching, there are a large number of items most of which are not labelled (uniform items, clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles) in our Lost Property. It is an on-going issue and we would like to suggest some ideas which may assist your child/ren to care for their belongings.

• Ask your child to check lost property which is located outside the Hall;
• Remind your child to check the lost property basket in their learning space;
• Ask your child to keep their hats and clothing items in their school bag or their locker, unless they are wearing them;
• Speak with your child/ren about the cost of items like formal caps, and blazers;
• Remind your child that by caring for their belongings they are being responsible and respectful and showing their independence;
• Ensure everything is clearly labelled with your child’s name. If you have second hand items, please change the name on the item to your child’s name;
• Contact your Grade Parent Rep. They may be able to assist with an email asking parents to check items in their home, and return any that do not belong to their child/ren; and
• Please remember that your child is learning valuable life skills when they work towards caring for their own belongings.

At the beginning of Term 3 all unclaimed items will be taken to a charity bin and unclaimed items of school uniform will be used as spares in sick bay.

2022 Draft Term Dates

Term 2 2021

Term 3 2021

Term 4 2021

ONLINE ORDER CODE: 537 6V3 2EM

Online Order link: https://www.advancedimage.com.... 

School photographs are scheduled to be taken by Advancedlife on Monday 19 July and Tuesday 20 July. Whilst an envelope and flyer will be distributed shortly, it is our preference for ordering to be completed online. This is to reduce administration and potential security issues related to the return of cash and envelopes on photo day.

Orders for packages and sibling photographs can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our school’s unique 9 digit advanced order code (537 6V3 2EM) or by clicking the link above. Portrait and group package orders are due by photography day.

Should you wish to purchase a sibling photograph online, the order must be placed no later than the day before photography day (ie Sunday 18 July). Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please contact us at www.advancedlife.com.au/contac... 

Important Information:

• School photos purchased online DO NOT require envelopes to be returned to school*
• Don’t forget to order your sibling photos now
• Late fees/additional charges will be applied for purchases after photo day
• Photos will be returned to your school for distribution approximately six weeks after photos are taken
• Past years’ photographs including sports, co-curricular and representative groups are available at school’s advancedlife & your advancedyou photo sites (follow the link above)

*Sibling photographs must be ordered either online or by an order envelope prior to the day of photography.  A photograph will not be taken without an order. Sibling photographs only apply to children enrolled at the school. 

advancedlife would like to express their appreciation to Claremont College. They offer a 100% money back guarantee on our products to ensure your peace of mind. If you have any questions, comments or feedback relating to your advancedlife experience please contact them at [email protected]

Over the two days of school photos, we request that students wear the correct uniform as follows:

• Full winter uniform is to be worn, including the school blazer;
• The vest or jumper is optional extra item;
• Please make sure that the correct tie is worn, plain green tie for girls uniform and the tartan tie for boys;
• Hair neat and tidy, with hair length below the collar needing to be tied back;
• Please make sure that your child’s school shoes are polished;
• School shirts must be tucked in;
• Socks are to be worn ‘pulled up’;
• Girls wear either green tights with the tunic dress, or long green socks with their shorts and shirts;
• Girls should wear the correct hair accessory, either the new style or plain green; and
• Year 6 Jerseys are not to be worn in formal grade photos.

Students in Years 3 & 4 (Monday) and Kindergarten & Year 2 (Tuesday) - no PE uniform on these days, please wear full school uniform. PE classes will still go ahead. 

If your child is registered for before school tennis lessons on a Monday morning, the lesson will still proceed, and it will be up to parents’ discretion whether you wish your child to attend that morning.

Year 4 Forces Excursion to Carss Park

Writing is a part of the interconnected English Syllabus. In English, students learn to read, write, speak, view and represent language. They learn about the English language and literature through working with a wide range of spoken, visual, multimedia and digital texts. Students learn how language varies according to context, and how to communicate with a range of audiences for different purposes. They learn to read for information and pleasure. Students gain a sound grasp of language structures, punctuation, spelling and grammar. They also learn to think in ways that are imaginative, creative and critical. 
(Ref., Parent Guide to the NSW Primary Syllabuses).

Within the Stage Statements in the English Syllabus the aim for Writing is explained in the following ways:

In Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten), students engage in writing with an increasing awareness of the nature, purpose and conventions of written language. They create simple texts and recreate familiar imaginative texts by drawing on personal experience and through performance, drawing and images. Students retell events and experiences for known audiences that demonstrate an awareness of the text structure, basic grammar and punctuation needed. Students begin to apply simple editing techniques to their written work. They know and use letters and sounds of the alphabet to attempt to spell known words.

In Stage 1 (Year 1 & Year 2), students create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts on familiar topics for known readers by planning, proofreading and editing their own writing. They write using basic grammatical features and conventions of punctuation, showing an awareness of different purposes, audiences and subject matter. Students use knowledge of letter–sound correspondence, sight words and regular spelling patterns to accurately spell known words and an increasing number of irregularly spelt words.

In Stage 2 (Year 3 & Year 4), students create well-structured imaginative, informative and persuasive texts in terms of topic, purpose, audience and language by drafting, proofreading and editing for familiar and unfamiliar audiences. They use simple and complex sentences, paragraphing, punctuation and grammatical features characteristic of the various texts to support meaning. Students spell familiar and unfamiliar words using knowledge of letter–sound correspondence, regular and irregular spelling patterns, spelling rules and a range of other strategies.

In Stage 3 (Year 5 & Year 6), students create well-structured and well-presented written and multimodal imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for a wide range of purposes and audiences. They deal with complex topics, issues and language features. Students select information and ideas from personal, literary and researched resources, and adapt imaginative ideas and situations from literature. They make considered choices in written texts from an expanding vocabulary and from growing knowledge of grammatical patterns, complex sentence structures, cohesive links and literary devices. Students write well-structured sentences and paragraphs on particular aspects of the topic, clarifying and explaining how choices of language and literary features were designed to influence the meaning communicated in their texts. They spell most common words accurately and use a variety of strategies to spell less common words. 

The following items from Around The School, will give you some insights into how students have been learning to write in Semester 1. 

Janelle Ford
Co-Principal

Writing in Kindergarten

Kindergarten is an exciting year of learning where students learn to write and we feel privileged to teach and support your child at this stage in their literacy development. Writing is an important skill for students to develop to support their growth both within and beyond their school life.

In Kindergarten, students are engaged in explicit instruction in important aspects of writing, including:

• Grammar and Punctuation lessons, which focus on using grammar and punctuation conventions to enhance our writing,
• Writing lessons, which focus on composing short imaginative or informative texts, often linking to the texts explored in Shared Reading or the content focus in Science or History,
• Handwriting lessons, which focus on correct letter formation, pencil group and posture.

Grammar and Punctuation

In Grammar and Punctuation this semester, Kindergarten have learnt:

• The difference between letters, words and sentences.
• That a sentence needs to include a subject and an action.
• The difference between a fragment and a sentence.
• How to use capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
• The different types of sentences - questions and statements.
• The different types of sentence punctuation - question marks and exclamation marks.
• About nouns, verbs and adjectives.
• How to use interesting verbs, adjectives and noun groups to enhance their writing. 

Writing

Earlier this term, Kindergarten applied this knowledge to write simple informative sentences about what different animals look like, what they eat and where they live. In recent weeks, Kindergarten students have begun to develop their understanding of recounts, to write interesting sentences about their weekend.

Writing lessons are structured based on the Gradual Release of Responsibility model. This typically takes place across multiple lessons, and includes:

• Activating prior learning and building field knowledge - this may include a shared reading of a text, a Science or History lesson to build content knowledge, or dialogue groups to talk about what we did on the weekend;
• Modelling and Deconstructing - this includes deconstructing the task or a modelled text and thinking aloud to model language;
• Joint Construction - this includes scaffolding student ideas to construct an example text; 
• Supported Practise - this is an opportunity for students to practise their writing, with feedback provided about how they are going in relation to the success criteria along the way;
• Individual Practise - this is an opportunity for students to independently apply their learning; and 
• Sharing and reflecting - this includes teachers providing explicit feedback and students reflecting on their own learning.

We are so proud of the progress Kindergarten have made in their writing semester, and we can’t wait to see what they write next term.

Miss Abby Carter, Mr Julian Ko, Miss Jessica King, Mrs Sally Durek and Mrs Jesse Hitchen
Kindergarten Teaching Team

KINDY NEWS - TERM 2 WEEK 8

Writing in Year 1

“A mouse took a stroll through the deep, dark, wood…” This famous opening from Julia Donaldson’s, The Gruffalo provided inspiration for our Year 1 authors as they explored writing narratives.

This term in writing, Year 1 has been looking at different animal stories to help develop knowledge and skills when focusing on narrative writing. We have read stories about a Lazy Duck, Grumpy Bear, Brave Mouse and a Cheeky Monkey to help us understand how a narrative is structured. We used our ‘Learning Pit’ to help analyse the structure of the story and identify the orientation, complication and resolution. We took some of these stories, jumbled them up and then completed a sequencing activity to see if we could put them back together in the right order.

When it came to writing our own story, we looked at the writing process, and over a series of lessons we wrote our masterpieces. First, we used the following story prompt to come up with our ideas: “Imagine you are taking a stroll through the deep, dark, wood. What happens? What scary creature do you meet?”. The ideas were amazing! There were evil witches, ugly goblins, scary wolves and even a human sized french fry that had tomato sauce fighting powers!

After we verbalised our ideas, we planned out our stories on our learning pit scaffold making sure we had information about characters and setting, a problem (the bottom of the pit), and ensuring that the problem got solved! We then learnt how to write a Sizzling Start. We explored four different ways to start a story to ‘hook’ the reader (with a sound, question, dialogue or description of a setting). Have a look at some clever examples below that will no doubt want you to keep reading more! 

“The deep, dark wood is very dark. I know that it is very dangerous for Starfire. She is almost certain to die.” - Lara R 

“Have you ever heard the story about a human french fry? Well, Fred the french fry lives on the edge of the deep, dark, wood.”
- Tom H 

“Joshua swung happily through the trees of the deep, dark wood. Suddenly, red eyes poked through the bushes…” - Joshua P-J 

“Mummy! I can hear a wolf howling.” Mummy didn’t answer because she had been taken by the wolf!”
- Tex R  

A highlight in our term was hearing from a real author, Susanne Gervay (who also happens to be Lara R’s grandma!). We were enthralled to hear her tips for writing and her story about how she became an author. Susan spoke about stories having a meaning, or teaching us something, which linked beautifully to our program when we began looking at Dreamtime Stories. The students enjoyed analysing How the Birds Got Their Colours and Tiddalick the Frog to further understand the narrative writing process. 

Get a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy a small selection of some of our work below. 

“Roooooooarrrrr”. I heard a roar so I ran to my friend’s house through the deep, dark woods. I got to my friend’s house but a monster broke in so we ran to the back door. “Oh no, it’s closed” I said to my friend. We ran out the front door but as soon as we did Momo jumped out of a bush! We ran but it was a dead end. I forgot I had a grapple hook. So I pressed the button and it helped me get up out of the dead end. Momo didn’t realise there was a hole at the dead end. “Yaaaaaaaahhhhh” he shouted as he fell in. He was stuck there forever. - Cole G 

“I was walking in the deep, dark, woods. Eyes peered out of the bushes. I was super scared. My friend William said it was the animals “Don’t be scared” he said. “What animals are there?” I asked. Before we said anything, the animals tried to eat us. We ran away but the animals didn’t see us. We were safe.” - Scarlett Y 

“Grrrrrr…..I’m hungry!”. I heard something scary. “What shall we do? What is it?” I said to my brother Sam.  We were visiting my friend’s house. Suddenly, a monster appeared from the sky. It was a Goga! He had disgusting wings and ginormous teeth. The Goga’s tummy rumbled. “Sam!” I said. We ran with pouring sweat, but suddenly the Goga started to fly and tried to get us. He got Sam! I peeked behind the bushes. The Goga was eating Sam alive! “I’m full” said the Goga. He went to his house. I watched him. “Ewww! Yuck!” I whispered to myself. “The Goga did a fart”. Then I watched him for two hours. Finally, he did a poo. He pooed out Sam alive! He ran out of the Goga’s house. We ran home safely.”
- Yasmin E-R 

“Have you ever met a wolf? One delightful day. Me, Ella and Rosie were playing in the garden. Then suddenly, we found ourselves lost in the deep, dark woods. Then we heard a noise. “Ha, ha, ha!”. Then we saw it. It was a wolf and it chased Ella around!! Luckily, the wolf tripped over and Ella was freed. We were so happy.” - Florence N

Mrs Vula, Mrs Stewart, Mr Smith, Mrs Breakspear, Mrs Giles & Mrs Nunn
Year 1 Teaching Team

Writing in Year 2 - Watch How They Grow!

In Year 2 this term, we have been focusing on informative texts and explanations. Informative texts are a type of nonfiction that allows us to explore the natural or social world. Reading and writing these types of texts helps students to boost their vocabulary, address questions and interests and spark curiosity in our student’s young minds. This type of writing lends itself to integration within other units, and this term we have been able to integrate our writing with our Science unit on living things. Students have been learning to write 2 different types of informative texts: Information reports and Explanations. 

Information reports are generally written to provide the reader with facts about a living or non-living thing. This term we have been focusing on writing information reports about Australian animals. The students have learned how to collect information, plan for their writing, transfer notes into full sentences and then write up their information report in a cohesive and clear way. We have learned amazing facts about these animals along the way! Did you know that when an Echidna is born, the baby puggle is smaller than a jellybean? Did you know that an Emu is the second tallest bird in the world? We have had a great experience exploring these animals and amazing our friends and families with all the new information we have learned!

An explanation text is a piece of writing that explains something. Over the last couple of weeks the students have been exploring the process of how bees make honey. It is much more complex than we had thought and may even turn your stomach! Again, students gathered the information, wrote down notes, transferred the notes into full sentences and then finally wrote out an explanation using time connectives to link their writing. Using time connectives in our writing has been a particular focus this term, and is a great way for students to make their writing more interesting

We look forward to seeing how our Year 2 writers progress over the last few weeks of term. They have come so far this term in their understanding of these text types and have many ideas around what they would like to write about next. Keep up the good work Year 2!

Miss Tan, Mrs Monaghan, Mrs Nicolaides & Mrs Durek
Year 2 Teaching Team

ICAS Parent Letter

Writing in Year 3

What makes a piece of writing good? This is the question that Year 3 has been investigating this semester.

We know that good writers are good readers, and have subsequently enjoyed engaging with quality literature to uncover techniques we could incorporate into our own writing. We know that good writers are planners, and have therefore started mapping out our stories and arguments prior to writing, so we know where our text is going. We know that good writers are thorough editors, and have thus learned to scour our work using an editing checklist.

But most of all, we have discovered that good writers are able to incorporate both technical skill (accurate use of punctuation, spelling and paragraphing) with wild creativity (effective use of language features, humour, a compelling story structure). 

This semester, we have been exploring two specific text types; persuasive writing and narrative writing.

Narrative Writing

Did you know that every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end? In Year 3, we have been using the ‘Story Pit’ diagram to identify the orientation, complication and resolution of various narratives. We used picture books with clear narrative arcs to demonstrate how to sort a story into these sections. Once we were confident on what organisational features contribute to a good story, we started planning our own narratives. Each Thursday, Year 3 completed a ‘Fast Write’ activity whereby students were given a visual prompt (ie. a key, an open door, a picture of the sea...) and created a Story Pit plan for a narrative featuring the prompt. Some story starters were also provided to students who required some support when coming up with their story plan.

Once their Story Pit plans were finalised, students began the exciting task of writing their narratives. Every teacher knows that students learn best when content is placed in context. It’s hard to gain student interest in a topic such as adjectival phrases when it is taught in isolation! The discussion of what makes effective writing provided a perfect opportunity to discuss grammatical features at a time when students were highly motivated to incorporate them into their work. In our lessons, students are able to identify, include and tweak noun groups, prepositional phrases, adverbs and adjectives in their own writing.

Students generally love to write down their stories once they know where the story is going. The thought of editing one’s own work on paper is less attractive. To maintain interest, and consolidate students’ improving touch typing skills (as promoted by our Typing Club lessons), Year 3 were given the opportunity to publish their written work in Google Docs. At the beginning of each lesson, we explain a punctuation feature that may be immediately relevant to our authors. Students from all levels of ability were keen to know answers to questions such as, ‘Where do we use a comma after speech marks?’, ‘How do I write dialogue? Do I need a different line for each person speaking?’ and ‘How many adjectives in a phrase are too many adjectives?’.

Persuasive Writing

Everyone knows what a story is. Children are read, told and exposed to examples of narratives from a very young age. Persuasive writing, in contrast, is a seemingly more obscure text type to teach. In Term 1, students discovered that, much to their surprise, they are surrounded by examples of persuasive writing! You see, advertising is a form of persuasive text!

Last term in our writing lessons, Year 3 explored the mechanisms behind advertising. To match the Australian theme we are exploring in History and Visual Arts, students were shown examples of famous Australian advertisements from companies such as VitaWeet, Natural Confectionery Company and Banana Boat. As a class, we identified the purpose, intended audience and arguments presented in each advertisement. We also investigated some persuasive techniques used in these advertisements. Students were delighted to discover techniques such as rhetorical questions, use of statistics, appeal to emotion and repetition used in everyday advertising. 

Armed with a solid understanding of how ‘professional persuaders’ write, Year 3 began their own persuasive pieces of writing. We planned, wrote and edited over 6 persuasive pieces of writing; attempting to convince our audience on such topics as: the merits of living in the bush, the necessity of a three day weekend, and the importance of environmental practices. 

Students were particularly intrigued by our use of marking guidelines. Teachers marked students’ first attempt at persuasive writing against the NAPLAN marking guidelines in yellow highlighter, and their final attempt in pink highlighter. Year 3 were thus able to clearly identify what aspects of their writing had seen growth, and reflect on how they may further improve.

Closing Comments

Writing in Year 3 is as it is in life; an integrated and complex affair. When we write, we are not only attending to the content of what we are ‘saying’. When we write, we are actually simultaneously attending to a whole host of factors; sentence structure, spelling, persuasive devices, syntax, language choices, letter formation, arguments, paragraph structure and much more! 

Learning to write, and write well, is no simple feat. We are proud of the students’ understanding of the ingredients that make up the skill of writing. We look forward to continuing to read our students' insightful and often hilarious musings into next semester. 

“I enjoyed Narrative writing. Once you think about the visual prompt, you realise there are so many things you can write about. My mind goes crazy when I think about all the possible stories. Basically, you have to think of the best one and then focus on that.” - Baxter H 

“When we were doing narrative writing, I enjoyed using Google Docs. My hands hurt less when I type than when I use a pencil. Another thing is when you are using a pencil, you have to rub it out, but on Google Docs it is much neater to make corrections.” - Chloe M 

“In persuasive writing there are lots of persuasive techniques that you can use and lots of them are quite fun to play with. I used statistical evidence, rhetorical questions and repetition in my persuasive writing.” - Mateo H 

“I love to make up stories when we are doing narrative writing. When I am planning my story, I first think of the Orientation, then the Complication and then the Resolution. The story I am proudest of is the story I wrote about an island.” - Emily M

Mrs Marquet, Mr Oen, Mrs Parker and Miss Kelly
Year 3 Teaching Team

ICAS Parent Letter

Writing in Year 4

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
– Toni Morrison 

Writing is undeniably one of the most important skills every student should learn. In Year 4, we encourage students to foster a love of writing and a love of reading. Writing offers students the opportunity to be creative and communicate in a variety of ways. Writing is the foundation of expression we give to students, to be built upon throughout their schooling life. Students learn many important skills through writing lessons and workshops, such as: organisation of ideas, developing ideas, vocabulary, spelling, grammar and critical thinking.

This semester, we have focussed on two text types, persuasive texts and historical factual recounts. Through our History unit, the students explored the experiences of early settlers and the impact on Aboriginal people through colonisation. They were provided with opportunities to use information and communication technologies to demonstrate their understanding and create their own informative texts. This term, our English unit is linked to our Science unit on Sustainability. The students have been able to research and explore meaning and understanding of sustainability and sustainable ways of living through quality literature. They created their own persuasive texts on topics such as climate change, recycling and solar energy. The OREO acronym (Opinion. Reason, Explain, Opinion) is a great visual way of helping the students learn and remember to structure their persuasive writing correctly. This acronym frames and explains every point of a persuasive paragraph, with space for children to apply it to their own work and creativity.

Mrs Herborn, Miss Mackay, Mrs Vula, Miss Campbell and Miss Kelly
Year 4 Teaching Team

ICAS Parent Letter

Year 4 Term 3 Excursion to Carss Bush Park 

Writing in Year 5

In Stage 3 writing is multifaceted and involves students engaging personally with texts, developing and applying contextual knowledge, understanding and applying knowledge of language forms and features and responding to and composing texts.

Our English unit ‘Neighbours’ has allowed us to learn about, explore and recognise the diversity within and between the countries of the Asia region. Students have developed their knowledge and understanding of Asian societies, cultures, beliefs and environments, and the connections between the peoples of Asia, Australia and the rest of the world through a range of fiction texts across a variety of learning experiences.  Students have been encouraged to respond to texts in a variety of written forms; mind-maps, the creation of graphic novels and illustrations are just a few examples of these. 

This term we have also focussed on writing texts that use persuasion. The students have relished the opportunity to convince others of their opinions on a range of topics, including a heart warming ‘My Mum is the best Mum’ for Mother’s Day. Students have been encouraged to explore language techniques, such as the use of alliteration or rhetorical questions and emotive vocabulary to convince the reader within written pieces that reflect their knowledge of correct structure and paragraphing techniques.

Year 5 are currently learning to consider two sides of an argument when writing discussions.  Rich discussions have taken place on topics such as ‘Life is harder today than when my parents were kids’, ‘Television is a waste of time’, ‘Does money bring you happiness?’ and ‘Should Parents be punished for their child’s crime?’.

Inspired by the ideals of Lisa See (below) the Year 5 teaching team motivates students to read widely, from a range of genres to enhance their vocabulary and range of ideas for writing, and gives them opportunities for students to experience a variety of texts in order to expand their reading and writing horizons. 

“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” - Lisa See (author)

Ms Shiels, Mrs Ireland, Mrs Speranza and Mrs Breakspear
Year 5 Teaching Team

ICAS Parent Letter

Writing in Year 6

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” ~ Stephen King

This quote has rung true in Year 6 this term as we have begun investigating and writing factual texts. Our overarching theme for English has been ‘Sacrifice and Service’, and we have been focusing on World War 1, and particularly how that links to ANZAC Day. To help students develop their understanding of this time period and assist them in brainstorming and developing ideas for their writing, we have been reading and viewing a lot of texts written from different perspectives about the events surrounding the First World War.

Earlier in the term, students were tasked with writing a factual recount about ‘The Gallipoli Campaign’. Through this task they had the opportunity to practice their research and summarising skills, which in turn linked to our comprehension focus of skimming and scanning for information. Students were reminded of the importance of taking notes in their own words, rather than copying information to ensure they weren't plagiarising. They also investigated the importance of using reliable sources and cross checking facts and statistics on multiple websites to ensure accuracy. 

Once students finished researching, they were ready to begin writing. During this time, students checked in with a teacher to receive one on one feedback about their draft. They were then given the opportunity to apply this feedback and make changes and improvements before receiving additional feedback in the following lessons. The focus on this was on proofreading their work for grammar and punctuation, editing and setting goals for what they wanted to improve in their writing. 

To further support the students, we also investigated a number of picture books, novels and propaganda posters to help them develop a deeper understanding of Australian’s perspectives about the war at the time. Something that we have found beneficial for students is to discuss and view WAGOLL’s (What A Good One Looks Like) that students have written in previous years. This gave students an opportunity to co-create a success criteria for their writing and identify what elements will make their writing better.

Over the last few weeks, students have begun investigating animals and their involvement in WW1. This topic is something students have been exposed to throughout the term in their Guided Reading Groups, as animals are a prominent theme in all of the novels. After choosing an animal to focus on, students have started writing a historical narrative from the perspective of that animal and it’s experiences in the war. This task is a culmination of what we have been working on all semester, as students need to use factual information, and combine this with figurative language to hook the reader in and create imagery of what the environment may have been like.

As the Year 6 students approach their transition to high school, it is essential to equip them with the necessary skills to continue as a developing writer. The skills of researching, summarising and evaluating have been at the forefront of our teaching this semester, all of which are essential building blocks for not only high school, but important skills for life.

Here are some thoughtful reflections from the students about writing this term:

"I didn’t know many animals served in WW1, so I really enjoyed researching this and finding out about them and then writing a story about Jackie the Baboon." - Evie M-Z 

"I enjoyed finding all the information and putting it together to create a factual recount of The Battle of Gallipoli." - Caitlyn L 

"I enjoyed writing the factual recount about the Battle of Gallipoli, because we could choose the events we wrote about. I chose to write about the landing at Gallipoli, the Battle of Lone Pine, the evacuation and the first ANZAC Day." - Seamus MC 

"My favourite piece of writing this term was the factual recount about The Battle of Gallipoli. I really enjoyed researching and learnt a lot of interesting things. It was also really exciting to write about." Thomas L

Year 6 Photography Exhibition

Throughout this term, Year 6 students have been working on experimenting with a number of different photography techniques and categories. They have produced some amazing photographs which they have collated into their individual portfolios. These have formed their Visual Art Photography Assignment. 

To showcase some of their amazing work, we will be hosting a Photography Exhibition on Thursday 17 June, in Week 9 of Term 2. We would love to welcome Year 6 parents and friends to view the exhibition. It will start at 2:15pm and conclude at 3:00pm.

Year 6 are very excited to showcase their hard work and we look forward to seeing you there!

Mr Ryan, Miss Valdeck, Mrs Nunn and Miss Kelly
Year 6 Teaching Team

ICAS Parent Letter 

This week in Chapel we have been learning about compassion. God showed compassion to humans, and now in response, humanity show compassion to others.

Infants Chapel - In our face-to-face Chapel, infants explored the reasons why we are wearing winter woollies today. Our infant students were also made aware of the fact that not everyone in Sydney has safe and warm homes to go to. Students watched a skit by Mrs Hitchen and Mrs Marquet where the idea of charity and compassion were explored.

Primary Chapel - In our videoed message, primary students learnt about an art initiative in the USA that features a statue of a homeless Jesus figure. The artist was prompted by Matthew 25:40, a passage where Jesus speaks about charity, saying ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Primary students were invited to act out compassion in real life by getting involved in the Kids Giving Back organisation. The program, designed for children aged 8 -12, runs charitable activities for families to partake in on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Programs include Cook For Good, Wild Walks, Helping Hands for the Homeless, and much more! For more information, please visit https://kidsgivingback.org/ or watch this informative video. 

Mrs Adelaide Marquet
Chapel Coordinator

New Fiction Titles To The Collection

The following new books aim to encourage children to appreciate our world and promote environmental awareness.

This book takes the reader on a  journey around our amazing world. The book is organised into chapters for each continent accompanied with plenty of great facts. The beautiful illustrations celebrate land, sea, flora and fauna and people around the globe. Tania McCartney is an Australian author, illustrator and editor. She has worked on over 40 picture books, and has received various awards.Tania hopes that reading this book will spark curiosity and adventure but hopefully encourage environmental awareness.

Recommended for children 6 years and older.

In collaboration with BBC Earth, this illustrated non-fiction book captures the wonder and beauty of the BBC Blue Planet II television series.

The reader can discover between the pages, all there is to love about our Blue Planet, the stories of its inhabitants, and realise how we can help protect this wilderness beneath the waves. Emily Dove is the illustrator and her illustrations in this book are breathtaking. She is a certified naturalist and she uses her illustration to educate and excite others about our natural world. 

Recommended for children 8 years and older. 

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Key Dates

Important Dates for Sport

K-6 Sport
Wednesdays 21 April - 16 June

Claremont Athletics Carnival
Wednesday 28 July

Term 2 Morning Skills

This week was the last week for Term 2 morning skills, with the exception of infants soccer, which will have a make up session next Friday.

Term 3 Morning Skills

Term 3 extra curricular sport information and registration form are now available (see attachment below). Please remember to register online for all morning activities as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as some sports have limited positions.

We aim to provide a range of opportunities for students to participate in different sports and

physical activities throughout the year. Obviously, some sports are more popular than others and run all year round, while others that are offered need to be cancelled or not offered again due to insufficient interest (E.g. volleyball offered in Term 3 last 2 years).

When completing the registration form, there is also an opportunity for you to provide feedback on what sports/activities you would be interested in registering your child for in the future. 

For billing purposes, registrations will close on Friday 18 June.

Programs commence from Week 2, Term 3.

Please refer to the information booklet for all information about sports on offer.

Term 3 Morning & Sports Skills Information booklet

CIS Cross Country

Congratulations to Marnie L (Year 4) and Lola U (Year 6) who competed at the New South Wales Combined Independent Schools (NSWCIS) Cross Country Championships this week. The girls competed against over 100 other runners who are the best in their age group from across all independent schools in NSW. Marnie finished 17th in her race and Lola 12th in hers. These are very impressive results considering the high level of competition, not to mention the appalling conditions the girls had to run in on the coldest day in over 25 years! Well done on your achievements, Marnie and Lola.

Mr Joel Geering 
Head of Sport and PDHPE

After a year of non gatherings, the P&F are excited to invite ALL Claremont parents to our ‘Christmas in July’ community event.

The Year 5 grade representatives, Cathy Jin and Brooke Copland have organised a fantastic night of food, drink, entertainment and dancing at The Clovelly Surf Lifesaving Club on Saturday 31 July 2021.

To add some fun and colour to the night, come dressed in your crazy Christmas sweater!

Please note there is limited capacity for this event. Tickets are now available on Flexischools.

Melisse Lee
P&F President

Can you volunteer? We need your help with the School Banking program!

School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits. Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking will earn an exciting reward every time they reach 10 deposits.

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year. 

Our students really enjoy participating in the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program and to keep this program running we need your help. We currently have two Co-ordinators (Jeff Morton & Betty Preshaw) who both have children in year 5, ie final year in 2022. In the next few weeks Betty will be unavailable for a period of time so we thought this would be a good opportunity to bring in some assistance to plan for the future. 

The program requires a volunteer School Banking Co-ordinator to facilitate the banking and distribution of School Banking rewards. The School Banking is processed at the same time each week and will only take a small amount of your time . The Commonwealth Bank will provide support in how to run the program. Your help with the program will greatly benefit students as they practice saving skills and also help our school with fundraising.

Currently, School Banking day is Tuesday for processing on Wednesday. Changes to the day can be discussed based on the volunteer’s availability. 

If you are interested in volunteering for this great program, please contact Jeff Morton on 0414843674.

Could all parents please update their child/ren’s year level in Flexischools. This is to avoid your child/ren’s order being delivered to the wrong year group.

The canteen operates Monday through to Friday offering a large selection of hot and cold items. The canteen menu has been designed in association with the Healthy Kids Association.  We offer online pre-ordering as well as over the counter sales for children to purchase items at both break times.

Some of the daily specials at the moment are: • Penne Pasta with Bolognese Sauce • Homemade Lasagne • Homemade Beef Nachos • Good Old-Fashioned Sausage Sizzle • Fresh Sushi Rolls • Greek Salad with Chicken • Garden Salad with Chicken • Carrot and Celery Sticks • Carrot, Celery Sticks, Hummus & Wrap Bread • Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free Options available

Ordering

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. 

Details to setup your account, how to place an order, how to change my child’s class, how to get a refund etc are listed on the Flexischools website:  https://community.flexischools.com.au/s/parents

Recess orders are collected from the canteen by each child who has an order, lunch orders are collected by class lunch monitors from each class and brought back to the class, 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. 

IOUs

If for whatever reason your child does not receive a meal with the class bucket, ie. your order didn’t go through, or was put through on the wrong day etc., we offer IOUs. This will involve your child letting the teacher know they don’t have their food order, your child will need to collect an IOU form from the office. The office will call you to confirm the food to order. They can then present this to the canteen and receive their meal. This IOU will then be sent home to you to arrange payment. This can be done through the Flexischools app.

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]

School Holiday Bookings are now open. 

Click HERE to see the wonderful holiday program which has been planned.  

All parents are asked to confirm their TeamKids bookings for the term so that the service can arrange to be adequately staffed each day.

If you haven't booked yet and require a booking or would like to just confirm your arrangements, please contact TeamKids Customer Service on 1300 035 000.

Please note that the Uniform Shop will be closed during the school holiday period.

Click HERE for details.

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 www.shop.ranier.com.au 

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

CONTACT

Phone: 9213 0720
Email: [email protected]
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

As your local bus operator, we are providing an update following our correspondence last month regarding proposed bus changes in the South East. 

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) have extended the original six-week consultation period for a further 12 days, meaning the community can now provide feedback until 30 June 2021.

While there are no planned changes to dedicated school services as part of this proposal, some students that catch regular route services may need to change their travel, and TfNSW would like to get feedback from the Claremont College community. 

To further assist you, we’ve included a summary of the routes that may affect students travelling to your school.                                                            

Please include a reminder in your school communications to students, staff and your wider school community that TfNSW are seeking feedback on the proposal and the opportunity to do so has now been extended until the end of this month.

To provide feedback on the proposed bus changes in the South East please visit www.mysydney.nsw.gov.au/SE_bus.... Here you will also find a network map.

TfNSW will provide updates on the outcome of community consultation following a review of the feedback received. Changes to bus services are set to be introduced in late 2021. 

Kind regards, 
Brendan Rabbitt
Director Customer Operations, State Transit

Our after school art students have been very busy this term.  These are just a few projects on the theme of Oceans and Animals. We have made 3D sea urchins in paper, created our dream pet in a collage, watercolour and paint pen jellyfish and peacocks, aerial oceans with constructed paper whales, got creative with sea glass and played creative clay and drawing games. We aim to inspire and provide experience with varied materials with guidance and short demonstrations along the way. Follow our creative journey via Instagram.com/artisanathomeworkshops

We run three art classes a week: Mixed Media Monday, Experienced Mixed Media Wednesday and Drawing Class on Thursday. Starts at 3:10pm where students make their way to Kindergarten Rooms for BYO afternoon tea and pick up is at 5pm at the fishpond.

Our term 3 enrolments are now open via this link. https://artisanathome.com.au/ . Classes are limited to 10 students. Apologies if we need to put you on a wait list, we have many regulars that have priority re-enrolment. We accept the NSW Creative Vouchers.  If you would like to use this, enter in the code CREATIVEVOUCHER so that it applies $100 off and provide the Voucher Number, Student Name and DOB at the checkout. 

If you have any questions, you can contact Phi (fai) Morton on 0403377420 or [email protected]

Does your child love music and drama? Would they like to have fun and grow their skills in singing, acting and performance? Enrolments for Semester 2 for our after school extracurricular class Curtain Call are OPEN! Learning how to sing and perform on stage is a great way to gain a love for music, grow in confidence, build self-esteem as well as self-discipline, and of course have a lot of FUN! Curtain Call is an all encompassing group class where students learn how to sing and how to apply drama and performance skills for stage!

Class times: Each Wednesday commencing Week 2

K-2: 3pm-4pm
Y3-4: 4pm-5pm
Y5-6: 5pm-6pm 

Enrolments are open so please email our singing tutor, Lyndell at [email protected] for more information and to secure a spot for your child today!