Our Book Week Parade today was such a wonderful event. There is no need for me to write about this, Mrs Affleck has summed up the celebration so well, please refer to her article and Mrs Kesur’s article about our author visit. Thankyou Mrs Affleck and Mrs Kesur for all of the planning and organisation that went into making today and this week so much fun for the children.     

Doug Thomas        
Principal

  Follow me @DougJThomas

This week we are beginning a new feature article so you can get to know the members of our teams better, with a focus on the things they like or are looking forward to at Claremont College, and a little insight into something you may not know about each of these exceptional people. We hope you enjoy this new weekly article… we are featuring the Kindy Team first. 

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal

Now that Book Week is almost over, as I write this, we will begin to focus on our planning for our International Day. We have had a wonderful response from Claremont families with ideas and offers to help with the activities on the day. As we don’t want to leave out any of our school family’s countries of origin, I have summarised the countries being represented so far. While we do not want to put any pressure on anyone to help if you cannot, we do ask one last time if you have any authentic ideas for your own family’s country of origin, if it is not already represented in the table below.

Please contact me early next week, via the office@claremont email address if you have any more suggestions. 

Janelle Ford
Deputy Principal

Next week our positive behaviour focus will be: 

'Kick the balls no higher than waist height. Have fun: play, walk and jog but be aware of who is around.'

Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

We are very excited to share with you some images of our new playground and ‘Creativity Hub’, construction of which will commence at the end of the year. We have spent a great deal of time this year working on the design concepts, including consultation with staff, parents and most importantly students. The Creativity Hub is located in the TeamKids Space and it has been designed especially to create a sense of home and comfort for our before and after care students. If you would like to have a close look at some of the designs please check out the display in the foyer area.  

Doug Thomas        
Principal

  Follow me @DougJThomas

TERM 3 

The following items require immediate action.

Junior & Senior Choir Performance at POWH - 4 September - Parent Portal

Year 4 Thai-Riffic Incursion & Lunch - 10 September - Parent Portal

Year 5 & 6 - Drumming Incursion - 10 September - Parent Portal

Year 6 Photography Exhibition

On Friday 2nd August, Year 6 hosted their Annual Photography Exhibition. This special event was a celebration of the learning that took place throughout the Term 2 Visual Arts program. During the term, students learnt all about various photography techniques such as; rule of thirds, contrast, composition, leading lines etc., and applied this knowledge to create a ‘Photography Portfolio’. This portfolio was a collection of 26 photos which fit into a variety of categories such as landscape, shadow, architecture,  and Autumn. For each photo, students wrote a description outlining the techniques they used and explaining how the photograph represented the category. Students then chose their favourite photo which was on display for the exhibition. The quality of the photographs was incredible, and the visitors were in awe of the students’ ability to capture such interesting and eye-catching images. Throughout the day, each year group came to visit the exhibition and students were encouraged to look at all of the photographs and vote for their favourite one. Teachers and parents had to vote too!

The winners of the student vote were:

1st Place – Harry Awad
2nd Place – Bethany Au
3rd Place – Maxim Jamour

The winners of the teacher/parent vote were:

1st Place – Harry Awad
2nd Place – Jacinta Cortis
3rd Place – Hannah Gajus & Jade Hastings

This photography portfolio and exhibition, gave students the opportunity to develop their creativity, reflectiveness, curiosity and open mindedness, and to share their learning with students, teachers and parents. Congratulations Year 6 students, you should be very proud of yourselves! 

Claremont's commitment to Professional learning extends to all our teaching staff.

Last week our teaching and Learning Assistants (together with the Head of Learning Support) attended a Mathematics Professional Learning workshop.  

The full-day workshop covered a full range of topics to support and extend our student mathematicians including:

• Maths language;
• Building number sense with number lines;
• Having and developing a CAN DO attitude about Maths;
• Numeracy - Finding mathematics in the everyday;
• Numeracy in Literacy
• Teaching fractions & decimals to link to real-life

It's great to have a staff full of learners.

Brenda Dalheim
Head of Learning Support

How to Go Nude For 'Nude Food Day'

Last term we launched our ‘Nude Food’ campaign in an attempt to reduce unnecessary waste and to inspire our students to make environmentally sound choices in their daily living. This term, we are aiming to increase student involvement and the teachers will now be keeping a record of the total number of students in their grade who bring ‘Nude Food’ morning tea and lunch every Tuesday. A ‘Nude Food’ morning tea or lunch are those that do not contain foil, plastic or commercial packaging.

The winning grade will be announced at assembly every Monday and they will be rewarded with one ‘early-mark’ for lunch that week. Furthermore, the number of students bringing ‘Nude Food’ lunches from every grade will be recorded every week until the end of the year. The grade with the greatest number of students at the end of the year will enjoy an environmentally focused reward that the students will get to choose as a group. The reward will be environment and sustainability focused such as enjoying their normal lessons at Coogee Beach or going to see an environmental movie.

It is our vision that promoting ‘Nude Food’ will encourage our students to think about their impact on the environment. We also recognise that our lives are busy and many of us are time poor, but packing ‘Nude Food’ lunches can be much easier than you think!

Here are some helpful tips and tricks on how to make a quick and easy nude food lunch box:

1. Reusable multi-compartment lunchboxes

There are many different varieties of multi-compartmental children's lunch boxes on the market. These section off the different varieties of food, doing away with wasteful packaging. They are also perfect for keeping cut fruit, vegetables and snacks fresh and safe from being squished!  Ensure you put your child's name on every container - the lids too - so if they get lost they'll find their way home again. 

2. Water bottles

Choose a leak-proof, refillable bottle for your child to take to school rather than single-serve juice and water bottles. Often children take just a few sips of these at snack time and discard the rest when the drink cannot be resealed.

3. Fruit and vegetables

Cut up fruit and vegetables and pack them in reusable containers so that children can eat some and save the rest for later.  For example, it's hard to take some bites from a big apple at recess and save the rest for lunchtime.  It's easier to eat a wedge or two and then reseal the container. A rubber band around sliced apple will prevent browning. 

4. Buying in bulk

If your child normally enjoys chips, yoghurt or pre-packaged snacks, buy these in a larger format (rather than the more expensive so called ‘convenience’ packs with lots of packaging) and you can decant these into smaller reusable containers and lunch boxes.

5. Involve your children

Discuss with your child what they like to eat and how much. Bin audits carried out at Claremont last term, revealed lots of unopened pre-packaged foods, single serve yoghurts, cheese sticks, sandwiches and uneaten fruit being thrown away. This costs your family money as well as creating waste.

Miss Sinead Kelly
Eco Warriors Coordinator

How do we teach kids the art of debate at Claremont? What opportunities do we have for them to give debating a go? Debating is an engaging way to sharpen public speaking skills and improve critical thinking. It is a skill that embodies some of our learning dispositions that we embed into the curriculum (risk-taking, flexibility of mind, collaboration...just to name a few!). But how do we do this at Claremont?

Debating in the CLASSROOM

Debating is in the NSW English curriculum as part of the Speaking and Listening strand and debating skills are taught early.

Kindergarten discuss fact and opinion, and teachers design activities around helping students understand the difference between these two elements.

In Year 1, students begin to look at persuasive texts such as expositions (a one sided argument), and explore structure and language features such as using thinking verbs (e.g. “I think, I believe”). 

In Year 2, students are introduced to debating. It is closely linked to their unit on persuasive writing and in groups, students formulate arguments for and against a topic. Students also explore what a good debate looks like (eye contact, clear voice, expression, gesturing, using persuasive language). In Week 8 this term, students will participate in a short ‘formal debate’. A range of topics will be given to the students, examples include: “Everyone should have a pet”, “If you find $100, it’s yours to keep” and “Reading is more important than Maths”.

Year 3 will look at debating in Term four as part of their unit on ‘Day and Night’. They will work on simple debating procedures including the main roles covered by each speaker. Students will choose the most convincing arguments making sure that they speak clearly and engage the audience.

In Year 4, debating will be integrated into the geography unit “Australia’s Environment’s Got Talent”. Students will participate in debates that reflect the environmental learning they have undertaken in Term 3 culminating with the topic: “Should People be Allowed to Climb Uluru?”. Students will explore why people’s views of Uluru are different and will present points for and against climbing Uluru, take turns to express opinions, and give opinions and facts about climbing Uluru.

As part of their English unit this term, ‘Save one island, save them all’, Year 5 have been looking at persuasive texts. They have been exploring the differences between an exposition and a discussion and the term will conclude with a debate “Should we cut down trees to build new buildings?”. Students will work in groups to brainstorm their arguments, and then present their ideas in the structure of a debate.

Later this term, Year 6 will be preparing for a round of five debates as part of their English unit ‘Global People, Global World’. Examples of topics include “Australia should give money to poor countries”, “Should women be allowed to choose whether they wear the Burqa?” and “It should be compulsory for all Australians to attend dawn services”. As part of the unit, teams will brainstorm their points and learn how to structure their arguments by making them “REAL” (Reason, Evidence, Analysis, Link). Students will be taught the art of rebuttal and the role of each speaker in the debate. 

Debating as a CO-CURRICULAR Activity

In addition to the explicit teaching of debating, there are a number of opportunities for students to become involved in debating outside of the classroom. In Years 5 and 6, students have the opportunity to join a debating morning skills program in Terms 2 and 3. These sessions are run by coaches from Masters Academy, with the aim of choosing two teams to represent Claremont at the IPSHA Gala Day (held in Term 3).

Stay tuned for more information regarding how Year 4 students can get a taste of debating to see if they want to join teams next year. Masters Academy will be running a morning information session in Term 4 this year to give students an overview/”taste” of debating. The workshop will also aim to give students a chance to explore debating through games and skill based workshops.

As well, Claremont has an inter-house debating competition in Term 4 each year. Students in Years 5 and 6 have the opportunity to be part of a house team to compete in debates at lunchtime. There are two rounds, and the winner from each round will go through to a grand final with an external adjudicator. The grand final is watched by students in Years 3-6.

For more information about debating, please contact the school office and they will forward your questions to the debating coordinators.

Nicola Breakspear
Learning Support Teacher

Book Week Parade

WOW! Thank you all for helping to make Claremont’s Book Week just the most adventure-filled fun time. Photo booths, character hunts, book stalls, mask decorating, author visits and students parading around the school all played a part in this annual celebration of books, literature and literacy. Over the past few weeks in both Library Borrowing and Library Literature lessons we have been exploring some of the CBCA shortlisted books, with some lucky students purchasing their own copies of these from our Book Store today.

The Book Parade was a wonderful culmination of a week of celebrations centred around literature. We were so impressed with the time and effort taken to create amazing costumes from some of their most treasured books, with students parading in front of peers, teachers and parents. Costumes ranged from Superman to Where’s Wally, Harry Potter to Coloured Crayons and everything in between! We hope you enjoyed the creative process as much as we enjoyed guessing the characters. Our sincere thanks go to all the students, teachers and parents who have made Book Week 2019 such a wonderful, positive and exciting celebration. Apart from being great fun, Book Week serves as a timely reminder of the secret power of literature and the foundational nature of reading for so much of our learning. We hope you have found time to read a book this week, and we hope you have found time to read with your child this week too.

Mrs Stephanie Affleck Teacher/Librarian

Author Visit

On Thursday, the author/illustrator Christina Booth spent the day at Claremont College. Christina presented to different grades throughout the day and it was pleasing to note how engaged the students were during each session. Christina shared her passion for natural history and protection of endangered animals with the students. She drew a pencil sketch of a Tasmanian Thylacine and watercolour paintings of sheep. We will treasure these original illustrations and keep them on display in the library. Christina ensured there were lots of opportunities for students to be actively involved in the sessions and plenty of time for questions.

All students have received a book order form today. Please return order forms to classroom teachers by Friday 30 August.

State Library Event

This Sunday at the State Library of New South Wales is Family Sunday. There are workshops being held throughout the day with celebrated children’s authors/illustrators (including a session with Christina Booth), adventure tours of the exhibitions, drawing workshops and creative activities. The sessions commence at 10:30am and finish at 3pm. For further details please access via this link below

https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/family-sunday-4

Mrs Susan Kesur
Library Assistant

Upcoming Events

Monday 26 August - IPSHA Athletics Championship @ Homebush
Tuesday 24 September - Years 3-6 Cricket Blast Gala Day
Friday 27 September - Claremont Cross Country Carnival

Cricket Blast Gala Day

The annual Cricket Blast Gala Day will be held on Tuesday 24 September at Coral Sea Park for boys and girls in Years 3 to 6 wishing to take part. This is always an extremely fun and well run event by Cricket NSW. Students have already begun signing up for a team and will continue to be able to sign up in the coming week. Parents will be notified of the event details and asked to provide permission in the coming weeks. Please email the office if you have any other queries about the day or about your child participating. We would also love to hear from you if you are available and willing to help out on the day (e.g. managing a team).

Claremont Representative Sporting Uniforms

During a recent stocktake of the existing Sport Uniforms, it seems that quite a few Claremont Sporting singlets and uniforms have ‘gone missing’. It would be very much appreciated if any Claremont singlets/uniforms from gala days, IPSHA carnivals etc can be returned for use at future Sporting events.

Claremont Champions

Congratulations to Kindergarten students Ernie Copland (1srt from left) and Lucan Turner (3rd from right) who recently finished their first season playing rugby league for the Clovelly U6 Reds. They were undefeated all season, but most importantly learned about sportsmanship and teamwork - and had fun! The team is coached by Lucan's dad Kieran, a former Randwick star. Well done, boys!

Randwick Rugby Club vs Argentina Pumas

Tom and Ollie Burke with Randwick Rugby Club players and club representatives, including their dad, Brad Burke.

Randwick will be playing the Argentinian Pumas on Saturday 7 September, 3pm at Coogee Oval. This is 31 years after Randwick played the famous All Blacks, at the same venue, in what is regarded as the greatest game Randwick ever played.

Joel Geering
Sport and PDHPE

Congratulations to the members of our Intermediate Chess Team who competed recently in the InterSchool Chess Competition run by the NSW Junior Chess League.  The Claremont team came second in their division. The members of the team, Joseph Millward, Nicholas Peters, Hosea Wibowo, Caitlin Chee and Isaac Ha, competed against students from Mt Sinai, St Spyridon, Coogee Boys Preparatory School, St Therese Mascot and St Brigid’s.

Well done. 

Miss Su Lim and Mrs Karen Wiggins
Chess Coordinators

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 2021, 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.

Hi Parents,

The Fathers’ Day stall is coming up on Thursday 29 August! We have over 400 gifts ready to go - gifts for busy dads, snazzy dads, handy dads, outdoor dads, fashion dads  - even barista dads! There’s awesome gifts for grandpas and special friends too. 

The kids come down in year groups and have their ‘personal shopper’ explain all the gifts to them - it’s a super cute experience and the kids love doing it.

Sales close Wednesday 28 August so we can get the class lists to the teachers to minimise time away from class.  All sales must go through Flexischools.

Please remember to check Flexischool by Tuesday afternoon for the weekly Family Special. 

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

A reminder that children who bring their own food to school need to bring their own cutlery from home,  only children who have ordered from the canteen will be provided with a spoon or fork.

Also due to WHS issues, the canteen is unable to heat food brought from home.

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.

The dates for Term 3 are 29 August, 12 September and 26 September.

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 is open every Wednesday fortnight from 8am - 9am. 

The remaining dates for Term 3 are 4 September and 18 September.

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.

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

Please refrain from calling or texting Roxanne Fielding directly. 

School holidays are just around the corner. Our partner, TeamKids have a wonderful mix of excursions, incursions and in-house days planned that promise to keep the kids engaged and having fun. Download their program here. 

Special Bonus – 40 Boredom Busters for kids to do at home to help keep them off screens.