This week Tabitha A (Year 6) became the very first recipient of the School Principal’s Award, since our new ‘Student Awards Program’ was introduced five years ago. Congratulations Tabitha, we are all very proud of you and your achievement. 

Also this week I had the opportunity to spend three days at the 2022 Australian Primary Principal’s Conference (APPA) which was conveniently held in the CBD. The conference has had many learning highlights for me, with the theme ‘reCONNECT, reENGAGE, reIMAGINE’ providing inspiration for a fresh vision for Australian education and schools in a post COVID world. Key themes that have resonated with me have included truth telling and listening to the voice of First Nations People, inclusion and equity for minority groups, artificial intelligence and cyber safety, and responding to the well-being and mental health needs of children, young people, teachers and school leaders. 

Yesterday, the Australian Minister for Education, Hon Jason Clare MP, addressed the 750 delegates from Independent, Catholic and State Primary Schools. I thought his talk was sincere and responsive to the concerns of educators from across each of the three sectors. It was pleasing to hear of Federal Government funding in 2023 for all Australian schools to support student mental health programs. 

The Federal Minister responded to the global teacher crisis. He presented some concerning data. Our universities currently have 16% less teaching degree undergraduates than ever before, and of those who enter the Australian teaching workforce, 30-50% leave within their first 5 years of teaching. To respond to this the Government yesterday released a draft ‘National Teacher Workforce Plan’ which will address issues such as reassessing the profile and status of Australian teachers … “Stop bagging teachers and start giving them a wrap”, he said. Further to this he identified his plan to reduce unnecessary aspects of a teacher’s workload and to respond to teacher burnout. I believe all of these things require urgent response and solutions. They are all issues that my Leadership Team and I have incorporated into our planning for 2023 and into the future. 

I fully agreed with the minister when he stated that “ the most powerful cause for good is the education of our children”. 

As we finish another great week at Claremont, I ask the parents of children who attended our camps, to reach out and thank the teachers and staff who have worked way above and beyond, to provide the children with a great camp experience. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Doug Thomas
Principal

Follow Us

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

Students in Years 3-6 have had a wonderful experience at camp over the last 3 days. Here are some photos showing some of the fun things they have been doing. More details will be in next week’s newsletter.

This week we began the formal process for Claremont’s 2023 School Leaders. 

Claremont College has a long and proud history of developing each student’s leadership potential. We are committed to preserving this rich heritage by supporting and encouraging students in the development of their leadership.

In 2023, Claremont College will have the following formal Student Leader positions:

• School Captain (x2)
• School Prefect (x2)
• House Captains (2 per house: Austin, Hyland, Storey and Wearne)

We will endeavour to have a mix of both boys and girls represented in the Student Leadership Team. 

We believe leadership encompasses many qualities and skills. Student Leaders need to grow and reflect these in their everyday lives. Informed by current research, applicants will be measured according to 10 Leadership Markers. These markers include: 

1. Interpersonal and Communication Skills
2. Organisational Skills 
3. Problem Solving Skills and Initiative
4. Integrity and Social Justice
5. Resilience, Grit, Reflectiveness and Growth Mindset
6. Servant Leadership
7. Claremont College School Values of Collaboration, Innovation and Compassion
8. Community Involvement and Contribution of Co-Curricular Activities
9. Commitment to Learning
10. School Code of Conduct

A formal leadership position is only one of the many opportunities for leadership within the school – other informal positions include leading Chapel, Assemblies, Library, Eco Warriors, Kindergarten buddies and most importantly, upholding our core values and leading by example every day. We believe everyone has leadership potential, and we are dedicated to explore this in each student, whether students hold a formal position or not. 

For more detailed information, please refer to our Student Leadership Positions Policy HERE. 

We look forward to announcing our 2023 Student Leaders to the school community during Speech Day in December.

Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

In 2020 the school introduced new uniforms with a two year transition period. As from Term 1 2023, all students will be required to wear all items of the new uniform.

Please be aware that the girls summer tunic together with the school blazer is required for formal occasions (including Speech Day and school photos). Boys are required to wear the white summer shirt with the school tie and blazer for formal occasions. 

If you need to purchase any new items prior to the commencement of Term 1, please contact the Uniform Shop.  

You would be aware that it is no longer mandatory to self-isolate at home if you test positive to COVID-19. NSW Health strongly recommends however, that people who are sick or have tested positive to COVID-19 stay home until their symptoms have gone.

NSW health strongly recommends that any students or staff member who tests positive for COVID-19 follow the advice outlined in this NSW Health fact sheet . If your child tests positive, please:

• Inform the school via email office@claremont.nsw.edu.au.
• Register the positive RAHT result on the Service NSW App (this is no longer mandatory, however NSW Health continues to strongly recommend doing so).
• Your child must stay home until acute symptoms have gone.
• Your child is strongly encouraged to wear a mask when returning to school, if they are returning within 5 days of testing positive.
• If someone in your household tests positive for COVID-19, please monitor your child for symptoms, and complete daily RAHT tests prior to attending school. 
• Please contact the office if you require RAHT kits.  

Previously, we have consistently informed the Claremont community of year groups with positive cases. We will no longer do this for each individual case, but rather when there is an increased risk for a particular cohort, or more broadly across the school.   

At Claremont, as with any infectious health issue, we would ask that you follow these recommendations. Children who display cold, flu, gastro, or other symptoms at school will be sent home. We ask that you continue to remain vigilant and please contact the school if you have any further questions or concerns. 

Alanna James & Doug Thomas

What is your Digital Wellness goal? Have you been actively working toward it, or have you forgotten all about it? It is important to keep your digital behaviours in check. Do you need to reduce the amount of time you spend on a device? Do you need to choose more age appropriate apps? Perhaps you need to be more careful with what you write online? Have a chat with your parents/carers about ways you can achieve your goal. You can write how you are tracking in your school diary on your Goal Setting page. 

Larissa Cameron
Deputy Principal

Congratulations to the following students who received their Gold Certificate or Pennant on Monday.

Mr Thomas was also extremely excited to present the first Principal’s Award pin to Tabitha A (Yr 6). Congratulations Tabitha, well done. The pathway to achieve the Principal’s award is attached here. 

Gold Certificates

Kindergarten - Saskia F, Miami L, Madeleine L, Elodie S
Year 3 - Morris K, Charlotte L, Scarlett O, Taylor K, Mariana CL
Year 4 - Angus K, Zachary S, Alexa S
Year 5 - Hannah B, Rory M, Sofia P, Billy R

Pennant

Year 1 - Carissa L
Year 5 - Jemma L
Year 6 - Tasha K

Term 4

Term 1 2023

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, on Monday 7 November, we are putting up the Christmas decorations around the school. A big thankyou to those who have offered to help, we are looking forward to you joining us on Monday morning. 

Time: 9:15am-10:30am. 

If you are available to help out please let us know by clicking the link below. 

Christmas Decoration Parent Helper Registration form 

Janelle Ford, Deputy Principal

It’s on again! On Thursday 10 November (next week) there will be a very special day at school to raise funds and awareness of the plight of the seriously endangered orangutan. 

Just a gold coin donation will enable students to wear orange or brown clothing. However, if you don’t have clothes in these colours you may wear mufti instead, also for a gold coin donation.

We would really appreciate any additional donations from anyone in the community which will be donated to The Orangutan Project.

Once again, there will be delicious Orangutan cupcakes! (thanks to My Little Cupcake). This year there are also gluten-free and vegan options so make sure you order early on Flexischools. 

Cupcakes will NOT be available unless they are pre-ordered.                                                                    Closing date will be Monday 7th November (12pm)

There will also be some  ‘lucky door prizes’ (any student providing a gold coin donation will be given a ticket - 1 ticket/child) featuring Darrel Lea products which are all now, by the way, palm oil free!  

We are looking forward to having everyone support the Orangutan Project. Let’s try to raise even more funds than last time, for our orangutan friends!

Kind Regards,                    

Bu Jill 

Family Fun Night held at school last Friday was a magnificent night as the playground was filled with Claremont families and ex-students all coming together to enjoy a beautiful spring evening of FUN! As families walked down the stairs into the playground, many eyes focused on the main attraction as the “Dunk the teacher tank” was back in the school playground! This attraction drew hundreds of spectators and participants throughout the night as we watched and cheered the many teachers taking turns to get dunked! Family Fun Night was a huge success with a record 650 persons attending, generating a record revenue of $19,243. Amazing! Perhaps the massive turn out is due to the fact that many families from K-2 have never experienced it? 2022 has certainly been a year of firsts for all these year groups! Thank you to the entire Claremont community for showing up in force.

Thank you to our brave and wonderful teachers Mrs Affleck (K), Mrs James (Yr 1), Ms Carter, Ms Wright & Mrs Nunn (Yr 2), Mrs Marquet and Mr Oen (Yr 3), Mrs Garrick & Mr Ryan (Yr 3), Mr Nield (IT) and of course our special mystery guest, Mr Thomas (who apparently got dunked about 50 times) for supporting our event by  volunteering to be dunked over and over and over again, you all raised an impressive $1,300!

Huge congratulations and thanks to the main organising team, Brooke C, Cathy J, Karen J, Larissa O and myself, for generously volunteering your time and effort in planning, organising and running such an event for the entire school, this is really appreciated. We did it, all the hard work was worth it! To all the Year 6 parents who also helped out behind the scenes with admin and organisation: Debbie S, Julie D, Diana T, Penny F, Tasha S, Fiona M, Sharon F, Janelle S and Betty P. A special shout out to the Year 6 students who helped at home with many tasks: Tasha K, Stella C, Gia G and April M. To the Year 6 cohort, thank you so much for running the stalls on the night alongside your parents, hope you had fun and also got to enjoy yourselves, especially being able to dunk your teachers Mrs Garrick and Mr Ryan, some of you had multiple turns!

Thank you to all the wonderful Year 6 parents who helped run the stalls on the night along with all the above mentioned parents: Cassandra A, Thao, Tim K, Kylie W-P, Jay & Laurice M, Jim C, Theo & Yianna T, Steven T, Margaretha S, Katherine O, Louis & Linda A, Jeff M, Brian J, Matt D, Sandra M, Andrew L, Sugi O, Wei Yi L, Ching N, Gary G, Louisa A, Paul K, Darrel C, Kieran S, Gary & Emma P, Anthony P, Ben D, Tina & George S, Fay V and Romeo E. Thanks to other year group parents for volunteering on the night to help run stalls: Bernadette K, Melissa B, Natalie T, Sylvia T, Louise Z, Lisa S, Jo V, Jade K, Julia O, Amy B and Joyce C and to the ex-Claremont students, Charlotte D, Jasmine O, Jack K and Ruby M who also lent a hand.

Thank you to the Melikyan family (Alex, Sandra, Chloe (Yr 6), Olivia (Yr 4)) for donating the amazing chocolate raffle from their family business, Pauls Chocolates. To Peter from Peter’s Meats in Maroubra Junction who has been continuously supporting our P&F events by providing quality sausages at a huge discount. To our wonderful Team Kids educators John and Katania for volunteering your time to help with the face painting and tattoo stalls. To our amazing office staff, Mrs Lee, Mrs Hodges, Mrs Crafts, Mrs Wiggins and Mr Pike. We truly would not be able to run our P&F events without you all your behind the scenes help.

Without this amazing army of parents, staff, students, P&F events such as these would not be possible. As my time as P&F President draws to a close, experiencing this collaboration of parents across multiple year groups is truly a testament of a healthy, thriving school community and one which I feel very privileged to be part of. Thank you all for your continued support of the P&F, may it continue to grow stronger. Finally, as Mr Thomas would say, “Let’s give three cheers for Claremont.” God Bless.

Melisse Lee
P&F President

The P&F invites all parents to join the final AGM meeting for 2022. It has been a very active year for the P&F and great to see that despite the past two years of COVID that the Claremont community continues to flourish. 

We would like to extend a warm invitation to all parents to consider joining the P&F in 2023. It is only with the engagement of parents year after that the P&F continues to be a healthy, active part of school life. 

At the AGM the committee for 2023 will be elected, which consists of the P&F executive team (President, VP Fundraising, Secretary and Treasurer) and Grade Representatives, ideally at least two persons per grade. Please see attached the descriptions of these roles and invite you to consider applying for an Executive role or to be a Grade Representative in 2023. Please email your interest to pfinfo@claremont.nsw.edu.au 

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

We are excited to invite parents to our Annual Kindergarten Nativity Performance. The Nativity will take place during our Chapel service on Friday 25 November at 9am for approximately 30 minutes. This is a wonderful Claremont tradition and is always a fantastic event where Kindergarten will be re-enacting the Christmas story for the school community to watch. More information will be sent home next week in your child’s diary, outlining your child’s specific role and costume suggestions. 

We hope to see you there!

Mrs Jesse Hitchen, Mrs Lina Gonzalez, Mrs Stephanie Affleck, Mrs Susan Nicolaides and Mrs Sally Durek
Kindergarten Teaching Team

During Week 7 (Week beginning 21 November), Kindergarten and Year 1 will be transported by bus to UNSW each day for a 30 minute lesson with qualified Austswim instructors, as well as a number of supervising staff. These lessons make up part of the students’ normal school day and we ask that parents do not attend. Swimming is an important part of our curriculum and indeed our Australian culture, and we expect to see the aquatic skills and confidence of our students greatly improve during this program. 

Students in Kindergarten and Year 1 may wear their full sports uniform to school each day of the week. By allowing students to change with ease, this will maximise swimming and learning time, and we believe it will be more comfortable for students throughout the day. Students should wear formal hats to and from school and ensure they wear white sports shoes and white socks. 

Claremont swimming costumes and house swimming caps can be purchased from the uniform shop.

The Claremont sports bag should be brought each day, in addition to their school bag, with a towel, goggles, underwear and thongs or sandals (for travelling to and from the pool). For safety, thongs or sandals are not to be worn to and from school. The Claremont swimming costume may be worn under the sports uniform, and girls often prefer to wear it with the shoulder straps down to assist when using the bathroom during the day. Students will be getting changed at school prior to heading to the lessons and back into uniform when they return.

We are looking forward to our students participating in a tailored and expertly delivered program with high staff to student ratios.

Thank you as always for your support, and please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have further queries about this program.

Year 4 - Amazing Me Event Note

Year 6 - Amazing Me Event Note

Unfortunately, the author Jan Latta is unable to visit the school this term as planned. The author Lesley Gibbes will visit the school on Thursday 17 November and will be presenting to all grades during the day. Lesley is an award winning, internationally published children’s author. 

New Picture Books To The Collection

Humphrey the whale roams far and wide, searching for the ultimate treasure. Yet, no matter how many goodies he gathers, Humphrey never feels quite complete. Could it be friendship, not things, that will really make his heart sing? This is a tale of discovery, love and happiness found. 

Two very greedy squirrels Cyril and Bruce both have their sights on a very special prize: the last pine nuts of the season. This is a fun and action filled tale.

The author of both books is Rachel Bright who has published over 16 picture books. Her work is known for its striking illustrative and typographic style, coupled with her witty storytelling. 

Both titles are recommended for children aged 4 years and older.

Mrs Susan Kesur
Librarian Assistant

Key Dates

Wednesday Sport
12 October - 30 November.

K-1 Swimming Intensive 
21 November - 25 November 

Claremont Champions

Congratulations to Ava W (Year 3) and Mia I (Year 4) who represented Claremont at the recent IPSHA Gymnastics Carnival. They had a great experience representing the school and competing against many other IPSHA schools. Ava placed 5th in her division and Mia finished in 3rd place in her division. Well done to Mia who also competed at the Junior State Gymnastics Championships. Mia was representing the Inner City region, who ranked first in her session. She also received a silver banding overall. 

Mr Joel Geering
Head of Sport and PDHPE

St Andrew’s Cathedral School will offer one full or part scholarship to a Claremont student (boy or girl) for entry into Year 7 2024. This scholarship is in recognition of the excellent relationship between the two schools, and acknowledgement of the high standard of Claremont graduates. The scholarship, and amount of scholarship will be based on the following criteria:

• Results in the ACER Scholarship Selection Test which will be run at Claremont late February or early March 2024 TBC.
• Demonstrated commitment to school life at Claremont through Music, Drama, Sport, Leadership or other school programs
• School reports and NAPLAN.

Application forms can be downloaded at

https://www.sacs.nsw.edu.au/enrol/scholarships/academic-scholarships/

Applications close on 10 February 2023.

Please contact Mr Bruce Perry, Registrar at bperry@sacs.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Dear Parent/Carer

Selective high schools cater for academically gifted students with high potential who may otherwise be without sufficient classmates at their own academic standard. Selective high schools help these students to learn by grouping them with students of similar ability, and by using specialised teaching methods.

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 7 selective high school entry in 2024, you need to apply on the internet using a valid email address (not the student’s email address).

Detailed instructions on how to apply and the link to the online form will be available in early-October 2022 at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7.

Applications open on 18 October 2022 and close on 16 November 2022. You must apply before the closing date.

You must submit only ONE application for each student.

The Selective High School Placement Test will be held on Thursday 4 May 2023.

Applications are now open for students to apply for a School Opal Card for 2023. If a student currently does not hold a School Opal Card and is eligible, they may visit the below website for more information.

Click here for the School Opal Card application link

Please remember that all school students MUST tap on and off with their Opal Cards. Every time a student taps on and off, they are counted on our service – when they do not, they are invisible. Transport for NSW has the option of withdrawing school bus routes which show low patronage data.

Our Full Menu is Back!

Check out our extended list of offerings… some old faves have returned, and some new items added. 

We have also updated our items to include ingredients and allergen information. 

Click HERE to see the full menu.

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.

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 claremont@anthony.com.au.

Happy Ordering

Claremont College – Canteen
Anthony Catering

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

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

Methods of Payment: Cash, EFTPOS, MasterCard and Visa

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

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

Contact

Email: claremont@ranier.com.au  
Phone: 9213 0720

Responses will be provided during opening hours.

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

For more immediate assistance, head office details are:

Online: ranier.com.au/contact
Email: custservice@ranier.com.au 
Phone: 02 8337 7290

Click HERE to read the TeamKids Term 4 Week 5 Newsletter

Term 4 Bookings

A reminder for ALL families to book and verify their bookings for Term 4. Also, if your child is away or will not be attending a pre-booked session, please assist by contacting Customer Service to cancel your booking on the day. Please note this has an impact on the service’s staffing for each session. 

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

We would like to make you aware that the NSW Government has given parents a $500 voucher to use at childcare centres. This is applicable to TeamKids and we encourage you to take advantage of this great scheme. Follow the instructions on the NSW Service website to apply. Then email or bring in the QR code on your voucher so we can scan and redeem it for you. This will be credited to your account to use until June 2023.