Term 2 I The Way Newsletter I Friday 5 May 2023

I would like to extend a warm welcome back to College to all our students and families. I hope that you were able to have a restful and enjoyable break over the Easter period and that you are all ready for another Term of learning. 

We had two groups of students travel to Japan during the holidays. Our language students were able to learn more about Japanese culture, religion, and practise their speaking skills in an authentic environment. Our music students had the opportunity to polish their performance skills and meet with other like-minded students. Both groups visited our sister schools and had a great trip. You can read more about their experience in this Edition. Thank you to the teachers who facilitated the trip and took such great care of our students. 

We started last week with a commemoration service for ANZAC Day. This provided an opportunity for us to gather as a whole College on the oval to remember the sacrifice of those who have served our country. Special thanks to Mr Andrew Wilkinson, our guest speaker who shared with us his reflections about the significance of this time. It was also wonderful to have both Junior School and Senior School students participate in the service to continue the legacy of remembrance.

This weekend our College will host the Hassall Family reunion. Thomas Hassall, our namesake was one of the first chaplains in NSW and he was affectionately known as ‘the galloping parson’ as he visited and supported those who settled here. He travelled along Cowpasture Road on horseback when it was a simple track. He encouraged the teaching of reading and writing through Sunday School and I have recently learnt that he also served the first nations families (the Darug and Dharawal people) who lived in this area during this time. Yet another legacy that is important for us to be aware of and appreciate. 

We are also looking forward to several College events that are on the calendar for the next few weeks. Next week we will be recognising the contributions that our mother’s make in our lives. The celebrations will include an opportunity for our Junior School students to purchase gifts on Thursday and Senior School students at lunchtime – thank you to the volunteers from our Parent Community Network for supporting all our mums and families through the stall. The annual Mother’s Day breakfast promises to be a fantastic occasion on Friday. I am looking forward to meeting many of you over the two sessions.

Finally, let me remind you that we will be transitioning to winter uniforms - Monday 15 May. We have certainly enjoyed a late surge of sunshine for the start of the Term but the chill is in the air. Please check that your childrens’ uniforms are ready for the shift.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Hebrews 1: 1-2

Throughout Term 1, there was a vast range of exciting learning taking place within the Prep classrooms – understanding routines, respecting expectations, making friends, building independence, learning about God, exploring numbers and developing foundational early literacy skills.

Educators know that good readers have oral fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, a growing vocabulary and solid comprehension skills. To support the development of these components of reading, the Prep teachers at the College have implemented a well-regarded program called PreLit, combining it with a variety of nursery rhymes. Each week, we focused on one particular nursery rhyme and explored it through a big book, books with similar themes, song and actions, visual clips, puppet play and various table top activities.

When learning to read, a child must first have the ability to hear and produce the basic sounds within the English language. We became experts at pulling words into their parts, called syllables. We learnt each nursery rhyme and even began to notice that, when the end of two words sound the same, like “dog” and “log”, they rhyme! These skills contribute to a child’s phonemic awareness.

During modelled reading, the children were introduced to an array of new vocabulary such as “bay” and “fleece”. To help us understand these new words, we acted them out, discussed them, said them in various ways, and even painted them on the board. Vocabulary is closely linked to comprehension and fluency in reading, so we want the children to be developing a flourishing vocabulary so that they understand what is happening in a story.

This term, the Prep children will begin to explore phonics where they will learn about the relationships between sounds and the letters that we write to represent them.

Reading is a complex business! Parents can help us in our all-important quest to develop good reading across the younger years. We encourage you to enjoy reading a picture book (or two!) with your child each night before bed. Not only is it a special time for you to snuggle up with your little one, but these reading opportunities, and the curious discussions that take place, allow your child to practise the five vital components of reading.

Mrs Elise Hona
Prep Purple Teacher

Konnichiwa! Greetings from Japan

37 students, 6 staff and our principal Mr Whelan were part of the Japan Cherry Blossom Music Tour which ran in the recent holiday break. There was great anticipation in venturing to Japan in order to perform for the Japanese community and to experience the Japanese culture.

The students had worked hard to prepare a mixed repertoire of band pieces and vocal pieces and hit the ground running with their first performance on the night of landing in Japan. Thomas Hassall students performed for the local community in function rooms, community performance halls and train stations, as well as at our sister school of Minano and Fukoroi. The response from the audience was warm and encouraging and the tour even made the local news in the city of Tokorozawa. Watch it on this link. 

Lots of new experiences were had from sleeping on traditional tatami mats on the floor, tasting traditional Japanese food, crowded trains and Disneyland! 

We're very proud of the conduct of our students, their concern and care for each other and their commitment to their performances during our time in Japan was commendable.

Here's what a few students had to say about the tour.

I really enjoyed both the train station performances. It was fun for us to play for the general public as they walked by going about their day-to-day lives.  The Japanese hospitality/generosity was incredible. They are a collectively minded society a lot more so than we are. One story that comes to mind is when I left my hat at a restaurant so we went back an hour later and didn't even have to ask for it, they had it there ready to give to me if I came back. I think it's fair to say I enjoyed the process of trying new foods a lot more than I actually enjoyed the food itself. I did enjoy the fact that they had fried chicken at every corner store and the pocky sticks that many of us bought in Japan. Our homestay was difficult as no one in there family spoke English and we couldn't speak Japanese. While it was a hard experience, Google translate came in handy and I feel we did well to overcome this issue.
- Matthew P

My favourite performance was at the primary school where we met a group of students who played the Japanese drums and had the wonderful opportunity to learn and play them!  I enjoyed Disneyland, Karaoke and trying different varieties of food! and my favourite was sushi and the sashimi.
- Arya K

My favourite performance was my own, because I was able to grow in confidence and my own style more with each song, and now have grown musically because of that.  I enjoyed the atmosphere and the style and dedications of living in Japan and respect/public discipline in Japan. My favourite food was the hot pot our host family had made for us the night we arrived. I enjoyed our homestay because of the warmth and kindness we were shown by Mr and Mrs Goto, and the connection/relationship we formed during homestay. They both felt like family even only after 2/3 days.
- Tim W

Over the last few weeks Alice C has been in Budapest, Hungary representing Australia in the U15 National Judo team. 

Alice participated in a 10 day high-level International Training Camp before competing at the Budapest Cup International Competition, followed by more training.

Alice was one of only 10 athletes selected from across Australia. Unfortunately, she didn't place this time around but performed extremely well. 

Well done Alice, we are very proud of you.