Canberra Excursion for Staff

This Friday while the boys are enjoying the first day of their holidays all of the teachers are heading to Canberra on an excursion to visit some other schools. One of the challenges of teaching is that it is such an all-consuming role that opportunities to visit other schools and teachers are few and far between.

All schools are different and therefore each school has different strengths and weaknesses. Our goal as a teaching staff is to reflect on our practice and to think about how we can continue to develop as a school.

Throughout our visit we will be targeting three areas; inquiry-based learning, differentiation (meeting each child’s learning needs) and the use of the learning environment. Each of these areas is part of our core business as educators and has been a focus area in our Staff Meetings throughout the year.

Each of the schools we are visiting is also on the PYP journey and will provide a helpful opportunity for comparison and reflection. These types of school visits are very common in the PYP network and we have also hosted a number of teacher groups throughout the year.

Year 5 2014

As mentioned on Spaces, it is with great excitement that I can confirm that we will definitely have an additional Year 5 Class (not composite) next year that will grow to a second Year 6 Class in 2015. We have been thrilled with the level of interest and it is likely that we will have two Year 5 classes of 17-20 boys next year. This is a fabulous result for our school, as it will provide so many benefits for our existing boys and for the new boys who will be joining us. These benefits include the opportunity to make new friends and to learn with other boys, greater depth in our sporting ranks and increased numbers of boys transitioning to Stanmore. We have also begun conducting enrolment interviews for Year 5 for 2015.

Whilst I can’t guarantee which class he will be teaching, we are also very excited to be welcoming Mr Shayne Pollard to our teaching team next year. He will join us from St Rose Catholic School where he has been an outstanding classroom teacher and filled a variety of leadership roles.

Limited vacancies exist in Kindergarten, Year 5 and some other year levels. If you know people that might be interested please encourage them to call the School Office at their earliest convenience.

 ‘The Late Harvest’ Social and Fundraising Event

You will have recently received an invitation from the P&F Social and Fundraising for the upcoming event titled ‘The Late Harvest’ on Saturday 26 October.

The funds raised on the evening will go towards two initiatives that will support the boys’ learning in the future. The first is the construction of an outdoor Bush Classroom. The idea is simply to build ‘campfire’ style seating down in the bush behind the school so that classes can go down there and have lessons. We are so blessed to be surrounded by the bush and we want to do more to take advantage of it.

The second is to purchase some additional instruments to support the new intake of Year 5 boys in future years.

I consider it a great privilege to work in such a supportive learning community. This event promises to be another great celebration of this!

Black and White Ball

Last Saturday night was the Black and White Ball and the final event in what has been a spectacular year of sesquicentenary celebrations. Hundreds of people, from across all three campuses, joined together to celebrate the Newington Community at The Star which had been beautifully decorated in black, white and silver.

The were a number of highlights throughout the evening including listening to Darren Percival, former contestant on ‘The Voice’, and dancing the night away to the tunes of Jelly Bean Jam. However, perhaps the most memorable event of the night came towards the end when the raffle was drawn for the new car. At the time I was sitting amongst a group of Lindfield families as mass excitement erupted when Nicole Webster’s name was called out.

Thanks go to the Sesquicentenary Committee for organising this event and so many others throughout the year and to the parents who attended the evening. Happy 150^th Newington!

Abbotsleigh Explore Program – Spring 2013

Abbotsleigh is running the Explore Program for gifted and talented students over the coming holiday period.  The program aims to provide challenging and enriching learning opportunities for children keen to explore concepts and topics in depth.  For further information and enrolment details please use this link http://www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au/community/abbschool/Documents/Explore_Spring13.pdf

Happy Holidays

I wish all of the boys and parents a wonderful holiday period. It has been a very busy term that has showcased the boys’ abilities and the many strengths of our school. I’m certain that the boys, and no doubt the parents, have well and truly earned their break. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy the time together!