DENILIQUIN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Welcome to Term 4, after another unpredictable year of disruption. Students certainly appear to be pleased to be back and out of lockdown, and it was nice to be able to stop needing masks outside. If you were not aware, last Sunday was World Mental Health Day, and we were even invited to get our students involved in a local colouring competition for Mental Health Week. This sounded great, yet I was confused when I saw that the item to be coloured in was made up of scary Halloween images and left me wondering what possible connection the two could have? My only thought was that shops will start to fill up with merchandise targeted at children and aimed at emptying their parent’s pockets of more cash.  Possibly I’m just getting too old and cranky, but it bothers me that yet another imported custom is taking over without any context, and that it appears in mainstream media which is dominated by the USA.  90% of conventional news comes out of the USA and thus Globalization continues to spread its tentacles, constantly subsuming local cultural identity.

I did politely decline the offer of joining in the competition but suggested to staff that they might ask students to do their own designs for a World Mental Health Day poster.  We also need to take seriously that, particularly with the challenging times we are living through, mental health is in crisis.  Yet it appears the more we talk about it, the worse it gets and the only answer offered is for more money to be spent by governments on services. 

It reminds me that our mental health is often linked to the level of hope in our lives.  I feel so blessed to have the peace and hope that God freely gives those who call on him and know that His unconditional love, forgiveness and grace will take away all fear, guilt and condemnation.  This is a relief, as so often my biggest critic is myself. Paul’s wonderful statement that “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ” (Romans 8:1) silences the inner critical voice and replaces it with the knowledge that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

The other wonderful antidote to alienation and loneliness is community. We are blessed to walk together in unity to support one another. Therefore,  please let us know if and when things are overwhelming and your children are struggling, so that we can rally our combined resources to walk together and bear one another’s burdens. 

May the joy of the Lord, be your strength.

Paul Arundell

Date	Event
Monday, 25 October	Scholastic Book Club orders due
Every Thursday from 28/10-18/11	Kinder Orientation
Monday - Fri, 1-5 November	High School Exams
Thursday, 25 November	Year 7 Orientation Year 6 Graduation
Wed - Fri, 1-3 December	Stage 2 Camp
Friday, 10 December	Presentation Night

Term 4 is upon us, and it is wonderful how well the children have settled in after the Spring Break and the four weeks of home learning. There is plenty of fun learning planned for this term and we look forward to welcoming the 2022 Kinder students for Orientation Days soon. The Year 2 students will also be visiting the Stage 2 class to see what awaits them in the year ahead. 

The Infants’ class have already begun participating in two daily challenges. The first is called 10-4-10, where the class is to read for ten uninterrupted minutes each day of the school week for the ten weeks of the term.  By the end of the term, we should have read for over eight hours. The second challenge  involves cricketing skills, such as, catching and throwing, bouncing, and striking and is  called The Mascot Challenge. For ten minutes at the start of each day for four weeks, the children will do drills to practice these skills. I repeatedly say to the children “how do we get better at something?” to which they now know to respond “practice, practice, practice!” I am excited to see how the children’s reading and bat skills improve by the end of the term. We will keep you posted on how we are progressing. 

Last Thursday Mrs Fowler came into our class to lead a lesson from the Fun Friends program she is running with the children. This week she was telling the children that slow controlled breathing can be helpful in some situations. Using some soapy water and a straw, Mrs Fowler asked the children to practice slow controlled breathing. As you can see from the photos below some of the children have ample lung capacity!  

Other learning topics for Term 4 include Creative Arts dance unit ‘Praise You in this Storm’, PDH unit ‘People Who Help Us’ and the Science unit ‘Amazing Machines’.  Lots of great learning and fun to be had in the weeks ahead. 

Have a blessed week, 

Smiles, Mrs Murphy ? 

Term 4 is underway and it’s going to be a busy, fun-filled term indeed. For sport in Weeks 1-3 we are doing cricket at the stadium. So far, it’s been a lot of fun! For Creative Arts and PE this term we are doing bush dancing with Stage 3. As part of PDH we are doing the ‘Friends for Life’ program with Mrs Fowler. This week we had fun blowing bubbles to practice breathing out to help us relax. We are looking forward to lots of events this term. Thank you to all families who returned their camp Expression of Interest forms for Billabong Ranch. Please enjoy our photos from Week 1 and 2.

Miss Dyson.

It has been a pleasure to have Stage 3 back at school, in person! For the Year 6 students, this is their last term of Primary School! Some of them have enjoyed the opportunity of being able to sit with the High School students at recess and lunchtimes. Details for the Year 6 Graduation and Orientation will be coming in the coming weeks - great events to look forward to.

This Term, there are lots of new topics to learn about:

English - Humour (see below for some Memes the students have created!)

Geography - A Sustainable Australia

PDHPE - Valuing Others (beginning with First Aid)

Creative Arts - Bush Dancing

Sport - Cricket

Thoughts about Humour

In English this term, the students are learning about all different kinds of humour, including jokes, memes, funny poems, humorous stories and spoken comedy. As we commenced this unit of study, the students have done lots of talking and thinking about types of comedy, as well as appropriate humour. This is a concept that is really worthwhile discussing with your child - what do you and your family consider to be appropriate humour? Are there some topics that shouldn't be joked about? Why? It is important that the students have a robust understanding of humour as they grow up, as it is such a large part of relationships and communication, particularly in Australia. The students were asked this question last week: Should sensitive topics be joked about? Why not have this discussion with your child, and share your thoughts with each other? To help care for each other during these lessons, we have created these guidelines for the humour that we use and access:

1. Be sensible

2. Be respectful

3. Be sensitive

4. Don't get personal

5. Be age appropriate

PIPS

Last term, all students presented their PIPs in class. Well done, particularly to those students who had put in extra effort during home learning, to make a really interesting presentation. All students were given their marking rubric on the last day of term.

Homework reward

At the end of term, students will make their own gingerbread house as part of the homework reward! Please encourage your child to complete their homework and bring it in on Fridays (with a second chance the next day they attend school) so that they will reach Gold level. This is not a reward to be missed!

Miss Keast.

The Book Week assembly was a great way to celebrate the last week of Term 3.  The students and staff put a great deal of imagination and creativity into their  costumes and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time playing the part of their  chosen book character. The judges had a very hard time choosing the winners for  each stage and would have liked to award everyone for the effort they put in! The Book Fair was also very popular and a highlight of the week with many  students taking home a new book/s to read over the holidays! 

We are now up to the last Scholastic Book Club order for this year. Each primary student has had catalogues distributed  to their class. High School students who are interested in having a  look at a catalogue can come and get one from the  Library. Please use the LOOP online ordering system or make  sure students have correct money & orders back at  school by 25th October. 

Blessings, 

Helen Arundell 

Library Assistant 

(library@dcs.nsw.edu.au or helen.arundell@ dcs.nsw.edu.au)   

  

CLUB CRICKET REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN:

• Local Cricket Clubs are currently taking registrations for the upcoming cricket season.
• There is something suitable for boys and girls aged 5 and up.
• Cricket is a great way to be active and make new friends

 

Head to https://play.cricket.com.au/ to find your local club.

JERIM HAYES | Cricket Manager - MurrayM: +61 426 816 530 | T: +61 2 8302 6047 | E: Jerim.Hayes@cricketnsw.com.auW: www.cricketnsw.com.au | A: 208 Fallon St, North Albury NSW 2640