Around the school

Interschool Volleyball

Centralian Middle School students recently made us proud at the annual Interschool Volleyball Carnival, showcasing incredible skills, dedication, and teamwork! Our teams practiced hard, making the most of recess and lunch breaks to refine their serves, strategize plays, and build team spirit.

Their hard work paid off in a big way, as CMS claimed both 1st and 2nd place! The rest of our teams also shone, with all placing in the top six out of 14 teams competing. Their positive attitudes, excellent teamwork, and smart planning set them apart on the court. Congratulations to our students for showing what dedication can achieve. Their success is a testament to their commitment and sportsmanship—well done!

Year 9 VET

Last week saw year 9s wrapping up their final VET program for the year. Students had a great time gaining valuable hands (and feet) on experience at CDU.

"The best bit was learning new skills, like how to do lashes." — Kaitlyn

Year 7 at work

Year 7 have been using some sweet treats to help them improve the odds of success with Probability being the focus of maths classes early in Term 4!

Lunchtime activities a hit

We're glad to see students have really taken to the range of supervised lunchtime activities we have on offer each day and love seeing our young people getting involved or sharing in some friendly competitive spirit.

Teaching in the Territory Awards 2024

CMS is thrilled to congratulate year 9 teacher Brad Gill whose dedication to his students and passion for teaching was recognised by being named the NT Central Region Secondary Educator of the Year at this year's recent Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards.

Congratulations also to Julia Pearson (Support Person of the Year) and Kenneth Braun (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Educator of the Year) for being named finalists.

Proposed Sports Development

You may have recently seen in the Centralian Today that the NT government “will pay for a new $15 million multi-sports precinct at Centralian Middle School." School Council is keen to meet with government representatives about how this can be a win-win for CMS during school hours and the community after hours. We will keep you posted as more information comes to hand.

After School Program Term 4

Coming up

Alice Can Dance — Tonight!

Final rehearsals are well under way for tonight's dance spectacular. Yesterday the dance crew headed over to Araluen Arts Centre to have their first run through on the big stage and are looking forward to bringing this year's theme — A World of Emotions — to life for those lucky enough to secure tickets for tonight's sold-out performances. 

We asked some of the dancers how they were feeling after coming off the rehearsal stage today:

"I'm looking forward to people watching us and standing on the stage dancing." — Usaia

"The moves are really dramatic and I love how the lights are. It's anxious!" — Nathan

"Exhilarating! — Julian

Kinda nervous, kinda really exciting." — Rachel

We can't wait to see our young people lighting up the stage!

2024 CMS Presentation Night

We look forward to coming together with our CMS community to celebrate the successes of our students in 2024 at our annual presentation night. Please join us on the 5th of December in the school hall. Supper, exhibitions and performance kick off the evening at 5:30 with the main event following at 6:30.

Stars & Clontarf

Stars

The Stars team have been putting in the hard yards as always, continuing to provide our girls with memorable CMS moments. Please join them to celebrate student success at their end of year celebration next week.

Clontarf

The Alice Springs academies came together at CMS last Wednesday to celebrate the achievements of our young fellas. A big congratulations to all our fellas on another successful year and especially to the Jarred, Tarynt, Joseph, Cyrus, Jakyle, Noah, Ziggy and Davern who each took home an award.

Facebook

Facebook - Keep up to date with all our news and updates

Head on over to ‘like’ our Facebook page to keep in touch with school news, highlights and achievements of our wonderful students. We encourage people to like and share our posts.

Please read the terms of engagement before posting comments.

Community Announcements

NT Sport voucher at the Y (students over 16 only)

Students over 16 can use their NT Sport vouchers to get a 2-month membership at Kilgariff YMCA. Scan below for details.

Hello, Werte!

What an exciting past two weeks at CMS! Despite the weather warming up, there is a positive energy in the air as students immerse themselves in their learning and extra-curricular activities.

This term we have seen a record number of students receive ‘Merit Awards’ for consistently demonstrating the CMS values of Respect, Responsibility and Fairness. There are plenty of exciting rewards up for grabs over the next few weeks, and we are excited to see as many students as possible celebrating their merit card achievements with Ms. McCarthy at the Gillen Club in week 10.

As our amazing year 9 students prepare to make the leap over to Centralian Senior College, we are excited to begin the process of selecting School Captains and Vice-Captains for 2025. There is no shortage of leadership potential in our year 8 cohort, and we are excited to see them vie for leadership positions. The position of School Captain comes with great honour and responsibility. They are ambassadors for the school and demonstrate an exceptional attendance and behaviour record; show commitment to the school through academic and cultural involvement; demonstrate leadership capacity and have a vision for their position at CMS.

Last week Clontarf celebrated their annual Awards Night alongside Yirara College and Centralian Senior College. It was great to see our families and school community come together to celebrate the achievements of our young men over the course of 2024. A special mention goes to the following students who won awards on the night;

• Attendance Award – Jarred Ryan
• Most Determined – Tarynt Stubbs
• Leadership Award– Joseph Brown
• Principals Award– Cyrus Maher
• Community Award – Jakyle Kelly
• Employment Award– Noah Wilson
• Clontarf Junior Spirit Award– Ziggy Tiltsen-Collins
• Clontarf Senior Spirit Award – Davern Norman

Stars have been busy supporting our CMS girls this term both inside and outside of the classroom. Last week they held a sleepover for year 8 girls, rewarding them for their attendance and behaviour in term 4. The camp involved a range of fun activities and team building opportunities. The girls had an amazing time and came back to school on cloud 9.

Despite the year drawing to a close, our lunchtime activities continue to ramp up. Multi-sports held in the hall on Friday continues to draw a crowd, providing an opportunity for students to learn new skills and compete hard against their peers. Next Wednesday students will have the opportunity to participate in a basketball competition facilitated by Mr. Haack. We have some special basketball talent amongst our students, and we are excited to see them in action!

Can I take this opportunity to remind parents and carers that CMS has a healthy food policy and does not allow students to bring junk food into school or into the classroom. This includes soft drinks and energy drinks. I would like to thank our parents and carers for their support in ensuring students are wearing correct uniform and enclosed footwear. This is important from both a safety perspective and to ensure students are representing CMS with pride.

Thanks,

Dan Lewinski
Associate Principal

New Uniform in 2025!

CMS students will have a new uniform in 2025 after students and School Council voted for a new design. The new polo is royal blue and features artwork by a local artist. This will be accompanied by a royal blue hoodie with the embroidered CMS logo and black shorts or trackpants. We have ordered stock in time for back to school and encourage all students to wear the new uniform next year. However, in Term 1 we will accept either the old or the new uniform as families make the change over.

Free internet for eligible families

The School Student Broadband Initiative is a Federal Government voucher system that aims to make at-home internet connection affordable for all families with school-aged children. Eligible families can access free internet until the end of 2025.

Applications need to be made by 31 December 2024.

To apply:

1. Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610, from Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm (AEDT) or visit anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet.
2. Responding to questions that assess your eligibility.
3. Eligible families will be provided with a voucher they can use to connect to their chosen participating internet provider.
4. Connect before December 31st, 2024.

Important dates

After School Program Term 4

Halloween in Town

Get into the spirit 👻 early as the town council kicks off Halloween tonight. Head to the town library at 3pm for some spooky stories or straight to the mall starting at 4pm for the Halloween Pop Up Party.

Term 4 Assessment Schedules

What's happening

Alice Can Dance

With the annual dance spectacular fast approaching, our young people have been hard at work, practising their moves and sharing their thoughts with the cameras behind the scenes as they use their bodies and minds to explore these year's theme, A World of Emotion.

250 of Central Australia’s most talented young people will take to the stage at Araluen Arts Centre for two shows only on November 15th, to illuminate the human experience that connects us all - our emotions and how we understand them, feel them and use them. Tickets are on sale now, so be sure you don't miss out!

Date: Friday, November 15th
Time: 5:00pm and 7:00pm
Where: Araluen Arts Centre
Tickets: Available now from www.araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au     (Adult: $12, Concession: $10, Student: $6, Family: $30)

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Year 8 exploring Country

Our year 8 small groups classes have hit the ground running this term with all three classes already expanding their classroom learning with excursions to learn more about Country.

8.1 and 8.2 visit Ntaria

Year 8.1 and 8.2 spent a day travelling west to Ntaria country to visit the house of Albert Namatjira, the Historic Precinct at Hermannsburg and the Aranda Artists at the Hermannsburg Pottery. The classes were accompanied by Ms Jannette McCormack and Tamika Williams from the Language Centre.

At Namatjira’s house we learned that Albert and his wife lost a child and for cultural reasons left the property to live elsewhere. The boys were very respectful of the cultural and spiritual significance of the site.

Jarred and Lance commented that the house was quite small, however they felt compared to modern day standards, that it would be very liveable.

‘We can’t believe that 24 kids would fit into that space.’
Noah and Julian were surprised by the conditions of the boy’s accommodation at the Lutheran Mission.

LeShaun and Cedric were wondering how the tannery equipment worked.

William and Lynton were very impressed by the creative work at the pottery and hope that one day they can also creative such decorative and creative pieces.

Throughout the day the group paid respect to the culture, landscapes and people on traditional country. Students will pursue the discussions in their English and Arrernte lessons back at school.

Photography by William, Noah, Julian, Jarred and Lance.

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8.7 visited the Central Australian Museum

8.7 headed across to the Araluen Cultural Precinct this week with Culture teacher Mali to learn about the natural history of local Country and the importance of water.

Even the teachers had a great time and are always learning something from Mali's lessons.

Ms Angela

We are learning about water in the central desert. The few permanent water holes that exist serve as essential water sources for all life in the desert which we must respect and protect. 

Ms Nola

I loved seeing some of the rocks and minerals that came from Central Australia. Places I used to fossick such as Harts Range, Peterman Range and Attunga.

2024 so far

Attendance

Our attendance has increased slightly in Term 3, with our most recent census at 66%. Our goal is to achieve 70% attendance this term. We can’t raise attendance without family support.

Please let us know if we can support in any way, and please contact us if your young person is sick or has another reason for absence: call 89552333 or text 0426308566.

School Wide Positive Behaviour

Our schoolwide focus on (re)teaching and rewarding positive behaviour is seeing significant improvements. A safe school is a welcoming place that supports wellbeing and learning. Since Term 1, major behaviour incidents such as targeted swearing and vandalism have dropped by 50%. Fights has decreased by 66%. CMS staff have done training in Restorative Practices, so we have more skills to understand and assist our young people talk out their differences and take responsibility for repairing harm. As a result of this focus on positive behaviour, suspensions in Term 3 were down by 75%.

A focus for positive behaviour this term will be looking after classrooms and spaces, putting rubbish in the bin, cleaning up and taking pride in our school.

Teaching and Learning

On Day 1 of term, staff listened to Kenny Lechleitner, a local cross-cultural presenter who helped us reflect on how to be good mentors and teachers for all our young people. He reminded us of Wenten Rubuntja’s words that all the kids born here, black and white, are yipirinya kids. We belong together and to this place. We learn together.  Kenny Lechleitner also affirmed the important work of schools because literacy gives young people power in their lives to access knowledge and the economy.

Literacy continues to be a main focus for CMS teachers. Teachers are using the same strategies to teach vocabulary, based on the best educational research. We are also encouraging our students to read in Home Group, to read for pleasure. It doesn’t matter if it is the newspaper, a magazine, non-fiction or teen fiction. Just read!

We have been focusing on the CMS Instructional Model and how to structure lessons and units to keep students interested and learning. Teachers have volunteered to have parts of their lessons filmed and these videos are shared in professional learning. This helps teachers to see outside their own classrooms and shares best practice.

Year 9 Small Groups and Flexi are continuing transition visits to Centralian Senior College this term. Transition opportunities will continue for incoming primary students, especially Gillen Primary School who were unable to join us on the whole day transition visit in Term 3.

Staffing

We continue to be fully staffed, including relief teacher capacity. We welcomed two new staff members this term:

• Mr Jawwad Ali – Year 8 English/Humanities replacing Delean Holtze
• Mr Kenny Braun – Aboriginal Education Officer replacing Rachel Abbott

We're currently recruiting a few positions for 2025. The vast majority of teachers are committed to staying at CMS.

Celebrations

Seven CMS staff are nominated for Teaching in the Territory awards: Teachers Jemma Seddon, Matthew Stephens, Vicky Howie; Support Staff Ibu Darmini, Sandrine Frapier. Two finalists are Julia Pearson for Support Person of the Year and Brad Gill for Secondary Teacher of the Year.

I am deeply grateful for the amazing CMS staff team, and I’m sure you’ll join me in celebrating their care, dedication and skill.

Dr Glenda McCarthy
 Principal

Free internet for eligible families

The School Student Broadband Initiative is a Federal Government voucher system that aims to make at-home internet connection affordable for all families with school-aged children. Eligible families can access free internet until the end of 2025.

Applications need to be made by 31 December 2024.

To apply:

1. Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610, from Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm (AEDT) or visit anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet.
2. Responding to questions that assess your eligibility.
3. Eligible families will be provided with a voucher they can use to connect to their chosen participating internet provider.
4. Connect before December 31st, 2024.

Stars & Clontarf

As they head towards the end of another successful year, both our academies are preparing to celebrate student achievements in 2024 with our communities.

Stars

Stars will be gathering together on Thursday November 12th for their End of Year Celebration. Starting at 6pm in the CMS school hall.

Clontarf

Clontarf is delighted to invite our partners, staff and families to celebrate and recognise the achievements of the CSC, CMS & Yirara Clontarf Academies at the Alice Springs Academies End of Year Awards on Wednesday November 6th. The event will be held at CMS and kicks off at 6pm.

Please click here to RSVP.

Community Announcements

NT Sport voucher at the Y (students over 16 only)

Students over 16 can use their NT Sport vouchers to get a 2-month membership at Kilgariff YMCA. Scan below for details.

Facebook

Facebook - Keep up to date with all our news and updates

Head on over to ‘like’ our Facebook page to keep in touch with school news, highlights and achievements of our wonderful students. We encourage people to like and share our posts.

Please read the terms of engagement before posting comments.

Werte, Hello!

It’s hard to believe we are in Term 4 already. This is always a busy term with PAT testing, assessments, report writing and end of year celebrations. Please add the date for our Presentation Night to your calendar before it fills up – Thursday 5^th December – so we can all be together to celebrate the achievements of our amazing students.

We have had a good start to the term with a calm and positive energy in classrooms and the school yard. Most students are wearing their school uniform with pride, and we continue to see learning and wellbeing benefits from young people handing in their phones at the start of the day or not bringing them to school. This is also the time of year when we write our School Improvement Plan for 2025. Thanks to families who responded to the School Survey, as that feedback helps us plan. I’d like to share some of the progress we’ve made together so far this year.

Dr Glenda McCarthy
 Principal