Centralian Middle School
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56 Milner Road
Alice Springs NT 0870
Subscribe: https://www.cms.nt.edu.au/subscribe

Email: Centralian.middle@education.nt.gov.au
Phone: 08 8955 2333
Fax: 

15 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Important dates

5pm Wednesday 20th February – Year 8 Disco
Thursday 21st February – Year 7 Sleepover
Thursday 21st February – Clontarf Year 8 Sleepover
Thursday 28th February to Friday 1st March – Clontarf Year 7 Camp
Friday 8th March – Swimming Carnival
Thursday 14th to Friday 15th March – Clontarf Year 8/9 Camp
Friday 15th March – School Development Day – no school for students
Friday 12th April – last day of Term 1

From the Principal

Dear families

Three weeks are completed and the learning in the school is picking up the pace. We have continued to have a number of new families and students join the school over the last few weeks and I extend a warm welcome to them.

Thanks to everyone who attended our Meet the Teacher Afternoon Tea on Wednesday. This was an informal opportunity to meet and chat and start a relationship that we wish to develop over the year as we work together to support your young person to be the person they dream of becoming.

We also held our School Council AGM on Wednesday after the afternoon tea. School Council is the governance body of the school which provides valuable strategic guidance and input into the school’s direction and priorities. Being involved in Council allows you to understand much more deeply how and why the school operates as it does and provide input into the school’s continual improvement. There is space for seven parent members and we currently have six positions filled, so if you are interested in joining Council please give me a call. It is not a big commitment – typically one meeting of 1½ hours a month. We don’t have a strong focus on fundraising.

Included with this newsletter are Assessment Schedules for each year level which outline the key tasks that students need to complete in each learning area. The schedules also include a timeline so that you can understand what your young person will be learning and working on as they move through the term. We provide these schedules so that you can talk with your young person about their learning and support them to plan and complete these key tasks.

We have a strong focus at the moment on activities and events that support our students to get to know each other and get to know staff. This week the Year 7 Girls Academy students slept over and on Thursday next week all Year 7 students have the same opportunity. (Paperwork has been sent home about his sleepover.) The Year 8 students have a disco next Wednesday after school and there is information in the newsletter about this.

A big component of our program at the moment is that all students are undertaking Swimming and Water Safety lessons as part of their Health and Physical Education classes. This includes practical lessons at the town pool and theory lessons at school. In Week 6 (Friday 8th March) we have our Swimming Carnival as the culminating event of this program. The carnival is held at the Town Pool and parents and family members are welcome to join us to celebrate the day.

While our 2019 School Captains and Vice-Captains were selected last year, we are starting to run processes to elect our other student leadership positions. This week students interested in taking on Captain or Vice-Captain positions in their houses completed nomination forms and there will be house meetings on Monday for the elections to occur. Next week we will seek nominations for our Student Representative Council positions which will be elected in the following week. These are great opportunities for our young people to develop their skills and I encourage all of our students to put themselves forward.

Unfortunately one of our staff, Mr Westermann, has had to travel to Adelaide to care for his sick sister. He expects to be away for the remainder of the term. Ms Loveena Guilford has taken over his position in the Year 7.1 class.

Warm regards
Paul van Holsteyn
Principal

Assessment Schedules

Each term we will provide you with Assessment Schedules so that you know the key assessment tasks your young person has to complete in each subject area and the timeframe for when items are due. The Term 1 Assessment Schedules are below.

If you have any questions, please contact your young person’s teacher.

Introducing some of our programs

Centralian Girls Academy

The Girls Academy program provides targeted support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls in Years 7-12. However it is also open to Non Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Girls. At Centralian Girls Academy the focus is on improving educational outcomes and engagement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls.

The Girls Academy program caters for Centralian MIddle School girls by offering a range of activities and events to engage students and assist with participation in school as a result of building confidence and character through the program.

We are always ready to welcome new members into our academy. If your daughter is interested in enrolling but is yet to do so, we have plenty of forms available that can be sent home with your daughter.

We have three staff – Kiah Smith, Michelle Dhu and Aaliyah Fuamatu. If there are any questions, please call us at school.

L-R: Michelle Dhu, Kiah Smith and Aaliyah Fuamatu

Polly Farmer Follow the Dream Program

Follow the Dream programs provide specialist tutoring, one-on-one mentoring and personalised learning plans to support Aboriginal students to achieve their full potential at school and beyond. Follow the Dream also includes a range of extra-curricular activities (interstate career camps, university excursions, industry visits, work experience, awards & scholarships and inspirational speakers) to introduce students to a wealth of experiences and encourage them to dream big. We have a team of experienced tutors to assist and encourage students to broaden their academic and leadership skills.

Follow the Dream runs after school (3pm-5pm) from Monday to Thursday, and students can choose a minimum of two days per week to attend (more if they wish). A bus transports students home after school.

If you are an Aboriginal student at Centralian Middle School who would like to improve their grades and confidence at school, please speak with your teachers or come and have a chat with Virginia (Follow the Dream Co-ordinator) in the Follow The Dream room next to the library.

L-R: Virginia Morley (co-ordinator), Bill Kerr, Jenni Frank, Wendall Woods and Jo Molin

School news and updates

Meet the Teachers and Annual General Meeting

Thanks to all of the families who attended our Meet the Teacher Afternoon Tea this week. It was a really fun afternoon and we valued the opportunity to meet you.

We’ve uploaded some photos on our Facebook page if you would like to get a taste for the evening.

https://www.facebook.com/CentMS/

Our School Council conducted its AGM after the Meet the Teacher event. Thank you to the families who attended and will be serving on council this year. There are still opportunities to join – if you are interested call the school.

Year 8 Science

The Year 8s have been learning about the structure of the Earth this week, which will lead us into our main topic for the term, Rocks. The students had fun making their very own density columns to illustrate the structure of the Earth and understand how density of materials influences the manner in which the Earth’s layers are arranged.

Clontarf update

We had a busy week 2 at Clontarf, with lots of activity in the room during the week. The competition was as fierce as ever on the table tennis table, and already we’re seeing some boys coming out of their shell and their confidence is growing. Monday we made healthy milkshakes, we had Taco Tuesday, as well as a game of footy Vs Yirara after school.

Wednesday we had our first before school training session – 22 boys attended, followed by breakfast. Thursday 16 boys stayed back after school for a sleepover in the academy room. The boys went to the movies, followed by a dinner. Friday the boys were up super early packing up their swags and getting ready for a big day of cricket out at Yirara College for the annual inter-school Imparja Cup challenge. The boys had a great day and played good cricket in the right spirit.

Year 8 Disco

Battle of the School Bands

Community Announcements

Sports vouchers

There is a change to how Sport Vouchers are being distributed this year. Schools are not being provided with vouchers for each student. Rather, families have to apply for vouchers online. Go to:

http://www.sportvoucher.nt.gov.au/

Alice Springs Junior Tennis

Totem Youth Theatre

Wests’ Netball Club

Safety House Program now closed – from Neighbourhood Watch NT

Neighbourhood Watch NT would like to inform you that the Safety House program is no longer operational in the Northern Territory.

With the start of the new school year upon us it’s a great time to discuss getting to and from school safely with your children. There are a few simple steps that go a long way to helping our children stay safe:

  • Make sure your children know their address and has your contact details with them
  • Work with your children to plan out the safest route to school and talk about the importance of sticking to the route
  • Identify, with your children, safe places they could go to if they feel unsafe on their way to or from school

Remember to tell your children who will be picking them up, where from and instructions of what to do if that person doesn’t arrive

You can find more handy tips and fun ways to engage your children in mapping out the safest route to school on our website:

http://www.nhwnt.org.au/

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.

https://www.facebook.com/CentMS/