13 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

Important dates

Thursday 19th March – Clontarf Year 7, 8 & 9 Cricket Carnival

Friday 20th March – Harmony Day and Battle of the School Bands

Friday 20th March – Interschool Swimming

5pm Monday 23rd March – School Council meeting

Wednesday 25th March – Year 7 Excursion to Telegraph Station

Thursday 9th April – Youth Health Expo

Thursday 9th April – last day of Term 1

Monday 20th April – Staff learning day

Tuesday 21st April – first day of Term 2 for students

From the Principal

Dear families

We ‘ve had a great and busy couple of weeks, with a strong learning focus complemented by additional opportunities for our learners. For example we have had our swimming program, Clontarf and Girls Academy events, lessons commencing with the Music School and some of our students participating in a resilience and leadership program in conjunction with G Training.

We also had a fantastic Swimming Carnival last Friday. Participation was great and the house and school spirit that was on display certainly reflected our values of respect, responsibility and fairness. Ahelhe/Earth narrowly took out the event, reflecting their particularly high participation rate. We structure our events so that it is usually the house with the highest participation that wins. From our carnival we have selected students to represent CMS at the interschool swimming competition next week.

We held our School Council Annual General Meeting last week. Thanks to all families who attended and also to those who joined the Council this year. School Council provides strategic guidance to the school to ensure we are providing the best possible learning opportunities to our students. School Council meets monthly and all families are welcome to attend even if they are not formal members. Our next meeting is at 5pm on Monday 23rd March.

We are going to have a staff learning day at the beginning of next term, on Monday 20th April. That means that school returns for students on Tuesday 21st April. Staff will be spending time planning using our instructional model, using a new system to analyse student learning data and continuing our learning around SWPBS.

Warm regards
Paul van Holsteyn
Principal

School news and updates

Introducing our Wellbeing Team

The Wellbeing Team at CMS helps to ensure there are supports available for students experiencing challenges in their lives including changes in living arrangements, changes in social groups, mental health difficulties, trauma and other challenges.

Here is a photo of the team:

From left to right, the team includes:

Simon Rowlands, Year 8 Team Leader and Assistant Principal
Constable Tai Gavin, School Based Police Officer
Laura Higgins, Health Promoting School Nurse
Tom Clements, Clontarf
Denise Casey, Home Liaison Officer
Sarah Sarmiento, Counsellor
Dominic Fecteau, Year 9 Team Leader
Emma Stubbs, Girls Academy
Jamahl Hayes, Aboriginal Education Worker
Michelle Pinto, Senior Teacher for Inclusion
Laryssa Montgomery, Year 7 Team Leader and Assistant Principal
Paul van Holsteyn, Principal

Each of these people is available to support young people. They also come together in the Wellbeing Team which meets every week and uses a case management approach to ensure a supportive and inclusive learning space for CMS students.

If your young person is having a tough time, please encourage them to reach out to one of these people.

Coronavirus – key messages

There is a lot of information circulating about the Coronavirus. Fortunately, there is only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Territory – this person is a tourist visiting Darwin who is currently in Royal Darwin Hospital. There are no other confirmed cases anywhere else in the Territory.

Below are some points to bear in mind:

• It is important that we are all vigilant however remain calm and not alarmed.
• We are receiving regular and ongoing advice from the Australian Government and the NT Health Officer in regards to Coronavirus and making the necessary preparations in line with the advice that we are receiving.
• It is important that we maintain good hygiene practices, which includes:
  - Regularly washing hands with soap
  - Sneezing/coughing into tissues or elbow then washing hands afterwards
  - Students not coming to school if they are sick
• The current advice around Covid19 testing is as follows:
  - People who are not sick are urged not to seek COVID-19 testing.
  - If you are sick, call your GP for advice.
  - People who are sick AND have travelled overseas in the last 14 days OR have had close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be tested.
• If you are sick with anything, please do not go to work or school
• For the latest information go to the Australian Government Department of Health website: https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov
• You can also contact the National Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080.

Harmony Day and Battle of the School Bands

We are celebrating Harmony Day next Friday (March 20th) with a range of activities in and out of the classroom. The theme for this year’s Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs’.

The big highlight of the day is the NT Music School Battle of the School Bands which is being held at CMS. We are delighted to have some students performing – they have been working hard on their original piece.

After the music we will be having a BBQ lunch followed by a Teachers Vs. Students volleyball match.

Back to School Payments

The NT Government provides a payment of $150 to help families cover school costs at the start of the year. This is typically used to go towards uniforms, stationery and excursion and camp costs.

Back to School Payments need to be spent by the end of Term 1. If you have not spent your voucher, please come in to the school to do so.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy will be taking place next term for students in Years 7 and 9. Assessments will again be online, and will be conducted from Tuesday 12th May to Friday 22nd May. Students will complete assessments in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling and grammar) and numeracy. If you do not want your young person to complete NAPLAN assessments, please contact the school.

Below is a link to a pdf with information for parents and carers. Please consult this document.

Clontarf Corner

Over the last two weeks the Clontarf boys have been flat out with morning trainings, afternoon activities, contact times and games in the room. In this “Clontarf Corner” we have a closer look at what’s been happening.

Morning Trainings

As usual we have had Tuesday and Thursday trainings. We have completed the wide world of sports, football training with great numbers as well as amazing breakfasts cooked by Billy (the BBQ whiz) and cleaned up ANZAC hill for clean-up Australia Day.

After school activities

Over the past two weeks we have ran basketball games in the gym at CMS, swims at the town pool, an awesome slip ‘n’ slide, and employment visits to Alice Springs cinema and to Scott Westover’s Horse Stables.

Plus other things…

Here at Clontarf we have also done Taco Teacher Thursday, a worksite visit to K-Mart. During contact time we’ve made bush medicine with Uncle Tyson from CSC, had Constable Tai come in for a talk as well as our usual talks with the lads.

Health checks

As always we continue to take 2 boys a week for a health check-up, another vital thing we do at Clontarf. Each boy receives a deadly choices t-shirt. This ensures our academy members are fit, healthy, and prepared for a fruitful life ahead.

Community Announcements

Bradshaw’s 80s Quiz Night

Neighbour Day

Neighbour Day is Australia’s annual celebration of community, bringing

together the people next door or across the street for a get together.

Celebrated on the last Sunday in March every year it is the perfect day to say thanks for being a great neighbour and being there to lend a hand – or for connecting with new neighbours you haven’t met yet.

Neighbour Day encourages all Australians to do what they can to reach out and connect with people in their neighbourhoods, especially those who live alone.

Relationships Australia encourages everyone to promote the message of the benefits of social connection and being a good neighbour – and to consider what they can do to connect with those around them.

5 Ideas to Celebrate Your Community

1. Have a cup of tea or a chat with a new (or old!) neighbour
2. Enjoy a neighbourhood picnic in your favourite park
3. Plan a simple ‘bring a plate’ or BBQ street party with neighbours
4. Have a street cricket match or working bee
5. Say hi and give your contact details to elderly or vulnerable neighbours

Anyone can organise an event for your street or neighbourhood. It can be helpful to ask another neighbour to help you plan.

If the 29th of March doesn’t suit – find a date that works for you and your neighbours. For more information – click on the link below.

‘The community you want starts at your front door’

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.