22 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

Important dates

Monday 25th May – School Council meeting
Monday 8th June – Queen’s birthday Public Holiday
Monday 22nd June - School Council meeting
Thursday 25th June - Semester 1 reports mailed home
Friday 26th June - Last day of Term 2

From the Principal

Dear families

We have reached the midpoint of the term and I have to say that it has taken us this length of time to get the school totally back to normal in terms of student attendance. Our classes are now full and learning is pushing ahead with a momentum that is making up for lost time. Our 7s are learning about biography and geometry, 8s about text analysis and probability and 9s about short stories, contemporary issues and algebra.

Our teachers are also starting the process of writing reports to outline student achievement across the semester. While there have been interruptions to learning, there has still been considerable progress made and we look forward to providing these reports to families at the end of the term.

The NT Government recently released the Roadmap to the New Normal which outlines the process for how we are going to reopen our society and the requirements that need to be in place. You will notice that cafes and restaurants have reopened, and student sports and after school activities will restart over the next few weeks. The Roadmap does not have a significant impact at CMS, with our focus on hygiene and encouragements to distance remaining in place. There will be small changes, like recommencing excursions if we can achieve the enhanced risk management requirements, but within the school our approach will not change much.

I have to say that it is becoming more difficult to get students to regularly and thoroughly wash their hands – as the weather has cooled students have become more reluctant to do so. Please speak with your young person about washing hands to reiterate the importance of this. Washing hands is one of the best protections that we have against the coronavirus and indeed against all types of infection.

We were delighted to welcome Constable Tai Gavin back to the school this week. He had been redeployed to other areas at the height of the COVID situation, but is back with us now connecting with and supporting students and staff.

Finally, I will be away from the school at times over the next two weeks. Ms Laryssa Montgomery will take over the role of Acting Principal and Ms Clarence Jeanny will backfill Ms Laryssa’s role as the Year 7 Team Leader.

Warm regards
Paul van Holsteyn
Principal

School news and updates

Year 9 transition to Centralian Senior College

Our Year 9 students went on their first transition visit to Centralian Senior College today. This is part of a long journey to get them ready to confidently make the jump to Year 10 next year. Students today received a tour of the college, got to meet key staff and completed a series of learning activities to help them reflect on themselves and their aspirations for the future.

Supporting students returned from boarding school

We have a small number of students on site who have returned to Alice Springs from their boarding school due to COVID-19. They are completing the work set by the boarding school in our environment supported by tutor staff. If you know of someone who has returned from boarding school and is looking for a good place to continue their learning, ask them to call the school.

School photos

We have just received school photos back and will be distributing these to students next week. There was a considerable delay so we are delighted that they are ready for handing out.

From Year 7

In Year 7, we have been looking at what are biography Texas, after finding information from it, we are putting it in a timeline sequence, Kadeen Roman.

In the photos below, we are learning about reusing recycling and reducing plastic waste, and also learning about ways to reuse bottles and different things that we would usually throw away in our science class.

Small Group Classes

A few photos of 7.1 & 7.2 competing against each other using a program called Mathletics. What a great way of learning maths, while having fun!

Clontarf Corner

Welcome to the 2rd edition of Term 2.

With the school restrictions still in place Clontarf’s members are in great spirits, enjoying a wide variety of activities from dodgeball, basketball, Connect 4 competition, staff vs student table tennis tournaments and more.

MOVIE MADNESS

Movie Madness this term rewards members who have improved their school attendance, engaged positively in classroom and in our academy room, but also just for being a deadly bloke.

Year 7’s members that made the activity were:

• Nathan Woodbury
• Bradley Shillingsworth
• Chris Ahkit

Year 8 members that made the activity were:

• Sheldon Booth
• Dominic Maher
• Lazarus Gallager
• Alex Lewis
• Tristrum Watkins

CONTACT TIMES

This week our year 7 and 9 members had some special guest from the Central Australian Football Club Redtails Right Tracks program, Ian McAdam and Darren Talbot. They dropped in to spread a bit more awareness on the COVID-19 virus. Even though the fellas have heard about as much as they can handle on the virus, Ian and Darren presented it in a way that got the fellas involved which they all seemed to really enjoy.

DODGEBALL

Without being able to play any contact sports in the last few weeks, our fellas have really embraced playing dodgeball. Each Wednesday we have been going to the CMS Gym to unleash built up energy by throwing the soft squishy dodgeballs at each other.

TEACHER TACO THURSDAY

In an effort to get teachers into our space and build positive relationships, amazing chefs Lazarus Hogan, Bradley Shillingsworth, Benjamin Martin and Martin Norman worked great together and made incredible tacos. This also taught the fellas how to work well together while teaching them new kitchen skills.

ACADEMY ROOM COMPETITIONS

• Staff vs Students table tennis comp
• Connect 4 Competition – Winner Nathan Woodbury
• PS4 Comp – Winner Kaedon Roman

Welcome to the “News booth”
By Sheldon Booth

Once there was a boy name Boothy. He wasn’t sure where to go, but then he realised there was a thing called Clontarf. By the time he got there he was in shock, there was an 8-Ball table, Play Station 4, Table Tennis table, Connect 4, Darts, and the most important thing - there was food!

More pictures below……

“From Little Things Big Things Grow”

Community Announcements

Alice Springs Aquatic Leisure Centre

Learn to swim enrolments from May 18 for a 5 week program.

Athletics

Come & try Athletics Day is on May 24, see flyer below for more details.

To register now and join the club go to the link below.

Phoney Film Festival

Free online workshops for all creative young film-makers!

Submit a short film of less than 5 minutes duration, shot from your smartphones & tablets.

Facebook

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