Term 3, Week 2 2023

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

What a blessing it is to be leading such a wonderful school community.  I have been truly overwhelmed by all the beautiful smiling faces welcoming me at Dominican and I feel privileged to be able to be a part of your school community.  I invite everyone to please come and say hello and introduce yourselves when you see me around the school- I would love to meet you all.

I spent a lot of time during the holidays finding out about the amazing teaching and learning that is happening at Dominican, and during these first weeks, I have been very impressed with what I have seen.  Children are engaged and teachers are enthused and show a deep care for their students. Within such a short time I can see the vision of Dominican alive within our school community….. ‘Inspiring hearts and minds to be the best we can be’. 

I hope everyone was able to spend some quality family time during the break and refresh ready for the new term ahead. I would especially like to welcome all the students, families and teachers who are new to our school, namely our new transition students: Amelia, Rosie, Fynn, Harlow, Henley, Ollie, Lenny,  SooHyeon (Rec), Evie (1/2) and Emma Brookman (ESO).

Term 3 is definitely shaping up to be a very exciting term with new learning opportunities and wonderful experiences for all.  Last Friday some of our Year 6 students led a welcome assembly.  I was impressed with the leadership qualities shown by our senior students, as well as the independence and confidence shown by our new transition students.  Families are always invited to share in our school assemblies as they are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the great things that are happening at our school.

This Friday we will be celebrating St Dominic’s Day.  Students are invited to bring a VIP guest to share in this event and the whole school will celebrate a liturgy, led by our year 5/6 classes and then share in some lamingtons. Students are also encouraged to wear black and white.

Last week students in Years 3 and 5 received their NAPLAN results.  If parents/caregivers have any questions about your child’s results, please don’t hesitate to speak to your child’s class teacher.  I was very pleased with our school’s overall results and we have much to celebrate at Dominican.  A big thank you must go to Nick Ryan (Leader of Learning) and class teachers for their hard work and efforts in getting students prepared and organised, and to all students in Years 3 and 5 for having the determination and stamina to complete the tests.  Congratulations to all!

Many blessings for the coming weeks.

Angela Scodella
PRINCIPAL

Welcome to Term 3 at Dominican School

A special welcome to our new students and families

Blessings to you all…

ST DOMINIC’S DAY CELEBRATION

Tomorrow Thursday August 3 is the Feast Day of St Dominic, our Patron Saint, and this FRIDAY AUGUST 4 we will celebrate ST DOMINIC’S DAY as a school community.  To mark the occasion, students are invited to come to school dressed in our Dominican colours of black and white, and to contribute a gold coin donation to support the work of the Sophia centre established by the Dominican Sisters.  We will host a special morning for VIPs to gather in prayer, visit classrooms, and share in morning tea.

This day provides us with a special way to honour and give thanks for the life of St Dominic and the way we live his mission today through our Dominican Pillars of Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry.  We look forward to celebrating Dominican School as a place of great faith and learning where we live VERITAS to grow in God’s Love.

CELEBRATING OUR FAITH

We are blessed to be able to share in the CELEBRATION OF LITURGY & MASS as a Catholic School community. This term we will gather for whole school celebrations on the following dates:

FRIDAY AUGUST 4 – ST DOMINIC’S DAY LITURGY
Led by the 5/6 classes – 9.45am MFC

TUESDAY AUGUST 15 – ASSUMPTION OF MARY
Led by the R-2 classes – 12.00pm Sacred Heart Church 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER  8 – NATIVITY OF BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Led by the Year 3/4 classes – 12.00pm Sacred Heart Church

For all Masses, students will walk to and from the Church supervised by their teachers. Teachers will inform families of rehearsal dates and times in preparation for these celebrations.

These celebrations provide us with the opportunity to gather in faith, hope and love, and we look forward to sharing our Masses with Father Roderick, parishioners and families.

COMMUNITY PRAYER

All families are warmly invited to attend our R-6 COMMUNITY PRAYER & ASSEMBLIES on Fridays at 9.00am in the Multi-Function Centre.  Please see below for this term’s calendar of dates:

Week 3 Friday August 11 
Led by Year 5

Week 6 Friday September 1
Led by Year RS

Week 8 Friday September 15
Led by Year 1/2AB

Week 9 Friday September 22
Led by Year 3/4S

MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD is the curriculum for teaching human sexuality education in South Australian Catholic Schools. It is grounded in the Catholic understanding that all humans are made in the image of God, deserving the utmost dignity and respect, and that sexuality is a fundamental dimension of the human person.

From Weeks 6-10 of this term the MITIOG Human Sexuality Curriculum will be taught in your child’s class. Two weeks prior to the commencement of the teaching program, you will receive an overview of the content specific to your child’s year level.  You are encouraged to discuss any queries or questions with the class teacher, as well as any ideas about supporting your child in this area.  We look forward to working in partnership with you.

Alison Tanti-Clark
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION

In 3/4L we are excited to be starting Term 3 in our brand new learning space upstairs above the MFC. This is a big adjustment for all of the Year 3/4 students however we have reignited previous friendships, made new connections and enjoyed sharing our learning all together. As part of setting up our new space, we have continued focusing on developing our character strengths and using them to enhance our learning. We have a different strength focus each week, last week was humour. We found amusing and comical phrases in our class novel study of the Twits where Roald Dahl used humour to engage the audience.

Overall, it has been a really positive start to the term and we look forward to finding and utilising more of our strengths throughout the term.

Kate Lose
3/4L CLASSROOM TEACHER