Newsletter Term 2, Week 10

Keeping our school safe

This uncertain time of Corona virus is tough and

challenging for our community. The Department of

Education is being very supportive of schools and is

ensuring we have enough hygiene products to

provide a safe learning and working environment. At

Mary Brooksbank School we are well resourced and

have all the hygiene resources we need including

soap, toilet paper, wipes, disinfectant, gloves and

hand sanitiser. The Department has provided extra

cleaning hours for high touch surfaces and areas are

being cleaned more regularly. I want to assure all

parents that at this time, we are doing everything

possible to keep our school safe.

The decision to minimise the number of visitors to

the school has been a very tough one to make,

however it is always with the impact on students as

the central focus. Thank you families for your

ongoing support over this really complex time.

I ask that you make sure that students are kept

home when they are sick, so that we can keep our

whole community as healthy as possible.

Communication between families and teachers

Whilst we had learning from home, teachers and

families made good use of Seesaw to communicate

with each other. Class teachers are now using

Communication Books again, but please remember

that class time is for teaching and learning, and staff

cannot always find the time to write a lengthy

report on how your child has worked each and

every day. We’ll ring if there is an issue, and we’ll

ring if there is something exciting to share, and

write in a book or utilise Seesaw at other times.

Thanks for your understanding.

Principal’s Post

Therapists

At this stage, I am planning for therapists to return

to school in term 3. Therapists have been advised of

this and are able to commence providing services to

your children from Monday 27th July (week 2). This

arrangement is current now, however may change

at any time depending on advice from the Health

Department and the Department of Education.

If you would like your child to receive therapy at

school, please ask their therapist to email the school

and we will organise for them to complete the

necessary paperwork and undergo the relevant

checks.

Uniform shop

The Uniform Shop, run by P&C volunteers is open

again. Rather than attending in person though, I

would ask that you send your order and money into

school. Class staff will organise with the P&C to

provide the clothing you require. If you feel the

sizing is not right, please return the items and the

P&C will gladly exchange it.

If you require a product description and price list,

please ring the school or put a note in your child’s

communication book.

The P&C would be grateful of any second hand

uniforms that you could donate to them. They are in

particular need of used jumpers and jackets. We

have a number of families who would be grateful

for this cheaper option when purchasing uniforms.

Our second hand clothing is sold at a greatly

reduced price.

Principal’s Post Continued

Semester 1 Reports

Teachers are busy compiling Semester 1 reports

at the moment. These will be sent home to-

wards the end of this week. Because students

have had a major disruption to the usual pattern

of learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and

have spent less time at school this semester, the

comment on their Personalised Learning and

Support Plan goals may be shortened. However,

we will be providing a general comment on all

key learning areas as we normally would. We

would love to hear your comments on your

child’s report.

Staff farewell……………and welcome

Ewa Ciszewska has worked at Mary Brooksbank

School for 27 years, most recently as an Assis-

tant Principal in the Junior School. Ewa has re-

cently retired and her depth of knowledge about

special education will be greatly missed. She also

holds an enormous amount of knowledge about

the history of the school and its development as

she started here only a few years after the

school was opened.

We wish Ewa a really happy retirement and

hope that she relaxes and spends her time doing

all the things that make her happy.

At the beginning of this term, we welcomed

Christine Jones as an Assistant Principal and she

is currently working in the Senior School. Chris-

tine comes with a background in rural and re-

mote schools, schools for students with behav-

iour disorders and working in Schools for Specific

Purposes.

Jennifer Hamilton-Marsh

(Neradovsky)

Mary Brooksbank School Recipe Book

Recently you would have received a note home

asking for a recipe that represents your cultural

heritage, or one that is special to your family.

The school is compiling a recipe book and

would like to include recipes from all members

of our school community. Please send us in

your recipe with a photo of the finished food or

a photo of you or your family cooking it. Also,

please tell us why this recipe is important to

you or your culture so we can include this infor-

mation as well.

Term 3

Monday 20.07.20 Staff Return

Tuesday 21.07.20 Students Return

Friday 25.09.20 Last Day Of Term

P & C NEWS Hi Everyone

What a crazy year we have had with Covid 19 and us all having to return to school to home school our children. I am sure eve-ryone will agree with me that we have a new found appreciation of our teaching staff at Mary Brooksbank School.

Due to the fact that we are still unable to have P & C meetings at school, we had a meeting of current members off site this term. Given the present uncertain situation with having visitors to the school and the financial pressures many of us have had to endure including the businesses who would normally support the school, we have decided to cancel our major fundraiser our Bingo Night in 2020.

The P & C have proudly donated to the school the proceeds of the 2019 Bingo Night $26000 for upgrading equipment in the Senior Playground and have also given the school $26000 for 2020 which is the equivalent amount we raised in 2019 so the school will still be able to initiate new programs.

I am very proud of the fundraising efforts of our amazing P & C committee and am pleased we are still able to substantially sup-port the school in 2020 without a major fundraiser.

Kind regards

Thank you

We raised $111.60 from our Footy Colours Day for Autism Awareness

Banksia Class

It has been an eventful Term 2 for Banksia class. The boys have done their best to cope with the on-

going changing situations and have continued to show their strong work ethic. In English, Banksia

has been reading Alice and Wonderland and have been answering basic comprehension questions

about the text. Maths has been a combination of both patterns and measurement which each stu-

dent has shown great development. Science involved plants where students studied the senior

school class plants and incorporated art by drawing their interpretations of Banksia, Waratah and

Wattle. For History, Banksia studied Ancient Egypt and made their own Pharaoh Artworks, Ancient

Egyptian God Tablets and paper mâché pyramid. The class has done other outside jobs such as recy-

cling and opening/closing the gates which they have done efficiently. Enjoy these holidays boys and

be ready to work harder next term!

Chris and Cindy

Bilby Class

Bilby Class have worked very hard over the term. We have learnt about patterns and area in Mathe-

matics. You can see Bilby class members standing or lying within the area of a rectangle. In Science

students have learnt about exploring Earth in Space -and we looked at how day and night occurs as

the Earth rotates around the sun. Students have also enjoyed a range of craft, dance and music les-

sons.

Have a wonderful break and we will see you in Term 3

Emma and Nancy.

Bottlebrush Class

This term Bottlebrush class have been exploring some great topics as part of our units of work. In

science students learnt about plants and how they grow, wow we’ve got some green thumbs in

our classroom. Bottlebrush also learnt about migration to Australia using the VR headsets!

Dingo Class

Through Term 2, Dingo Class have been working hard in the classroom. Students have been focus-

ing on sharing and turn taking in group activities and communicating with their peers.

We looked at the book ‘Who Sank the Boat?’ and recreated sentences from the story as well as cre-ating artworks. All students have settled back into the classroom well after the few weeks of home learning and are thriving in their work tasks. Well done Dingos, great job !

Echidna Class

Echidna class quickly settled back into the school routine. During Term 2, they explored their fa-

vourite places, played with Beebots and learnt about different types of buildings. All students

worked very hard and enjoyed expressing themselves in creative writing tasks. Hope you all have

a safe and happy winter break.

Emu Class

It has been a wonderful semester in Emu Class. We have had so much fun at school doing gardening,

playing with BeeBots and showing off some of our dance moves. We have also been working hard read-

ing books and learning our numbers. It has been the perfect way to start off our year and have made

some great friends along the way. Here are some photos to share some of our experiences.

Teacher: Shayal

SLSO: Megan

Students: Charlie, Liza, Xavier, Jacob and Joshua.

Grevillea Class

Grevillea class has done a lot of hands on and immersive learning this year. The students especially en-

joyed exploring Japanese culture as part of their HSIE unit. Early in Term 1, the students had the

chance to participate in a Japanese Tea Ceremony. They enjoyed learning and tasting Japanese food

and drinks and dressing up in traditional Japanese clothes. We are proud of how flexible the students

have been throughout this year and hope that they have a very restful and much deserved break!

Cassie and Sharisse

Kangaroo Class

In Kangaroo class during Term 2 we have explored the various types of puppets for drama. We

got to use hand puppets and finger puppets for role play. Trish has a large collection of puppets

including a marionette puppet from Mexico which is 50 years old!

To finish up we have made our own rod puppets from a wooden spoon. These are hanging in

the office near Jen’s office.

Koala Class

Kookaburra Class

Kookaburra class have been very busy this term learning about patterns, length and area in

Mathematics. Every morning we complete our desk work and we enjoyed Sam coming into

our classroom and teaching us all about technology and the Bee Bots. We have had lots of

fun!

Wattle Class

Wattle class transitioned back to school well following their learning from home experience.

We enjoyed learning about multiculturalism during Term 2. Students explored how and why people choose to immigrate to Australia. We learnt about Australian Native Plants and enjoyed outdoor learning opportunities to explore plants using all of our senses.

We are looking forward to a busy Term 3, learning about Ancient Egypt in History and electricity in Science.

Platypus Class

Despite an unconventional start to the term, the students of Platypus class are to be commended for adapting well to the staggered attendance. Once normal classes recommenced, they showed remarkable resilience and were back into our regular routines with minimal disruption. Well done! One of the highlights of the term was our History unit where we looked at the history of the Olympics. Despite the Olympics being postponed, students looked at the achievements of past Australian athletes such as Ian Thorpe and Betty Cuthbert and made several creative artworks incorporating Olympic symbols and sports. During our Science lessons, we explored forces and movement. Students enjoyed exploring the forces applied when we push and pull items. Students also conducted experiments to examine how different levels of force impact on how far we can kick a ball or throw it in the air. On behalf of Jessika and I, we want to thank all our families for their tremendous effort during the isolation period. We appreciate the challenges it presented and were really encouraged by the response from our families in supporting their child’s ongoing learning. Wishing all the Platypus families a safe and relaxing holiday. Jessika and Jonathan

Possum Class

Possum class loved reading the text Mr McGee by Pamela Allen. We enjoyed participating in hands-

on experiments for our Forces and Movement unit in Science. We learnt lots of interesting things

about the History of the Olympics. Myriam, Courtney and I are extremely happy that all Possum class

students are making good progress in many areas of their schooling and they should feel proud of

their accomplishments this semester.

See you next term,

Freda, Myriam and Courtney

Melaleuca Class

Melaleuca Class have had a productive term 2 and have settled back into class routines. We have had

lots of fun using Beebots for technology, learning about perimeter and length in mathematics and

getting back into our learning. I hope all of our families have a safe and happy school holidays.

Annika, Joel & Meagan

Wallaby Class

Waratah Class

Waratah Class have worked very hard over the term. We have learnt about measuring, patterns, area

and perimeter in Mathematics. We measured our bodies and compared our heights. In Science,

students have been learning about plants and we grew our own shallots in class. We enjoyed the

Virtual Reality program and it was fun looking and learning about the Amazon Rainforest. Thankyou

Sam

Have a wonderful and safe break and we will see you in Term 3 CJ (Chris) and Kylie

Wombat Class

Term 2 has flown by in a flash. Wombat class have been reading Mr McGee during literacy lessons.

Learning about the history of the Olympics and exploring patterns, length and area in mathematics.

The students have all enjoyed having Sam visit with the Bee Bots for technology lessons. They have

been learning how to code by pushing the direction button to move forward on a map to get to a des-

tination. The students have been recreating famous artworks in Visual art lessons and have created

some master pieces of their own.

Wombat class wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing everyone in Term 3.

Shauna, Jodie, Lachlan, Rishant, Jay, Jawad and Ayaan