21 June 2019

Newsletter Articles

Important dates

• Tuesday 25th – Thursday 27th June – Year 9 Camp
• Thursday 27th June – Semester 1 Achievement Reports mailed home
• Friday 28th June - Last day of Term 2
• Tuesday 23rd July - First day of Term 3
• Wednesday 31st July – Learning Conferences

From the Principal

Dear families

The term is wrapping up although the pace has not decelerated, with a strong focus on assessing learning and many events occurring. This includes the Year 9 Camp to Uluru and Watarrka next week.

Next week we will be sending out end of semester achievement reports. These reports outline the achievement of our students in each learning area and are a celebration of what has been achieved so far this year. Early in Term 3 we will have Learning Conferences where we invite students and family members to come in and discuss the learning, review the portfolio of student work and consider goals for Semester 2.

As often happens at the end of a semester, we are farewelling some students, families and staff as they move on to other locations. From a staff perspective, we bid farewell to Ms Beynon, who is moving up to Darwin to take up an Assistant Principal role at Palmerston College; Ms McCord who is moving to China to teach; and Ms Guilford who is staying in Alice Springs but will be welcoming a baby into her family. We wish everyone that is leaving the school community all the best as they move on to their next adventures.

School holidays are almost here, with Friday 28th June being the last day of school for the term. The holiday break is again 3 weeks and students are due back on Tuesday 23rd July for the first day of Term 3. There are a large number of school holiday activities planned in Alice Springs and there is a calendar later in the newsletter. The Gap Youth Centre is also open every day from 4pm – 10pm in addition to scheduled activities during the day.

School holidays can be a difficult time for some young people as their routines change and they might not see their friends as much as during term time. There is a variety of support available within the community or online. Young people can access support 24/7 through calling Kids Help Line on 1800 551 800 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. Additional support can be sought through Headspace on 8958 4544 and emergency support is available at the hospital.

We hope that your young person and your family has a wonderful break from the routines of the school term, and recharge their batteries ready for another term of challenging learning.

Warm regards
Paul van Holsteyn
Principal

School news and updates

Instagram

Yesterday a ‘gossip group’ was set up on Instagram which included photos and defamatory statements about a number of our students. This group was reported numerous times and has since been taken down.

Our advice around students using social media is that parents should discuss and continue discussing with your young person how they use social media. This communication will help them to feel that they can raise any concerns they may have with you. We also strongly encourage you to monitor your young person’s use of social media. Please note that in our experience young people commonly have multiple accounts on each platform that they use.

If you or your young person have any concerns around interactions on social media, we encourage you to let us know.

If we can identify students involved in matters that are reported to the school, we will typically bring the involved students together to seek to resolve the issue and make an agreement on how to interact in future. We find that face-to-face people are typically more respectful than online.

If we cannot identify students involved or if others involved are not from CMS, it becomes more difficult for us to respond. This is where it can be appropriate to report the concerns to the police.

In our discussions with students, we recommend a – SCREEN SHOT / BLOCK / REPORT approach.

• Screen shot: Take a screen shot of the concerning interaction/image. (It is helpful if previous interactions are also recorded to provide the context of the conversation.)
• Block: Block the profile of the person who has sent the concerning interaction/image.
• Report: Report the concern to a trusted adult for support, such as a parent or teacher. Reports can also be made to the social media platform, which needs to be done before blocking.

Please note that inappropriate activities on social media can result in suspension from school or police involvement.

Clontarf Corner – the Billy Kart Derby

A few weeks back we had the annual billy cart event held at Yirara College. What a fantastic event!!!! Over the course of around 6 weeks our Year 7 students have been building the billy carts with the help of our partners at Bunnings. The boys learnt and developed new skills, and have enjoyed getting involved in the project. All the hard work came to fruition, with 8 Year 7 and 2 Year 9 students representing CMS in 2 teams, Monster Magic and Inferno. It was such a fun event where everyone got involved and had a ball. Awesome effort by all.

Developing language skills in China

Last week, 4 students from the Year 9 Chinese class joined students from Centralian Senior College on an educational study tour to China through the Alice Springs Language Centre. The group have visited Shanghai, Chengdu and Xi’an so far and will arrive in Beijing today where they’ll attend language lessons at the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College before heading back to Alice on Thursday. The students have had so many wonderful experiences already, learning about ancient China while exploring exhibits on the Han and Ming Dynasties at the Shanghai Museum, seeing incredible acrobatics and Sichuan Opera performances, and enjoying watching pandas play and learning about the vulnerable species at the Bifengxia Panda Research Centre. All students have had the opportunity to use their language skills through everyday activities such as ordering meals, speaking with tour guides and navigating the cities of China!

Poets amongst us

Our Year 7 students have been completing a unit on poetry in English. Please enjoy this selection of amazing poems using an ‘I Am From’ form.

My Home

I am from barking dogs,
From Fortnite and victory.
I am from the couch to the TV and dinner table,
I am from the bush tucker and the gum trees and wild bush flowers.

I am from dancing and Dreamtime,
From mums, dads, nanas and pops,
I am from football to netball then basketball,
I am from telling stories and making memories,
And always proud of being Aboriginal,
I am from Broome and stairways to the moon,
From Alice Springs to the red dirt.

I am from the motorbikes and Finke,
From dumplings and pork roast,
I am from family role models and rights,
From hard workers and 100s of pictures,
And the memories we made will be treasured forever!
By Nia-Maree Lord-Kenny

I am from Areyonga,
I am from crying dingoes,
I am the rock and blue sky,
The place I come from,
I am from the mulberry trees that I grow from the aunties and uncles that I already know.

I am from the waterhole where I swim and the trees that I climb on,
I am from hunting kangaroo
I am the glass that I smash,
I hope for this to last.

I am from the footy field and the basketball stadium,
I am from dancing to songs,
I am from the Pitjantjatjara people and born in Areyonga,
Witchetty grub and the damper that my auntie cooks,
I am so happy and safe.
By Lazarus Gallagher

Where I’m From

I am from crunchy sand,
The rocks and clear blue water,
I am from the salty sea air,
The sound of joy that fills the air.
I am from the spinifex shrubs,
And the tall gum trees,
With those long limbs I remember,
As if they were my own.

I am from Christmas by the sea and blue eyes as deep as the ocean,
From my mother and my father,
From grandparents who come at Easter time and the enormous meals we share together,
From playing pool with my great-uncle, his hands guiding my stick as we play.

I am from fairy tales and nursery rhymes that my mother taught me when I was young,
And from dancing with siblings in the lounge room, laughing with every stride.
I’m from beach trips on the weekend and the time we shared together,
I’m from Scotland, born in the depths of winter and Australian parents who weren’t used to that weather.

I am from pavlova and barbeques,
The sound of sizzling meat and the delicious smell of food that fills the air.
From my dad going away to work offshore,
Away for weeks on end.
I am from the hundreds of foreign magnets,
Stuck all over our fridge.

But most importantly, I am from my family, the fun we share together.
The laughter, the love and the memories that we keep locked up in our hearts.

Meredith Cook

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

The term “School Students with Disability” refers to students that require some level of support to be able to fully participate and access education in our school setting. CMS provides a range of levels and types of support to many students in our school community as we work to ensure students have the best opportunities for success. Many of our students receive what the NCCD considers ‘supplementary support’, which is a small level of support regularly provided aimed at attending to the diverse and additional needs a student presents with.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on any students and the school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. The school only reports to the Australian Government the year of schooling, type of need and level of adjustment.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

The news from COGSO

COGSO, or the Council of Government School Organisations is the umbrella organisation for school councils in the Northern Territory. Below is their ‘PareNT’ Newsletter.

Community Announcements

School Holiday activities

Many activities have been organised for these school holidays to keep our young people connected and engaged. Take a look at the calendar below.

Dolly’s Dream at the Turf Club

Addressing ‘Gaming Addiction’ – Invitation for all Alice Springs Parents

Jocelyn Brewer, a Sydney based psychologist and former teacher, is doing a 1 ½ hour parent presentation on Tuesday 13th August in The Minnamurra Hall, St Philip’s College at 6:30 pm.

She will address the new diagnosis of “Gaming Addiction” of adolescents. She will discuss how to avoid the trap of ‘internet addiction’ and how to develop healthy life choices around our consumption of technology-enabled media content. The presentation is free for all parents/guardians.

Please RSVP to Jennifer.robinson@stphilips.nt.edu.au
Below is more information regarding Jocelyn.

Keep up to date with all our news and updates

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