Centralian Middle School
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56 Milner Road
Alice Springs NT 0870
Subscribe: https://cms.nt.edu.au/subscribe

Email: Centralian.middle@education.nt.gov.au
Phone: 08 8955 2333
Fax: 

24 July 2020

Newsletter Articles

Important dates

Monday 27th July – School Council meeting
Monday 3rd August – Picnic Day Holiday
Friday 7th August – Interschool Cross Country
Monday 10th August – Staff Learning day
Monday 10th – Thursday 13th August – Learning Conferences
9.30am and 5.00pm Wednesday 12th August – School Tour for prospective parents
Monday 24th August – School Council Meeting
Wednesday 16th September - Centralian Senior College Information Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm)

From the Principal

Dear families

It is so great to have our students back this week and kick off learning for Term 3. Students were delighted to see each other on Tuesday and there has been a strong learning focused energy in the school which has been so nice after the three week break.

With the start of a new term we welcome a number of new students and families to Alice Springs and to the school. Thank you for joining our community!

We also welcome some new staff to the school. Welcome to:

  • Ms Ariarn Huston, who joins us from NSW in the Year 8 Team as a Maths and Science Teacher.
  • Ms Emma Forrester, who has been working at Larapinta Primary School and Centralian Senior College. Ms Forrester will be teaching some Humanities in Year 9 and helping to cover absence across the school.
  • Mr Ben Balmer, who returns to CMS from Victoria. Mr Balmer joins our Leadership Team with a focus on Attendance and Wellbeing.
  • Ms Kathleen Axten, who is returning to CMS as a tutor after taking some parenting time.

Unfortunately, none of our teachers have been able to commence yet for various reasons, so we will include photos and more of an introduction of them in our next newsletter.

Much has been said about the ‘new normal’, which we understand to be trying to get our lives back into routines as much as possible while maintaining hygiene and distancing measures to protect against COVID-19. Please carefully read the information in this newsletter around hygiene and safety as there are still risks present in Australia that we need to guard against. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions about the measures we are taking. And please ensure you keep your young person at home if they are sick, and get them tested for the coronavirus if they show any symptoms.

We have our Learning Conferences coming up in Week 4, and there is more information further in the newsletter about this. I’d like to emphasise the importance of these conferences – they are a great opportunity to celebrate achievements and to set goals for Semester 2. Please make sure you book in for a conference when we release the booking information.

Finally, each year there are Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards to acknowledge the efforts of educators in the NT. Consider making a nomination – the process is outlined below in the newsletter.

Warm regards

Paul van Holsteyn
Principal

School news and updates

Learning Conferences

We will be holding our Learning Conferences in Week 4, which is the week beginning Monday 10th August. Learning Conferences are an important opportunity for a student, family member and teacher to meet and discuss the progress of the student and set some goals for the remainder of the year.

Learning Conferences will be different from previous years as we can’t have a large number of adults present in the same space at the same time.

Instead, Learning Conferences will be spread across the week and you will have the opportunity to complete a conference online, have a chat over the phone or come in for a face to face conference. Online conferences will be conducted over Zoom, which is a technology that can be used from any smart phone or computer.

Because conferences will occur over the week, you will need to book a session to make sure that you can talk to the teachers that you want to talk to. You will book with your young person’s English and Maths teacher in one booking which will be 20 minutes with each teacher. You can then choose to book with other teachers that you would like to speak to.

We will release information on the booking process a week before the conferences.

We strongly encourage you to book in so that we can celebrate the achievements your young person has made and set goals for the remainder of the year.

Cross Country Carnival 2020

We had a great day at the Telegraph Station at the end of last term for our Cross Country Carnival. After a term overshadowed by COVID-19, it was great to be able to be out in the sun, doing some exercise and enjoying each other’s company.

Big congratulations to Earth who won the event, followed by Water, Air and Fire. Also big congratulations to the following champions in each year level:

Year 7:

  • Alyssa Davies
  • Shalira James
  • Asher Lennie
  • Jacob Ross

Year 8:

  • Rania Shelford
  • Meredith Cook
  • Buay Dojiok
  • Xavier Fuamatu

Year 9:

  • Ahnika Lennie
  • Sarah Yates
  • Kaleel Ross
  • Bailey Harris

Our fastest runner on the day was Asher Lennie - what a star!

Please enjoy these photos from the day.

Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards

Each year we recognise the outstanding contributions of our NT educators through the Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards. These awards are an opportunity to nominate and recognise the outstanding contributions of school teachers, principals, leaders and support staff who are making a difference in their schools and students’ lives.

There are eight award categories:

  • Northern Territory Principal of the Year
  • Northern Territory School Leader of the Year
  • Northern Territory Primary Teacher of the Year
  • Northern Territory Secondary Teacher of the Year
  • Northern Territory Aboriginal Educator of the Year
  • Northern Territory Special Educator of the Year
  • Northern Territory Vocational Education Trainer of the Year
  • Northern Territory Support Person of the Year

I encourage you to reflect on the educators that have gone over and above to support your young people over the year and nominate them.

Submit a nomination at the link below.

https://titea.awardsplatform.com/

Sports Vouchers

The Northern Territory Government provides Sport Vouchers of $100 to families to help offset the costs of young people participating in sport, recreation and cultural activities. The Semester 2 vouchers are now available.

To redeem your voucher and find out more, go to the link below.

https://sportvoucher.nt.gov.au/apply/

Alternatively, you can apply for a voucher by calling 1800 817 860.

Term 3 – hygiene and safety

Over the break the COVID-19 virus has started spreading again in Australia, primarily in Victoria and Sydney. The health and government advice is still clear – schools are safe, students should be attending and learning should continue as normal. Nevertheless, we take this situation very seriously and value your support in implementing hygiene and distancing arrangements to increase safety.

If you are visiting the school, please ensure you are well, note the capacity of the Front Office, wash your hands on arrival, sign in so that we know who has been on site and remain 1.5m away from others.

If your young person is sick, they should not be at school. If they have coronavirus symptoms, please get them tested, keep them home for the required period and keep us informed about what is happening.

If you have recently been in Victoria or Sydney, you will need to complete 14 days of quarantine and we will need to receive a copy of your COVID-19 test result prior to your young person returning to school. Please call the school if this applies to you as we will try to provide work.

At school, the following measures continue to be in place:

  • Everyone needs to wash their hands with soap at the beginning and end of each break time and at other times as directed. Hand sanitiser is also available in classrooms.
  • Everyone is encouraged to increase the distance between them. In classes wherever possible we will encourage one student to a desk.
  • People should not hug, shake hands, high five, kiss or other actions that require contact with people outside of their family unit.
  • Students need a water bottle as bubblers are still off.
  • Students need to have their own pens, pencils and books as there are hygiene concerns around lending items.
  • We will not hold whole school assemblies.
  • Cleaning of high touch surfaces will continue regularly.

Some of our students were not taking these measures seriously in Term 2 and we appreciate your support in helping them to understand the seriousness of the situation and the importance of these measures.

Additional to this, the NT Department of Education has provided information to parents about arrangements for this term.

https://education.nt.gov.au/publications/information-for-term-3-2020

Community Announcements

2021 Police Credit Union Kids’ Art Competition.

Draw a picture of your favourite thing to do in SA or NT and win $100!

For all details go to the link below.

https://www.policecu.com.au/artcomp/

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https://www.facebook.com/CentMS/