Week 3 Friday 2nd August

Important dates

Werte, Hello!

Werte!

This is our first newsletter for Term 3. It is wonderful to welcome back our students and teachers after the winter break. In the last week of Term 2 we acknowledged student achievements in an assembly and celebrated NAIDOC. This involved whole school learning activities with cultural presenters and role models which our young people found very engaging. Congratulations to class 8.7 who won the NT NAIDOC poster competition and featured in the NT News.

Soon families will receive the results of NAPLAN testing if your young person participated. We value each young person as an individual and place more importance on growth than on standardised test results, but these tests do provide one snapshot of achievement. Teachers and leaders use this information to plan next steps, so please contact teachers if you have any questions about the reports you receive. We continue to plan extra support for those students who need it, quality lessons for all and opportunities to challenge and extend.

Schoolwide positive behaviour also remains important. Two important changes are the introduction of phone lockers. Thanks for your support as we offer all young people the opportunity to hand in their phones at the start of the day, removing distractions from learning and the harm that can come from social media. These have already had a calming effect. Students seen with their phone out during the school day now must leave it at the front office until a parent/carer comes to sign it out. To support healthy and fun activities, we have more planned lunch time activities with details and pictures below.

Term 3 promises to be busy and wonderful. Follow us on Facebook for updates in between newsletters.

Glenda McCarthy
Principal

NAIDOC Week wrap up

In the final week of term 2, CMS celebrated NAIDOC Week, coming together as a school and a community to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Students took part in a range of activities. From yarning circles with Gordon and Aunty Pat, cooking roo tail and damper with Mrs McCormack and Rachel, sport activities with Blakdoll and Clontarf, weaving with Ms Holtze and painting with Marjorie and Tamika Williams, the students had a great time learning and exploring the knowledge of the oldest continuous living cultures on Earth. Thank you to all who came to celebrate and share with us!

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NT NAIDOC Poster Competition

The NT Education Department held its inaugural NAIDOC poster competition last term, asking students from government schools across the Territory to create a poster celebrating NAIDOC week. CMS students put their heart and soul into their art, creating a collection of striking posters that explored what this year's NAIDOC week theme — Keep the fire burning: Blak, loud and proud — means to them and our community. CMS students' creative endeavours were rewarded with two prizes in the Territory-wide competition.

Term 3 Assessment Schedules

Adolescent Health Forum

Join us for an evening filled with discussions and professionals focused on adolescent health. Learn from experts in the field, connect with peers, and gain valuable insights on topics like mental health, growth and development, social media and the law.

Beginning in the hall at 5:30pm the evening is open to all parents of adolescents or year 6 students and will feature presentations from a range of local health and wellbeing professionals, including:

• GP
• Mental Health Worker from Headspace
• Sexual Health Team from Congress
• SBPO, Vanessa Martin
• Solicitor from CAWLS

When: Wednesday August 14th, 5:30 - 7:00pm
Where: CMS School Hall
Free event, but please register for catering purposes and to send in any questions you might have for the presenters.

School news and updates

CMS Radio

CMS Radio started last week on 8CCC Community Radio (102.1FM) with students stepping up to the mic to inform and entertain. Tune in this afternoon and every Friday afternoon from 5 to 5:30pm as our students bring you stories, podcasts and music selections from the CMS community.

Up next: Catch our Year 9 Music students sharing their music podcasts on the next three episodes.

LEaD Committee

Parents and Carers of Aboriginal students are invited to our second LEaD Committee (Local Engagement and Decision-making) for the year. We aim to have two this term.

• What: LEaD Committee Meeting
• When: Thursday 8^th August, 5-6pm
• Who: Parents and carers of Aboriginal students at CMS
• Where: CMS Staff Room
• Supper provided and kids welcome
  

 Teachers were inspired by the suggestions made at our first LEaD meeting:

• breakfast programs address social media harm
• improve and use the oval
• sports equipment at lunch time
• more youth leadership programs
• help youth to be proud of who they are and where they come from
• more Aboriginal guest speakers and programs

We have been working on all of these goals and will report back in our upcoming meeting.

School Photos

School photos will be taking place at CMS on Thursday August 22nd. Students should wear their CMS polo shirt for photo day.

Photo packs with ordering information were given out last week. If your young person hasn't brought one home, please check in with them and contact the front office if still in need of one.

Please return your completed pack by Monday August 12th.

Lunchtime Activities

In response to requests from families and students, we have increased the activities available to students at lunchtime. The following options are available and facilitated by a teacher:

Staffing update

We are well staffed, heading into the new semester. A few changes to staffing are:

Farewells

• Ben Forbes, Assistant Principal for Year 8, who returned to Victoria
• Ashleigh Casey, moved to SA
• Georgia Barlow, admin support, finishing to care for her children
• Kayla Dashwood, classroom support in Flexi, moving to the STARS program

New roles

• Emma Forrester is the Assistant Principal for Year 8
• Brad Gill is the Senior Teacher for English/Humanities

We welcomed

• Adam Haack – teaching 9.3 and 9.4 Humanities, 9.1 Health
• Ms Daphne Paruli – teaching in Flexi
• Mr Ben Howland – also teaching in Flexi
• Angela Crack – retuning to us to assist with admin in the Front Office
  

Community Announcements

Furrever Friend Adoption Day

Alice Springs Town Council is hosting a Furrever Friend Adoption Day at the Animal Shelter THIS Saturday, 3 August, from 10am – 1pm. Animal lovers will have a purr-fect opportunity to find their newest furry family member this weekend with NO adoption fee for new pet owners with and anyone who finds a new friend on the day just having to pay a $155 lifetime registration fee 😻

We will have a FREE BBQ, hot drink & face painting for you with Shiloh, Alison Mapleson and Ceenah bringing the beautiful tunes for an exciting day!

Hotshots Tennis

Facebook

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