From The Principal

Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of Nativity School,

It was fantastic to see so many of you enjoying our annual Campus Sports Day last Friday. Congratulations to Murray (Blue) for being this year’s winners and also to Flinders (Red) for being the Spirit cup champions. Special Congratulations to Ollie in year 6 for being the boys age champion. Thanks to our Campus P.E teacher, Brett Middleton, for his organisation of this event.

This week the students in year 3 and 5 are undertaking the NAPLAN assessments. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. Please remember that NAPLAN is just one aspect of Nativity’s assessment and reporting process and that it doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. NAPLAN results are now reported to parents using proficiency standards – exceeding; strong; developing; and needs additional support. The Proficiency strands set a higher level of achievement than the previous National Minimum Standard. More information for parents will follow when the results are ready for release to help you understand your child’s report.

Last night the school Board met for the first time since the AGM and Gemma Chambers was elected as the new School Board Chair. The Board had an opportunity to discuss the Annual Improvement and Marketing Plans and review some policies including the Critical Incident Management Plan.

Next week is our St Joseph’s Day celebration and fundraiser for Project Compassion. Please join us if you can in celebrating St Joseph Day on Wednesday 19th March,
8:30 AM – Produce Stall: Our school garden will have a fresh produce stall open for families to purchase homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
8:35 AM – Community Prayer: Our Student Leadership Team will lead us in a Community Prayer service.
Remember to pre order and pay for your sausage sizzle for lunch after the Project Compassion Fair.

I am pleased to let you know that this year we will have a small mid year Reception class. If you know of any families that would like to enrol, please let them know it’s not too late to do so. Once again term 3 and 4 fees will be free to those enrolling in mid year Reception. Also, a reminder that we have Playgroup on Tuesday and Thursday morning this year. Melinda James is the Playgroup Coordinator and our Thursday Playgroup is supported by Karina, Speech Pathologist from Mary Lou McDevitt Speech Pathology.
It’s free to attend and a great way to meet other school and community families.

We are now in the second week of the season of Lent (15th March – 17th April). Lent often has a bad rap as it can be seen to be about deprivation and fasting. Lent is actually a time for reflection and also a time to heal what is broken in our lives – perhaps with God, others or ourselves. It’s a time when we are asked to step into the brokenness, sit with it and offer it to God rather than hide from it. Lent is a reminder to us that God does not abandon people in their pain. God walks right besides us, offering us wider views of faith, hope, and love, at work in the world around us. In the middle of brokenness is where we find God at work.
Unfortunately, none of us have unbreakable hearts, but we can have hearts made stronger and more beautiful by being torn open and brought together again through God’s love – may this Lenten season be a time of healing for you.

God Bless,
Erika