International Maarif Schools of Australia eNewsletter

Dear Maarif Parents,

Welcome to Term 3! Although it started with a freeze, we are all full of energy. We would like to welcome our new staff this term: Ms. Beyzanur Celik, Mrs. Derya Koc Kalkan, and Ms. Aysha Imtiyas have joined our secondary school team.

The Türkiye International excursion was completed in July 2024. Students visited beautiful Türkiye and The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, strengthening their cultural ties and building resilience. This successful cultural trip was completed twice. A special thank you to our Director, Mr. Necmi Uzun, for making this cultural trip possible, and to Ms. Ergul Uybadin for organizing and managing the trip tirelessly from beginning to end.

The STEM program, run by the Australian Academy of Robotics and STEM, continues in Term 3 for our primary students. SWISSA soccer competitions concluded for Term 2, and in Term 3, students will participate in SWISSA Oztag. Our tutoring academy and sports academy are also continuing this term.

The Student Leadership workshop was held in June 2024. Secondary class prefects and primary school captains and vice captains attended the workshop. Additionally, the SRC team attended the Multicultural Youth Leadership Conference 2024 (MYLC24) at the International Convention Centre on Thursday, 25 July. The theme for MYLC24, "Connect, Empower, and Lead," aimed to equip secondary school multicultural students with essential leadership skills. Through engaging sessions and activities, students gained practical tools, knowledge, and inspiration to become dynamic leaders. The conference included interactive sessions on advocacy, communication, design thinking, resilience, and goal setting, helping students enhance their leadership skills and deepen their understanding of multiculturalism and diversity.

Our Year 10 students completed the Morrisby Career Test to help with subject selection for Year 11 and the HSC. Based on the assessment results, students can choose their subjects for Year 11. The test guides students to find their ideal pathways while helping teachers and careers professionals track and evidence delivery and engagement.

We have many exciting events this term. Let's start with Peygamber’e Ozlem Gecesi, "The Longing for the Prophet," for Mevlidi Nebevi, which will be held on the last day of the term, Thursday, 26 September. Please remember to book your place before it fills up: https://www.trybooking.com/CTZIO

Our students (Year 5-Year 10) will participate in Term 4 Summer Camps. Please check your emails to confirm your child’s attendance via Consent2Go Camp.

Our ACER scholarship test for Year 7-11 (in 2025) will be on 7 September 2024, and applications will close on Sunday, 25 August 2024. We offer sports, music, academic, and indigenous scholarships. The test is externally administered by ACER. Please see the link below: ACER Scholarships

We have surprising news for 2025! We will introduce a Maarif Prep class for students eligible to attend Kindergarten the following year. It will be a very small classroom, with up to 10 students only. Ms. Reyhan and I attended the Pre-School Teachers IM training in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the preparation of Maarif Prep Class with the association of International Maarif Prep Curriculum. The program details will be shared with parents first and then will be posted on our website soon.

Thank you for your support and have a great Term 3!

Best regards,

Screen_Shot_2023_02_20_at_11.07.07_am.jpg

Dr Zeynep Yaseen

Principal

Dear Maarif Families,

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope you all had a great school break with families. As we move through the new term, I would like to share some upcoming events your child can look forward to.

This term, we will continue to reinforce the skills in literacy and numeracy across all year levels. Teachers have planned engaging lessons and activities to support student learning and ensure every learner in their class reaches their full potential. Additionally, parents of Year 3 and Year 5 students have received their child’s NAPLAN results. It is pleasing to note that, overall, our students have made great progress in areas of literacy and numeracy.

We will have a strong focus on wellbeing and student support as we continue to provide a nurturing school environment where all students feel supported and come happy to school every day. Happy minds lead to happy learning.

Science Week, History Week and Book Week is coming up, where students will engage in incursions and fun, engaging competitions including a fun Art competition as well as a Mathematics competition. I encourage all students to participate in these activities which will indeed enhance their learning.

Parent-Teacher-Student interviews will be held on the last day of this term so please save the date. Effective communication between parents and teachers is imperative for the overall success of our students.

A couple of reminders before closing my message, please ensure your child wears the correct school uniform each day. Our school uniform policy is designed to promote a sense of belonging and pride in our school. Please also ensure your child arrives to school on time before 8:45am daily and attends school every day. If your child is unwell or is absent for any other reason, please notify the school as soon as possible.

Together, we will make this term another successful one.

Warm regards,

Mrs Reyhan Er

Primary School Coordinator

Well done to the students who have been selected as 'Student of the Week'. These students are selected for academic achievement and for modelling our school values.

Week 2
1A	Davud Kopra
1B	Ahsen Gelebek
2A	Yusuf Ozdemir
2B	Sena Alca
3A	Esila Bayindir
4A	Abu Bakr Kanj
4B	Teoman Seyrek
5A	Raqeem Muzamil
5B	Raheem Jawas
6A	Aisha Maaliki

Also congratulations to these students for receiving an award.

2D Shapes are Everywhere!

1A students have been expanding their knowledge about the 2D shapes. They identify pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons and decagons. It was good to introduce more complex shapes that exist around us. They are knowledgeable that 2D shapes are flat shapes. To assist them master this knowledge, we played a game of Bingo where students had to place a counter on the shape that the teacher called out. This was exciting for them and allowed them to participate in an educational and interactive experience.

Learning about shapes helps children identify and organise information visually, recognise signs and symbols and develop an awareness of the relationship between people, objects and the space around them.

Mrs Ulku Turkmen

1A Class Teacher

Recap of What We Are Learning This Week

This week, our 1B students have embarked on an exciting learning journey, enhancing their skills in Literacy, Maths, Science, and Geography. In reading, students are mastering the suffix ‘ed’ and the “bossy e” split digraph, using these new skills to craft sentences in group and independent tasks.

In Maths, students are exploring probability by using spinners to determine if events are likely, unlikely, possible, or impossible. These hands-on activities help solidify their understanding through engaging cut-and-paste tasks.

In Science, our young learners are investigating how light and sound are produced, sparking curiosity and wonder with exciting experiments. Geography lessons have students exploring the natural and constructed features of their local and national environments, fostering a deeper appreciation for the world around them.

Ms Saide Islek

Casual Teacher

2D Spatial Structure-Turns

During mathematics this week 2A students enjoyed making colourful turning devices using split pins and an arrow to express their knowledge and understanding of clockwise and anti-clockwise as well as quarter turns, half turns, three quarter turns and full turns. Students demonstrated their understanding by turning the arrow to match to these turns.

How We Can Contribute to Our Communities

This week during PDHPE 2A students have been learning about ‘communities’ and how we can participate and contribute to our community. In groups students collectively wrote how they personally participate in community groups, including social, sports and cultural groups. Students later explained how they can contribute to these groups positively, such as training and working as a team, visiting the elderly in nursing homes, supporting one and another and following rules.

Mrs Zeliha Mehcur

2A Class Teacher

Probability and Chance

Class 2B recently explored the intriguing world of probability, focusing on understanding how likely different events are to occur. During their lesson, students engaged in a group activity where they used chance cards with various scenarios to categorise events based on their likelihood. They discussed scenarios such as brushing teeth after dinner (high chance), a unicorn carrying someone to bed (impossible), having dessert after dinner (even chance), and the likelihood of rain in the desert (low chance).

For individual tasks, students worked on the Chance Jar Worksheet, determining the likelihood of drawing specific shapes from a jar, and used jellybean packets to categorize the chance of picking each colour as high, low, impossible, or even. These activities helped Class 2B develop a practical understanding of probability, enhancing their ability to reason and explain their thoughts using probability terminology.

Ms Suzan Tarpis

2B Class Teacher

Art Meets Tech: Landscape Creations and STEM Coding Adventures

Welcome to the first issue of our Newsletter for Term 3. We are excited to share the wonderful work we are doing in class!

Students applied their prior knowledge of landscapes from Geography to create artwork on a single sheet of paper divided into four frames. In each frame, they portrayed different elements such as mountains, rivers, forests, and fields. This approach allowed them to explore various aspects of nature within one project. The students were engaged and enthusiastic, sharing ideas and experimenting with colours. The lesson was both enjoyable and educational, reinforcing their understanding of landscapes while fostering creativity and collaboration.

Students participated in a coding program during their STEM lesson, where they enjoyed coding facts about themselves. Each student used basic coding skills to create simple programs that shared information such as their favorite hobbies, pets, and family members. This activity allowed them to apply their coding knowledge in a personal and engaging way. The students were enthusiastic and focused, finding the lesson both fun and educational. It reinforced their understanding of coding concepts while encouraging creativity and self-expression.

Ms Samira Asad

3A Class Teacher

Survival on a Desert Island

In our English lessons this term, we began with an engaging activity. Students were tasked with imagining their boat being struck by a storm. Working in groups, the students decided on four items to help them survive on a nearby desert island. They then presented their choices and justifications to the class. It was fantastic to watch students persuade one another about why certain items should be chosen over others. This activity encouraged them to become critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Ms Melike Tugrul

4A Class Teacher

Word Study

This term, students are reading the novel The Wild Robot, and they are excited and engaged with the story about a robot stranded in the wilderness and her adventures. To support their understanding, we started this lesson with a word study. Before diving into the chapters, students chose vocabulary words, defined them, and used them in sentences. This method helps them grasp the meanings of the words and better understand the story.

Mrs Ayse Yildiz

4B Class Teacher

Engaging in Robotic STEM Lesson

Coming back to Term 3, students in 5A are revising their robotic skills and coding strategies. We talked through different types of sensors and how the term ‘algorithm’ has a different meaning in coding. Students worked in pairs to investigate the relationship between the codes and behaviours of the robot.

Mr Mike Liu

5A Class Teacher

Mystery Mixture

In our recent science lesson, 5B students delved into the world of matter through an engaging experiment making a 'mystery mixture'. Through hands-on exploration, students identified and classified substances as solids, liquids, or gases based on their observable properties. The highlight was creating our own 'mystery mixture', where students observed its unique characteristics, acting like a solid under force and flowing like a liquid when at rest. This experiment not only deepened our understanding of scientific concepts but also sparked curiosity about the nature of everyday materials.

Mrs Fatima Memedoski & Ms Amel Mehana

5B Class Teachers

Welcome Back to Term 3!

We are excited to have students back and hope everyone had a restful holiday. In Term 3 students are continuing the external Stem program where students are learning different aspects of building coding to develop codes that program a robot prototype. Students in science are working on different elements and materials and how different materials react to each other. Students will use the robots as a tool to see how robots react to different colours and materials. Students throughout the term will continue working on building different codes so that they can at the end of the term build their own program and code sequence. I am excited to see all the fantastic work and development throughout the term.

Here are some photos of students' coding in their first lesson back.

Miss Dilara Ozhan

6A Class Teacher

Weather Conditions

Year 1 students were taught the subject of "Weather". In connection with the days of the week, a weather forecast report for 1 week was prepared together with the students, and then the students were made to match the visuals.

Mrs Ayse Gelebek

Casual Turkish Language Teacher

Year 2

In our Turkish Science and Technology lesson, we learned that some materials could mix and form new shapes, while others do not mix. We observed by mixing water and sugar and saw that the sugar dissolved in the water. However, in the mixture of water and oil, we discovered that the oil did not completely mix with the water. We also used materials like flour, water, salt, and oil to make playdough and had a lot of fun! This activity helped our students develop their scientific thinking skills while also gaining practical experience.

Year 3

In our Turkish class, our students talked about what they did during the holiday, the places they visited, and the beautiful memories they had with their families and friends. Each of our students first shared their holiday memories orally and then in writing. With this activity, they not only improved their writing skills but also had a good time sharing their holiday memories with each other.

Ms Tutku Sahin

Turkish Language Teacher

Year 5

Year 5 students learnt seasons and months. After learning the seasons and months, the students reinforced their knowledge by sticking the months onto the pictures of the seasons on the board.

Year 6

In Year 6, the topic was Science and Technology. A reading text was read. Students who learned new vocabulary wrote both their inferred and dictionary meanings.

Mrs Ayse Acikkol

Turkish Language Teacher

Back to School

From this term onwards, I will once again be with my Year 5 students. We started the Term 3 by talking about our holiday memories. The students were very excited to describe the places they visited and the activities they did. After each one shared their memories verbally, we did a dictation exercise titled "Back to School." The students listened to the text and wrote down what they heard.

Year 6

Year 6 students studied the topic of “sicknesses” in Turkish class. They learned and labelled common general sicknesses, and completed various games and activities related to the topic.

Mrs Seyma Akdemir

Turkish Language Teacher

We continue to learn musical melodies in our Music classes this term. Students are advancing in learning to play their instruments. Students are putting in their best effort and preparing for the Musical performance we will present to you next term.

Mrs Fisun Benlisoy

Music Teacher

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

(May peace and mercy be upon you)

All praise be to Allah (SWT), the most merciful and may peace and blessings be upon His beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his family, companions and all those who follow him.

It is my honour to inform you that Year 1 students are completing the memorisation of a significant part of Dua “Allahumma Salli”. Year 1 students are concentrating on memorising “Allahumma Salli” as they learn the importance of Durood (Allahumma Salli).

Mr Usama Mohammad

Primary Religion Teacher

Welcome back, Maarif sports families!

We have kicked off Term 3 with a great start and some minor new changes. For this term, we no longer have the cricket or rugby academies running. The only academies available are soccer and Oz-tag.

On the soccer field this week, we recapped our ball and kicking skills. We loved seeing our kids enjoying every minute of the game.

Kind and gentle reminders to our parents this term:

Soccer academy students will now be back at school by or before 4 PM, as our start and finish times have moved forward. Please be on time to pick up your children.
Any changes in times or cancellations will be promptly communicated by our school staff.
Students are to wear their full sports uniform and jerseys
Students are to bring their water bottles and hats
Please finalise any unpaid fees promptly.

Once again, thank you to all the participating families. We look forward to another great, healthy, and fun sports term.

Best regards,

Maarif Sports Team

The Student Corner is a dedicated space for students of any year level to showcase their unique work and talents!

Liya Gokmen- 1A

Ahsen Gelebek - 1B

Esma Youssef - 2A

Sena Alca - 2B

Mikaal Khan and Amelia Khan - 3A

Aya, Manal, Ameer, Junaid - 4A

Uthman Maaliki - 4B

Safiya Abbas - 5A

Beyzanur Karaca and Aleena Khan - 5B

Maarif_Behaviour_Expectations_Matrix_final_2 _pdf 98.00 KB

School Drop off and Pick Up

Students need to be dropped off at school by 8:45am daily and pick up at 3:30pm.

Parent-Teacher Communication

When communicating with teachers, please try to be respectful of their time and understand that they may not always be able to respond immediately. This means, giving them a reasonable amount of time to respond to your emails or messages, and understanding their work hours.

Please avoid sending multiple follow-up messages when not receiving a response immediately, teachers have many responsibilities.

Written Communications

Written communications to the school, including emails and letters, please include the student's full name and class for identification purposes

Phone & Electronics

Primary School students are not permitted to bring to school, their phones and/or any electronics. This includes smartwatches.

Birthday Celebrations

We love to celebrate our students at Maarif and accept that some families may want to share the special occasion of their child’s birthday with his/her class peers. As a school, we embrace this opportunity however would like to enforce a strict policy of not bringing in food or other edible items for these one-off occasions. It is important we cater to all students including those who have severe allergies by monitoring this closely. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday, we would suggest an alternative to food.

Toys and Valuables

Students are not permitted to bring toys and valuables to school. These include Pokemon cards, fidget toys and weapon-like toys. Students are only permitted to bring in appropriate toys on allocated Show and Tell days. Please check with your child's class teacher if unsure.

Student Lunches

We understand that occasionally dropping off a meal may seem convenient, but we appreciate your cooperation in supporting our efforts to promote fairness and healthy eating for all students by not dropping off fast food for your child. It is no longer allowed at our school. When fast food is brought to school, it can lead to other children feeling left out or upset if they do not have similar meals.

All uniform requests can be made as follows:

Order Submission Only

Primary school parents are to complete the attached uniform order form
Order forms should be emailed to uniforms@maarif.nsw.edu.au or sent to the school office with students if required
Orders will be processed weekly on Wednesdays and uniform items will be sent home with students by the following day
Contact number for uniform-related enquiries 0402 393 844

Attached below is the Uniform Order Form

2024_Primary_School_Uniform_Order_Form.pdf

2024_Primary_School_Uniform_Order_Form _pdf 186.13 KB

Maarif students are expected to wear their Winter school uniform during Term 3. Please be reminded of the importance of naming all items of school uniform with your child’s name and class. This means that lost items found around school can easily be returned.

We consider that uniform is important for several reasons.

It provides pupils with a sense of identity and pride in their school.
It enhances the appearance of pupils and therefore the reputation of the school.
It helps to instil a sense of purpose in pupils when they put on their uniform in the mornings.
It helps overcome the worry about “fitting in” with fashions and keeping up with other children. All children feel equal and there is no stress, competition or worry for families about expensive brands/labels.
It overcomes the problem for both parents and teachers about what is suitable attire for school.

We request that our parents and/or carers be extra cautious during school drop-off and pick-up times.

Years 1 - 3 are dismissed from the Front School Gate.

Years 4 - 6 are dismissed from the Side School Gate.

Road_Safety.pdf

Road_Safety _pdf 274.27 KB

Please ensure NSW Government rules regarding road safety are being followed and adhered to at all times. This means:

- Respecting the road rules and signs, and driving within the speed limit of 40km/h in a school zone.

- Parking safely in designated parking areas or in drop off/pick up zones.

- No double parking, as it is dangerous and illegal.

- Three-point turns and U-turns are not permitted in school zones, as not only is it dangerous for students and other vehicles but it also causes traffic congestion.

- Follow the directions of our school crossing supervisors.

- Give way to our School Bus drivers.

Road_Safety.pdf

Road_Safety _pdf 1.68 MB

Thank you for your cooperation.

According to ACARA National Standards for student attendance, parents are required to complete an Application for Leave Form for holidays within the school term or other leave. Applications should be submitted 14 days prior to the leave. The Principal approves this leave as appropriate.

For all student leave requests (1-50 days) an application form should be submitted to the school at least 14 days prior to the requested leave date. Supporting documentation, such as travel ticket or itinerary, should be included with student holiday leave applications.

Holidays taken by students outside of School vacation periods are included as absences.

Families are encouraged to holiday or travel during school vacations rather than in term time. If travel during the school term is necessary, the following considerations apply:

If the Principal accepts the reason for the absence, the absence will be marked as justified leave.
If the Principal does not believe the absence is in the student’s best interests and does not accept the reason, the absence will be recorded as unjustified leave.

The Leave form can be accessed below:

Student_Short_Term_Leave_Application_Form_less_than_50_days_.pdf

Student_Short_Term_Leave_Application_Form_less_than_50_days pdf 263.96 KB

Did you know you can organise your school fee payments into weekly, fortnight or monthly payments? International Maarif Schools of Australia uses Edstart to provide more flexibility and choice for your school fee payments. There are no additional charges for the service regardless of the schedule or payment method you choose. Getting started is easy, simply visit edstart.com.au/Maarif to set up your payments online or call 1300 139 445. If you would like further information, you can also contact our accounts team at accounts@maarif.nsw.edu.au or 02 8316 0655.

InternationalMaarifSchools_Edstart_A4_Flyer_Plus_2.pdf

InternationalMaarifSchools_Edstart_A4_Flyer_Plus_2 _pdf 642.05 KB

2024_Maarif_Calendar.pdf

2024_Maarif_Calendar _pdf 3.35 MB

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