Dear Maarif Families,

Welcome to the new school year! While 2022 has started a little nervously, here at Maarif we are excited and eager to get into learning.

Teachers are well rested, prepared and raring to go for another busy year. This year we warmly welcome a number of new staff into the Maarif family. I am sure that our parents and children will make them feel welcome and understand what makes our school community a special one. Welcome to Mrs Adeba Qasim (High School Coordinator), Mrs Maryam Faisal (Kindergarten), Mrs Ayse Yildiz (Year 2), Ms Kianna Kianian (English/HSIE Teacher), Mr Rojier Eliah (Math/Science Teacher), Ms Emma Morgan (Music and Visual Arts Teacher), Ms Zeinab Youssef (PDHPE teacher), Dr Neriman Coskun (High School Turkish Teacher), Mr Muhammad Ordukaya (Religious Studies Teacher). I also congratulate Mrs Reyhan Er for her promotion from Head of Curriculum to Primary School Coordinator.

One of the great things about a new year is the opportunity of a fresh start. We set goals for ourselves and how we want the year to be. Throughout this year our children will be delving into the values of our school and we welcome your stories, reflections, photos and experiences of school life at Maarif.

Thank you to the families who completed the parent survey at the end of last year. We wish to remind parents that at any time we are available for questions about your child’s learning and progress. So please do not hesitate to email, ring or talk to us to set up a time to come and have a chat with or without your child(ren) present.

At Maarif our main communication channels to parents are: Fourtnightly Newsletter, Sentral Parent Portal, School Facebook Page. Our newsletter, which is the main source of communication with our community, is emailed to our parents and distributed via the channels stated above. Don’t forget to make sure that you have the SENTRAL PARENT PORTAL app on your phone, and that it is active and functioning. If you have any issues please email Admin at admin@maarif.nsw.edu.au. It is the responsibility of parents to read any notes or communications and refer back to them when you have questions. Our staff are often repeatedly asked many questions which have already been communicated, please ensure you re-read these notes before you call the school.

Thank you to all of our families who are following the process of surveillance testing on Monday and Thursday morning before sending children to school. We know that some in our community contracted covid over the break and recently. NSW Health advises that 28 days after the initial positive test, that you may start testing. Surveillance testing is a measure put in place to give early warning as children can be asymptomatic or present with very minimal symptoms. It is highly effective if everyone is doing the right thing. Please remember that any positive tests MUST be reported to the school - please don't be afraid or worried (this information is used purely so we know what we have to do to ensure the safety of all - not just children and staff). You will also need to notify your positive case with Service NSW using the app or website. Please contact us if you need any support - we are here to support in any way we can - without judgement.

Students and staff are encouraged to wash or sanitise their hands regularly. All our indoor areas are occupied with the Winix ZERO+ PRO 5-Stage Airprufiers which is the most powerful air purifier, designed to thoroughly filter the air in classrooms and offices. With a unique, comprehensive 5 stage filtration system it can effectively clean air in large classrooms. World-leading air filtration for airborne pollutants and allergens including Dust, Pollen, Pet Dander, Smoke, Mould Spores, VOCs, Household Odours, Bacteria and Viruses. Our schools continue to use enhanced cleaning processes. Target areas include high-touch areas, hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and areas where students and staff move through regularly.

I also warmly welcome all the new families joining Maarif this year and hope that your time at Maarif is a special one. Next Monday we look forward to welcoming our high school students and families to our school.

Best Regards,

Dr Zeynep Yaseen

Principal

2ND INTERNATIONAL MAARIF PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

THEME
The theme of our second International Maarif Photography Contest, which will take place with the participation of all of our students, is “Back to School”.

PROJECT SCHEDULE

Contest duration in school	10.09.2021 - 10.10.2021
Assessment in school	10.10.2021 - 15.10.2021
Jury assessment process of all schools (Headquarters)	15.10.2021 - 30.10.2021
Announcement of the results	01.11.2021
Online award ceremony and online exhibition	Second week of November and e-exhibition at the Maarif Summit

APPLICATION
• Applications will be open for the participation of all students.

CONTEST METHOD
The photographs which make it in the top 3 in all of our schools as a result of this rating will be assessed by the Jury Committee at the Headquarters and the First Place, Second Place, Third Place and 20 honorable mention photographs will be established from there. The overall method of the contest is as follows:
• Every school will organize the photography contest within itself. The topic of the contest and the terms of participation have been established by the headquarters.
• A jury committee will be established at our schools before the contest.
• The School Jury Committee should make the assessments within the set duration and determine the top 3 when the contest duration is up.
• The photographs which make it in the top 3 will be processed one by one on the system via the link to be shared below, and participation in the general contest will be ensured. The Contest Jury which is determined at the Headquarters will determine the works to be placed in the contest among the photographs that it will assess.

Photography Contest

Fotograf Yarismasi

TERMS OF PARTICIPATION
• The contest is open for the participation of all of our students.
• Every participant can join the contest with only one (1) photograph.
• The participants are free in their ways of expression provided that they do not go beyond the frame of the specified theme and purpose.
• Photographs that have been sent to other national and international contests before and their versions with a difference of frame cannot participate in the contest; and even if they do participate and win awards, the awards will be taken back.
• The structure of the photograph should be unchanged. Photographs which are created with the montage of multiple photographs, to which any objects that are not in the original are added or from which any one of the existing objects have been taken out are not accepted in the contest; and if they have participated, a rule violation procedure will apply for the participant.
• Simple interventions such as reframing, color, contrast, light corrections can be done without excess. The jury’s appreciation will be the basis. If the jury decides that there is excessive intervention, then this will be considered as a rule violation. The organizing institution might request the original unedited version of the photograph from the participant.
• You agree in advance that they transfer the copyright of the photographs which the participants send within the scope of the contest and which are received for assessment to the Turkish Maarif Foundation.

Applications Close 10 October 2021

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Well done to all students who have attended online learning each lesson. The students of the week deserve recognition and are to be commended for their efforts. Keep up the good work boys and girls!

	Week 7	Week 8
Kindergarten -	Eden Mohammad Rafiq	Esmanur Aksoylu
Year 1 -	Uthman Maaliki	Erkut Odabasi
Year 2 -	Haktan Cetiner	Zara Ergun
Year 3 -	Sumeyye Turkmen	Ziya Ciyim
Year 4 -	Ahmad Niazi	Evren Ozturk
Year 5 -	Jennah Mohammad Rafiq	Tansel Akdas
Year 6 -	Busra Ciyim	Adem Aygun

On Thursday September 9^th, our school community came together to support and raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing. R U OK? Day is a day dedicated to inspiring and empowering everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them by asking the simple question “Are you OK?”. With classroom activities being run on the day in Zoom lessons, we aimed to make it easier for students to ask, “Are you OK?” and support someone in the event that they are struggling.

Students wore yellow to visually represent their support and it was great to see all students engaging in conversations and activities around the importance of building courage and communication to check in with their peers.

We thank you for jumping on board such a positive movement and message.

Mrs Olivia Peach

Ms Amel Mehana

PDHPE Committee

Congratulations to all students who have made a delicious dish and explained it in Turkish. All contestants received a Certificate of Participation. They all did such a wonderful job!

Our winners for Maarif's First Food Competition are as follows:

First place: Fatima Gencag

Second place: Utku Ozalp

Third place: Yusuf Ali Akdemir

Here are some photos of our participants with their certificates:

Click HERE to view a VIDEO of our contestants!

Edward the Emu

Kindergarten class really enjoyed listening to the story “Edward the Emu” by Sheena Knowles which gave out the message that we need to be happy with ourselves. As a follow up activity, they completed a fine motor and creative task by making Edward using paper plates and decorations. Well done, Kindergarten :)

Mrs Ulku Turkmen

Kindergarten Teacher

And that wraps up Term 3!

Congratulations Year 1 for completing Term 3 online! You have shown resilience and dedication to your learning throughout the whole term. I am proud of how you all took the challenge of online learning and continued to bring enthusiasm and a positive attitude to all lessons. Well done Year 1!

Year 1 in Weeks 8 and 9 focused on creating their own puppet show. Students were encouraged to select their favourite story book and create a puppet show. Students produced some great puppet shows. Through our zoom sessions we were able to watch and appreciate our peer’s puppet shows.

It has been an amazing term Year 1. On behalf of Year 1, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

Miss Rooba El-Sayed

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2 it’s Virtually Over

Our virtual learning journey has come to an end for this term and what a term it has been. Transitioning to online learning was a challenging task but all students in year 2 demonstrated their resilience and overcame the challenges that stood in their way. They all showed us that it did not matter where we were as long as we wanted to learn. I am very proud of year 2 and their persistence throughout this time, all students took great ownership of their learning, and this is evident in the work they produced. Well done year 2, I hope you have a great break and I will see you all next term. Here are examples of some of the work they produced.

For Science we studied Forces and students designed and built their own arcade game.

In geography we studied places and for their final assessment students designed posters to advertise a cruise ship which travels all around the world stopping at each continent and a city they have chosen.

Mrs Dilek Isanc

Year 2 Teacher

Goodbye Term 3!

Coming towards the end of Term 3, Year 3 have been working diligently, making the most of our lessons online.

Throughout these challenging times, it is important that we continue to prioritise student wellbeing and ensure that our students are equipped with the right tools and skills to help them flourish and thrive.

During Week 9, Year 3 participated in R U OK? DAY. This week was a great opportunity to dedicate time to have meaningful conversations about how students can support one another while also learning how to ask for help whenever they need it. We discussed the four important steps of having a conversation by asking ‘’are you okay?’’, listening, encouraging action and checking in. Students participated in various activities to show their understanding and applied the tips and skills they have learned.

Year 3 wishes you all Maarif families a safe, happy and healthy holiday break!

Ms Amel Mehana

Year 3 Teacher

Wrapping up!

Coming towards the end of the Term 3, Year 4 deserved entertaining activities. The last two weeks of Term 3 were full of adventures for Year 4. First, there was a great RUOK day that was set aside for fun activities. The purpose of the day is to encourage and motivate students to help or to ensure that support is provided. The students had the opportunity to start a conversation with trusted people about how they can work on their cooperation. It was a great day to see all the students wearing bright yellow and smiling.

September 13^th 2021, was a Roald Dahl Day and students of Year 4 celebrated Roald Dahl’s favourite character, stories and moments. Theye designed a new mural for the novel they studied in Term 3, i.e. James and the giant peach, which was wonderful. It was great to see them excited to do this activity and come up with some great ideas.

Year 4 enjoyed couple of virtual excursions for Science and Geography, which was a nice way to end the term. Students were excited and it was a great change for them.

Finally, I would really like to thank all the parents for their continued support and active participation in their children's education.

Ms Samira Asad

Year 4 Teacher

Zooming Out

As the end of Term 3 is upon us, I’d like to commend Year 5 for their efforts, attendance, submission of work and resilience during remote learning. This week we reflect on the work Year 5 have been engaging in by sharing final pieces of their work across the Key Learning Areas of Science and Geography and English. We took a deep dive into the exploration of The Great Barrier Reef and Light and the way in which the environment around us has an impact on the way in which we live; and how our living can in turn have an impact on the environment. Students have created informative texts and poems to express their newfound knowledge. They have also used digital technologies by way of infographics as an alternate way to share their information.

As a celebration of yet another school term, I acknowledge the peer-to-peer support that has often taken place in our Zoom lessons. Despite being in harsh lockdowns and learning thorough interactive Zoom lessons, Year 5 students have consistently shown their support of one another, and this extrinsic motivation has been a big contributing factor to their growth this term; Year 5, your holiday break is well deserved. On behalf of Year 5 students and I, I would also like to wish Jennah farewell as she embarks on the next chapter in her schooling journey.

Mrs Olivia Peach

Year 5 Teacher

Online Safety

Year 6 students investigated different ways in which we can stay safe online. This is an important skill that should be instilled and acquired to keep safe whilst using the internet for both socialisation and educational purposes. Completing 10 weeks of online learning, students were able to present methods and plans to help promote and maintain health, safety and wellbeing by presenting their plans for personal safety online and ethical use of devices and social media. Students visited and utilised reliable websites to access information that allowed them to learn about the ways in which they can improve personal safety online.

Here are some plans on ways we can keep safe online:

Miss Asli Arici

Year 6 Teacher

For Years: Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students learnt about food and drinks. They shared the videos in which they spoke about what they have for breakfast. They made sentences; ’Masanın üstünde … var.’

CLICK HERE to view students naming the items on their breakfast table

Year 3

Year 3 students learnt the school subjects and made sentences with days and lessons by placing their own lesson schedules in the table. They also played hangman with school subjects.

Year 5

Year 5 students played Kahoot to revise and evaluate their knowledge they learnt this term during online learning lessons.

Year 6

Year 6 students expressed their thoughts by making sentences starting with ‘Bence and Bana Göre’ according to various situations. Thinking of themselves as tenants, they made a choice by considering the positive and negative aspects of various houses and expressed their decisions with reasons.

Mrs Şeyma Akdemir

Turkish Teacher

For Years: Year 1, Year 2 and Year 4

Year 1

Year 1 started to use the names of clothes in sentences for the past 2 weeks and separated the clothes as summer and winter clothes. In addition, in the last week, the topics of our lessons were repeated, matching and question-answer games were played. While improving their reading with online reading activities, they improved writing with Çiçek, the online character of their Turkish class.

Year 2

Year 2 has been talking about traffic rules and lights over the past few weeks. They practiced reading and writing. During this period, they liked drama activities the most and had a lot of fun with these activities. They created dialogues in places such as markets, green grocers, and restaurants. There was a lot of fun dialogue. They also played their favourite online game Kahoot and loved it!

Year 4

Year 4 did some readings and activities about Turkish music and nature this week. They learned about different Turkish instruments, listened to the sounds of these instruments and solved puzzles. Having great success in their reading studies, Year 4 continues to practice their reading. They also strengthened their knowledge by repeating the topics from the whole term.

Miss Esra Pamuk

Turkish Teacher

Kindergarten

Kindergarten has learnt the story of Prophet Ibrahim (as) during zoom lessons. I read them the story book of how Prophet Ibrahim (as) was searching for Allah. He looked at the stars, sun and moon, then knew that Allah cannot be any of these, and that He must be the creator of all these wonderful creations. Below are also some photos of students practicing their Arabic letters using the ‘ireadquran’ app at home. Well done students for attending lessons each week, and practicing your Arabic letters at home.

Year 2

Year 2 has learnt the importance of cleanliness including performing Wudu. Before we pray to Allah we must cleanse ourselves, therefore we have learnt the steps of wudu and have practised them during our zoom lessons. Here are some photos of doing some of the steps of wudu such as cleaning our mouth, nose, face, and arms. Well, done students for also practising the steps of wudu at home all by yourselves.

Year 3

Year 3 students have learnt lessons from the life of Prophet Shuaib (as). People in the town of Madyan would cheat customers on the balance scales and sell the rotten products by hiding them within the good items when selling. Prophet Shuaib (as) advised people to ‘not cheating during transactions’, as this was the wrong thing to do. Students learnt a very important lesson of telling the truth, and not hiding faults or cheating others during transactions they may make in the future.

Wishing everyone a safe and restful school holidays. Stay safe inshallah.

Ms Gulcan Aksu

Islamic Studies Teacher (Years K, 2 and 3)

Asalamualikum Dear Parents,

Alhamdulillah we are ending this term with a positive attitude. Year 1 class were learning about the 5 pillars of Islam, Fasting the month of Ramadan and Hajj. Students watched two videos about Ramadan, which they enjoyed. Students were also excited about R U OK? Day. They were asking each other if they are ok and remembering the school days. They really enjoyed these talks.

Year 5 & 6 were learning about the Hijrat to Madinah. They watched two videos, one about the story of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and a Nasheed about Madinah by Maher Zain. They were engaged and benefited from it.

We are trying to be Positive and Happy during this period, In Shaa Allah you will have a safe and beautiful holiday.

Ms B. Mohammed

Quran and Islamic Studies Teacher (Years 1, 4, 5 and 6)

Lets learn to read the Quran!

During our lessons we learn the Quran starting from the Arabic letters. Its important to also practice at home, so we are repeating and not forgetting what we have learned. I am sharing a easy to use, interactive Quran recitation app. Alhamdulilah, it’s an excellent app which allows your child to listen to the correct pronunciation of the letters and repeat after it. It also has voice recording feature allowing your child to record their voice and compare thier pronunciation of the readers. I really recommend this app as its free to download and very beneficial.

I have included the links below.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=ireadquran&c=apps

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/ireadquran/id1003701018

For those who wish to access the lessons from a laptop or computer, please use the following link, as the audio lessons are available via this website: https://itqaanseries.com/qrme-book/

Thank you to all parents for assisting your child with thier Quran reading journey.

Wassalam.

Ms Aksu

Islamic Studies Teacher

The great outdoors really is … great!

Your child spends a lot of time in the classroom, and much of our daily lives are spent indoors. Encouraging your child to spend time playing outdoors can help their motor, sensory, social and cognitive development – and is great for their general health and wellbeing.

Let’s go outside!

Try to get your child to spend some time playing outside every day. Outdoor play doesn’t have to be a big deal, just encourage your child to go out and play in the backyard, or you can visit your local park, oval or playground together.

Physical play

Playing outside is fantastic for helping children practise their physical abilities. Exercises such as running, jumping, skipping and playing ball games not only strengthen little muscles, but they can also help with gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and overall health and wellbeing.

Self-awareness

Experiencing outdoor play helps your child take risks and learn about their own abilities. For example, they can discover how high they can climb, how well they can balance, how fast they can run and what it is like to roll on grass.

Imaginative play

Playing outdoors is helpful for encouraging creative thinking through imagination. Outdoors, children can enjoy unstructured play, where they can make up activities and games on the spot with what is around them – a log can be a pirate ship sailing the seas, or a stick can be a magic wand – or anything they can imagine.

Playing games like ‘Hide and Seek’ are fun and important for your child’s development as they assist with language skills and social and emotional learning.

The nature lesson

Being outdoors also helps your child connect with nature and the environment around them. You can use the opportunity of going outside together to talk to your child about the natural world. For example, you could discuss how plants grow, the changing of the seasons or how caterpillars turn into butterflies.

Outdoor play is great fun and promotes happy, healthy and strong children – so try to encourage your child to play outside every day!

(Acknowledgement: This article is reproduced from Learning Potential, a product of the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment)

Gima Supermarket is offering the Maarif Family 5% OFF on all orders made online.

You have the option to collect from the store or request delivery. Please use the Promotion Code MAARIF2021*5 to get your discount at checkout.

Offer ends 30 November 2021.

www.gimasupermarket.com.au

Gima_Maarif_Family_Discount_Promotion.pdf

Gima_Maarif_Family_Discount_Promotion _pdf 162.41 KB

The Student Corner is a dedicated space for students of every year to showcase their unique artwork and talents.

Kindergarten -	Adem Rafiq
*Year 1 -*	Omar Ghazi
*Year 2 -*	Ali Anmak
*Year 3 -*	Sumeyye Turkmen
*Year 4 -*	Atakan Birer
*Year 5 -*	Hanife Sare Aytekin Dilan Inan
*Year 6 -*	Mansur Uzun

The following students have their birthday in September.

On behalf of Maarif, we would like to wish them a very Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Students:

Eren Ozalp
Yusuf Ali Akdemir
Ahmet Anmak
Sumeyye Turkmen
Burak Kale
Beyza Aygun
Halil Ibrahim Aytekin
Aleena Khan
Junaid Saidi
Esila Bayindir

Parent/Teacher Interviews (online)	Friday 17 September 2021
First day of Term 4 for Students (online)	Tuesday 5 October 2021
Term 4 Dates for students	Tuesday 5 October 2021 - 8 December 2021
Public Holidays	Monday 4 October 2021 (Labour Day)
	Friday 29 October 2021 (Republic Day of Turkey - Cumhuriyet Bayramı)

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Happy School Holidays! | Glen Innes & District Community Centre

On behalf of Maarif Staff we would will like to wish our students and families a safe and happy holiday break.

We hope to see students back to school online on Tuesday, 5 October 2021!