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- A Message from our Primary School Coordinator
- Teknofest
- Students of the Week
- Kindergarten 1
- Kindergarten 2
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
- Year 4
- Year 5
- Year 6
- Turkish Lessons - with Mrs Şeyma Akdemir
- Turkish Lessons - with Miss Esra Pamuk
- Islamic Studies & Quran
- Sport with Ms Zeinab Youssef
- CAPA with Ms Emma Morgan
- Student Corner
- Student Birthdays
- Reminders
- Lunch Orders
- Safe Driving
- Maarif Family Bulletin
- Important Dates
Dear Parents/Carers,
What a great start we have had already. This year, we are delighted to welcome new students and staff to our school. It is pleasing to see our Kindergarten students establishing routines and expectations and settling in really well. Students have started the new year with enthusiasm and it is wonderful to see so much exciting and productive learning taking place. It is our goal for our students to enjoy a balanced curriculum which caters for the whole child through key learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science & Technology, HSIE, PDHPE, Creative Arts, Turkish and Religion with specialist teachers. I will give you a snippet of what students have been engaged in and some events that are coming up.
Maarif students will continue to be involved in the You Can Do It! Education social and emotional program where they continue to flourish and thrive in achieving their goals with confidence and competence. In addition to this, students are selected as the ‘Student of the Week’ for modelling our school values. School Captains, Vice Captains and Class Prefects will present their speeches soon and Maarif students will choose their school leaders.
All students in Years K-6 have had PAT assessments - Progressive Achievement Tests to establish what they know, understand and are capable of. Teachers will use the data obtained to support students’ individual learning progress with targeted activities and resources. These assessments help monitor progress over time and the tests will be repeated at the end of the year. NAPLAN practice sessions have commenced for our Year 3 and Year 5 students where they have the opportunity to focus on exam strategies so they are prepared for the NAPLAN tests which is scheduled for Term 2, between 10-20 May.
Teachers have organised wonderful excursions where students will be exposed to new experiences. Excursions are structured learning experiences that are a great way to reinforce what has been taught in classrooms.
TEKNOFEST Aerospace and Technology Festival 2022 applications have started. Students have been given an insight into the TEKNOFEST festival to be held in Türkiye between 30 August – 4 September this year. The festival features many competitions in categories such as smart transportation, helicopter design, biotechnology, robotics and flying cars. Our Year 6 students, Eren Ozalp, Dilan Inan, Semih Acar and Rayan Ali made our school proud as they made it to the finals in last year’s competition. The team gave inspirational talks to other students about their project and journey last year. Students who wish to participate in the competition have formed their teams and are already thinking about the amazing projects they will come up with in their selected category. We wish them all the best!
Seeing students coming to school dressed in their full summer uniform, looking smart and taking pride in their appearance has been wonderful, and anticipate they keep representing our school with pride. We are fortunate to have a dedicated, hard working team and look forward to working together to achieve the best outcomes for all students throughout the year.
Warm Regards,
APPLICATIONS FOR TEKNOFEST 2022 TECHNOLOGY COMPETITIONS HAVE STARTED!
The thrill of TEKNOFEST, one the world's biggest aviation festivals, is starting again to take people's breath away.
TEKNOFEST, which aims to raise awareness about technology and science throughout the society and improve Turkey's qualified human resources in science and technology, organizes technology competitions with the largest prize pool in the history of Turkey in 39 different categories from Rocket to Autonomous Systems and from Artificial Intelligence to Underwater systems in order to support young people's studies on the technologies of the future.
Differently from last year, Vertical Landing Rocket Competition, Barrier-Free Living Technologies, High School Students Climate Change Research Projects Competition, Hyperloop Development Competition will take place within TEKNOFEST 2022 Technology Competitions.
If you want to be a part of TEKNOFEST Aerospace and Technology Festival, which will be held in the Black Sea region from 30 August to 4 September 2022, you can make your application via the link below.
Students who are interested in participating in Teknofest have chosen 13 different groups. We wish them all the best of luck and hope to see them in the finals at Turkey!
Application Deadline : 28 February 2022
Well done to the students who have been selected as 'Student of the Week' during our Monday morning assemblies. These students are selected for academic achievement and for modelling our school values.
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Week 2 |
Week 3 |
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K1 |
Asiya Ulucanli |
Atilla Aydin |
|
K2 |
Timurhan Mengi |
Asma Kanj |
|
Year 1 |
Malik Duran |
Musa Aydiniz |
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Year 2 |
Irem Badem |
Uthman Maaliki |
|
Year 3 |
Kerem Er |
Halid Cetiner |
|
Year 4 |
n/a |
Alaaddin Dalkilic |
|
Year 5 |
Miray Durdu |
Zeynep Demiryurek |
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Year 6 |
Rayan Ali |
Mariam Ibrahim |
Plants are alive!
As part of our Science topic- Living Things, K1 students have been discussing things that are alive and things that are not alive. As an example of living things, we have taken part in planting Sunflowers. Students really enjoyed this experience and understood the concept of how things stay alive as we watered our cups and placed them under the sunlight.
Gardening with kids is not only fun; it's also a great way to encourage healthy eating and give lessons about the environment. Having a hands-on, sensory experience helps illustrate big ideas like sustainability and responsibility in a way that's easier for young kids to appreciate.
Mrs Ulku Turkmen
K1
HEALTHY AND HAPPY FOOD CHOICES
Research has shown that students who are well nourished are able to engage with learning more creatively and productively.
As part of our daily ‘Crunch and Sip,’ students are encouraged to bring in and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Students are provided with the opportunity to think about what healthy eating really looks like.
Our classroom discussions relating to the benefits of healthy eating has motivated students to snack on something nutritious every morning!
Mrs Maryam Faisal
K2
Happy Twosday
On Tuesday Year 1 celebrated a unique date, a palindrome day which is a number or word which could be read the same way forwards and backwards- 22.02.22. We made crowns and looked at number sentences involving the number 2.
This week year 1 is learning about 2D and 3D shapes and together we made some of these shapes using matchsticks and counted how many sides and vertices the shapes had.
Mrs Dilek Isanc
Casual Teacher
Visual Arts – Drawing a Vase.
During our Art lesson, year 2 did some draft drawings of their vases. They then watched a guided drawing video where they were able to gain inspiration and ideas from it to draw their vase to appear 3D rather than 2D.
Year 2 is very excited to bring their vases to life and create their final vase drawing soon.
Mrs Ayse Yildiz
Year 2 Teacher
Classifying Angles
Year 3 students have enjoyed exploring angles in mathematics this week. They were able to identify angles in our classroom and in the environment. Students moved on to comparing and classifying angles as acute, right, and obtuse. To consolidate learning, students engaged in a hands-on activity where they formed their own angles.
For or Against
In English this term, we are focusing on persuasive writing. We have been learning the importance of planning our text prior to writing. Students worked in groups to brainstorm arguments for and against for the topic ‘School uniform should be banned’.
Students responded very well to this activity and produced some strong arguments!
Ms Amel Mehana
Year 3 Teacher
Let’s learn more about Animals!
Students in Year 4 are practicing writing an information report on animals with whole class activities. Now, this week, students have been working in groups to find out more information about one of the animals chosen as a class.
Teamwork was outstanding and we all created a great piece of information about a Wombat. Our students were engaged, and it was a great learning experience for them. Well done Year 4 on creating an amazing information report about a Wombat.
Congratulations to the students for receiving bronze awards.
Ms Samira Asad
Year 4 Teacher
Art with Picasso
This term, Year 5 will explore the creative world and life of Pablo Picasso. Students have begun to understand the elements of visual art and how colour, shape and line were at the core of many of his creations. Once students understood the concepts, they experimented with colours and the impact colours can have on evoking mood and vice versa.
The student’s first creation was continuous line drawing and understanding that abstract art allows for expression and fluidity.
This was followed by a lesson on perspective as an introduction into cubism. Students learned that artists aim to capture our attention with their art and Picasso famously did this through Cubism where he manipulated shapes and perspective to create abstract portraits and objects.
Year 5 have shown great enthusiasm and I look forward to their creations to come.
Mrs Olivia Peach
Year 5 Teacher
Are thumbs really that important?
Students in Year 6 are learning about different human adaptations. They found out that scientists believe that our opposite thumbs are an important human adaptation. They worked with partners to investigate and find out if opposable thumbs are important. They started off with deciding on three tasks that they could complete by utilising their thumbs. Taking turns to complete the three tasks using their thumbs they recorded how long it took to complete these simple tasks. Students then taped their thumb to their hand and repeated the same tasks only to realise how much longer it takes to complete a simple task without a thumb!
Students enjoyed this lesson as they then discovered the independent, dependent, and controlled variables of the experiment and realised the importance of our thumbs in our day to day lives completing simple tasks.
Here are some photos!
Mrs Asli Tekirdaga
Year 6 Teacher
Language and Instructions
Giving clear instructions to students is key to their success in the classroom. In Turkish, Kindergarten students were taught classroom language/instructions to ensure them tackle tasks confidently.
Let play some traditional games
In year 3, students learnt some traditional games such as Ak Terek Gök Terek, Saklambaç, Körebe, Seksek , Mendil Kapmaca, Beş Taş, Topaç Çevirme, İsim Şehir Bulmaca. Students watched the videos of the games to learn the rules and they played in the classroom and outside of the classroom. They also memorised the game rhymes.
Hava durum (weather report)
Students learnt the weather conditions in Turkish and like a weather forecaster, they reported the weather conditions and temperature degrees.
Mrs Şeyma Akdemir
Turkish Teacher
We are learning Turkish!
Kindergarten started their Turkish lessons with games, and they have already learned their first words. They are learning Turkish with the little puppets, Turkish cartoons and painting activities.
Turkish lessons started quickly in Year 1. First, we did some revision from last year then we started on the Turkish letters. Year 1 will be able to read and write while speaking Turkish by the end of this year.
Emotional expressions were learned after some repetition in Year 2. Year 2 students can now say how they feel in Turkish.
The class continues to learn new Turkish games. They also practice speaking in Turkish by explaining how these games are played.
Miss Esra Pamuk
Turkish Teacher
Allah is our Creator!
Kindergarten has been learning a lot about their religion Alhamdulillah. They have started to memorise Dua Subhanaka as a class. Please assist your child in memorising this surah so they can get a special prize for passing inshallah.
Kindergarten students learnt that we say “Assalamu Aleykum” to great each other, that as Muslims we wear clean clothes, are good people who share and are kind to everyone. They also learnt that Allah is our creator and the creator of everything around us. Alhamdulillah!
Here are some photos of students working on their own Islamic Studies activity books. They enjoyed colouring and tracing the names of things which Allah created. Well done Kindergarten!
Peace around the World!
Year 1 students are learning that Islam is a religion of Peace and that as Muslims we great each other with ‘salams’ meaning ‘Peace’. They learnt that Muslims live all around the world and drew the earth and coloured it in beautifully.
Year 1 is also memorising Dua Rabbena. They have almost completed this short dua and would appreciate your assistance with allowing your child to listen to the dua video at home. A letter with the QR code was sent to all students so please contact me if you haven’t received this code with your child.
Ms Gulcan Aksu
Islamic Studies Teacher
Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmetullahi wa barakatuh,
All praise be to Allah (SWT) and may peace and blessings be upon His beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his family, companions and to all those who follow him.
Year 2 Students are focusing on the topic of ‘Allah Our Creator.’ Belief in the oneness of Allah and how Allah created everything. Students were given tasks to colour in their main title page ‘The name of Allah’ and completed Unit 1 activity together.
The tasks were greatly done and therefore had a huge impact to our students which made them more cautious and aware of ‘Who is Allah, the existence and oneness of Allah Almighty.’
Jazakumullahu Khayran.
Mr Muhammed Ordukaya
Islamic Studies Teacher
We are learning to read the Quran!
Dear parents,
In Shaa Allah you are good and safe. Alhamdulillah the students did a very good start and continue to always do their best.
Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 students are learning the Arabic letters with Madd letter Yaa, using this link on page 28.
https://itqaanseries.com/qrme-book/
Ms B. Mohammed
Quran Teacher
Sports for Kindergarten to Year 6
Kindergarten & year 1 participated in fun outdoor circuit games on the courts. The students learnt road safety and sun safety by applying sunscreen on their faces, arms and legs. The students did a fantastic job learning how to be safe when crossing the road.
Year 2 participated in fun outdoor circuit games. The students are focusing on the fundamentals skills of sport including running, hopping and jumping. Year 2 also learnt about applying sunscreen and wearing a hat when being outdoors.
Year 3 had the opportunity to meet the coaches of the soccer team Western Sydney Wanderers who will be attending our school in the coming weeks to run a soccer clinic for Years 3-6. The students continued to work on their soccer skills during their sports lessons.
Year 4 continued to practice improving their soccer skills during their sports lessons. The students are focusing on building teamwork skills and learning new soccer skills including passing and dribbling skills.
Years 5 & 6 focused on a fitness bootcamp workout due to wet weather indoor sports arrangements. The students participated in many tough exercises including lunges, burpees and sit-ups. There were lots of laughs and smiles as the students were all challenging each other.
In the coming weeks our school will be holding fundraising events and activities to raise money for students to use the PCYC facilities during wet weather sports days.
To kick off our fundraising events the first fundraiser will be Jersey Day on Friday 25th February 2022. It would be wonderful to see all students wearing their jersey.
Please remember to pack a hat and water bottle each day to school to stay hydrated and be sun smart.
Miss Zeinab Youssef
PDHPE Teacher
Sport lessons are given by Ms Zeinab Youssef on the following days. Please make sure your child is wearing thier sports uniform with sports shoes on this day:
| Mondays |
Kindergarten Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 |
| Tuesdays |
Year 5 Year 6 |
Notes from the Music Room…
This week, Year 2 continued our journey into reading rhythms. We met Tommy the ‘ta’, and Tia and Tina the ‘ti-ti’ twins. Students learned how to identify and perform rhythms incorporating these note values and experimenting with putting these into their own four-beat rhythms. We also learned a new chant, “Engine, Engine, Number 9”, and students were able to figure out which beats had a ‘ta’ and which beats had a ‘ti-ti’.
Kindergarten enjoyed learning about the different types of voices we can use (speaking, whispering and even shouting!), with the poem “This is my speaking voice”. They have also started to anticipate pauses in songs and learned the words to a new song about frogs under logs.
Ms Emma Morgan
CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) Teacher
The Student Corner is a dedicated space for students of any year level to showcase their unique artwork and talents!
On behalf of Maarif, we would like to wish our students a very Happy Birthday who have celebrated their birthday during the month of January & February:
January Birthdays
Emirhan GERMAN
Eren HURRIYET
Elisa OZDEMIR
Alaaddin DALKILIC
Sarina STRIK
Sumeyye SONMEZ
February Birthdays
Amelia KHANEla SEVINCEK
Sumayah OSMAN
Abu Bakr KANJ
Erkut ODABASI
Safiya ABBAS
Adam HAOUCHAR
Aylin KICE
Ali DBOUK
Zeyno HASGUL
Mariama IBRAHIM
Celebrations and food
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 item 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 and we thank you in advance for supporting the health and wellbeing of all students.
Dont forget your Hats!
All students are reminded to wear their hats during recess, lunch and sport. Please also remember to send a water bottle with your child every day.
Labelling
Please ensure that all personal items (clothing, lunchboxes, bags, etc.) are clearly labelled with your child(ren)’s name. Each year there are numerous items of clothing, especially hats and jackets that have no names or identification in lost property.
If there is no name, then we have a difficulty finding the owner.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Safe Driving and Pedestrian Behaviours
Parents are asked to be considerate and patient during pick-up and drop-off times. All our surrounding streets are very active and require traffic to keep moving due to buses and the ever-flowing traffic on Gellibolu Parade and Percy Street, especially in the afternoons. Parents are asked to follow these practices:
- Keep the flow of traffic going by moving on quickly.
- If you cannot park and someone is not leaving within a few seconds, YOU MUST MOVE ON.
- Pedestrians also have a responsibility to be safe. Walking behind or in front of moving cars is dangerous. Parents are asked to model responsible pedestrian behaviour.
- Park in the parking bays across the school and walk to the school to collect your child.
- If a school bus is coming up the street behind you, keep moving unless you are parking immediately.
We understand that these times of the day are frustrating, however, we must work together to ensure the safety of the children and all road users. Thank you.
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Term 1, 2022 for Students |
Tuesday 1 February to Thursday 7 April 2022 |
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School Captains and Class Prefects speeches |
Monday 7 March 2022 |
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School Clean Up Day |
Friday 4 March 2022 |
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School Captains and Class Prefects announced |
Monday 14 March 2022 |
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National Day of Action against bullying and violence |
Friday 18 March 2022 |
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Harmony Day |
Tuesday 22 March 2022 |
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Last Day for Students Term & Students Iftar |
Thursday 7 April 2022 |
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Parent - Teacher Interviews |
Friday 8 April 2022 |