Castlefield

Traffic and parking reminder

We have a fabulous roundabout system within our gates and encourage parents to utilise the South Road entrance for drop off and pick up. Some congestion is created when families are attempting to pick up along South Road, rather than at the roundabout within the School.

I remind families to avoid blocking both lanes on South Road when attempting to join the queue entering the School property and to please avoid double parking along South Road waiting for your child/ren to appear. There is a bike lane that is being blocked when this happens.

We thank our families for being considerate of the parking signs in our surrounding streets and respectful of our neighbours’ properties. The safety of our students is paramount and when they are unable to be picked up at the curb, as cars are parked, it can be dangerous.

The front of the School on South Road is a two-minute ‘kiss and go’ zone, hence parents should not be leaving their cars unattended.

Early Learning Centre

Marvellous mums

The ELC welcomed mums to ‘stay and play’ to celebrate Mother’s Day. The children were so proud to show their mums their indoor and outdoor learning environments, pamper them and give them a special handmade gift they had been working on.

Wellness

As the seasons change, and we move through Mameet and into Beerreen, we are more aware of health, wellness and hygiene. Children are reminded about self-care when blowing their nose, coughing and sneezing, and effective hand washing. Families are reminded to keep unwell children at home to recover, and keep the ELC a safe and well learning environment for all.

Wellness Wednesday continues to be a great day where the whole ELC comes together on Clark oval for our Acknowledgement and some physical and social wellbeing as we walk, run and connect around the track. We love extending this to our families and enjoy welcoming parents to join us. Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like to be part of this regular community event.

Junior School

Outside play

East Quad has been an autumn wonderland this term. It has been wonderful to see all the creative ways the children can play with leaves! From creating huge nests to synchronised leaf throwing, our students have enjoyed the changing play environment. Another popular recess activity is our Wednesday dance sessions. Led by Mrs Wittels, teachers and students love to get moving together. Recess and lunch-time clubs run by House Captains always prove popular too.

Connecting

We love creating connections across the Castlefield campus and one way we are doing that this term is by having our Year 9 girls read to our Junior School children. Any Prep – Year 4 student can come along on Tuesday mornings between 8.10 am – 8.25 am. Depending on the weather, the Reading Club will either be outside the library in the early sunshine or inside the library in the warmth. It is a great way to start the day!

Reminders

• As the cold weather begins to kick in this term, please ensure your child has their jumper to wear at recess and lunch times, as blazers are not permitted to be worn outside during these times.
• Name everything! We move from lost hats to lost jumpers this term. Please ensure you have clearly labelled any items your child may take off.
• There are only three places you may pick up your Junior School child: from their classroom; at ‘The Meeting Place’ outside the Year 1 rooms; or from the roundabout. Junior School students are not permitted to walk outside the school property without a parent, guardian or Middle School sibling.
• Smart watches and Space Talk watches should be set to school mode and not used for communication between home and school between 8.30 am and 3.30 pm
• The back playground is not to be played in after school. Unfortunately, it has been left in a state of disregard with equipment strewn from one end to the other. Please make sure your children are supervised when playing in East Quad after school.

Middle School

Years 7 and 8 exams

Assessment, feedback and growth are all interrelated, and our Years 7 and 8 students have the opportunity to gauge their progress with our upcoming exams. These exams (Geography and semester-based electives) aim to provide students with the platform to detail their understanding of their subject and to experience all that comes with sitting formal assessments.

Revision, homework clubs, teacher student feedback and applying yourself is all part of preparation as our exam schedule nears. We encourage all our students to maximise use of our revision help desks, that are facilitated by our amazing staff, so they can ask questions to their teachers and work through content as they prepare for the examination period. Semester 2 examinable subjects, that are held at the end of the year, will be Maths, English, Science, History, Languages and semester-based electives. We wish our Years 7 and 8 students the best of luck for their exams.

Mother’s Day

We love our mums and the unconditional love they provide us. We, Middle School, could not do what we did without the love, care and support of mums!

We were so pleased that our Middle School Mother’s Day celebration was a huge success, with our Castlefield mums and special friends coming together to enjoy the company of their child and friends. It was lovely to see so many friendly faces catching up, enjoying our breakfast treats or even getting involved with some of our games with their children.

We hope all our mums had an amazing Mother’s Day and were spoilt with time, gifts or the world’s biggest hug!

Katrina Manson
Head of Castlefield (Brighton)

Monique Chapman
President, Haileybury Parents & Friends Castlefield