Head of Gioia House

Gioia House update

Time flies in Gioia House with our students learning, forming new friendships and having fun. Students have much to learn, whether they just crossed The Boulevarde to come to Gioia or moved from another school. Our goal is to ensure that in two years, our students are ready for high school, and everything we do has a strong emphasis on preparing them academically, socially and emotionally. To succeed, we must teach our students to become independent learners who are organised, motivated and willing to take calculated risks. I ask that you empower your children by making them accountable for organising their bags the night before school and accessing the Veritas Online pages for any announcements, homework or class revision work. Also, encourage your daughter to ask their teachers if they have any questions without relying on you too much. We know it will take time, but if we work together in supporting and empowering our students, we have a better chance of setting them up for success.

At the beginning of the year, students were introduced to the co-curricular program in Gioia, and last week, they had the opportunity to apply for various activities. Teachers presented an introductory session for their respective programs, and it was wonderful to observe enthusiasm and curiosity in students’ participation. Please visit the Gioia House VO page to learn more about the Gioia House co-curricular program. We look forward to sharing photos and stories from our co-curricular clubs with you.

NAPLAN

Earlier this week the Year 5 parents were sent the information about NAPLAN. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life.

All students in Year 5 have been working on NAPLAN-like questions in Maths, focusing on one strand each week. The students have been exploring narrative and persuasive texts in English. Teachers used the NAPLAN public demonstration site to familiarise students with the types of questions and tools available in the NAPLAN Online tests. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN Online is not recommended.

2023 Gioia House Leaders

Last week we commissioned the newly elected Gioia House leaders at our induction liturgy. Congratulations to 2023 student leaders and we wish them a great year ahead. Embrace every opportunity and enjoy your journey.

Gioia House Student Leadership Team – 2023

NAME	POSITION
Sienna Pirina	GIOIA HOUSE CAPTAIN
Natalie Chidiac	FAITH AND IDENTITY LEADER
Louise Thill	ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY LEADER
Emilia Srdanovic	SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADER
Verona Di Santo	SPORTS LEADER
Alicia Bouantoun	WELLBEING LEADER
Claire D’Souza	ARTS LEADER

Gioia House Colour House Leaders – 2023

NAME	HOUSE
Alegra Cencigh	GUNAGULLA
Audrey Williams	KURRAWA
Chloe Wahbe	MUNDAWORA
Stella D’Onofrio	TEANGI
Georgia Magri	WEELYA
Madison Rice	YETINGA

Our leaders, along with Del Monte Captains and St Patrick’s College leaders, participated in the GRIP Student Leadership Conference at the Quay Centre Sydney Olympic Park. The theme for this year’s conference was We Lead Everybody. This was a unique experience that focused on training student leaders for their role as SCHOOL LEADERS. The style, topics, and content of this conference all aimed at what the students can do RIGHT NOW.

On Wednesday, the Gioia House leadership team had the immense privilege of representing Santa Sabina at a conference in the Quay Centre. We were amongst the other 172 schools attending the conference, where we played fun games with meaningful messages to show what a good leader is. My day’s highlight was always thinking of others and leading by listening to and serving your community. We need to be motivated and committed to our roles as leaders. It was great to spend some time getting to know our counterparts from St Patrick’s College and establish connections with boys. A highlight of mine was when I got to go to the front of the audience and participate in a challenge. The challenge was to recite the alphabet backwards, and on the board, there was the alphabet so that you could look at it for some help. The point of the challenge was to show that it’s ok to need assistance and you don’t have to do everything alone. Overall, I had an amazing experience, and I thank the College for providing us with this incredible opportunity.
Sienna Pirina
Gioia House Captain

My highlights for the day was knowing how to put others first and not only thinking about yourself. It’s natural to think of self first but leaders need to shift their thinking to others first. That was the focus of the day. I learned how to make my actions speak louder than words. The hosts helped us understanding about leadership and shared some practical ideas with us. We had the chance to interact with all 172 schools when we played games that focused on others first.

We had the opportunity to interact with the Saint Patrick’s boys. and learn about them. I made a couple new friends and listened to what they are doing as a leader.

I walked out of the conference having a better understanding about leadership and some new ideas we can incorporate for the upcoming year. The 4 H’s Hear, Help, Happiness and Humility is how you can be a better leader to your peers.
Verona Di Santo
Sports Leader

I enjoyed going to the Leadership Conference with other Gioia House leaders and the St Patrick’s College Junior school leadership team. I learnt that leaders need to shift their thinking to others and be attentive to needs of others. In the first session, we played a game to find the answers to some questions. After every session, we got to write what we needed to remember from the session. We did a lot of activities with the boys and I really enjoyed getting to know them. We got to do activities in the book such as a find a word and a number-letter game.

Overall I had the best time ever. I’m very grateful for this learning opportnuty and collaboration with others.
Chloe Wahbe
Mundawora House Leader

Together with 170 other schools, all the Gioia House, Del Monte and St Patric’s College leaders had the wonderful opportunity to visit Sydney Olympic Park on the 8 of March to learn about being effective leaders. During this time we received information about how to be productive role models and all the attributes a great leader should posses. I am confident that we all gained a great deal of advice and knowledge from this conference and will work together on implementing some ideas and cherish this opportunity for many years to come.
Audrey Williams
Kurrawa House Leader

I really enjoyed the great opportunity of the leadership conference. It was very informative and taught me a lot while still making the learning fun and interactive. I loved how the hosts made games to learn about leadership, which made the lessons that they taught easy to remember and a day that I will take a lot from.
Alegra Cencigh
Gunagulla House Leader

Analogies

In Philosophy lessons, Year 6 students have been learning to think conceptually, ask philosophical questions and interpret analogies. They worked across the grade, discussing the questions and thinking outside of the box, presenting unique answers.

How is a friendship like the weather?

We make new friends in different places like there is different weather in new places.

There are different levels of friendship like there are different levels of rain.

How is a friendship like dancing?

You need to keep your balance.

You need to work together with your friends just like in a dance.

How is a family like a mobile phone?

There are different phone companies like there are different family beliefs.

Everyone has different backgrounds on their phone just like every family has a different background.

How are feelings like Luna Park?

Sometimes you win at Skill Testers and sometimes you don’t. You need to know that life doesn’t always work out the way you want.

When you are on a ride you may not enjoy it but you have to deal with it just like feelings.

Mood swings are just like on the rides.

How is learning like music?

Learning is like music because it has high and low notes. In music, there are different instruments and they all make different sounds and are all unique. We are all unique in our learning and learn in different ways.

Lent

In Week 4, we celebrated Ash Wednesday, the first day of one of the most important seasons in the Church’s liturgical year – Lent. As we explained to the students at Wednesday’s liturgy, Lent is a time when we try to get closer to God. The girls were encouraged to think of things they could do to achieve this by doing good deeds and giving to Project Compassion. It’s a time to think about Jesus’ life and how he continually showed compassion and forgiveness to those around him. As adults, we understand these acts to be Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving.

God our Father,

Help us to see that your merciful love is with us always, even when we wander far from you.

With the help of your grace, may our prayers and sacrifices over the next forty days lead us closer to you and to each other, the poor, the sick and the lonely so that together,

we can fulfil your promises for all who live in your love.

AMEN