Head of Primary P-4

We have had a fantastic start to the term on the Primary campus. Already this term we have celebrated Dom’s Day, we have had Learning Walks (Years Prep, 1, 2, 4), celebrated Kindergarten’s 100 Days of school, Jamie Ranger Incursion (Year 2), Casper Visits (Prep and Kindergarten), as well as all of our wonderful learning experiences.

Student Wellbeing

At Santa Sabina, we are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our students. Last semester we commenced the Friendology program which aims to create a culture of kindness in schools with a whole-school friendship strategy that empowers students with friendship skills. Please visit the grade pages to see what your child/ren has been learning about in Friendology.

This term we have commenced two new well-being programs to support healthy eating they include SWAP IT Program and Crunch and Sip.

SWAP IT

SWAP IT is an evidence-based healthy lunchbox program. The food that children consume at school impacts their concentration, health, and wellbeing. By improving lunchboxes, we can make a huge difference!

School lunchboxes contain approximately one third of a child’s daily energy intake – a significant opportunity to improve nutrition and health outcomes (1).

Everyday foods help children grow and learn, and by swapping out sometimes foods we are setting children up for the best possible physical, mental, and behavioural performance at school and home. Families have received an information booklet to support parents with packing lunches that are full of ‘everyday foods’.

Families interested in more information can visit our P-4 Veritas Online page.

Sutherland R, Nathan N, Brown A, Yoong S, Finch M, Lecathelinais C, et al. A randomised controlled trial to assess the potential efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of an m-health intervention targeting parents of school-aged children to improve the nutritional quality of foods packed in the lunchbox ‘SWAP IT’. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2019;16(1):54.

Crunch&Sip

Crunch&Sip encourages children to eat more vegetables and fruit and reach for water, which helps teach them healthy habits from a young age. Crunch&Sip® occurs at a designated time in the morning during class time and is not designed to replace recess. At the designated time across the campus, the children will have a fruit/vegetable break.

Please send your child to school with:

a clean, clear bottle filled with water
a serving of easy-to-eat vegetables or fruit for the classroom. This should be in a separate container to their recess and lunch.

The children will place their Crunch&Sip on their desks when they enter the classroom at the beginning of the day.

The following Crunch&Sip® items can be consumed during the Crunch&Sip® break:

Vegetables

all fresh vegetables (e.g. celery, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, broccoli bits)
vegetables canned in water with no added salt (e.g. corn spears, baby carrots, butter beans).

Fruit

all fresh fruit (e.g. whole fruits or chopped fruits)
fruit canned in water, juice, or with no added sugar (e.g. peach slices)
dried fruit like sultanas or apricots can be brought for Crunch&Sip® but should be limited. (This is because dried fruit tends to cling to teeth and is a concentrated source of sugar, increasing the risk of tooth decay).

Water

a clean, clear water bottle filled with plain water

Please avoid packing the following for your child for the Crunch&Sip break:

all other drinks (e.g. fruit or vegetable juices)
fruit or vegetable products (e.g. fruit leather, popcorn, fruit or vegetable breads)
fruit canned in syrup or jelly or with artificial sweeteners
canned and bottled vegetables containing added salt or oil.

In class, the children will be learning about the importance of healthy foods as part of our Curriculum and SWAP IT program. Here are some suggestions of what you could pack and here is a guide for parents.

Year 2 Tallong comes to del Monte

We look forward to our Year 2 Tallong Comes to Del Monte Overnight Experience on the night of Thursday 7 September 2023. We have many exciting activities planned for them on their first overnight experience.

The overnight experience will conclude with a sausage sizzle on Friday 8 September 2023. Students may be collected from the Carrington Ave gate area on Carrington Avenue at 1:00pm. A huge thank you to the Year 2 parents who have volunteered to assist with meals during the experience! Please note, more information will be emailed to families in the coming weeks. However, below is a packing list so that you can start preparations.

PACKING LIST – FOR YEAR 2 SLEEPING OVER

sleeping bag
mat (optional)
pillow
toiletries (toothbrush/toothpaste/deodorant/hairbrush)
torch
1 water bottle
sun hat
waterproof hooded raincoat
1 set of clothes to change into for Friday (suitable mufti)
pair of pyjamas
warm clothing
1 change of underwear
1 pair of socks

Book Week

The theme for Book Week this year is ‘Read, Grow and Inspire!’

We will be having a Book Parade on Thursday 24 August 2023. Children are invited to dress up on the day. The parade begins at 9:15 am and we look forward to parents joining us for this event. Parents are most welcome to dress up on the day too! There will be a section in the parade for parents if they would like to join in!

On this day we will also be having an author visit our campus, Adrian Beck. Adrian Beck is the author of many humorous and action-packed stories for children. He is the author of the Derek Dool series, the Champion Charlies series, co-author of the Little Legends series and author of the Kick it to Nick series with Shane Crawford.

Upcoming dates reminder

EVENT	DATE	TIME	LOCATION
ICAS English	Tuesday 15 August 2023	9:30-10:30am	Classrooms
Book Week Parade and Author Visit	Thursday 24 August 2023	9:15-9:45am	The Carrington Ave gates in front of the Hall will open at 11:25 am ahead of the parade.
ICAS Maths	Friday 1 September 2023	9:30-10:30am	Classrooms
St Dominic the Adventurer Award – Flora and Fauna ID Year 3 and 4	Tuesday 5 September 2023	3:30pm – 4:00pm	Del Monte Campus
Year 2 Tallong comes to Del Monte	Thursday 7 September and Friday 8 September 2023	Students picked up at 1:00pm on Friday 8 September 2023	Del Monte Campus
Prep and MBH Athletics Morning	Friday 8 September 23	9:30am – 10:30am	Del Monte Campus

Joanne Gianinni
Head of Primary P-4