Executive Principal’s Message
Dear Parents/Guardians and Members of our Community
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmutallah wa Barakatuhu
As we are approaching toward end of term 1 2022, and the weather cools down, it is important to take steps to minimise the impact of COVID-19. Vaccines are a safe and effective way to protect your child, and the community. I would like to encourage and remind you all to book a COVID-19 Vaccination for your child. Over 50 per cent of all children aged 5 to 11 have now received a first dose, with many now due for a second dose (eight weeks after the first dose).
The Department of Health website provides a number of resources with further information about seeking COVID-19 vaccination. Please see below fact sheet which you can use to communicate with your child.
Further resources are also available at: www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/who-can-get-vaccinated/children
Vaccines are widely available across the country at general practices, pharmacies and state-run clinics. You can find a participating clinic and make an appointment by visiting the Vaccine Clinic Finder at: https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/booking
We find ourselves continuing to live in unprecedented and uncertain times due to the global Coronavirus Pandemic. The Government has announced schools will remain open to best support continuity of student learning. The College has recently opened online learning for students who need to isolate and those who are unfortunately Covid-19 positive. May Allah (swt) grant everyone shifa and restore everyone to full health. By providing online learning students are able to receive support for their learning courses and programs. It is challenging to maintain a hybrid teaching model but with the perseverance of our dedicated staff, it has been another great achievement.
The College is committed to our Mission of “Islamic values and academic excellence for success in this life and the hereafter”. To this end, we have worked hard to ensure students can receive both online learning resources as well as face-to-face for all academic courses including Islamic Studies and Quran. Please encourage your child to attend school if they are a symptom free close contact as long as they are tested negative through a RAT test for day 1 or as soon as possible after being identified as a close contact.
I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding during these very uncertain and trying times. Please do your very best to keep your children in your home if they feel unwell or develop any Covid-19 symptoms. This will assist in reducing the spread of the virus. Please continue to be extra mindful of the higher risks to the older members of our community.
I would like to wish you all Ramadan Kareem. I pray that Allah (swt), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, continues to provide, protect and guide us all and that He bestows His blessings upon you all to gain maximum benefits this Ramadan.
With kind regards
Abdullah Khan
Principal’s Message
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatulahi Wabarakatuh,
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the term 1 2022 Newsletter. Alhamdulillah, this year we have so much to be grateful for. It was lovely to see our existing students returned from their long holiday. We are also very grateful to see so many new faces in our school, our new students and their parents. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to our wonderful parents of our existing students to maintain their trust in us in educating their children, and my warmest welcome to our new parents and their children. Thank you for choosing our school for your children’s education.
High Quality of Education:
Our school has been able to uphold its reputation of being able to deliver a high quality of teaching and learning in a very supportive, caring and nurturing environment. Our staff are highly qualified and with their superb work ethic they work their hardest to ensure that your children perform to their fullest. Our school’s focus in the areas of academic excellence; Islamic values and community integration means that you are ensured that your child is in the best place indeed.
School Building Project:
Our school still continues to undergo significant development projects such as:
A Block major renovation:
- Three new Early Childhood classrooms in the early Childhood section – two of the classrooms have been occupied by the Pre-Primary A and Pre-Primary C classes.
- A two story building (comprised of 16 classrooms) with a gymnasium.
I would like to thank all our parents, students and staff members for their patience while waiting for our building projects to be completed.
Term 1 School Events:
A number of school events were held during this term. The events listed below:
Parent Meet & Greet:
“Parent Meet & Greet” was held in week 2 of Term 1. Parents had the opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers to discuss programs, class routines and expectations.
Morning Assembly & Morning Assembly Speeches:
Due to Covid19 restrictions this term, our daily morning assembly has been conducted in class. Sh Mubarak, Sh Mohamed and Sh Abdur Raheem were rostered to deliver morning assembly speeches with the focus on the AIC Values (Faith, Knowledge, Service, Excellence, Compassion, Courage and Resilience).
Assessments:
- ACER Diagnostic Assessment was administered to identify where your child sits in terms of their literacy and numeracy levels.
- Mid-Term and End of term Assessments.
- NAPLAN Practice Test was administered on Thursday, 24th March (for Years 3 and 5)
Clean up Australian Day:
The school participated in ‘Clean Up Australia Day’. Our Lower Primary students helped to clean up our school while our Upper Primary students were involved in cleaning a public park (Hunt Street Reserve). We are very proud of them and their valuable contribution to the Australian community at large and how they demonstrated our belief that in Islam cleanliness is half of Iman.
Photo Day:
Annual Photo Day was held on Tuesday, 8th March.
Harmony Day Celebration:
Our students and staff members celebrated Harmony Day by wearing their traditional outfits on Thursday, 24th March.
National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence:
Every year our school participates in a National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. Each class will be involved in conducting some activities relating to awareness and strategies to reduce and eliminate bullying and violence.
Swimming Program:
This term, our Pre-Primary and year 1 students are participating in a swimming program.
Skipping Competition:
In Week 11, a Skipping Competition will be held.
STEM Classroom Cash Competition:
Our school is participating in STEM Classroom Cash Competition this term.
Acknowledgement:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our teachers and staff members for their tremendous effort and hard work, and our parents for their wonderful support. We work together as a strong team in helping our children to achieve success in this world and in the Here-After.
Kind regards,
Endah Hayes
Kindergarten
It has been a wonderful start to our year in kindergarten. The children have embraced the commencement of the kindergarten program, classroom routines and school rules and all appear ready to get involved and have a go at the new experiences on offer. The Kindergarten programs do not ‘follow’ a set curriculum, but do follow guidelines, principles and practices presented in the Early Years Learning Framework.
Kindergarten is the year where your child can actively learn through observation, engagement and participation in play, and the meaningful relationships they share with others. Children themselves play an integral part in their own learning. Through the interactions with others, the time to experience and the resources to discover, the children can begin to find a sense of self and what it is that motivates them to learn. It is our expectation for children to develop a sense of independence, resilience and maturity during the term.
The program is underpinned by an emergent approach which incorporates opportunities for spontaneous learning through engagement and play.
Learning through play and intentional teaching are two of the teaching and learning practices that form a part of our teaching pedagogy.
This provides opportunity for the children to develop a solid foundation for structured learning.
Our goal for term one will be developing the children’s sense of belonging and independence within the kindergarten environment. We aim to develop the children’s confidence in forming bonds with educators and new peers, and supporting the children by having fun, laughing with them, listening to them and nurturing them in their learning journeys.
Thanks to all our kindergarten families for being supportive and making the transitions easier during this term. Your continued support in assisting your child to be independent and completing set tasks at home, will allow your child to continue to grow and develop academically.
We look forward to sharing your child’s personal growth over the course of the kindergarten year, and watching their individual potential and personalities unfold.
The kindergarten children participated in many interesting learning experiences and activities based on integrated themes (All About Me, My Name, My Family and Harmony Day).
Pre-Primary
Assalamu alaikum
Alhamdullilah, it is wonderful to see all the Pre-Primary students settled down now into the Early Childhood Block. Term One has flown by very quickly, and the children have shown resilience and flexibility adapting to a more structured learning program so far this year. Our teaching practices have been focusing on establishing daily routines, familiarity with the learning environment, establishing and maintaining positive adult- child relationships as well as family engagement.
Looking forward will be on continuing to encourage independent behaviour, learning through physical play, following lunchtime routines and practices, developing writing skills and using scissors. In the numeracy learning area the focus will be on understanding numbers, counting, solving number problems, sorting, noticing patterns and adding numbers. To help the students learn how to effectively use their emotions we will continue to incorporate ‘The You Can Do It ‘program within our program.
We are excited to inform you that there will be scheduled swimming lessons towards the end of this term which will take place at Leisure World in Thornlie. Sport lessons are a great way to help your child establish positive relationship with their peers as well as develop their confidence in new settings. The students have also been enjoying participating in weekly sport lessons with Sister Heba every Friday.
JazakAllah.
Pre Primary Educators
Year 1
Welcome back to a new school year. Insha Allah you and your child have had a restful break and are now ready for the school year ahead. It has been wonderful to see the children arriving and settling into their new classes, looking ready to take on their learning experiences to come.
This year we are using the Words Their Way program in our classroom. Words Their Way is phonics, spelling, and vocabulary instruction through daily word study. This program will provide skill instruction that will cover spelling patterns and focus on examining and manipulating words, not memorizing them. Students will be thinking more critically about words and work on transferring their skills to reading and writing. Words Their Way will focus on teaching students how to spell, decode new words, and to improve word recognition speed in general.
At home you can support your child with their Spellings by helping them to chop their words in four simple steps. Yes! you read that right:
- Listen to the word (say it out loud)
- Break the word into paths (CHOP)
- Write the word (you could also say it)
- Check the word.
Example: Say the word : black
Chop the word : bl/a/ck
Write / Say it : black
In line with our HASS programme, this term we are learning about family structure – how it was in the past, how it is now in the present and how this structure can vary from home to home. As a class we have been having some good discussions as to why our family is special. Children have contributed to these discussions by sharing their stories from home and expressing their thoughts down on paper.
To help build our classroom community, we have created an area to display family photos in your child’s classroom. Thank you to all our parents who were able to send in their family photo. The children really enjoy visiting this wall display and seeing pictures of themselves with their loved ones.
As a school we also celebrated Harmony Day this term. Harmony Day provides an opportunity for our students to celebrate our success as a culturally diverse society and re-commit to harmony. Students were encouraged to wear their traditional clothes from their country of origin. The children all looked wonderful as they proudly represented their culture in their beautiful traditional clothing.
Furthermore, this term we are looking at ‘swimming’ as a tool to promote children’s learning and development. Study shows that there are cognitive benefits from movement experiences, particularly in the early years as these are critical for a child’s growth and development.
Before the start of the actual swimming lessons, children have had the opportunity to attend a workshop from Royal Life Saving WA. At this workshop, children were introduced to the concepts of water safety and why this was very important. Needless to say our children are excitedly looking forward to their swimming lessons at the local community pool.
Thank you again to all our parents for your ongoing support. We look forward to another exciting year ahead. Insha Allah, if we work in strong partnership between home and school, we will be looking at another successful year for our students.
The Year 1 Team
Year 2
This year has kicked off to a great start. We are flying into Week 8.
In Our Classroom We Have Been Learning About:
SCIENCE
For SCIENCE this term, students have been learning about the WATER CYCLE. This week, students will be taking part to make their STEM project. Students will create their OWN Water Cycle in a cup. HOW EXCITING! Students will increase their understanding of evaporation and condensation whilst being able to observe if the water in the cup will evaporate. Over the next week, students will observe and analyse their cups, up close!
ART
For ART this Term, we are focused on visual arts/drama. Students were required to create 3D optical illusion and abstract art. In order to create their art, students explored the elements of line and shape of optical illusions in simple animations by famous artist Wassily Kandinsky . Students were then given the opportunity to practice and draft an abstract masterpiece.
ACER
As part of the school’s educational programs to improve learning, students completed their ACER tests. Students undertook 2 tests in the learning areas of Reading and Maths on IPADS. The Australian Council for Educational Research creates and promotes research-based knowledge to improve learning. ACER’s research focus addresses learning across the life span, from the early years and school education.
CLEAN-UP DAY
On Friday 11th March 2022, Sr Aysha, Sr Nahaari, Sr Ghazal and Sr Aisyah B collaborated to initiate a clean-up project at our very own SCHOOL and at Hunt St Reserve. Students from years 2 and 4 took part in this great initiative to clean-up. The specified year levels gathered together at their own venues to kick start the clean-up. All students were required to wear their hats and bring along a pair of gloves (optional, otherwise provided). This was a great initiative to keep the environment litter free and sustainable.
CHARACTER EDUCATION
We are continuing to work on building a positive classroom environment. We have been discussing and establishing rules and routines for our classroom. We are working to achieve our best in and out of our classroom.
THE YEAR 2’S IN THE MOSQUE FOR THE FIRST TIME!
This year, the Year 2 students have been praying in the MOSQUE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME! All students have been trying their best to practice their prayers. Masha-Allah for their efforts!
Until next time, the Year 2 Teachers wish students all the best! Let’s make this year an amazing learning journey.
Year 3
Assalamu Alaikum
This term in Science, we’re learning about Earth and space. The year 3 students planned and conducted an investigation about the length and direction of shadows in a day. Using what they know about the rotation of the Earth, this investigation allowed them to observe what happens to the length and direction of shadows during the day and analyse when shadows are at their longest and shortest. Using a pencil attached to A3 paper, students marked the shadow’s length and direction every hour, throughout the day.
Using the data collected, students created a column graph to represent and compare measurements and answered questions to summarise the results of the investigation. Students were able to apply what they have been learning in class to explain the data.
In addition, our year 3 students have been very busy preparing for their NAPLAN tests coming up next term. We have been working very closely with them in literacy and numeracy to ensure they have plenty of practice and exposure to the variety of questions that may be asked.
We wish them all the very best in sha Allah, and look forward to the busy year ahead.
Jazak Allah Khair
Year 3 Teachers
Mrs Vijay, Sr Rahnuma and Miss Edwards
Year 4
Assalamualaikum parents,
SubhanaAllah, the term has already come to an end. Alhamdulillah, the students have learnt so much already and will continue to do so for the rest of the year InshaAllah.
This term in Science, the students have been learning about rocks, soil, weathering and erosion. Students analysed some soil samples that they had brought from their own backyard and categorized them based on their characteristics. We have also learnt about the three types of rocks and we looked at some examples. One of them being pyrite which is also known as Fool’s gold as it is commonly mistaken as being real gold. The students were very engaged and loved seeing real life examples of the different types of rocks they had been learning about in class.
On the 13th of March, the year 4 students also had the chance to go to the local park and participate in Clean up Australia Day. Students were given gloves and rubbish bags and together they helped pick up all the litter that was there. MashaAllah, the students did such a fantastic job, the park was spotless by the end of it and the students highly enjoyed it.
We are looking forward to the busy year ahead InshaAllah.
Jazak Allah Khair
Year 4 Teachers
Mrs Abrahams and Sr Aisyah
Year 5
What a busy term we have had! Term One is a demanding term as we are beginning to understand the students’ personalities and learning abilities. It has been lovely to get to know the students in each Year 5 class and for the students to show us they are very eager to learn new and insightful information.
This term consists of assessing and evaluating students’ prior knowledge and skills. Throughout the term students are presented with many opportunities to build on their knowledge of the narrative and persuasive genres through independent and shared reading. An underlying focus of all literacy and reading in our classes is comprehension. Understanding and making meaning of what we read is key to unlocking information in all areas of learning. With a focus on a range of areas such as Comprehension, Grammar and Spelling also, makes all Literacy based learning extremely vital to success.
With Maths learning, the Year 5 students are challenged to have instant recall of the multiplication tables. We pay particular attention to the familiarity of mathematical language and how to decipher more difficult concepts of number. We as teachers place a large emphasis on answering mathematical questions with understanding.
In Science, we have been focusing our learning on the Solar System and its planets. The students were given the task of designing and creating a poster or model of the solar system. We have some photos of these creations for you to view. Really impressive work!
The Year 5 students took part in a NAPLAN practice test in Week 9. This is done to help students prepare for the upcoming NAPLAN tests in Term 2.
Positive support from parents in their children’s development and progress provide greater improvement in the students’ academic achievements. We appreciate this support greatly.
We look forward to working alongside our parent community to get the best out of their children.
Year 6
The Leaders of Tomorrow are in our Classrooms Today
Assalammu Alaikum and welcome to Term 1. We are already in week 9 and we feel that this term has been a very eventful one.
When we first entered this class, we were a bit nervous and at the same time very happy to think we were the senior most of ‘Primary School.’ We have been trying our best to set the best example for our peers and be the ‘Leaders” of our school.
The first thing we did was to introduce ourselves to everybody. We did several activities to help our teachers and peers get to know us better including an ‘All About Me poster’ which described every one of us and it was made available for everyone to read by exhibiting on our classroom wall. Let’s peep into all that we have been doing since Day 1 …
Maths
At the beginning of every period we do an activity from Daily 10 Math. It is really helping us in our Math fluency with times tables, rounding, division, etc. We have covered numerous concepts in Maths this term including angle properties, order of operations, types of transformations and lots of work with fractions.
Art
So far this term we have done quite a bit in art. The first thing we learnt was about the Seven Elements in art. We did not realise we could do so much in art. We also looked at the art style of the famous Picasso, utilising his techniques to draw our own self-portraits. Our final art piece has been focusing on Indigenous Art styles. We have been incorporating dot art into an artwork that is designed to tell a story inspired by the Aboriginal culture.
English
In English we have written recounts and narratives. We used the concepts we learnt about colloquial and literal speech, main clause and subordinate clause, importance of dialogue and how to reveal information about characters to make our writing more interesting.
Hass
In Hass we are learning a lot about politics- The Senate, the three levels of government – federal, state and local. We also learned about famous people (Fathers of Federation) who helped make Australia a federation and how much better it is after Australia becoming a Federation. We have begun to look at how migrants, Indigenous Australians and women were treated in the past and how Australia has changed since then.
Science
Science this term is very interesting. We are learning all about earthquakes. The first activity we did was about the Earth’s crust – learning about the different layers of the Earth, and what they are made up of. We also have a great project ahead of us – to create a volcano and to see how volcanoes erupt. We are so fortunate that we have not experienced a volcanic eruption, an earthquake or even a tsunami which so many other people around the world have gone through.
Health
In health we have learnt about the importance of keeping healthy. We also learned about what behaviors affect our social life, and the behaviors we should avoid. An important concept we covered were the signs of manipulation and how to avoid them. Being resilient is the key to everything and for this we need to learn how to bounce off.
In short, we have had a good start to year 6. We are sure we will continue to have lots of fun with lots of learning as that is our goal for year 6.
Students of Year 6
PE – Primary
Welcome
I would like to send a big welcome back to our students and to all the new families who have joined our school this year. Alhamduillah this year our pre-primary children are having sports lessons on a Friday, and it has been so wonderful to see them learn and have fun during their sessions.
COVID and Skipping
It’s been quite a challenging start to the year, but the children have been so positive about all the new rules and regulations. Sports help children stay focused on their work and cope with all the new pressures. Exercise provides a wide range of mental health benefits, from building coping and resilience to distracting from negative thoughts and improving memory and sleep. To help with this, I will be setting some challenges each term for the children to train and have a go at learning a new skill.
Currently this terms challenge is ‘Improving our skipping skills’ and to motivate the challenge further, we will be holding a skipping competition in week 11 for any child from years 1-6 who would like to take part.
It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and joy on their faces when they achieve their targets and set new ones to beat. I am so excited for the competition and awarding the child with the most skips the AIC Thornlie campus champion jump rope skipper 2022 trophy. There still is time to enter the competition for those who would like to take part. All the best to all the participants inshaAllah.
Swimming
InshaAllah on Monday our Pre-primary and Year 1 students will start their 8-session swimming program. The children have been so excited and today they had their important water safety talk by Liz from Royal Life Saving Society. The session was very important to teach the children about how to stay safe around water, not just at a pool but when out and about with family and friends and in the home.
Ms Heba Ridha
(Primary School Sports Teacher)
Religion
The religion department would like to welcome you to the new academic year and we hope that it is a good year for all students Insha’Allah. We are glad to announce that we are using a new book for Quran lessons called (Complete Qaidah).
In Religion department we wish to communicate to the new students the values and morals of being a good Muslim and introduce them to the basics of learning the Quran in order to benefit them in this life and the next. The older students will continue to grow in their religious knowledge and their memorisation. This year is the year for everyone to grow both spiritually and mentally and the religion department is always here to aid in the growth of students. We wish all students the best of luck for the academic year of 2022.
