Fortnightly Newsletter Save the Dates Wednesday 6 March Year 7-12 Swimming Carnival Boys- Whitlam Centre Girls- Auburn Swimming Centre Wednesday 6 March Parent Information Night 6pm - 7.30pm Friday 29 March Amal Kassir Lecture/ Q&A A SENSE OF BELONGING - MUSLIM IDENTITY Weeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019 Spiritual Message In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful Islam encompasses all aspects of a human’s life. While it focuses on one’s direct relationship with God, it also emphasises more mundane things such as interpersonal relations, ethics of business conduct, and maintaining a social equilibrium as presented in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Therefore, a person’s relationship with their society plays an important role within Islam – from giving due rights to family members to beautiful treatment of neighbours, from ensuring that one’s income is lawful to giving charity to the poor and needy, and from advocating the rights of the oppressed to dealing justly with people irrespective of caste, race, or religion. Hence, you will find that the individual, family, and society are frequently repeated themes, intertwined in the larger fabric called Islam. The individual is encouraged to first develop their own self, then devote themselves to the growth of the family, leading to a more meaningful and useful interaction with the greater society, aspiring to create righteous communities. This interdependency reinforces the human’s responsibility towards fostering positive, healthy, and just societies. Shaykh Arshad Islamic Studies and HSIE dept. Stage 4 Wellbeing Coordinator. Message from CEO Assalamu Alaikum The last two weeks have gone so quickly. Our students have settled in well and when I walk around the campus during class and lunch time, I can feel a real buzz among our students. Last week a few of our staff visited my previous school, Redlands. The aim of the visit was to expand our network, share ideas and develop future links for our staff and students. Redlands have gone through multiple master plans for their campuses and I was part of their most recent one. It was great to see what quality learning environments look like and gave us plenty to think about as we embark on our master plan. This week we are meeting with a shortlist of architects to determine who will be engaged to design our future campus at Austral. This is the beginning of what will be a very exciting time, as we head towards developing a new Senior Campus for Years 7-12 and enhancing the Junior Campus K-6. We have created a design brief that represents 21st century teaching and learning strategies, classrooms that will provide opportunities for students to be challenged and an outdoor environment that will be aesthetically pleasing. I look forward to sharing more with you as we progress forward. Our staff would like to share our plans for 2019 with parents on Wednesday 6th March. We are holding a Parent Information Night starting with refreshments and a meet and greet at 6.00pm, leading into a one-hour session at 6.30pm, delivered by our fabulous staff. This will be a great opportunity to hear first hand what is happening at Unity Grammar. Parents who may be interested in joining our Parent Volunteer Group will also be able to sign up on the night. I look forward to seeing you there. Aaron Boyd Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Speaker: Amal Kassir, International speaker from the USA, poet, activist, Ted X presenter Venue: Unity Grammar Multipurpose Hall, 70 Fourth Avenue, Austral When: 6.30pm arrival for 7pm start Friday 29 March Lecture followed by Q&A This is a free event for families, staff and students of Unity Grammar. Tickets are Limited. Book Now at https://amalkassir.eventbrite.com.au
Wednesday 6 MarchParent Information Night6pm - 7.30pm
Friday 29 MarchAmal Kassir Lecture/ Q&AA SENSE OF BELONGING - MUSLIM IDENTITY
Weeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Spiritual MessageIn the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Islam encompasses all aspects of a human’s life. While it focuses on one’s direct relationship with God, it also emphasises more mundane things such as interpersonal relations, ethics of business conduct, and maintaining a social equilibrium as presented in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).Therefore, a person’s relationship with their society plays an important role within Islam – from giving due rights to family
members to beautiful treatment of neighbours, from ensuring that one’s income is lawful to giving charity to the poor and needy, and from advocating the rights of the oppressed to dealing justly with people irrespective of caste, race, or religion.
Hence, you will find that the individual, family, and society are frequently repeated themes, intertwined in the larger fabric called Islam. The individual is encouraged to first develop their own self, then devote themselves to the growth of the family, leading to a more meaningful and useful interaction with the greater society, aspiring to create righteous communities. This interdependency reinforces the human’s responsibility towards fostering positive, healthy, and just societies.
Shaykh ArshadIslamic Studies and HSIE dept. Stage 4 Wellbeing Coordinator.
Message from CEOAssalamu AlaikumThe last two weeks have gone so quickly. Our students have settled in well and when I walk around the campus during class and lunch time, I can feel a real buzz among our students.Last week a few of our staff visited my previous school, Redlands. The aim of the visit was to expand our network, share ideas and develop future links for our staff and
students. Redlands have gone through multiple master plans for their campuses and I was part of their most recent one. It was great to see what quality learning environments look like and gave us plenty to think about as we embark on our master plan.This week we are meeting with a shortlist of architects to determine who will be engaged to design our future campus at Austral. This is the beginning of what will be a very exciting time, as we head towards developing a new Senior Campus for Years 7-12 and enhancing the Junior Campus K-6. We have created a design brief that represents 21st century teaching and learning strategies, classrooms that will provide opportunities for students to be challenged and an outdoor environment that will be aesthetically pleasing. I look forward to sharing more with you as we progress forward. Our staff would like to share our plans for 2019 with parents on Wednesday 6th March. We are holding a Parent Information Night starting with refreshments and a meet and greet at 6.00pm, leading into a one-hour session at 6.30pm, delivered by our fabulous staff. This will be a great opportunity to hear first hand what is happening at Unity Grammar. Parents who may be interested in joining our Parent Volunteer Group will also be able to sign up on the night. I look forward to seeing you there.
Aaron BoydChief Executive Officer (CEO)
Speaker: Amal Kassir, International speaker from the USA, poet, activist, Ted X presenterVenue: Unity Grammar Multipurpose Hall, 70 Fourth Avenue, AustralWhen: 6.30pm arrival for 7pm start Friday 29 MarchLecture followed by Q&AThis is a free event for families, staff and students of Unity Grammar.
Tickets are Limited. Book Now at https://amalkassir.eventbrite.com.au
As part of our Unity Institute lecture series, we are proud to invite our Unity Grammar family to an exclusive one-off presentation and Q&A with visiting International speaker, Amal Kassir.Amal Kassir is a Muslim Woman, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, to a German American Mother and a Syrian Father. She is an International spoken word poet, having performed in 10 countries and over 45 cities. She has conducted workshops, given lectures and recited her poetry in venues ranging from youth prisons to orphanages to refugee camps to universities to churches to community spaces for the public. She designed her own undergraduate degree called ‘Community Programming in Social Psychology’ and she is a major proponent in education and building individual agency in particularly underserved and vulnerable populations, especially through writing. She hopes to take part in the global effort for literacy in war-struck areas and refugee camps.
Assalamu Alaykum, Kindergarten have transitioned well in the first few weeks of school. They have been engaged in a variety of learning opportunities that foster their curiosity and will continue to explore concepts that are relevant and meaningful to their lives.
Across K-2 numeracy teachers are transforming their units of work to ensure lessons are engaging, allow for students to explore concepts more deeply, communicate mathematically, engage in rich problem solving tasks and continue to foster opportunities for students to think like mathematicians. Junior School staff look forward to working with your child in achieving high standards across all curriculum areas this year. Mariam SayadiJunior School Coordinator
JUNIOR SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTGymnastics ProgramOur Year 4 and Year 6 students have been receiving expert instruction in gymnastics as part of our efforts to promote active lifestyles and participation in sport. Partaking in organised sport provides a chance for young people to increase their activity and develop socially and physically. Gymnastics is one of the most comprehensive lifestyle exercise programs available to children, incorporating strength, flexibility, speed, balance, coordination, power, and discipline.
Weeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Junior School
Kindergarten have been enjoying their sport sessions, developing crucial fundamental movement skills with our specialist PE teachers.
Year 1 have been looking at how heat and cold changes food with spaghetti towers as part of their Science lesson.
Weeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Year 2 students utilised informal units including unifix blocks to understand the concept of measurement.
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Junior School
Year 4 are learning mathematical vocabulary including using the word “product” when writing their number sentences.
Year 5 have been using the surface pros to conduct geographical research.
Weeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Year 6 conducted a science experiment looking at hydropower. They built a water wheel that can be turned by running water and lift a small weight.
Year 3 are learning about Australia and its states and territories as part of Geography.
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Middle SchoolWeeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
S
SENIOR SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT
Senior School
Art Express ExhibitionThe 2019 Art Express Exhibition offered Senior students an in-depth insight in to the expectations of Stage 6 HSC Bodies of Work. The gallery setting allowed students to explore Modern and Post-Modern art, connecting ideas and concepts to the conceptual framework.
Message from Senior School Assalamu Alaikum,Welcome to the 2019 school year. I welcome all new families and students and, of course, those continuing their schooling with us. Being a key to life and school, students should be very grateful for the range of sports and activities that are going to be provided throughout this year. Unity Grammar would not have been able to take part in these events without the hard work of the PDHPE team.The PDHPE team consists of 7 staff members who are delivering PDHPE across K-12. Teaching K-6 PE sessions each week up to 90minutes per grade, we have seen several positive developments. The focus of delivering PE in K-6 is to develop student fundamental movement skills (FMS). These skills allow students
to adapt to any sports setting as it develops their loco motor skills. Over the last year we have seen more student engagement in physical activity and see more enthusiasm to participate. Students are exposed to a number of different sporting context so that they can be challenged, understand and grow. This year we hope to start several sporting activities externally that students can be part of. We will offer this based on opportunities that are provided by external providers and based on the season of sports being offered. Throughout the year Junior School students will be part of many school-based competitions. We hope you are part of our sporting journey this year. It’s going to be very exciting. Senior School sporting has begun with a bang. We were part of ISD basketball in week 4, where the opens team finished 3rd amongst 10 schools. This year will have several opportunities for students to qualify and challenge themselves against the top athletes from all independent schools. We have very busy Term 1 with several school events coming up where students will be able to qualify for representative squads in various events. Students will continue to be involved in school-based competitions against other schools. These will occur each term based on the opportunities provided by select organisations and communities. Important event dates for this year are as follows:Swimming Carnival (Years 3-12) - Wednesday 6 March (Boys at Whitlam Centre, Girls at Auburn Swim Centre)Senior Athletics Carnival - Boys: Wednesday 27 March (Campbelltown Athletics) Girls: Wednesday 3 April (The Crest Athletics)Junior School Athletics Carnival - Wednesday 31 July (Campbelltown Athletics)Cross Country Years 3-11 - Wednesday 10 April (Scott Memorial Park)Junior School Camp (Years 5 & 6) - 25-27 September (Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation)
Faz RanaHead of PDHPE/ Sports K-12
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Middle SchoolWeeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Year 7 and 9 students participated in after-school Literacy classes where Mr Begic and Ms Salim deconstructed expectations of exams questions and ways to respond. Future classes will have students engaged in persuasive writing and narratives.
Year 7 students used a virtual keyboard on their devices to record tunes for their upcoming ensemble performances.
Senior School
We are extremely proud of our four teams of selected Years 8-10 students who participated in ISD Basketball last week with outstanding results. Our Boys Opens team finished 3rd, remaining undefeated with only one loss to Redham.
The Year 7 BYOD Induction set expectations for responsible use of their devices for learning and digital citizenship.
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Middle SchoolWeeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Year 10 students examined the consequences of unsafe road use as part of their PDHPE unit ‘Take the wheel and steer’.
Girls in Year 10 Commerce conducted a mock criminal trial as part of their learning about the criminal trial process.
Senior School
Year 10 have been learning about the structure and function of DNA in Science. To consolidate their understanding of DNA, they engaged in a model building activity to create a DNA double helix.
Year 12 English students attended lectures at the University of Sydney to assist them in understanding their HSC modules .
Year 9 Commerce students debated the future of internet shopping as part of their studies of consumers and their habits.
Fortnightly
Newsletter Weeks 8 - 9 Term 1 2018 Middle SchoolWeeks 4 - 5 Term 1 2019
Speaker: Amal Kassir, International speaker from the USA, poet, activist, Ted X presenterVenue: Unity Grammar Multipurpose Hall, 70 Fourth Avenue, AustralWhen: 6.30pm arrival for 7pm start Friday 29 MarchLecture followed by Q&AThis is a free event for families, staff and students of Unity Grammar.
Tickets are Limited. Book Now at https://amalkassir.eventbrite.com.au
As part of our Unity Institute lecture series, we are proud to invite our Unity Grammar family to an exclusive one-off presentation and Q&A with visiting International speaker, Amal Kassir.Amal Kassir is a Muslim Woman, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, to a German American Mother and a Syrian Father. She is an International spoken word poet, having performed in 10 countries and over 45 cities. She has conducted workshops, given lectures and recited her poetry in venues ranging from youth prisons to orphanages to refugee camps to universities to churches to community spaces for the public. She designed her own undergraduate degree called ‘Community Programming in Social Psychology’ and she is a major proponent in education and building individual agency in particularly underserved and vulnerable populations, especially through writing. She hopes to take part in the global effort for literacy in war-struck areas and refugee camps.
The evening will commence with refreshments and a meet and greet at 6.00pm, followed by an informative one-hour session at 6.30pm delivered by Unity Grammar CEO and Executive.
All of our 2019 Unity Grammar parents are strongly encouraged to attend this informative event.
Come along to our 2019 Parent Information Night to find out what is happening at Unity Grammar in 2019 including:• Assessments and Reporting• Curriculum Programs • Homework Expectations• Key Events in 2019• New Stage Advisors• BYOD Program• On-site Clinical Psychologist• Wellbeing Program• Camps• Class Dojo• Camps• After-School Classes• Community Service Initiatives• Extracurricular Programs • Sporting Programs• The Parent Volunteer Group
