I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H

o u r m i s s i o nAl-Taqwa College aims to produce good ref lective self-directed learners who have problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities.

It aims to be a place where the individuality of each person is recognised, and where that recognition is ref lected in the College’s curriculum diversity and f lexibility, diverse teaching strategies and student centered processes. The College aims to create a school

environment that instills in students love and obedience to Allah (swt) in accordance with the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and enables them to benefit from the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).

M A R C H 23 Last day of Term 1 for students24 Parent/Teacher Interviews A P R I L

11 First day of Term 213 School Tour25 ANZAC Day - Public Holiday

M A Y

04 School Tour - 9.15am10-12 NAPLAN Testing16 ACER Scholarships Open16 Curriculum Day26 National Sorry Day28 AGM

Important Dates

Message from the Principal A S S A L A M U A L A I K U M W B T

W E L C O M E The end of Term 1 is here and we are still inundated with many activities, new compliances and commitments. I am indebted to all key personnel for spending many hours updating policies and procedures in the last few months and who are still reviewing documentation. Despite the busy day-to-day operation and last-minute encounters, our team of key leaders have done very well, and I applaud them for a job well done and great team-work.

A U S T R A L I A N C U R R I C U L U M

Our education key leaders are working very hard towards the integration of the Victorian and National curriculums. Policies and procedures have also been reviewed and updated. In-house staff training has been conducted to ensure the new system is operational.

A L U M N I

The Alumni Dinner has been postponed to another date later in the year. The aim is to bring together our ex-students, catch up on old times and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Al-Taqwa College. The College is currently working on an Alumni Committee, inshaAllah.

V C E C L A S S E S

The extra catch-up classes will be organised during the Term 1 holidays and our subject teachers are preparing to hold revision. Students and parents will be notified in writing in due course. For all students, I would advise to take this opportunity to assist you with your studies effectively and confidently. Our teachers are here for you!

C E N S U S

The Term 1 census was completed and submitted to the Education Department by the March deadline.

Al-Hidayah

A L - T A Q W A C O L L E G E N E W S L E T T E R

Q U A L I T Y E D U C A T I O N for Q U A L I T Y L I F E

We are now taking enrolments for 2017

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 2

S M A R T S H E E T

The College has purchased a new program called, Smart Sheet and our staff have attended training sessions. I have every confidence that the use of Smart Sheet will streamline efficiency in communication. This program allows users to work on various projects cohesively, update files and share information between leaders.

S T U D Y G R O U P

The study group from our sister school in Sentul arrived on 12 March. During the 2-week stay for the Immersion Program, they studied with our Year 8 and 10 students. The visitors had the opportunity to do some sightseeing and camping over the weekends. You will see photos of activities in the next Newsletter, inshaAllah.

B U I L D I N G S & D E V E L O P M E N T S

Project 229 has been scheduled to commence in April. Fencing will be erected around the site therefore there will be no parking available once the fencing is up. In view of OHS matters, no-one will be permitted to be on the property at any time for safety reasons. We expect the extension of our campus to be ready as early as October 2016, inshaAllah.

M U L T I P U R P O S E S P O R T S C O M P L E X

The next project for the College will be the Multi purpose sporting complex. This has become necessary to facilitate students’ indoor sports and the College’s functions. This enhancement would provide ample space for sports and spectators of more than 300. The floor area will be approximately 7,000 sqm on the existing sporting complex at the rear of the College.

F O U N D A T I O N P L A Y G R O U N D

You may have notice some work behind the Administration Building. This area is currently under development for our Foundation students. A user time-table will be scheduled for our lower primary to use as soon as the playground is completed.

V I S I T O R S F R O M M A L A Y S I A

On 3 March, we were visited by two universities from Malaysia. Our guests included Tan Sri Shukri Yajid, President, and delegates from the Management & Science University, Shah Alam and Dr Mohd Fadzli Marhusin, Deputy Director and Professor Dr Zulkiple Abd. Ghani from the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Alamiyyah– International Centre. We were very impressed with their developments at their universities. Each university has its own diversity and speciality programs. USIM offers many programs and we envisaged that there is a great potential for the undergraduate students and teachers to interact with different cultural background and values, in this era of global learning. We certainly look forward to visit their campuses in the near future, inshaAllah.

I take this opportunity to warmly wish everyone in the College, parents and guardians a safe and peaceful Term 1 holidays. Be kind to one another. Be generous and do smile always for every smile is a Sadaqah Jariah. May Allah (swt) reward you for all the good deeds.

W A S S A L A M U A L A I K U M

O M A R H A L L A K

Principal

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 3

Administration NewsE A R L Y D I S M I S S A L S – F R I D A Y S

The College has noticed a dramatic increase in families requesting early dismissals after Jummah prayers on Fridays. Our classes finish at 3.20 every day and we highly recommend that students do not leave early. This causes great disruption to the classroom and other students. Your children therefore miss over an hour of valuable learning time when leaving after prayers.

L A T E A R R I V A L S

Many students are still arriving late to school on a regular basis. As a reminder, the primary students commence their classes at 8.50am and the secondary students commence at 8.45am. This means that students are expected to be at school at least 10 to 15 minutes before their class starts.

C A R P A R K

Our staff on carpark duty have reported that many families are leaving the school grounds with children unrestrained in their cars. For the safety of your children and others, please ensure that all children have a seatbelt on before you start moving from your car parking space. There is also an increasing number of parents speeding in the car park. The speed is limited to a slow walking pace for the safety of all pedestrians.

2 0 1 7 E N R O L M E N T S

The Administration Office is accepting enrolments for 2017. If you have younger children starting in prep next year, enrolments are now filling up. If you know of any family members or friends who are interested in attending Al-Taqwa, we are happy to answer any queries on 9269 5000 or visit our website at www.al-taqwa.vic.edu.au

a m e s s a g e f r o m t h e f r o n t o f f i c e

CSEFC A M P S , S P O R T A N D E X C U R S I O N F U N D

For families that are eligible to apply for the Camps, Sport and Excursion Fund, you may submit forms to the Accounts Office by 8 April.

CSEF application forms are available from the College Accounts Department or you can download the form from the Department of Education website at

www.education.vic.gov.au/csef

Little Red TrainThe College has received free tickets to the Little Red Train. This is a trackless train at Werribee Park.

Thank you to Mike from the Little Red Train who has donated free passes which will be distributed to Primary students chosen by the Heads of School on merit. Visit http://littleredtrain.com.au for operating hours.

M I K E P H I L L I P S

Owner & Operator of Little Red Train0433 223 557

D O N A T I O N

Safety CornerD E A R A L - T A Q W A F A M I L Y

Our commitment to health and safety at the College for our students, staff and the College community is our key priority. Please help us to ensure that our students are safe by following the rules of the car park, drive carefully, do not speed, be kind and helpful and be respectful and polite to our staff members, students and families. We are all here together to help and support each other. We have a beautiful community full of wonderful students, families and wonderful, dedicated staff marshaAllah. Let’s all ensure we work together to sustain a safe and healthy environment.

Y O L A N D A S U T H E R L A N D

HR/OHS Manager

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 4

Transport NewsAl-Taqwa College signed a contract with Bacchus Marsh Coaches (BMC) to provide transport for our students. The agreement with BMC has many benefits compared to the previous providers. Some of these benefits are:

• Each bus has seatbelts and air conditioning• Each bus has a GPS tracking system. • Each bus has allocated an experienced

dedicated driver. • BMC will run a comprehensive student safety program

for all junior students at the start of each school year in service.

• BMC will provide an extension for their phone services, dedicated to Al-Taqwa families.

• Each bus has a student scanning system to record bus attendance.

• Multiple and convenient payment solutions.

We at Al-Taqwa strive to offer the most convenient transport service with front door pickup. However on occasion this is difficult due to street sizes, locations and time restrictions. Some streets are either too small for the large buses to travel along or have some kind of Council restriction (ie vehicle size restrictions). Front door pick up is time consuming, especially with traffic build up in the morning; for this reason we try to keep a balance between pickup locations and pickup times. This can be challenging as accommodating single requests may upset other families, altering their pick up times.

We all need to understand that the bus service does not always run as expected, pickup times may be early or the location is not at the front door — the reason for this is due to logistics. In cases like this we will work with the affected families and try to resolve any issues to your satisfaction. We urge families to be patient and understanding of the challenges we face when designing the buses routes.

Al—hamdulilah the bus service is now running very smoothly. However some of the buses are very low in numbers of students, therefore we may need to consolidate some of the services. The consolidation process will affect pickup times for some students and possibly pickup locations. We will try to keep the interruptions as minimal as possible. We thank you for understanding and look forward to serving your family better next Term inshAllah.

S A M E H A G H B A S H

Transport Coordinator

Indigenous Literacy Foundation During 2015, Al-Taqwa College participated in supporting the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. In recognition of our contribution to the Foundation, they awarded us a Certificate of Appreciation and recorded our school on their website as one of their contributors.

Thank you to our teacher, Ms Noorun Nisa A Wahid, for initiating and getting the whole primary school involved during our Literacy and Numeracy Week. Gold coin donations were collected during the Book Swap event enabling students to swap books to encourage and inculcate the habit of reading for life.

With our contribution, we were able to help the Foundation to purchase storybooks and raise literacy levels of Indigenous children living in remote and isolated regions of Australia. We are very happy to contribute and InshaAllah, we will continue to be a part of the Foundation.

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 5

a m e s s a g e f r o m m s n i s a & a c c e l e r a t e d l e a r n i n g p r o g r a m

Grade 2—3 UpdateWow, can you believe it is the end of Term 1 and things are already reaching the peak with our exciting events happening at Al-Taqwa College. The best is still yet to come. The Grade 2 and 3 sub school has had such a wonderful Term 1 and the students are already adjusting well with the class routines and expectations.

Our assembly program this term had awesome performances by Grades 2H, 2G, 3H and 3G. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents who joined us in watching these performances.

Grade 2 also learnt how to compare lives in the past and the changes over the years during an inquiry unit as well as an incursion conducted by The History Box. The Grade 3s had the opportunity to explore our local history through a visit to CERES where they got a chance to understand some of the cultures that form our community and their way of life.Look out for more exciting news coming up in Term 2! N I S A A B D U L W A H I D

Acting Head of Student and Teacher Services Grade 2-3.

A L H A M D U L I L L A H ,

Our accelerated students are enjoying every minute of their session with their hardworking and dedicated teachers. We would like our parents to meet some of our English and Mathematics accelerated students from Year 7-9 and their teacher.

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 6

a m e s s a g e f r o m m s r i m a

Grade 4 —6 UpdateA S S A L A M U A L A I K U M P A R E N T S

We would like to welcome you all to the 2016 academic year and hope this is a productive and prosperous year for all. It is great to see that all the students have settled in well and are ready to venture on their learning journey. This term grade 5 students departed on curriculum based excursions to Sovereign Hill to further their understanding of Australia’s History and the Gold Rush, while grade 4 students embarked on Polly Woodside to learn more about convict life aboard the fleets.

This term all upper primary students completed a first aid training course and received a certificate of completion from the organiser. The before and after school sports program involving upper primary students on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays has also been a huge success with students and our Coach, Charles Parker, is doing a great job in building our students’ skills in both soccer and basketball.

Throughout the year students will have a chance to be active participants in weekly year level morning assemblies either through sharing work completed in school or achievements accomplished out of school. So far students in morning assemblies have shared individual experiments and writing pieces. Grade 6 students presented about the difference between being Proactive and Reactive. Student achievement certificates and class golden stars are also handed out during morning assemblies and school/Islamic values are reinforced through Hadeeth and Quranic verses.

We are proud to announce our 2016 School Captains and Vice Captains and wish them the best in their leadership role for this year are:

- D A N I E L E L - M A A R B A N I 6 D

- N A J M A A B D U L L A H I 6 D

- A B D U L L A H A B D O S H 6 F

- H I N D E L - H A W L I 6 C

- S U L A I M A N D A I 5 C

- T A L A L A L - H A W L I 5 F

- N A I F A H M O H A M M A D 5 F

- I K R A M H A S S A N A L I 5 D

Upcoming events for term 2 include, Grade 6 Canberra Trip, Semester 2 exams scheduled for week 8 in term 2, the Ramadan soccer and basketball tournaments to raise funds for the Royal Childrens Hospital and NAPLAN Testing for grade 5 students in May.

R I M A K A N J ,

Head of Teacher and Student Services Grades 4-6

O L G A R A M A H I ,

Assistant Head Grades 4-6

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 7

Counsellor’s CornerA S S A L A M U A L A I K U M D E A R P A R E N T S

The Counselling and Welfare Department have been busy running the sessions on MPower and MN8 for our year 7 girls and boys. These sessions reflected on relationships with others and regulated emotions. Parents can help reinforce learning by discussing what has been taught in these sessions and how to apply it outside the school. The Department has been busy training staff towards becoming a Kidsmatter and Mindsmatter school as well as having a session for primary teachers on building relationships with students.

Br Ibrahim also held lunchtime halaqas for our secondary boys. School Psychologist, Lucy Verwey, also ran Halaqa for women on Wednesday mornings.

If you have any concerns about your child, please make an appointment with one of the Counsellors through the Administration Office or please discuss with your child’s teacher.

Why talking about school is importantTalking with your child about the school day shows you are interested in what’s going on in their lives.

This interest boosts mental health, happiness and wellbeing. It can also have a very positive effect on your child’s behaviour and achievement. It shows your child that you value school and education, which encourages them to value it too.

Talking together about school also helps you get to know more about what’s expected of your child at school, how they learn and how they handle challenges. It can help you understand when they are feeling less interested in school or experiencing problems.

When you are in touch with your child’s feelings about school, you are more likely to see problems when they are molehills, not mountains. This way you can work on overcoming challenges together.

Talking about school issues – such as school projects or friendship problems – is also a great chance for you to express your family values about things like teamwork, respect for self and others, friendships, relationships, problem-solving and so on raisingchildren.net.au

N A A Z I A S Y E D

On behalf of the Counselling and Welfare Department –

L U C Y V E R W E Y , M A H A S A L E H , R U Q A Y A A L M I R G A N I A N D I B R A H I M A B D E L - H A F I Z .

Basketball and Tennis ChampionsWe are extremely proud to announce that our year 8 and 9 girls won the National Islamic Schools Basketball Competition on Thursday 10 March. The girls received medals on behalf of the College for their exemplary performance.

Basketball Team

A M N A H ( M A N A G E R ) , K H A D I J A H ( C A P T A I N ) , M A R R I U M , T A S N I M E , E M A N , D O N Y A , A S M A , Y A T A R , S U M I Y A , R O D A N Y N A A N D M A C E Y .

Also our Year 7 girls played an outstanding game during the Wyndham Tennis Tournament. They have moved to the next round and we would like to take this opportunity to wish them well. The girls never played in a tournament previously, so a job well done.

Tennis Team

R A Y A N , M E D I N A , I M A N , R I A N A , Z E I N A B A N D H A N A .

Girls NetballOur Year 7 girls did a great job at their netball competition on 16 March. They made it to the semi finals but lost to Hoppers Crossing. It was the first time that some of the girls played netball.

The 2016 year 7 netball team consists of the following students:

R A Y A N , H U D A , A S A T A , M O N A , N A E M A , M E D I N A , H A N A , L E I L A , F A T I M A A N D S H E R E E N .

I very proud of the girls for their great effort. We all had a fantastic day.

E M N A H ( C O A C H ) 9 B

I S S U E 7 9 M A R C H / / A L - H I D A Y A H 8Registrar

Jenny Dunstan

Marketing Coordinator/Parent Liaison Of ficerMichelle Dimech

Enrolment Off icers Susan McAsey

Enas Ali Transport CoordinatorSameh Aghbash

Accounts ReceivableMalak El-Ashey

Fadile JekaAccounts PayableJanice Mudge

201 Sayers Road, Truganina 3029 t 9269 5000 f 9269 5070 e adminoffice@wicv.net w wwwal-taqwa.vic.edu.au

A L - T A Q W A C O L L E G E C O N T A C T D E T A I L S

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N P E R S O N N E L

The Islamic Schools of Victoria (Werribee College) Trading as Al-Taqwa College ABN 32 079 146 958

Students leaving in 2016If your child/children are leaving Al-Taqwa College in 2016 please complete the section below and

return it to the Administration Office as soon as possible.

Name: _____________________________________________________________ Class in 2016 : _______________

Name: _____________________________________________________________ Class in 2016 : _______________

Name: _____________________________________________________________ Class in 2016 : _______________

ABN 76-172-192-277

Houda BadawiB . A . ( M E L B ) , B . B U S . A C C ( R M I T )

One-on-one lessons, specifically tailored to your child’s needs, in the convenience of your home

15 years experience in the private tuition of students from Prep to Year 12

Expertise in teaching all aspects of English literacy, including grammar, punctuation, spelling, reading and writing

Family discounts available by negotiation

Ph: 0422 089 031

English TutorC O L L E G E T O U R STours of the College are available by appointment only. If you wish to visit the School and view our

facilities, please contact the Administration Office on 9269 5000 to arrange a booking.

2016 College tours are held on Wednesdays commencing at 9.15am on the following dates

1 3 A P R I L 4 M A Y

1 J U N E 1 3 J U L Y

3 A U G U S T 7 S E P T E M B E R

5 O C T O B E R 2 N O V E M B E R

B O O K I N G S A R E E S S E N T I A L

This is a great way to see the College in action and meet various key staff members.

2

4

M i k e P h i l l i p s

Owner & Operator of Little Red Train0433 223 557

http://littleredtrain.com.au