Dear parents, 

Yesterday’s decision to lockdown the ACT was sudden, but not unexpected. Thankfully, we had undertaken planning for this and we are in a good position to support all our students going forward.  Parents would have received a lot of information yesterday from the school, some of which had been sent out previously.  

Once the Lockdown was announced, school became very hectic. A meeting between Catholic Education and school principals took place at 2pm after which we tried to get relevant information to parents ASAP. If you are confused or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at Peter.Hughes@cg.catholic.edu.au. 

Thank you to the 146 families that have so far completed the survey regarding school attendance during lockdown.  If you have not yet completed this, I ask you do so. This is to assist with staffing levels as we also want to ensure we have a minimum number of staff at school. 

Survey Link:  https://forms.gle/gDbgnT4L1GQ2H5hk6

One question that has been asked constantly since the start of the COVID pandemic is who is an essential or emergency worker.  The link below, from ACT Health, will help parents with this question. 

https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/act-status-and-response/lockdown 

We will continue to provide updates on what this lockdown means for families at MTS. 

Lunch Orders 

Families who had pre-ordered lunch for next week through flexi-schools will need to go in and cancel that lunch order. It is a simple process in that you need to log in, bring up your lunch order and find the cancel option. We will advise families when the canteen will be re-opening. 

Sun Smart 

When students return to school they are required to wear hats during the day. This follows the guidelines of the ACT Cancer Council that show that in August the UV index reaches harmful levels in the middle of the day.  

If a child does not have a hat, they will be required to play in the shade. 

School Counsellor 

Sharyn Lynch, our school counsellor, will be at school next Tuesday and Wednesday. For those needing support she can be contacted via the school phone number or by her email Sharyn.lynch@catholiccare.cg.org.au 

Maths Problem 

This week all solutions can be emailed to me on the address located at the top of the newsletter. 

Congratulations to Piyushi Bandara who won her second prize in three weeks. This week’s problem is below. You may not be able to solve all of the questions however do the best you can. 

For students from year four and above this is similar to the work you did in year four linked to the Patio Problem. Think about the solutions you came up with to work out their patterns. 

Bad apples 

Some apples are sitting in one row. Each day, any bad apple will turn any good apple that is touching it bad. 

• On the first day, there is one bad apple.  
• How many bad apples are there on the second day?  
• On the third day, how many apples will be bad?  
• How many bad apples will there be on the fourth day? 

What is the pattern of bad apples that is emerging? What generalisation could be made about the number of bad apples on any given day. Write it as a short 'rule'. 

If there is a very long row of apples, how many bad apples will there be on the fifteenth day? Explain and justify the use of the rule. 

Here is an array of apples — not just one row, but a whole tray of apples. 

• On the first day, there is one bad apple.  
• On the second day, there are four bad apples. Why? 

What generalisation could be made about the number of bad apples on any given day. 

Explain and justify why your rule works.  

How concisely can the general rule be written? 

Use the rule to work out how many bad apples there will be on the fifteenth day. 

God Bless 

Peter Hughes