Newsletter, week 8, term 4, no 4
Principal's Report
Dear Parents & Carers,
The end of the year is fast approaching but there is still much to do and even more to celebrate in the coming weeks!
As usual we have our major End of Year events coming up soon. The first of these will be our whole school End of Year Mass and Awards Ceremony which will take place on 3rd December. This will be followed by our Year 8 Graduation and Assembly on Wednesday 8th December and the Year 6 Graduation and Morning Tea on 15th December. At this stage we are hopeful that we will be able to invite parents to the graduations although we are fairly certain that being fully vaccinated will remain a requirement. For those parents who are not able to attend we are looking into ways that we can live stream the ceremonies so everyone can participate in this way. We are currently waiting on updated School Operation Guidelines from CECV so we can finalise the details of these events. We will pass this information on to you as soon as we can.
If you intend to come into our school for any reason between now and the end of the year, please feel free to drop into the office at any stage to verify your vaccination status. Once we have a record of this you will be able to visit anytime as long as you use our QR code sign in.
In our Week 4 newsletter I let you know that Joe Chirchiglia has decided to resign his position as Canteen Manager at the end of this year and I explained that we were looking into options for the canteen in 2022. When thinking about what to do we had to take into consideration the fact that, once we start building next year, we would not have access to the current canteen for at least a year. With this in mind, I am very pleased to inform you that Loft 13 has agreed to contract our canteen in 2022. Our food will be prepared off site but this will not change our lunch order system in any significant way. We are excited about this new approach to the management of our canteen and look forward to sharing our delicious 2022 menu, along with a few more details about how things will operate, with you soon.
Teachers have been busy recently preparing Semester Two reports. This is an important means of communicating student progress to you and teachers take this component of their job very seriously, spending many hours writing reports. We hope that you find your child/ren’s report informative and affirming. Reports will be ready for collection from the school office from 11.30am on Wednesday 8th December. The reports will also contain a copy of your child/ren’s 2022 class list. Any uncollected reports will be sent to your mailing address on Friday 10th December. If we do not have your current mailing address please contact the office prior to this day to update this information.
Tuesday 7th December is our whole school Transition Day. On this day students from each year level will transition to their 2022 classrooms. Students who are joining us from other schools next year and our 2022 Prep students will also spend the majority of the day in their new class. Most students who are leaving St Mary’s at the end of this year will attend their new school, but if this is not the case they are most welcome to join this year’s classmates at school. Please be aware that the classes students are placed in on transition day are tentative and may change before they are finalised and lists are published.
In the last newsletter I mentioned that each unit would have a ‘Fun Day’ before the end of the year. The planning for these days is well underway so please keep an eye out for permission forms and return them promptly.
Last Friday we held our annual Colour Run and what a fantastic day it was. I missed last year so wasn't sure what to expect but I really wasn't prepared for it to be so much fun! What made it even more special was walking through the school at lunch time and seeing our students still absolutely beaming. It's these kinds of days that children remember for years to come. An enormous thank you and well done needs to go to Fiona Pike and the Year 8 students for their organisation and for making it such an enjoyable experience for everyone. I know a lot of time and effort went into the planning and preparation and we do appreciate their work. Thanks also goes to Leanne Chirchiglia for the lovely Mission Month liturgy that we shared in the morning. The final thank you is for Joe Chirchiglia and our Learning Support Officers for preparing and serving our sausage sizzle. The perfect way to finish off a great day!
Over the coming weeks many of our Year 5 students will celebrate their First Eucharist. This is a very important time in the faith journey of our students and we ask that you keep the candidates in your prayers as they enjoy this holy and special time.
Kind regards,
Andrea Welsh
Religious Education
Mission Month draws to a close today and we are celebrating this with a casual clothes day. Students were encouraged to wear the colours of nature. All money raised will go towards Catholic Misson.
Next weekend 16 of our students will celebrate their first holy communion. St Mary’s school community would like to congratulate these students on their special day.
Wellbeing
SWPBS
This week our SWPBS focus was on " being where we are supposed to be". This was an opportunity to focus on ensuring that we are punctual, on time and prepared. Students also focussed on lining up in the correct bus lines, waiting for teachers outside rooms, being at the right place on time, staying in the room and remaining in supervised areas unless teachers give permission.
Our SWPBS focus for next week is on "paying attention during liturgies & awards". This is a timely focus as we have our End of Year Whole School Mass and Awards ceremony on Friday.
Our school wide positive behaviour awards are proudly sponsored by Irribiz Robinvale and Elders Insurance Robinvale. Each week students who are displaying the positive behaviors shown in our school matrix are nominated for an award. The winners then receive a certificate and $20 REBA voucher.
Primary School
Prep
We have had another exciting few weeks in Prep. The students continue to participate each Tuesday in swimming lessons. This week they practised using a kickboard, blowing bubbles and going under the water to swim through a hoop. The school’s Colour Run was thoroughly enjoyed by all. They loved getting all colourful and we hope you enjoyed hearing all about it when they arrived home. In class, students are still very busy learning new and exciting things. In English we are completing revision of all the sounds and ‘tricky words’ we have learned this year. For Maths, students are learning about making equal groups using objects. In RE, we have enjoyed learning about protecting God's creations in nature.
Year 1/2
Wow! What a busy few weeks we have had in Year 1/2! Each Tuesday the students have continued to participate in their swimming lessons. Although sometimes a little chilly, it has been great to see them learn so much about how to keep safe around the water and the basic skills to float and swim. We also had a Geography Day where we collected data about our favourite places at St Mary’s, discussed how the school has changed since it was built and labelled a map.
The Year 1/2 students enjoyed the Colour Run last week. They were very grateful that it was organised and it was great to see their smiling faces!
Year 3/4
Learning! Inquiry! Activity! Excitement! Fun!
All of the above have been highlights for the students in Year 3/4. The most popular event was the ‘Colour Run’, the students enjoyed the day. It was a pleasure to see them all beaming with bright smiles on the day.
As we are moving forward towards the end of the term, the year 3/4 students have been busy learning interesting concepts. For Reading, we have been learning to use different features of online or digital texts. In Writing, we have focussed on learning to use quotation marks consistently to indicate the beginning and end of direct speech. The Year 3 students learnt about place value of four digit numbers and prisms and pyramids in Mathematics. The Year 4 students focussed upon fractions and relating millilitres and litres in Mathematics.
Thank you to all the parents from the Year 3/4 teachers for being supportive partners with us in the learning of your child, together we make a great TEAM.
Year 5/6
The Year 5/6 students have been working diligently across all their learning tasks this fortnight. In Reading, students are using decoding strategies to help them pronounce unfamiliar words. They have used syllables, prefixes and suffixes so far to support them with technical words.
In writing, they have been using their creativity to produce their own poems. They have been working on acrostic, colour and simile poems and will present their published work to the class next week.
In religion, students are becoming familiar with Covenants and their personal relationship with God.
Art
The art room is filled with creativity at the moment. All areas are focused on completing their different activities.
The Year 1/2’s have constructed dogs from recycled materials and are now coating them with paper mache (newspaper and glue). There are some very interesting varieties of new dog breeds!
The Year 3/4 students are decorating their sets for the short animation films. Their set designs are so creative and well thought out.
The Year 5/6 students are putting together some incredible pop art designs. The standard and effort put into their work is to be commended.
Secondary School
The year 7 and 8 students have been really busy over the past two weeks. They all enjoyed the Colour Run last friday. The Year 8 students demonstrated maturity throughout the day and made the day enjoyable for everyone. The Year 7 students have been enjoying getting to know their 2022 buddies during the transition visits. All students are looking forward to their fun day in Mildura next week. A note was sent home yesterday with more information.
English
Year 7 students have been revising the parts of a sentence while the Year 8 students have been completing writing their reports on a national or international issue.
Maths
Students have completed their final cycle test this week and have begun preparing a summary book for their final Maths exam.
Outdoor Ed
Students were able to apply their theoretical knowledge to a range of practical activities during our Outdoor Ed Day yesterday. All students should be proud of their participation and enthusiasm when participating in activities. The students' behavior was exemplary. Well done!
Technology
This week secondary students have been refining their skills and preparing some Christmas items for their buddies. Last week students practised their dough making skills and made some tasty hot chicken bread rolls which they all enjoyed.
The Arts
The Year 7s are completing filming and editing their parodies. They have enjoyed the process. The Year 8 students have been busily preparing for their final assembly.
Library
Book Club Issue 8 is due back Wednesday 1st December.
DOBCEL COMPLAINTS POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Although, fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often, we understand that from time to time you may have some concerns about our programs and activities or the actions of staff at school. As we are now a DOBCEL school there is a new Complaints Management Policy available to you to refer to in these instances.
A copy of the complete policy is available on our school website but I wanted to draw your attention to the flowchart below. The flowchart outlines the steps you can take to raise your concerns with the school, should you have any.
What is perhaps a little different to the way we have approached this in the past is that the first step in raising your concern is to speak directly to your child’s classroom teacher. In most cases, the issue can be dealt with easily and amicably at this level. If not, the next step would be to speak to the Principal.
Our aim at St Mary’s is to have a strong relationship between home and school and we always encourage open and honest communication. It is our hope that this policy/procedure will support you to feel confident in raising any concerns you may have so they can be resolved quickly.
School Fees 2022
In conjuction with Banjo's bakery, the SAC fundraising committee have organised a Christmas Selection drive to raise money for our School.
For every Christmas order, Banjo's Mildura will donate 20% of the order back to our school.
Forms must be returned by Friday December 3rd along with payment.
Your order will be available for pick up on Monday December 13th from 2.30pm - 3.30pm
We encourage everyone to gather as many orders as possible. Order for yourself, family, friends or neighbours - all orders are welcome!
