Newsletter, Week 6, Term 4, #3
Principal's Report
Dear Parents & Carers,
Apologies that this newsletter is later than usual but hopefully it will be worth the wait!
On Friday 3rd November our community came together to celebrate Grandparents Day and what a spectacular and heartwarming celebration of family and community it was! Our school gymnasium was overflowing with grandparents, parents, family members and friends, and of course with our staff and students. We were treated to a touching liturgy and beautifully read poems led by our secondary students and a most amazing performance from our primary students. As always, it takes many people to put together a special event like this. I’d like to make special mention of Sarah Sutton, who choreographed the whole performance, Emma Smith who took wonderful photos which we will share with soon, all our the staff and students and of course the family members and friends who not only came along to celebrate with us but also provided a delicious morning tea for all to enjoy. Thank you to everyone!
Last week, leading into the Melbourne Cup public holiday, we had a student free day enabling staff to collaborate and plan together as they enter the second report writing cycle of the year. Thank you to all our families for enabling this to happen and I hope you all enjoyed your extra long weekend.
Also last week, we held our first Open Day for many years. A small but enthusiastic group of visitors took this opportunity to take a guided tour of our school led by our Student Leadership Team. The group were able to view our school in action and had one of the first official glimpses of our newly renovated administration building and Junior Wing. I think it’s fair to say they were impressed by what they saw! Thank you to Fiona Pike and the Student Leaders for their insightful tours and to the Leadership Team, our students and the rest of the staff for extending such a warm welcome to everyone.
At our assembly last Friday we took the time to honour and remember all armed forces men and women who have served and given their lives to protect their country. Our Remembrance Day service was a poignant ceremony during which our students, staff and visitors displayed a deep respect and appreciation for the sacrifice made by these people. Thanks again to our very capable Student leadership Team for their participation in the ceremony and to the staff organising committee: Jess Baldock, Leanne Chirchiglia, Reema Madhur, Jacky Chhun and Chris Brouwers.
Our first Prep Transition Day was held on Thursday 16th November. It was a joy to welcome our 2024 Prep students into our school. Their smiling faces and eagerness bodes well for next year. The students will return to school each Thursday over the next few weeks, building on the time they spend at school and the experiences they share so when they do enter school officially next year they will be very familiar with the grounds, their peers and the staff who will be supporting them. They will also have got to know their buddy who will be on hand to guide and support them as they navigate the first days of school next year.
This Friday we will hold our fourth annual Colour Run. This event has become a staple on our school calendar and one that staff and students alike look forward to each year. It is, as the name suggests, an exciting and tremendously fun way to bring colour and a sense of community into everyone’s day. Well done to the organisers and the participants of this very enjoyable school event!
On November 8th we farewelled Caitlin Chirchiglia as she embarked on parental leave. Caitlin is a highly valued and respected member of our teaching staff and, although we know her reason for leaving could not be better, we will miss having her around. On behalf of the students, staff and parents at St Mary’s I’d like to thank Caitlin for her years of service to St Mary’s and wish her and Gaspare the very best of luck as they prepare to welcome their first child into their family. We look forward to meeting baby Chirchiglia and to welcoming Caitlin back to our staff in the not too distant future.
Kind regards,
Andrea Welsh
SWPBS
The SWPBS focus is to be respectful towards others at all times.
Primary
Foundation
On Thursday the 9th of November, all Foundation students received their own set of Rosary Beads and a small bible. These are keepsakes to keep throughout their education. Please keep these in a special place at home. Thank you to all parents/carers that were able to join us in this celebration. More photos will be shared on our ClassDojo pages and in the end of school year magazine.
Just a friendly reminder to record your child’s reading daily in their school reader diary. Any questions or concerns about anything please contact your child’s teacher at any time
Year 1/2
We are halfway through our last term of the year! The 1/2 teachers would like to congratulate the students on their magnificent performances for at Grandparents and Special Friends Day. How proud we are of all of them. Thank you, also, for the effort of family and friends attending to make this a memorable day.
In reading lessons, we focused on literal understandings and how to make inferences from texts read. Our writing lessons are reviewing imaginative texts and how to add detail to our writing.
We would like to encourage families to continue to support their student's reading at home and regular viewing of reading diaries. Many events are occurring over the coming weeks, please check Class Dojo for updates from Classroom teachers.
Year 3/4
The children have completed their unit on Persuasive Writing, and are becoming confident with the structure and language needed to put their case across. We are moving on to character development in Narrative Writing.
It was great to see so many families visiting for our Grandparents and Special Friends day. These special occasions are excellent for building our school community.
In Religion we are still working on the concept of Gift and studying some related scripture passages.
Year 5/6
All students are finishing up their Persuasive Writing this week and we would like to congratulate them all on their hard work in this unit. We have read many interesting and amusing pieces that used excellent persuasive techniques. We’re sorry for any increase in hypothetical questions, emotive language, and exaggerations at home!
Additionally in Reading, we’ve been fine-tuning our inference skills through imagery. We encourage all families to support their students by reading regularly together. Reading helps students to curate their imagination, leading to increased creativity and better problem solving skills.
Thank you to all our Grandparents and Special Friends that visited and a massive congratulations to all students for putting in so much effort for their class performance. It was great to see so much support and love from our families.
We’d also like to welcome Keely Lowry to the 5/6 teaching team and wish Caitlin Chirchiglia all the best on her new adventure.
Secondary
It's hard to believe our Secondary students only have a few more weeks of school. In saying that, we would like to reinforce and remind our students of our behaviour expectations so that everyone can enjoy the last few weeks of 2023.
This week, the Year 7 students visited Lamattina Farms as part of the work in Careers. We thank John Lamattina for showing our students the ins and outs of the farm. The students had a great time and enjoyed the carrots!
We am very excited to announce that on Friday 17th November we will be hosting the annual St Mary’s School Colour Run.
This will be a whole school event and will be held after Spelling Mastery lessons on Friday. Students will sit in class groups spaced around an obstacle course on the oval and watch as each class moves through the course. At various points on the course coloured powder will be thrown at students creating an entertaining ‘rainbow effect’. When a class has completed the course they will return to their designated area with their classroom teacher.
We recommend that staff and students wear old clothes and shoes and a white or pale coloured shirt for best results. Students will require a change of clothes for after the event.