Newsletter, W10, T3, 2024

Dear Parents & Carers,

It’s hard to believe that term 3 is already over, it seems like it only just started! 

Yesterday we celebrated Languages Day. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces as our students were immersed in celebrating the cultures of the two countries that we are currently studying; Italy in primary and Spain in secondary. The day was filled with fun, colour and delicious food. Thank you to Frank Zappia and his team of helpers for organising the day and making it such a success.

This week, we farewell Cenza Brigante as she begins her maternity leave. We want to say a heartfelt  thankyou to Cenza for her wonderful contribution to our school and wish her and her husband, Justin, all the very best with their parenthood journey.

Next term, we welcome back Kirstyn Pepping, who will be replacing Cenza in Room 2. We are also looking forward to Reema Madhur returning to St Mary’s after a period of extended leave. Reema will be teaching  in 3/4AK (Room 8) on Thursday and Friday for the remainder of the year and working throughout the school in various primary classrooms on the other days of the week. 

Attached to this week’s newsletter you will find two DOBCEL/School documents; Enrolement Agreement & Parents/Guardians/Carers Code of Conduct. These are updated versions of our existing enrolement agreement and code of conduct that all DOBCEL schools are required to adopt. We will be sending these documents home for all families to sign early next year but in the meantime, I wanted to share them with you so you are familiar with their contents. If, after reading the documents you have any questions please feel free to contact me at school.

You may be aware that many of our primary and secondary students were successful in their respective Division Athletics competitions in Ouyen and Mildura. I’m proud to say that following their success at this level we are sending teams to both the Secondary and Primary Regional Athletics competitions in Bendigo early next term. Congratulations to all the students who will be competing and we wish them the very best of luck as they represent St Mary’s at this high level.

Recently, we were privileged to host a Best Start Play Day when we welcomed preschool students from Robinvale, Euston and MVAC into our school for a morning of play and games. This is a wonderful initiative that supports networking amongst early childhood educators and is a huge step towards school transition and readiness for the children. Thanks to everyone involved and we look forward to more Play Days next year.

Since the last newsletter, as usual, there have been many events and learning opportunities on offer for our students. These have included RUOK? Day across the whole school, Emergency Services Day at Robinvale College for our Year 1/2 classes and Victoria Police presented ThinkUKnow to Year 5/6. In addition to this we have enjoyed Parent/Teacher Interviews which are always a wonderful opportunity to share our students' learning and further develop our home school relationships and Robinvale College staff have visited to speak to our Year 8 students about their transition into Year 9 next year. 

Many of our students are continuing their Confirmation preparation over the next few weeks. The children  have begun practising for the ceremony which will be held in the church at 6pm on Saturday 19th October. We ask that you continue to remember these students in our thoughts and prayers as they near the end of their journey towards this special event in their faith development.

Finally, we wish each and every one of you a happy, rejuvenating and safe holiday break and we will look forward to seeing you back at school in term 4!

Kind regards, 

Andrea Welsh

The SWPBS focus for this week is to wear school uniform correctly.

Foundation

With this week being end of Term 4, we want to thank the parents/carers of our Foundation students for their consistent support and encouragement of their children's learning. It has been great to see so many families continuing nightly reading, asking how they can support their child and having great communication with the teachers about their childrens learning. 

At the end of Term 4, we farewell Mrs Brigante (or Ms Cenza, depending on how you know her), as she begins the new journey of motherhood with her husband Justin. The Foundation team and the rest of St. Mary’s school want to wish her the best with her new addition to their family and hope that she will visit with her new baby next term. 

With Mrs Brigante's farewell comes the chance to welcome a new teacher into the Foundation area. Miss Kirstyn Pepping will end the year in Room 2. Some of you may know her from previous years at St Mary’s, and after taking some leave to travel for a while, she is returning! We are very excited to welcome Miss Pepping into the Foundation team and use her wealth of teaching knowledge. 

We hope you all have a great school holiday. Please ensure you stay healthy and safe so we can see you all at the beginning of Term 4, ready for the final Term of learning for our student's first year at school!

Year 1/2

What an incredibly busy term it has been. We have had so much fun with all the events in the last 10 weeks. Last week we had the opportunity to learn from all the emergency services at Robinvale College. This week we have had Languages Day and our Potato Olympics to end the term on such a high note. All the teachers in the 1/2 unit would like to express our gratitude to all families who took the time to discuss their children's academic growth at the recent Parent Teacher interviews. It is always so wonderful to spend some time with you all and share our pride in how they are growing in their abilities. If you happened to miss an appointment, please touch base with your child's teacher and we can arrange a catch up next term. 

We are now making preparations for our Year 1/2 sleepover, which is rapidly approaching. There is always something amazing to look forward to. 

Have a relaxing, safe and happy spring holiday break. See you all in a couple of weeks.

Year 3/4

It’s been a busy term in Year 3/4! We have enjoyed the special event days over the past few weeks, especially Languages Day on Thursday. We enjoyed sharing greeting phrases from our different languages and taking part in the many activities throughout the day, not forgetting the delicious gelato! 

Congratulations to all of the children who represented St Mary’s with distinction at the recent ‘Mini Olympics’ in Mildura, we are so proud of you!

A big thank you to the families who consistently support their children with nightly reading and weekly homework; your help is very much appreciated. 

We hope you all have a safe holiday full of adventure and excitement, rest and relaxation. We will see you all back at school for Term 4!

Year 5/6

WOW! What a busy term we have had in year 5/6. We want to remind you before we break for two weeks, of the following:

Teachers have noticed that black socks are creeping back in. We would like to remind parents that white socks (above the ankle) are to be worn at school at all times. The only permitted jewellery are one pair of stud or small sleeper earrings, a religious medallion or necklace, and watches (that are not cellular during school hours). Beaded bracelets are not part of the St Mary’s school uniform. Also, remember that black school shoes are to be worn, except on PE days where appropriate sneakers may be worn. 

Thank you to our families who continue to support nightly reading at home and students who regularly return their completed homework. 

Enjoy the break, and we will see everyone back at school at the start of term 4!

GRANDPARENTS & SPECIAL FRIENDS DAY

As part of our celebration for Grandparents Day on Friday, Week 1 of Term 4, we would love to share photos of your child(ren) with their grandparents during our liturgy. If you have any special photos that you would like to be included, please email them to photo@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au by Monday 7th of October.

We look forward to creating a memorable celebration together!

Year 7/8 homeroom

As we wrap up the final week of Term 3, we’d like to wish all our Year 7 & 8 students a well-deserved break! It’s been a busy term, and we hope everyone takes the time to relax and recharge, ready for an exciting Term 4.

Next term promises to be filled with many exciting activities, kicking off with Grandparents Day in the first week back. Our Year 7 & 8 students will play an important role in the Liturgy during this special celebration, so please remember to send in your grandparent photos to be part of this event.

A big thank you to all the parents who were able to attend the Parent/Teacher interviews. It was wonderful to see you and have meaningful discussions about your child's progress.

We look forward to seeing everyone rested, refreshed, and ready for the big term ahead. Have a wonderful break!

English

Year 7 & 8 Students have completed their PAT testing for 2024 in Reading, Grammar & Punctuation and Spelling. They have been engaging in a range of classroom activities that correlate to what they are being assessed on.

PE

Year 7 & 8 have been doing modified sports during PE lessons. Students are continuing their development in learning to incorporate a range of skills into one game: Soccer & Netball. Here, students are throwing, catching and kicking the ball whilst also focusing on incorporating teamwork skills.

Health

Year 7 - Students have been expanding on their nutrition knowledge and looking at food pyramids in other cultures. They have been analysing and discussing the similarities and differences between 6 countries: USA, Canada, Belgium, Finland, China and Australia.

Year 8 - Students have handed in their assignments for this term: ‘Fit For Life’. They have designed 6 different 30-minute workouts to do and explained how they relate to both health and skill components of health.

Science

 Year 7 & 8 Students' Exciting Experience with La Trobe University

Last Friday, our Year 7 & 8 students had an incredible opportunity to work with experts from La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, to dive into the fascinating world of physics. The focus of the day was investigating Einstein’s theory of the Photoelectric Effect and its connection to something as relatable as the modern-day selfie.

Students listened to engaging presentations explaining the theory behind how light interacts with materials to create electrical effects, which plays a key role in the technology behind cameras and photography. After gaining an understanding of the science, students then participated in a hands-on activity where they constructed their own light-sensitive switches. This activity not only allowed them to apply the theory in a practical way but also gave them a chance to explore the real-world applications of these scientific principles.

It was a truly enlightening experience that sparked curiosity and deeper understanding. We are grateful to La Trobe University for providing our students with this fantastic opportunity to learn in such an interactive and engaging way.