Newsletter W2 T1 2025

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome to the 2025 school year and our very first newsletter! 

The year has started extremely well with our students and staff all settled and working hard already. A special mention to our new Prep students and new families who have begun their school journey with us this year. It is a delight to see the youngest members of our school community enjoying their first days of school.

I’d also like to welcome some new members to our staff. This year Jocylyn Palma is teaching in Prep, along with Sandy Natale who will be replacing various primary teachers as they spend time working on other roles throughout the school, Mariska Moller has joined us in Prep as a Learning Support Officer and Shaun Nel is doing our grounds and maintenance work. We are thrilled to have these people on staff and hope they enjoy their time with us.

Last week many of you attended our annual Meet and Greet meetings with your children’s teachers. This is a great way for you to get to know your child’s teacher and to build on the home/school relationship that will support their learning throughout the year. It’s also an opportunity for the teacher to get to know your child, and you, better. We hope that those who were able to attend found it a rewarding experience but if you missed these meetings please remember that we value your participation in your child’s education and our school so do not hesitate to contact us at any time. The easiest way to get in touch with classroom teachers is usually via Class Dojo or via email. Otherwise feel free to call in, phone or email the office and we will be happy to help you in any way we can.

As a parent you have the prerogative of deciding whether or not your child’s image and/or name appears in school publications and social media. This information is provided to us by you when you enrol your child at St Mary’s and remains in place until you notify us otherwise. If we do not have this information from you, you will be contacted soon so we can update our records, but if you have changed your mind about your child’s Media Exclusion status, please let me know asap so we can make the necessary adjustments to our records.

Recently your child would have brought home two notes for you to fill in and return to school, Local Excursion Consent & ICT Agreements. These are annual permission forms that every child in the school must have. If you haven’t already done so, could you please read and sign these notes and return them to your child’s classroom teacher asap.

Towards the end of last year I mentioned the new DOBCEL Enrolement Agreement & Parent Code of Conduct that all families in DOBCEL schools, including St Mary’s, must be aware of. Please keep an eye out for these forms as we will be sending them home in coming weeks to be signed and returned for our records.

As we move through the year each of us will celebrate a birthday. Many children like to share cake or a treat with their classmates on their special day. While we are very happy to join in the celebrations and you are most welcome to provide a cake for your child, for convenience and safety, we ask that you send along cupcakes rather than a large cake that needs to be cut up at school.

While we are speaking about food, please be aware that we have students in our school who are anaphylactic and cannot be exposed to nuts, coconut, raw egg or sulphur. If one of these students is in your child’s classroom you will have received a note asking that you are particularly mindful of this, but we also ask that even if there is not a child with anaphylaxis in your class that you bear this in mind when bringing food into the school for any reason. There is some further information about anaphylaxis and how we can all contribute towards making our school a safe environment in this newsletter for you to refer to as well.

You will find later in the newsletter a list of school closure days for 2025. Please note these carefully as you will notice three consecutive student free days in April. This is the first week of term 2. As Monday and Friday of this week are public holidays and term 2 is exceptionally long, many DOBCEL schools across the Diocese have nominated these as student free days, enabling staff to engage in some much needed professional learning while students enjoy some extra rest in preparation for the remainder of the term.

Kind regards, 

Andrea Welsh

           Reconciliation and First Eucharist 2025            

                       Parents of students in Year 4 and above in 2025 are advised of the  following dates                       

Parent Meeting: 19th February
Reconciliation: 1st & 2nd April
Mass Practices: 10th & 17th June
First Eucharist: 21st June

The SWPBS focus for week 3 is to encourage and support others.

Foundation

Welcome to our Foundation students and their families! Our students have settled into the school routine quickly and are busy practising their skills of cutting, writing their name, playing with others and following teacher instructions.

The Foundation teachers are Leanne Chirchiglia (Room 1) and Jocylyn Palma (Room 2).

If you need to contact us please use Class Dojo or via our emails:

lchirchilgia@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au

jpalma@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Please remember to return the swimming consent forms and our class PE days are:

Room1 LC - Tuesday and Friday 

Room 2 JP - Monday and Friday 

A quick word from Jocylyn…

Hi, I’m Jocylyn. I'm originally from the Philippines where I taught for many years. I'm now living and working in Australia and looking forward to teaching my Prep class this year at St Mary's, meeting their parents and getting to know the school and wider Robinvale community.

Year 1/2

What a fantastic start to the 2025 school year we have had in Grade 1/2! We have spent some time getting to know our new peers and teachers, especially the new routines and expectations. 

The 1/2 teachers this year are as follows:
Room 3 - Sophie Westland - swestland@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Room 4 - Mikayla Simpson - msimpson@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Room 5 - Ferne O’Loughlin - foloughlin@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Learning Support: Lynne Millen and Belle Giofrelle

This year, we will begin using the InitiaLit program in Year 1/2. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to continue developing their reading ability using explicit teaching. To best teach this, students will be in four smaller groups (two groups of Grade 1 students and two groups of Grade 2 students). This means that Sereima Waqalevu will be joining the 1/2 team during Literacy time to support our delivery of the program.

Please check Class Dojo for any announcements, important reminders and information!

Year 3/4

What a great start to the year 2025! The year 3/4 students are buzzing with excitement and  enjoying fun activities to get to know each other and are settling into their classroom routines. Students have been learning about the classroom behaviour expectations and discussing our understanding of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Matrix. 

We focussed on teaching students to be organised and being ready to learn. We also played interesting games  with the intent of getting to know each other and for developing team spirit. We learnt about strategies to become a good writer and strategies to choose the right book to read. Our students enjoyed creating art projects based on a listening activity, following the steps on “How to draw an alien”. We also played many different Maths games which the learners thoroughly enjoyed. 

The teachers of Yr 3/4 would like to welcome all parents and carers. We look forward to an enriching journey over the course of this year, as we all work together towards ensuring the holistic learning of your child.

Should you need either of the teachers, please contact us via Class Dojo or via the emails below:

Ms Appleton (Room 9)– jappleton@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au

Ms RM (Room 8)- rmadhur@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au

Mrs. Sindy (Room 7) - snel@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au

Year 5/6

Welcome to 5/6! What a fantastic start to the 2025 school year it has been so far! It has been wonderful to see our Year 5/6 students settling into their classroom routines and expectations. 

As part of developing strong study habits, students in Year 5/6 will begin homework next week. We are learning to establish a homework routine that reinforces learning from in class or previous years. Students are expected to read at home each night, record this in their diaries, and complete assigned English and Maths tasks. Homework will be handed out on Mondays and is due on Fridays. All students will have a Yellow Display Folder for their homework. 

This year each class will have two PE lessons per week with Mr Lowry. On these days, students are required to wear their PE uniform. The scheduled PE days for each class are listed below. We look forward to a great year of learning and growth!

5/6KP – Room 10 - Wednesday and Thursday

5/6WL - Room 15 - Monday and Wednesday

5/6NZ - Room 16 - Tuesday and Wednesday

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher via Class Dojo or email. 

Miss Kirstyn Pepping (Room 10) kpepping@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Mr Will Lowry (Room 15) wlowry@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au

Miss Nicole Zappia (Room 16) nzappia@smrobinvale.catholic.edu.au 

Year 7/8 Homeroom

Welcome to the 2025 school year and thank all who attended the Meet and Greet on Tuesday afternoon. Your presence strengthens the vital partnership between home and school. If you were unable to join us and would like any information, please feel free to contact us at the school. Our Secondary Team is excited about the upcoming year, and we are pleased to report that all students have made a positive start. This year, we have two Year 7 classes and one Year 8 class. Additionally, we have established two mixed Year 7 and 8 Homerooms, led by Mr Ford and Mr Meban. We are also delighted to welcome Mr Aidan Davies to our team and acknowledge the ongoing dedication of Miss Lydia Kamau and Mrs Ashleigh Roper, our committed Learning Support Officer. We are also lucky to have Mrs Sarah Sutton teaching Art to Secondary students this Semester. Our Student Leadership Team had an inspiring day with Shane Garner on Wednesday, laying a strong foundation for their leadership journey. Shane's expertise in leadership development has already made a significant impact. We are currently seeking nominations for Year 7 and Year 8 Class Captains. Encouraging students to take on leadership roles is a key focus for us, and we look forward to supporting them in these endeavours. We anticipate a year filled with growth and learning and look forward to your continued support and partnership.

English

Year 7 & 8 students have been writing Mr Ford a letter, introducing themselves and listing one thing they each want to improve on in English 2025. In each class we've gone over the expectations of each lesson and we are learning class routine.

Maths

Year 8’s have started Unit 1 - Integers on their curriculum for this year. Concentrating on negative integer calculations, they have worked through all operations; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They have utilised Jacaranda online assignments and have their first Maths Mates homework sheet due next Thursday.

PE

Year 7 students have been introduced to their new unit Modified Sports. They have been participating in games that incorporate other sports and different variations/rules. We have gone over expectations for each PE lesson e.g. wearing the correct uniform (sports shirt), bring a drink bottle to each lesson and active participation.

Year 8 students have been introduced to their new unit Invasion Games. Here, they have been participating in practising the intermediate skills of basketball and how to navigate their ability to operate as a team. We have gone over expectations for each PE lesson e.g. wearing the correct uniform (sports shirt), bring a drink bottle to each lesson and active participation.

Health

This week in Health, students explored key topics related to self-identity and healthy eating:

Year 7 focused on self identity, helping students understand what shapes their sense of self and how to build a positive identity through confidence, values, and self reflection.

Year 8 students began learning about nutrients and healthy eating, discussing the importance of a balanced diet and how different nutrients support overall wellbeing.

Both groups engaged in discussions and activities to deepen their understanding and apply these concepts to their daily lives. we are looking forward to building on these ideas next week!

Humanities

Civics & Citizenship

Year 7 was introduced to the Australian Constitution, discussing why it is needed, its advantages and disadvantages, and how changes occur through referendums.

Year 8 examined key democratic freedoms (speech, association, and assembly), how these freedoms can be limited, and their legal sources. They also compared life in a democracy versus a non democratic society while revisiting the Constitution.

Both year levels engaged in discussions and activities to apply these concepts to real world scenarios. we are looking forward to building on these ideas next week!

Languages

Year 7

This week we focused on an introduction to French Greetings. The students have learned how to say hello, say their names, age, nationality and basic French verb forms. we had a very enthusiastic start from both Year 7 classes. Tres bien!

Year 8 

Year 8 engaged in a refresher on the 6 week Spanish Introductory course they did last year. Some students have displayed excellent recall of the vocabulary they have learned. Muy bien!

The Arts

We have an exciting Term ahead for Visual Arts. Students will be sculpting a song.

They will select an appropriate song of their choice and create an air dry clay sculpture that visually represents the song's meaning, mood, or themes. They will explore symbolism, texture, and form while choosing how to display their final piece e.g. wall mounted, freestanding, diorama.

Food Technology

Both the Year 7s and 8s have either completed or reengaged in the process of completing an online Food Safety Course, in preparation for next week's cooking task. We are excited to be starting our cooking journey on Monday with the Year 8 cohort and Tuesday with the Year 7 classes. Up first, Pizza!

Congratulations to Maya Brigante on receiving the the Swan Hill Rural Shire Council Citizen of the Year Award, Certificate of Achievement.

We warmly welcome all our families to our Beginning of Year Mass on Friday, 14th February at 10am. During the Mass, St Mary’s staff and our Student Leadership Team will be commissioned.