Newsletter,week 8, term 2, No 4

Principal's Report

Dear Parents & Carers,

A lot has happened since our last newsletter including another lockdown along with new school and community restrictions. Fortunately this lockdown was only for a short period of time and we are back in classrooms now. 

We are extremely grateful to our students and families for their willingness to get on with things last week and for their ability to support learning at home. Having students working at home is far from ideal and we understand the pressure it puts on families but knowing that St Mary’s community is resilient and supportive is a huge benefit. Let's hope this is the last time we need to lockdown and that we can look forward to having our families back on site and our school completely back to normal in the very near future. We will keep you updated about any changes to restrictions that effect our school.

Unfortunately only staff and students are permitted to attend school assemblies at the moment. Class presentations at assemblies will be postponed in hope that we will return to being able to invite families and friends to attend again next term. In the meantime our school captains will host assemblies. Birthday certificates and awards will be presented as usual and you will receive a message letting you know if your child has an award so you can look forward to celebrating with them when they bring it home.

Sadly, there were a number of school and sporting events scheduled during the lockdown period and planned for the coming weeks. Some events have been rescheduled and others have been cancelled. Please keep an eye out for updates, notes and permission forms in the coming weeks.

Recently teachers have been busy preparing Semester 1 Reports. You may remember that the format of reports had to be changed last year to allow for extended periods of remote learning. We used this opportunity to create a slightly new format that we hope you enjoy reading and find informative. If you have any questions or concerns after receiving your reports please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom or homeroom teacher to discuss this. Reports can be collected from the office after 2.30pm on Wednesday 23rd June. Any reports that remain at school on Friday 25th June will be sent to your postal address. 

A reminder that Monday 14th June is a public holiday and Tuesday 15th June is a student free day. Staff will use this opportunity to work with Kim Hawkes from Catholic Education Ballarat to explore ways to teach Religious Education and support our students learning in this area.  We look forward to seeing everyone back at school Wednesday.

Celebrations of the Sacrament of Confirmation are well underway. There have been some challenges due to current restrictions and thanks needs to go to Fr Anthony and the Parish Sacramental Team for their perseverance in enabling candidates to have an enjoyable and holy experience despite this. Thanks also to the staff who are attending the Masses in support of our students. A very special thank you needs to go to the candidates and their families for their flexibility in response to the changes that have had to be made to the program this year. Congratulations to students who have been confirmed recently and best wishes to those celebrating the Sacrament in the coming weeks. You are in our thoughts and prayers during this this special time.

Kind regards,

Andrea Welsh

Religious Education

A few weeks ago our school celebrated Catholic Education Week and our school’s Feast Day for Mary Help of Christians. We began the day with a whole school Mass celebrated by Fr Anthony. Students then participated in fun games on the oval as well as having the traditional cupcake and sausages sizzle lunch. 2021 celebrates 200 years of Ccatholic Education in Australia, we acknowledged this by forming a student ‘200’ on the oval. Thank you to the Year 8 students and Class Captains who led the small group games. They displayed leadership qualities by supporting all students, modifying the game when needed and being positive role models.

Last weekend wa the start of the Celebration of Confirmation for St Mary’s Robinvale Parish. The Sacrament of Confirmation is the second of the three sacraments of Christian initiation.

Confirmation completes Baptism. Through the laying on of hands and the anointing with Chrism Oil, which first happened at Baptism, we are confirmed with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded of our participation in the ministry and mission of Jesus, and strengthened to follow Jesus more closely. 

We have many students at St Mary's who will participate in this Sacrament. Please remember these students in your prayers and may their special day live with them always. 

Primary School

Prep

Well done to all Foundation students on such a positive transition back to on-site learning. It is so nice to see your smiling faces back at school. This week, we have learnt the new letter sound /L/ (Lou Lou Ladybug) and thought of many different words starting with the sound /L/. Using this new letter sound along with all of our other sounds, we have been writing words and simple sentences including our Tricky Words. Our new Tricky Words this week are a family of words ending with the letter ‘e’: ‘me’, ‘he’, ‘be’, ‘we’, ‘she’. Please encourage your child to practice reading and writing all the Tricky Words we have learnt so far at home. In Mathematics, we have been learning how to add two groups together and write simple stories. During Religious Education, we have been learning more about our Church and why people go to Church. 

Where has this Term? Gone only 3 weeks to go! Keep up the amazing work Foundation students :)

Year 1/2

It's great to see everyone back to school this week. Thank you for all the wonderful work that was done at home last week. 

This week we have been writing about Italy. We have learnt some very interesting things and our mouths have been watering when reading about the delicious food that comes from there. We are looking forward to sharing our information with Mr Zappia when we are finished. 

In Science, we created some amazing models using playdough.  We wrote about and annotated what we did to change the playdough. 

This week we are focussing on sitting down quietly on buses while travelling to and from school. Students have been trying their best to follow this.

A reminder to change home reading books regularly and write it in the reading diary.

Year 3/4

Year 3/4 students have been busy learning about inferred meaning. Inferred meaning is when you make a statement based on clues and observations from what you have seen in an image or read.  One example is of the image below which is from popular children’s author, Anthony Browne. When looking at the image we can infer that the child is Red Riding Hood  because of her red cape, it is cold as there is snow and the house has wolf ears so the wolf may be inside.

Miss O’s class is busy preparing for their assembly by performing a play on the First Fleet.  Their presentation has be postponed but hey are  hoping that they can be ready fo the first assembly next term.

All Year 3/4  classes have been learning about why England sent the First Fleet to Australia.  

Miss RM’s class worked on a ‘First Fleet Ship’ project with information about life of convicts and names of ships in the First Fleet. 

Please remember to bring reading diaries to school each day and to read for at least 10 minutes each night.

Year 5/6

After a brief time away from school last week, the Year 5 and 6 students returned ready to resume their learning. In Writing, students have enjoyed continuing with their information reports and have gained valuable knowledge on various topics such as countries, animals and other areas that are of particular interest to them. Students have shown interest in reading this week, looking at a number of different types of poetry. They have begun experimenting with figurative language and applying it to writing their own poetry. In Mathematics, the Year 6 students have been working on solving division problems and  Year 5 studentshave been focussing on using the partial-quotients strategy to divide. Students explored the Seven Sacraments in Religion and were able to connect the symbols to the Sacraments.

Secondary School

Year 7/8 students are working towards being fully organised for their learning each day. They are practising using their diaries to keep track of when their homework is due and to take note of any important dates such as tests, when assignments are due or whole school events.

All secondary students are reminded to hand their devices into the office each day and to wear a mask as per Victorian Government guidelines.

English

Year 7 have been analysing different types of text to find what the author is inferring. Many were surprised at how much information you can read from a simple web page or advertisement, even text colour and size can have different meaning.

Year 8 have been learning how the characters in texts help us to understand the world around us. When reading historical stories, they are able to ‘see’ what happened and gain an understanding of how the characters and even the people of that time felt during life changing events.

Maths

In Maths, the students are learning about Algebra. They are focusing on solving algebraic equations and becoming familiar  with the terms used.

Languages

In French, we are learning about our house. We are learning what each room in a house is called and being able to describe various houses by looking at where it is situated, it's size and colour.

Outdoor Education

In Outdoor Education we are looking at the ecosystem of The Mallee region and some of the flora and fauna of the area. We are investigating how this ecosystem has changed over time and the impact of that change.

Technology

The students are sharpening their digital designing and editing skills by creating house designs using Google slides.

Art

The students are making progress with their ANZAC paper mache sculptures. There have been some very creative ideas demonstrated when they have been completing the body shape.

A big thank you to everyone who supported the Book Fair.  It was a huge success. We now have $1950.00 to spend on new resources for our students.  Well done to all.

SCHOOL CROSSING

School Crossings are designed to get our students safely to school each day.

Please ensure that your child/ren are using the school crossing to cross the road. Parents are encouraged to walk their children to the crossing.

Please be aware of the signs, flags and the white lines when parking for school drop off and pick up.

If you are found not using the School Crossing correctly a fine may apply.

Using the crossing correctly is important for everyone's safety.

Yard Supervision

Morning

• Yard supervision starts at 8.22am. No student should be at school before this time
• Classrooms open at 8.32am
• Classes start at 8.42am. Any student who arrives after this time must sign in at the office

Afternoon

• Dismissal 3.12pm 
• Buses as per bus timetable
• Yard supervision concludes when the last school bus leaves (approximately 3.30pm)

School Office Hours

Monday - Friday

8.00am - 4.30pm

• No jewellery with the exceptions of a watch (excluding those with a camera, internet capacity or cellular network) and one pair of studs or sleepers can be worn.
• Only school colour hair ties / headbands to be worn (navy blue, light blue and white)
• Shoes must be all black, no coloured soles or logos
• No nail polish, fake or gel nails or makeup to be worn
• PE uniform to be worn on PE days only

Travel Arrangements

• If your children/child have differene travel arrangements to their usual after school please let the school office know before 3.00pm.
• It is important that your children/child is at school on time.  If you are running late in the morning, an adult needs to sign your children/child in at the school office.

Family Fee Assistance

Family Fee Scheme applies to families who hold a current Health Care Card. 

Please bring you Heath Care Card into the School Office before the end of June to receive the discount off your School Fees.

Uniform Order Form / Canteen Price List / Newsletter

Uniform order forms and the Canteen price list are available on PAM.  The Newsletter is  available via Schoolzine through your email.

The Uniform shop is open on Wednesdays from 3.15pm - 4.00pm.