St. Mary's eNews

Term 2 Week 10


PRINCIPAL MESSAGE ~ 19th June

Dear families,

As we move into our final week of term, there are just a few important reminders and pieces of information that you need to be aware of.

25th June: Reports sent home

Mid-year reports will be provided online for families this year.  Reports will be uploaded next Thursday and then parents will receive an email with instructions explaining how to access them.

 

26th June:  End of term dismissal times  

Preps and their siblings:  1.10 pm

Years 1/2 and their siblings: 1.20 pm

Years 3/4 and 5/6: 1.30 pm

 

13th July: Term 3 commences 

We are unsure at this stage if staggered dismissal times will remain in place and if parents will be able to come onto the school playground areas.  You will be notified about this as soon as we receive clarification from Catholic Education Melbourne.

 

20th July (1.45 pm - 8.00 pm) & 21st July (3.45 pm - 5.00 pm): 3 way student conferences

As mentioned in last week’s eNews student / parent / teacher conferences will be conducted remotely early in Term 3.  Further details about how to book and access these meetings will be sent home shortly.

 

My thanks to families who have paid their school fees, and a reminder to others to please ensure that payments are made as soon as possible. I have had a couple of queries from parents in regards to charges for excursions, school camps and Sacraments.  At this stage it is hoped that restrictions will be lifted and Years 4 and 6 will be attending their camps and therefore these costs remain in place.  I know that parents were notified that the Year 6 camp has been postponed until the end of Term 3.  

 

As for excursions, staff are planning to incorporate a number of these within their next units of work and therefore this money will be expended.

 

The charge for the Sacrament of Confirmation will be credited against family accounts as we are uncertain as to whether this will be able to occur.  This is due both to the   In the event that this Sacrament can be celebrated, families will be invoiced accordingly.  If parents have already paid their account in full, and this included the cost for Confirmation, you can either maintain a credit balance moving into 2021 or request a refund via email to Katrina Chavarria at bursar@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

 

At this stage we have not credited accounts for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as it is likely that this will be able to be celebrated later in the year.  We will provide you with further information as soon as we are notified of changes in restrictions.

 

It has been fantastic to see so many children walking and riding to school over the past couple of weeks, and we certainly encourage families to do this. 
I do have some concerns, however, that some students are not doing this as safely as they should.  Students have been seen riding the wrong way on the road in Railway Street, riding down the middle of the road in surrounding streets and generally not following the appropriate road rules to keep themselves and others safe. 
I ask that you talk to your children about the importance of being responsible when riding for their own safety and in consideration of others.  No-one wants to see a child be hurt or injured, or someone put in the position of injuring a child through any form of accident. 


Regards
Kerin Thorneloe




Nude Food

In an effort to reduce rubbish at school and maintain our good hygiene practices, our Nude Food initiative will remain in place. 

Families are encouraged to send food to school in re-useable containers and students are required to take home any wrappings that they bring to school. Fruit peelings may be put into classroom general rubbish bins. 

Students are asked to eat food they purchase from the tuck shop on the grass steps outside the hall.  All children should be seated when eating.  Can you please reinforce this rule with your children.

Although students are given ample time to eat their food in the classroom, and are encouraged to eat what is given to them, there may be times when children are just not hungry and are unable to finish their food.

Please do not put pressure on your child / children to eat everything in their lunchbox every day. What we are finding is that some children are hiding food in corridors and around classrooms so that they don't have to take it home for fear of getting into trouble. As you will appreciate, neither of these scenarios are ideal.

We thank families for their support of this new way of working at St Mary's.

Education in Faith: RE in remote learning

Already this term in Religious Education so far, we have celebrated Grandparents Day linked to the Feast of Sts Anne and Joachim. The Prep & Yr 1/2 children spent time exploring how special these people are to them. Here are some examples of some of the work submitted by our Year 1/2 classes.

   

In the middle school, the Year 3/4 students have been exploring how important signs and symbols are as an expression of our Faith. Miss Barnes has provided them with some great activities linking art to Scripture and presenting a detailed Loom video so that all students saw a friendly face during remote learning.

   

Many of the classes have also been learning about St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, in the lead up to her Feast Day next weekend. The Preps did some wonderful work learning about Mary’s family and the Year 5/6 students went further to create a multigenerational family tree for Mary. Our senior students have also collected a wide array of information about the key dates and events in Mary’s life and used these to create timelines.

     

 

We are so very proud of all the work our teachers do to maintain our Faith links during this difficult time. We are also extremely appreciative of all the efforts of our students and families in sharing back many examples of the great work and beautiful experiences they have had as a part of their Education in Faith this term.

Yours in Faith

 

Matthew Taylor

Religious Education Leader



WORD OF THE WEEK

Rarely - it means that something doesn’t happen often

Adverb

Synonyms: seldom, infrequently, hardly

In the desert, we rarely saw any live plants.

My brother and I rarely played Monopoly together.

What are WOWs?

WOWS, or Words of the Week, are words that will appear every week both in the newsletter and in the display cabinets around the Prep/1 building as a way to help the students at St Mary’s Primary School build their vocabulary.


What we know from research about the importance of a large vocabulary is as follows:

  1. Having a large vocabulary helps children think and learn about the world around them.

 

  1. Vocabulary implications for literacy, in particular comprehension of written word essential for being able to answer questions about and successfully predict things from text.

 

  1. A child’s vocabulary growth is directly linked to his or her overall school achievement.

 

What can we do with the Word of the Week?

It is important to talk about the words of the week with your child. Initially, discuss what the word means and put it in a sentence. Use the word frequently throughout the week – at set times like in the car after school or at the dinner table but also incidentally throughout general conversation where appropriate. When the child has a solid understanding of the word, you can think about other ways to build upon this knowledge and further increase vocabulary by thinking about other words that mean the same thing (synonyms) and words that mean the opposite (antonyms) to the WOW. 



COMMUNITY NEWS

Click on the links to access a range of information & activities across our community, including news & information from the parish and local secondary schools as well as, this week, information about Creative Music and Workshops for parents re teens.
NEW this week...
Church Bulletin 21st October
Emmanuel College Update 21st October
Hobsons Bay Children's Week
Creative Music - Sign up for Term 4

Tuning in to Teens is heading into its Term 4 sessions so we’re getting the word out to parents who may want to join in. This 7-week program is designed to support parents in raising emotionally intelligent teens to improve relationships, communication skills and overall wellbeing.

Two Tuning in to Teens courses will be running in term 4:

  • Wednesday 6 to 8pm from 14th October to 25th November.
  • Wednesday 6.30 to 8.30pm from 28th October to 9th December.

Registrations essential. Learn more over on our webpagewww.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/teens

 
Archive...
Emmanuel College Update - 16th October
Camp Australia
Joseph's Corner newsletter
Camp Australia