Dear families,
We have all survived our first week of Remote Learning 2.0! By the looks of things, it appears that many of our students have done more than merely survive. Teachers have reported that students have come back motivated and eager to learn.
I am sure that you have noticed some of the changes that have been implemented. We hope that these changes have helped make the transition back to remote learning a little easier for you all.
I have enjoyed seeing the great learning that students are posting. Whilst we only have a small number of students onsite at the moment, I feel I am getting to know some of the students through their seesaw posts.
Yesterday saw our first try at Wellbeing Wednesday. From most accounts, it was very well-received. Both parents and students alike appeared to enjoy the break from the regular routine and it was great to see photos of what many of you got up to through our active Facebook page.
Next week, Father Michael and I will commence interviewing new families for 20201 Prep enrolments. These interviews will certainly be unlike any I have ever hosted, with masks and distancing being the order of the day. If you know any families who are interested in becoming a part of the St Mary’s community, please ask them to contact us.
If you would like to share any feedback about the remote learning process with me directly, please send your messages to principal@smaltona.catholic.edu.au. I’d also urge you to share this feedback with your child’s teacher. We are always looking for ways to improve our practices and it is also beneficial to know what is also working well for you at home.
Last week we informed you about our decision to postpone our Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews. We felt that by hosting them later during this remote learning time, we could use the time together to see how learning is going for your child and to discuss any amendments that may be of benefit in the coming weeks.
These Interviews will now take place on Thursday 6th August and will operate in the way the initial ones were organised. We will soon be sending home information about how and when to re-book. On this day there will be no online learning for students and the day will run like any school closure day. We will, however, still offer supervision for the students who currently attend onsite on Thursdays. This supervision will run similarly to last week’s holiday supervision.
Please remember that the wearing of a mask is also now mandatory when entering our school.
This weekend our Church celebrates the feast of Jesus’ grandparents, Mary’s parents, Sts Joachim and Anne. Today we would have celebrated Grandparents’ Day in our school community. In honour of these cape-less heroes who are missing their grandkids so much right now, here’s a clip for you to share with your children.
St Joachim, Pray for Us.
St Anne, Pray for Us.
God bless you and continue to keep you safe,
Sonia Riccardi
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
Please email Marg mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au with your thoughts.
Two Tuning in to Teens courses will be running in term 4:
Registrations essential. Learn more over on our webpage: www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/teens
Congratulations to our June Aussie of the Month students - Xavier, Andy & Alyssa. Click here to find out why they are so wonderful!
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:
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.
Catholic Care will begin providing counselling services to support the wellbeing of the children attending St. Mary’s Primary School, Altona. Our new counsellor is Rishika Sangeeta. Rishika will be available on Thursday each week, from next Thursday 30th July.
Rishika has been working with schools for the last two years to offering counselling services for children. As the school counsellor, Rishika’s role will involve working with children to support their learning, formation of healthy social relationships, emotional development and self-regulation, as well as offering strategies to reduce challenging behaviours within the classroom, school and home environment. She will work to support the teaching team and liaise with parents, when necessary, to meet the needs of individual children.
If you are interested in availing yourself of the counselling services for you child, please contact Marg Masseni via email (mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au) or the school office.
Marg will provide consent forms that will need to be completed and returned to her. Once the forms are returned to the school, counselling services will commence at the earliest opportunity.