Although very different, Footy Fun day was a great success this year! Thanks to everyone who sent in photos showing how they made it a special day.  We had kids and staff dressing up in footy gear, pets showing their football team allegiences, footy quizes and meat pies for lunch!
The day even produced some new members for the AFLW Western Bulldogs team ~ a fine looking bunch. 
Check out our Facebook page to see loads of photos from the day.

Thanks to Mrs Ryan and the JSC as well as the staff who helped to make the day as special as it was. 

We hope everyone had fun! 

                      

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Are you saying "My child is struggling because everything is being cancelled!"?    You're not alone.  We are so concerned for all of our students who are so desperately missing school, missing their friends and missing out on so many of the good fun events that would usually be happening. Times are very uncertain and that is hard for us as adults to come to terms with, so imagine how the kids are feeling. 

In his latest blog, Dr Justin Coulson has written about this, giving tips you can use to help your children understand and come to terms with this uncertainty. We adults can learn a thing or two as well. I know that there are some tips that I will take onboard.

On another note we want to reassure you that we have the children in our minds in terms of all that they have missed out on and will do our best to use the learnings we have gained through the periods of remote learning and  ensure that their final term for 2020 will be exciting.

I hope you and your families have a peaceful weekend and final week of school.

Regards
Marg
Wellbeing Leader

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What's for dinner? Not sure....and over the idea of having to do it all yourself? Perhaps you could get the kids to help and you can focus on a little bit of maths while doing it.  This article, Maths, reading and better nutrition, explores how you can teach maths & more while cooking dinner.
Written by professors from the University of Newcastle, the article explores how teaching children to cook integrates knowledge from all many subject area and maximises learning opportunities by helping children develop motivation and communication skills.

Enjoy the read.

Lisa Said
Maths Leader

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Tuesday 15th September will be a school closure day.  The staff will be using the day to plan for Term 4 remote and onsite learning.  Students will not be provided with any online work on this day, however are welcome to finish any incomplete work from Monday 14th or from this week past. Students who have been learning onsite will be cared for onsite as usual. 

If you have any questions about this day please contact the office.

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A reminder that Friday 18th September will be the final day of Term 3.  School will finish at 1pm.  Students learning onsite will need to be collected at that time.  
We hope you have a good holiday and look forward to resuming Term 4 with you on Monday 5th October.

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

Registrations essential. Learn more over on our webpage: www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/teens

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

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Suspicious - it means you don’t trust someone and are careful when dealing with them

 Adjective / 

Synonyms: dodgy, distrustful, fishy

 Using the word: I saw a suspicious-looking man standing under a tree.

 How the fire started was suspicious.

 How would you use the word?

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.

 

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

 

3. 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. 

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Have you seen our new Spoonville members?  It's been wonderful to see students popping in to 'plant' their spoon in our garden.  

It's not too late to add yourself to the garden. 

Watch Jamison's video to find out what to do. We hope to see you at school soon.
The St Mary's Spoonville brainchild of Jamison L in 5/6CT is coming to fruition. A couple of weeks ago Jamison put it to the community to start our very own Spoonville to further build our community spirit.

        

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