St. Mary's eNews

Term 3 Week 7


Principal's Message 27th August 2021

Dear families,


Thank you all so very much for the positive messages you have sent through over the past week. Just as our teachers are working hard to keep spirits high with their students, a small message of gratitude achieves so much. 


We continue to tweak our offerings for parents who are requesting extra assistance with helping their child in the remote learning environment. I continue to encourage you to do what’s right for your family. We acknowledge and understand that there will be some days when our children are just not up for the tasks at hand. Give yourselves (and your children) permission to relax every now and then. 


The publishing of this year’s NAPLAN results have hopefully shown that even amidst this current situation, learning gains can still be made. I think we often underestimate how much our children can learn by simply playing or engaging in activities with family. While St Mary’s results are yet to be made available to us, it is a hopeful sign to learn that Victorian students, who spent the most time in lockdown over the last 12 months, have topped the state charts in NAPLAN. 


This week we celebrated a subdued Book Week. This year’s theme, Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds highlights the powerful ability of books to transport us into places never seen. As an educator, I cannot stress the importance of reading with and to your children. And it’s never too late. 

As the child of immigrants, who to this day, speak little English, my mother somehow understood this message. I remember when, as a preschooler, she would let me pick out  a Golden Book each week during our trip to the supermarket. Each night, she would ‘read’ me the book at bedtime. At the time, I didn’t know she was making up the words, but it didn’t matter. The physical act of sitting together and reading had a profound effect on me.

I have now passed this onto my son. Before he could read, I read books to him that we had selected together. As he got older and began to read, he’d read to me and I’d then read him a book that was beyond his capability, and so it continued.  

Please take us up on the offer to collate some books for you from our library. Email Milly (library@smaltona.catholic.edu.au) with some titles or types of books your child is interested in and we will let you know when they’re ready for collection.


Finally, I ask that you keep Nancy Leone and Alessandra Sottile in your prayers. Nancy’s father, Alessandra’s grandfather, passed away peacefully on Saturday evening. His funeral will be held this coming Monday. 


Keep on keeping safe, especially when Altona and its surrounds are featuring prominently on the exposure site listings.


Sonia



Literacy: 2021 Book Week - Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

This year we took book week online and were still able to have some fun and get into the spirit of everything literacy!
I'd like to extend a big thank you to all the teachers, students and families who participated to help us stay connected to enjoy the week in a different capacity this year. It's been a delight to see the enthusiastic posts on Facebook throughout the week. 
Some highlights of our week included: dressing up at our morning meetings, an online performance by Meerkat Productions, a neighbourhood book hunt, book reviews and story writing competitions. 

Check out some photos of our book week fun











Footy Fun Day 2021

And that's a wrap...Footy Fun Day for 2021 is done and dusted.  What a great day it was.  Thanks to the JSC Footy Fun Day team (Meagan, Trinity, Isabella F, Ava R, Ava C, Charlie W, Tyler T, Mrs Ryan, Mrs Tucker and Mrs Masseni) for organsing the day - trivia, photo competitions, advertising. Thanks to the many students and families who sent in great photos. Take a look at some of them here. There are also lots on Facebook.

Thanks to the staff who set lots of Footy Fun day activities for the day. 

We hope you all had a great day and that you enjoy the weekend of Footy Finals.  May your team have a win!

Footy Tipping Competition

Thank you to all the families that joined in the St Mary's Footy Tipping Competition. We had 40 people enter the competition this year. It was a tight race to the finish and the winners are: 1st - Ronnie Tucker - 136
2nd - Tim Creak - 134
3rd - Antoinette Matina - 132

Congratulations to all tippers. See you for tipping in 2022!

Community News

Take a look at this week’s Community News!

We have our Annual Report, some key enrolment dates for Year 5 Students in 2022 starting in year 7 in 2024, as well as our Church Bulletin and news from our local secondary schools; Emmanuel College and Mount St. Josephs.

Annual Report

Church Bulletin

Emmanuel College News

Mount St. Josephs' Latest Newsletter

Now We're Talking - On site tutoring available 

Social Skills Group Program

Altona Jnr. Cricket Club Registration info

Key enrolment dates for Year 5 students in 2022 starting in Year 7 in 2024

  • 28 January 2022 – Applications will open for Year 5 (current year 4) students commencing Year 7 in 2024.
  • 19 August 2022 – Applications will close.
  • 21 October 2022 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants
  • 11 November 2022 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school
Families are strongly encouraged to make at least 2 applications to colleges to ensure students have a place.
Many colleges are in high demand, therefore numbers are limited.
These schools are heavily zoned, therefore if demand is high, the likelihood of being offered a place if you live outside their catchment is low.

Support your child's mental health

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged all of us, including our kids. The Royal Children's hospital hosted a Facebook Live session on Wednesday 25 August 2021 and brought together an expert panel to discuss this important topic.

Hosted by Dr Anthea Rhodes (Paediatrician) with special guests Dr Ric Haslam (Director, Mental Health), Dr Alice Morgan (Clinical Psychologist) and Prof Harriet Hiscock (Paediatrician) they brought lots of practical advice.

You can watch the replay here.

You can also access a fact sheet by clicking here.