St. Mary's eNews

Term 3 Week 8


Principal's Message 2nd September 2021

Dear families,


Spring has truly sprung! 

This week’s weather seemed to bring about such pleasure to my family. I wonder if it did for yours as well. Our garden began showing signs of growth and this filled my heart with joy!





I know this week’s news regarding the extension of the lockdown would not have been well-received by most. For many , hopefully the re-opening of playgrounds went some way towards easing the blow of this largest announcement.


This coming week, we forge ahead with Term 4 planning days.  As we do at the end of each term, teams of teachers have a day of planning for the upcoming term. The day your child’s teacher will be in planning next week will look a little different to their usual day. 

Teachers will plan tasks that require less adult assistance and will contain revision tasks where possible. On this day, the usual whole class meeting will not take place. Instead, there will be 2 half hour drop in sessions for the level, where a staff member will be available to answer questions or provide assistance. These sessions will run from 9am - 9:30am and again at 11:30 until midday. 
These p
lanning days are as follows:

  • Monday: Prep
  • Tuesday: 5/6s 
  • Thursday: 1/2s
  • Friday: 3/4s

As we near the end of the term, I am pleased to announce that Mrs Veronica Tucker and Ms Jane Kirkwood will be teaching in 1/2G in Term 4. Given the disruptions that our juniors have faced in their first years of schooling, we felt it important to place experienced teachers who know St Mary’s well to assist in a smooth transition as Ms Gallagher prepares for this next exciting phase of her life. 


As part of our compliance as a school in Victoria, we are required to write an annual report of our achievements. Our 2020 Annual Report to the Community is now available from our website or via this week’s Community News.  If you prefer to receive a hard copy, please email me at sriccardi@smaltona.catholic.edu.au and I will arrange to have one posted to you.



Finally, wishing all our dads, grandfathers, father figures and significant males in our lives a wonderful Father’s Day this Sunday. I ask you to join me in keeping all families who have lost their fathers in my prayers, especially Nancy and Alessandra.

I pray to our Heavenly Father:

God our Father,
We give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation;
may they find courage and perseverance
to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for fathers around the world
whose children are lost or suffering;
may they know that the God of compassion
walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers
but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, grandfather, and great grandfathers
who are no longer with us
but who live forever in our memory
and nourish us with their love.

Amen


May you find many moments of joy in the week ahead,

Sonia



Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all our dads, grand dads, uncles, step dads and other signifcant male role models in the lives of our children. We hope you have a great day on Sunday and get spoilt by your kids!

Literacy: Spelling & Grammar Corrections

Why isn’t the spelling and grammar corrected in all of my child’s submitted work?

As you continue to support your children with their online tasks at home, you may begin to notice that their teachers are not correcting every spelling mistake in their writing. 


This doesn’t mean that the work is not being assessed, it means that there are times when spelling is not the main focus for achieving the intended learning outcome. 

Particularly in the early years, children are working to grasp many literacy concepts all at once. When given the opportunity to write freely without spelling as the main focus, they can allow their creative juices to flow much more easily. Furthermore, having every error corrected can also lead to disengagement or deterrence from completing the task all together. 

When it comes time to read and revise a writing task to be published, the spelling then becomes more of a focus. It’s much easier to review and correct spelling than it is to revise the whole structure of the piece. Many lessons begin with a bigger picture focus on ideas, vocabulary, layout/organisation, detailed structure and intended audience. This is what the teacher will be looking for first and foremost when correcting work. At times, the teacher might point out or focus on a repeated or common error (e.g. ‘ough’ spelt as ‘ff’). Unless the lesson is spelling and grammar based, correcting spelling errors is part of fine tuning a student’s work which, although important, is not the first step in mastering skills in writing. 

Thanks for the support you are giving your child during this remote learning. If you’d like more information about how to best support your child’s literacy development, please contact your child’s teacher or myself via the email address below.

Brenda Lycke

Literacy Leader 

blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au



Common Mathematical Myths

There are many myths about mathematics. Here are some common misconceptions.

 

Maths is a series of rules and procedures to follow.

There is one right way to do a maths problem.

Most mathematics does not make sense to me.

Men are better at maths than women.

Here Professor Jo Boaler talks about how you can be good at maths and other surprising facts about learning.

https://youtu.be/3icoSeGqQtY



Action for Happiness: Self-care September

Self-care isn't selfish, it's essential. No-one's perfect. But so often we compare our insides to other people's outsides. This month we're encouraging everyone to be kinder to themselves (as well as others), especially when things go wrong.
Self-care increases our resilience and helps us get more out of life. It also helps us accept others as they are too. 

Take a look at the Action for Happiness: Self-care September calendar for some great ideas about how you can show yourself a little extra care.

Introducing ~ Tim Creak

I grew up on the Bellarine Peninsula, after finishing high school I attended university where I completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Tourism and Hospitality. After graduating I headed for the hills where I started teaching alpine skiing.

 
After a 14 year career travelling between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres and a short stint at the Queenscliff-Sorrento Ferry, it was time for a change.

With the arrival of my first child I retrained as a Primary School teacher completing my Masters of Teaching in 2018. I have been teaching at St Mary’s Altona since the beginning of 2021.



Child Protection Week ~ 5th - 11th Sept

Next week is National Child Protection Week and the important theme this year is ... Every child, in every community, needs a fair go.  To treat all of Australia’s children fairly, we need to make sure every family and community has what kids need to thrive and be healthy. 


The 2021 theme for National Child Protection Week is all about the importance of the ‘bigger picture’ in addressing child abuse and neglect.

Children can thrive and be healthy when they have what they need to develop well.

But not every family has these resources.

This is why we need to support every child, family and community according to their needs.

This will create a healthier, fairer Australia for all children.


A lot of great research is helping us understand more and more about what children need to thrive.


Child Protection Week 2021 will be an opportunity to translate this knowledge into action. All skillsets, all people, and all communities are assets in this important endeavour.

Let’s make sure our neighbourhoods have strong foundations for families and children – jobs, safe places, libraries, parks, playgrounds, schools, child care, affordable housing, health services, social activities, clubs, friendly neighbours, businesses and more.


Many of you are already playing your part every day – as individuals, as community members, as volunteers and as workers – to help create these great communities for children.

When we do this together we can give ‘every child, in every neighbourhood, a fair go’.


Here are some resources you might be interested in:
Tips for talking to children about personal safety
Listening to Children pamphlet
Webinar information
eSafety Parents Website




Community News

This weeks Community News has 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, news from our local secondary schools; Emmanuel College and Mount St. Josephs and Cricket Club registration information!


Annual Report

Church Bulletin

Mount St. Josephs' Latest Newsletter

Now We're Talking - On site tutoring available 

Social Skills Group Program

Altona Jnr. Cricket Club Registration info

Seabrook 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.

Aussie of the Month ~ August

Congratulations to our August Aussie of the Month winners ~ Adelaide, Laughlin and Trinity.

  Click here to see their smiling faces and the reasons why they are so wonderful.

Scholastic Book Club Issue 6

In response to the current lockdowns, Scholastic have added the temporary option for all parents to have their orders sent directly to their homes. This option will enable you to place and receive orders while your children are undertaking remote learning. When you place your Issue 6 Book Club orders, you'll have the option to select home delivery or school delivery 
The home delivery option can be selected by you at the time of ordering for $7.50.
If you choose to have your books delivered to school and we will call you once they have arrived.

Click here to view the catelogue