St. Mary's eNews
Week 4 Term 2
CyberSafety Project Partnership
Principal's Message: 20th May 2022
Dear families,
There are many in the community struggling this week with an increase in COVID cases at our school, as well as across Melbourne at the moment.
Please be assured that I have been in constant contact with MACS (Catholic Education) and am following their advice.
At this stage, we have not been instructed to do anything differently than what is currently in place.
Masks, while not mandated, are still recommended and if you wish for your child to wear one, please let their teacher also know so we can ensure they are wearing it whilst in school.
Your child will have received another box of RATs yesterday. As of next Monday, 23rd May, we are no longer being instructed to test twice weekly, rather, we are being asked to test when symptomatic. I will issue a separate note via Operoo with more information over the weekend.
Parent Involvement
We have many ways you can become involved in the life of St Mary’s. Two such ways are by becoming members of the Parents and Friends and/or the School Advisory Council.
The purpose of these groups differs.
Parents and Friends
The Parents and Friends are responsible for fundraising and arranging social activities for our school community. It is a vibrant group that has lots of fun building on our school community spirit. We try to meet once per month and our meetings commence at 7:30pm. They usually last a little over an hour. Any involvement is welcomed. You may be able to contribute suggestions, but not be able to be present during school hours. Or you may be able to follow up on some leads/donations. Every bit of help is appreciated.
Our Parents and Friends AGM will be held on 3rd June at 7:30pm. We would ideally love to have 2 parents' representatives from each level join us.
We look forward to welcoming you then.
School Advisory Council
Our School Advisory Council is, as the name suggests, an advisory body to the principal on all things schooling. We discuss enrolments, learning and teaching, finances, building programs amongst other things.
I would like to congratulate our first official Chair and Secretary. We thank Leonie Duane (Keira - Year 5/6) as our new Chair. We also thank Lauren Belton (Thomas - 3/4 and Sophie - 5/6) who has been appointed as Secretary.
We meet around 6 times per year, with meetings commencing at 7pm and concluding by 8:30pm.
Our next AGM (and the first since 2019) will take place on 15th June at 7pm.
Whilst our group is almost at capacity, we welcome any Prep-2 parent representatives to consider joining.
Feeel free to come along to the AGM and meet the team.
Road safety
We are once again seeing near misses around our school. Please adhere to road rules and signage when parking anddropping off your children.
Please pay particular attention at the McBain Street gate. No one should be parking in the driveway at any time of day.
Feast Day
We are looking forward to next Tuesday’s feast day. The children are excited about Kaboom Sports running our Olympics Extravanganza.
It’s giong to be a great day!
Hoping we all find some peace this weekend.
Keep safe and well,
Sonia
School Calendar Updates!
Then this is information you need to read!
You will find our calendar in two places:
1. Under the 'PARENTS' tab you will find a link to our calendar in the drop down. This calendar is 'month to a page' and events can be easily added to your digital calendar by simply clicking on them.
2. The 'Event Quick View Calendar' is a widget at the very bottom of the home page. Here you will find events for the next 30 days, that can be expanded. Once again, click on any of them and you can easily add them to your own calendar.
Please note the information in both calendars is the same....so you only have to decide which view you like the best!
If you have any questions please contact me.
Regards
Marg Masseni (mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au)
Website Curator
Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage
Community News
Church Bulletin
Emmanuel College News
Creative Music
Williamstown Community News and Upcoming Events
Foster Caring
Soccer Academy
Gardening Club
Are there any parents/grandparents who are avid gardeners and would like to be a part of a small gardening club at St Mary’s?
Cathy Sims together with some very keen students and Bunnings are looking to revamp our garden beds.
Please see Cathy or email her csims@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
If you think you could possibly space an hour a week to help.
Remember you must have WWCC and be triple vaccinated
FOSTER CARERS NEEDED
If you have thought about foster care, please get in touch and
ask the questions you have always wanted to.
Ring: Key Assets 1800 932 237 or 1800 WE CARE
Email: info@keyassets.com.au
Web: canifoster.com.au or keyassets.org.au
What will happen: Interested families would receive a brochure, information and no pressure!
We would also like to thank Mancini Real Estate for their continuous support to St Mary's Altona
Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage
Premier's Reading Challenge 2022
To enter the challenge, or for more information, please email Milly on library@smaltona.catholic.edu.
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Literacy: SMART Spelling Home Practice
At St Mary’s we use the SMART Spelling program in our Year 1 to 6 classrooms. This evidence based approach teaches the meaning of words to expand vocabulary and then breaks words into syllables, sounds and letter patterns (graphs, digraphs and trigraphs).
On Mondays, students are introduced to a new list of words. They then choose words from the list along with personal words to practice for the week. The word lists are taken home and we ask that your child practices their words every day. Writing the words using the approach ‘look, say, cover, write, check’ is useful but can become boring. There are other exciting ways to engage with the words. Some tactile ways include: using sidewalk chalk, forming the words using clay or Playdough, using a paintbrush and water, magnetic letters, blocks, etc. Please find attached here a list of creative written activities suggested by the SMART Spelling program for your child to try at home.
Thank you for your continued support in this program. For more information please feel free to contact myself or your child’s teacher.
Brenda Lycke
Literacy Leader
blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
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Introducing ~ Louise Richards
My name is Louise Richards and I am thrilled to be the new Auslan teacher at St Mary’s Altona. I live and breathe teaching and will often thread passion and enthusiasm into everything I do.
After finishing high school I barrelled head first into the teaching industry, and since then have worked in many of its diverse fields. During this time I have grown my skills in creating structured yet flexible learning and teaching programs that celebrate differences and diversity.
Growing up in the Altona area and going to school just across the railway tracks from St Mary’s, I feel a deep connection to Altona and its community. I have some very fond memories of the Altona Parades and fairs, watching and performing in shows at the Altona City Theatre, and spending many warm nights at the Altona beach and Pier street with friends.
I am very excited for my future at St. Mary’s and look forward to embedding Auslan into the students' learning.