Dear families,

How wonderful it has been to begin experiencing the sunshine.  The children have certainly been enjoying it.

We do, however, continue to keep in our prayers, neighbouring regions that have suffered under current flooding in recent weeks. 

We are ramping up for some exciting events as we head towards the end of the school year. Stay tuned for more details that include a school disco, Socktober events, our famous walkathon and many end-of-year celebrations.

Please note our school closure day next Friday. On this day, our staff will look at exploring the characteristics of effective learners and how we work on building such characteristics.  In the coming weeks, I will be seeking your input into the types of characteristics you feel are important in building in our children. We will also ask our students for their input.

Our School Advisory team are currently looking into our existing canteen set up and exploring ways to add or tweak what is currently offered. Please click on the link to share your opinions.

Today, you will have received updated invoices for outstanding fees and levies. This includes families on direct debit. Please check your child’s bag for your invoice. Please note that families who have finished or nearly finished paying their fees will not receive an invoice.

This week we commenced our trial of online first aid notifications. These are sent via Operoo. We ask for your patience as we refine our practices with this new system. If you have already received a notification, you will have noticed that there are some fields listed that are not relevant to our school context, such as “Competition/Age Group”, “Name of Coach” and “ First Aider ID”.  These fields are present as many sporting groups use Operoo as their communication system.

We welcome any feedback as we progress through this implementation.

I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Sonia

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Red Day for Child Safety is coming up this week on Wednesday 26th October. 

Make sure you WEAR a SPLASH OF RED to show your support for highlighting the importance of Child Safety.

We have been learning about the importance of safety in our classes and highlighting some of the following messages…

We ask that you reinforce these with your children.

• We have rules to protect us, our homes, our friends and our community.
• When playing sports, visiting friends or going to the beach or shops, it's important to remember personal safety. Remember to tell someone, where you are going, who you are with & more.
• Be alert for the clues that warn us when something is unsafe. These clues can be as simple as smelling smoke which warns us there is a fire or a lock down alarm at school.
• If you feel scared, confused, sad or upset you need to REACT. This could even mean breaking a rule, like smashing a window to escape a fire or screaming “NO” to an adult.
• Tell an adult in your life who cares about your safety when there is a problem. It’s adults who can keep you safe from harm and who can make a situation safe again for you.

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

As you may have heard from your children, this year our school is participating in Socktober for Mission Month. We are partnering with Catholic Mission to invite our students to connect with young people experiencing challenges in the developing world through education and the world game of soccer.

This year, our collective fundraising efforts will support vulnerable children in Ethiopia who are experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition. One example of what we are supporting is the Deberety Farm project in Emdibir, four hours from the capital, which aims to address these issues, primarily by raising goats that produce life-giving milk for infants who are most at risk.

As a school, we can contribute in a special way, but only if all our stars jump onboard. I’d like to invite you to take a moment to sign your child/ren (please don’t accidently register in your name) up for Socktober so they can join their friends and make a difference for children in need in Ethiopia. It takes only a few minutes. If you are concerned about sharing your details to sign up, you are welcome to use the school’s phone number/address if required.

We would love it if all children at St Mary’s signed up to make a difference but we understand if you feel this is not something you are comfortable with or can accommodate right now. All children will be exploring the work of Catholic Mission as a part of their classroom curriculum this term as we focus on our mission as Catholics and how we can be more Christ like in our response to modern day social justice issues such as the problems faced in Ethiopia.

Click SIGN UP now and don’t forget to link your child’s individual page to our school page so we can track how we go as a school.

The fundraising can be shared around by inviting family and friends to sponsor the goals your child/ren kick. Goals can be found in four pre-set Goal Packages after you sign up. Choose one package and work through the goals, or set your own goals at home.  It has been wonderful to see some of our senior students already registering and collecting sponsorships and donations for achieving their goals.

You’ll be asked to pick a fundraising target when you register. Whatever your child/ren raises towards this target can support the basic needs of vulnerable children in Ethiopia and around the world, such as food, clean water, healthcare, and education. You might choose from one of the targets below:

$35 can help towards the construction of the shaded area for the goats at the Deberety Farm.

$77 can help to cover the food, medicine and care for the farm animals for 2 weeks

$135 can help to support the stipend of a caretaker for the goats for three months.

$476 can help provide scholarships for two children at the Lideta Catholic Cathedral School in Addis Ababa

Later in Term 4, we’ll have a chance to come together at our school’s Socktober Event Day, where the children will be able to literally kick goals for good during a Socktober Shootout. This is a fun and educational day, and you will be invited to join us if you are able.

We will keep you updated in school newsletters as we continue to build momentum towards our Socktober Event with the exact date to be released soon.

Thank you for your support and for helping your child/ren kick goals for good.

Yours in Faith,

Matthew Taylor

Leader of Religious Education

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

We would also like to thank Mancini Real Estate for their continuous support to St Mary's Altona


             

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage