Dear families,

It’s been, and continues to be, a wild last few weeks of term for our community, End of year celebrations continue right up to our last day next Friday.

Yesterday, our Year 6 students continued their many end-of-school events with Big Day Out.

It looked like a spectacular day and I‘d like to thank the senior teachers who organised the day and accompanied them on what was a very long day. As I mentioned during the Arts Spectacular last week, teachers don’t get paid overtime, so any time you see a teacher at an event outside school hours, they are there because of their commitment to our students.  Our events are always well-attended and for this (and countless other reasons), I thank the amazing group of people I get to work with each day.

Uniform Update

Our display will be up until Wednesday. Feel free to come and take a look.

Please note that a puffer jacket will also be on offer. The collar of our sport polos will also feature a strip of the house team colour, which is not on the samples we’ve been given.

We are very pleased with the final result.

You can find out more here for information on booking.

Families voted for a capsule-style wardrobe, where there is greater flexibility in what children can choose to wear. While we have winter and summer styles available to suit the weather, we will no longer be enforcing a strict summer/winter uniform only policy (with the exception of hats in the warmer months).  

The Price List is avaialble here.

Reports

Student reports will be distributed today via nForma parent portal. 

It’s been a huge year for our students after many consecutively disrupted years.  They have had to overcome many challenges this year and I am so proud of each and every one of them for the gains they have made and how they have built their own resilience across this challenging post-lockdown return to school.

While there are no formal parent-teacher interviews at the end of the year, please contact your child’s teacher if you wish to discuss their report or anything about their progress this year.

Staffing update

The end of the school year brings with it many changes.

As you know already, Mrs Hicks will be retiring at the end of this year. Mrs Rowena Talbot will also be moving to another school at the end of this year. Rowena joined St Mary’s in 2007. She has been a wonderful member of our staff and in her latest role as intervention support, Rowena was able to help so many students in our middle school. We wish her all the best in her new school.

With change comes new opportunities and I am thrilled to be able to announce some new staffing additions for 2023:

Steph Murdoch will be joining our teaching staff next year.  Steph worked with us this year as a replacement teacher and has worked across many schools. She is coming to us from Lumen Christi and has had many roles in schools, including in the area of learning enrichment where she worked with students requiring additional needs.

Rachel Trovarelli is joining us from Corpus Christi, Werribee. She has a keen interest in early years literacy and will also be commencing a Graduate Certificate in Literacy Intervention this year. What a new year it will be for Rachel!

Anna Lennon, known to many of St Mary’s students and parents, will also be officially joining our staff in a part time role. Anna has extensive experience in many fields of education, including gymnastics, surf life saving and also works closely with many children with additional needs through allied health work, holiday and after school programs.

I am looking forward to learning from and working alongside these wonderful educators. I know they will instantly be made to feel welcome in our supportive community.

With this news, I am also able to confirm staffing arrangements for 2023. 

I know there are many principals who will not enter into any dialogue regarding student placement with parents and I can certainly understand why. There are numerous factors that go into creating as even a mix of classes as we can each year. I am always willing to hear parent requests and concerns over their child’s placements but I will not guarantee any placements. Not only would it become untenable to try to do so, but I can assure you that when we place your child in a particular class with particular students, there have been hours poured into this decision-making process. I ask that you trust us to do what is best for everyone. We have a tremendously talented, passionate and committed staff and we are continuing to make great gains in our school-wide processes and teaching practices. Teachers work closely with each other and leaders to provide the best possible learning experiences for our students.

Our students will meet their 2023 teacher on Tuesday. This is often both a nervous and exciting time for students. The best we can do as their trusted adults is stay positive and focus on all the great things that next year promises to bring. They will all have been placed with a ‘learning buddy’, someone they have indicated they work well with. It may not be their 1st choice and that will have to be ok.

With that, I present to you our 2023 staff:

Office:

Fiona Sorrell (5 days)

Katrina Chavarria (4 days)

Leadership

Principal: Sonia Riccardi

Deputy/Wellbeing: Marg Masseni

Religious Education/Learning and Teaching: Matt Taylor

Learning Diversity: Cathy Sims

Literacy: Brenda Lycke

Maths/ICT: Tony Freeman

Classroom:

Prep:

Melanie Bubevich

Randa Assaad

Year 1/2:

Ronnie Tucker (3 days), Anna Lennon (2 days)

Nancy Leone (4 days), Anna Lennon (1 day)

Kathleen Smith

Rachel Trovarelli

Year 3/4: 

Lisa Said

Nicole Barnes

Tony Freeman (3 days), Jane Kirkwood (2 days)

Year 5/6:

Tim Creak

Steph Murdoch

Corina Kapusta (4 days), Cathy Sims (1 day)

Brenda Lycke (3 days), Alessandra Sottile (2 days)

Specialist  Staff

Auslan: Rebekah Pelar (Semester 1), Louise Richards (Semester 2)

Performing Arts: Angela Hamilton

Visual Art: Anthea Zimmerman

Physical Education: Alessandra Sottile

Learning Support:

Prep

Stella Solarino

Nicole Singleton

Year 1/2

Sue Carabott

Belinda Nieuwesteeg

Year 3/4

Marg Jones

Milly Siebring

Frances Fazio

Year 5/6

Maree Ryan

Jane Sammut

Intervention:

Rhona Cloud

Lubna Ibrahim

Rebekah Pelar (Semester 2)

Counsellor: Rishika Sangeeta

Speech Therapy: Olivia O’Hare, Shevaun Pope, Nikki Furnari 

I’m very excited about the year ahead. Look out for next week’s eNews as we will be asking you to share your thoughts about our learning and values work in 2023.

Have a blessed weekend,

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

As mentioned in Sonia’s eNews article last week, Carol Hicks will be retiring at the end of the year.  Parents, friends, ex students will have the opportunity to celebrate with Carol at the ‘Thank You’ afternoon tea for parents/carers on Monday 12th December. 

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Yours in Faith
Matthew Taylor

Leader of Religious Education
mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Check out the latest Action for Happiness Do Good December calender for lots of ideas on how to do that.

Help to make everyone's Christmas a Happy one.

Regards
Marg Masseni
Wellbeing Leader

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

As we enter into the final month of the school year, it’s time to think about avoiding the ‘summer reading slide’. 

Like many skills we acquire in our lives, if we don’t use them on a regular basis, we lose them. This holds true with reading, including important skills in decoding, comprehension, visualisation, thinking and language ability. 

Over the summer, it’s important to keep up a reading routine with your children that is easy to manage and enjoyable. Here are some tips to instill the love of reading and literature into your family routines:

• Read together and discuss the information you’ve read 
• Set an example - during down time, pick up a book yourself
• Let your children read what they want for enjoyment - tap into their interests, this could include cook books and graphic novels as well 
• Read signs and packaging in shops, traffic signs, signs posted on hiking trails, etc
• Create a summer scrapbook to record events and fun outings (also helpful for those with ‘Holiday Recount Writer’s Block’ at the start of the school year)
• Celebrate finishing a book - draw the character, make cookies or treats around the theme of the book, act out a favourite scene or create it with Lego
• Write letters - have your child write letters to family or friends
• Schedule a daily reading time
• Subscribe to magazines 
• Make your own book about a family trip or event or daily life 
• Visit the library*
• This year Hobsons Bay Libraries are running a BIG SUMMER READ Challenge again - check out their website for how to register and get involved Hobson's Bay Big Summer Read

Brenda Lycke

Literacy Leader

blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

We are currently holding our St Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal, another way you can help those in need. 

Christmas can be a very stressful and tough time for many people who are experiencing poverty, loneliness and hardship. 

Donations of toys, Christmas items, longlife foods etc may be sent in with the children as each class has been allocated a basket to fill. Alternatively, donations may be dropped off at the office.

Your gift could change lives.  Through your support, many individuals and families will be able to have the Christmas they deserve, a Christmas of hope and joy.  

Yours in Faith
Matthew Taylor

Leader of Religious Education
mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

BIG Summer Read!

A message from After School Care

Learn a Language

Free Summer Camp

Summer Holiday Programs

Try Synchronised Swimming

Emmanuel College News

Mount St. Josephs News

Parish Bulletin

Williamstown Community News

Music Lessons

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