Dear families,

It was wonderful to see so many families brave the heat and join us for our Beginning of Year Mass and Picnic. It was a lovely celebration and the beautiful Altona breeze in the evening made the picnic not only manageable but pleasant.

 

We have begun advertising Prep enrolments for 2024. If you have a child starting next year, please prepare their enrolment form as soon as you are able and drop it into the office. You may choose to download a form from our website or contact us to have one sent home with your eldest child.
If you know of anyone who would like to enrol, please encourage them to book in for a school tour.

As you were notified via Operoo earlier today, we have had several cases of gastroenteritis in the school this past week. Please remember that your child needs to remain at home 2 days after their symptoms have stopped to ensure they don’t return to school still infectious.

Enjoy the cool change (soon, hopefully!)

 

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 

---

Fun & Fitness is held every Wednesday morning from 8 - 8.30am on the basketball court.  Sessions are run by Mrs Masseni and are open to all children from Prep - Year 6. Parents and siblings are also welcome to attend and join in the fun but there is no obligation to stay.

We engage in a variety of games and activities suitable for all ages levels.  The more the merrier ~ so come along and try it out.

For more information, contact me via the school office, email (mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au) or catch me in the yard before or afterschool.

Regards
Marg Masseni
Wellbeing Leader

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

Thank you to our school community for coming together last night to celebrate our Opening School Mass. It was especially great to see so many families stay on for the picnic afterwards as, despite the forecast of a hot evening, it was a wonderful night out.
A special thanks and congratulations to our school leaders for the roles they took in last night's mass and to the Prep children for their wonderful singing in the reflection after communion, not only does God love you but St Mary's does too!

A reminder that we will again gather as a school community next Wednesday for the celebration of Ash Wednesday. On this day, all classes will attend the 9:15 am mass and recieve the ashes of last year's plams as we begin the Lenten season.  We warmly invite you to attend, especially the families of 5/6LS who will be responsible for the readings during mass.

Yours in Faith

Matthew Taylor

Religious Education Leader

mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

 

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

We will be running a Little Learners Love Literacy Prep-2 Parent Information Night on Tuesday 21st February 2023 7:00-8:30pm

Please let us know if you are coming and whether you require child minding services via the Operoo note sent last week. What is Little Learners Love Literacy (LLLL)?

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

We often take photos of the children engaged in activities and use them on our website and Facebook page.  If you would like to make changes to or you are unsure of the permissions you have given in the past  please send us an email... Marg Masseni - mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au or
Fiona Sorrell fsorrell@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
...and we will update our records.

Regards
Marg Masseni
Deputy Principal

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

Check out in this week's Community News. We have the Australian Girls Choir, Mount St. Joseph open days, lots of new sports teams to sign up for, & music lessons here on site.


Tutor Wanted

Future Stars Netball 

Australian Girls Choir 

Emmanuel College News

All Girls AusKick 

Girls Rugby

Altona Lacrosse Club

Altona Junior Football Club

Williamstown February Community Newsletter

Parish Bulletin

Music Lessons



MSJ Open Days

VISITING MOUNT ST. JOSEPH GIRLS’ COLLEGE IS A GREAT WAY TO EXPLORE OUR DYNAMIC LEARNING SPACES AND EXPERIENCE LEARNING IN ACTION.

We invite you to join us at our Open Events in 2023 on the following dates:

OPEN DAY 10:00am – 2:00pm
Sunday 7 May
OPEN MORNINGS 9:15am – 10:30am
23 February (Coming soon, register now!)
24 March
8 June
20 July
3 August
7 September

You will meet our College Principal, students and staff and see why Mount St. Joseph Girls College is the best choice for your child. Tours of the College are led by our student ambassadors. This gives visiting families the unique opportunity to ask questions and gain an honest insight into our programs and what it is like to be a student at Mount St. Joseph Girls College.


ENROLMENT DATES

YEAR 7 in 2025

Applications for Year 7 at Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College should be made during Year 5 of your child’s primary school education.
Parents/Carers should complete an online application form with the required
documentation and payment of a non-refundable $50 application fee. Applications for Year 7 in 2025 close 18 August 2023.

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


             

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

The School photos have been confirmed for Wednesday 1^st March!

Class, individual and family photos will be taken as well as Student Leader and JSC photos.

All students are to come to school in their academic uniform.
 If students have Phys Ed/Sport on the day, they can bring their runners to change into before their class if they wish.  No PE/Sport polos and shorts are to be worn on this day.  

We understand that some people may be concerned about the mixing of the old and new uniforms in the class photos.  We will put this in the hands of our very experienced photographers to ensure the photos are as balanced as possible.  All students will be required to remove their 'jumpers/outwear' for the photos.

Please read...
School Photos Ordering Information
All ordering is done online.

If you have any questions about the ordering system, please contact the school office or email me (mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au)

Regards
Marg Masseni
Deputy Principal

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

Now that we have settled into 2023, we have done a furniture audit and realised we have more classroom furniture than we need or have space to store. Therefore, we would like to offer the community the opportunity to take home some free items including tables, chairs and filing cabinets. 

Please this flyer for a description and dimensions of available pieces.

If you are interested in any of this furniture, please get in contact with the office with which pieces you are interested in and how many where multiple items are available.

These items will be available until the end of Week 5, Friday 24th of Feb.

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

Today, Friday 17th February, 11 of our most dedicated swimmers from Years 3-6 headed off to Victoria University, Footscray pool to compete in our sport district's interschool swimming carnival to represent St Mary’s as our Swim team.

This year’s swim team captains were Thomas Y and Charlie Wright, who, along with Keira Long, have made the team for the third straight year. It was great to see so many parents and even grandparents come along and support the children and the team did a great job of supporting one another too. A special shout out to Dean Belton and Leonie Duane who helped with timekeeping for the day and those parents who shared their photos of the day, junior sport cannot exist without the support of parents and families, so thank you.

Please check out our gallery of photos from the day here.

Congratulations to everyone who swam at the carnival. What a wonderful job they all did. What is remarkable is that everyone who raced, earned a ribbon. A special well done to the children who received ribbons in their individual races and relay teams. Good luck to those students who made it through to the divisional finals which will be held on Tuesday 14th March, at Werribee outdoor pool. A special shoutout to our team captains who swam in every available event, Charlie 8 events and Thomas 7 events. Your commitment to leading the team by example was exemplary.

Thanks to Mrs Masseni, the teachers who cooked breakfast after the trials and all the parents who helped during the trials and in the lead up to the day. Great teamwork everyone!!!

Miss Sottile
PE Specialist Teacher
asottile@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

We are pleased to announce that we will be inviting parents, guardians, grandparents and relatives to help in the classrooms. In fact we are thrilled, excited and hoping to see many of you there. 

Those who are interested will need to have a current Working with Children Check and ideally be available on a regular basis so that teachers can cater their planning to make the most of your support. Parents would also need to be available to come in on their own (without younger children). 

Tasks we envisage you could be involved in may include, but are not limited to, reading with individual students, reading with small groups, working on writing, counting practice, simple Maths skill based games and activities, changing take home readers, various laminating and cutting tasks for teachers, etc. 

We will be running a classroom helper preparation session on Friday 24 February in the staff room and repeating the same session on Monday 27 February. Both sessions are from 9:00 -10:00 am and those interested in helping in classrooms this year must attend ONE of these sessions. 

For anyone who is interested, please look out for the form shared via Operoo.

Brenda Lycke

Literacy Leader 

blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

---

 

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---

Hi Everyone,

Here’s a little bit of a snapshot about me…

I love spending time at the beach with family and friends.  I swim a lot and try to surf on gentle, 2-3ft waves.  I also enjoy sailing, yoga and eating good food.

Coming from Geelong, it is no wonder I have a strong dedication to the Cats, unfortunately I also have a strong allergy to the furry kind!

After studying Education, Science and Japanese at University, I headed overseas for 3 years, teaching  at the Kyoto International School, in Japan. This enabled me to travel around Asia and Europe in my holidays.  It was a great experience. When I arrived back in Melbourne, I worked at  St Mary’s in Williamstown before starting my family.  

I have four kids, my oldest sons are at university, my youngest son is doing Yr 12  and then my daughter is in Yr 11.  When they were all in primary school we went on a camping trip around Australia, heading up through the middle of Australia and then over to the west and back around along the Nullabor.  My highlights were Kakadu and Cape Leveque.

While raising my children, I worked part time at Lifestyle for Kids, in Williamstown, teaching the Kinder Gym program. I actually still teach a few classes there each week.  Over the past few years I have been running School Readiness Programs and training myself in Multi-Sensory Learning, helping students with their literacy skills.

This year I am challenging myself to do the Mt Everest Base Camp Walk in September with my cousin.  So I am also walking up and down hills to build up my strength and fitness.

Hope this helps you get an idea of who I am. Please feel free to come up and chat with me anytime.

See you around,

Anna Lennon 

---

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

---