Dear families,
Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to experience time away with my Western Region Principal colleagues in Tasmania, exploring Aboriginal spirituality.
It was a profoundly emotional and transformative experience and one I look forward to continue learning from for some time to come. Spending time with Elders in their Country got me thinking about my own ancestors and on a broader scale still, the importance of our community’s own history and respecting our own rich culture that comes from many generations at St Mary’s.
This week, many of our students participated in the Global Academic Challenge in the areas of Reading, Maths and Science. Our students rose to the ‘challenge’ and we have already seen some amazing results. Matt will share more with us in coming articles.
Parents and Friends
On Wednesday our Parents and Friends held its annual Information Night/ Pizza Dinner and AGM. It was wonderful to welcome 3 new members and nominate our new position members for the coming 12 months, If you were unable to attend but are interested in joining us, please contact me.
We are also looking at filling a Grants Officer position. The role of this person is to seek out various grants open to schools and make submissions on our behalf to help with our fundraising endeavours. If you are interested in this role, please let me know.
Whilst on the topic of the P&F, I’d like to thank the team for their organsiation of our Mother's Day stall. It took all of my control not to buy out the presents myself as there were so many lovely items available for purchase.
School Lunches
I am excited to announce that after much research by our School Advisory Council, we have secured a trial with a local company for online ordering of lunches. KingWill, who service half a dozen schools in our local area will soon commence a trial with us on Wednesdays. We will have more inforamtion for you in next week’s newsletter, but after Marg and I met with the owners, we are excited by the prospect of working with this group. There are so many options to choose from, we will be working with groups of students in the coming weeks to select the menu we will be offering. This service will be completely online, with deliveries made just in time for lunch. Selections will include gluten-free, dairy free and vegetarian options. If there is enough interest, we will look at expanding to Tuesdays and Thursdays at a later date, continuing with our regular offerings on Mondays and Fridays.
Uniform
We have recently had a number of inquiries regarding a long sleeve option for our new uniform. Whilst we have the white long-sleeved polo exclusively for use under our new winter tunic, I am interested to see how many families would prefer a long-sleeved navy polo for everyday use.
Please let us know your thoughts here.
Unfortunately, I missed our Mother’s Day celebrations today as I am home with COVID, but I know that many of our mothers and grandmothers attended St Mary’s themselves and we are blessed to be able to continue to share our school with these amazing keepers of our own history.
A very big thank you to our curriculum leadership team, in particular, for purchasing and arranging morning tea, and to everyone else who pitched in to make today possible.
Finally, I ask God’s blessing on the mother figures in our lives, every day, but especially this coming weekend.
Whatever this weekend looks like for you, I wish you a peaceful, joyful one.
We would also like to thank Mancini Real Estate for their continuous support to St Mary's Altona
Yours in Faith
Matthew Taylor
Religious Education Leader
mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
CPR (short for cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is a first aid technique that can be used if someone is not breathing properly or if their heart has stopped.
CPR involves chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth (rescue breaths) that help circulate blood and oxygen in the body. This can help keep the brain and vital organs alive.
You should start CPR if a person: