Dear families,
With one week officially left, we have so much to still look forward to before school ends for the year.
Last night’s Carols was a beautiful community celebration.
Our children sang so well and helped everyone get into the Christmas Spirit. Thanks to Angela for coordinating the event and liaising with teachers and David Evener to ensure our students were ready for the event.
2024
You will have read in previous newsletters that our end times for next year will be changing. We will now finish at 3:15pm every day. Due to this change assemblies will now take place at 2:45pm on Mondays. This gives classes time to pack up at the end of the day before heading to assembly. It also means that parents wishing to join us can still do so and be here for pick-up time as well.
We have finalised our 2024 Fee and Levy structure. Please see the summary here. You will notice there are significant increases, particularly in Camp costs, due to the increased expenses in covering Time in Lieu for staff under the new Catholic Education Agreement (CEMEA). We understand this will impact many families and encourage Health Care Card holders to contact us early in the new year to ensure we can provide you with the concessional rates to which you are entitled. We also invite any family who may be significantly impacted by these increases to contact me to discuss how we can help you.
Students will participate in Step Up Day on Tuesday. On this day the students will spend time with their new teachers and classmates. Understandably, this can be a challenging time for many of our students. Our encouraging words and excitement (however feigned, as this can be a nervous time for parents too) go a long way to helping our children manage change in their lives. I’m sure you can imagine how difficult this process is for schools, with the many needs, friends and abilities being factored into the decision-making process. All children will have one of their selected friends with them.
I ask you to trust in this complex process and understand that no changes will be made to classes.
Enjoy your weekend,
When: Sunday, December 10
Time: begins at 6pm
Where: Logan Reserve, Pier St, Altona
Come along to this wonderful event to support our choir and to get into the spirit of Christmas!
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 instil the love of reading and literature into your family routines:
You can also make use of the following programs:
https://www.speldsa.org.au/SPELD-SA-Phonic-Readers-New-Series
Brenda Lycke
Literacy Leader
blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
Christmas can be a very stressful and tough time for many people who are experiencing poverty, loneliness and hardship. During Advent we are called to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus.
Students and families at St Mary’s School have always enthusiastically supported the Vinnies Christmas Appeal. This year again as we reflect upon the wellbeing of our community, we are filled with a desire to enable all people in our community to celebrate and again take up the call to donate. These donations will help many vulnerable people in our community to enjoy this special time of year. In our final week of school, our Social Justice Leaders will then collate all donations and organise to deliver them to St Vinnies.
Donations may be sent in with the children as each class has been allocated a basket to fill, or alternatively, donations may be dropped off at the office. The following items would all make good donations and maybe something you already have at home:
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, love, peace and joy. Donations will be collected up until Thursday December 14.
Thank you in anticipation for your generous support of people in need in our local community this Christmas.
Kind regards
Keira and Grace
Social Justice Leaders
Yours in Faith
Matthew Taylor
Leader of Religious Education
mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Sacraments or these dates, please feel free to reach out to me.
Yours in Faith
Matthew Taylor
Leader of Religious Education
mtaylor@smaltona.catholic.edu.au