St. Mary's eNews

Week 5 Term 2


Principal's Message: 17 May 2023

Dear families,


It’s been great being back onsite seeing our community again after a few weeks off recovering. Thank you all for your kind words and warm welcome back.

 


As we head into the halfway point of the term, I can see the students are engaged in some great learning in each of the year levels. Recent excursions provided some fantastic immersion into new concepts.


Dias family fundraiser


I want to thank our families for the generosity shown towards our recent fundraiser for the Dias family. We have raised around $2000 which will be given to the family as a travel voucher.


Camp Australia


Camp Australia will be opening for our upcoming closure day on Friday 7 June. Please visit their website to register. If we have solid numbers attend, they will be exploring opening for other closure days in the future.


Nuts at School


As it has been a while since we have updated families on our policy, it is a timely reminder that in accordance with the Royal Children’s Hospital advice, we are not a nut free school. At the start of each school year, families are notified if there is a child in their class who is anaphylactic, and families in these classes are asked not to provide nuts in their child’s lunchbox. Apart from these instructions, while we don’t encourage parents to provide nuts for their child everyday, we acknowledge that for some students, nuts can be a nutrient-rich snack when options may be limited.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.


Student illness


We have a large number of students very unwell at the moment. Many students are coming to school unwell and parents are being called to pick up their child.

I understand it is often difficult to arrange for care, but I urge you to try and keep your child home if they are feeling sick to avoid more of our students becoming sick.


Student News


We celebrate Eileen in Year 1/2 who was baptised in April. We welcome Eileen into our Catholic faith and traditions and pray that our Lord blesses you and keeps you in his loving care.


We congratulate Chloe Agius who has been selected to represent Victoria in Hockey at the upcoming SSV u/12 Hockey Championships in Cairns.

What a great acknowledgement of your sporting abilities, Chloe!

We will celebrate Chloe’s achievement in an assembly closer to the day.


Fees


If you have opted to pay your fees in full this year, we remind you that these are now due at the end of this term. 

Families on a Health Care Card who qualify for the CSEF are eligible for a concessional fee discount. Please note that in order to access this discount, parents will need to sign up for a direct debit payment plan. Please note that as outlined in the MACS policy, failure to make regular payments forfeits this discount.


Parish/School Pilot program


Our parish and school have been invited to participate in a pilot program that will gather data around parish/school partnerships.


We are looking for parents who would be interested in participating in this pilot program. More information is found below. 

If you are interested or want more information, please contact me.


Background

Following an invitation from Dr Edward Simons (Executive Director MACS) and Fr Mark Reynolds (Episcopal Vicar for Catholic Schools), Parish First was asked to consult on the MACS Parish Support Program - designed to encourage school families to offer active financial support of their parish.  The initial stage is the Pilot Program to be conducted in 2024 with the following structure:

Pilot Program 2024

A Pilot Program will be conducted by MACS with 10 Parish Priests across the 4 regions of the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 2024. 

Pilot Program Structure

  • Meeting with Parish Priests

The MACS Parish Support Program was presented to an April meeting with Dr Simons, Fr Reynolds and Parish Priests involved in the Pilot at a meeting at James Goold House, Room 5.4, 228 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne.

  • Qualitative Research

Qualitative research to be conducted with selected school parents/families from the 10 parishes involved in the Pilot Program.  The research will involve their attitudes to the Church, their Parish, School-Parish connection, their personal connection to their Parish, and financial support.  This research to be conducted by Parish First via confidential ‘one on one’ 20-25 mins discussions with individual parents/families.  The findings will provide important feedback on current attitudes and will inform the communications strategy.  This research will be conducted May/June 2024.



Have a wonderful weekend. 

Keep warm.

 


Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 



School Closure/OSHC: 7th June

On the 7th June the school will be closed to students so the staff can engage in professional learning.   Camp Australia OSHC will be open for business however from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm for those who may need this service. Click here for more information.

This week in CASEA: Tuning into Feelings

We've all had those moments when our children are emotionally charged and we are just at the end of our tether. We can't take another moment of their crying, yelling, hitting and foot stamping and we are about to explode!
Here's something to help...
During the CASEA parent information session this week, the concept of Emotion Coaching was introduced. 

In short, Emotion Coaching is about:
  • noticing how your child is probably feeling
  • connecting with them and offering them the opportunity to talk about their feelings. 
  • listening with empathy
  • building their emotional vocabulary
  • and setting boudnaries and finding good solutions together. 
However even better than reading my short explanation would be watching this simple, short video, in which John Gottman, psychologist and author of the book Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child, identifies four parenting styles often used when children's emotions are heightened. He speaks in depth about the importance of one style, emotion coaching, which when used effectively helps children become better able to cope with life's challenges and helps us to remain calm and measured in our approach.  It's a win win!  

This week in the classroom CASEA Program sessions, the focus was on Feelings. Students and their teachers discussed how to identify and express feelings, and how to recognise how others are feeling.  In particular the importance of recognising feelings by looking at facial expressions, body language, and listening to a person’s tone of voice, were discussed. 

If you would like more information about the classroom activities, please speak with your child's teacher.  If you would like to hear more about emotion coaching or the CASEA program in general, please seek out Cathy Sims (csims@smaltona.catholic.edu.au) or myself.

Regards
Marg Masseni
Mental Health Leader
mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au



Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage



A DAY IN MAY - 23rd of MAY

Hello, Challengers!

Every May, Challenge runs a special campaign called A Day in May, St Marys is participating this year. We will be encouraging students to dress as a Rockstar on the 23rd of May in exchange for a gold coin donation. 

A Day in May is more than just a fun event; it's a crucial fundraiser for Challenge's Musical Moments Trust and Music Therapy programs. Music can positively affect a child's cancer journey—providing comfort, inspiration, and healing during difficult times. Your support would be amazing so we can continue to offer musical scholarships, music therapy sessions and gift instruments to children who need them most.

By participating in this day our school has a chance to win $1000 worth of musical instruments!


Warm Regards
Stephanie Murdoch 
Wellbeing Leader 


Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 



Real Schools

You will remember that at the beginning of the term Daniel Vella from Real Schools worked with our staff and addressed our community.  As part of our partnership Real Schools provides us with various resources, mainly short articles and videos  to share with our community. The first article we would like to share with you is this one titled Why doesn't punishment work?

The article talks about the nature of punishment and why it won't work unless we find out about or recognise the triggers and conditions before the problem occured. It suggests that we may be able to stop behavours from happening at all if we can recognise those triggers. In the article you will find examples of behaviours and suggested ways to respond.  

We hope you enjoy the read.  
Regards
Marg Masseni
Mental Health Leader



Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage



Cybersafety Parent Webinar 2

The second of the Parent Cybersafety Project Webinars has been released as a recording to our community to watch.
The topic is Talk to Me First: Exposure to Explicit Content.
The focus is on building a relationship with your children to see you as their first and best safeguard when online. The recording is available in the Parent section of the Cybersafety Project website.
The Website link is https://cybersafetyproject.com.au/parents/ 
Login to the site and quote St Mary's Altona as your school and you will be able to watch the video at a time convenient to you.

Regards
Tony Freeman
ICT Leader
tfreeman@smaltona.catholic.edu.au



Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage



School Updat-ed App

We have begun sending reminders for events using the Updat-ed App. As well as alerts you can access the Absentee Form, our eNews archive and the Events calendar.
Please ensure that you have notifications turned on so that you are alerted when a message is sent.

From the Events calendar you can save events directly into your phone's calendar with ease!

       

Click on the images below to download Updat-ed, or visit the App Store for iphones and Google Play for Androids. Search for Updat-ed.  

      

If you already have the current app there is no need to download it again. 



If you are signed up for the app and you haven't been getting the alerts, please contact me. 


Regards
Marg Masseni - mmasseni@smaltona.catholic.edu.au
Community News Curator


Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage



School Disco!

St Mary's P&F Proudly Presents School Disco Night!
It's that time of year again to get those disco clothes and dance shoes ready.

 Please save the date for Friday 14th JUNE evening. How to book your Ticket information to come in the following weeks.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1227565?


Sessions;
Grades - Prep, 1, 2 & 3 FROM 6 - 7 pm
Grades 3, 4, 5 & 6 FROM 7.15 - 8.30 pm

St Mary's Parents and Friends Committee.
 

 


Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

 



P&F Event for Mums of St Mary's

Only a few tickets remain to our Mums of St Mary's Bellarine Wine Tour, Saturday 1st June. It will be an intimate group [MAX 17pp] and I don't want you to miss out on all the fun so Jump on and grab them here.
 
 
 
Wine Tour details:
  • Visit Terindah Estate wine tasting.
  • Visit Scotchman’s Hill wine tasting & a 2-course gourmet lunch + glass of wine.
  • Visit Bellarine Gin Distillery tasting (18yr + venue)
  • Private bus, return transfer to Altona.
  • Complimentary water on the bus.
Event Co-ordinated by local Altona Business Gauci and Co Wine Tours.


Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage