Dear families,

I hope the holidays were kind to you and Easter was a blessed time with loved ones.

It has been a great and settled start to Term 2.

This week, we welcomed Jayde Shield, who will be teaching 1/2K for the remainder of the year, with Mrs K leaving yesterday to commence her parental leave. We wish Mel and her husband, all the best for the safe arrival of their first child.

Easter Raffle

At the end of last term, we held our huge annual easter Raffle, organised by our dynamic P&F members.  Thank you to all who donated easter eggs. During this session, the P&F also presented the school with a cheque for over $33,000 for our Ninja playground. We are fortunate to have had the playground installed at the end of last term. We will continue to pay off the playground with funds raised throughout the rest of this year as well.

Canteen 

Some parents have asked why we don’t have a canteen anymore. In the past, canteen positions were often run by parent volunteers. Things got increasingly difficult when council requirements around food handling and certification became more demanding to navigate, so some schools decided to hire canteen managers as members of staff. This meant that the cost of staffing the canteen was drawn from our whole-school staffing budget. With budgeting becoming increasingly stretched, the decision was made to reallocate staffing costs from our canteen to provide more support for classrooms.

To make up for this change, we now have KingWill who delivers lunches on Wednesdays and Subway on Mondays and Fridays. 

Our support staff and student leaders open the canteen at lunchtime for icypoles and chocolates.  We are looking to expand the choices available to students and welcome your suggestions.

Some parents have requested a sushi lunch option. This is not something the school would manage, but if this appeals to you and you have time to coordinate it, please contact me to see if we can make this happen.

P&F open meeting

Our next P&F meeting will be open to all parents. We are always looking for more members, so we are offering a pizza dinner to unashamedly try to entice new people to join.

Please consider coming along. An invitation will be shared via nForma.

Uniform

At the end of last term, a group of senior girls requested a meeting with me to discuss a petition they had recently launched among the students. This petition, it turns out, was to request the school reconsider its stance on the use of the skort only for sports days. During our meeting, they presented (with accompanying slideshow) the reasons they felt we should change this expectation.

After considering their presentation and also speaking with other girls about this, we have decided to make this change official. While the preference, from an aesthetic point of view, is for the dress, existing skirt, or shorts, we acknowledge that, from an activity standpoint, the skorts can be more comfortable and practical, particularly for use on school playground equipment.

I’d like to thank the parents who worked with the girls to understand the process before meeting with me, and who explained that petitions and preferences do not always result in change. This was such a great learning experience for the girls involved and your parental guidance and support were appreciated.

Fidget Use

I refer you to a separate article within this week’s newsletter regarding the use of fidgets. As we have seen disproportionate use of fidgets and toys in classrooms, we are asking for your cooperation in ensuring that only tools that enhance a child’s learning experience are utilised during class time. Not every student needs one. As I’m sure you can understand, there are some items that are more of a distraction than assistance and we want to ensure that the tools being utilised are actually helping students who need it, learn. 

If you would like to discuss this, please make a time to see your child’s teacher or Cathy, our learning diversity leader. 

SAC Chair

Last term, Daniela Ciciulla, our School Advisory Council chair, attended the annual SAC Chair dinner. She shares her thoughts on the experience below:

MACS Family Survey

Families within the MACS education system are encouraged to complete a survey to help inform MACS’ strategic planning, decision-making and engagement. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes and is completely anonymous.

If you’d like to participate, you can do so here.



Tomorrow, Mr Hein, our school captains and myself will join community members at the Anzac Day dawn service. Fr Michael will help celebrate, representing various religions within our community.



Have a great weekend,

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

When used appropriately, they can support engagement in learning and reduce feelings of overwhelm in the classroom.

However, when fidget toys are widely available to all students, they can quickly become a source of distraction rather than support. We have observed that, without clear purpose or guidance, these items are often used for play, trading, or competition, which can disrupt learning not only for the individual student but for others around them. By limiting their use to students who genuinely benefit from them as part of a structured plan, we can ensure they remain an effective tool rather than a novelty.

 
This approach also allows teachers to better monitor and support students who rely on these tools. Fidget items are introduced thoughtfully, with clear expectations and ongoing review, so they continue to meet the student’s needs. Our goal is to create a calm, focused learning environment for all students, while still providing appropriate, evidence-based supports for those who need them most.

For this reason, at St Mary’s we are asking that only students who have been identified as requiring a fidget as a tool and/or are on a Personalised Learning Plan (PLP) can use them. 

We are limiting fidgets to include simple items that are silent and not prone to breaking/creating a mess. Students will be able to have one fidget available at a time but are able to bring in alternatives to swap out at a suitable time.

Our classroom teachers will be talking to all classes to ensure that a common understanding on who, when and what fidgets are to be used.

We appreciate your understanding and support in helping us maintain this balance.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Kind regards

Cathy Sims 

Learning Diversity Leader

csims@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

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We need volunteers to help make the day run smoothly.

Wednesday May 6 (2:00–3:15pm)
– Set up gift tables (approx. 6 volunteers)

Thursday May 7 (in the hall)
– Shift 1: 11:15am–1:00pm
– Shift 2: 1:00–2:45pm
(approx. 14 volunteers per shift; assisting students, set up and pack down)

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Mother’s Day Stall – Calling All Crafty Creators! 

With the April school holidays just around the corner, we’re hoping to inspire our wonderfully creative students to get crafting for a very special cause...our upcoming Mother’s Day Stall!

We are inviting students to make and donate handmade gifts that can be sold at the stall. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase their creativity while helping others find a meaningful gift for someone special.

We are looking for items such as:

• Earrings
• Bookmarks
• Bracelets
• Key chains
• Hair scrunchies
• And any other small, thoughtful handmade creations

All donations can be handed in to the front office by May 1st 

We can’t wait to see the amazing creations our students come up with!

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Attached is the Open Day flyer, which includes a QR code for registration, or you may use the following link: https://www.msj.vic.edu.au/visit-us/open-day-registration

Attached is the Open Morning flyer, which also contains a QR code for registration, or you may use this link: https://www.msj.vic.edu.au/visit-us/open-morning-registration

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open, and we’re excited to be taking part!

All students from Prep to Year 6 are welcome to join in.

The number of books read can be varied for everyone's needs.

All children who complete the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former premiers.

To learn more about the Challenge, visit Premiers' Reading Challenge | vic.gov.au

To register your child, please email me with your child's name, year level and class name at blycke@smaltona.catholic.edu.au

Happy reading! 

Thanks 

Brenda lycke

Literacy Leader

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