2022 Newsletter #35 November 2
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's news update.
Congratulations to everyone involved in the fundraising efforts last week for the Missions. As you know for a number of years we have been supporting Fr Michael McKinnon in his work in Peru. All of the funds we raise go directly to the communities that he is working with and I know he is extremely grateful for the support our school community has provided.
A special thank you to Mrs Blagus for coordinating the events on Friday and to Fr Matthew for celebrating the whole school liturgy. By all accounts the staff V student soccer match was very entertaining in the afternoon.
I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and took the time to recharge the batteries. The weather was not so favourable, yet again, and the cold snap continues. Who would have thought that parts of Victoria would be getting snow in November. There are more and more pictures on social media of late showing the rising river levels around Mildura. This is certainly a hot topic of conversation at present. Please listen to the advice provided by the authorities and stay safe when near water.
GOOD LUCK: St Paul's will be cheering from afar today as Samuella Allieu (100m Sprint) is in Melbourne competing at the Victorian State Primary School Athletics Championships. I know she will try her best and represent St Paul's with great pride.
EXCURSIONS WEEK: Even though this week is a short week there are lots of events happening across the school. The Junior Unit have their Excursions Day planned today, the Middles their excursions planned for Thursday and Friday, Foundation have their breakfast on Friday and the Seniors will be involved in their swimming programme for the rest of the week.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL: Nominations are still open to become a member of the School Advisory Council. Please contact the office for a nomination form and more information.
Congratulations to this week's milestone achievers for following our school norms: Be Safe Be Respectful and Be Your Best.
BEE MILESTONE:Dan Boby, Kalasia-Rose Fonua, Jennifer Ly, Chloe Moir, Lottie Moyle
HIVE MILESTONE: Taylor Burns, Will Langford, Olivia McKay, Geordie Moraitis, Mischa Pascale, Bruce Ratcliffe, Jeron Robin
Please check the school calendar regularly as there are lots of events coming up in the next month or two.
As always, ave a great week everyone and
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
Hands Up Mallee
Don't forget that it is now Walk to School month and we are encouraging students to walk/ride/scoot to school, even if it's just for part of the way. If students take part in Walking Club, this can be contributed towards walking to school as well.
During the month, our Sport leaders will be going around and collating the information from each class so that we are eligible for some great prizes from Sunraysia Community Health Services. It would be great if we could win a school end of year celebration at Mildura Waves or a $500 sport voucher, so don't forget to encourage your children to walk/ride/scoot to school.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, there will be no Walking Club or Breakfast Club on Monday 7th November.
Technology News
It's been a bit scary in the Technology room in the lead up to Halloween on Monday, especially for the Senior classes. Over the past three weeks, students in year 5/6 have been utilising critical thinking skills to either code a Trick or Treat game, plan and create a Spooky Choose Your Own Adventure story or create Halloween animation. Afterwards, students published their work to a secure website to share with our school community in a manner that is safe and protects their identity.
CLICK HERE to visit the Seniors Spooktacular website and enjoy the games, stories and animations (NB - it is still a work in progress and some games, stories or animations are still under construction, so make sure you visit again and again to see new additions.
In other spooky news, students in the Junior unit have continued practising using the trackpad and keyboard on Chromebooks. Last week they created some spooky sentences with accompanying images in Google Docs. If you have a computer or laptop at home that your children can use, a great way to help them practise keyboard and mouse or trackpad skills is by using the website Typetastic.
Not sure if you've seen or heard about BeReal, the newest social media app gaining in popularity?
Even if you haven't, it is likely your children have and, if they have a mobile phone, iPad or tablet, they may already be using it.
That is why Laura, Bess and Marty from the team at Inform and Empower tested it for ten days and wrote a quick guide for parents, carers and educators with everything you need to know. CLICK HERE to access and read their guide.
Until next week, remember “The technology you use impresses no one. The experience you create with it is everything.” — Sean Gerety
Cheers, Mrs Simms
Parent Noticeboard
You are invited to a night of fun and competition at the Mildura Parkinson's Support Group Trivia Night. Make up a table or just turn up and we will find a group for you to join. Great prizes to be won and you will be helping to raise funds for an important cause. Tables can be booked by calling Cheryl Barnes on 0428 935 735. Thankyou!
Roadsafe Mildura support schools with the free Bike Ed trailer, if you would like to know more contact: Tressna Martin at RoadSafe Mildura via email roadsafemildura@gmail.com