2022 Newsletter #40 December 7
Principal News
Welcome to week 10 and the second week of Advent. Only one more school week until the holidays and hopefully some rest and family time for everyone.
Yesterday the Grade 6 students who are attending St Joseph's College in 2023 had an orientation day. This brings our year 6 students one step closer to the end of their primary school years. The grade 6 graduation will be held at Sacred Heart Church at 5pm on Sunday 18th December followed by a shared meal at the Pizza cafe`.
A reminder that tonight is the 'Evening News Hour' (End of School Concert) at Wallis Cinema. If you want to purchase anything from the candy bar, please arrive early, as the show will start on time (there are no previews!)
Today the Foundation students had a lovely morning at Benetook Farms. The students won this award as everyone has achieved their 50 Gotchas. We also have had Maddison Aiello, a former St Paul's student, completing her community service with the Foundations this week. It is always lovely to welcome back students.
This Friday 9th Dec we will celebrate the End of Year Thanksgiving Mass at 12.15pm in the hall. We welcome our family and friends to join us in the last whole school celebration for 2023.
On Monday afternoon, parents will receive their child's report via the SIMON Everywhere APP. If you have any problems accessing this, please contact Admin. The School Magazine will be sent home to the oldest in the family on Monday. The letter advising families of their 2023 teachers will be inside the magazine.
Tuesday 13th Dec will be our whole school transition session from 9.00am-11.00am will occur. The children will meet their fellow classmates and new teachers for the 2023 school year.
Finally, congratulations to this week's milestone achievers for following our school norms: Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be Your Best.
BEE MILESTONE: Ella Garland and Samuella Allieu.
HIVE MILESTONE: Denim Humphrey, Sophie Freeth, Austin Jones and John Thang.
Melissa Sutherland
Deputy Principal, Curriculum
Parent Access Module (PAM) Changes
Over the Christmas holidays, your PAM account used to log onto you SimonEverywhere App will be updated to provide better security and allow for further functionality. As a result of this important upgrade, all existing PAM accounts will be removed and new, individual accounts will need to be created and authorised. The new accounts will be automatically generated from the parent name and unique email address stored in our school administration system. Valid medical profiles will remain valid, and only the PAM account will be reset.
Basically, don’t panic ….. the changes will occur in the background over the Christmas holiday break. The only noticeable change for parents will be that they have login to SimonEverywhere again with your new login details which will be sent to you at the beginning of Term 1.
Arts news
Our big concert premiere day has arrived! We are super excited to share our production with all of our St Paul's families and friends this evening at the Wallis Cinema Deakin!
Be sure to get there at least 15 minutes before your session time to ensure you have time to get your popcorn, go to the toilet and find your seat. Each session will begin on time.
The schedule is as follows:
5pm session - Cinema 2
6.15pm session - Cinema 1
6.45pm session - Cinema 2
7pm session - Cinema 4
A reminder that the candy bar will open and items available at regular cinema prices. You are also permitted to bring your own snacks, with the EXCLUSION of hot food.
See you there! :)
The SunLit Project News
Technology News
It is certainly getting festive in the Technologies room as the end of the year approaches at a very rapid rate.
This week Foundation students participated in a STEM activity. After reading "The Littlest Christmas Tree' by Janie Jasin and discussing what we could learn from the story, students create their own little Christmas tree.
The Senior Unit joined in the festivities on Tuesday, combining their design skills with their knowledge of electric circuits to create light up Christmas cards for loved ones.
Today the Middle Unit also got into the spirit of Christmas, finishing off the stop motion animations they have been working on. You might just be the recipient of a Christmas card with a very special QR code inside. If you are, scan and enjoy.
Important Information...
...for students in Year 6 that will be leaving the school at the end of the year and moving on to Secondary.
Early in 2023 the Google accounts of students who have left St Paul's will be shutdown and the Chromebooks will be decommissioned. If students wish to keep any of their digital files they will need to follow the instructions on the flyer below. After the Chromebook is decommissioned, to continue to use the device a person Google Account will be required, i.e. a Gmal account.
Students will bring a copy of this information home by the end of this week.
Well, that is it for the Tech News in 2023.
As you may have heard, I am moving into a new role next year, teaching a 5/6 class. It has been a pleasure to implement and teach Technologies over the last 4 years and I look forward to continuing to support learning in the Tech area from my new role.
Cheers, Mrs Simms
Senior Unit News
Next Wednesday 14th December the Senior Unit will celebrate all students achieving their 50 Gotcha milestone with a reward day. We will leave school at 9.15am and travel by bus to Wallis Cinema for an advance screening of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Following the movie students will walk from the cinema to Mildura Waves Pool for a picnic lunch and swim. We will return to school by bus at 2.30pm. Please ensure you have given consent on SIMON Everywhere ASAP so that we can confirm numbers. Your child will not be able to attend if consent hasn't been given by 13th December.
Students are to wear their PE uniform and bring a hat, waterbottle, lunch and snacks. They can wear their bathers under their uniform or change once we arrive at the pool. Sunsmart bathers are essential as we will be using the outside pool. Students are asked not to bring money as the cinema and pool kiosk will not be available to us.
Some of the Senior Unit classrooms have decided to have a secret Santa activity in the last week of school. This activity will culminate with the sharing of gifts to the value of $5. Your child's class teacher will confirm the details via email.
Finally, the Year 6 students will celebrate their Graduation on Sunday 18th December. Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church will begin promptly at 5pm and family and friends are welcome to attend. The Graduation ceremony and presentations will happen in the Church after the Mass. Following the Graduation ceremony, parents are asked to take their child to the Pizza Cafe where staff and Year 6 students will enjoy a meal together. Students can be collected at 7.45pm.
Middle Unit News
Its hard to believe that we are in the second last week of school. This week in Literacy we are revising lots of the strategies that we have learnt throughout the year. It's very rewarding to see all the things that we have learnt.
In RRRR we have been creating compliment wreaths for each others. Students were asked to add a leaf to each other's wreath with a personal compliment. It was a lovely way to celebrate the friendships that we have made this year.
In Numeracy we have continued with Number. The students have been learning lots of different Numeracy games that they can play over the holidays to keep up their skills.
We would like to thank all our students and parents this year. We have thoroughly enjoyed the year with our students and are very grateful that we have been able to share a whole year of school together. We wish all out families a very safe and happy holidays. We look forward to seeing a lot of you again next year. From your Middle Unit Teachers
Junior Unit News
It is so hard to believe there's only a few more days left of school for this year! Time has certainly flown. As you'll read in the children's reports - we are so very proud of the wonderful progress they've made during their first uninterrupted year of school. We know that our Year Twos are ready to make the transition to the Middle Unit, and our Year Ones are ready to step up and be leaders in the Junior Unit. We have our formal transition day next Tuesday, but we have made sure that many of our Grade Twos have had lots of little visits to their new learning area over the past few weeks, so it shouldn't be too daunting for them.
Next Tuesday (13th Dec) we will finally be having the "Water Play" session we missed out on during our chilly camp day. All Year 1 and 2 children will need to bring bathers and rashies or shorts and tshirts that they can wear to get wet. They will also need towels and thongs/crocs and a shopping bag to put their uniforms into. This session will take place after recess, so the children will be picked up from school in their bathers and towels. However, if they are catching the bus or going to after-school care, we'll make sure they are dried and dressed.
As this is our final 'Junior Unit News' for the year, we would like to thank you all for your support during 2022. We are so grateful to have been entrusted with your children and we are very proud of the progress they've made. We wish you all a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2023.
A note from Mrs Rutherford...
I would like to thank the entire St Paul's community for being so welcoming and kind to me during my year of secondment from Catholic Education, Ballarat. I have learnt so much this year and have thoroughly enjoyed the return to classroom life. I'm going to miss the kids a LOT. I would like to extend a special thanks to the teachers, LSOs and tutors of the Junior Unit who have been incredibly supportive and helpful. St Paul's is a truly special school and I look forward to continuing our brilliant SunLit Structured Literacy journey in 2023 and beyond. Thanks everyone. xxx
Foundation Unit News
Welcome to Week 10!
This week has started off very busy. We have been to Benetook Farms today and had a lovely morning picking strawberries, getting lost in the maze, riding bikes, feeding chickens and exploring the lovely surroundings. We then had a delicious pizza lunch back at school followed by some special treats and a fun day. Please check facebook in the coming days for some photos of the day.
We are excited and looking forward to spending some time tomorrow with our buddies. We will take part in some fun activities with them to celebrate the friendships they have made.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our School Community for taking time out of their busy lives and sharing our journey throughout the year. We have loved seeing you attend our Liturgies, sport days, MAPPEN expos and special days. The children love to see you all at school. We wish you a very safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing you all next year.
Religious Education News
It's Advent - A Time of Great Celebration!
The season of Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and it lasts through to Christmas Eve. It also marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. Advent is a special time of waiting and preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Last Sunday 4th December was the second week of Advent and the theme for this second week is Peace. Students will be participating in short Advent liturgies in their units for each Sunday of Advent, for the remainder of the term.
End of Year Thanksgiving Mass – Friday 9th December 2022
This Friday 9th December, we will be celebrating our End of Year Thanksgiving Mass, reflecting on all of our celebrations, growths and changes throughout the year. Mass will be celebrated at 12.15pm in our School Hall. We invite all families and friends to join us in our final whole school liturgical celebration of 2022. We hope to see you there!
St Vincent de Paul Giving Tree
Last week, our St Vincent de Paul Giving Tree was set up in our school foyer. This is a yearly tradition, whereby we kindly ask our families to donate any non-perishable food items and place them under our tree. These items will then be passed onto those in need within our local community. Let’s work together to help spread the joy of Christmas to all!
Hands Up Mallee
Yesterday David from Sunraysia Community Health presented us with our certificate and HART sport gift voucher for coming Second in Walk to School Month. I am really looking forward to spending it on some new equipment for our school. Well done again to all students who participated and made this prize possible. Hopefully they will continue walking/riding/scooting to school more often now.
This Friday 9th December will the last day of Walking Club and Breakfast Club for the year. It has been an absolute pleasure to be out walking with the students in the mornings and then going down to have breakfast with them. A huge thank-you to all the Senior students who have volunteered to help with packing up walking club for me or assisting with the serving and cleaning up of breakfast. On average we serve 900 breakfasts per term so without their help, it wouldn't work as well as what it does.
THANK-YOU! - Narelle Simpson
Sacred Heart Parish News
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