Newsletter #11 July 19
Principal News
Dear St Paul’s families,
Welcome back for Term Three. I would like to begin by thanking, Melissa, Lauren, Rebecca and Kathryn for their support and dedication to St Paul’s during my absence. I knew that the school was in good hands and that they would continue to set the example for the community. Thank you to the staff for their continued work as educators at St Paul’s. While I was away, I still took note of all the wonderful things that were happening at St Paul’s via the newsletter.
This term has begun smoothly as usual. The first day of term the staff engaged with Jim Waight from Catholic Education as we continued our journey of Faith Formation and Catholic Social Teaching. Jim has a way of engaging with us in a gentle, reflective manner that allows us to fully focus on our learning.
As I transition back into the role of principal, I continue to work closely with the executive leadership team. I can’t thank them enough for their support during my absence and hope I can return the favour.
WORK PLACEMENTS: As you read the different unit reports today you will notice all the wonderful things already happening to date. We have ex St Paul’s students, Billy and Anastasia completing work experience. Bronte and Tanya are completing an LSO placement in Foundation and the Junior unit. I am sure they will find their time with us rewarding.
FUNDRAISER: This Friday is National Pyjama Day. It is a gold coin donation as we are raising funds to support children living in foster care. The weather is still very cold at the moment, so please ensure your children wear appropriate clothing and footwear on Friday.
ASSEMBLY: We will be having our first assembly for the term this Friday afternoon and I look forward to S14 presenting. I hope you can make it and celebrate our children’s achievements.
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Next week is a very important week for St Paul’s. Five years ago, we began a journey to rethink how we teach our children to read and write. It was a significant move away from the traditional teaching models about literacy. St Paul’s and St Joseph’s, Red Cliffs, partnered together to help improve educational outcomes for our students in Literacy. This has culminated in St Paul’s opening its doors to 55 educators across the Ballarat diocese, from our Catholic schools, observing and learning how we teach literacy to our students. We are at the forefront of teaching using the Structured Literacy Approach and it is the first time across the diocese that something like this has occurred on this scale.
The staff at St Paul’s should all be commended for their dedication, commitment, and belief in always trying to improve student learning. Rebecca Thurman, Emma Rutherford and Breeana Wade, have been instrumental in the establishment and implementation of the SunLit Project across our two schools with the support of our leadership teams. There will be teachers visiting from: St Mary’s Sea Lake, St Patrick’s Stawell, St Joseph’s Charlton, Our Lady’s Merbein, All Saints Portland, Sacred Heart Mildura, St Francis Xavier Ballarat, St Mary’s Ararat, St Joseph’s Hopetoun, St Brigid’s Ballan and Catholic Education Ballarat office. These educators will be here every morning between 9.00am and 11.00am observing and learning from our teachers and students.
GOTCHA AWARDS: Congratulations to the following children who have reached milestones for following our norms to Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be Your Best:
BEE MILSTONE: Ryder Baker, Charlotte Hogan, Addison Welsh, Erin Taylor, Jett Yates, Jack O’Callaghan, Owen Vo, Chaunte Clark, William Langford, Lexie McMahon, Zalee Le Poidevin, Isla Madden, Marco Guevarra, Laura Cifra, Sienna Mackay, Harvey Heagerty, Dan Boby, Chaz Biddle, Dexter Madden, Ariani Arden, Samuel Laiju, Heidi Slimmon, Ruby Slimmon, Emilia Capp, Jasmeet Bassi & Jack Vea
HIVE MILESTONE: Monica Leslie, Soobhanah Parvez, April Nyabonda, Jesse Pitt, Mehar Atwal, Aubree Carmichael, Noah Demario, Harry Burns, Lenin Guevarra, Angela Iang, Chi Vong, Esta Pascale, Willow Droffelaar, Christiaan Giang, Alirah Jones, Orlo Williams, Louis Nguyen, Michael Davies, Dartanyon Coffield, Jett Yates, Asena Akkus, Aidan Silcox, Samuella Allieu, Oliver Traeger, Hayley Rowe, Mansirat Kaur, Vincent Cricelli, Parvaan Maan, Mia Hofer, Halle Mammone, Veronica Lotong, Neve Morton, Baran Rona, Abbiegail Peters, Lizbeth Mathew, Jessica Ram & Aria Yates.
I hope you all have an enjoyable week and a great weekend.
As always,
Keep the Faith
Vince Muscatello
Senior Unit News
Welcome to Term 3!
We have had a busy start to the term and have settled into our routines well after the holidays.
Last week, the students set some goals for the rest of the year based around our 3 B's. It is great to see our students thinking about how they can be Respectful, Safe and their Best at school and putting it into practice!
Assembly - S14 Presenting - This Friday, 21st July, S14 will be presenting some of their learning at Assembly. This is a great opportunity for parents to attend and hear about what their children have been learning at school.
Chromebooks - Please ensure that your child brings their Chromebook to school each day and with at least 80% charge. We use Chromebooks for many lessons so it is important that each student has access to one. The school has a limited number of spare Chromebooks available so there is no guarantee that if your child forgets their Chromebook that they will be given a spare.
If you have a Chromebook which is damaged or needs repair, please contact the school and we will make arrangements for you.
Religion - This term in our Religion studies, the Senior Unit are focusing on the concept of Promise. Students have spent time already thinking about the importance of promises, where we make promises, who we make promises to and what it feels like when promises aren't met. The students then wrote three promises to their friends as a way of putting their learning into practice.
Middle Unit News
Welcome back to Term Three. We hope everyone enjoyed the school holidays. Our students have returned to school ready for another exciting term. This term we will celebrate Book Week, NADIOC Day, Athletics Carnival, Father's Day, and have a special visit from Healthy Harold.
It is important that students continue to read for at least 20 minutes at home each night. This is a great routine to establish at an early age, fosters a love of reading, and reinforces literacy skills learnt at school.
Today all students in the Middle Unit have been sent home a yellow A4 sheet of paper that has their 3 and 4 times tables on it. We ask that this be placed in a visible location and your child practices these for 5 minutes each night to assist them during numeracy.
A reminder that students are required to bring brainfood each day. Brainfood is designed to be eaten during a short learning break. Brainfood from the office is for emergencies.
Brain food can include:
- Fresh fruit and vegetables (cut up ready to eat)
- Cheese and biscuits
- Dried fruit
UPCOMING DATES:
M10 assembly item - Friday 5th August (week 4)
Junior Unit News
Welcome back from the Junior Unit team! We hope you had a wonderful school holiday break and are ready for another amazing term. It has been great to see the children settling straight back into their learning routines.
100 Days of School! On Tuesday 25th of July (week 3), we will be celebrating our 100th day of school for 2023. On this day, we invite the Y1/2 students to bring in ‘100 things’ for example; buttons, cotton balls, paper clips, rubber bands, bobby pins, 100 pages in a book or safety pins etc. These items will be on display throughout the day to mark our wonderful celebration! The students will be participating in some fun activities that reinforce the important mathematical notion of 100. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to your child's teacher.
In Religion this term, we are learning about ‘Wisdom’ and what it means to make wise choices. This week, the students have been super busy designing and constructing their ‘sustainable houses’. The students have discussed the importance of making wise choices and they have all done a fantastic job so far! Thank you to all the families who sent in materials for the students to use.
Australian Maths Competition - Years 3-6
The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives; it is open to students in years 3 to 12.
The Maths Competition will be run at St Paul's on Wednesday 2nd or Thursday 3rd August. If you would like your child to participate, please email Melissa Sutherland - msutherland@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
For more information please head to - https://www.amt.edu.au/amc
LITERACY NEWS
Next week (24th - 28th July), St Paul's will be hosting 55 teachers from across the Ballarat Diocese. The purpose of their visit is to observe our wonderful teachers, students, and LSOs in the teaching and learning of Structured Literacy.
Did you know that St Paul's and St Joseph's Mildura, the founding schools of The SunLit Project, are seen as leaders in the teaching of Structured Literacy? You can catch up on The SunLit Project by following us on Facebook.
If you would like more information please contact Bec Thurman (Literacy Leader) via e-mail rthurman@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
Library News
Hello from St Paul's Library. It is great to see the library being used by students before school. This term we have quite a bit on.
We have a visit from Stig Wemyss for the whole school on Tuesday the 1st August. Stig is a narrator of audio books for children. His performances in libraries and schools around the country are very entertaining, so we are looking forwards to seeing him.
We also have a Book Fair beginning with our Wish List day on Monday the 31st July. Books will be available for students to purchase on Tuesday 1st , Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd August.
We will be celebrating Children's Book Week with a dress up parade and great activities on Wednesday the 23rd August. The theme for Book Week this year is 'Read, Grow, Inspire'. Students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character or as something to do with the theme. On this day Parents and special friends are invited to come along and watch our parade at 9.00 am. Look forwards to seeing everyone there.
Kind regards,
Marg Pongrac.
SRC - Pyjama Day
This Friday 21st July, students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school. Please bring a gold coin donation which will go towards raising funds for Australian children in foster care.
Students are required to wear normal, hard-soled shoes/runners to school.
Hands Up Mallee
Our very first wicking garden is starting to show some growth! Hopefully this will continue and we will be able to really see big changes soon. Watch this space!!
We are currently looking at updating our canteen menu, this will take some time as we need to not only cost it out but also get our menu assessed by the Healthy Eating Advisory Service to make sure that we are meeting the Health guidelines.
I am also in the process of applying for a $500 Mental Health Wellness Reward from Sunraysia Community Health Services (SCHS) so that we can purchase some new games/toys for our Passive Play area. I will keep you updated on our progress.
During walking club time at school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8.00 - 8.30 there are a lot of students turning up for school with shorts and no jumpers on. Please be mindful that it is very cold in the mornings and students do not enter the school buildings until 8.45, therefore please make sure that your child/children have a jumper to keep them warmer.
P.E News
Mini Olympics
Our Mini Olympics is coming up quickly this term. This year we will be back at the Aero Ovals on Friday 11th August for our school carnival. Students must be dropped off at the Aero Ovals from 8.30 am. Students are encouraged to wear their house colours, otherwise they are to wear their PE uniform. They will need to bring their lunch, snacks, hat and drink bottle as there will be no canteen on this day. We will be looking for parents to help at the events. If you are able to help please complete the attached Google form. Select the link below for either the Middle/Seniors or Foundation/Juniors. Ms Parker will then be in contact with further details for the day.
Foundations/Junior Mini Olympics Helpers
Middles/ Seniors Mini Olympics Helpers
Please note that there will be no canteen operating for students on the day.
House Leaders
At the end of Term 2, our House leaders applied for the SCHS Schools physical activity incentive. It was wonderful to hear back from David Hall from SCHS congratulating the students on being successful with their application. The House leaders have received a $500 voucher through HART Sport to spend on sporting equipment to encourage students to be physically active during lunch and recess breaks. Well done to all of the House leaders on their wonderful application highlighting the benefits of physical activity and the dedication they showed putting their application together during their lunch and recess breaks.
Regional Soccer
Congratulations to the Senior Girls Soccer team who won through to the Division final to be held in Swan Hill on Tuesday 8th August. Further information will be sent out shortly for those students participating on this day. Please see below an indicative schedule for games on the day.
Arts News
Last term our Arts focus across the school was Drama. As part of this unit, the junior students looked at puppetry in some depth. They planned their own puppet design, then using a simple paper folding method, created their own hand puppet. The creativity displayed by the children was absolutely fantastic! Check out these awesome puppets.
Hand puppets
6 Week Auskick Program at St Paul's
We will be hosting a 6 week Auskick Program here at St Paul’s on the John Hill Oval every Tuesday beginning on 1st August. Cost is $60 for 6 sessions including an AFL pack & AFLW membership. See below for further information.
Register via link: https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/31a258
Health Care Card holders receive full payment through https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/vouchers/
Any enquiries contact David.j.kennedy@afl.com.au
