2023 Newsletter #14 August 30
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's news update.
There has been lots to celebrate over the last two weeks at St Paul's. I had the opportunity last Tuesday to coach the senior girls’ and boys’ basketball teams at the Mildura Sporting Precinct. The teams were a mix of children who currently play competition and children who play socially at school. I am proud they tried their best and whilst they did not make it to the next round, I am pretty sure they learnt a lot from each other.
BOOKWEEK: Last Wednesday was an amazing day to see all the children dressed in their Book week costumes. The detail and effort put in by so many children and their parents was exceptional. The staff were impressive with their costume choices as well, even if some had no say in their choice of attire. I may need to be more organised next year and get in in early with my costume selection to ensure there are no surprises.
HEALTHY HAROLD: You may have noticed Healthy Harold visiting St Paul's this week with the van set up on the Mercy oval near the carpark. Healthy Harold's mission is to empower children to make safer and healthier choices through preventative health education. The children always enjoy when Harold visits St Paul's
DIVISION MINI OLYMPICS: Good luck to the children representing St Paul's at the Interschool Athletics tomorrow at the Aero Ovals. I am sure they will do their best and represent our community with pride.
FATHER'S DAY BREAKFAST: I am looking forward to seeing as many dads and father figures as possible attend our breakfast on Friday morning. Breakfast will be served from 7.30am in the hall. There will be a Fathers' Day Mass in the hall at 9.15am and hope as many of our dads, grand dads and other special men in our lives will be able to attend.
FAMILY NEWS: Congratulations to the Doecke family on the safe arrival of a new baby girl, Pixie. The older siblings were excited to share the news with us at school.
Congratulations to our Milestone achievers for following our school norms and are always striving to ;Be Safe, Be respectful and Be Your Best.
BEE MILESTONE: Ryder Baker, Angela Iang, Memphis Johnson, Zac Erben, Indy Baker, Konna Peters, Shani Singh, Poppy Thannhauser, Matilda Wilkinson, Monica Leslie, Soobhanah Parvez, Chi Vong, Ollie Thannhauser, Siena Sbaglia & Sione Latukefu.
HIVE MILESTONE: Elena Akkus, Yana Alofi, Mia Aranas, Ariani Arden, Joshua Catipay, Cooper Chapple, Laura Cifra, Giuseppe Gazzo, Jack Hogan, Ira Janssen, Samuel Laiju, Max Mangan, Lexie McMahon, Farai Nyabonda, Nico Pettinau, Layla Powell, Isaac Puleio, Matthew Read, Keelan Roper, Riannah Sherman, April Simmons, Eseta Toutai, Blair Traeger, Jenny Tran, Jemma Trinh, Aiden Varghese, Ethan Jones, Hannah Davies, Ruby Slimmon, Harlow Johnson, Andrea Norton, Penelope Doecke, Marco Guevarra, Levi Morton, Jo Fotheringham-Gottardo, Cienna Pascale, Oscar Tamwipak, Jack Vea & Levi Hickey.
CONDOLENCES: Over the weekend we were informed of the sudden and tragic passing of Riley Wise, a former student of St Paul's. The Wise family has had a long association with St Paul's. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Peter, Paula, Jess, Tim, James, Nick, Gemma, Toby and their extended families at this most difficult time. May they find comfort and support from their many friends and family. May Riley rest in peace.
As Always,
Keep the faith,
Vince Muscatello
Senior Unit News
Liturgy
We held our Liturgy last Friday where we reflected on the theme of "Promise". Thank you to Fr John for helping explain the different elements of the liturgy for our students. It was fantastic to see our students following the 3 Bs throughout the liturgy.
NAIDOC Day Activity
RRRR - Gender Education
Next week and for the rest of the year, we will be learning about gender in our Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships unit.
Attached is an outline of the unit and what students will be learning for you to view.
If you have any questions, please contact Tom Pike at tpike@spmildura.catholic.edu.au.
Middle Unit
Wow... What a busy few weeks since our last newsletter update!! Please check out all the photos of the busy things we have been up to!
NAIDOC Day Celebrations
We were so lucky to have Aboriginal Elder Uncle Will, come and speak with us last fortnight for our NAIDOC celebration. Uncle Will spoke about his love for, and the importance of sharing his culture with everyone to ensure the stories and traditions continue for many hundreds of years to come.
After hearing funny and informative stories from Uncle Will, students were invited to have a go at both the didgeridoo and traditional firesticks.
Later in the day students were involved in a cultural dance experience with students from Chaffey Secondary College. We looked at the importance of the stars to the Aboriginal culture. Students created some amazing paintings. These are on display in our classroom and we would love for you to come and check them out!
Didgeridoo
Firesticks
Last week the middle unit turned rather spotty as we celebrated Book Week. Many thanks to the families who took the time to organise costumes or came along to watch the parade. Special days like become core memories of our children.
Last Friday we celebrated our Unit Liturgy in the chapel. It is always so lovely to pause and reflect on our learning with our families. Liturgies also provide students with the opportunity to practice their public speaking, and we are so proud with how they are all growing with confidence.
And finally, this week we have enjoyed a visit to meet Healthy Harold. M1 and M2 have already enjoyed visiting and learning about friendships and emotions. Today M10 will visit, with M9 tomorrow. Students will learn about .... Ask your children about their experience and what they have learnt.
Healthy Harold
Junior Unit News
It is hard to believe that there is only just over 2 weeks left of the term!
The Grade 1 students have been learning to write ‘Expanded Sentences’ in Literacy. We use expanded sentences to add more detail to our writing. Below are some expanded sentences created by the students:
Aubree (J7): One windy day, Mum was teaching me how to milk a cow and it was really tricky.
Jemma (J7): One raging hot day, Dad spread hay because there was not enough food for the sheep.
Noah (J7): One autumn day, Georgie found a rotten goose egg in the vegetable garden.
Oliver (J8): One autumn day, Georgie found a disgusting goose egg in the veggie patch.
Elsa (J8): During summer, Mum went to the orchard and picked the tasty apricots and put them in the bucket.
Mason (J8): On a hot afternoon, the animals found a bit of shade to sleep in.
Hats: As the temperature starts to rise, we are encouraging students to have their school hats with them at school each day.
Upcoming events:
- Week 9: On Friday 8th September, the Junior Unit will be hosting their Liturgy in the Chapel at 9:15am.
Mrs Baker (J8) will be on Long Service Leave for the remainder of Term 3. Any queries or concerns can be directed to Miss Oxlade at any time aoxlade@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
SPECIAL REMINDER: This Friday the 1st September, J7 will be hosting assembly. You are, as always invited to join us for assembly Friday afternoon at 2:45pm in the school hall.
Foundation Unit News
Welcome to Week 8!
This term seems to be flying and it is hard to believe that we are in Week 8. We have had some very busy weeks including lots of dress ups and fun days to take part in. I hope you have been enjoying seeing the photos on facebook.
During Religion lessons we are learning about the importance of "Stories" in our lives. We are learning all about the Bible and the children are making their own Bible which they will be bringing home at the end of the term. They have learnt the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament. They have also learnt about the special numbers and symbols that are found throughout the Bible. They have really enjoyed listening to various stories from both the Old and New Testaments.
In Maths we have been learning how to "subitize". This means to look at a collection of objects and be able to recognise how many there are without having to count. We have been subitising using collections of 10 frames, tallies, dice etc
In Literacy we have been learning how to: write questions and sentences, expand sentences and use conjunctions in our sentences. We have been using picture prompts and small video clips to write about. The children have been writing some amazing questions and sentences and they should be very proud of themselves.
Additional School Closure Dates - 2023
As we move to the latter weeks of Term 3 and approach Spring, we wanted to confirm some important dates/changes for our school community so that you can plan ahead as needed.
End of 2023 School Year key dates
- Friday 3rd November will now be a school closure. This is to offset some of the Time in Lieu (TIL) staff have accrued over the year, as per our new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
- As already advised, Monday 6th November is a Pupil Free Day, with teachers engaging in Professional Learning
- The last day of school for students in 2023 will be Friday 15th December
- Staff conclude on Tuesday 19th December
- Wednesday 20th December will also be a school closure to offset TIL
We thank you for your warm participation and support as a valued member of our school community.
Father's Day Celebrations
SRC News
The SRC would like to invite the school to participate in the Walk for Brain Cancer on Friday 8th September.
We will all join on the Oval at 2:30pm for a talk and a whole school walk. Families welcome.
Students and Staff are asked to wear Purple and bring a gold coin donation.
Thank You
Hands Up Mallee
Don't forget to head into Mildura Toyota and drop a token in the St Paul's jar and help us win $1000 worth of trees for the school. The last day for tokens is tomorrow - Thursday 31st August! So make sure you call past on your way home from school!!
To those that have already dropped in a token - Thank-you! If you have done it once - you can do it again!!