2023 Newsletter #21 Dec 13
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to our last update for the 2023 school year. As the year draws to an end, there is a lot to be grateful for. The children have continued to grow and flourish in their learning and their relationships with each other. That is not to say there have not been any challenges along the way, but what we have learnt from them and how we have responded is more important. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for their continued commitment to Catholic Education in Sunraysia. Their continued focus in ensuring all our children have the opportunity to succeed has been amazing. A special thank you to our School Advisory Council, in particular Lauren Droffelaar who has served on the council for several years and is now taking a break, for their continued support throughout the year; many hands make light work.
GRADE 6 GRADUATION- On Sunday night, our school and parish community came together to recognise and celebrate the achievements of this year's grade 6 cohort. Thank you to Mrs Blagus and the senior staff for organising the Mass and graduation ceremony. It was a lovely evening and a wonderful time to reflect on the children's experiences over the last seven years. Thank you to Keelan and Emilia, who prepared and delivered an excellent School leader's speech. It is always a hard act to follow after the leaders' speech and even more so this year as they explained the "ABC's" of St Paul's. It is nice to know that after seven years of primary school they know their "ABC's" and hopefully a lot more!
STAFFING UPDATE-Last week we conducted interviews for a Learning Support Officer position for the 2024 school year. I am happy to confirm that Luisa Maiorana has been appointed to the role. On behalf of the St Paul's community, I welcome Luisa and hope she finds her time with us both rewarding and fulfilling.
The Learning Support officers will be working in the following units next year:
Foundation Unit: Maeva Lopez, Vicki Baird & Louise Frasca
Junior Unit - Grade 1: Denise Devereux & Michelle Moyle Junior Unit- Grade 2: Cindy Andrews & Anne-Marie Sapuppo.
Middle Unit: Georgie Willis, Jorja Kerr , Meagan Johnson, Jennifer Tassone & Shell McClure
Senior Unit: Kristy Porter, Narelle Simpson, Kosha Shanahan & Luisa Maiorana .
The supporting teacher roles for 2024 are as follows:
REL (Religious Education Leader)-Maria-Stella Blagus, The Arts- Chris Brouwers, ICT- Narelle Simms, Languages- Mary-Anne Ghidinelli, Sports Co-ordinators- Tom Pike and Rachel Slimmon, Library- Marg Pongrac, EAL (English as an additional Language) - Ronica Vergara and SWPBS - Jess Powell
ASSEMBLY- This Friday afternoon is our last assembly for the year. It is an important assembly as we acknowledge our current school leaders and house leaders as well as announcing our new leaders for the 2024 school year. It is also important as we announce our awardees for our Year 6 Excellence Awards. These awards recognise the: effort, contribution, learning and achievements of the year 6 children. Throughout the course of the year, the staff put forward nominations under each category. At the end of the year the staff leadership team meet to review the nominations and recommend each recipient. The categories are: Leadership, Christian Service, Literacy, Numeracy, The Arts and Sports. Over the years there have been joint winners in some categories. Please come along and join us at assembly @2.30pm.
At Assembly this Friday, we will farewell Mrs Chisari as she begins maternity leave in preparation of the new addition to the Chisari family. Chloe Henderson has been working at St Paul's as a part of the learning tutor initiative funding program. Chloe begins her teaching career in the new year, and we wish her all the best. Pauline Kooper will be taking 12 months leave as canteen manager. We have also advertised in the Sunraysia Daily for the cleaning contract for the 2024 school year as John Pantazopoulos will be taking leave.
SCHOOL FINISH: School will finish at the normal time of 3.25pm on FRIDAY.
CONGRATULATIONS-Good luck and Congratulations to Harry Williams (S12) who qualified for the School Sports Victoria State Golf Final. He represented St Paul's recently at Mildura Golf Club and is competing in an 18 hole tournament at Karingal Golf Club. I would also like to congratulate former St Paul's student, Anthony De Maria, who was the 2023 Dux of St Joseph's College. An outstanding achievement for both students.
GOTCHA AWARDS- Congratulations to this week’s milestone achievers for following our school norms: Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be Your Best!
Bee Milestones-John Thang, Oliver Harradine, Jaxon Higgins, Nicholas Horne & Reuben Allford
Hive Milestones- Yana Alofi & Darcey Bysouth
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR- On behalf of the staff at St Paul's I would like to wish all our school families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you can catch up with loved ones and spend quality time together. The Christmas holidays have always been a busy time for families travelling, so please stay safe on the roads, have a wonderful new year and I look forward to seeing you all in 2024.
2024 START OF THE YEAR CALENDAR DATES
TUESDAY | UNIFORM SHOP OPEN 8.00AM-1.00PM Orders can be placed at any time on Simon Everywhere App. Uniform Shop will be open for collection of orders. |
THURSDAY | UNIFORM SHOP OPEN 1.00PM- 5.00PM Orders can be placed at any time on Simon Everywhere App. Uniform Shop will be open for collection of orders. |
TUESDAY | FIRST DAY OF TERM ONE FOR STUDENTS |
MONDAY 5TH FEBRUARY | GRADE 5 CHROMEBOOK INFORMATION SESSION 6.00PM-7.00PM IN THE HALL |
As always,
Keep the Faith
Vince Muscatello
Canteen News
As most of you know, I am having 12 months leave to spend time with my Hubby. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents who have given up their time to assist myself & Krisha in the canteen. I have truly appreciated the help to get the children & staff lunches out on time! Hope to see you all again in 2025. Until then, take care and hope you all have an excellent and safe Christmas and New Year.
Cheers, Pauline Kooper
Sts Anne and Joachim Catholic Parish Bulletin
Hands Up Mallee
Victorians use more than three billion drink containers every year. Sadly, many are not recycled, ending up in landfill and as litter in our local communities.
Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic) is a new recycling initiative that changes this. It rewards Victorians with a 10-cent refund for every eligible can, carton and bottle they return.
When you drop off your cans/bottles at a recycling venue, you can now choose to donate your refund to our school through a Zone Operator App or by using your unique barcode/Donation Partner ID at a refund point.
Our aim in participating in this scheme is to give a practical example to students of how recycling benefits the community. We will be purchasing new recreational equipment for the students to utilise with all monies raised.
Thank-you for contributing to helping our environment and raising money for new equipment for our students.
Parent Noticeboard
Mildura Tennis Academy
Mildura Tennis Academy are starting a new partnership with Mildura Lawn Tennis Club. We will be offering tennis coaching for children of all ages and abilities. We are starting coaching on 22nd January 2024.
We are running a tennis holiday programme for the week of 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th January 2024. The times are 9am - 12pm. It’ll be 3 hours of fun games and learning the game of tennis. It will be held at Mildura Lawn Tennis Club. Also we are offering free tennis lessons during the afternoons of the week commencing 22nd Jan from 3:30pm onwards.james@tenniscanberra.com.au (Mildura Tennis Academy coach).