2024 Newsletter #01 February 07

Principal News

Dear St Paul’s families,

 Welcome to the 2024 year school. I hope you all had a wonderful time over the holidays and caught up with family and friends throughout the Christmas and New Year period.  We have certainly hit the ground running to kickstart the new school year. Unfortunately, the running was water as the staffroom and admin area flooded due to a burst hot water service. As a result, we have had to temporarily move everything, staffroom and admin offices to different locations.  We are now waiting for the repair process to begin.  It is most likely going to take most of the term before we are back to normal.  We need lots of prayers!!

WELCOME: A special St Paul’s welcome to our new families this year.  I hope you find your time with us rewarding and fulfilling.
New families: Bassi, Benipal, Blagus, Body, Caminiti, Cinco, Davis, Divola, Dobricic, Dong, Douglas, Echanes, Fatanitavake, Fenech, Jayan, Khosa, King, Lopez Bertalli, Mafi-Reale, Millsteed, Mithun, Morshedi, Nguyen, Noble, Paul, Pome’e, Quayle, Rose, Tabinas, Tamangaro, Teoh, Thake, Thomas, Thompson, Thouliss, Tiyagu and Van Roy.

Staffing Update: We would like to welcome Jay Skarpona, Luisa Maiorana & Katie Hawkes who have joined St Paul's staff for 2024.

CONGRATULATIONS:  Special congratulations to Mrs Chisari and her family who celebrated the safe arrival of a baby girl, Alba, last week. By all accounts mum and baby are doing well.

ADMIN CHANGES: Due to the relocation of the admin area, we have asked the children especially at the end of the school day, to walk out their classroom doors and around through the gates. We are trying to limit the amount of foot traffic through the main admin entrance. Children who are handing in or collecting mobiles, letters etc can still walk through.

FOUNDATION REST DAY: Over the coming weeks, the Foundation children will continue to have a rest day on Wednesdays as they get used to the new school day format. Each Wednesday in the month of February will be rest day for them. They will begin full time attendance in March.

BEGINNING OF THE YEAR SCHOOL PICNIC: All St Paul’s families are invited to attend our picnic on Thursday 15^th February between 5.00pm and 7.00pm. Bring along a picnic rug, food and drinks. It’s a great opportunity to meet new families and the staff. There will be some games/ activities set up for the kids to enjoy as well as a free icy pole.

CURRICULUM PRIORITIES FOR 2024: Every year our executive leadership team meet to discuss our annual action plan priorities. We have three priorities for the year. They are:
Priority One: Engage students in rich authentic learning experiences to develop a recontextualised understanding of Catholic faith and tradition including catholic Social Teaching.
Priority Two: Enhance student engagement, ownership, and achievement by embedding school wide teaching practices that are informed by data and critical reflection.
Priority Three: Building Positive relationships between all stakeholders: engaging students, parents and staff in authentic discussions about school improvement.

PUPIL FREE DAYS: Every year the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) approve an allocation of days for professional learning for staff. On these days the children will not attend.

The pupil free days for 2024 are:
Thursday 28^th March      Monday 15^th April     Friday 7^th June    Monday 4^th November.

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL (SAC): Last night the SAC held their first meeting for the year. There was plenty of discussion as we began the new school year. This year, as a community, we will be celebrating two important milestones. The first is St Paul’s 50^th anniversary and the diocese of Ballarat 150^th anniversary.  

ST PAUL’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY:  This year we will be celebrating 50 years since St Paul’s began as a catholic school in Mildura.  We will be holding a special celebration on Friday 11^th October at School. There will be an organising committee to help coordinate and plan the events for the celebrations.  Accompanying each newsletter will be excerpts and/or photos from St Paul’s history - the early years. The information is important and a reminder of the energy, effort, imagination, and perseverance of those who have gone before us to help create St Paul’s. I hope you enjoy the history lessons.

School Photos: School Photos will be taken on Tuesday 20th February.  Orders will be ALL ONLINE.  More information to follow and will be posted on Daily Messages.

I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the weekend.

As always,

Keep the Faith

Vince Muscatello, Principal

SCHOOL FURNITURE FOR SALE- FOR ONE WEEK ONLY: We have cube chairs for sale. Some could do with a new cover on them. If you are handy with a sewing machine, they would be great for families inside or outside. Use your imagination and creativity. They are $10 each.  Please see Loretta or Matilda at Reception to organise payment and collection.

School Photos - Tuesday 20th February

SWPBS Relaunch

On Friday 23rd February students and staff at St Paul's will be relaunching our SWPBS (School Wide Positive Behaviour Support) Program.  Students will participate in some activities in their units and a celebration will be held at the assembly in the afternoon.  On this day students are invited to wear casual clothes with the the colour YELLOW to represent our 'Bee' norms.  Closed shoes e.g. runners must be worn.  No open toe shoes e.g. thong's crocs etc.

Religious Education News

Beginning of Year Mass - Threads of Unity 

This Friday 9th February, we are celebrating our Beginning of Year Mass at 9.15am in our School Hall. The theme for our mass is, 'Threads of Unity!'  This week, all classes have been reflecting on the theme of our celebration and how each and everyone of us is a thread, woven into our school tapestry, creating a masterpiece. Students have been reflecting upon the gifts and talents that they weave into our tapestry, making our school the wonderful place that it is. We welcome parents and friends to join us in our celebration. We look forward to seeing you then! 

Ash Wednesday Mass

On Wednesday 14th February, we are celebrating Ash Wednesday, together with the students and staff from Sacred Heart Primary School.  Mass will be celebrated at 10am at the Sacred Heart Church.  Parents and friends are most welcome to join us at the church.  

All students (apart from Foundation students, due to rest day) and staff will be transported to and from the church by bus, with shuttles commencing from 9.15am.  All students and staff will be back at school by approximately 11.30am. Lunch orders will still be available to order on this day! As this is an offsite event, we require parental permission in order to attend.  Permissions have been set up on the SIMON Everywhere App and we ask parents / guardians to provide consent. Thank you kindly to all consent received so far! If you have any further questions or concerns regarding our Ash Wednesday offsite event, please do not hesitate to contact the school. 

BEGINNING OF YEAR PICNIC

School Advisory Committee NEWS

CALLING ALL PARENTS/CARERS with a ZEST for EVENT PLANNING!

Do you have a zest for event planning?

The School Advisory Committee are planning the event of the year!  "Kicking Goals for St Paul's" 

We need your help!

We would love a group of parents/carers to help us plan this fundraiser to make a night to remember!  Our first meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th Feb - 6pm in the staffroom at St Pauls.  If you would like more information or are able to help please email msutherland@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

P.S. We are super nice!!!!!!

SAVE THE DATE 

St Paul's Trivia Night 

Friday 22nd March

School TV - Parent Wellbeing Resource

St Paul's is very excited to introduce a new initiative to help support the wellbeing of your students and better resource key staff. After all, happy and well supported students are better equipped to learn and succeed.

Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, SchoolTV is an online wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting. This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist you in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle. 

Parenting is a learning journey and SchoolTV supports families by providing credible information from trusted sources offering practical strategies with a focus to empower confidence when difficulties arise.

We invite you to visit our SchoolTV site and view the content. Discover a host of interesting topics featuring interviews with leading youth wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world offering hours of relevant and practical information. Additionally, each topic includes a compilation of related resources from key organisations providing a comprehensive stream of content. Resources include informative fact sheets, articles, apps, books, podcasts, websites, and other videos - all related to a single topic, in one place for easy access!

Start exploring SchoolTV today!

https://spmildura.catholic.schooltv.me/

St Paul's History -The Early Years

The following information has been preserved in a book recorded by former teacher Helen Hill.

1971-72

The first mention of the need for another school at Mildura was at a meeting of the Education Committee of the Sacred Heart Primary school, on 15^th September 1971. However, this committee was never able to function effectively, owing to the opposition of the Parish Priest, who was reluctant to give any authority to the committee and was extremely un-cooperative with it.
As further action at this time was impossible, no more meetings were held until 29^th June 1972 when was called by new parish priest, Fr Frank McKenzie.
In 1971 and 1972, rooms at St Joseph’s College had been used for a group of Grade 3 girls and in August 1972, it was proposed that a room at the Parish Hall also be used in 1973. (Minutes of Education committee, Aug 3, 1972)
This room as prepared and used, but it was obvious that these arrangements were unsatisfactory as the class involved in each case was isolated from the rest of the school.
A parish Education committee was formed from representatives from the Mother’s Club, catechists, lay teachers and sisters and thew minutes of the committee at this time show that there were many references to crowded accommodation at Sacred Heart School.
It was possible to consider building a new school as the Parish owned ten acres of land had been purchased in 1958 from the Murdoch estate for the sum of 3,150 pounds. It was seen that Mildura would expand in that direction and the land was for a church/school. There were vines planted on the land which was leased and then picked on a voluntary basis each harvest by parishioners.
A report by Mr P. Teggelove to the meeting of November 1972, records that building grants of 2.9 million dollars would be available in July 1973, for expansion purposes. It was proposed that the grant would supply 70% of the cost and it was possible a country school could obtain the maximum amount if the plan was suitable. Requirements, a rough plan, and estimated cost were to be submitted by 11^th December. Staff for a new school was not considered to be a problem as there were sufficient Catholic College graduates to be available in 1973.
In the discussion following this report, these points were mentioned:
Sr Frances, Sacred Heart Principal, said the District School Inspector, Mr I. Jobling, had recommended that the Parish should build elsewhere, rather than plan expansion on the present site. Options were expressed that Sacred Heart School was too big, and this affected communication between teachers and children. A survey showed that numbers would increase. A question was asked if St Joseph’s College could shift, and the primary school expand there.
It was decided to ask for a meeting with Mr. Teggelove and present him with the following points:
Situation at present school is acute.
A new school is needed on new site, perhaps four classrooms.
Could temporary buildings be suitable at old school.
170 children would need to be transferred to new school to make present primary school ideal with rooms for television, multi-purpose, and library.
Because of the numbers, six rooms would be required.

At the next meeting, a week later, the committee met with Peter Teggelove and people were generally cautious about committing themselves to building a new school. However, when a motion was moved:
“that expansion be effected on present site”) Minute book, page 11), it lapsed for want of a seconder. After further discussion, during which Peter Teggelove expressed the view that a school could be maintained from Government grants without subsidies from the Parish if the ratio of religious to lay teachers was maintained, a furth motion was moved by Sr M. Frances: “that a school be erected on the new site and application be made for a grant”, this was seconded and carried.

An architect, Paul Archibald, was engaged and ideas formulated for presentation to him. These were:

1. Library to be focal point of school.
2. Functional building (traditional and modern ideas).
3. Maximum possible room to allow for group teaching.
4. Six teaching areas.
5. Climatic conditions important- rooms to be built with easy access to outside areas that could be used as teaching areas.
6. Provision for covered areas.
7. Lighting was very important.
8. Washing facilities in each room.
9. Teaching alcoves.
10. Staffroom and plenty of storage room.

A plan was drawn up incorporating these features, then in July 10973, Msgr. McKenzie and the Sisters of Mercy visited South Australia to view open plan schools. The minutes of the meeting of 10^th August 1973 reported:
“All Sisters very impressed with the open ideas and thought our new school should adopt the open idea” (Minute book, page 34). The next comment: “Teaching staff need to work together with parent participation”, shows a confusion in identifying the term “open” between the concepts of “open plan” referring to the design of the building and “open education) as a concept of teaching.
The plan of the school was then altered, as it is recorded: “Walls should be removed to allow open teaching with provision for walls if they become needed. This would also keep with the cost” (Minute Book, page 34).
The intention here was that tracking for folding doors be included, but no doors purchased. In fact, the tracking was not installed, and this has proved a very significant factor as the school has always been forced to operate on an open plan system, as there is nowhere to retreat to.

CDC SCHOOL BUSES INFORMATION

SCHOOL BUSES CDC UPDATE:

For those children who travel on the buses, please be aware that Bus fares have increased for 2024.
Ticket concession price.
2hrs       $1.40
Daily      $2.80
Weekly $13.10
You can purchase tickets upon boarding the bus. Please note that the buses are cash only and it is preferred to have change close to the ticket price. 

Alternatively, prepaid term passes can be purchased from the CDC office in Bathurst Court. 

You will need to bring a small headshot of the child to go with the pass. If you email the photo, name of your children and the school they attend they can print the photo, create the pass and let you know when the pass is ready for collection. These passes are based on the student concession prices; prepaid options are no cheaper than purchasing tickets on the bus; however, they are a more convenient option for parents.

Term 1 (30/01/2024-28/01/2024): $110.40       

Term 2 (15/04/2024-28/06/2024): $139.40 

Term 3 (15/07/2024-20/09/2024): $131.00       

Term 4 (07/10/2024-20/12/2024: $142.20

Yearly (All terms excl school holidays): $523.00

These passes can be used 7 days a week including weekends during the school term only, they cannot be used during the school holidays. These passes can be used on any of the CDC Mildura Victorian services.  Payment by cash, cheque or eftpos is accepted.  If you choose this option and throughout the Term the child loses their pass, you will be required to come into the office and pay $10.00 for a replacement card and another photo is required to make another pass.  If you require any assistance, please contact CDC Mildura on 5023 0274.

Technology News

WOW!

We've had a great start to the year in the Tech Room.

All students have had their first Tech lessons and are keen to get into learning more about digital systems, coding, robotics, programming and digital creation using a variety of tools and technologies.

Check out these Foundation students having fun checking out the different apps on our school iPads.

Safer Internet Day

On Tuesday 6th of February, we supported Safer Internet Day, a global initiative to raise awareness of online safety issues. This Safer Internet Day we're encouraging you to take three simple actions when approaching online safety: Connect. Reflect. Protect.  

Connect safely by keeping apps and devices secure and reviewing your privacy settings regularly. 

Reflect on how your actions online may affect others or your safety. 

Protect yourself and others by visiting eSafety.gov.au to find out how to stay safe online and report online abuse.

By doing these things and sharing the Connect. Reflect. Protect message, we can work towards making every day a Safer Internet Day.

If you would like to know more, join one of the eSafety Commissioners free webinars for parents and carers. These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences. A list of available webinars, dates and times can be found using the link below.

  Chromebook Parent Information Session

Thank you to all the parents/carers and students in year 5 (and new year 6 students) who attended the Chromebook information session on Monday night and received their Chromebook.

If you were unable to attend, please contact myself via email, nsimms@spmildura.catholic.edu.au or call the office to arrange a suitable time to meet and collect students' Chromebooks.

Until next time, remember...

Mrs Narelle Simms

Structured Literacy Project

Senior Unit News

We're back!

We welcomed our Senior students to the 2024 school year with a busy Week 1! 

We got to spend time getting to know each other by playing games, creating chaos with STEM activities and also spending quality time with buddies (see photos below). 

It has been a great start to the year with students settling in well to our school routines. 

Chromebooks

All Senior students now have access to their Chromebooks. We use Chromebooks on most days in the Senior Unit, so they must be brought to school each day. 

Please ensure students are charging their Chromebook each night at home as they need to be ready to use every day.  Having them charged at 80% each day is recommended.

Our Senior Camp is only 4 weeks away!  We are looking forward to our city experience in Week 6 on Tuesday 5th March - Friday 8th March. 

You would have received notification on SIMON with details regarding camp and for you to give permission for your child to attend. 

UPDATE re WHAT TO PACK - Students will be required to bring appropriate bathers to wear when playing on the Splash Park at our accommodation. 

SNACKS - It would be a huge help if parents could kindly donate some pre-packaged snacks which we can take with us to camp.  Please drop them off to your classroom. No nuts please.

If you have any questions about camp, please contact Tom Pike at tpike@spmildura.catholic.edu.au. 

Middle Unit News

Welcome back to a brand new school year! We hope everyone had a lovely break and is feeling recharged and ready for a wonderful year together. The children have settled well into the routines of the Middle Unit. 

This week, we have divided deep back into Literacy and Numeracy learning.  The students have done a wonderful job remembering their writing strategies from last year and have created some great because, but and so sentences this week. 

During Numeracy this year, we will again be following the Stepping Stones Program. Students will be grouped into year-level classes so they may not be with their homeroom teacher during this time. Stepping Stones is an instructional approach that builds on students' natural ability to develop understanding and number sense. We encourage you to have a chat with your child about what they are learning.

IMPORTANT: Middle Unit students are required to wear their sports uniforms on Mondays and Wednesdays. Sport will be taught by their normal classroom teachers. Our specialist lessons will take place on Thursdays this year. Our specialist teachers are Mr Brouwers-Art, Mrs Simms-Technology, Signora Ghidinelli-Italian, and Mrs Powell-SWPS.

Just a reminder that email is often the easiest way to contact your child’s teacher. If you have any concerns please feel free to contact us. We look forward to meeting more parents over the coming days and weeks.

M1 - Mrs Brouwers

kbrouwers@spmildura.catholic.edu.au 

M2 - Mrs Emmett

kemmett@spmildura.catholic.edu.au 

M9 - Mrs Slimmon

rslimmon@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

M10 - Mrs Parker

aparker@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

Junior Unit News

A very warm welcome back from the Junior Unit team! We hope you had a wonderful summer break and are ready for another amazing year.  It has been fantastic to see the children already settling into the routines of the Junior Unit. This week we have enjoyed various ‘Get to know you’ games across the unit, which have been enjoyed by all. 

In Religion this week, the students were introduced to our focus topic 'Relationships'. The students participated in various activities to highlight the importance of relationships and working together. 

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An important note: 

Children are required to wear their sports uniforms on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our specialist lessons will all take place on Thursdays. 

We try very hard to keep all the children's lunches nice and cool by placing them in the Junior Unit fridge each morning. Where possible, we ask that you help us manage the challenge of fitting many lunches into the fridge by using the smallest lunchbox container or even just a named ziplock bag. Thank you for your help with this.  

We look forward to meeting you all, if we haven’t already. In the meantime, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher at any time: 

J4- Aimee Oxlade 

aoxlade@spmildura.catholic.edu.au 

J5- Amy Jones

ajones@spmildura.catholic.edu.au   

J7- Carmel  Mcglashan

cmcglashan@spmildura.catholic.edu.au 

J8- Danielle Baker

dbaker@spmildura.catholic.edu.au  

Foundation Unit News

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome existing and new families who have a child beginning Foundation this year. We have three classes in the Foundation Unit and the teachers, Learning Support Officers and classes are as follows:

F15 - Ms Laura Squillace LSO - Maeva Lopez

F16 - Ms Mila Giddings - LSO Vicky Baird

F17 - Mrs Maryanne Heeps - LSO Louise Frasca

Just a few reminders to allow for a smooth transition into the new year:

* please label everything so we can return missing items to the correct person

* lunches need to be in a small lunch box to allow it to fit into the fridge

* brainfood needs to be in a small separate container

* bigger lunch boxes can be left in the child's bag with their afternoon snacks in it

* sport day is Monday so the children will need to wear their sports clothes every Monday.

We will often have photos posted on Facebook of the things the children are doing throughout the week. Don't forget to check it out!

Yesterday an Information Booklet was sent home with the children that will hopefully answer all of your questions. If you have further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

In Religion we are talking about all of the things we belong to. We are asking that each child sends in a family photo to display on the wall. This can be brought in by the children or emailed to your child's teacher.

F15 Miss Squillace - lsquillace@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

F16 Miss Giddings - mgiddings@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

F17 Mrs Heeps - mheeps@spmildura.catholic.edu.au

Breakfast & Walking Club are BACK!

Walking Club  and Breakfast Club are Back!

Staring Monday 12^th Feb students are welcome to join Narelle Simpson on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8am for Walking Club. 

Following this, students are welcome to head to the hall for breakfast club where they can enjoy toast, cereal, milo and juice. 

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