2024 Newsletter #05 March 27
Principal News
My Newsletter Report 24th February 2021
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's final update for the term.
I think the most common question being asked at the moment is, "Where has the term gone?" So many things have happened since the start of the year. We have had our fair share of challenges along the way but more importantly we have had many successes throughout the school. These successes are because of the continued efforts to work together as a school community and stay focussed on improving student outcomes and building our relationships with each other. As I said there is much to celebrate!
St Paul's Trivia Night - Congratulations to the School Advisory Council for organising the Trivia night fundraiser held last Friday night. It proved to be a fun filled evening with some very challenging questions along the way. Thank you to the following businesses and families who donated Goods and Services. It went a long way to making the night a success. They are: Mangan Developments, Jim's Carpet Cleaning, Poolwerx Mildura, Intersport Mildura, My Health Solutions, King's Construction Group, Hards Homes, Australian Garlic, The Setts Mildura, Stefano's Cafe, Tanya Black Beauty Products, Adriano Aiello & Rico D'Amico from Ray White Real Estate, Trinh, Vo & Tran and Angwin families.
Thank you to the organising Committee: Thomas Stevenson, Karla Fox, Kathryn Buffon, Liz Mangan, Jacob Slimmon and Melissa Sutherland for putting the night together. We raised just under $3000 which is a fantastic effort and will go towards the purchase and installation of new goal posts on the John Hill oval. Once again, thank you to everyone who supported this event.
Holiday Projects: Over the holiday period it is anticipated that a number of small projects will be completed around the school grounds with landscaping around the new junior playground at the labyrinth at the front of the school. The nature strip along Fourteenth Street and Etiwanda Avenue will be cleaned up too.
Easter: Today we celebrated our Holy Week Liturgy in the hall. Thank you to Mrs Blagus for organising the special celebration and thank you to those families who were able to attend. Easter is the most important event in our church's calendar as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ. Easter is also a special time for families to reconnect and spend time with each other. Easter in Mildura is always a busy time as families prepare for camping adventures, holidays or just family get togethers. I hope that if you are travelling that you do so safely and more importantly, take your time and appreciate the journey.
For the children, please try not to eat too many chocolates as once the sugar rush wears off it may not be a pretty sight for all involved.
Easter Bonnet Parade- This is one of the highlights of the children in the Foundation and Junior Unit as they participated in this year's parade. I saw some amazing hats created by the children and their parents and it was lovely to see the smiles on the children's faces.
Assembly: It was a great way to finish the term with lots of prizes won from our continuous raffle, presenting awards to the children for their achievements this term and acknowledging the tremendous effort put in by the staff and students to have made this term a success.
Congratulations to Dustin Scott for winning a pair of Sony Bluetooth Headphones as a part of the Active Travel Competition run by Sunraysia Community Health Services for National Ride2School Day last Friday. Dusty rode his scooter to school and then took part in Scooter riding at school during lunch play.
Congratulations to this week’s gotcha recipients for being their best, being respectful and being safe -
Bee Milestones - Lorenzo Pettinau, Nhu Nguyen, Lola Droffelaar, Aiden Varghese Moolayil, Darius Davis, Felix Moyle, Sienna Mackay, Chimdi Ilozue, Elsa Allieu, Paddy Stevenson, Annalise Goncalves-Wood, Ruby Slimmon, Aidan Silcox, Luke Hunt, Skylar Humphrey, Lam Nguyen, Daisy Gibson, Konna Peters, Kyden Noble, Chaunte Clark, Ethan Jones, Harriet Gibson, Dan Boby, Dustin Scott, Eli Thompson, Lily Pham, Charlotte Hogan, Zac Erben, Harry Traeger, Hannah Davies, Mali King, Bella Kennedy, Jo Fotheringham Gottardo, Jessica Ram, Willow Droffelaar, Jolene Peters, Manmeet Kaur, Emilee Walter, Liliana Dobricic, Estee Clifford, Gerry Jayan, Tania Latukefu, Eli Thompson, Isabella Carter, Neve Morton, Oliver Moroni, Erin Taylor, Nimrat Dhaliwal, Tilly Wankun, Ariani Arden, Ava Fidura, Noah Demario, Arianna Pileggi & Soobhanah Parvez
Hive Milestones - Harshveer Khangura & Abbiegail Peters
Calendar Updates:
Wednesday 27th March- Last day of term for students. Normal 3.25pm finish
Thursday 28th March- Pupil Free Day- Staff Professional Learning
Friday 29th March- Good Friday
Saturday 30th March- Easter Saturday
Sunday 31st March- Easter Sunday
Monday 1st April- Easter Monday
Monday 15th April- Pupil Free Day- Staff Professional Learning
Tuesday 16th April- First Day of Term 2 for Students
Thursday 25th April- ANZAC Day Public Holiday- No School
Finally, I hope you all have Happy and Holy Easter and I look forward to seeing you next term.
As Always,
Keep The Faith!
Vince Muscatello
End of Term 1 2024
Today, Wednesday 27th March is the last day of school for Term 1 for students.
**School will finish today at the normal time of 3.25pm.**
Buses run to the normal everyday timetable.
Tomorrow, Thursday 28th March is a Pupil Free day, Professional Development day for staff.
Monday 15th April is a Pupil Free day, Professional Development day for staff.
Term 2 Classes for students will resume again on TUESDAY 16th April 2024
St Paul's History- The Early Years Ch. 5
1975
The teachers in the senior area had no experience of teaching in an open plan school and arrangements were made to visit the State School at Ouyen to observe their teaching methods. It was decided that the children would stay in their home groups for their teaching to enable teachers to get to know pupils and pupils to feel secure with one teacher.
At the beginning of 1975, it was not known how the Prep. Children would react to being in with other children and it was decided they should be in an area by themselves for a settling-in period. They were situated in the “pit” area until March when the school “changed ends” and Prep. 1, 2 and 3 occupied the larger area and Grades 4, 5 and 6 the smaller area.
Efforts were made at this time to encourage communication between staff members to develop an atmosphere conducive to development and learning of both teachers and children, and this was initiated. However, change of behaviour and attitudes was very slow and the atmosphere in the school was unsettled, particularly in the senior area.
During the first half of 1975, the following important happenings occurred:
- A mothers’ Club was formed which began to investigate patterns and materials for a school uniform.
- An amount of $2,625 was granted for the upgrading of book stock in annuary.
- A Pilot Library grant of $15510 was awarded to the school in March.
- Some adventure playground equipment was completed and plans formulated for basketball court and car park area.
The official opening of the school was planned for Sunday 15th June. A need was seen to glass-in the withdrawal areas to make quiet areas. It was proposed to acquire an old house to be used for art, woodwork, etc.
During 1975, six members of staff visited opens schools in Adelaide, where this concept had been in operation for several years. This visit proved informative as it was seen that a school based on an open plan design could, in fact, operate in a variety of ways. This was reassuring to the staff who became aware of the importance of their role in deciding and putting into practice what St. Paul’s would be.
On the return of staff, it was decided that St. Paul’s, being such a new school, lacked tradition and an identity, and because of this, pride in the school was missing. Competitions were held for a school emblem and a school song and arrangements were made to celebrate the school’s birthday, which has been done during the first week of term three since then.
At the School Board Meeting of 16th September 1975, it was reported that: “Sr. Pam expressed concern of the staff and some parents about the moral attitudes of a vast majority of the children. After some discussion it was decided that a Parent’s meeting should be held with a panel of experts in attendance” (Minute Book, page 38).
This meeting was subsequently held in November 1975 and a psychiatrist, social worker and the Parish Priest attended. General misconduct, lack of courtesy and poor care of property were mentioned, as well as specific instances of misbehaviour on the areas of violence and sexuality.
It proved to be a devastating experience. The discipline, tone and teaching at the school were criticized and ideas advanced on how this could be rectified.
- The Principal should be in a non-teaching role.
- There should be formal courses and stable classes, as well as specific aims and goals for each subject.
- Staff roles should be reviewed.
These criticisms were mainly directed at the senior area.
So, 1975 finished on a fairly low note, but the experiences of that year enabled plans to be made for improvements next year. Some of these ideas came from two in-services that had been held during 1975, the first in June was conducted by Mr. Blackie, Principal of Kyneton State School, the second in November, led by Neville Johnson and Wendy Johnstone called “Resource Based Teaching and Learning”. The latter one was to help staff utilize the library resource centre more effectively and efficiently and provided stimulation and skills to use the equipment through the Pilot Library grant.
The staff believed that in some areas, there was insufficient communication with parents. Newsletters were issued on a fairly regular basis (later to become weekly).
Two specific areas where it was felt communication could improve, were with new pupils beginning school and a general awareness of rules, times, procedures, and expectations of the school.
To remedy this, all beginners and parents for the next year were invited to the school when information was given regarding important aspects of school life. There was an opportunity for discussion on these points and, most importantly, the child met the teacher and saw the school in operation. Booklets were also issued to every family in the school containing relevant information.
Sts Anne and Joachim Catholic Parish Bulletin
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