2024 Newsletter #09 May 22
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to our latest update.
CONFIRMATION: Congratulations to those children who celebrated their Confirmation over the weekend. I had the pleasure of attending one of the mass celebrations and it was lovely to see the smiles on the children's faces and their families as they participated in this important celebration. Thank you to Mrs Blagus and the staff who were involved in the masses over the weekend.
SENIOR SPORTS: Last Thursday I accompanied the senior boys soccer team to Soccer Park to compete against Sacred Heart, Henderson College and Trinity Lutheran College. I must say it was the best performance by our soccer team in a number of years. Well done to Mr Pike, who was training them during lunch times and thank you to Jay for coaching them on the day. A great effort all round. The netball teams also experienced success on the court and by all accounts were great representatives of St Paul's.
STAFFING: You may be aware that we recently have been splitting classes due to staff absences. This is due to the lack of availabilty of casual relief teachers. Please be assured that the children are still accessing the curriculum and the learning is still continuing to our high standards. Whilst it is an incovenience for the children, it unfortunately cannot be avoided given the current climate in the teaching profession.
PYJAMA DAY: This Friday the SRC have organised a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House charities. Everyone is encouraged to wear their pyjamas to school. Please ensure that appropriate footwear and pyjamas are worn as it is quite cold in the mornings.
2025 ENROLMENTS: A reminder that enrolments for 2025 will close on Friday 31st May. If you have not submitted your online application, please do so as soon as possible.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL: Our next meeting is on Tuesday 4th June at 7.00pm at school.
PUPIL FREE DAY: On Friday 7th June the staff will be attending a professional learning day with Mr Jim Waight from DOBCEL. Jim will be working with the staff as we continue our exploration of the life of St Paul. This theme ties in beautifully as we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year.
KING'S BIRTHDAY LONG WEEKEND: Don't forget Monday 10th June is a public holiday. Due to no school on the Friday before, this will be a 4 day weekend for the children. Good luck to the St Paul's children representing Sunraysia in the Victorian Junior Soccer Championships at Soccer Park. Apparently there are over 100 teams competing in Mildura that weekend.
ASSEMBLY: This Friday afternoon in the hall. You are all most welcome to attend.
GOTCHA AWARDS: Congratulations to those students who have been following our norms and remembering to: Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be Your Best.
BEE MILESTONE: Elise Davies, John Thang, Victoria Mouzakis, Harshveer Khangura, Michelle Mithun, Monica Leslie, Natasha Cavallo, Victoria Finocchiaro, Dante Mazza, Indy Baker, Max Mangan, Ollie Thannhauser, Memphis Johnson, Jason Tran, Malia Fonua, Kooper Carmichael, Rhianna Shermin & Lucas Nguyen.
HIVE MILESTONE: Charlie Stephens, Mischa Pascale, Veronica Lotong, Estee Clifford, Ruby Slimmon, Samuella Allieu, Dustin Scott, Jasmeet Bassi, Clayton Body, Sam Mafi-Reale, Mayta Tamangaro, Aidan Silcox, Sam Midgley, Olly Morton, Konna Peters, Zac Erben, Mackenzie Managn, Jasmine Benipal & Franco Pettinau.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
As always,
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
Senior Unit News
Chromebooks
REMINDER that Chromebooks are to be charged every night ready to be used each day at school. Please ensure Chromebooks are packed in school bags ready to bring to school.
We complete a large amount of learning on Chromebooks, so it is important that students have access to them each day.
Interschool Sports - Netball and Soccer
A number of our Senior students represented St Paul's at Interschool Netball and Soccer last week.
All our teams performed at their best and came away with some excellent results. We are proud of the way our students conducted themselves at their sports - well done everyone!
A big thank you to Mrs Gray and Mrs Bugden for coaching the netball teams, and Mr M for coaching our boys soccer team!
Chemical Science - Matter Matters!
This week we have started a new unit on Chemical Science. Students explored the different states of matter - solid, liquid, gas - and the various properties associated with each. Below are some pictures of our students getting their hands dirty as they test to see if different states of matter can be compressed.
Junior Unit News
Welcome to Week 6!
Inquisitive Physical Sciences Unit:
Forces on water: Last week the students explored the way things move through water. They consolidated their knowledge about forces by exploring the different forces required to make a kite surfer soar. We then investigated the shape required to make something float and manipulate a piece of foil to make a shape that floats. The students sequence steps for making a design, draw and label their design and investigate ways to improve their design.
Design and Technologies: This week our students have been exploring how technologies use force to create movement in products by designing a game that uses a push or a pull. Students will design and develop their product before explaining how forces are used in playing the game. We cannot wait to show you our amazing creations.
Religion:
We have been learning about how Catholic Christians understand God’s love in creation. We discussed that Christians believe that all of creation is lovingly created by God. This includes all people and all things in nature. Christians therefore are called to care for other people and to take care of the natural world. The students have been engaging in a variety of acitivites to show their understanding.
Foundation Unit News
Welcome to week 6!
We would like to say a big thank you to Ms Amber Thompson for being in the Foundation Unit for the last 3 weeks. Amber is studying at LaTrobe University in Mildura and is currently in her 3rd year of teaching. It has been a pleasure having Amber in the unit and we wish her all the very best with the remainder of her studies and would love to have her back again one day.
We also have Caroline Webley in the Foundation Unit every Wednesday. She is currently studying for a Certificate 3 and Certificate 4 in School Based Education. We are enjoying having Caroline help out and supporting the children with their learning.
Friday is pyjama day. We look forward to seeing everyone come to school dressed in their pyjamas and ready for a fun day. This event has been organised by the SRC and children are asked to bring a gold coin donation for Ronald McDonald House. The children can also bring extra money to buy yummy treats throughout the day.
As the weather is getting cold we ask that all children are wearing their winter uniforms. Please see the uniform shop if don't have your uniform yet.
A reminder that the only day Foundation children need to wear their sports clothes is on a Monday.
SRC NEWS
Wear your pyjamas to school THIS Friday and support our SRCs to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities!
- Bring $1 or $2 coins for small purchases at our stalls (popcorn, confectionary, bubbles, bath fizzers)
- Wear appropriate attire for school
- Wear enclosed shoes for outside
- Name items that may be removed (eg. oodies, sleep makes, slippers etc)
- Don't get too comfy and fall asleep at school!
Hands Up Mallee
Did you know that St Pauls is registered with the Victorian Deposit Container Scheme? That means that when you drop off your cans and bottles to a depot just let them know that you want to donate your cans/bottles to St Paul's Primary School and they will search for our school on their iPad and enter the amount (this will need to be done before they process the totals). All money that we raise through this process will go towards new passive play equipment for our students. Thanks in advance for your support.
A huge Thank-you to Bunnings who have donated all the materials that we need (including seedlings) to set up our second wicking garden! This is greatly appreciated. I have some very excited students who are looking forward to setting this up.
St Paul's History- The Early Years-Ch.9
1979
In 1979, work on programs that would help in developing these attitudes was continued. The emphasis was one of total development and a statement of the aims, organization, objectives and procedures of St. Paul’s was formulated and published. This was then developed into a curriculum statement for each of the areas of Religious Education, Art, Physical Education, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Library and electives.
The Mathematics program developed is of special interest as it is an on-going one, based on the “Yardsticks” tests developed by Australian Council for Educational Research.
A criticism of this year could be that the programs that were developed were inclined to take over from the role of the teacher. This was because they were not fully understood by the teachers who tried to follow them implicitly.
So, 1979 could be seen as a year of consolidation, a culmination of the previous years and a time of much discussion and writing down of ideas and policies. An in-service activity for the staff in July contributed to this as it was conducted by Fr. Barry Ryan of the Catholic Education Office and its topic was “Communication”.
The results of the work done can be seen in a report on the school issued after Mr. Norm Lalor and Mr. Jim McKenna, consultants with the Catholic Education Office, reviewed the school on 16th and 17th October 1979. A copy of this report is attached and it can be seen that in all areas, the school was commended, as it was seen as:
“An excellent Parish Primary School”, (N. Lalor, J. McKenna, Review of ST Paul’s School, Mildura 16th and 117th October 1979).