Newsletter #27 September 9
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's update. I hope you all enjoyed last Friday's actvities as well as our virtual assembly. Thank you to Mrs Simms for putting it together. While there were lots to celebrate it was also lovely to remember Mrs Elizabeth Nairn's 12 month anniversary. Elizabeth was dearly loved by the children she taught and very much sadly missed by the staff and parent community alike.
Congratulations to the following families: Groenen (Elih F15), Dobricic (Christian S14), Trinh (Jasper J7), Richmond (Sarah S13) and Le (Minh Ky J8) for winning the Fathers' Day raffle. Please contact the office to collect your prize.
Our Gotcha award winners continue to reach important milestones. I am looking forward to handing out the certificates when all the children return next term
25 GOTCHA AWARDS: Paityn Miller, Oliver Harradine, Asena Akkus, Aphisit Morris, Andrea Norton, Soobhanah Parvez, Elih Groenen, Holliee Tickle, Ari Williams
50 GOTCHA AWARDS: Joseph Coslovich, Sophia Tardio, Shaylee Blake, Charli Dunn, Maddilyn Gibson, Shivreet Gill, Lachlan Nowak
On the weekend the State government announced the new steps for returning to school in regional Victoria. There are more updates coming through as the week progresses. As of today the return to onsite schooling for Term 4 will be as follows:
RETURN TO SCHOOL TERM FOUR
Term 4 Week 1
Monday 5th October- Thursday 8th October- Remote and Flexible Learning will continue AS IT HAS IN TERM 3. NB 3pm finish each day
Friday 9th October - Pupil Free Day - preparation and planning for return to onsite learning on 12th. No supervision or meetings on the day.
Term 4 Week 2
Monday 12th October - Friday 16th October- All children return to school for onsite learning. School will finish at 3.00pm daily.
Term 4 Week 3
Monday 19th October - School resumes as normal with 3.25pm finish daily
Until further notice, restrictions are still in place regarding visitors and parents onsite.
Unfortunately, due to Covid -19 restrictions I am unable to continue our weekly St Paul's radio broadcast. I know the children often would come up and let me know that they heard me on the radio and often wondered how I was able to be at school so quickly after just after listening to me on the radio. I keep them guessing and tell them its magic.
On a more serious note, yesterday we received a media release regarding disturbing footage circulating on social media. A daily message was sent yesterday to all families. Please be vigilant in supervising your child's screen time and be selective about what social media platforms your child has access to. Most of the current social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of 13 which excludes all primary aged children.
It's not long now till the end of term. The warmer weather has certainly been a blessing. Hang in there and we will all get through this together. This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. Our theme this year is "Listen to what the Spirit is saying". Let's make sure we take the time to listen to each other.
Finally, on behalf of St Paul's school community, I would like to wish Mrs Maria-Stella Blagus all the best as today is her last day of teaching as she prepares for the birth of her second child. We welcome Mrs Alison Kedmenec as she commences her teaching career in Mrs Blagus' class. Another St Paul's staff baby on the way. I've lost count as I think during my time here at St Paul's that is number 20 in staff babies. There is definitely something in the water!
As always
Keep the Faith
Vince Muscatello
Principal
Junior Unit News
Welcome parents, carers, family and friends.
Last week was a busy week with students listening to and retelling some fairy tales in Writing. This week they will get to create their own fairy tale. I wonder if the characters will live happily ever after in the story?
In Mathematics, the focus was on Multiplication and describing equal groups and arrays. This week, students will learn about Division and sharing a number of objects into equal groups.
Towards the end of the week saw students recognising and celebrating Father’s Day with a range of activities, including being able to use coding to find dad’s tie, ‘make your own dad’, making a tie card, listening to a story and choosing their own task to complete. Have a look at these awesome gifts students made for their special person on Sunday! Well done Junior Unit.
A big thank you to those who are submitting their weekly tasks to Dropbox and we look forward to your submissions this week!
Father's Day activities
Foundation Unit News
We would like to say a huge congratulations to Sienna MacKay from F17 for thinking of others in such difficult times and donating her hair to "Wigs for kids". Sienna has donated 35.5 cms of her hair to be made into wigs for children. Thank you for being so generous Sienna, you will make someone feel very happy with the gift you have given them.
"Wigs for kids"
Middle Unit News
Hello families,
In Numeracy this week we are investigating how to create and read different types of graphs and charts. If you notice any within your own homes or experiences, please explore these with your children.
In Religion, we are thinking of ways that we can reflect on peace, justice and hope through music and song.
It has been so lovely to hear all the positive feedback regarding students participation in procedures at home. There have been cakes, cookies, cupcakes and pancakes this week and the photos that we have been sent make such a lovely difference to our days! Thank you so much for all this hard work! With this in mind we look forward to one final week of cooking and/or making with you all before school holidays.
Languages - Italian News
During our Term 3 Remote Learning lessons, the Junior Unit have been exploring a variety of topics to build their language understanding and expand their Italian vocabulary.
Our lessons have covered Italian topics such as: le forme, gli opposti, i colori and more recently a lesson learning about the Italian alphabet. Did you know that the Italian Alphabet only has 21 letters ... can you guess which letters are missing ?
Here are some wonderful work samples that were sent in by our Foundation, Yr 1 and Yr 2 students. Bravissimi studenti !
Italian A B C - Junior Unit
And here are the last of our photos of our Minestrone Master Chefs ...
Congratulations and Well Done to all our students who tried out their culinary skills to whip up a delicious family meal. What a wonderful effort - Mangia e Buon Appetito !
Grazie -Signora Ghidinelli
Technology News
This week is National eSmart Week.
eSmart is an initiative of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and is all about building supportive and connected social environments both on and offline.
Not only is this a time for us to promote smart, safe and responsible use of digital technology but also a chance to shine and show all the wonderful work we have done as a school community this year via #eSmartWeek. At the start of this year, who would have thought that we would be in remote learning, and spending more time online than ever before? Our school community has done an amazing job at adapting throughout this year.
This year’s National eSmart Week theme is Connecting Safely. The week from 6-12 September celebrates the work schools have done to connect safely.
During Technology lessons this week, all students will focus on online safety, as well as bullying and wellbeing. Students and parents/guardians are encouraged to share their work this week via fb@spmildura.catholic.edu.au so we can in turn, celebrate and acknowledge the great work students are doing in creating a safe online environment.
Additional eSmart Week Opportunities for Families
Wednesday 9th September - Webinar: Managing the coronacoaster
In this live webinar for parents, adolescent and child psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, shares his tips on managing parent wellbeing and building resilience.
Use this link to join this live session from 7.00pm (using passcode 607251)
Thursday 10th September - Storytime: Grades F-2
In this live bite-sized session our teacher-trained facilitator reads The Fabulous Friend Machine to your class, and offers some creative classroom activities.
Use this link to join our live session from 9.15am-9.30am.
Thursday 10th September - Webcursion: Grades 3-6
In this live bite-sized session we’ll explore students’ digital wellbeing in the online and offline world using fun and interactive games.
Use this link to join our live session from 2.45pm-3.00pm.
Until next week, remember...
Technology is cool, but you've GOT to use it as OPPOSED to letting it use YOU!
Mrs Narelle Simms
Arts News
This week our amazing Foundation, One and Two students drew and decorated their own gorgeous cat art piece, after singing a fun song called "The Cat Came Back", about a kitty that just kept coming back no matter what!
And I just LOVE that Emmy's cat Tilly wanted to help her with her art work this week!
The Cat Came Back
It's just so great to hear from many of you, letting me know that you're enjoying your Arts lessons and sharing your work. Please keep sending me your creations, I LOVE RECEIVING YOUR EMAILS :)
Remote Learning Gallery
Week 8 was another big week of learning with a wide variety of learning tasks. Students enjoyed a range of activities from following and writing procedures to make milkshakes, to looking for shapes while helping to build a ramp, to Father's Day card making.
Online Olympics
...and the winner is...
HILL
Congratulations to all students, parents, siblings, and grandparents who competed in our Online Olympics last Friday. Even though Hill may have come out on top, without a doubt, everyone was a winner on the day. The photos and videos received clearly show the fun and enjoyment the day brought to everyone who got involved.
Physical Education News
The SSV Virtual Track and Field event is now LIVE and ready for those who may like to participate. https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/
The events on offer include:
- Sprint: (60m, 80m, 100m, 200m, 400m)
- Run or walk: (800m, 1500m)
- Jumps: (standing long jump and standing triple jump)
- Throw: (tennis ball shotput)
- Combined event: 100m sprint, standing long jump, tennis ball shotput and 800m run
Thank you to all the children and adults who participated in our Online Olympics on Friday. It was clear that everyone who did enjoyed the day out in the sunshine. I certainly had a lot of fun making all the videos and joining in on the day. Congratulations to Hill on winning after so long, but also to everyone for bee-ing their best on the day!
Here are some photos from the past week of remote PE lessons. Thank you also for all the videos I am receiving...they are fantastic!
Remote Learning
Sunraysia Catholic Communities Bulletin
The Sunraysia Catholic Communities bulletin for last weekend is below.
The Bulletin will also be put up on Daily Messages on SIMON Everywhere.
Music Talk
Music Therapy Small Groups for 0-3 year olds – Taking enrolments for Term 4 2020
Sunraysia Arts and Learning are offering small group music therapy for 0-3 year olds in Term 4 2020 with Registered Music Therapist Alida Konyn. These small tailored groups will focus on communication, social skills and emotional regulation in a fun and interactive group environment. Class times are Wednesday 9.30-10.15am and Saturday 9-9.45am at our rural studio in Merbein. The cost for a 10 week term is $500. We are an NDIS provider. We still have a few spots available for this great opportunity.
Please contact us for enquiries or to enrol enquiries@sunraysiaartsandlearning.com.au
