Newsletter #34 November 11
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's update.We finished off a very busy week last week with the junior and middle units participating in their camp and excursions program. By all accounts the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Thank you to the staff for the organisation of actvities for the children.
Today is Rememberance Day and is an important part of our Australian history and culture as we pay our respects to all servicemen and service women who have served and are actively serving in our armed forces. Its also a time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifices made by those men and women in giving their lives for the freedom we have today. We must never forget them and continue their legacy. A very dear family friend of mine was a POW in World War Two and growing up I had an opportunity on a few occasions to spend time with him and talk a little about the war. He never said a great deal because of the pain and suffering that he experienced but the one thing that always made him smile was the camaraderie and the life long friendships he made. It was his mates that got him through the dark times. In today's current climate, with what so many have experienced this year, friendship and having someone to talk to is just as important. Our hardships don't even come close to what our service men and women have gone through, but nonetheless, let's make sure we stick together and support each other. We will be conducting our own rememberance service today at school. The classrooms will be watching a presentation put together by Mrs Simm and our school captains. It will also be posted on our Facebook page. Lest We Forget!
Congratulations to this week's GOTCHA winners. As I have mentioned previously it is one of the highlights of my day when I get to present the certificates to the children.
25 GOTCHA AWARDS:Willow Drofelaar,
50 GOTCHA AWARDS: Jasper Trinh, Amelia-Mae Hunt, Bella Kennedy, Riana Peiris
It has come to my attention that a number of children have begun waiting after school outside the pedestrian gate next the the drive through exit. Please be aware that any child who is collected by car must be seated in the drive through pick up area. Otherwise, the parents must park and come and collect them from the main entrance gate. This is a matter of safety and poses an unacceptable risk for all involved if this is not followed..
Once again I must remind parents when leaving the drive through that is a left hand turn only. I am amazed by the number of adults who do not know the difference between their left and right hand. The Foundation children would be more than happy to demonstrate this. Again this rule is in place to keep everyone safe.
You may have noticed this week that a couple of our fence panels in front of the chapel were missing and taped off by the Police. I was just as surprised as you to receive a phone call from the Police to inform me, that early Sunday morning, someone was having great difficulty in navigating their way along a straight stretch of road along 14th Street. How they managed to miss the Pedestrian Crossing, hit the Bottle brush tree and then bounce back into the fence is beyond me. I daresay they have been playing too much Grand Theft Auto and think of themselves as an experienced rally driver. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.
Next week the school will be participating in our External Review. The staff and the School Advisory Council have participated in surveys and workshops to review our current practices and identify our future direction for the next five years. Some parents have been randomly selected to participate in this review as well. They will have received an email invitation from Mrs Sutherland. If you are one of those parents, please respond asap so that the schedule can be completed ready for the review next Thursday and Friday.
Congratulations to those children who have celebrated the sacrament of First Eucharist with Fr Matthew recently. Whilst we have not been able to celebrate as a whole parish community, hopefully it has been a special time for the children and their parents.
Today we welcomed our new 2021 Foundation children to St Paul's as they begin their orientation program. It's been a long time coming and we have certainly been looking forward to this day. I'm sure they will have a great time being a part of the St Paul's family.
This Friday we will be celebrating Naidoc Day. Thank you to Mrs Kennedy, the staff and studnets who have planned our day with classroom based actvities and virtual presentations.. The children will be celebrating Indigenous Culture. Children are asked to come to school in casual clothes that are red, yellow and/or black. It is important that the clothes are school appropriate, i.e. sunsmart and closed shoes eg runners. We will also have our virtual assembly this Friday afternoon.
I would like to remind parents that any student bringing a mobile phone or other device to school ( other than senior unit chromebooks ) are to hand them into the office at the beginning of the day and collect them at the end of the school day. This also includes smart watches that have the capability to send and receive messages. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for any child to be sending messages or emails to parents during classtime and is in breach of the ICT agreement signed by parents and students. Parents , please reiterate the importance of this with your children.
Today we farewell the Stone Family (Malakai M2 & Hudson J4) who are relocating out the area. We wish them well for the future.
On behalf of the St Paul's school community, I would like to pass on my sincerest condolences to Carl and Di Hunt, on the passing of Di's mum. Please keep Carl, Di and their family in your thoughts and prayers.
As always,
Keep the Faith!
Vicne Muscatello
Religious Education News
Remembrance Day
Today, November 11th, we remember and honour those who have served in war and conflict to protect our nation. We remember their sacrifices for the sake of peace, and pause to honour them in reflection and prayer.
Lest We Forget.
ADMINISTRATION NEWS
**2021 School Fees**
The 2021 School Fee Commitment (green) form was sent home last week. Thank you to parents who have returned theirs back to the office promptly. If you haven't yet returned the form please complete and return no later than this Friday 13th November, 2020. We would appreciate it if it could be returned in the plastic pocket.
Once we receive the form a member of the Admin staff will follow up with each family to ensure that all the applicable allowances, discounts etc are applied, claim forms are completed etc.
If you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact the office.
NAIDOC WEEK 2020
NAIDOC Day Celebrations
This week is NAIDOC week. The theme for this year is, Always Was, Always Will Be.
Always Was, Always Will Be, recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.
St Paul’s will celebrate 'NAIDOC week' on Friday 13th of November from 9-2pm.
As we cannot have guests into the school or gather all of our students together, our NAIDOC day celebrations will look a little different.
This year instead of having guest speakers we are inviting our Indigenous students to share their culture with us.
Our NAIDOC celebration will include:
- Viewing a pre-recorded liturgy in classes
- Students rotating around a variety of cultural activities in classrooms
- Our indigenous students showcasing their culture through the sharing of artefacts
- Indigenous games
- Indigenous items in our end of day assembly.
Students are invited to come to school on Friday wearing the colours of the Aboriginal flag, red, yellow and black.
Foundation Unit News
Last week in Maths the Foundation children were learning about shapes. They have been learning about what 2D and 3D shapes looks like, what features they have and how to sort them. Below are some pictures of the children putting themselves into 2D shapes.
For Religion this week we are asking students to bring in an object from home that symbolises Christmas or something that is significant to a celebration within their culture.
My New Gallery
Junior Unit News
Dear parents, carers and friends,
Wow, what an amazing week we have had in the Junior Unit! Although it was a short week, it was action packed.
Thursday saw our Camp Day filled with amazing activities such as creating cupcakes by choosing from a range of flavoured cakes, icing and toppings. Students also chose from activities such as lego building, felt boards, colouring and making placemats. There was an outside disco before lunch and students enjoyed a movie before afternoon tea. The Grade 2 students were invited to stay after school for water games on the oval.
Camp Day
Friday morning the Junior Unit had their Term 4 liturgy, focussing on friendship and compassion.
In Mathematics, we are learning all about multiplication by discussing equal groups, repeated addition and arrays while in Reading and Writing we are continuing our learning on persuasive texts. Students are identifying the features of a persuasive text, such as a title, introduction, reasons and a conclusion.
We continue to learn all about our norms by being safe, respectful and our best.
Have a great week everyone!
Middle Unit News
Welcome to Week 6! Last week was a great success for both the Grade 3 and the Grade 4 excursion day to Lake Cullulleraine. Students were able to participate in a range of activities designed to build new friendships and reinforce existing ones. It was good to see students talking with peers that they haven't had the chance to get to know this year. Overall, the kids said that their favourite activity was kayaking or water games. Even the Grade 3 students loved it and it was raining!
This week students are going to begin designing and constructing their balloon powered car. Hopefully they have been collecting things at home to help them build their car. Students will need a plastic bottle and four bottle caps (or something else that could work as wheels) to get started. There will be a collection of recyclable materials at school to choose from if they have not collected anything yet.
It is good to see that students have been practicing their times tables! This is helping with their ability to quickly divide numbers. Lastly, we would like to remind all parents that each child should be reading for 30 minutes every night. This is important in ensuring that students continue to develop their reading abilities.
Thank you,
Middle Unit Teachers
Senior Unit News
Grade 6 Fun Sports Day
Last Friday, the Grade 6 students had a great morning participating in volleyball, softball and basketball against Sacred Heart Grade 6 students. The morning was a great success with all students displaying wonderful sportsmanship. Many thanks to the students and staff at Sacred Heart for visiting us!
Sports Day
Technology News
Even though last week was a shorter week, the love and excitment for learning was bigger than ever in the Technology Room.
After reading the book, Robots, Robots Everywhere, Foundation students discuss what robots are and how they are invented to help people. With one of their own or someone else's chores in mind, students then built their very own robot to do that chore for them and used the Chatterpix app to give the robot a voice.
Students in the Junior unit continued to work on their coding skills, writing a sequence of steps using directional language, for their robot to complete more than one task.
In the Middle Unit, students examined the structure of bridges before applying their design and critical thinking skills and taking on the challenge of designing, planning, building and evaluating their own bridge to hold the weight of Sphero.
Important Reminder re: Student Emails Accounts
A Google account is set up for each student when they are enrolled to begin school at St Paul's. Google Education is the online learning platform that students commonly use at school for the purposes of their learning. A Gmail account is a part of this set up for email purposes. It is important for all students and families to understand this email account is for learning purposes only. In line with our Student ICT User Agreements, students are NOT to use this email address for any communication or signing up/logging in to third party apps and websites, unless instructed by a teacher.
These conditions and user agreements are in place for the protection of all students and their families. Please discuss the appropriate use of school email accounts for learning purposes with your children. All students MUST understand and comply with these agreements to continue to use technology at school.
If you require further clarification please do not hesitate to contact me via phone, 5023 4567 or email, nsimms@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
Until next week, remember...
TECHNOLOGY, like art, is a soaring EXERCISE of the human IMAGINATION ~Daniel Bell
Mrs Simms
2020 Australian Mathematics Competition
Congratulations to all of the students from grades 3-6 who participated in the Australian Mathematics Competitions. The Certificates will be presented to the students after our Assembly.
Best In School
Darcy Silcox
Certificate of Distinction
Bianca De Maria & Darcy Silcox
Certificate of Credit
Will Hogan, Gurman Singh, Mason Taulelangi, Darcy O’Callaghan, Riley Freeth, Nicola De Maria & Akesa Toto
Certificate of Participation
Finn Droffelaar, Jacob Metcalf & Emrys Clifford
Certificate of Proficiency
Ava Gemits, Jack Humphrey, Jett Johnson, Ruby Oliver, Alexis Pantazopoulos, Aaysha Ram, Sarah Richmond, Hana Truong, Oliver Welsh, Mia Campbell, Lachalan Prescott, Christian Dobricic, Daniel Sunna, Yasmin Gill, Sophie Freeth, Livinia Fitzgerald, Tarlow Fangatua, Gianluca Dimasi, Tanveer Cheema, Robert Burns, Liam Brown & Ben Boby
Hands Up Mallee
The weather is really starting to warm again now and school hats are a very important part of our school uniform. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to sit on the ‘No hat seat’. As you can imagine it is not a fun place to sit, but our greatest obligation is to their health and protecting them from the sun’s harmful UV rays. To support us in our endeavours, please check to make sure that your child does have a hat (with their name on it) and remind them of the importance of wearing hats at this time of the year. Together we can make a difference and reduce the risks of sun damage to them.
Breakfast Club Roster | ||
Friday: Ben Harry John Holani | Monday: Jack Humphrey Jett Johnson | Wednesday: Sophie King Darcy O’Callagha |
Physical Education News
It's been another couple of fantastic weeks of PE lessons here at St Paul's!
Middles & Seniors: enjoyed another week of playing Among Us for PE, but this time with some different ball bouncing and fitness tasks to complete. Many children told me they were impressed and thankful that I created such a fun new game for them to play, especially one that is so relevant to the current computer game craze! This week we moved onto some other basketball and jumping skills. A new Rubik's Challenge game was introduced where everyone had to run up in teams and decipher how to move their splats to be in colour order. This not only had them puffed but also had them thinking of strategy. Afterwards we played a lily pad jumping game, then moved onto a couple of games of Golden Child.
Foundations: have begun a unit on dance. This week they learned how to copy the movements of others, such as the teacher or a partner.
Juniors: have been learning how to bounce a ball. Last week they rotated around different fun stations, including the teacher station where we focused on how to push the ball instead of slapping it down. This week we tried something new by reading a story that I created about a Frog that wanted to bounce. Throughout the story the children needed to stop and complete bouncing tasks on lily pads around the hall so they could collect magic stars to help the frog across the pond to his friends. The children seemed to enjoy this different style of PE lesson and really liked listening to the story.
Among Us for PE
Grade 6 interschool Volleyball
Rubik's Challenge & Golden Child
Arts News
The Arts room has been buzzing with excitement as we begin to prepare our VIRTUAL SCHOOL CONCERT! It will certainly be a different experience to what we are accustomed to, but 2020 seems to be the year for “changing it up”. The theme is fun and togetherness (with a touch of Christmas).
Watch this space for any updates and information over the next few weeks!
Let's finish this year with smiles, laughter and fun.
Jess Freeman
Languages - Italian News
Over the last couple of weeks, our Middle & Senior students have been busy working on their Italian Google slides presentation called " La mia Famiglia " ... a summary about themselves and their family. These languages work pieces are approaching final completion and a sample of these Google Slide presentations will be included in next week's newsletter.
In the meantime, l would like to share with you a new Catholic Education Office (Ballarat) - Languages Newsletter. I am pleased to say that our St Paul's students appear on the front cover and also on Page 5 ... proudly showcasing some of their recent Minestrone cooking endeavours during our Remote Learning in Term 3. Bravissimi studenti !
Ciao, ciao - Signora Ghidinelli