Newsletter #29 October 6
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome back for Term Four. I hope you had some sort of a break over the school holidays and were lucky enough to get away for a few days. Some of the children have already shared their camping adventures with me. For all those Melbourne supporters, I am sure you may still be on cloud nine after the stellar performance on Grand Final day. The win was definitely well deserved and long overdue. Unfortunately the Doggies were just not good enough on the day. For those of us whose teams were not playing, there is always next year.
STAFFING UPDATE: In the last week of Term Three we conducted interviews for teaching positions advertised for the 2022 school year. We had a full day of interviews and had received many applications, which was really positive. As a result of the interviews I am pleased to inform you that the following people have been offered a teaching role at St Paul's for the 2022 school year. Emma Rutherford, who is currently is a senior education officer with Catholic Education Ballarat, brings a wealth of teaching experience and has been working closely with St Paul's over a number of years in the area of Literacy. Mila Giddings is currently employed at Our Lady's Merbein and is also joining us. Both Rhia Doherty and Rachel Slimmon will also continue in a part time capacity.
Unfortunately, Shaun Emmett, Jack Freeman and Diane Champion will complete their current contracts and there will be an opportunity to farewell them at the end of the year.
CAMPS PROGRAM: Due to the uncertainty regarding the current restrictions in place, the Grade 2 Sleepover, Middle and Senior Unit camps will not go ahead as overnight camps. We are currently looking at alternative day excursions around the district that the children can participate in. Once itineraries and costs are finalised there may be credits applied to accounts where applicable.
END OF YEAR CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Unfortunately we cannot guarantee our concert going ahead onsite this year due to the uncertainty of the easing of restrictions and have therefore decided to put together a concert that will be recorded and made available for families to watch online.
FOUNDATION 2022 ORIENTATION PROGRAM: Families will receive a letter outlining the dates for the orientation program for our new Foundation children. The format of the days will be finalised once we receive more advice regarding visitors attending onsite.
SCHOOL HATS/UNIFORM: School hats are compulsory as of this term. Please ensure that your child's hat is clearly labelled with their name. We have a school uniform for a number of valid reasons and it is an expectation that your child will attend in the correct uniform. Unfortunately, this has not been the case lately. If your child is out of uniform you must notify your child's class teacher.
PARENTS ACCESSING SCHOOL GROUNDS: Thank you to the parents who wear masks, social distance and check in when on the school grounds. This is mandatory for all parents and visitors to the school. Of late, some parents have not adhered to these laws which puts our staff, students and community at risk. If this continues parents will be required to wait at the front pedestrian gate. Those parents entering via the drive through will not be allowed to exit their vehicles, unless prearranged with front office, to avoid this please respect and follow the rules.
CHROMEBOOK DEVICES: Next week the Middle and Senior unit students will be returning onsite on allocated days. The Middle unit students who have currently borrowed a chrome book will be need to ensure the devices are fully charged and brought to school on the days they are onsite-Grade 3/4 Tuesday and Wednesday. Then recharge the devices at home. Senior Unit students will be required to bring their devices as normal on Thursday and Friday.
As always,
Keep the Faith
Vince Muscatello
Foundation Unit News
It has been a lovely start to the week and the children have settled into Term 4 with ease.
For the first three weeks of the term we have Kirrily Parfrey completing her 4th year placement as teacher in the unit. She has been working very hard with the children and the staff and it has been a pleasure having her in the unit.
Just a reminder that now that we have begun Term 4 the children are expected to be wearing hats whilst outside. Could you please make sure that your child has a well named hat to wear, otherwise they will unfortunately not be allowed to play. Hats can be purchased from the uniform shop if your child does not have one.
Later on in the term the Foundation Unit will be having a Foundation breakfast as part of the camp program. The children will be required to be at school at 8am for a yummy breakfast and the day will also include some fun activities. Stay tuned for more information to follow.
Junior Unit News
Welcome to Term 4 Junior families. We hope you have had a lovely holiday break with your family.
This term we have begun learning about persuasive writing. On Tuesday, we enjoyed debating in our classes about things we prefer such as cats or dogs, ice-cream or cake and sunny or rainy weather. The students were quite passionate about their opinions and enjoyed giving reasons why their preferences were better.
In Maths, we have begun learning about multiplication. It would benefit all students if they could practice skip counting at home.
As the UV rating is increasing, students will need to wear their hats each day. We ask parents to please check in with their children as to whether they have their hats at school or in their bags as we have had lots of students telling us they are lost.
Unfortunately we have been notified that due to restrictions we will need to change our plan for our Junior Unit camp day/sleepover. Our plan at this stage will include a camp day during normal school hours with no sleepover. Even though we understand the children will be upset by this, please reassure them the camp day will be full of fun and engaging individual and team activities. We will inform you of the change of date as soon as possible.
SENIOR NEWS
Welcome back to Term 4. We hope that you have had a restful break with your family and spent some time out in the lovely Spring Sunshine!
This term we will once again revisit with students Puberty and Conception. Senior teachers use the well-researched Department of Education document ‘Resilience, rights and respectful relationships'. The resources have been developed by experts from Deakin University and the University of Melbourne. These age-appropriate resources support curriculum delivery and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practice social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships.
We also use the scope and sequence recommended by Catholic Education Ballarat – Relationships and Sexuality.
Content that will be covered with students include
- I can understand what created in the Image of God means for Christians.
- I know the physical, social and emotional changes of puberty.
- I know that I might experience mood swings during puberty.
- I understand that my body may change at a different rate to my friends.
- I understand what menstruation is.
- I know what sperm production and wet dreams are.
- I am learning how to manage puberty and support others to do the same.
- I understand that puberty prepares the body for the potential to reproduce.
- I understand how pregnancy occurs.
- I understand menstruation and sperm production and how these relate to reproduction.
- I can tell you the age of consent.
If you have any concerns or questions, please contact your child’s teacher.
NAPLAN - Grades 3 & 5
NAPLAN Individual Student Reports for Grades 3 & 5 students are available for collection by an adult from Reception.
Library
Hi from the Library,
Book Week celebrations have unfortunately been changed again. We will have our special dress up day on Wednesday 17th November. The theme is "New Worlds, Old Worlds. Other Worlds". We have got some fantastic activities planned to go with our short listed books, so can't wait.
We also have our Book Fair coming up this month. A flyer will be sent home next week with some of the great books for sale. The fair will be open from Monday 25th until Thursday 28th October. We are having a colouring competition to go with this book fair where a child from each unit will win a $20.00 voucher to spend at the fair.
Looking forwards to all students returning to school soon and borrowing from our beautiful library.
Marg Pongrac
Technology News
YEAR 3/4 - BORROWED CHROMEBOOKS
Next week Middle unit students will return to learning onsite on Tuesday and Wedensday for two weeks. The Middle unit students who have currently borrowed a chrome book will be need to ensure the devices are fully charged and brought to school on those days. Then recharge the devices at home.
Arrangements for returning devices when students return to school full time will be advised in the coming weeks.
YEAR 5/6 - 1:1 CHROMEBOOKS.
A friendly reminder, Senior unit students are required to bring their Chromebook to school each day, fully charged.
Until next week remember, when children are coding they become creators instead of consumers of technology.
Mrs Simms