Newsletter #33 November 10
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to the weekly update. Thank you for everyone's participation in our Book Fair held recently. Each year October is Mission month and we have always participated in fundraising activities to support the missions. This year was no exception and the money raised from the book fair will go towards the work that Fr Mick McKinnon does in Peru. I know it will be greatly appreciated at this time.
FOUNDATION ORIENTATION: A very special and warm welcome to our new Foundation children for 2022 as they attend their first orientation visit onsite this morning. I am looking forward to greeting them and hoping they have a fun filled morning .
Today I am attending an online Diocesan Principal Briefing as more updates regarding Covid plans for schools are being released. There have been a number of changes to the guidelines for schools recently and it is taking some time to clarify and understand what is the next steps are. Over the coming week the guidelines will be reviewed and the relevant information shared with our families.
REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE: Tomorrow our school captains will be attending the Remembrance Day service. It's been a while since our leaders have been able to represent our school officially in community events. Mrs Sutherland will be accompanying them. Remembrance Day like Anzac Day and many other special War events are constant reminders of the sacrifices that so many men and women have made over the years and continue to do so for us all. Let us never forget! The children and staff at school will observe a minute's silence tomorrow.
MAPPEN WEEK: The children have been participating in a number of Mappen week activities. I saw some excellent examples of the work the juniors were creating yesterday afternoon and carefully carrying them home.
Library: This Friday we will be hosting our first assembly for a long time with the children and staff in the hall. Unfortunately, at this stage, parents will not be allowed to attend. As I mentioned earlier, there will be new changes over the coming weeks as to who can enter onsite and what the new rules are regarding vaccination status etc.
Congratulations to this week's award winners:
BEE MILSTONE: Isabella Bergman, Robert Burns, Oliver Capp, Tarlow Fangatua, Angus Hissey, Nhu Nguyen, Dustin Simmons
HIVE MILESTONE: Emrys Clifford, Cohen Hateley, Fletcher Heagerty, Lily Jamieson, Will Langford, Alia Lijo, Max Mangan, Chloe Moir, Tuan Nguyen, Mila Pascale, Lorenzo Pettinau, Bruce Ratcliffe & Sylvia-Jade Simmons
Have a great week everyone and as always,
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS - Wednesday 24th & Thursday 25th November
Parents are invited to attend a Parent Teacher Interview on Wednesday 24th or Thursday 25th November. These will be online or via phone.
To make a booking go to the SIMON Everywhere APP - Select Parent Teacher Interview and select your child and their teacher.
Interview bookings will close on Friday 19th to allow teachers time to email out a link for the online meeting.
*Please note, these are not Student Led Conferences like we have done in the past. They are, however an opportunity for you to discuss your child's learning. Your child may attend if you like but it is not complusory.
ADMINISTRATION NEWS
**2022 School Fees**
Thank you to all he families who have already returned their 2022 green Fee Form. If you have not already completed & returned your form please do so immediately. If you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact the office.
SENIOR NEWS
MAPPEN WEEK - This week students will learn about light refraction, electrical circuits, states of matter and the solar system, through hands on experiments and experiences. They will build a thermoscope, a paper circuit and a balloon powered rocket. Students will work towards creating a presentation and a quiz to highlight the wondrous facts that they have learned as part of this unit.
MAPPEN
Middle Unit News
This week we are learning about the history of Australia. On Tuesday the students learnt about what it was like to be a member on board the First Fleet. They explored some of the cultural differences and experiences between the Indigenous Australians and the First European Settlers. They also looked at some of the historical artefacts from this time. The students are completing a slideshow with their learning throughout our mini lessons. We look forward to sharing our learning with you at the end of the week.
This week our students have had the privilege of attending some AFL clinics. The students have been learning to correctly dispose of the ball. The students will get to participate in more clinics over the next couple weeks. We look forward to watching their skills progress.
Junior Unit News
Happy week 6 Junior Unit families!
We have had an amazing start to the week engaging in our Mappen Unit learning about changes.
So far, we have learnt about states of matter and the differences between solid, liquid and gas. We created a visual representation of the different molecules in each and conducted an experiment using soda water and raisins to explore how an object’s density can change. Our experiment was called ‘Dancing Raisins'. When the raisins were first dropped into the soda water they sunk but after a few seconds the raisins started to move. I wonder if your child can tell you what happened next and why?
On Monday afternoon, we had lots of fun playing an adapted game of bobs and statues in the hall. Instead of calling out bob or statue we called out either solid, liquid or gas with the students having to represent that type of matter with their body. I must say we have some very talented dancers in the Junior Unit!
On Tuesday, we began learning about living and non-living things. The students worked with a partner to research an animal and create a ‘What animal am I?’ questionnaire. They wrote down clues which they then read to their friends who had to guess what animal they were describing. We learnt about the life cycle of a butterfly and created some beautiful crafts to represent our learning. At the end of the day, we conducted an experiment using food dye, celery and water. Some students predicted that the celery would absorb some of the coloured water and change colour.
On Thursday, we will be creating an item using paper mache. Would you please be able to send in an old and large t-shirt or an art smock for your child as we would hate for them to ruin their school uniforms.
Finally, here are some photos of our Liturgy from last Friday. It was a lovely afternoon celebrating our understanding of harmony.
Foundation Unit News
The Foundation unit have got some exciting activities happening this month. Below are some important dates for your calender.
Friday 19th November - Foundation Breakfast
The children will arrive at school at 8am and go straight to the hall for a yummy breakfast. After breakfast they will then take part in some fun activities. The breakfast is part of the camp program at St Paul's and it is very important that all children attend school at 8am that day.
Tuesday 30th November - GOTCHA rewards fun day
We are celebrating all students achieving 50 GOTCHA's this year. We will be going to Benetook Farms to participate in some fun activities eg. strawberry picking, feeding the chickens, finding our way through the maze, riding bikes and exploring all of the wonderful things they have at the farm. They will be travelling to and from the venue by bus.
Once back at school they will be having a pizza lunch followed by some activities with their buddies. It will be a very exciting day. Permission for this day has been sent out via the SIMON Everywhere App, please ensure you give consent for your child to attend.
Library News
Hello from our Library.
Wednesday 17th November St Paul's is finally going to celebrate Children's Book Week. Our celebration day will begin with a parade of book characters in our hall at 9.00 am. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character or something to do with the theme this year 'Old Worlds, New Worlds, other worlds. Unfortunately, due to COVID restriction parents will be unable to attend.
After our parade students will spend the day doing activities to do with the books that were short listed this year. It should be a fantastic fun day.
Thanks Marg Pongrac
Arts News
We are busy busy busy putting together a Virtual Concert to finish off another strange year of school. The middle and senior students will begin filming their concert items next week in their Arts lesson (Middles- Monday, Seniors- Tuesday).
Juniors will receive some information next week.
The students are asked to please bring in the following items in a clearly named bag before next week's lesson. If you have any problems or queries, please email Ms Jess. jfreeman@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
Since returning to onsite learning, the middle unit children were finally able to finish off their beautiful art pieces inspired by the work of indigenous artist, Wawiriya Burton, whose pieces often symbolise different dreamtime stories. The children used similar symbols to represent their own family story.
Technology News
New Tech = Exploring and Experimenting = Enjoyment!!
Senior Unit students have been experimenting with new robotics equipment. Students have been integrating their coding knowledge and skills to program the Micro:Bits and the new MaQueen vehicles (which, with an almost unanimously vote, have now been renamed Darryl 😆).
Until next week remember, coding is a special type of magic!
Mrs Narelle Simms
Hands Up Mallee
We are now well and truly into Walk to School Month; this gives us an opportunity to be aware of how our children are getting to and from school each day.
Walk to School is good for kids, their families, and the whole school community. It encourages lifelong healthy habits, helps make the streets and drop-off zones around the school safer and less congested, helps connect kids to their local neighbourhood and creates opportunities for families to get active as well.
This year to motivate children to be more active; Sunraysia Community Health and Aligned Leisure have created a competition giving students the chance to win 1 of 3 scooters as well as 1 family pool pass just for entering! All you need to do is scan the QR code which will direct you to the entry site, fill out the details and then get walking!! Remember that students who join me with Walking Club at school on a Monday, Wednesday & Friday can count this as Walking time. Entering the competition will also give our school the opportunity to receive a $500 prize for the most students entered.
