Newsletter #09 Mar 23
Principal News
Dear St Paul's Families,
Welcome to this week's news.
CONGRATULATIONS: There are lots of congratulations in order this week. The St Paul's baby factory continues with the news that Mrs Lucy Gray has announced her pregnancy. Lucy is currently teaching in the Senior unit and will be with us for most of the year. We will be advertising at a later date for a replacement. This is very exciting as Lucy and her husband welcome their first child.
BISHOP VISIT: Last Friday, Bishop Paul had the pleasure of celebrating the junior unit liturgy with Fr Matt. I spoke to Bishop Paul on Saturday and he was very impressed with the children's participation and their enthusiasm for learning. They were very interested in knowing all the countries Bishop Paul has visited.
WELCOME: Amy Jones has been working at St Paul's under the tutor program. Next week she will complete her final placement as a pre-service teacher and will be teaching in the Middle unit in M2 with Mrs Byrnes and Mrs Doherty.
CRICKET NEWS: Our Senior girls cricket team put in an admirable performance yesterday representing St Paul's. By all accounts they were great ambassadors for our school. The standard has been set and now it is the boys turn to shine and do the same today. Thanks to Mr McDermott for all his support in training and coaching the children.
MERCY HERITAGE CENTRE: On Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the official opening of St Joseph's College Mercy Heritage Centre. It was officially blessed and opened by Bishop Paul Bird. The centre has been beautifully restored in the old convent and showcased the history of St Joseph's beautifully. If you have any spare time it's worth calling in and having a look, especially as so many of our St Paul's students have attended St Joseph's over the years.
COUNCIL VISIT: Over the last few days staff from Mildura Council have been inspecting the traffic flow and the road conditions out the front of the school. They were concerned about the number of people not obeying traffic signs and parking regulations. The signs and regulations are in place to keep everyone safe. We have a school crossing for a reason and yet people still prefer to run across the road with child in tow rather than take a few extra minutes to cross safely. Please be careful and follow the rules.
SAFETY CONCERN: Yesterday an update was provided on Daily Messages. There has been a report of an unknown person approaching a student after school offering a ride home. Please, Please, please discuss with your children the importance of "Stranger Danger" and have a clear process in place so that your children know what to do. If your child walks home and informs you of such an incident please contact the school as well as reporting it to the police immediately.
CLASSROOM INTERRUPTIONS: Recently, we have seen a significant increase in the number of children being picked up early from school. I understand that at the moment it is really difficult scheduling medical appointments outside school hours. If you need to pick up your child early, please report to the front office so that you can sign your child out and then make your way to the classroom to collect them. Unfortunately, we will no longer ring the classroom and have your child sent to the office as this disrupts the entire class.
We only have the children for a limited amount of time each day and we are trying to make the most of their learning time as possible. It's difficult to do so when children are collected early on a daily basis ranging from 30 -60 minutes which equates to a minimum half to full day per week.
A child missing school 1 day per week adds up to 2 school weeks per term. This in turn is 8 weeks over the year. Think about that for a moment. A child is basically at school for a little over 3 terms for the year. Every Day Counts- Every Hour Counts. By working together we can make a difference for the children.
Congratulations to this week's Milestone Winners:
BEE MILESTONE : Andrea Norton, Ari Williams, Niro Arden, Oliver Capp, Jessica Cavallo, Eternity Conquest, Christian Fidura, Kalasia -Rose Fonua, Yasmin Gill, Tate Gorringe, Harper Hannah, Will Hogan, Fetongi Latukefu, Paityn Miller, Mischa Pascale, Lorenzo Pettinau, Tevita Pohahau, Maggie Slimmon, Ruby Slimmon and Charlie Stephens
THIS WEEK'S EVENTS:
NATIONAL RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY- This Friday, students are encouraged to ride or scoot to school. Students who do so will be able to use their bike or scooter under supervision on the basketball court during lunch time on this day. A great opportunity to promote health and safety.
MIDDLE UNIT LITURGY: This Friday at 12.15pm the Middle unit children will be celebrating with Fr Matt. You are most welcome to attend (if you are fully vaccinated).
CANCER FUNDRAISER CASUAL CLOTHES DAY: Students are invited to wear casual clothes to school and bring a gold coin donation in support of Jim Waight and his team riding in the Murray to Moyne Cycling Event to raise money for cancer research. Jim works for Catholic Education and over the years has provided professional development for our staff in the area of Religious Education. Jim has been raising funds, through cycling, as he himself is a cancer survivor. We are more than happy to support this worthy cause as we all have been affected by someone we know who has battled cancer. The more research that is conducted provides more opportunities for cures to be found.
Have a great week everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts.
As always
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
Casual Clothes Cancer Fundraiser
Friday, 25th March
Students are invited to wear casual clothes to school and bring a gold coin donation.
Money raised will support our colleague Jim Waight (CEB) and his team riding in the Murray to Moyne Cycling Event to raise money for cancer research, in particular the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.
Learn more about Jim and his Licorice Allsorts team of riders, the Murray to Moyne event and fundraising for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute via their FB page
https://www.facebook.com/jimmysallsorts
All clothing must be school appropriate, including closed toe shoes.
Religious Education News
Project Compassion:
Throughout Lent, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and communities together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world. As a Catholic School, we support Caritas Australia by contributing to Project Compassion each year and acknowledge that the generous support of our school community can help change lives today and for all future generations.
Over the past two weeks, all families will have received a Project Compassion box (small cardboard box, with a coin slot). We kindly ask families to contribute in any small way that they can, placing any loose change into their box. These boxes don't need to be returned until the start of Term 2. If you have misplaced your box, please feel free to place your donations in any other small box / bag you may have. We thank you in advance for your generous contributions and for your charitable acts of kindness.
Please take a moment to read or view Anatercia's Story, a 12 year old girl from Mozambique, who was able to benefit first-hand from the support of Caritas Australia and Project Compassion.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Our Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated on Wednesday 6th April 2022 at 7pm at the Sacred Heart Church. If there are any students and families who require any assistance or have any questions regarding the Reconciliation program or the celebration of the sacrament, please don't hesitate to contact Carmel at the Parish Office (5021 2872) or Mrs Maria-Stella Blagus (mblagus@spmildura.catholic.edu.au). Thank you!
Sacrament of Confirmation
This year, students in Grade 3, 4 or 5, will be able to celebrate their Sacrament of Confirmation (provided that they have already or will be celebrating their First Reconciliation in two weeks time).
A Sacrament of Confirmation registration form will be sent home to all students to whom the above relates. We ask that you complete the form and drop it straight off to Carmel at the Sacred Heart Parish, along with required payment. We will not be accepting any forms and payment at our school office.
Following on from this, there will be a Parent Information Evening for Confirmation on Wednesday 27th April 2022 at 7pm in the Sacred Heart Church.
I have reattached the original letter from Fr Matt, which includes further dates regarding sacraments for 2022.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Carmel at the Parish Office on 5021 2872 or email Maria-Stella Blagus (mblagus@spmildura.catholic.edu.au).
Senior Unit News
We are all very proud of the Senior students' hard work during MAPPEN week. Each student chose a country to focus on and researched the extreme weather events that impact the people and environment. Students carefully wrote detailed paragraphs of information as well and created a diorama showing one element of their research. Our students proudly shared their work with their families and visitors to the school.
We started this week by exploring the 2022 Harmony Day theme ‘Everyone Belongs’. Students shared their experiences of belonging and ways they promote harmony at school and in the community. We have learned language from other cultures, played team games and created our own friendship rocks.
Yesterday our Year 5 students visited St Joseph’s College and had a wonderful time cooking, playing sport and dancing. We thank the St Joseph’s College teachers and students for making us feel so welcome. Our Year 6 girls cricket team proudly represented St Paul’s School and worked hard to improve their skills and practice their great teamwork. Great effort Girls!
Camp is just 12 days away. Please see the final details information note following this article. Thank you to those families who have sent camp snacks into school. All donations gratefully received!
Middle Unit News
Thank you to all the parents that came along to view our students learning last week. It was great to share with you everything that we had been learning that week.
This week in Numeracy we continue our learning of Addition. If you wish to support your child with their learning at home you can simply discuss with them something they are learning in class or orally ask them an addition problem and see if they can solve it quickly.
We have had a few parents ask about readers in the Middle Unit. We encourage students to continue to read every night as this helps them to continue to develop their reading skills. Whilst students may not bring home a reader each night they are given the opportunity to attend the library each Monday and swap over their books. They can also attend the library before school. We encourage students to read books that they can read independently for practice and a text that they enjoy. This may be fiction or nonfiction. If you are concerned your child is not swapping books over in this allocated time or would like any assistance please reach out to your classroom teacher.
Junior Unit News
We were very honoured last Friday to welcome both Father Matt and Bishop Paul to our Junior Unit Liturgy. It was wonderful to see so many parents able to come and join us for this special prayer service and the Mappen Expo. Our students shared all they had learnt about Australia, Nigeria, China and Italy and reflected upon how people all around the world celebrate together. This week, our Mappen adventures continue, as we learn about the fascinating country of India.
Please enjoy these photos that capture a rich and sacred week of learning and worshipping together...
Junior Unit Liturgy and Mappen Expo
This week we are beginning a Maths unit about Addition. You might like to have some addition 'races' or 'quizzes' at home, or in the car, to help your child develop automaticity with simple 1 digit addition facts (3+5, 7+2 etc.).
We still have quite a number of library books and decodable books that haven't yet made it back to school. Please have a hunt around if you think you might have some of these books hiding around the house! Thank you.
Finally, just a reminder that the teachers of the Junior Unit are more than happy to hear from families at any time and can be contacted via email:
J4 - Emma Rutherford - erutherford@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
J5 - Aimee Oxlade - aoxlade@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
J7 - Karen Brouwers - kbrouwers@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
J8 - Rebecca McVean - rmcvean@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
Foundation Unit News
We would like to say thank you to the parents, grandparents and carers who attended the MAPPEN Expo last Friday. The children love sharing their learning with their parents and were very excited to see them arrive on Friday. They also had the opportunity to go with their parents and visit another unit and see what they have been learning about.
During MAPPEN week the children have learnt a lot about the past and how things have changed since then. They have also learnt where their families came from and located these places on the map of the world. Thank you to the people who have brought in objects to add to our display table. During the expo, the children were playing some old games like, hopscotch, elastics, marbles, 10 pin bowls and making paper pirate hats. Below are some photos.
We would also like to say a very big thank you the Graham and Julie Moyle for giving up their time and coming to talk to the children about what it was like when they grew up. They shared a lovely presentation about their school life and home. They also had many items to show the children to see if they knew what they were and what they were used for. The children were intrigued by some of the items and loved guessing what they were.
Technology News
Selfie v's Elsie
This week Foundation student explored the difference between a 'selfie' and an 'elsie' photo from the story book 'Goodnight Selfie' by Scott Menchin.
Students then practiced using both the front and rear iPad cameras to take 'selfie' and 'elsie' photos.
Selfies
Elsies of Numbers, Words and things that are Green.
Looks like we have some budding photographers and models in our midst 📸
TikTok is all the rage, but is it safe for your child/ren?
Until next week, remember; "technology should improve your life...not become your life." - Billy Cox
Mrs Narelle Simms
Sports News
LAWN BOWLS
On Wednesday 16th March our school participated in the SSV Division Lawn Bowls competition held at the Mildura Lawn Bowls Club. We competed against four other schools, Irymple South, Mildura South, The Lake and Sacred Heart. All of the students that attended were fantastic representatives for our school. Their behaviour and encouragement for each other, was outstanding, along with their bowling. After the last round concluded, St Paul's had tied in first place with Irymple South PS. A count back was needed see which school would progress to the Regional finals. Unfortunately Irymple South won 29 ends and we won 25 ends and they were Champions for 2022. Well Done to the following 13 students: Lilliana, Maddi, Izzy B, Livinia, Gurman, Keelan, Conor, Nicola, Will, Tanveer, Harry and Christian. A special mention to Charli D who played the first game with St Paul's and then helped out another school that only had 9 players due to COVID or having to isolate. Super effort.
GIRLS CRICKET
On Tuesday 22nd March, our girls travelled to the Aero Ovals to compete in the Girls District Cricket competition. The first game was against Sacred Heart PS . Sacred Heart scored 70 runs for the loss of 1 wicket which was a run out. When the girls batted they scored 58 for the loss of 4 wickets. In the second game we competed against Mildura South PS. The girls batted first, scoring 44 runs losing 7 wickets. Mildura South scored 77 runs and lost 3 wickets.
Although we were defeated in both games, all the girls tried their best in very warm and sticky conditions. They have all improved their cricket skills throghout the past number of weeks and they should be extremely proud of themselves for attempting an unfamiliar sport. Congratulations to Akesa, Eliza, Nicola, Sophie, Izzy E, Asiate, Maddi and Liv.
Boys Cricket
Today, the boys cricket team travelled to the Aero Ovals to compete in the District cricket competition. The boys first game was against Sacred Heart. We scored 54 runs with Keelan retiring on 20 and next best was Hayden on 9 runs. We lost 7 wickets in total with 3 of those wickets being run outs. In reply, Sacred Heart scored 105 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. The wicket takers were Keelan 1/1, Hayden 1/18, Jackson 1/4 and Harry 3/11. Harry was on a hat trick but the batter just blocked out his on target hat trick ball.
In our second game against TLC, the boys managed to score 2/54 runs. Jackson was the top scorer on 5 runs. In reply TLC scored 2/61 with Hayden getting 1/8 and Nayte the 1/2. The boys played a really good game against Sacred Heart who had some very fast and accurate bowlers and some big hitters. The boys got tired against TLC and started to bowl a lot more wides as they tired.
Overall, the boys gave it their best shot and they were fantastic representatives of the school. Well Done Jackson, Christian, Robert, Gurman, Keelan, Nayte, Darcy, Hayden, Will, Harry, Tanveer, Nimrat and Emrys.
Hands Up Mallee
Don’t forget that THIS FRIDAY 25TH MARCH, is National Ride2School Day.
Any student who scoots or rides their bike to school on this day, will be able to enjoy their bike/scooter at lunch time on the basketball courts. We will have music and cones for the students to ride around (students will not be permitted to let their friends have a go with their bikes/scooters) Mr McDermott and Narelle Simpson will be supervising and are looking forward to seeing lots of students riding to school on the day!
Please note that this does not include skateboards.
Why Ride2School?
- Bike riding is the easiest way to get healthy: It is recommended that children get 60 minutes of physical activity every day to maintain their health and riding a bike to school is an easy and fun way to make sure they are hitting this target. It’s also a great way for parents to spend quality time with their children.
- It improves physical activity rates: In the 1970’s, 80% of all school children rode or walked to school but now more than two-thirds go by car.
- It helps build confidence: Riding, walking, skating, or scooting to school makes students feel more self-sufficient, builds resilience and helps them to develop an awareness of road safety and the environment around them.
- Students perform better in class: Being active on the school journey has a much greater impact on student concentration than having breakfast before school. A Danish study has shown that children who walk or ride to school display improved concentration for 4 hours longer than those who are driven.
Sacred Heart Parish News
Parent Noticeboard
MILDURA AIRPORT COLOURING IN COMPETITION
We would like to invite all Sunraysia Primary School children to participate in our free colouring competition.
There are 3 amazing stationary and chocolate baskets for the winners in each age group. 4-6, 6-9, 10-12.
If you have any children within your family, or know of children who would like to enter, they are more than welcome to join in our competition.
We are really excited to see entries from the entire Sunrayisa region.
So dig out your crayons, pencils, felt tip pens or paint and colour your way to a very choocolate filled school holidays!
Download your age group colour page or pop out and pick up a printed copy from the Airport Administration Office or CAFÉ.
Entries to be into the Mildura Airport by Tuesday 12th April, either via our Admin office,CAFÉ, PO Box SM356, Mildura South, VIC 3501 or info@milair.com.au
Winners Announced Wednesday 13th April