2022 Newsletter #18 June 8
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's news. We have had another wet and windy start to the week. Once again I need to remind the children to wear appropriate clothing, i.e. our winter school uniform. There has been a significant increase in the number of children absent through illness at the moment. Please ensure the children are dressed appropriately and if they are presenting unwell, keep them home so that the flu does not spread any further across the school.
CONFIRMATION: Congratulations to the children who received the Sacrament of Confirmation over the weekend. I had the pleasure of attending a couple of the Masses and it was lovely to see so many families present. Special mention to Fr Matt for his herculean effort celebrating so many Masses with everyone.
NAIDOC DAY: The children had a great time on Monday engaged in a number of activities focussed on our indigenous heritage and culture. Thanks to Mrs Blagus and the children for participating in the special liturgy. Thank you to Will Hannah for his expertise, wisdom and spirituality he shares with the children. Thank you to Sean Choolburra for his enthusiasm, humour and infectious smile throughout his performance with the children. They and the adults thoroughly enjoyed it.
Well done to this week's award winners for following our school norms: BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL and BE YOUR BEST.
BEE MILESTONE AWARDS: Chaz Biddle, Alice Blanchard, Emilia Capp, Chase Chau, Tanveer Cheema,Michael Davies, Zeke Dedman, Gianluca Dimasi, Penelope Doecke, Marco Guevarra, Lily Hector, Manmeet Kaur, William Langford, Monica Leslie, Brayan Moolayil, Issalyn Nazombe, Lucas Nguyen, Tuan Nguyen, Nico Pettinau, Seth Ram, Tirath Singh, Patrick Stevenson, Mele Toto, Holly Welke and Selena Zaire
HIVE MILESTONE AWARDS: Niro Arden, Manpriya Atwal, Hannah Davies, Lola Droffelaar, Olly Morton, Dustin Simmons and John Thang
MILDURA ECO VILLAGE: Luckily the weather held out for the Foundation children to visit the Eco Village yesterday. A wonderful experience for the children to learn about our environment and sustainability. It's great that our children have these opportunities to learn more about our local environment
JUNIOR UNIT LITURGY: This Friday at 12.15pm in the chapel. If you are available, please come along and celebrate with the children.
QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY LONG WEEKEND: Don't forget that this Monday 13th June is a Public Holiday. If you are travelling this weekend, please be careful on the roads and I hope everyone has a great long weekend.
MAPPEN WEEK: There have been some amazing constructions happening this week as the children continue their learning. Hopefully your children are telling you about all the new learning in which they have been engaged. On Friday, @1.30pm, the senior students invite parents and caregivers to share in their MAPPEN week learning. Students in Grades Foundation to 4 will share their learning during Student Led Conferences the following week.
DRIVE THRU/PICK UP: Please remember the Drive thru /Pick up area is not a carpark. Please do not leave your vehicle when dropping off children in the morning as it causes traffic to bank up along the entrance and 14th street
STUDENT LED CONFERENCES: A reminder that next Wednesday and Thursday students will lead the interview celebrating their learning over Terms 1 & 2. This is an excellent opportunity for them to take responsibility & ownership of their own learning as well as a forum for parents, teacher & student to set realistic learning goals for the next semester. If you haven't done so already, parents to book a 15 min timeslot on the Simon Everywhere App.
WINTER UNIFORM: Don't forget the winter uniform is compulsory. If your child is out of uniform please notify the classroom teacher.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL: Last night the council met and there were lots to discuss. Obviously the current flu circulating throughout the school was a hot topic of discussion as well as celebrating the current structured literacy approach that has been adopted across the whole school. The initial results are showing a significant improvement in student learning in Literacy. Well done to everyone involved.
STAFF UPDATE: Mr Warwick McDermott, PE teacher, has accepted an ongoing position at Red Cliffs Secondary College and will commence Term 3. We are in the process of advertising and finding a suitable replacement. I would like to thank Warwick in the short time he has been here at St Paul's and wish him all the best as he continues his career elsewhere.
Have a great week everyone,
As always
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
Student Led Conferences - Wednesday 15th & Thursday 16th June
Student Led Conferences are available on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th June between 3.45pm-6.15pm. Students will lead the interview celebrating their learning over Terms 1 & 2. This is an opportunity for them to take responsibility & ownership of their own learning as well as a forum for parents, teacher & student to set realistic learning goals for the next semester.
We encourage all parents to book a 15 min timeslot on the Simon Everywhere App.
- Select Parent Teacher Interviews from the Home screen.
- Select Child
- Select Student Led conference
- Select Class (this will default to their CORE class which is their usual classroom.
- Select Interview Time
- Book Interview
Repeat process for any siblings.
We look forward to as many families as possible attending to affirm the learning of our fabulous students.
Senior Unit News
Last week all senior students participated in the Soccer, Netball, AFL and Hockey inter school sport events. Everyone gave their very best in each of the games and showed fantastic team spirit. Although we didn’t progress to the next level, teachers were very impressed with the cooperation and sportsmanship.
This week students are working hard on the MAPPEN unit ‘Bizarre, Bazaar’. In the past few weeks students have been through a series of stages to design a product they think will fill a need in the market. Today students will begin making a prototype of their product. In addition to this they will consider the best way to market their product. Parents and friends are invited to the Senior Unit at 1.30pm this Friday 10 June to see all our amazing work!
Middle Unit News
In Mappen this week the students are learning about the First Fleet and the Gold Rush. We have done some amazing activities to assist us in understanding the significant impact that our history has on who we are today. We have created a display in the middle of our classrooms and we welcome you to come in and view it. We will leave these displays up for next week to allow people to view them when they come to their Student Led Conferences. On Friday we will be comparing things from the past such as technology, transport and tools to what we have today. We have had some of our teachers bring in some old phones and cameras that were used many many years ago. If you have something at home that you would like to share we ask that your child brings it in and gives it to your teacher.
Junior Unit News
Our current Positive Behaviour focus in the Junior Unit is Respectful Listening. The children all know the '5Ls' of Respectful Listening, as well as the reasons that this is such an important skill to develop. We are proud to announce our next Positive Behaviour Superstars, who have all been selected by their teachers to be the models of respectful listening in their classrooms. Well done, Olly (J4), Cienna (J5), Elih (J7) and Lorenzo (J8). These leaders use the 5Ls all the time and set a high standard for others to follow.
Term 2 Junior Unit Liturgy will take place this Friday 10th June at 12.15pm in the School Chapel. All are warmly welcome to join us. After the liturgy, you will be invited into the Junior classrooms to attend the exclusive premier screening of the children's shadow puppet shows! We look forward to seeing many of you then.
Foundation Unit News
This week the children are taking part in MAPPEN week. Our focus has been SCIENCE and we have been focusing on two areas:
1. Living things have a variety of external features and live in different places where their basic needs, including food, water and shelter are met.
2. Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves.
The children are completing a Science Workbook about living things which they will be sharing at the Student Led Conferences.
On Sunday the 5th June it was "World Environment Day". To celebrate this day the children were very fortunate to go on an excursion to the Mildura Eco Village and listen to Sarah share her wonderful knowledge about our Australian Wildlife and to learn about the endangered animals in our area. The children all had the opportunity to gently pat the animals as Sarah brought them around. It was a very exciting and informative session.
Arts News
This term in The Arts room we have been busy exploring all things Media Arts. The senior students have been enjoying the chance to get in front and behind the camera, experimenting with different camera angles and shot sizes.
Photographers in action
Camera shots
Technology News
Recently as the Technology Room has become overun by mice!
Junior Unit students have been excitedly exploring how to create, represent and program algorithms using Jack, our Code & Go Robotic Mice. They've experienced successes, but also made mistakes. In coding terms they call their mistakes bugs and with perserverance and teamwork, it never takes them long to debug their algorithms and get Jack moving in the right direction.
Until next week, remember; "technology should improve your life...not become your life." - Billy Cox
Mrs Narelle Simms
Cyber criminals use technology online to commit crimes, like stealing money, identity theft and spreading computer viruses. This can happen without you seeing or knowing. Use these top three tips to support your children to be secure online.
For more information about online security and supporting your children, visit the eSafety Commissioner webpage, https://www.esafety.gov.au/
Hands Up Mallee
Last Friday the Senior numbers on the basketball courts were low due to Interschool sports but Olivia & I were busy trialling some games that we will get to use this Friday when the MIDDLE UNIT will be able to ride their bikes/scooters to school and meet me on the basketball courts at lunch time.
Don’t forget that Sunraysia Community Health Services (SCHS) are running a competition for all school aged children across Sunraysia to create an Active travel poster that will be used to promote Walk to School later this year.
We encourage any student to create a poster. There will be 3 prizes of $100 Gift Vouchers to Officeworks as well as their design being used to promote Walk to School month during 2022.
The poster MUST include – lots of colour, pictures and text, information promoting kids to walk/ride/scoot to school, be in A4 format.
Think about what is active travel and why is it good for us? What pictures can I add to support this.
Any entries can be given to Narelle Simpson, dropped off at the Office or emailed to nsimpson@spmildura.catholic.edu.au before 20th July.
It would be great to have a winning entry from our school! Let’s get designing!
Sacred Heart Parish News
Parent Noticeboard
TerryWhite Chemmart Mildura - Deakin Ave
Family flu vaccine clinic
In-store FLU vaccinations available this Saturday 11 June. Walk in, no appointment neccesary.
Medicare card must be provided.