2022 Newsletter #20 June 22
Principal News
Dear St Paul's families,
Welcome to this week's news update and our last for term 2.
STUDENT LED CONFERENCES- Thank you to the children and parents who attended out conferences last week. There was a great attendance rate overall and the children were able to showcase their learning so far. Thank you to everyone involved.
CONGRATULATIONS: Well done Miss Jess, the Middle Unit and Senior Unit Choirs for their performances at the Eisteddfod. An outstanding effort to win first place in their categories.
ST PAUL'S FEAST DAY: What a wonderful way to start the week with our Feast Day celebrations. Our day began with a beautiful liturgy prepared by Mrs Blagus and the children. The children had a fantastic day participating in the activities, with the highlight being the "Obstacool Course" on the oval. The staff vs students challenge was highly entertaining. Thank you to Pauline and Narelle Simpson for organising the catering for the children for lunch and also to Sunraysia Community Health Services for coming down and helping out on the day. Thank you also to the staff planning committee for organising the different activities for the children to participate in. The photos on our school Facebook page says it all.
ENROLMENT INTERVIEWS: I have been still conducting enrolment interviews for Foundation for 2023. Places are filling up fast. If you have not made a booking or know of someone who is looking to enrol, please contact the school asap.
COVID-19 UPDATE: Over the weekend, the state government made several changes to the COVIDSafe settings in Victoria. DOBCEL and our school’s approach has been, and will continue to be, in accordance with the relevant health advice. The health advice underpinning the mandate was that staff needed to be vaccinated to work in schools. I am seeking further clarification regarding these changes as they will come into effect for the beginning of Term Three. St Paul's will continue to have strong measures in place, including enhanced ventilation such as air purifiers, ongoing use of rapid antigen testing and ensuring those who are unwell stay home. This will continue to help keep our school as safe as possible. A reminder for families that RAT tests can be collected at any time from the office.
STAFFING NEWS: Farewell to Miss Rhia who is starting her maternity leave at the end of term. We look forward to meeting the newest member of the Doherty family soon.
Last week we conducted interviews for various positions that were advertised. I would like to congratulate and welcome to St Paul's staff the following new members:
-Learning Support officers: Kristy Porter and Kosha Shanahan. Kristy is replacing Carl Hunt who resigned recently and Kosha will be replacing Bel Jenkins as she commences further studies. Bel will still be with us but in a reduced capacity.
-Grade 3/4 Teacher (M2) Amy Jones will be teaching with Mrs Byrnes as Mrs Doherty commences Parental leave.
-Grade 5/6 Teacher (S11) Kirrily Parfrey will be replacing Mrs Gray when she commences parental leave midway through Term Three.
At this moment in time we are still looking for a replacement for Mr McDermott for P.E. for next term. I will keep you updated with any developments.
DOBCEL BOARD :As you may be aware, parish priests are no longer the governing authority of our Catholic schools. Last year, DOBCEL (Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited) took over the governance of our fifty six parish schools. This was an historic undertaking shifting the governance from parish priests to the DOBCEL Board. Catholic Education Ballarat is the operational arm of DOBCEL and is responsible for the implementation of DOBCEL strategies, policies and procedures, and overseeing the day to day running of our schools. The DOBCEL board is currently in the process of visiting all fifty six of the diocesan schools. On Monday 11th July, members of the DOBCEL Board will visit St Paul's to see our facilities and meet with our staff and the staff of Our Lady's Merbein.
Congratulations to this week's award winners for following our school norms.
BEE MILESTONE: Liam Brown, Aubree Carmichael, Cooper Chapple, Nicholas Cross, Malia Fonua, Minh-Ky Le, Angela Nguyen, Dustin Scott, Zac Scott, Nhyla Tickle
HIVE MILESTONE: Kalasia-Rose Fonua, Paityn Miller, Lottie Moyle, Deji Obatoki, Maggie Slimmon, Ari Williams
END OF TERM TWO: This Friday is the last day of term. School will finish at 2.25pm.
TERM 3 START DATE: On Monday 11th July St Paul's & Our Lady's Merbein staff have a Professional learning day. Students first day for Term 3 will be Tuesday 12th July.
Thank you everyone for your support throughout the first half of the year. Please enjoy a well earned break and I look forward to seeing you all next term.
As always,
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello
End of Term 2 2022
Friday 24 June 2022 is the last day of school for Term 2.
**School will finish at the earlier time of 2.25pm.**
The school buses will be running to an earlier time table. Parents of children who make a connection to normal Main Road City Buses, please note that these buses run to the normal timetable.
Monday 11 July is a Pupil Free day, Professional Development day for staff. Term 3 Classes for students will resume again on Tuesday 12 July 2022.
Australian Maths Competition - Years 3-6
The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives; it is open to students in years 3 to 12.
The Maths Competition will be run at St Paul's on Wednesday 3rd or Thursday 4th August. If you would like your child to participate, please email Melissa Sutherland - msutherland@spmildura.catholic.edu.au
For more information please head to - https://www.amt.edu.au/amc
Senior Unit News
This week the Senior Unit students had an amazing time participating in St Paul’s Day activities. Students were very excited about the ‘Obstacool’ course and racing the teachers.
Here are some student reflections:
Victoria (S13): My favourite part of St Pauls’ Day was when the Year 6 students raced the teachers and the teachers cheated by blocking the students.
Asiate (S14): My favourite part of St Paul’s Day was going on the ‘Obstacool’ course and when Mrs Simms stopped Ms Parker from completing the race.
A reminder that relationships and sexuality lessons begin this week. We will discuss changes during puberty and appropriate terminology for the sexual and reproductive anatomy. Parents are encouraged to discuss the lessons with their child and to contact your child's class teacher if you have any questions or queries.
We wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday! We look forward to seeing everyone back at school rejuvenated on Tuesday 12th of July ready to begin term 3.
Middle Unit News
Its hard to believe that its the end of the term and that we are half way through the year. The students should all be very proud of their efforts this Term.
In Literacy this week we are learning about appositives. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or clarifies the noun that comes before it. Learning about appositives assists us in better understanding what we are reading and helps us to add detail to our writing. The students have done an amazing job of being able to identify appositives in text.
In Numeracy we are focusing on division. The students have been discussing how knowing our times tables is so important and that is assists us in division. We encourage students to continue to practice their timestables at home.
CONGRATULATIONS to our amazing Middle Unit Choir, they received first place in the Eistedford on Friday. We are so very proud of them.
We would like to wish Miss Rhia all the best as she begins maternity leave and prepares for the arrival of her baby. We cannot wait to hear your exciting news.
As a part of Literacy on Friday we will be viewing the film Peter Rabbit. This is rated PG, if you are concerned about your child viewing this please let your classroom teacher know.
Junior Unit News
We're officially half way through the school year! This is the first full semester of uninterrupted in-school learning the juniors have ever experienced, and they have done a remarkable job. We are so proud of the progress they are making. We wish you all a restful winter break and look forward to all the adventures Term Three will bring.
We all send our love and congratulations to Joseph Santos ( J4) and family on the safe arrival of baby Jack.
Foundation Unit News
Welcome to Week 9!
What a busy term we have had. We have managed to fit in all of the following things: Student Led Conferences, Reports, Naidoc Day, National Simultaneous Reading time, Mappen Week, Mother's Day Liturgy, Foundation Liturgy, Catholic Education Week, Skye Boatswain - our student teacher, Cross Country, Buddy Activities and an excursion to Mildura Eco Village. (No wonder we are all tired 😂)
On top of all of the fun adventures we have had, the children have had so much growth and learning and we are so extremly proud of their achievements.
Our Rainbow is getting full of names of the children who are very busy learning their words. Keep up the great work. They are also becoming much better at sounding out words and blending the sounds together to read the take home books. During our writing lessons the sounding out and recording of sounds is amazing and the children are writing great sentences.
We cannot stress how proud we are of the amazing learning our children are achieving and the enthusiasm they have for learning.
We would like to wish everyone a very safe and enjoyable two week holiday. We hope you all have time to recharge the batteries and we look forward to another busy term.
Hands Up Mallee
On Monday the students sampled some new items that we are looking to introduce to the canteen. A huge thank-you goes out to the wonderful mums that assisted us to heat/serve all lunches to the children. We couldn’t have done it without you!! They all got to sample some Vegetable soup, Fried rice, and Sweet Potato wedges. Whilst we had a couple of minor issues (mainly due to the volume we were serving) overall the students really enjoyed the food and gave some great feedback when they were surveyed. Some of the feedback included – would prefer a pureed soup; the sweet potato wedges need to be crunchy; loved the corn in the rice; they were delicious and very beautiful. Thanks to our wonderful students for their honest feedback! All the feedback has been taken on board and some minor tweaking will be done as per student requests. Students were also asked on the survey if they would like to see chicken burgers introduced and the response was a resounding YES! Hopefully early next term we can complete some costings and then update our canteen menu.
This Friday there will not be any bike/scooter riding at lunchtime but that doesn’t mean that bikes and scooters can’t be ridden to school! We will resume the Friday lunch riding again next term as the students have really enjoyed the opportunity to use them at school.
Technology News
Last week, Middle Unit students had an opportunity to show there learning and understanding of what it means to be a good digital citizen and display positive online behaviours. Students began by completing a quiz using Boom Cards software. Then, they completed in a Kahoot for individual honours. Congratulations to all students who demonstrated their learning, but especially those with the fastest fingers and most accurate answers to top the podium in the Kahoot quiz.
This week, Senior Unit students finished the term by putting all they have learned about creative thinking and the design thinking process into practice. In a STEM Challenge, students worked in teams, or individually, to plan and build the tallest free standing tower using only 6 pieces of paper and two strips of masking tape one metre long each.
Well done to Gurman, Robert, Tanveer, Angela, Chi, Manpriya, and Aaron, who successfully build the tallest, free standing tower in their respective classes.
Some students were just a little more creative than others when finding ways to store their pieces of masking tape!
Until next term, remember; "technology should improve your life...not become your life." - Billy Cox
Mrs Narelle Simms
PS - Wishing you all a happy, safe and relaxing holiday break.
As we head into the holidays, the eSafety Commissioner has seven fantastic tips for managing children's screen time for balanced health and wellbeing.
Arts News
A HUGE congratulations to both our Middle and Senior Choirs who competed in the Mildura Eisteddfod last Friday. They did such an amazing job and BOTH placed first in their sections!! Such a great achievement. I commend these students for their dedication and commitment to the group with all the practices taking place during their lunch plays during terms 1 and 2. Well done!
Both groups scored 95 out of a possible 100 points and recieved some really great feedback from the adjudicator, including how well the children sang in 'unison' which is the main aim for a choir. The Senior Choir also recieved the prestigious Charlotte M Harvey memorial award for their efforts!
Both choirs will perform their Eisteddfod songs at this Friday's end of term assembly at 1:30pm. You are more than welcome come along and watch if you are able to!
Sacred Heart Parish News
Parent Noticeboard
MDAS Mildura NAIDOC Coloring Competition
https://www.mdas.org.au/NEWS-AND-EVENTS/Latest-News/MDAS-Mildura-NAIDOC-Coloring-Competition.aspx
