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It is alway a good idea to keep revisiting conversations about online safety with children. ESafety Commissioner has a wealth of resources for parents to support conversations about safety issues and strategies children can use. The videos are a quick and easy way to access information. See the link below:
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/resources
School Uniform
Parents are reminded that we do have some second hand uniform items available onsite at school, located in the P & F room. Items are very reasonably priced.
Students need to be wearing winter uniforms. Classroom teachers have been regularly reminding students about appropriate uniform items, including jewellery and hair accessories. Please see the uniform policy attached.
Students are reminded to wear the school jumper or zip jacket outside and may wear any coloured coat especially in the wet and cold weather.
Sex Ed 4 Schools
Information about the years 3-6 Sex Ed 4 schools program will be held via zoom, Tuesday 18 June from 6:30-7:30pm. The program that students participate in covers the Victorian Curriculum requirements.
Please click on this link
Sex Ed 4 Schools Parent Information Session
P & F Mural Consultation Group
A big thank you to Susan from our P & F for her work with driving the P&F mural project. Tonight Monday 17 June a number of students and family members will meet to further explore ideas and themes that will form a mural at St Catherine's focused on the theme of belonging. A group of students have met previously with Susan to share their ideas. Families, as important members of the school community, have now been invited to a second workshop to further explore these ideas and add in the things that are important to them.
HOLT Netball
Congratulations to our HOLT netball team who won division B HOLT netball last Thursday 13 June. They persevered in the drizzling rain to win all their matches. Thanks to Sue, Antonella and parents who supported the students to get to and from the venue.
St Catherine’s Got Talent
Family and friends are invited to St Catherine’s Got Talent final on Thursday 20 June at 2:15pm in our school hall. We had 19 entrants audition and we are down to 8 finalists. We are excited to see our finalists' performances.
Year 5’s Community Outreach Program
Many of our year 5 students have been visiting local kinders and childcare centres supporting younger students with learning and playing. They have been fantastic student ambassadors, showing respect, kindness and understanding through their interactions with younger children. The staff at the visiting centres have commented on how wonderful our students are.
Our Kindergarten friends from Bruthen Street Kindergarten also came for a visit and spent time with Mrs Hills in the Foundation classroom. Our fantastic choir popped in to sing a song or two, which the children loved.
Phonics
There has been a lot of coverage in the media regarding the teaching of phonics in primary schools. I want to reassure parents that St Catherine’s has always taught phonics as part of our reading and writing programs. In recent years we have taken a more explicit approach to the teaching of phonics, which includes evidence-based best practice.
Melbourne Archdiocese Schools (MACS) has already begun working closely with schools in this area, launching the Vision for Instruction: Flourishing Learners position statement. The statement is drawn from evidence-based research on the Science of Learning and gives clear teaching direction to schools on best practice.
It is worth noting that a high quality, evidence-based reading approach that we implement in our school comprises of:
Phonemic awareness- Understanding that speech is made up of words and words are made up of distinct sounds
Phonics- Phonics is knowledge of the relationships between letters and sounds and the ability to use this knowledge to decode and write words
Fluency- Reading accurately, quickly and expressively
Vocabulary-Knowledge of the meaning of words
Comprehension- The ability to understand and construct meaning from text.
Parent/Teacher/Student Meetings
Term 3 Parent/Teacher/Student Meetings will be held face to face in your child's classroom. Students are required to attend these meetings with their parents as they will be sharing their semester 1 achievements and learning goals for semester 2.
Meetings are scheduled for:
Wednesday 17th July
Thursday 18th July
Meetings will be 15 minutes duration.
Please do not book back-to-back meetings if you have more than one child to allow time to move between the meetings.
Click here to book Parent/Teacher/Student meetings
Or
Go to the Parent Teacher Student Meeting tile on the SZapp school app
Student semester one reports will be sent home with students on Friday 28 June (last day of term 2).
Term 3 Dates
Term 3 begins on Monday 15 July
Term 3 ends on Friday 20 September
Teachers will send home important dates for term 3 in the Curriculum Term 3 Outline at the beginning of the term.
Eucharist 2024- 10.30am Sunday, 25th August
All eligible students will celebrate their First Eucharist on Sunday, 25th August.
Detailed information and an Enrolment Form was sent home to eligible families.
Please return the enrolment form to school by Thursday, 6th June.
Important dates for your diary:
Eucharist Family Workshop - 6pm Tuesday, 16th July (Learning Hub)
Presentation Mass - 10.30am Sunday, 4th August (St Catherine’s Church)
Eucharist Reflection Day - 9.00-3.30 Wednesday, 7th August (Learning Hub)
First Eucharist Mass - 10.30am Sunday, 25th August
Classes attending Parish Mass- 10am Wednesday
Families are welcome to attend.
Wednesday 19th June- 1/2AT & 5JH
1/2AT Family Faith Night- Wednesday, 12th June
Year 1/2 Baptism Faith Night
Wednesday, 12th June
Last Wednesday, the 1/2AT families gathered in the Learning Hub to participate in the Family Faith Workshop. The theme of the night was ‘Belonging to special groups’ such as the Catholic family for baptised Catholics, St Catherine's family and our own special families.
The evening began with a welcome, followed by some background on the Sacrament of Baptism. The families also learnt about the symbols of Baptism and what they meant/represented. The families brainstormed many of the special groups they belonged to and symbols associated with these groups e.g. dance, taekwondo, soccer, football, cricket ETC.
Parents shared with their children why they chose their name and why it is so special. Alana then led a lovely guided meditation ‘What’s in a name?’ which focused on how we are all unique and called to be part of God’s special family.
Parents shared some special mementos from their child’s baptism/childhood with the group. Thank you for sharing these special memories with the group.
The evening ended with the children singing, ‘God Loves Me’.
Alana Tavcar 1/2AT Classroom Teacher
Carmel Donlon- Religious Education Leader
FMH News
Milo’s Birthday Surprise
Congratulations to all of our amazing Foundation students who have worked so hard this semester to learn all of the letters of the alphabet and their most common sounds. We began this journey in term one using the Little Learners Love Literacy program. Milo the monkey is the main character in the program. Each week the students were introduced to 2 letters and Milo’s friends that matched the letters such as Sally Snake, Felix Frog and Ally Alligator to name a few of the favourites. We met each character in a lovely book called Milo’s Birthday Surprise as they prepared to celebrate Milo’s birthday.
Last Thursday the students dressed for Milo’s party and each bought along an animal friend from home to share in the festivities. The students wrote about their special friends and shared with each other why they had invited this friend to come along. We played old fashioned games like pass the parcel and pin the cupcake on Milo’s hand. The students followed a procedure to make jelly the day before the party and on the day iced and created Milo monkey cupcakes. We celebrated with a party lunch and sang to Milo. Everyone had a wonderful time.
Year 5 & 6 News
Year 6 Learning Assembly
Chiterchiterchat, everyone was chatting as we waited patiently for the parents to arrive. This term, our learning assembly was going to be on natural disasters. As the learning hub filled with our families, we got excited to start.
We began the assembly by watching a slideshow and congratulating all Year 6 students who did their Confirmation. I remember on the day I was very scared but then I saw the bishop being a bit funny so I had a sudden rush of confidence. It was a very special day.
Then, Mrs Moore was kind enough to put together a video of camp which went for three minutes. Itr was the first time we had seen it, along with our families. Bella and Finn also shared their reflections of camp.
Finally we got into the fun part of our assembly. Our theme for our assembly was natural disasters. We had been researching disasters this term. Each of us were put into groups of two depending on which disaster we wanted to research. We started the research, created a poster, made a diorama, and came up with an experiment to explain our disaster. We put together a two and a half minute presentation showcasing all of this. I worked with Bella and we choose to do tornadoes as our natural disaster. We also got the chance to go on an excursion to Melbourne Museum and saw 2 IMAX movies about natural disasters. It was really fun to watch as I learnt a lot of things.
So we headed to our stations to get started on our presentation. We did an experiment which was a tornado in a jar. While doing this, I learnt how to be organised because after each experiment we had to keep filling and tipping out the jars for the next lot of people. We got to tell them lots about our disaster. After a lot of talking about tornadoes we had finally finished and headed back to the front. Mrs Moore then announced all the people who got awards and we cheered them on. The assembly turned out very well and we got to showcase all of our learning to our families and friends.
By Lachlan, Year 6
Year 6 Learning Awards
Bella - for always coming to school with a wonderfully positive attitude and confidently sharing your ideas and stories with the class.
Jensen - for being such a strong role model in our classroom, always doing the right thing and leading by example.
Finn - for being a dedicated and hardworking member of our class, consistently striving to achieve your best.
Felicity - for embodying kindness and empathy in all your interactions.
Year ⅚ Excursion to IMAX and Melbourne Museum
What a strange Monday morning! We were ready for the excursion to the Melbourne Museum and IMAX, where we were going to watch some films on natural disasters. We met up at Moorabbin station and then we got on the train together. We got off the train at Parliament station. After a long walk to the museum, we arrived there, we pulled out our lunch boxes and grabbed our brain food and we ate as much as we could as we wouldn’t be eating again until mid-day. When we finished, we placed our bags on a trolley. Everybody was excited and ready for the experience!
We headed into the Museum and learned about the prehistoric times of the Earth. We were learning as much as we could, looking at the fascinating facts. Everybody loved the 360 degree 3D volcano exhibit where we went into the volcano.
Then we headed off to the Bugs Alive section, where things got more gross than informative. We saw many different types of bugs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We watched a horrific movie about bugs (or fictional bugs) hunting their prey. Then we saw a smelling mechanism, and people started to prank other people to smell stuff like bug dunny and all that, but some of them were good like lavender. We then headed off to the dinosaur diograms.
We got to look at the dinosaur exhibit and all of the fossils. The dinosaur diagrams were so cool, we saw a 3d cgi-ed dinosaur that was cool to look at. There were a few facts which were really interesting. Then we headed out, had a toilet break, had lunch and got ready for the IMAX movies.
The IMAX movie we were watching was called ‘Extreme Weather’ and it was really extreme! The teachers grabbed us some popcorn, which was so yummy! Then the movie started. They switched between different natural disasters like ice glaciers, tornadoes and floods. It was really crazy and we learnt a lot. We had a little break and then, we watched a 3D movie called “Volcanoes”. It was about this explorer that climbed into a volcano to explore it. It was pretty cool, especially with the 3-Dimensional glasses.
After the movie, we ate our lunch and walked back to the train, caught the train to Moorabbin station and then walked back to school. We had the best day! There was learning and fun! It was a pretty solid trip if you ask me.
Lachlan E, 6MR
I loved the IMAX movies and I would do it all over again! 5/5 rating overall!
Cooper, 5JH
My favourite part was going to IMAX! We watched 2 different movies. My favourite movie was extreme weather. I learnt that if there is a mountain in the ocean it can go all the way to the bottom and can even be taller than Mount Everest, but technically Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on land above sea level. I rate this excursion a 5 out of 5.
Leona, 5JH
At the Dynamic Earth exhibit I enjoyed looking at all the rocks and Gemstones and the rotating Earth models which showed you what the Earth looked like millions of years ago. I really enjoyed going to IMAX and the museum. I had lots of fun and it was an amazing experience for me! So I’m giving my museum experience 5 out of 5 stars.
Benjamin, 5JH
Year 5 Learning Assembly
Last week, the Grade 5 students did a fantastic job sharing some of their literacy learning to their families. Throughout Term 2, students have been focusing on informative writing with a particular focus on information reports. They have explored the structural features and language requirements of informative writing, implementing them in their work. The students were asked to complete a project on natural disasters. In groups of three, they had to describe the natural disaster, identify the part of the world it impacts the most, find some devastating examples, explore the impact of the natural disaster, research the impact of scientific developments in predicting these disasters and find how people prepare for natural disasters. The students researched, took notes and summarised their research to create an informative poster with a timeline of key examples. They also used their newfound knowledge to create a working model or diorama of their natural disaster.
The Learning Assembly began with a debrief about their recent school camp and all of the fantastic and wonderful things that they did whilst they were there. The students recapped their favourite activities including raft building, canoeing, the mud run, the flying fox, bushcraft, low ropes, aeroball, the giant swing, the campfire and splash. The grade 5 students loved the salad bar and throwing water balloons at their teacher too!
The students shared about their experience at their recent excursion to the Melbourne Museum and IMax. They got to explore the exhibits and learn more about extreme weather.
For their learning assembly, the students set up an exhibition around the learning hub. At each station was a different group with a different project about a natural disaster. There was a station for floods, cyclones, tsunamis, volcanoes, bushfires and earthquakes. The families visited each of the stations and the students shared their incredible posters and models, imparting their knowledge about the natural disaster to the eager audience. The students were very knowledgeable about their natural disaster and became experts!
Following the exhibition, the families teamed up and competed against one another in the Ultimate Natural Disasters Kahoot put together by the students. It was a fierce battle but in the end the McCubbin’s won!
We concluded the assembly with learning awards! Congratulations to our award winners!
Thank you to everyone who attended the Year 5 Learning Assembly! Your participation in the exhibition and support of the students was greatly appreciated. The children did a fantastic job and should be very proud of their efforts!
Year 5 Learning Awards
Lily - For showing gratitude and empathy, and having a positive outlook when faced with challenges
Vincent - For showing fantastic persistance and resilience to overcome and face obstacles
Benjamin - For being a kind and supportive classmate who looks out for others and helps them to overcome challenges
Harlan - For being kind, thoughtful and empathetic towards others and for always having a positive attitude
Holt Netball Lightning Premiership
Susan Pattinson
WOW… St Catherine’s has a whole lot of talent!
Over the past few weeks we have had the great pleasure of holding auditions from 19 acts entered in this year’s St Catherine’s Got Talent. Our judging panel have been overwhelmed with the level of creativity and presentation of the performers and have managed to lock in 8 finalists.
We look forward to showcasing these wonderful performers at our Grand Finale this Thursday 20th June at 2:15pm sharp.
Parents and families are all welcome to be part of the audience in the hall as it promises to be an afternoon not to be missed!
If you have any questions please email sandra.renehan@stcatherines.catholic.edu.au
Craft Power Incursion Foundation, Year 1 & 2
As a part of our Science unit on forces the F-2 students participated in a fantastic incursion presented by Craft Power. We have been learning about the forces of push and pull and on the day we all made a wooden car with a pull gear to make it move. The students were very excited to hammer away and create their cars. The pliers came in very handy to straighten and pull out the bent nails. They also traced around stencils to make road signs.
The Foundation students enthusiastically painted their cars & signs last week and the year 1 & 2 students will be painting their cars and signs this week. We had a quick session to trial our cars and are looking forward this week to racing them in the hall.
A huge thank you to Hannah, Kirsty, Denise and Angelina for their support on the day.
Anthony: I liked using the hammer to hammer the nails
Ellie: I liked painting the cars.
Gabe: I really liked it when the cars went fast like Sonic.
Zia: I won the race when we raced our cars
Kingston Council: WOW- Walk or Wheel to school
Kingston Council staff have worked with staff, students and parents (surveys & consultations) to develop the ‘St Catherine’s Primary School Walk & Wheel Route Map’. A copy of the map was sent home to each family last week. The council also donated a drink bottle which was sent home with your child last week.
The suggested routes to school map has been designed to help encourage students to walk, bike, scoot, skate or park and stride safely to school.
The Golden Boot award will be awarded this week to a class who walked or wheeled the most over the last 6 weeks. Our Year 6 Leaders will calculate the average scores and present the award to the winning class.
We are hoping to do this again in Term 3 and 4 in order to embed the routine of walking or wheeling to school. With more students travelling actively to school, this will reduce the amount of cars on the road and traffic congestion during busy drop off and pick up times.
Movie Event!
Holy Trinity Parish Bollywood Night
For more information or to book tickets, scan the QR code
Click on the image to catch up the latest Parish bulletin