New Staff

Welcome to Holly Burke who is replacing Alana Tavcar in year 1-2AT while she is on maternity leave. Alana and Holly have been working together last week to ensure a smooth transition for students.The students have adapted well to the change and Holly has been quick to establish herself in our school community.

Alana had planned to work this week and finish up on Friday 26 July, however her doctor has instructed her to rest. All is well with her and the baby and she eagerly awaits the arrival of baby Tavcar in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted as soon as we hear any news.

Alana' s class farewell

Last Thursday the 1/2AT families organised a farewell party for Alana Tavcar as she leaves to take family leave. Thank you to the parents that organised the food, activities and beautiful gift. She will be missed by the St Catherine's community. We wish her all the best as she begins this new and exciting adventure.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): Monday 2 September – Friday 20 September 2024

Throughout each year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling. This feedback is invaluable to our progress as effective school communities and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices.

A significant and formal way in which we engage and gather data is through MACSSIS, the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys.

MACSSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne by the Learning Services team at MACS, in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with principals in our schools.

In 2024, students, families and staff are invited to participate in MACSSIS via our secure and purpose-built online platform. The online platform is where our school leaders will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys.

The MACSSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd. The platform meets with the high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data. Participating schools are in the process of updating their privacy policy to ensure school communities are fully informed and protected. 

Students at our school (years 4-6) will be provided with supervised sessions, where teachers are on hand to help and answer any questions. Families and staff can complete the survey anytime over the three-week window via an emailed link and password. Feedback has indicated that previous surveys were completed across a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. Schools will be providing more information about MACSSIS throughout Term 3.

Our community’s opinions are critical to understanding how our school is performing – MACSSIS is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school.

All participation is invited, welcomed and 100 per cent voluntary. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to support the work we are already doing to improve our school. Everyone has the right to refuse to participate, or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during or after completion of the survey. Please notify the school if your child does not wish to participate.

If you would like more information, please contact the school.

Staffing Changes for Term 3 and 4

The following information was sent home to families last Wednesday 17 July

Dear Parents and Guardians,

 I wish to inform you that l have accepted a new position at Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) as a Senior Learning partner. This new role will enable me to continue to grow my instructional leadership and work closely with regional system leaders to deliver teaching and learning services to schools. I will be sad to leave the St Catherine's school community. 

My time leading St Catherine’s school and supporting students, staff, families and parish has been both enjoyable and rewarding. It has been a privilege to watch students grow and learn, from the initial enrolment process through to their year 6 graduation. St Catherine’s is truly a community school and working closely with parents and staff to support student learning, spiritual and wellbeing development has been a highlight of my time as principal. 

My last day at St Catherines will be Friday 2nd August and l look forward to catching up with each of you before l leave. Ms Carmel Donlon has been appointed as the Acting Principal for the rest of Term 3 and Term 4. Carmel will continue to work with all staff and community members to ensure that our students receive excellent learning and wellbeing opportunities. 

Over the next 2 terms the MACS office will work with our Parish and school to organise the ongoing leadership arrangements for 2025. Updates will be provided to the community as this progresses. I am looking forward to starting a new direction in my professional career and thank students, families and staff for all their support over the years of my time as principal.

A big thank you to the many parents for your kind words and congratulations. I am currently working with MACS, Carmel Donlon and school leadership to ensure leadership arrangements are in place for the remainder of 2024.

Term 3 Curriculum Term Outlines 

Grandparents Day

We are so looking forward to Grandparents and special friends joining us at school on Wednesday 24 July. See further details in the Religious Education section of this newsletter.

Grandparents/Special Friends Morning

9.00-11.30am Wednesday, 24th July

We invite parents, guardians, grandparents and special friends to visit our school community, attend Mass and share morning tea in the school hall. 

• 9:10-9:45am Classroom Visits 
• 9:45-10:50am Parish Mass 
• 11:00-11:40am Morning Tea in the Learning Hub (For families & visitors only)

Tea and coffee available for early arrivals in the Learning Hub 8:45-9:05am. Enter from main office entrance

The asphalt area of the school will be open for parking for visitors from 9:00am. Please only park in this area if visitors are unable to walk longer distances as spaces are limited. 

Eucharist 2024- 10.30am Sunday, 25th August 

All eligible students will celebrate their First Eucharist on Sunday, 25th August.

Important dates for your diary:

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

Eucharist Family Workshop- Tuesday, 16th July

Thank you to all the families who came together last Tuesday to begin the Eucharist Sacramental journey with their child.

 Throughout the session families worked together to:

•  Discussed family and church celebrations
•  Learnt about the Sacrament of Eucharist 
• Decorated their Eucharist candles and stoles

Lord Jesus, Bless the children coming forward to receive Holy Communion for the first time. May this day be an initial step into a life-long love of the Eucharist. Give them a hunger for this sacred food so that they turn to You for comfort, guidance, and wisdom as they grow into full discipleship.

Classes attending Parish Mass- 10am Wednesday

Wednesday 24th July - Whole School - Grandparents/Special Friends

Wednesday  7th August - 3/4JB & 3/4DK

Wednesday 14th August - Whole School - Feast of the Assumption

Wednesday 28th August - 1/2AT & 5JH

Wednesday 4th September - FMH & 6MR

Families are invited to attend.

Carmel Donlon- Religious Education Leader

Email: carmel.donlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au

Welcome back to Term 3 everyone. I hope you all had time to relax a little and share the great work done during Term 2. 

Planning ahead for Term 3 holidays, the host of our school program lessons is Marty Heppell and he is touring his show, 3 Happy Tricks. For more information head to https://theresilienceproject.com.au/kids-shows-2024/

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the home component of The Resilience Project click on the link and explore what is on offer. The podcasts are always very informative and new material is added and highlighted each month reflecting on strategies for parents, adults, teens & kids in relation to looking after our mental health.

In this month’s special video message for the kids from Martin, he talks about Empathy.

Empathy is understanding and sharing the feelings of other people.

What is something kind you have done for someone else who has been feeling sad?

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/kids-2023/

Please take some time to have a look at the term 3 free webinars offered by the eSafety Commissioner. If you head to eSafety.gov.au/parents/webinars you will be able to register and find a short explanation of what will be covered in the webinar.

Have a great week,

Maree

Congratulations to our student voice representatives for Semester 1 on doing such a great job:

Pace, Sebastien, Haley, Martin, Cooper and Lachlan

and.....

Introducing our new representatives for Semester 2, who will be working alongside our Semester 1 reps for a few weeks:

Matilda, Isabelle, Alexander, Vanessa, Eve and Lily-Mae 

To celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, St Catherine’s Primary School will be turning Green and Gold on Friday 2nd August. Students are invited to come to school dressed in green and gold clothing to show their support for our Australian athletes. 

Our school will be holding a whole school mini Olympic Games at 9 - 11 on this date.

This year, the students at St Catherine’s have been learning all
about the various yearly events that occur in Japan.
For example, on 5 May, we have 子供の日 (Kodomono no Hi) or
Children’s Day. This is a national holiday in Japan! Traditionally, it
was Boy’s Day. Girls have their own day on 3 March. Families fly 鯉
ののぼり (koinobori/flying carp) from their roof to symbolise the
boys in their family and display samurai armour, swords, bows,
arrows and helmets.
The Grade 1/2s made their own 兜 (kabuto/samurai helmet) and are
learning a song about koinobori which they will perform later in the
year.

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 term. The council also donated a drink bottle which was sent home with your child last term.

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 was awarded to 3/4JB last week as the class who walked or wheeled the most over 6 weeks in Term 2.  Our Year 6 Leaders calculated the average scores and presented the award to the winning class. Congratulations Year 3/4JB!

We are hoping to do this again in Term 4 when the weather is better 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.

Presenting our upcoming college production of Mamma Mia! 

Click on the image or scan the QR code to book your tickets

click on the image to visit Sam's website