Best Wishes

At the end of this term we say goodbye and best wishes to Deborah Wilson. Deborah has resigned her teaching position at St Catherine’s and will not be returning in term 4.  I wish to thank Deborah for service to our school community. Over the last 6 years, Deborah has worked in a number of different year levels, supporting student learning and families at our school. I wish Deborah all the best for the future.

We welcome Ms Brittany Wrigley who has been appointed Foundation Teacher for term four. Brittany has recently relocated from Sydney and has previous experience teaching Foundation and year 2 in Catholic schools in New South Wales.

Brittany has already visited the school and met with the Foundation students, staff and some parents. She will spend Wednesday 11 September and Tuesday 17 September teaching the Foundation class before she officially begins her role on Monday 7 October. She is very excited to be working with the Foundation children and parents. I am sure you will give her a warm welcome to St Catherine’s.

CEMSIS Survey

On Wednesday 4 September a number of families will be emailed  information about our annual school improvement survey. Not all families will be emailed this information as families will be randomly selected to participate in this survey. I urge families to take some time to complete the survey as results from the survey supports school improvement. Each year schools collect data from students, staff and parents and utilize this data for planning and improvement. Schools receive reports on the following domains:

• Rigorous Expectations
• School Climate
• School Teacher/Student Relationships
• Learning Disposition
• School Belonging
• Student Safety
• Student Voice
• Catholic Identity

Thank you

Thanks to Julie Griffin and the team of parents who supported our Father’s Day Breakfast and Stall. It was great to see our school community gather together and show appreciation for our dads.

Parenting Advice

Last week to book your ticket to see International Parenting expert Andrew Fuller on the 12th of September - Don't miss out!

You can hear Andrew talking about unlocking your child's genius here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjnqmrIm-sc

In this fun and informative presentation, Andrew will give you the tools every parent needs to help with the most important job there is. Author of 12 books including TRICKY KIDS, GUERRILLA TACTICS FOR TEACHERS & HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED AT SCHOOL, Andrew presents the latest research and advice in a way that makes sense and works!

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/guerrilla-tactics-for-parents-tickets-64960392282?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete

School Performance

Tickets for our school performance are now available to purchase. Please click on the link below or enter into your browser to book tickets for our whole school performance at 7:00pm on Tuesday 8 October at Kilbreda College School Hall Mentone.

All students are expected to attend on this night. Parents  do not need to purchase a ticket for St Catherine’s Students. The proceeds of ticket sales support the hire of the venue, dance lessons, costumes and sets.

https://www.trybooking.com/BESMN

Costumes

Thanks to Trish O’Gorman and Maree Hills for sourcing and organising many of the costumes for our performance. We have tried to make costumes fairly easy for parents  and have most items covered. We are asking parents source the following items for their child. Of course if you are able to borrow or find items second hand that would be great. If not we have located where you may be able to purchase items at a reasonable price.  Could these items please be sourced by the end of week 8 - Friday 6 September. Please let your child’s teacher know if you have any queries regarding costumes. Thanking you in advance for your support.

Footy Day Lunch

Our canteen providers Fun Fresh Foods have made available a special Footy day lunch on  Tuesday 10 September. Parents can order lunch for students in the same way you normally do via the Fun Fresh Foods online canteen order.

Highett RSL

Thanks to Highett RSL who have given our school funds to purchase a number of sets of lego. The lego sets are stored in the library/learning hub and used by students when our library/learning hub opens at recess or lunchtime.

Sometimes a video speaks a thousand words.

Term 3, 2019

On Monday, 19 August we held our term 3 board meeting. The key agenda items discussed were:

1. An update and review on 4 new policies we will be introducing into the school, namely our Occupational Health & Safety policy, Food Sharing policy, Excursion / Incursion policy and our Acceptable ICT User Agreement. Our school works tirelessly to ensure that we have the appropriate policies in place to maximise our children’s education and all elements that go towards ensuring this happens as effectively as possible. Copies of our policies can be found on the school website and I would encourage all families to become familiar with these.
2. Child Safety Survey – This has now been completed by our year 5/6 students. St Catherine’s returned a result of 1.5 out of 2 which is a very pleasing result. School leadership will be undertaking a review in coming weeks to define further the results of the survey to learn where any possible gaps may exist so that we can look to bridge or close those gaps moving forward.
3. School Masterplan – Further to my previous report regarding the School Masterplan, we have decided to hold back any submission from our school for the government grant to facilitate these scope of works. The criteria for these government grants are very specific and to ensure the greatest chance of success we need to ensure we have put our very best foot forward. Further work is being done on any potential submission we may make for future submission rounds.
4. Christmas Market – Time is fast approaching where we as a school community will be coming together yet again to celebrate the festive season in the form of our school Christmas market. Julie Griffin and a number of key parents have come together and are doing some fantastic work preparing for this major event in our schools’ calendar. Point to note that this year the P&F are solely running, organising and executing the Christmas market and therefore any additional assistance that can be provided would be greatly appreciated by Julie and the team. No matter how big or small a role you can play, I know the team would be most happy to have your input and assistance. This is being highlighted in the newsletters at the moment as it is a timely topic so please read these and feel free to respond to the P&F team as you can.
5. Grandparen'ts Day – A lot of positive feedback has been received by the school in regards to the running and execution of this years Grandparents day event. It appears as though it really resonated with the attendees and a lot was taken away from it. On behalf of the school I would like to thank all those parents who have passed on this feedback, it is critical in ensuring that future events are just as successful.
6. Year 5/6 Camp – In the same positive messaging, the year 5/6 camp this year was also a great success. The staff have expressed very positive feedback about the behaviour and conduct of the students who attended and have also commented that the venue was particularly suited to our needs.

Lastly, and again, please do not hesitate to touch base with one of our school board members if you would like to discuss anything or make anything known. It is our responsibility to represent the parent body within the St Catherine’s school and we are only too happy to do so.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this board report and I look forward to speaking with you around the school grounds.

Darren Forner

Chair – St Catherine’s School Board

The Term 3 Interschool Chess Competition will be held at Tucker Road Primary School in Bentleigh (16 Tucker Road, Bentleigh). on Wednesday, 4th September.Thank you to all the parents that have registered their children. A Care monkey invitation to participate was sent out during Week 5. Students need a good knowledge of the game in order to participate.The cost is  $24.00 per participant. Please send the cash payment to school in a clearly marked envelope. Students who have not paid will not be able to participate.

Carmel Donlon and Megan Moore will accompany the students on the day. We will walk with the students to the school at 9am and return by 3pm.  Children are to wear their full school uniform, and require snacks, lunch and a drink. School bags will not be required. Students may bring a small backpack for their snack and lunch. Please pack a raincoat/jacket  if wet weather is forecast.

We are looking forward to a great day.

Kind Regards

Carmel Donlon- Coordinating Leader

cdonlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu

The 3/4 Learning Assembly for Term 3 was filled with lots of excitement and curiosity, as the students showed off their procedural writing and scientific skills.

Students began with explaining their knowledge of the molecules of solids, liquids and gases and understanding of a hypothesis to make a prediction about what might happen when you conduct a scientific procedure. After this students participated in an amazing experiment where they were able to turn cream into butter by shaking jars for 10 minutes!

Once they had turned their liquid into a solid, students worked together in groups with their families to make sandwiches. The 3’s and 4’s used the butter they had created to spread on their bread and then added fillings to their sandwiches, including tomato, cheese, avocado, salami, ham and even chocolate! After making and eating their delicious creations, students were able to show their families how to write a procedure for making the perfect sandwich. They looked at the most important features including a title, sub-headings, the materials needed, detailed steps and a conclusion. 

Thank you to all our parents, family members and friends who donated ingredients for our sandwiches and those who came along to our Learning Assembly to see what we are getting up to in the classroom. We hope you had as much fun as our 3/4 students!

On Thursday 29th August St Catherine’s competed in the Holt District Athletics at Duncan McKinnon Athletic Track. With 10 schools competing, competition was tough but in true St Catherine’s style we gave it our all. Our squad of 44 children came mostly from Year 5 and 6 with some very excited Year 3 and 4 children, given their first opportunity to compete at District Level. St Catherine’s came 2nd in percentage, and over all came 4th out of 10 schools. Everyone put a lot of effort in and congratulations to those children moving onto the next round (Beachside) best of luck!

Children going to Beachside next Friday are:

Emilia Fode 1st High Jump, 100m and 2nd 4 x 100m Relay

Oscar Bowen 1st 800m, 1500m and 2nd 4 x 100 Relay

Bianca Treagus 2nd in 4 x 100m Relay

Holly Anstee 2nd 4 x 100m Relay and 3rd 100m

Jessica Lee 2nd 100m 4 x 100m Relay and 3rd Long Jump

Charlie Grainger 2nd 4 x 100m Relay

Peter Kokkalos 2nd 4 x 100m Relay and 3rd Long Jump

Antonio Hunjadi 1st 100m and 2nd 4 x 100m Relay

Josh Whitfield 2nd Discus

Chiara Chiodo 2nd Discus

Other impressive results are as follows with a ribbon awarded for their effort:

Ryan Cunningham 1st 80m Hurdles

Chelsea Edwards 1st 100m

Jack Susic 3rd 800m

Darcy Stevens 3rd 80m Hurdles and 100m

Anika McGuire 2nd 80m Hurdles

Oli MacDonald 3rd 80m Hurdles

Nick Stamatakos 1st 100m

Aliyah Charakas 2nd 100m

Zara Thompsom 3rd Long Jump

Liam Carapeto 3rd Discus

Sienna Webb 3rd Discus

So proud of everyone. Thank you for all your hard work and the excellent sportsman/womanship displayed on the day.

Interschool Sport 30/08/2019

Today, St Catherine’s played against St Agnes in interschool sports at St Agnes.

Basketball

A team played basketball today and had quite a rough game. Both teams however played very well. The scores for the “A” team were 15-37, we lost, but had loads of fun! We are really getting to know the other children which is part of this competition Mrs Patto has organised.

For the “B” team St Catherine’s won 31-21, what an amazing game! That was our very first win. We have certainly improved since the beginning of the competition. Special thanks for the OLSH girls umpiring and St Agnes playing with us!

Rounders

Today, the 30/08/2019 we played St Agnes and sadly lost in rounders 13-17. It was nice and sunny today which made losing a little more bearable. It was a good day. There were many great catches made by both teams. I think the person that was best on field was Edward Taylor.

Today we played St Agnes in an away game. The conditions were great for soccer, plenty of sunshine and no wind. We played very well today and beat St Agnes 5-0. The goal scorers were Nicholas : 2 goals, Jack S : 1 goals, Peter : 1 goal and Daniel : 1 goal. Best on field was Nicholas, Peter, Daniel and Liam. Mrs Patto says we are highly skilled in this area. She is very proud of us all.

Written by Jess, Ollie M, Emilia, Jack S and Ella A, with a little input from Mrs Patto

Interschool Sport 23/08/2019

Soccer News by Ollie McDonald

On the 23rd of August in the glorious sunshine the year 5/6 children played against St Agnes in soccer and lost 1-0. The game was really close, with St Agnes scoring with about 2 minutes to go. Best on the ground were Daniel and Emilia.

Basketball News by Sienna and Mrs Bruenjes

During basketball this week, St Agnes Highett came to our school. The “A” team scored 39 points whilst St Agnes scored 56 points. The “B” team scored 54 vs St Agnes with 68 points. A dissapointing loss, but B team recording their highest score yet. Best on ground were Ava and Mia. Mia gets a great mention for her encouragement of her teamates .

Rounders News by Jack Thorp

It was a beautiful day to play sport this week against St Agnes, made sweeter by the fact that we won our first game 25-33. Ed, Jess and Antonio were equally good on the day. Many thanks to the OLSH girls who came to help umpire us and thanks to St Agnes Highett for playing with us.

St Catherine's Has Footy Fever  

Last week to book your ticket to see International Parenting expert Andrew Fuller on the 12th of September - Don't miss out! 

You can hear Andrew talking about unlocking your child's genius here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjnqmrIm-sc

In this fun and informative presentation, Andrew will give you the tools every parent needs to help with the most important job there is. Author of 12 books including TRICKY KIDS, GUERRILLA TACTICS FOR TEACHERS & HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED AT SCHOOL, Andrew presents the latest research and advice in a way that makes sense and works!

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/guerrilla-tactics-for-parents-tickets-64960392282?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete