2020 Class Structure and Staffing

Next year our class structure will look different from this year. In 2020 we will have a combination of some single year level classes and some composite classes. In making this decision the school considers, student numbers in different year levels, opportunities for students to be placed in classes which best support learning and interactions with peers and government funding for staffing. 

While we welcome 18 new Foundation students next year we say farewell to 20 year 6 students. Our student numbers will be lower in 2020 than in 2019. This means the school receives less government funding as funding is based on student numbers. The government funding the school receives covers the cost of staffing. Monies received from school fees goes directly to support curriculum expenses, programs, resources, paying utilities and maintaining school facilities.

The class structure for 2020 will be:

Foundation

Year 1

Year 2/3

Year 4

Year 5/6

Year 5/6

Our class sizes for 2020 remain small with the exception of the 2/3 composite class. The 2/3 composite class will consist of 27 students and the other classes vary from 18 to 20 students. The 2/3 composite class while still within the range of acceptable class size according to the Victorian Teachers Multi Enterprise Agreement will be supported by an additional teacher who will support during Literacy time.

As a school we continue to focus on growing our student numbers through transition programs with local kinders and childcare centres. Next year we welcome 11 new families to our school, which is fantastic. We plan to also introduce a playgroup next year which will encourage new families along with building stronger connections for our existing families.

Staffing for next year is still being finalised. Timothy O’Mahoney has informed me that he will not be returning to St Catherine’s, along with Patricia O’Gorman. Timothy has accepted a teaching position at another school and Patricia has increased  her hours at other schools she is employed in. Reporting to Performing Arts is a biennial requirement, so we plan to see Patricia again in 2021. Our Arts focus for 2020 will be on the Visual Arts, with classroom teachers incorporating elements of performance in their classroom programs.

Debra Bruenjes will be taking leave next year to travel overseas with her family. Anna Kolodziej who has been supporting the Arrowsmith program in a part time capacity will not be returning to St Catherine’s next year. We wish them all well for 2020.

Next year we welcome back Brittany Wrigley who started with us at the beginning of term 4. Brittany will continue on as Foundation teacher in 2020. 

We continue to offer specialist classes in Physical Education, Japanese and Visual Arts. Physical Education and Japanese class time per week will slightly increase next year.

Students who qualify for additional support are assisted by Educational Support Staff in a number of student diversity programs. Our Arrowsmith Program is fully funded by the parents of students in the Arrowsmith program and offers students an alternative teaching pedagogy which best supports their learning.

Careful consideration goes into class lists for each year. Parents will be notified of their child’s class and teacher on Friday 13 December via a letter in their child’s report. Students will also meet their new teacher and class on this day.

The staff and myself are looking forward to a productive and positive 2020. Schools are accustomed to embracing change and with change comes new beginnings, excitement and new challenges.

2020 School Fees

Next year there will be a 3 % increase to school fees. Each year the school carefully considers increases in fees and attempts to keep this as minimal as possible. The increase will support leasing of IT equipment and subscriptions for online literacy and numeracy resources/programs, along with general maintenance and running costs of the school. More detailed information about school fees for 2020 will be sent in a hard copy to parents in your child’s report envelope and emailed to parents in the last week of term.

2020 Year 6 Student Leaders

Year  5 students are currently working with classroom teachers regarding year 6 student leadership groups for 2020. Year 5 students will nominate a leadership group they would like to belong to, along with identifying why they would like to be part of the leadership group.  When allocating students into leadership groups, where possible staff will attempt to give students their first preference. If this is not possible, students may be allocated their second or third preference. A staff member will be allocated to each leadership group and work with students throughout the year. 

Each leadership group will meet formally each term. The nature of this meeting will be determined by the staff members leading the group. These meetings may consist of information sharing, building skills & knowledge, planning or organising an event, seeking feedback, leading activities for younger students etc.

Students will also engage at other times throughout the term in responsibilities relevant to their leadership area. This will be dependant upon the groups initiatives, staff availability and predetermined events in the school.

The table below gives some examples of the responsibilities of student leaders in each of the groups.

Market/Carols Night

We are all looking forward to our Carols/Market Night on Thursday 28 November. On this evening students need to arrive at school by 5:15pm and meet their class teacher in the courtyard.

The carols will begin at 5:30pm. We plan to sing eight Christmas songs beginning with Foundation and ending with the school choir.

Students need to wear something 'Christmassy' for this event, eg. Christmas T-Shirt, tinsel, Christmas hat or headband etc.

Don’t forget to bring a chair or picnic rug, along with your best singing voices to join in with the songs.

Playgroup

Plans are currently underway for our school to run a playgroup in 2020. We have allocated time on a Wednesday morning to host playgroup in our school hall foyer area. Kath Barca will led this initiative. We invite current and new families/friends to come along and join in the fun and have a cuppa. More information to follow early in 2020.

Lynda  O'Donnell

Principal

Governance   of Catholic Schools.

As parents are currently aware the Governance of each Catholic Primary Schools is the responsibility of the Parish Priest. Following a recommendation from the Royal Commission this governance structure must change by 2021. The Archdiocese of Melbourne and Catholic Education Melbourne are in consultation currently with schools and Parish Priest   around what this new Governance Model will look like. The following thought from Archbishop Peter Commensoli’s message at the outset of the process expresses an important consideration in our current endeavours: ‘Our parents and families of Catholic school students deserve the best and the safest learning environments we can offer for their children, and good governance is one of the ways we can ensure the future of Catholic education in the years ahead.’

The proposed model under consultation is:

A Steering Committee has been establish that includes:

Timeline and Process

October 2019 to June 2020

• Regional Forums with PPs and Principals
• Working Parties develop a framework
• Website with Fact sheets, FAQ, regular updates

July 2020 to January 2021

• Constitution of Company Ltd. established
• School advisory committee charters written
• Employment, assets and liabilities, lease arrangements transfer to Company Ltd.
• All responsible persons registered
• All principals attest to regulatory compliance
• January 2021 all 292 schools come under the new governance arrangements

I will keep the School Board updated on matters regarding Governance over the next 12 months.

Regards

Michael Juliff

My mother used to say that if you were feeling a little depressed just watch the SBS nightly news and you may feel that things are a little better compared to the rest of the world.  My mother was right in many ways. Last week as I drove to School I was listening to the 7am news.  It began with the news of a road death in Melbourne and then two shootings in the USA.  It then talked about the fact that 50% of workers have experienced some kind of mental health issue due to workload and due dates.

Mental Illness is a name or title which describes many different conditions.  Within the umbrella of this illness there are many different categories as well as levels that a person suffers mental illness.

What is good now is that people do not have to suffer alone in experiencing and dealing with mental illness.  Our society has come a long way.

Does working in a Catholic School make it easier to deal with mental illness?  Of course the answer is NO.  But hopefully our Catholic values and ideals assist.  In a Catholic School we use words such as Hope, Love, Respect and Journey to describe the Community we are part of.  These words are at the heart of the Gospel message of Truth.

But does this make it easier to deal with mental illness?  Again the answer is NO BUT hopefully within a Catholic School we openly acknowledge that some people in our Community suffer illnesses which are hard to understand fully.  We acknowledge with no judgment.

In a Catholic School we say we are different to other Schools.  The only reason we are different is that everything we do is underpinned by the Gospel message of Truth proclaimed by Jesus.

When Jesus sat at the well and accepted a drink of water from a Samaritan women he knew he was breaking the religious law of his time.  But what he was in fact doing was listening to a person who was suffering.  In listening Jesus welcomed this person in ways no one had welcomed her before.

May our Catholic Schools be truly welcoming to others and particularly minorities.

In thinking about this piece I came across a beautiful prayer by a mother whose son is experiencing mental illness.  You might like to read this beautiful prayer and pray for all those in our Community who are suffering in ways we are unaware of.

Edward Dooley (Mission and Faith Leader)

A Mother's Prayer for Mental Illness

As I stumble from my bed this morning, help me to remember to be gentle and kind.
My child's mind is shredding into a million pieces. He lives in a constant state of atrocious fear. I can see it in his eyes. Give him peace.

Guide me as I hold him in my arms. Help me to know what to say. What to do. Fill my heart with healing love, understanding, and empathy.

Give me the strength of a thousand angels to hold back my tears. My heart is broken and a tidal wave of grief is overwhelming me with the need to cry. Give me the strength to bear it long enough to keep it from disturbing my child. Help me find someone I can safely bring it to.

Help me answer my family's questions with the same amount of compassion I would want for my self. Help me remember they are hurting too. This is an unwelcomed assault on an entire family. My heart is not the only heart that is broken. We all need time and each other to heal.

As my journey becomes more and more isolative and lonely, remind me that the lack of involvement on the part of family and friends is not always because of the stigma and the ignorance. For many, it is because they are hurting too. They have the privilege of turning to their own lives. This is my family's life now. I must deal with it whether I am hurting or not.

Send me your best physicians and healers. Give me presence of mind, as I walk through the exhaustion of my grief to not settle for just any one no matter how tiresome the journey becomes.

Help me adjust to the idea, that although it appears my son is gone, there will be no goodbye. And that he is still inside somewhere waiting for us to find him.

Infuse the creative part of my mind with solution oriented thinking. Give me hope. Even if it is just a glimmer of hope. A mother can go for miles on just one tiny glimmer. Let me see just a flicker of the sparkle of joy in his eyes.

Guide my hands, calm my mind, as I fill out the multitude of forms for services. Then help me do it again over and over.

Provide me with the knowledge. Lead me to the books I need to read, the organizations I need to connect with. As you work though the people in my life, help me to recognize those that are here to help. Help me trust the right ones. Shine a light upon the right path.

Give me the courage to speak my truth; to know my son's truth. And to speak for him when he is unable to do it for himself. Show me when to do for him what he is not capable of doing for himself. Help me to recognize the difference.

Help me to stand tall in the face of the stigma; to battle the discrimination with the mighty sword of a spiritual warrior. And to deflect the sting of blame and fault finding from the ignorant and the cruel.

Preserve my love for my family. Shield my marriage with the wisdom of the love that brought us together.

Protect him from homelessness, loneliness, victimization, poverty, hunger, hopelessness, relapse, drugs, alcohol, suicide, cruelty and obscurity.

Lead us to the miracles of better medications, better funding, better services, safe and plentiful housing, meaningful employment, communities who care, enlightenment. Help us to find some way to replace all the greed with humanitarian work and intrinsic reward again.

Most of all, give me the strength to deliver whatever I can to the work of unmasking the man-made ugliness of this disease and revealing the human and all of it's suffering beneath.

Finally, when it is my time to leave my son behind, send a thousand angels to take my place.  

Dear Parents/Guardians

During the Advent season leading up to Christmas, we take time to think of families in our local community who are not as fortunate as we are. The local St Vincent De Paul (Moorabbin/Bentleigh Conference) has asked the school and parish to donate items to help them make up hampers to distribute to families in our community. Please place unwrapped items in the baskets under the Giving Tree in the school foyer.   Please return donations by Wednesday 27^th November.  The conference has requested the following items: Christmas food (Christmas Cake, Pudding, Shortbread, Nuts, Lollies, Chocolates etc.), Christmas Decorations, Woolworths Gift Cards, Coles Gift Cards, Kmart Gift Cards, Target Gift Cards and BigW Gift Cards. 

We thank you in advance for your generosity.

Carmel Donlon                                   Ed Dooley                                                                          

Co-coordinating Leader                       Federation Faith Leader

Please click the link for the Market Update.

Market_Update_4.pdf

Term 3, 2019

On Monday, 11 November we held our term 4 board meeting. The key agenda items discussed were:

1. Mission H20 – We recently had our whole school performance held at Kilbreda College. It is fair to say that this was an exceptional display of talent from our students. A huge congratulations (and thank you from the parents) goes out to all the staff, associated helpers and of course the children for what was a tremendous evening showcasing not only the talent of our school but also the incredible ability we have as a school to put on such an event. Every time we put on our whole school performance; we continue to lift the bar. It is very exciting to see what will come next!
2. School Board 2020 – We are currently undertaking admissions from parents wishing to sit on the school board for the 2020 school year. We will have 3 vacancies available. A copy of the board guidelines can be found in the SZApp app or by asking at the school office. If you are interested to serve on the board next year, I would advise you review these guidelines and please provide your details to the school either directly to the board through our email address or to Lynda O’Donnell, School Principal. Of course, you can always speak with one of our current standing board members if you would like to seek clarification or just have a chat about what is involved. There is an applications process that you will undertake once you have expressed an interest to sit on the board. I welcome any and all parents to consider this position. It is a great way to get involved and to assist in ensuring the future direction of the school for our children.
3. Governance Reform for Melbourne Archdiocesan Schools – Effective from 2021 there will be educational governance changes to how Catholic schools are governed and managed within Victoria. Currently as you are aware our school sits within a community parish and is administered under that Parish structure. This will change as from 2021 and our school will no longer operate within the administration of the Parish but rather through a more traditional corporate educational structure. There is a lot of work being done by the Archdiocese at the moment to ensure the structure of this new model is effective, professional and puts our students first. There will be more on this in the months to come which I will share with you as it becomes known.
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. Foundation Parent Information Night – On Wednesday, 30 October we held our Prep Parents Information Night. This night was very well attended by all new (and returning) families of Prep students for the 2020 year. A well run and received evening with plenty of information provided to our new parents as well as good quality interaction shown by the new families. Discussions held with Prep families after the event indicated that the night was a great success with key messaging being delivered that of “relevant, timely, comforting, provided much peace of mind”. Well done to the school for welcoming our new Prep parents in such a professional, embracing manner.
6. Current Board Members – Please don’t forget that we have a school board noticeboard in the foyer of the office. Please familiarise yourself with our current board members so you know who is serving our school this year.

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 3/4 Learning Assembly for Term 4 was filled with lots of excitement and engagement, as the students showed off a variety of their mathematical skills.

Students began with explaining to their parents the different strategies we have been exploring in the classroom to solve multiplication and division problems. Students were able to apply their understanding of place value partitioning, the area model and arrays to multiply one digit by one digit and one digit by two digits to find the product of the number sentences. 

After problem solving with multiplication, students then were able to demonstrate their knowledge of geometric reasoning and location. Students and their guests went out into our school courtyard to find angles all around them and identify whether they were a right angle, smaller than a right angle or larger than a right angle. Student then used the border of their map of the courtyard to locate the coordinates of the angle.

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

EpiPen® Jr Shortage - 20 November 2019

Want something special for when you entertain or just something a little different from the usual nibbles?