St Catherine's Moorabbin eNewsletter

Remote/Home Learning

Having discussed Remote/Home Learning with a number of my Principal colleagues in the area, I am confident that our students, families and teachers are delivering quality learning programs to effectively support learning continuity for our students. Our school community has once again worked together, making the best of a challenging situation, to maximise learning for our students.

We all eagerly await for the return of onsite learning.

I wish to acknowledge and thank parents of our foundation, year 1 and 2 students for their efforts in supporting their child’s learning. In particular parents of the younger students are supervising and monitoring their child’s learning more closely as students of this age are not able to work independently for long periods of time and require more assistance with technology. The junior teachers are providing detailed and clear instructions for learning and the quality of work submitted has been pleasing. The junior classes will begin Google check in meets from Monday- Thursday, to provide a social connection to peers and their teacher.

Well done to our year 3, 4, 5 & 6 students who have enthusiastically engaged in their learning in Google Classrooms. Daily Google Meets have supported students to tune into tasks and connect with peers. Thank you to parents who have supported students with technology and following their daily timetable.

Our staff continue to go above and beyond the normal expectations of their daily work. Teachers are rostered on to supervise students at school, along with providing and giving feedback on learning programs for their own class. The delivery of learning in a digital format requires extensive preparation and is not the preferred mode of delivery for our staff. Our Educational Support Staff this week will google meet with groups of students they normally work with in the classroom, along with also supporting the supervision of students onsite at school.

The link below provides parents with some tips on Remote/Home Learning.

CLICK HERE- tips for parents on Remote/Home Learning

Keeping Kids SAFE online

Free E-book resource for parents.

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/virtual-childhoods-download-your-free-child-online-safety-ebook/

School Closure Day- Postponed

The advertised school closure day on Tuesday 15 June will not go ahead. I am hopeful students will be back onsite at school and I do not want any further disruptions to their learning. School for students whether Remote/Home Learning or back onsite at school will take place on Tuesday 15 June.

Student Reports

Student reports will now be sent home on Friday 30 July. This will allow teachers more time to complete assessments when the students return to school.

Parent/Teacher/Student Meetings

These meetings will now take place on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 August. A link to book these meetings will be published in the week 10 newsletter.

Confirmation- Year 6 Students Term 2

The new date to celebrate the Sacrament will be Wednesday, 16th June 7pm

Confirmation Reflection Day- Thursday 27th May

On the 27th of May the Year 6 class went to the Mary Mackillop Heritage Centre. First we had to go on a very long walk to the station. When we got to the station we had to look at which platform we had to go on. Soon we figured it out and sort of knew where to go. Once we got on the train we sat down and started to chat away. It was fun and we could sit after walking so much. Later on we were finally in the city and it was very big.

On our walk to the Mary Mackillop Heritage Center we passed St Patrick's Cathedral. It was a very big church in the city. Finally we arrived at the Mary Mackillop Heritage Centre. It seemed to be very, very big. We walked in and of course had to sanitise. We walked around and went into this biggish room filled with chairs. We were told which row to sit in. Because we were a small class we only took up 2 rows. After they gave us a piece of paper and told us to leave it on our seats and put our bags under the chairs because we were going outside to have some food. After a bit of walking we went back inside and started to have a tour in 2 groups. They talked a lot about it. We even got to see a chair that Mary Makillop would have been sitting in and had a cup of tea and a woman would come in and talk to her.

Soon after we finished the tour and said a prayer, we went to the gift shop where we could buy souvenirs. I had brought $10 dollars just in case I wanted to buy something. What I ended up buying was a crystal angel. There were many different ones because all the wings were different colours. I would have chosen a blue one but this other one had seemed to stick out more for me which was one with a yellowish-orangish color bottom and a bluish-purplish colour on. It was only $10 so I decided to buy it.

Then we crossed the street and went to the Fitzroy Gardens. We had to find the 7 gifts of the holy spirit. It was fun. We got to run around and find the particular things. After that we settled down in a little play area to eat our lunch. We sat around eating, talking and playing. After that we started heading over to the St Patrick's Cathedral, took some pictures and read some writing at the Mary Mackillop statue. We took more pictures and started to make our way back to the station.

Once we had arrived at the station we got on for another very long trip but back to school and that was when it had started to rain . Once we arrived at the station we had to put on out raincoats and get umbrellas. I had brought my own and we started to head back to school. Soon after it stopped raining and we put our umbrellas away and continued walking. Once back at school we just sat down and chatted for a bit.

Report by Jasmine Lee

(Miss Armour’s umbrella flipped inside out and it was very,very funny)

Confirmation Reflection Day

On Thursday the 27th last week, all the year sixes went out for a Reflection Day in the city. The day started with all of us meeting in the Learning Hub and seeing who was coming into the city (most of the year sixes came).After that we started walking to Moorabbin Train Station!

After a long walk in very gloomy weather to the train station, we finally made it. We were just on time to catch the train, which was perfect because we had to switch trains halfway into the city and that is when we found out that we would have to go into lookdown once again. After all that we finally made it to the Mary Mackillop Heritage Centre. We were introduced to the lovely ladies who were taking us around. We were split into two groups. wW learnt all about Mary Mackillop and how she helped children. We went to the chapel that was there and we were lucky enough to meet a sister of Saint Joseph and her name was Rita and she was very kind.

After the Heritage Centre we went to the Fitzroy Gardens which was a very beautiful place and we learnt about the gifts of the Holy Spirit while we were exploring the gardens. After the Heritage Center and the Fitzroy Gardens we were all starving so we found a park and ate our lunch. After eating and playing at the park we went to the Saint Patrick's Cathedral where we could have been doing our Confirmation but we are not any more. We went to the chapel to see the statues of all the Saints and we found a Mary Makillop statue. We stood around the statue and talked about what we learnt. We started walking back to the train station but while we were walking it started spitting so we started running and luckily it didn't rain too much. We got onto the train on time. The train stopped at our stop and we got off and started walking to school. We finally made it back to school. We were tired and we were very lucky it started pouring down rain just as we got to school. Overall it was a fun day out with the Year sixes and of course our teacher Mrs Armour and Mrs Donlon.

Report by Lucy Bartleman

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

'A Change of Heart'

Sunday, 20th June

St Catherine’s School & Church

The following students will make their First Reconciliation on the 20th June

Reconciliation- Sunday 20th June- Group 3

Eucharist- Year 4 & 5 students- Term 2, 3 & 4

Sacrament of Eucharist 2021

Requirements for Eucharist 2021

Family Sacrament Workshop

Presentation to the Parish Community

Student Reflection Day

Celebration of the Sacrament

Preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation is celebrated within a partnership of the Family, Parish & School. Within the Holy Trinity Parish the Sacraments are Family Supported, Parish Based and School Supported. Students who are baptised Catholics that have celebrated the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation are eligible to receive the Sacrament of Eucharist in Year 4 & 5.

An important focus in Religious Education for the children in Year 4 and 5 in the Holy Trinity Parish will be on the Sacrament of Eucharist. The Federated Schools of Holy Trinity Parish are very conscious of their responsibility to support parents in all areas of faith development, with a special program being taught during Sacramental preparation time and continuing throughout the year.

In 2021 the students will receive the Sacrament of Eucharist on:

Sunday 15th August-10.30am	St Catherine’s Church Moorabbin
Sunday 19th September- 10.30am	St Catherine’s Church Moorabbin
Sunday 17th October- 10.30am	St Catherine’s Church Moorabbin

If it is your wish your child to be involved in the Sacrament of Eucharist, then please attend to the following:

Family Sacramental Workshop 7pm Wednesday, 21st July

Families will attend the Eucharist Workshop with their child.

Venue: St. Catherine’s Primary School Learning Hub

As part of the preparation your child will also receive a Eucharist workbook. Some of these activities will be completed in the classroom at school. Other activities from this book are to be completed at home.

Presentation to the Parish Community- Sunday 8th August

You are asked to attend Parish Mass on Sunday 8th August. At this special Mass, the students will be recognised and presented by the Parish Community. Family, relatives and friends are welcome as we publicly acknowledge their Eucharist year.

Eucharist Reflection Day- Postponed due to COVID- TBA

All Eucharist Candidates & Year 4/5 students (even those not making their Eucharist) will participate in a Reflection Day. More details to follow over the next few weeks.

Celebration of the Sacrament- 10.30am Parish Mass

Celebration of Eucharist at St Catherine’s Church

Sunday 15th August-10.30am

Sunday 19th September- 10.30am

Sunday 17th October- 10.30am

Eucharist Enrolment Form- Return by Friday 28th May

Please fill out the Eucharist Enrolment Form and return it to school.

A hard copy of the Enrolment Form and letter Has been sent home to eligible students. Please return form to school once students are back onsite if you haven’t already done so.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me:

Carmel Donlon: carmel.donlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au

Carmel Donlon

Religious Education Leader

carmel.donlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au

As we enter our second week of lockdown, it is important to be mindful of everyone’s well being. We need to acknowledge all of the wonderful work being done by everyone during this time. The staff are working hard to provide a timetable of daily lessons for the students that are engaging and motivating. The students are completing these tasks to an exceptional standard in an environment at home set up for them to succeed. Lastly our parents who are supporting and encouraging their children to complete what they can throughout the day. We all react differently to change and we are very mindful that some days things might not go according to plan. In the classroom we build resilience in our students by encouraging them to begin each new day with a fresh outlook leaving the day before behind them.

The following article by Michael Grose is about looking after our parents. Parents, we appreciate the juggling act you are all doing at home with your own work and assisting the students' with their work. Please take time to look after yourselves.

Preventing Parent Burnout

The longevity of the COVID pandemic is an enormous challenge to many of us. Our capacity to adapt to acutely stressful situations such as natural disasters has been severely depleted by the long-term nature of the pandemic. Our surge capacity, an adaptation mechanism that helps us survive short-term difficulties, is not designed to get us through long term disasters such as the pandemic.

There is no handbook for functioning in a pandemic however it’s apparent that we need to accept that life will probably be different for some time. Putting in place strategies that maintain our personal wellbeing is now a priority.

Ironically, many of us are denied self-care activities as a result of the pandemic. For many people coffee with friends, a massage or a visit to the gym are the types of self care activities that are now out of reach, so flexibility and resourcefulness is needed.

Here’s some researched-based strategies to practise at home that will help develop feelings of equilibrium and calm.

Take some deep breaths

Benefits

Neuroscience shows us how breathing shifts the brain into different states. Short, sharp breaths send a message to the brain that we are moving, even though we may be sitting in a chair. Conversely, slow, rhythmic breathing tells the brain that we’re calm and feeling good. It’s the quickest way to engage the body’s relaxation response.