Filter Content
COVID safe practices
As we all move into COVID normal lives and begin to enjoy some of the things we have missed, schools are following a number of COVID safe practices that will be with us for the near future. Thank you to a number of parents that have diligently followed the guidelines and ensured their actions have not put others at risk.
MACS has very clear guidelines for schools to follow, should the school need to close due to a COVID positive case onsite.
The following measures are in place at our school to keep everyone safe.
- If your child is unwell, please keep them home
- Drop off times on the asphalt area- 8:40-9:00am
- Pick up times on the asphalt area- 3:30-3:45am
- Parents are encouraged to not congregate around the entry and exits points of the school and to leave the school grounds promptly
- Parents are not to enter classrooms
- Visitors including parents must QR code if visiting the office
- Limit on non-essential visitors
- All essential visitors must show evidence of double vaccination
- Years 3-6 students and all adults wearing masks
- Social distancing
- Regular hand sanitising
- Routine cleaning of classrooms and equipment
- Open doors and windows to promote good ventilation
- No mixing of classes or sharing learning spaces
Power Outage
Our energy provider has informed us that there will be a power outage on Wednesday 10 November.
The school will still be open for all students. We will implement “old school” teaching strategies on this day. If parents need to contact the school on this day, you can call the school emergency mobile number
0439 067 790. You will still be able to email the office@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au as we will have access to charged laptop computers.
Pre- Service Teachers
We welcome Australian Catholic University students, Talya Kearns, Ella Paull and Ruby Closhesy to our school this term. Tayla, Ella and Ruby will spend the next few weeks in years 2 and 5, engaging in teaching and learning along with getting a feel for how our school operates.
Eucharist Reflection Day
Carmel Donlon will be working with Eucharist candidates this Wednesday to prepare them for receiving their first Eucharist on Wednesday 17 November. All families involved in this celebration will be notified via Operoo regarding details outlining covid safe practices which we are working through with Parish.
Performing Arts
Over the next few weeks Footsteps will be coming to school to conduct face to face dance lessons with our students. Many parents would have seen Footsteps videos that the students participated in while in remote/home learning.While we are not able to hold a whole school performance, we are looking forward to welcoming the dance teachers to work with each class.
New School Uniform Items
The school advisory council have recommended that the transition period for the new uniform items be extended. Once I have confirmed with PSW when the new items will definitely be available, I am happy to rework the timeline. I will keep you updated.
Athletics Day
In order for our annual school athletics day to go ahead, we have needed to make significant adjustments, so as we comply with COVID safe practices/ guidelines.
Our athletics day will go ahead for students and staff only at Rowans Rd Moorabbin Athletics Track on Tuesday 23 November from 9:00-11:00am. Unfortunately this year due to restrictions we are not asking for parent volunteers as we have done in the past. Led by Sue Pattinson, our staff and pre-service teachers will support the running of this event. Due to the current Government and MACS guidelines, parents are not able to attend this event. If guidelines change before the event I will let you know.
Tree Planting
Many thanks to the Gosling family for the donation of a native tree. Year 1MH planted the tree at the front of our school for everyone ( including the birds to enjoy).
It was wonderful last week having everyone back onsite. Teachers and students were excitedly reconnecting face to face and the playground was a buzz again with smiles everywhere.
This week I have included a blog article from Pathway 2 Success. Throughout the following 6 weeks our students may experience lots of emotions as they settle back into the routine of school life. This article has 6 ways to help kids manage their emotions. The author Kristina Scully states:
“Being able to manage our own emotions seems like a simple task at first glance, but it’s actually quite complex, especially for growing children and teenagers. It involves understanding your feelings, managing stress, using coping strategies at the appropriate times, problem-solving through challenges, and knowing when to ask for help. This can be a lot for growing children and teens. They don’t always know exactly how to manage those feelings, which is why it is so critical for adults to provide support along the way.” Kristy has provided simple and achievable suggestions for you to assist your children.
Helping Kids manage big emotions
This week we also began to introduce play areas around the playground after receiving feedback from the students. Each year level has taken on the responsibility for putting the activities out and packing them away each day. So far, we have a Lego area for our Brick Masters, a Chess area and a games area with lots of fun things like dominoes, chalk boards, rhythmic ribbons and more. We have more activities on the way this week.
Take care & stay safe,
Maree
We are very excited to welcome Tayla Kearns and Ella Paull into our classroom this week. Miss Kearns and Miss Paull are ACU students who will be working with us for the remainder of Term 4.
The Grade 5’s have been learning all about poetry in term 4. We have been learning different forms of poetry and letting our creative juices flow. Below are some amazing examples of poetry the grade 5’s have written.
Shape Poem
By Elise Stamatakos
Tea Cup
Haiku
By Jackson Sloan
Sun
Super Large and Bright.
Gravitational Center
4 billion years old.
Kennings
By Miki Nowak
Cats
Paw-Licker
Night-Hunter
Day-dreamer
Dog-Hater
Pat-lover
Milk-drinker
Ode
By Alex Danaher
Storm
Rain, Heavy like a car
Clouds are grey like dust
lightning bright as a star
Leaving houses in rust
During Home Learning when we were learning about capacity we read a book called “Room for Ripley” by Stuart J Murphy. We decided after reading the book that it would be nice to have a class pet to look after when we returned to onsite learning. As part of our Maths unit we explored how to measure the capacity of the fish tank and the best container to use to fill the fish tank. We also invited everyone to choose their favourite 2 names for our fish. We all voted and the most popular names were Goldy and Sir Little.
In our first week back we set up our tank in readiness for our new arrivals. We measured the capacity of our tank and worked out how many cups and litres we needed. In our second week we researched information about goldfish and did watercolour paintings of our new pets. This week we are going to create Google slideshows about goldfish.
Our special friends arrived on Thursday the 28th October.
Foundation have enjoyed being back in the classroom this term!
They have been getting out into the veggie garden and working hard in the classroom
Book making has been a popular addition to classroom writing activities, whilst playing on the playground has been a wonderful time for catching up.
Foundation have been learning how to program the Bee Bots and are matching numerals to their name!
St Catherine’s Playgroup is Back!
