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Feast of the Assumption
On August 15 the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of The Assumption. This day refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life. We know Mary as the mother of Christ, chosen by God to be the mother of his only begotten Son, Mary was “immaculately conceived.” Both the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, understandably merit special recognitionand observance by the Church and as such Catholics attend mass on this day.
It is also an important day acknowledged and celebrated within parts of the Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches in many countries around the world. Our students will be engaging in prayer services in class to acknowledge the importance of this day.
Safety of Students
Parents/Guardians are reminded not to park across the driveway at the front of the school to drop students off. There are plenty of car park spaces on Fletcher street for families to park or alternatively please park in the church car park and students can walk across the school oval. Please be mindful to supervise your children crossing the road on Fletcher Street. While there is always staff on duty before and after school, staff are supervising the students in the school grounds.
Welcome to Our Patch- Out of School Hours Care
Welcome to Liv (Olivia) who is our new OSHC coordinator. Liv has been actively getting to know our students, families and staff. We warmly welcome her to our St Catherine’s School community. Thank you to a number of families who have enrolled their child in the program. I encourage lots of familie to avail of this service, even if you are not working. Enrolling your child one or two times a week can provide your child with a quality play experience and opportunity to connect with friends. More information to come about specialist programs that will be offered by Our Patch.
Professional Learning
Last Friday teachers engaged in professional development facilitated by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic School Southern Office staff in the area of writing. Teachers developed understanding of how to teach authorial and secretarial skills in writing, linking this to the Victorian Curriculum and Victorian Learning Progressions. Teachers also examined assessment of writing and accurately plotting student work samples on the continuum of learning.
Authorial writing skills are those involving understanding how to create a particular kind of written text (e.g. a letter or a report), how to construct sentences in an appropriate way for the particular text and how to choose the best words to make your intended message clear to the reader. Secretarial writing dimensions or skills are focussed on spelling, punctuation and either handwriting or keyboarding. Writing in the classroom involves a writing process of planning, drafting or composing, revising or editing, and publishing and aims to actively involve students in purposeful writing around which both their authorial and secretarial skills are developed.
Science Week and Book Week
This week our students will participate in a number of multi-age science lessons, where they will explore science in action. Our teacher have planned engaging activities which explore elements of chemical science.
Next week our school will celebrate book week, with dressing up, an interactive drama based incursion, rotational multi age activities and of course our book parade. Further details in the Book Week section of this newsletter.
Family Life Lessons
Over the last two years we have been unable to provide a family life program for students in years 3-6, due to covid.Students usually participate in this program once every two years. Our school advisory council advised me that they were happy for the school to deliver this program in class time. We have now sourced an excellent presenter Cath McCallig an experienced teacher specialising in delivering family life programs to students in schools. Cath will deliver the program to year 3-4 classes and year 5-6 class with the teacher present over 3 sessions. Information regarding the content of the sessions will be sent home to parents via Operoo. This program supports aspects of the Victorian Curriculum Personal, Social and Community Health.
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS):
Each year our school community is invited to participate in surveys that help us gather data for school improvement. Further information about how parents can participate in the survey will be sent home via Operoo this week. Year 4, 5 and 6 students will also participate in the survey, along with staff.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Joelle Diakrousis on accepting a full time position at St Patrick’s Mentone as Deputy Principal/Learning Diversity Leader. Joelle will begin her new position in term 4, 2022. I wish to acknowledge and thank Joelle for all she has contributed to our St Catherine’s school community. Joelle began working with us this year two days a week as a teacher in year 3-4MD. I know our school community will miss her and wish her all the best for the future. I will be in contact with parents in 3-4MD shortly, when I have finalised plans for Joelle’s replacement.
Congratulations to Zara who heads of to Canberra this Sunday to play in the U/12Schools Sports Victoria Hockey Team. We wish Zara and her team all the best for the tournament and look forward to hearing all about it.
First Eucharist
First Eucharist Candidates
Congratulations to the following students who will celebrate their First Eucharist at the 10.30am Parish Mass on Sunday, 21st August.
We are all looking forward to this special day. At this stage there are no restrictions regarding the number of family members/friends that can attend. We will let you know if this changes before the 21st August.
Eucharist Parish presentation Mass- 10.30am Sunday, 7th August
The Eucharist candidates and their families attended Parish Mass last Sunday. The students were presented with their Eucharist candle and presented to the Parish Community.
Children’s Liturgy of the Word- CLOW
Marta Novak and I ran the first CLOW session on Sunday, 7th August. This involved children coming out to the meeting room to hear readings and completing activities related to the readings that are more child friendly. The students came out for the readings and returned just before the Offertory procession. The activities are designed for Primary aged students.
We have decided to offer CLOW once a month (First Sunday of each month). The next session will be on Sunday, 4th September. If you would like to help with the sessions, please let me know. I have included my email below.
The use of social media is constantly being brought to our attention these days. It is an area that needs constant review because of the rapid changes that occur in these apps. The e-Safety commission has stated the number of students using social media to communicate with their friends and family since the covid pandemic has increased dramatically and so has the record number of parents attending their free webinars since 2021. They have expanded their programs and dates to meet the growing demand from parents and education staff to support school communities.
I have included a few sites we have mentioned previously in this newsletter that you may wish to revisit as parents or with the family, especially with your middle and senior students.
Young people: Pressures from Social Media
Parents & Carers eSafety guidelines
At the following webinar you will learn about TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube and help your children stay safe online.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8 to 13.
It will cover:
- case studies, research and targeted advice
- ways of supporting the young people in your life to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.
Term 3 dates (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Tuesday 16 August 7:30 to 8:30 pm
Thursday 25 August 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Book Week 2022
Monday 22nd August- Friday 27th August
Dear families,
Planning is underway for Book Week celebrations next week. After 2 years of Lockdowns we are so excited to be able to immerse the children in a week celebrating the joys of books and reading.
We have activities planned each day.
Book Week Parade- 9am Tuesday 23rd August
- Children may come to school dressed as their favourite book character. It would be great if they could also bring along the book related to their character to share with class
Book Week Family Activity
- We invite families to select one of their favourite picture story books, novel or series of books.
- Create a drawing, painting, 3D creation, model or sculpture related to the book/characters
- Return to school before or by Thursday 25th, August for display in the Learning Hub
- There will be prizes available for creative and unique entries
- The Learning Hub School Leaders will be the judges
- Winners will be announced at the Book Week Assembly in the Learning Hub at 2.40pm on Friday, 26th August (Families Welcome)
See below for some ideas to get started.
Book Week Colouring Competition
- This will be completed at school
- Entries will be displayed in the Learning Hub
- The Learning Hub School Leaders will be the judges
- Winners will be announced at the Book Week Assembly in the Learning Hub at 2.40pm on Friday, 26th August (Families Welcome)
Kath Barca - Learning Hub
Carmel Donlon- Assistant Principal
Learning Assembly
On Tuesday the 2nd of August the students from Year 1 and Year 2 presented their learning assembly to their family and friends. We began with the Acknowledgement of Country which gave the students an opportunity to share the display we created, which they are very proud of. The students performed a dance that they have enjoyed practising ‘Every Move I Make’.
The year 1’s and 2’s then presented what they have been learning in Maths, Reading, Writing, RE and Inquiry. This was followed by an activity the students completed with their family and friends, creating the different types of clouds we have been learning about in inquiry. Family and friends then had the opportunity to look at displays of some of the students' work including their very impressive Earth and Space projects!
Term 3 awards were presented to the following students:
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William (1CG) For the amazing effort he has put in to improve his reading.
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Hannah (1CG) For being an enthusiastic participant in all class discussions.
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Imogen (1CG) For always helping others and showing independence when completing your work.
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Dominic (2TC) For demonstrating a mature attitude when answering questions and sharing his ideas with others.
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Maddie (2TC) For displaying a persistent and positive attitude towards her school work.
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Zachary (2TC) For being a happy, enthusiastic and inclusive member of our class.
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Layla (2TC) For always trying her best and always following our class and school rules.
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June (2TC) For communicating her ideas and showing respect for other students’ ideas and opinions.
As teachers we thoroughly enjoy this opportunity to collaborate with students, their family and friends and each day we see the positive impact this has on students academic achievement, work habits, social skills and emotional wellbeing. Thank you to everyone who attended.
Hooptime 2022
The Father’s Day stall will take place on Thursday 1st September 2022. Each student will be given the opportunity to purchase a gift for $5 for their father, father figure, grandfather or special person. A hard copy of the order form will be going home with the eldest in the family today. Please return the form and money back to the classroom by Tuesday 30th August. The stall will be staffed by OLSH college VCAL students. If you have further questions, please contact Abbey Walters; abbey61@hotmail.com
Thanks
Abbey
