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Dear Parents and Community,
It was great to see all the students in their team colours on Friday and a large collection of Fairies on Football and Fairies day. Congratulations if your team was successful this year. (Go Tigers!)
The next big event that we hope all our families get involved with is the, Virtual Family Disco Bingo, this Friday 7:00 to 8:30. It is time to have some fun as a school after some challenging months. Tickets can be purchased through CDF Pay.
School Reports: Just to let everyone know that we have decided because of all the interruptions that students will not be inputting into their school reports this year as we started last year.(Grades 3 to 6) We really think this is important, however we will wait to next year so we can do it properly. Next year we also hope to have the student inputting comments as well.
Governance: For those who do not know, the whole Governance structure of Catholic Schools in Victoria is changing and primary schools will come under the governance of a new entity called Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. (MACS) Currently, primary schools and some secondary schools fall under the governance of individual parishes. This will fall in line with all other systems in Australia, so it is not a new model, basically it is what every other school in Australia does. My previous school in Darwin was the same, I reported to Catholic Education Northern Territory, not the Parish. Father Greg has prepared a letter for all families, please take some time to read this. For me, it is just common sense and makes more governance sense to be structurally organised this way.
Building Project: All good news here with the internal parts of the works almost complete and we should have students back in the rooms mid next week. Some external works on the drainage and footpaths should be completed not long after that. In the hall we will soon have a new data projector, better microphones and speakers, a better screen and acoustic panels. It will become a much better space for our school to use.
We did receive notice that we were unsuccessful in our Grant Application for the next Stage of the Building Project. We have not given up completely and we will keep applying each year as the school has done for a number of years. In the meantime we will move ahead and start doing some works that we can do to give the school a bit of a spruce up. I am currently waiting on quotes to re carpet the whole school which we hope to do over Christmas. Other jobs we will look to do, including repainting the school internally, replacing the swing glass doors with automatic doors and a refurbishment of the reception desk. We can use the School Building Fund to pay for these works, so we really do encourage all families to make a tax deductable donation to this fund. The more funds we have, the quicker these works will be done.
Check out our new rostrum.
Prep Transition 2021: Next week we start out Prep Orientation for 2021. This year we have had to work around Covid Restrictions and I am hosting the first Parent Session online. The students will start to visit, but we are limited to groups of ten, so instead of having two big groups, students will have rostered sessions in groups of ten. The School Board and P and F are preparing short videos to be part of my online session. We certainly are doing things differently this year.
Covid Reminder: Just reminding everyone on the advice that schools have received to make us Covid Safe. Stay home when unwell. The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home, even with the mildest of symptoms.
Also, a reminder that there will be no school next Monday and Tuesday (Melbourne Cup Day).
God Bless
Anthony.
October, the month of Mary…
Mary loved God and wanted to serve Him with all her heart. But she was just a poor girl in an insignificant town, from a humble family, with little expectations that her life was going to be any different than most. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her she was chosen and favoured by God to be the mother of His son, despite her own fear, she exhibited great courage and character: “I am the Lord’s servant…May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). She also exhibited great courage and character during Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. She pressed Jesus to provide wine when it ran low at the wedding in Cana, she approached Jesus when He was left behind at the temple, she went from Nazareth to Capernaum when she learned what was being reported their about Jesus, and she attempts to protect Jesus in some of the stickiest of situations. She was a person of discipleship and faith, and the first true follower of Jesus.
For those of you who missed this…
A Message from Father Greg - Sacraments 2020
Dear Confirmation and 1st Eucharist parents of 2020, although the school and parish had planned for both Confirmation and 1st Eucharist ceremonies and celebrations to this year, due to the Covid situation those ceremonies will most likely be held next year. I apologise for any inconvenience this has caused but my hands are tied due to Government regulations and the present situation with Covid 19. Myself, together with Michelle Ebinger (Faith Formation Leader) and the Pastoral Associate of the Parish, Monique Julian will be getting together in early December to organise all necessary things. After that meeting of ours and before the end of the year we will let everyone know of the change of dates, and any necessary details. At this time we may need to limit the numbers normally invited to those ceremonies in early 2021. It is expected that the ceremonies will include the parents and for Confirmation, one sponsor but cannot guarantee that a bigger family group or friendship group will be able to be invited at the time.
Yours in Christ
Father Greg
Thanks for a wonderful Footy and Fairies Day, it was great to see everyone celebrating with lots of colour.
A reminder that today is the last day to register for Disco Bingo Night, hosted on Friday 30th October. If you are still keen to join us we can accept late registrations via CDF Pay today. All participants will receive an email with the link and their bingo sheets from special_event@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au, please check your junk mail!
Thank you to all the wonderful donations received so far for the Christmas Raffle, please keep them coming in! A tub is located outside the office for contactless drop off. We appreciate all donations but if you need some inspiration there are some ideas below.
Donation Items
- Bottles - glass bottles of wine, cordial, vinegar, sauces etc
- Condiments - mixture of jams, pickles etc
- Toys/Books/Puzzles - would need to be new items
- Xmas pantry items
- Donated prizes
Showbag orders can be placed until 4th November, and orders will arrive at school on Friday 13th November. Showbags can be purchased online
St Mary’s Pantry
Our School Community comes together to support our families that may need or would like help during times of need or distress through our St Mary’s Pantry. The Pantry consists of frozen family meals, enough to feed a family of five, and can be accessed through the school office or your classroom teacher. We encourage any families to access these meals when needed.
Lunch Orders
Thank you to everyone that submitted their lunch orders this week, reminder that lunch orders are now only available via CDF Pay. You will be able to pre-order for a selected date and the cut off time for all orders to be submitted will be 9.30am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Paper bag lunch orders will no longer be accepted. The lunch order menu is available on CDF Pay.
Second Hand Uniforms
Second hand uniform orders are moving online, you will be able to pay when collecting items from the School Office using Eftpos or via CDF Pay. The form will be an expression of your interest as fulfilling orders will be dependent on stock. We apologise this is not as readily available as per normal but we must abide by COVID-19 restrictions. As this is a new process, please feel free to share any feedback to president@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Next meeting
The next P&F Meeting will be held on 10 November at 7.00pm and we hope you can join us. Maybe you are keen to get more involved or learn more about what we do, maybe you have a great idea – we would love to hear from you, please contact secretary@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au if you would like to attend and you will be sent a zoom link. We look forward to seeing you there!
Just a reminder that applications for enrolment for Year 7, 2022 closed on 9 October 2020. If you have a child who is currently in Year 5 and are seeking a place for Year 7, please contact the College Registrar at enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu