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Dear Parents and Community,
Great news today with the return to school tomorrow. The lock down was very short notice this time and we hope families were able to put things into place quickly. We have had a limited number of staff and students on site which always feels strange in a large building.
We have been advised by Da Moose cafe that there will be NO lunch orders tomorrow. Please make sure your child comes to school with lunch.
Ash Wednesday: We obviously missed our Ash Wednesday Mass. Following the Bishop's advice, we will try to celebrate the ceremony in the near future in some form.
Last week we had our first online meeting with Dr Paul Swan who will be working with the school around Mathematics. I have used one of Paul's videos for our Parent Education section so you learn a little bit more about him. This video is a simple exercise that involves money, counting and prediction. Prediction and estimation are key skills that students need to have good "Number Sense". Students with good number sense go further with their Mathematics as they understand what is happening rather than just getting an answer. Teachers will often stop at the estimation stage of a problem as a child can estimate an answer is showing they understand what is happening. For example some students know their times tables well, but if you asked them what is 3 x 16, they would not know where to start. Using estimation teaches them to use rounding and other skills to do an approximation.
Meet and Greet. At this stage we have rescheduled for Tuesday the 23rd of February (next week). We are hoping to be able to just transfer the times over so parents do not need to rebook. We will let you know if that changes. If you do need to change that time, please contact the school. Brittany Rickman (Prep R) will not be available on this day however she will contact the parents in her grade to arrange another time.
School Camp to Canberra: It must be on some of our Parents minds, as it is on ours. When do we call whether we are going or not as we do not wish to go into lockdown and be stuck interstate. It is something we are thinking about and a decision will be made soon. We would possibly look to do a camp within Victoria instead if it can be organised. We are required to put the following in our newsletter as part of the process for the Canberra trip.
Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) - Students from our school will soon be undertaking an educational tour of the national capital. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia's history, culture, heritage and democracy.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government is contributing funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards the costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.
Parent TV: The school now has a subscription to Parent TV which will allow us to use their parenting videos on our newsletter. We are always looking for ways to support our famiies.
God Bless and Stay Safe
Anthony
Ash Wednesday
Did you know the ashes we use on Ash Wednesday are the burnt palms from last Palm Sunday?
Ash Wednesday is the first day in the season of Lent. Lent can be observed by all Christians, and it is a beautiful way to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and prepare us for the Easter season. During Lent, we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert.
Lent is a time for alms-giving (giving to the poor), increasing our prayer and fasting
With our students, fasting is replaced by asking our students to perhaps give up something, whether that be not eating lollies, or using the computer less or taking action, making sure their bed is made every day or even helping to clear the table.
2021 Dates
Please find some important dates for the year regarding Sacraments and other initiatives related to Religious Education for Term One:
**Please note**
For Term One
Father Greg has requested that the amount of people in the church will need to be kept to a minimum. As a result of this, any Masses or liturgies held in the upcoming weeks will be limited to the children, teachers and support staff only. No parents!
(Reconciliation is excluded from this as it takes place in small family groups).
We will keep you updated on when parents / family members will be able to join us in school celebrations.
Thanks for your understanding.
Date/ Time |
Event |
Friday 26th February, 3.15pm |
Lenten Liturgy |
Sunday 28th, 10:30am |
Year 2 Family Mass |
Friday 12th March, 3.15pm |
Lenten Liturgy |
Sunday 14th March 10:30am |
Year 3 Family Mass |
Friday 19th March, 9:15am |
Feast of St Joseph |
Friday 19th March, 2.30pm |
Lenten Liturgy |
Reconciliation Tuesday 23rd March, Wednesday 24th March, Thursday 25th March 3.50 - 6.30pm
Friday 26th March, 3.50 - 5.30pm |
Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 3 children and their families). |
Friday 26th March, 3.15pm |
Lenten Liturgy |
Sacrament Dates for 2021
Reconciliation (Year 3)
Tuesday 23rd March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Wednesday 24th March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Thursday 25th March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Friday 26th March, 3.50 - 5.30pm
First Eucharist (Year 5)
Saturday 29th May, 6pm
Sunday 30th May, 8.30am & 10.30am
First Eucharist (Year 4)
Saturday 19th June, 6pm
Sunday 20th June, 8.30am & 10.30am
Confirmation (Year 6)
Tuesday 27th July, 6pm
Wednesday 28th July, 6pm
Thursday 29th July, 6pm
St Mary’s - Parish Mass Times
Saturday 6pm
Sunday 8:30am and 10:30am
Ps 1. Due to covid situation there is a need to sign up for any Mass: signupgenius.com/go/stmarys
Fr Greg
St Mary’s Sustainability Team
I would like to introduce the St Mary’s Sustainability Team for 2021.
Each class has selected two representatives.
We have already had our first meeting and the children put forward a number of sustainable measures that they would like to implement at St Mary’s. Some of these involve an element of fun and competition.
The Sustainability Team's biggest concern was the amount of rubbish that St Mary’s is sending to landfill. This issue is not new. Last year we made a start by following the Hobson’s Bay Recycling Program. We have made a concerted effort to sort our recyclable materials. However, we are still sending a lot of rubbish to landfill. A point of interest, St Mary’s pays $12.00 for each bin that is collected. Each week the school is paying $60.00 - $108.00 on rubbish. The Sustainability Team were shocked at this cost and have proposed some ideas for reducing the cost and also the impact we as a school are having on the environment.
In our next meeting the team will discuss the proposed ideas and devise a plan for drastically reducing the amount of rubbish that St Mary’s sends to landfill.
Charlotte Lipnicki