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Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
Once again we welcome everyone back for Face to Face School. The students settled well and there was a great buzz of learning in the school. I thank everyone for there efforts in this lockdown. I think we are all hoping it will be the last one. A good reminder to everyone that our psychologist Ebony has now started with us. I know many families have found this lock down difficult. A very large percentage of people who seek mental health support connect to services through schools. Schools play a vital role in supporting mental health of students and families.
Confirmation. This week we are celebrating Confirmation with our Year Six students. We have had to make some changes with the restrictions, however the Sacrament is still going ahead which is great news for our students. For those who are not familiar, Confirmation is the Sacrament where the Candidate takes more responsibility for their own faith. It is very similar to Baptism in many senses, however instead of a sponsor speaking for the Candidate, they now do it for themselves. It is like they are becoming an adult in the church. So we wish our candidates well this week.
School Review: This Thursday and Friday we have Michael Rowland conducting our School Review. Due to restrictions it will be online. Michael will be speaking to student, staff and parent groups throughout the day. He will deliver a report on the school that will be used to guide our strategic plan.
Michael Grose Parenting Seminar August 17. We will start to really promote this event as we do not wish for any member of our community to miss out. Ideally we would have had the tickets at a lower price, however I can assure you we are just trying to cover costs. That be so, this is a great opportunity for every family, it is not every day you get access to someone at this level of expertise. https://smwilliamstown.cdfpay.
Staffing News: Karoline Cooke, our PE Teacher, will be leaving us at the end of the term to take some maternity leave. (you may have noticed, we have had a few suspicious students!) Karoline's plan is to return in 2023. Congratulations Karoline.
Socks: Our School Board has have spoken with our uniform supplier regarding the quality of the boys socks. He has followed this up with the supplier and will exchange if products are faulty. In circumstances where families identify an in issue with quality – please contact David Marcs directly (or the office) and they will seek to address or refund.
God Bless and Stay Safe
Anthony
7th Annual
Way of the West
Food and Living Essentials Collection
for Refugee and Asylum Seeker Families
What can we donate to help?
Here are some much needed items you can donate
Every class in the school will have a dedicated box for donations. Therefore, items can be sent in with your child to place in their classroom box. Alternatively, you may drop items off at the school front office or to the church on the weekend before or after Mass.
Items will then be taken to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray to be distributed to families in need. Thank you for your amazing support in the past and we look forward to your continuing support this year!
TERM 3 |
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Year 6 Confirmation Liturgies
Wednesday 28th July, 6pm Thursday 29th July, 6pm Friday 30th July, 6pm |
To attend a liturgy, everyone will need to register their details at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/stmarys
At this point in time, 3 people are permitted to attend per family due to restrictions in the church. (Candidate plus 2 others) |
Way of the West Week 1: Monday 2nd August - Sunday 8th August |
Dried Food: healthy breakfast cereals, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, healthy snack food for lunch boxes & tea (both black & green and instant coffee).
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Saturday 4th September 6pm
Sunday 5th September 8.30 & 10.30am
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Year 5 First Eucharist
Bookings will be transferred from the original date and time to the new date and times
*** numbers for this event will be announced closer to the date****
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TERM 4 |
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Saturday 16th October 6pm
Sunday 17th October 8.30 & 10.30am
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Year 4 First Eucharist
Bookings will be transferred from the original date and time to the new date and times
If these new dates create any problems, then please feel free to contact Father Greg directly. |
Class Representatives for Term 3
Here are the Class Representatives for Term 3, 2021. Certificates and badges will be presented to the students tomorrow. We will be recording this and it will be sent out to all parents. Keep a look out in your emails!
PL |
Isabella Pont |
PR |
Eva Butler |
1K |
Ned Bracken |
1P |
Peter Batzakis |
2C |
Emily Vella |
2S |
Eve Osuchowski |
3E |
Xavier Griffith |
3S |
Jessie Butterfield |
4D |
Saorla Gallagher |
4B |
Edi Lehocz |
5M |
Patrick Burke |
5C |
Eliza Wynd |
6G |
Charlie Mondon |
6B |
Isabelle Monro |
Supporting your child to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic
Here is a link for information to help you and your child positively cope during these uncertain times written by the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Many parents are looking for advice about how to best support their children to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. With the situation rapidly changing, frequent news of people becoming unwell, and many children unable to continue with their normal activities, it is a very unsettling time for families. This fact sheet contains some information for parents and carers to help them support their children and answer their questions during this challenging and uncertain time.
St Mary’s Lego Station and the Rainbow Retreat
St Mary’s School is gratefully asking for donations of any unwanted lego you might have at home. We have set up “Leah the Lego Lorry” and are looking to increase supplies at school for students to use their creative skills during recess and lunchtimes. We are also seeking any Matchbox cars you no longer need to top up the ones available in the Rainbow Retreat.
Donations are being accepted at the school office
In continuation of supporting families with guiding students in the online world, please find the following resources to support your family through navigating the world of technology safely with your family.
A reminder that there are the following interactive webinars are being offered online by the Australian Government’s e-safety Commissioner to help parents and carers.
eSafety's parent guide to popular apps
Learn how to help young people safely use popular apps including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8-13.
It will cover:
- an explanation of the popular apps used by young people
- case studies, research, and targeted advice
- ways you can support the young people in your life to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.
Dates (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Monday 16 August 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Tuesday 31 August 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Nude Food
We will continue with Nude Food this Term.Please support this innitiative, by sending your child to school with food that does not come packaged in soft plastic wrapping.
Any plastic wrapping will be sent home in their lunch box.
‘Make It Happen’ Grant
We were successful in our application for a Grant from the Hobsons Bay Council.
At the beginning of the year the children on the Sustainability team identified the problem of icypole wrappers being left lying around in the playground. To address this problem the team put forward the idea of making a fun interactive bin to collect Icypole wrappers in Terms 1 and 4.
I would like to thank the team for their creativity and look forward to working with them to make their idea a reality. We have lots to do this term.
I would also like to thank the Hobson’s Bay Council for recognising the children and awarding the grant to St Mary’s.
The School Garden
Thank you to all the children who have been helping weed and tidy up the garden during recess and lunchtime. We will continue to keep the garden in shape this term and get the beds ready for planting.
If your child is interested in gardening, please encourage them to seek me out at recess or lunchtime when I am duty.
Charlotte Lipnicki
Welcome back to all students and staff!
Lunches
Our lunch order supplier recently sold the business and we have been in discussions with the new owner regarding our lunch orders, we are also exploring other options. At this stage we cannot run lunch orders and hope to provide you all with an update as soon as possible
Father’s Day Breakfast
We are seeking help as an event coordinator and some volunteers for our Father’s Day Breakfast held on Friday 3rd September. If you are keen to get involved please contact volunteers@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Book Week
We are seeking help for the book week stall from August 30th to September 3rd. if you are keen to get involved please contact volunteers@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Disco
We mentioned last term that we were postponing the School Disco to Term 3, we have a new date Friday 20th August! We are working with the school and updates on government restrictions and will let you know if we need to postpone again.
If your child/ren are no longer able to attend and you would like a refund please contact Louise Dorinko specialevents@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au as we have a number of children that are on the waitlist and we would love to offer them a ticket.
Chocolate Drive
Thanks for everyone that has already sold their box of chocolates over the school holidays. We have additional boxes available if you think that you can sell another box, these can be collected from the School Office at any time.
For each fully paid box, your family will receive an entry into the golden raffle to win a $150 voucher to Santorini's. Thanks to Craig and the team at Santorini's for their support.
All payments need to be finalised by August.
Join the P&F Committee
Being part of the P&F is a great way to meet new people across all year levels of the school and wonderful opportunity to give back to our school. If you have been thinking you would like to learn more or get involved, it is never too late. Please email president@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au if you would like to join us for our next meeting.
Jemima Bowen
P&F President (president@smwiliamstown.catholic.edu.au)
St Mary's School is a Child Safe School and as such complies with all aspects and legal obligations that relate to the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (VIC)