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Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
What a busy week we have with Athletics, Reconciliation, Jogathon and other things. To add to the week, Western Health will now run a Vaccination Clinic at the school this Friday as part of initiatives to increase Covid Vaccination Rates for Students in Primary schools. We know we have lots of families here for Jogathon, so it will be easy for families to collect their child to get vaccinated. I know we would all like to say goodbye to facemasks in schools, so we would appreciate if families could take up this opportunity. It is up to the parent if a child gets vaccinated, the school is really just providing a room for it to happen. No child will be forced to be vaccinated. (see details below)
Atheltics Day: Well done to all involved in the Athletics Day: parents, staff and especially the students. We just survived the weather. We did run a little late and will have to run some relays back at school soon which we will let the families know about. Thank you to Jordan Lovett and Karoline Cooke for their efforts.
Jogathon. Thank you to our wonderful Parents and Friends Association (PFA) for all the work they have put into our Jogathon this Friday. Our students are very excited and for many it is their favourite day of the year. (surprisingly, it is not the fractions lessons) This is our main fundraiser for the year and a great community event. Last week I had another meeting with our Landscape Architect to start the work around our Playground 10 year Masterplan. The masterplan will be completed this year with our long term plan to use PFA funds to be directed to the playground development.
St Patrick's Day Mass. Last week I had the pleasure of taking our two school captains to the Annual St Patrick's Day Mass at the Cathedral. We usually take a bigger group, but there were restrictions because of Covid. The Archbishop hopes to join us this year for a Mass this year. We have given him a few dates and he is trying to see if he is available. He even spoke to me about it after we had our photo taken.
Reconciliation. Congratulations and Good luck to all our Reconciliation Candidates for this week. We wish them well on the night and thank all families and staff for their efforts to prepare them.
Welcome: This week we welcome Charlie to our Year Prep class (Prep S) and her family Craig and Gabriella. We hope they feel welcome in our school.
I will be at the Victorian Catholic Principal Conference from Wednesday to Friday
God Bless
Anthony
Dear Parents and Carers,
A pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be held at St Mary's School Williamstown.
March 25th 10am to 3pm It will be held in the Hall or the Dance Room ... they are visiting on Thursday to check the rooms.
Students and their families (current and future), in addition to general community members, are strongly encouraged to visit the pop-up vaccination clinic during the designated times.
Eligibility
Vaccinations will be available to all staff, students, their families and other local community members.
What to bring
Students and families should bring the following to the pop-up clinic:
• a face mask
• photo identification
• a Medicare number or Individual Healthcare Identifier number, if you have one.
Please speak to your doctor if you have any questions about vaccination and your child and your own individual health circumstances.
Consent
As a parent or carer, you can complete a consent from for COVID-19 vaccination for your child to take with them, or you can attend with your child to provide consent in person.
Students can consent to vaccination themselves if a health professional assesses them to be a mature minor. That is that the health professional assesses that they understand the information relevant to the decision to be vaccinated and the effect of that decision.
More information
If you and your child cannot attend the pop-up vaccination clinic, you can book and receive your COVID-19 vaccine at a state vaccination centre, Commonwealth vaccination centre, participating GP clinics, pharmacies or community health services.
You and your child can find a participating Commonwealth vaccination centre, GP, pharmacy or community health service through the Vaccine Clinic Finder. You can book your appointment online or by calling the vaccine provider nearest to you.
To find a state vaccination centre and opening times, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Translated advice about the vaccines is available at coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
For further assistance, contact:
the Department of Education and Training COVID-19 hotline on 1800 338 663.
the National coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccine helpline: 1800 020 080.
Faith News - School and Parish Connections
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Loving God, help us to be more, to give more.
As the forty days of Lent progress guide us in your loving compassionate ways so we may see the vulnerable and
marginalised within our midst.
We ask these prayers through Christ our Lord,
Amen
Year 3 Family Mass
Reconciliation Candidates
Congratulations to the Year 3’s. They celebrated a wonderful Mass on Sunday. The children presented themselves beautifully and sang a wonderful song for the Gospel reflection
This Week
Let us all keep the year 3 students in our prayer. They will be making their Sacrament of Reconciliation this week.
Year 3 parents please ensure you know the time and date of your child’s reconciliation. If you are unsure please contact your child’s teacher
Project Compassion - Please show your support!
‘Working together for justice and dignity. Walking together in hope. Building together a thriving future for all.’
Caritas Australia is an international aid and development agency of the Australian Catholic Church.
They strive to seek social justice and dignity for every person.
They work with local communities in Australia and overseas, listening to concerns and assessing the needs of communities.
With help, compassion and our support, Caritas hopes to work towards a world where all people may thrive!
In every classroom there is a project compassion box. The season of Lent gives us an opportunity to recognise how lucky we are, despite our grievances and think of others less fortunate than ourselves.
During this time of Lent, please encourage your children to be compassionate and think of others in need in two simple ways.
- Children could choose to give up their icypole and donate the $1.00 to project compassion.
- Children could donate a weeks pocket money.
Year 4 Eucharist
We will be opening the bookings in the last week of term.
We cannot open the bookings any sooner, because the Fr Greg and Monique are still waiting on the Parish children to register. Registration for the Parish children does not close until the end of term.
Important dates to Remember for this Term
Event |
Date |
Time |
Where |
Year 3 Reconciliation |
22nd March |
4:00 - 6:30pm |
Church |
Year 3 Reconciliation |
23rd March |
4:00 - 6:30pm |
Church |
Year 3 Reconciliation |
24th March |
4:00 - 6:30pm |
Church |
Lenten Liturgy |
25th March |
3:00 pm |
Church |
Year 3 Reconciliation |
25th March |
4:00 - 5:30pm |
Church |
Sacramental Dates for 2022
Reconciliation - Year 3
Tuesday 22nd March
Wednesday 23rd March
Thursday 24th March
Friday 25th March
Eucharist - Year 4
Saturday 21st May, 6pm
Sunday 22nd May, 8.30am & 10.30am
Confirmation - Year 6
Tuesday 26th July, 6pm
Wednesday 27th July, 6pm
Thursday 28th July, 6pm
The P&F Association had their monthly meeting on Monday 21st March via Zoom and it was well attended. Highlights of the items discussed included the final preparations for the Jogathon and the initial plans for the Term 2 event, starting with the Mother’s Day stall.
The P&F Association is still looking for a President, so if you would like to take this position on, please do not hesitate to contact either Jacinta Davies secretary@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au, or Victoria Crowe vicepresident@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au for details. The next scheduled P&F meeting will be Monday 9th May in the Parish Centre.
Jogathon
Excitement is in the air. Jogathon Day is just two days away and the teachers and children are very excited. Reminder, all children to wear sports uniforms this Friday. Big thanks to our major sponsor Treehaus Williamstown and also to sponsors Kelly Sports and Woolworths Williamstown. Volunteers have been sent a schedule of events for the Jogathon, however for those who just want to pop-down quickly to support their children jogging, the running schedule is below. Thanks to those parents who have already made their donation via CDF Pay – this can be made at any time.
Time |
Grade |
12.15pm - 12.45pm |
Grades 1 & 2 |
12.45pm - 1.15pm |
Prep |
1.15pm - 1.45pm |
Grades 3 & 4 |
2.30pm - 3.00pm |
Grades 5 & 6 |
Second Hand Uniform Pop Up Shop
The FINAL pop-up shop for Term 1 is Wednesday 6th April. This will be a great chance to top up Winter uniform before school photo day April 7th.
Sales are held in the hall from 8:30-9:30am. This shop is now cashless and payment can be made by credit card/eftpos etc.
And don’t forget you can order any items from the 2nd hand shop at anytime by emailing your request to uniformspf@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Easter Raffle
Thanks to all of the families who have donated items for the Easter raffle. There are going to be some wonderful prizes this year. As per the last 2 years, physical raffle tickets will not be issued, and virtual tickets can be purchased through CDFpay. Tickets are $2 each, 5 for $10, 12 for $20, and 25 for $40. There is no restriction on the number of tickets purchased by each family.
Items Wanted
We are looking for donations of small, clean jars without lids and without stickers. Suitable jars would be 300mL jam or honey jars, however any small, pretty jar would work. Also, we are looking for small organza bags. You might have these left-over from a party or a project. All items can be given to Tanya Dias, or left at the office for collection.
Icy Poles
Monday March 28 - Emma O'Brien, Michelle Knezevic
Tuesday March 29 - Mariza O'Keefe, Michelle Matina
Wednesday March 30 - Vanessa Bell, Kelley Stevens
Thursday March 31 - Michelle Del Re, Hope Bjazevic
Friday April 1 - Amy Childs, Julianna Batur, Mireille Constantine
Quench Berri Icy Poles will be on sale each lunch-time for $1 each, from Monday until the end of Term 1.