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Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
This weekend, some of our Year 6 students have their second performance for their Poetry Slam work at the Wiilliamstown Literary Festival. The students have been working with Emilie Zoey Baker all term and this is their second performance. The Williamstown Literary Festival were very excited when we approached them about the idea of students performing at the festival. I also want to acknowledge Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic Schools(MACS). This project could not have gone ahead without the support of which gave the school a grant of $10 000 for this project to go ahead. We know the benefits of a project like this goes beyond poetry and I would also like to acknowledge the work of the two teachers, Laura Banks and Daryl Marmion, and other staff, who have gone above and beyond to make this project work.
School Painting: Over the school holidays we start the first part of the internal painting of the school. This holidays most of the downstairs will be painted. We are changing the painting scheme for a more modern look. Programmed Maintenance will be completing the works.
Landscape Plan. On Thursday at 10 am our Landscape Architects are presenting their first concept plans for our playground upgrade. We still have a consultative stage before anything is finalised where we talk to staff, students and families. It is a real opportunity to do some exciting things in our playground and we look forward to the staging of the redevelopment over the next few years.
Andrew Chinn: A reminder that we have our Andrew Chinn concert next Wednesday 2:30 to 3:30 which all families are welcome to attend. All classes will be performing at some stage as Andrew teaches them new songs throughout the day.
Well-being Day: This Friday is our Well-being Day with lots of activities centred around well being. As a school we have noticed the high levels of anxiety in both students and families which has been on the increase since the pandemic arrived. The school has a number of things that we do to support well being including the programs, Respectful Relationships, Bounce Back, Intervention Framework, You Can Do It and our Religious Education program. By working together as a community we strive to support every student especially when things go wrong and we need to restore well-being.
Data Literacy: A reminder the final day of term this term is a student free day.(Students finish on Thursday June 23, at 3:30) This is one of our six closure days that schools are able to use. Our focus for the day is our School Improvement Goal of Data Literacy. Data Literacy is not only about Reading our data better, but looking at a wider a range of data that contributes to the success of a student. If a students performs poorly in an assessment, by looking beyond the results we try to establish why the student got the result they received and put some supports into place. For example, the reason the student did not do well on their comprehension exercise may be a lot of factors, is it that they do not speak English at home so they do not understand some of the language, is it that they have had something happening at home that caused a disruption, have they been sick. Lots of different things can contribute to a poor result. Thus, instead of just teaching the concept again, if we target the thing that is causing the problem we have more hope of supporting the student.
Shade sails: I would like to official thank the Victorian Government for their grant that allowed us to install the new shade sails in our playground. The school received $25000 from the School Shade Sail Fund. The shade sails have had an instant impact and created a whole new learning space in our school.
Sickness. Also a reminder that if you child is unwell please do not send them to school. We have high levels of illness in our students and it is spreading like wildfire.
God Bless
Anthony
Faith News - School and Parish Connections
Corpus Christi
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear how Jesus performed a great miracle with bread for five thousand people. Let's find out why this miracle is so important to us as well.
Imagine you are in the crowd of people who have come to Jesus. You were hungry and had no idea where you would find food. But then because of Jesus’ miracle you get given something to eat by the disciples.
How do you feel?
What would you like to say to Jesus after you've eaten some bread and fish?
Do you remember to thank God for the food that you eat every day? And what about the people who grow, harvest, prepare, sell and cook your food? Do you thank them?
Even though there is enough food produced in the world to feed everyone there are many people who go without food every day – One person in every ten is hungry.
We are all members of one global family. We are all parts of one body – the body of Christ. So if one person is hungry, it is like we are all hungry.
Just like Jesus asks the disciples to feed the crowd in this Sunday’s reading, we are also asked to do what we can to make sure that everyone has enough to eat.
What do you think we can do to help make sure everyone can get enough food to eat each day?
This week let us give thanks for the food that we have. Let us remember to thank God for all that we have been given, as well as thanking and praying for all the people who are involved in the getting the food we eat from the farm to our table.
Let us also try to do one thing this week to help make the world a fairer place, so that everyone has enough to eat.
There are many local community groups we can support.
One of those is a group that Mr Burke is involved in and one we have hopes of supporting with our school garden.
The group is: Reaching out in the inner West
Please jump on the link and see if you can help out in any way.
Support for Ukraine
In the spirit of Mary Mackillop we are asking families to help those in need, especially those in the Ukraine. Those in Europe are doing so much to help, opening their homes to refugees. Their plight has been highlighted in the News again in recent weeks. We may be the other side of the world but we can help too!
If you are willing and able to provide financial support to those in need in Ukraine, there are flyers in the front office.
Important dates to Remember for Term 2
We look forward to welcoming parents back to school Masses and liturgies in the Church.
This weekend we welcome the Year 1 children and their families to the 10:30 Mass.
The children will be sharing their special morning prayer with the congregation.
We look forward to seeing as many of the school community as possible at this Mass.
Event |
Date |
Time |
Where |
Year 1 Family Mass |
19th June |
10:30 am |
Church |
Bishop Martin to visit Year 6 students |
23rd June |
10:30 |
School Hall |
Parent information session for Confirmation candidates |
Week 2 Term 3 Wed/Thurs? |
6:00-6:45 |
School Hall |
Confirmation |
Tuesday 26th July |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Confirmation |
Wednesday 27th July |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Confirmation |
Thursday 28th July |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Well done to all 5/6 students who competed in the Interschool Sports competition this term. A big congratulations to our mixed softball team who finished top of the table and will play in the final this Friday against Newport Gardens at Newport Gardens Primary School. Also a big well done to our girls netball team and both boys and girls football teams who all finished in 3rd place, just missing out on making the final.
Hello Everyone,
The amazingly talented Claire Saxby has a new book out in her Nature Series, beautifully illustrated by Max Hamilton.
TASMANIAN DEVIL
To celebrate its' release Claire and Max have a writing and illustrating competition that your students can take part in.
The next P&F Association meeting will be on Monday 20th June, at 8pm via Zoom. Please email Jacinda Davies for access (secretary@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au). The agenda will be circulated later this week.
In addition, the Fair Working group will be meeting on Tuesday 21st June in the Parish Hall at 7pm. Come along if you would like to help out with organising the Fair. Alternatively, contact the Fair Coordinator at fair@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Now that Maclean Reserve has opened to our students, we would like to keep it a clean and safe space for our students. If you would like to help keep Maclean Reserve safe for our students, then please consider volunteering for the Maclean Reserve roster for Term 2 and 3. Volunteers collect the bucket and gloves from the office in the morning, and police the area before school; it takes approximately 15 minutes of your time. If you would like to volunteer, please collect a form from the office, or alternatively email your contact details and availability to volunteers@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au. Thank you to all of those parents who have already volunteered.
What’s happening in the 2nd and 3rd Terms?
This is just a snapshot of what the P&F Association has planned for the second term
Date |
What’s happening |
Monday 20th June (8.00pm - 9.00pm) |
P&F Association Meeting (Zoom) |
Tuesday 21st June (7.00pm - 8.30pm) |
Fair Working Group Meeting (TBA) |
Wednesday 22nd June (8.30am - 9.30am) |
Second-hand uniform sales in the Hall |
Tuesday 19th July (7.00pm - 8.30pm) |
Fair Working Group Meeting (TBA) |
Tuesday 16th August (7.00pm - 8.30pm) |
Fair Working Group Meeting (TBA) |
Friday 19th August (TBA) |
School Disco (School Hall) |
It's Fair Time so SAVE THE DATE : SUNDAY 13TH OF NOVEMBER!
Reminder: Fair Meeting Tuesday 21st June.
Get out the diary, your phone or wall calendar and block out Sunday 13th November for our St Mary's Fabulous Family Fair!!
Spread the word, tell your parents, grandparents, extended family, your ballet school, footy club, the vet and even your dentist to put it in their diaries too.
This is the BIGGEST event in our P&F calendar!
St Mary's will be opening up our doors to welcome in not only our school, but all of our local community too, it's going to be HUGE!
Our last school Fair was in 2018 with over 3000 happy people enjoying the sunshine with delicious food, games, rides, showbags, amazing stalls and entertainment.
This year, we look forward to doing it all again - with all of YOU!
A huge thank you to everyone that has signed up already as a stall champion. These are the heroes of the stall, the person that co-ordinates all the logistics and behind the scenes details. We only have two champion opportunities left: Devonshire Tea & the BBQ. Don't be shy, you'll have a team of helpers to guide you through.
Thank you also to those who have sent back the volunteer forms or sent in their availability via email. Every hour of volunteering helps! Grab your class friends and spend a couple hours on your favourite stall on the day. More details for this will come a little later too.
During the next 6 months leading up to the big day we will be coming to our school community asking for support with donations and pledges. Each month there will be something different to bring in. All donations can be dropped to the front office.
For the month of June we are seeking donations for:
* Glass jars (empty, cleaned and labels removed of all shapes and sizes)
* Wrapping paper (can be left over Christmas wrapping, birthday, any colour)
* Lucky Dip items (stationery, hair accessories, Lego, little gifts)
* Raffle items (big or small)
* Donation pledges for stall consumables, such as sausages, bread, milk, coffee etc (If you are or know someone that may own a local business and could possibly donate some of these items)
The Fair brings us together as a community, it's a BIG day focused on our kids, faculty and families all having a great time. It is also the top fundraiser for our school. You'll be surprised what a small school like ours can do when we come together!
Contact with us with any questions or to get involved fair@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Thanks so much,
Jemima, Louise & P&F Association
Celebrating the different talents of students at Emmanuel College is a priority for us. Whether it is on the sporting field, in academia or in visual and performing arts, there truly is something for everyone at our school. Last week the Year 7 students who have been taking music this semester put on a concert for their families, they were outstanding and the audience of nearly 400 people loved what they saw and heard. It was incredible to see such development in these musicians who in many cases have only been learning their instrument for five months.
There are always opportunities to come along to our College tours or experience events to see first hand the environment the students are learning in and the opportunities presented to them. Our next experience events are the Annual Information Mornings. Registrations are essential for these events and they can be made by clicking on the tours and events tab on the right hand side of the homepage of the College website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au Details are as follows;
Notre Dame Campus - Saturday 6 August - Commencing with the Principal and other speakers at 9.00 am and followed by tours and ending at 10.30 am
St Paul’s Campus - Saturday 6 August - Commencing with the Principal and other speakers at 10.30 am and followed by tours and ending at 12 Noon
Also, applications for enrolment for Year 7, 2024 are now being accepted, with applications closing on Friday 19 August 2022. A Prospectus Pack containing an application form can be requested from the College website under the Enrolment Information tab found on the right-hand side of the homepage of the College website, by emailing enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au, calling the College Registrar on 8325 5119 or visiting the friendly staff in reception at either of our campuses. Please note that if you have a child currently in Grade 5 and wish to be considered for a place for Year 7, 2024, it is required that you submit and application form for that child, even if you already have older children already attending the College.
We hope to see you at our school soon.
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)