Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers
Last week the Grades 3-6s participated in the Senior Athletics Day. The day was a great success- thanks to all the students for their enthusiastic participation, to the parents for their support and to those who came along to watch and special thanks to Mrs Michelle Richards who organised and coordinated the whole event and Ms Courtney Blair and the Mary MacKillop CRC students who came along to help run the events. It was wonderful to see the students celebrating, not only each other's successes but also encouraging their peers in their attempts at the events. Thank you to the staff and parents who spent time preparing students to be a ‘Good Loser’ and a ‘Gracious Winner’. (There will be another opportunity to practice these skills this week at our annual Easter Raffle!)
I would also like to express sincere gratitude to all the families who donated prizes for our Easter Raffle and bought tickets. This is such a successful fundraiser for our school. The raffle will be drawn in front of all the students and staff this Wednesday afternoon, March 31. Due to COVID restriction considerations, the prizes have been placed in plastic bags.
On March 19 we celebrated St Joseph's Day. The whole school attended Mass (sorry we were unable to invite parents due to density quotient restrictions). Each level learned a little more about St Joseph, the loving, caring father to Jesus as we celebrated our school’s name day.
For the last few years we have been working on including Christian Meditation into our Morning Prayer routines. Christian Meditation is practised at least twice weekly in every classroom with the emphasis being on spending quiet time actively welcoming God’s presence into our lives. The students are encouraged to use a mantra: Maranatha (Ma-ra-na-tha) which means, ‘Come Lord Jesus’. Using a mantra helps to clear the mind from other distractions and concerns so that a level of openness and tranquility can be experienced. After the meditation staff have noted that there is an atmosphere of peace and harmony. All classes are working on slowly increasing the time they can meditate as a group successfully.
For your information:
As part of the evolution of the Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL), the Catholic Education Office Sale will now be known as the DOSCEL Secretariat.
- The word secretariat refers to the office or people responsible for the management of an organisation.
- The staff of Catholic Education Office Sale (CEOSale) will now be referred to as staff of the DOSCEL Secretariat.
You will have received some information about SIMON, a learning management and operation system which is the platform we are transitioning to over the course of this year. I encourage you to set up your account when you receive the email invitation. We are currently using SIMON to mark the roll. Once your account is set up you will be able to use the Parent Access Module to enter your child/rens absences online.
As this is the last newsletter for this term I would like to wish everyone a happy and holy Easter. Thank you for all your wonderful support over this term! I hope everyone is able to spend some special time with their families and enjoy the Easter and school holiday break. Please take care!
Lunchtime Clubs for Term 2
As well as the usual Lunchtime club held in the library each day, next term we will be offering:
Mondays: Knitting Club with Mrs Martin,
Tuesdays: STEAM Club with Mrs Buccilli
Wednesdays: Skipping with Mrs Bertacco
Thursdays: Music with Ms Paulson
Fridays: Fundamental Movement Skills for P-2s with Mrs Richards
Grade 6 students will be assisting with running these clubs.
If any parents or friends would like to assist with these clubs, please contact the school office. The clubs run for about 30 minutes over the lunch period between 1.45 and 2.15pm. There is a process that needs to be followed before parents/friends can volunteer so the earlier you contact the office, the sooner we can arrange for this.
Joanne Coldebella
Acting Principal