Newsletter Term 3 Week 9
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
So nice to feel a little bit of warmth in the air as we enter the beautiful season of Spring!
Thank you to everyone who attended 'Donuts for Dads' on Friday. It really was fantastic to see so many dads, grandpas, uncles and special friends come along to spend some time in our classrooms and out of the yard kicking a footy, shooting baskets and just spending time with their children. There was a very positive vibe in the playground at this very special event and the kids loved the opportunity to give thanks for the love, support and guidance provided by the male figures in their lives. A very special thank you to our Family Engagement team, Renee, Ebony and all our staff for bringing this event to life. To all our dads, grandads, uncles and special male figures in our school community, we hope you all had a very happy Father’s Day on Sunday. You deserve it!
Junior Hub Update
It’s all action this week as our Year 5 students and specialist staff move from their current rooms and locations to take up residence in different spaces around the school as we prepare for the commencement of our junior hub. It is exciting to think we are about to start this project which will provide 4 new classrooms, refurbished classrooms and an internal learning street which will be a wonderful addition to our existing facilities. Constructions will commence on September 12th and our expected completion date is late April 2023.
Junior Athletics Day
They have been practising hard under Miss Clark’s guidance and are all very excited about the upcoming school sports! This Tuesday September 6th, the Foundation to Year 2 students will take part in their Athletics on the St. Mary's oval. Many thanks to those who have offered to help on the day.
Courage and Crowns Workshop 2
The second of the very popular Courage and Crowns workshops designed for our Year 5 & 6 students and their Mums or carers is on again this Tuesday night starting at 6pm. Facilitated by Megan Simpson, the workshop provides a wonderful opportunity for all present to explore ideas of self love, self worth and high standards.
Pupil Free Day - Wednesday September 7th
Just a reminder that Wednesday 7th September is a pupil free day as staff spend time deepening their understanding of School Wide Positive Behaviour Strategies(SWPBS).
NAPLAN
Our 2022 Naplan results arrived late last week and have been posted out to all families with a child in Year 3 & 5.
Transitioning to Summer Uniform
Towards the end of Term 3 the weather begins to warm up. Children can transition into summer uniform on these warmer days, keeping in mind that there will still be some colder days ahead. By the start of Term 4 all children should be in summer uniform.
2023 Enrolments
We are still taking enrolments for Foundation and other year levels for 2023 and encourage you to let your family and friends know about the warm and supportive environment offered at St Mary's for all students.
Have a great week and hope to see many of you at the Junior Athletics or when Foundation F host assembly this Friday.
Kate
Key Dates
Tuesday September 6th
Junior Athletics (Foundation-Year 2)
Courage & Crowns Workshop 2 - Year 5/6 Girls
Wednesday September 7th
Pupil Free Day
Friday September 9th
Assembly Foundation F - 12.25PM
Monday September 12th
Division Athletics
Tuesday September 13th
Foundation Camp
Friday September 16th
Assembly 6W 12.25PM
End of Term 3 - early finish
Monday October 3rd
Start of Term 4
Wellbeing with Mrs Gook
Supporting a highly sensitive child-by Rachel Samson
Does your child cry easily? Is she/he prone to becoming overwhelmed in loud or busy places? Does your child seem sensitive to the moods and emotions of others? Does she/he tend to “meltdown” or “shutdown” when there is a lot going on? Does your child startle easily? Do you consider your child to be highly sensitive?
Raising a highly sensitive child can come with a unique set of parenting challenges but it also gives you—the parent—more influence to positively shape your childʼs development! Yes, thatʼs right. Parents have even more influence on the development and wellbeing of their highly sensitive child compared to less sensitive kids.
Research shows that highly sensitive children are more strongly affected by their environment, including parenting, than less sensitive children. Let me explain.
Just as we all differ on temperament traits such as extroversion, agreeableness, and consciousness, we also differ on another temperament trait: sensitivity. All of us fall somewhere on the sensitivity continuum from low sensitivity to high sensitivity.
Approximately 30% of us—and our kids—are highly sensitive. Highly sensitive kids tend to process information from the environment more deeply, are prone to overstimulation, have greater emotional reactivity (think more crying and more intense emotions) and higher empathy, and have a greater capacity for sensing subtleties in our environment. We can think of highly sensitive kids as living smoke detectors who are capable of detecting subtle changes in the environment that the majority of people may miss. It is thought that a finely tuned, highly reactive nervous system underpins high sensitivity.
Research shows that highly sensitive kids tend to do exceptionally well in nurturing and supportive environments but are at higher risk for developing a range of physical and mental health conditions in harsh and unsupportive environments compared to children who are less sensitive. In other words, highly sensitive children are more sensitive to their environment for better and for worse.
So how do we support our sensitive kids and provide them with the nurturing environment they need?
Stay tuned for next week's tips
Rachel Samson is an Australian-based Clinical Psychologist and Family Consultant with a passion for supporting parents to develop healthy parent-child relationships that promote optimal child development. For further details visit Instagram @australianpsychologist and Facebook @sensitivityproject.
PE with Miss Clark
Gymnastics After School Program
The students have had their last session of the after school Gymnastics program. It has been great to see them all grow in confidence and learn new skills along the way. St Mary’s would like to thank the Swan Hill Gymnastics Club and coaches for providing 5 great sessions for our students. If parents would like more information about continuing gymnastics with their child they can contact the club to ask about classes through their website; https://www.swanhillgymnastics.org/contact
If the club gets enough demand from parents, they are likely to create more classes available as they can be very popular and hard to get into.
Senior Athletics
Well done to all Year 3-6 students that competed at the Senior Athletics on Friday the 26th. The following are the award winners announced at assembly from the day;
Age Champions (scored the most points in total for the day):
8/9 boys- Charlie H 8/9 girls- Mia H
10 boys- Hamish L 10 girls- Daisy M
11 boys- Oliver S 11 girls- Kayla M
12/13 boys- Thomas R 12/13 girls- Isla B
Sportsperson awards (nominated by teachers for showing positive attitude, encouraging others and being your best):
Harry H, Coco N, Ayva W, Oscar E, Aarav B, Zoe B, Lana B, Emme B and Jobe S
New School Athletics Record:
11 Year old boys High Jump: 1.40m- Oliver S
Relay Results:
1st Wombats- 26 points 2nd Bandicoots- 22 points 3rd Bunyips- 21 points 4th Dingoes- 11 points
Overall House Winner:
1st Bandicoots- 14.41 2nd Bunyips- 14.33 3rd Wombats- 14.17 4th Dingoes- 13.39
Division Athletics
The Division Athletics is being held on Monday the 12th of September at Ken Harrison Reserve. St Mary’s has 71 students who have qualified for this event. Notes will be sent to students who have qualified this week.
Junior Athletics
The Junior Athletics is this Tuesday the 6th of September. A big thank you to the parent helpers who have volunteered to help out on the day. St Mary’s welcomes parents, family and friends to come along to support the children in their event. Below is the timetable for the day.
RE with Mrs Davies
Confirmation - Year 3 Children
Over the coming weeks our Year 3 Children will begin their preparations in receiving their Sacrament of Confirmation. Your child began their Sacramental journey at Baptism when they were filled with his life and grace and welcomed into his family, the Church. As they now grow in maturity and faith as followers of Jesus, he invites them to further deepen their relationship with him by continuing on their Sacramental journey.
To present your child for Confirmation -
*Complete the enrolment form sent home with your child last week by Sunday 11th September and return either in person to the parish or via email.
*Attend a Confirmation session, which will be offered as a part of the weekend Masses on September 10th/11th
*Collect and complete Confirmation Program Booklets from the Parish Office.
*Attend the Confirmation Retreat Day on Wednesday 19th October.
Confirmation Masses will be held on the weekend of October 22nd/23rd. If there are any issues with that date please make contact with the Parish.
Sustainability with Mrs Ward
Foundation E love giving their fruit & good scraps to the chooks so they can lay eggs for Trudy & Lou to use in the canteen.
@2 Murlong Before & After School Care
The Out of School Hours Care program, @ 2 Murlong, is operating out of the gym hub and provides before and after school care for school age children in the Swan Hill area. Please express your interest via the following link;
https://prodadmin.myxplor.com/enrollment/index/dHdBOThsSW9JeHUxYTEwaHNxZlMrdz0
News from the Office
Rapid Antigen Test Collection - Week 9, 10 & School Holidays
You can collect your test kits from the office window for Week 9, 10 and the school holidays (2 boxes per student) between 8.30am and 4pm. Please notify the office via email if someone else will be collecting them on your behalf.
Signing in at the Office
Just a reminder to bring your Working with Children's Check with you when you visit our school and remember to sign in and out at the office.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is kindly asking for donations of vegemite and jam. Donations can be dropped at the office.
News from the Canteen
Corn chips with salsa and cheese are available every Friday from the Special Menu!
Our cut off time for CDF Pay orders is 9.30am
We are in the process of putting together our canteen roster for Term 4. Please email the office if you are able to assist.
office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au
CANTEEN ROSTER:
Student of the Week
Birthday Wishes
What's happening in 3I?
Community News
