Newsletter Term 4 Week 2
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
Hope you had a relaxing weekend and you are ready for the week ahead. Last week we seemed to hit the ground running . It has been a delight to see the students so settled and engaged with school this term.
DOBCEL Board Visit
We welcome the DOBCEL Board here this week. The DOBCEL board members hold their monthly meeting at different locations around the diocese. By conducting their meetings at different school communities across the Ballarat diocese, they also have the opportunity to meet staff and students in staff rooms and classrooms and see first hand the great initiatives and education programs that are happening in our schools.
Staff Updates
Congratulations to Melanie White from our wellbeing team who has accepted a position to teach the early childhood qualification at Sunitafe. While sad for us to lose Mel, it is a great thing for our local community to have that much needed course up and running again. With Mel’s departure, Annika Safe, who holds post graduate degree in child and adolescent welfare is joining the Wellbeing team. In other staffing news we have appointed Michael Herlihy, currently teaching in Maldon and Evie Jennings currently working at St Laborious, Eaglehawk to commence in 2023.
Regional Athletics
We have 34 students from Year 4-6 in Bendigo today at the Regional Athletics. We wish them luck and know that they will represent our school and themselves admirably. We look forward to hearing about their results when they return.
Year 3 Sacramental Preparation Day
Our Year 3 students are looking forward to travelling to the parish centre on Wednesday for a sacramental preparation workshop facilitated by Fr James and Mary Kennedy from the Parish Office. Confirmation Masses are scheduled for October 22nd and 23rd at all weekend Masses.
Come and Try Session 3
The last of our Come and Try mornings runs on Wednesday between 9.30am-11 am. These mornings provide an opportunities to essentially 'come and try ' what life and learning is like in real time in our Foundation rooms. Thanks to the Foundation team who make these sessions a lot of fun for the children who attend.
Sign in Sheet - Assembly & Friday Lunchtimes
Friday is family day at St Mary’s and we love the fact that so many families attend assembly and then stay and enjoy lunch with their children. In line with our Child Safe procedures, we require all adults who attend assembly or who are joining us for lunch to sign in (tables outside the gym doors). Our designated family area is the passive play area where your children can join you for lunch.
Grandparents & Friends Night
Just some advance notice so you can mark it on the family calendar. After a two year hiatus, Grandparents Night is back on Thursday 10th November. For those that are new to our school, this runs from 5pm-7.45 pm and incorporates the opportunity to visit your child’s classroom and share in their learning and then stay on for a concert performed by the students. There will be more information about the format of Grandparents night in the lead up to this special school community event.
Foundation Health Assessments
Kerrie McCosh continues her annual screening of Foundation children on the 10th & 11th October and will continue to be here regularly throughout Term 4 to conduct eyesight and hearing tests on all children in their first year of school.
Sunsmart School
As the sun re-appears for Spring, we are mindful of our responsibilities in line with our SunSmart policy. In Terms 1 and 4 of the school year, we understand that the UV Index Level regularly rises above 3, in which case we need to implement sun protection measures. These measures include sun protection clothing, including our school hat, maximising the use of shaded areas and application of sunscreen. This means that hats are worn during Term 1 and Term 4. Please ensure that your child has a clearly labelled school hat for Term 4 as all students at St Mary’s are required to wear their school hat during playtime breaks and outdoor school activities such as sport
St. Mary’s Book Fair
St. Mary’s Book Fair will be held this term on Tuesday 25th October to Friday 28th October. More information in the office section of the newsletter.
2023 Class Structures & Families Leaving
We will commence constructing class groups for next year over the next few weeks. In doing this, academic, social and emotional considerations of all students are taken into account to inform decisions. Any parental considerations regarding your child’s 2023 placement must be emailed to principal@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au or delivered to the office in an envelope marked Att: Principal by Friday October 28th. Please do not assume previous requests are ongoing as we begin each year afresh at St Mary’s.
I would ask that any family who believes that they will not be here at St Mary’s in 2023 to let me know (via email or a phone call) this information affects possible class structures for next year. Thank you for your consideration.
I hope you all have a great week and look forward to you joining us when 3H host assembly this Friday.
Kate
Key Dates
Monday October 10th
Regional Athletics
Wednesday October 12th
Come & Try Morning
Year 3 Sacramental Preparation Day
Friday October 14th
Assembly 12.25pm - 3H
Monday October 17th - Wednesday October 19th
Year 5 Camp
Friday October 21st
Assembly 12.25pm - 2R
Saturday October 22nd/Sunday October 23rd
Year 3 Confirmation
Wellbeing with Mrs Gook & Mr Prockter
Friendships & Conflict
https://wellbeingforkids.com.au/author/georginawellbeingforkids-com-au/
During primary school children go through many stages of making friends and along the way will experience conflict at some stage. It is very normal for children to experience conflict from time to time as this is a way of children discovering what works with friends and what doesn’t – put simply children are developing their social and emotional skills. Some children may get confused when they have a disagreement or conflict with another person and may call this bullying. There is a great difference between conflict and bullying and here is a simple way to differentiate between them:
Misunderstanding – usually problems around communication.
Disagreement – do not agree on something and both want their own way.
Conflict – people usually want to solve the problem. Can be over a period of time if not sorted properly.
Bullying – threatening, repetitive, targeted, deliberating wanting to harm, abusive, no attempt to resolve issues..
If your child does experience conflict, this is a wonderful teaching moment to guide them and help them learn about how to get along with others. Sometimes children can resolve conflict themselves, particularly as they grow into the upper years of primary school, but when they are young they may need guidance, and most importantly emotional support.
The best way to give emotional support is to use ‘reflective listening’. When we practice this type of listening, we listen to the content of what your child is saying and listen for the emotion and then we reflect back what they are saying e.g. “it sounds as though that really frustrated you when you did not get to play your game”. We can then try to help them solve the situation by giving them lots of opportunities to brainstorm a solution without stepping in too early to solve it for them.
Curriculum with Mrs Hall
Swan Hill Show Award Winners
This year we entered over 100 pieces of work from our school in the Swan Hill Show. Congratulations to our award winners.
PE with Miss Clark
Regional Athletics
Goodluck to all 34 students competing in Regional Athletics in Bendigo today! St Mary’s Primary School is super proud of all of you for making it through to this level. You should all be very pleased with your achievements.
Primary School Golf Competition
A reminder that on Friday 21st of October there is a Golf Competition held at Kerang Golf Course for Years 3 to 6 students.
This competition is run by Goal Australia and students will play 9 holes on a shortened course. Students have the chance to qualify for the state finals and will play 18 holes on a shortened course at Kooringal Golf Club. Golfers MUST have their own set of clubs and have some skill of hitting.
The following information are some rules for the day;
- Entry is done online through Vic Golf website https://www.golf.org.au/schoolevents
- They don’t need a handicap
- Maximum no. of shots per hole is 10
- Drop out of the sand one stroke
- Par 3 -100m, Par 4 -200m Par 5- 300m
- Recommended one adult to attend per four golfers to help with rules, scoring etc.
If your child is interested could they please come and see Miss Clark for further information to take home.
Sustainability with Mrs Ward
This week’s sustainability tip comes from Thomas in 6Y:
Instead of chucking out food scraps you can feed them to your chooks, or if you don't have chooks give them to a neighbour who does.
@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
St Mary's Book Fair
St. Mary’s Book Fair will be held this term on Tuesday 25th October to Friday 28th October, with orders taken until the 4th of November. The school receives 30% of the money raised in book stock for our library, which provides us with a chance to stock up on many of the children's favorite books.
We will have a large range of books displayed in the library, which the children will view during their normal library class time. Parents are also welcome to come along at any time during these days. The children will make a “Wish List” which will then be sent home with an order form. This can be completed and sent back to the office no later than Friday 4th November. A good opportunity to buy for Christmas.
Rapid Antigen Test Collection - Weeks 1 - 4
You can collect your test kits from the office window for Weeks 1-4(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.
PAM Notifications
With a busy term ahead, please ensure you are reading all school correspodence thoroughly, in particular school activity permissions. If you are having trouble accessing your PAM account, please contact the office.
Labelling school items
With the mornings cool and the afternoons warming up, just a reminder to clearly label school jumpers and hats so they can be returned to your child.
Issue 7 orders are due Friday October 21st
Scholastic Book Club Issue 7 has been sent home. We will not be accepting cash payments for orders. Please order online following the instructions below. This is the link for LOOP, which will allow you to make an online order and payment;
https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx If you are not registered for LOOP, click on the link above and create a new account. You will need to enter your details, add children and select our school (typed as is here); St. Mary's SWAN HILL
If you have any questions or are having trouble with the LOOP ordering system, please contact the office via email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au
News from the Canteen
"Meal Deals" are available every Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
from the Specials Menu for $6.50!
Our cut off time for CDF Pay orders is 9.30am
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!! If you are able to help in the canteen in Term 4, please contact the office on 50332541 or email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au
Student of the Week
Birthday Wishes
What's happening in 3J?
Community News
