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Newsletter Term 4 Week 5

Principal's Message

Dear Parents & Families,

I hope you made the most of the extra long weekend. It was a great chance for families to recharge the batteries and spend time with family and friends and perhaps even to back a winner in the Melbourne Cup!

My thoughts and prayers have been with our families who are under duress with the rain and the rising flood waters. It has been a stressful time for many. Please make contact if your child requires wellbeing support. I also wish to make all families aware that the Victorian Government is offering financial support to Catholic school students who are affected by the floods. If your home or belongings are damaged by the floods, please contact us and we can provide you with all of the details.There is up to $1,200 available for each student that meets the criteria.

Casual Dress Update
Thank you for your very generous donations on Friday. We raised $875.55 from our casual dress day with proceeds donated to local flood relief operations and agencies.

Grandparents & Friends Night
We are monitoring the weather and the impact of the flooding as we prepare for Grandparents Night on Thursday, November 10th. Like so many things in the past 2 years, we have learnt that plans may have to adjust quickly based on circumstances outside our control, but with only 8 more sleeps till Grandparents and Friends Evening we are still busy preparing for what is always a fantastic night on the school calendar. The children are enjoying learning their dances taught by Miss Natasha from Strike A Pose Dance Studio. Linked to the school’s PE curriculum and used to promote health and fitness, these dance sessions are a great way for students to learn new skills while preparing some amazing acts to perform for you all next Thursday evening.

We have many new families to our school who may be unaware of how large this event is and how it is organised. Hopefully the following will provide some clarification. We invite all families to attend this night and to bring along their Grandparents and Friends as it is a wonderful opportunity to gather and celebrate as a school community. We also strongly suggest you bring along a chair to sit on. Families are encouraged to bring along a picnic tea and there are some food options available if you would prefer to purchase on the night.

Order of the Night

5:00-6:00—Classrooms are open for all to visit and see the environment and the work that has taken place over the last few weeks.
6:00-6.30—Classrooms are closed so that children and staff can eat and get ready for their performance. At about 6:20 children will be asked to sit in their year level under the permanent shelter.
6:30—Each year's level presents their performance with the raffle being drawn in between some performances. The evening ends with the staff performance.

A flyer informing you of food options and where they will be located on our school grounds will be sent next week.

2023 School Captains
Recently, Mr Perry and I had the pleasure of interviewing 10 Year 5 students who had been voted by their peers to possess the leadership qualities that would make a great school captain and last week the successful candidates were announced. They are as follows:
Captains: Ollie Spinks & Georgia Martin
Vice Captains: Evie Kelly, Chelsea Tucker, Finn Hufer & Kell Parsons
We think they will be terrific leaders and are really looking forward to working with them in 2023.

2023 School Captains

Dogs Connect
Mac is growing quickly and learning lots as he prepares for his role at St Mary’s next year. The following short video, gives families an overview about the Dogs Connect program and the type of work Mac will engage with when starts onsite.

Our core group consists of Tarsha Ward, Chris Prockter, Kate Quin and Mardi Hall. Mac lives with Tarsha and her family, attends puppy school with the Hall family and Chris, Kate and Tarsha are completing the programming side of Dogs Connect, so that we fully reap the benefits of having Mac as part of our school community in 2023.

Class Groupings 2023
Over the next few weeks our teachers are putting the final touches to class groupings for 2023. In doing this, academic, social and emotional considerations are taken into account to inform decisions. We are fortunate that St. Mary's teachers plan learning activities that often allow our children to mix across the year group where they are working alongside all the children within their age and class grouping. School is a place where children learn how to relate to other children. It is important that children learn to mix with lots of children. In doing this, they learn about themselves in relationships and identify qualities within others that they find positive and assuring for themselves. We are also finalising staffing needs and will publish teachers and levels by the end of November.
I would ask any family who believes that they will not be here at St Mary’s in 2023 to let me know as we are working on class structures for next year. Thank you for your consideration

Have a great week and we look forward to assembly hosted by Foundation C on Friday.

Kate

Key Dates

Friday November 4th
Regional Cricket
Assembly 12.25pm - Foundation C
Tuesday November 8th
Regional Basketball
Thursday November 10th
Grandparents & Friends Night
Monday November 14th - Tuesday November 15th
Year 4 Camp
Friday November 18th
Assembly 12.25pm - 4M

Wellbeing with Mrs Gook & Mr Prockter

The following article is provided as a part of our school’s Parenting Ideas membership parentingideas.com.au
Having a friend at school can make a huge difference to our boys, but sometimes they need a little help from parents to find their way.

Nurturing young boys’ friendships
Maggie Dent –Commonly known as the ‘queen of common sense’, Maggie Dent has become one of Australia’s favourite parenting authors and educators, with a particular interest in the early years, adolescence and resilience. She has written seven major books including the bestselling Mothering Our Boys and her 2020 release, From Boys to Men. Maggie is host of the ABC podcast, Parental As Anything. She is the mother of four sons and a very grateful grandmother. For further details visit maggiedent.com

There are a couple of factors in helping our kids in the early years at school. One is a warm connected relationship with the teacher or support person. The other is having at least one friend they can rely on at school.

Boy friendships are fragile
Since boys often talk later (and less) than girls, little boys can struggle with friendships. I am astounded at the capacity of most little girls to have real conversations that explore things friends have in common, help them play games and negotiate, and experience mutually bonding moments. Girls also tend to have a better grasp on the non-verbal cues of building rapport such as smiling, waving, and hugging. One of the world’s leading boy experts, Dr William Pollack, author of Real Boys, believes that while girls communicate more, boys seek connection more indirectly through activities or play. So, for boys to bond they need significant amounts of time spent playing with other boys.

Boys need play to facilitate friendships
‘Play dates’ are a reasonably recent happening. Years ago, children tended to play for hours either in each other’s backyards or at sporting events. Now, less recess and lunch time at school, remote learning, and more emphasis on technology than real play is impacting this key window of building emotional and social skills. We need to create opportunities outside of school. Finding families in your neighbourhood with kids of similar ages and older is still an excellent way of creating friendships. Yes, it involves some scheduling, but many families still make time to gather maybe one afternoon a week in the same playground with the same grownups and kids to create cohesion. Play has many benefits other than the obvious one of helping our boys discharge excess energy and stress. Unstructured play helps to create feel-good neurochemicals, especially when it allows kids to follow the oen-unspoken randomness of boy play which frequently includes adventures, hunts, and targets. It teaches them to lose, to wait, to take turns and much more.

Coaching young boys
I often share the story of the little boy who at the end of the day at school ran up to his best little mate and punched him in the head. In no way did this little boy mean to hurt his friend, however at that moment his actions, which looked confusing to everybody, were an attempt to express how much he liked his friend and how much he was going to miss him. Helping boys to create (and practice!) welcoming and farewell strategies can help alleviate some of these awkward moments. Giving a high five, having a secret handshake, teaching them to smile and calling out ‘hello’ using their friend’s name are all great strategies to coach and teach.

Curriculum with Mrs Hall

Young Writers Awards - “Smile” Competition
Our congratulations to all our finalists last week and a special mention to those who were announced as Winners and Highly commended students for their writing pieces at last week's award ceremony. The judges were very impressed with the high level of writing entries and commended our students on their strong ability to engage the reader. As a school we are very proud of your outstanding achievements.

Darcy McL - Winner: Year 1/2
Kathleen K - Winner: Year 3/4
Scarlett F - Highly Commended Year 3/4
Oliver S: Highly Commended - Year 5/6

Writing 4 Fun Competition
Scarlett F has also been shortlisted in a Writing 4 Fun competition (one that she entered at home by herself with a totally different piece of writing). Her writing piece was shortlisted from over 4,000 entries and will now be published in a book which will be released March 2023. A huge congratulations to Scarlett on this wonderful achievement.

RE with Mrs Davies

Prayer for Flood Victims
Lord we pray your hand of safety and guidance upon all the victims of the regions under flood conditions. Bless these people Lord and keep them safe. Do not let the flood waters steal their lives. Drive back the floods to protect their homes and their precious animals. Lord, please be with everyone waiting to be rescued, keep them safe, and bring help to them soon. God, bless each and every person affected by the floodwaters and surround them with Your love, protection, and angels. Let them know there are millions of us out here praying for them and their loved ones.

Amen

PE with Miss Clark

State Athletics
Goodluck to the following students participating in State Athletics today, Wednesday the 2nd of November.

Myles H- Hurdles
Kayla Mc- 100m, 200m, Relay
Lola R- Relay
Lola P- Relay
Kayla S- Relay
Oliver S- High Jump
Violet C- Shot Put
Maverik B- Discus
Isla B- 200m

St Mary’s is very proud of all these students making it to this level!

Rescheduled Dates
It looks like we are back on thankfully with school sports! Both Regional Cricket and Basketball have new dates;
-Regional Cricket - Friday, 4th of November
-Regional Basketball - Tuesday, 8th of November
Information regarding the draw and notes on PAM will go out again to those children involved.

Regional T20 Cricket
This week on Friday the 4th of November St Mary’s has two boys teams and a girls team that will be representing the school in a Regional Cricket competition held in Swan Hill. Good luck to those students representing the school!

Sustainability with Mrs Ward

This week’s sustainability tip comes from the class of 3I:
Use reusable beeswax wraps rather than gladwrap for your food and bring it home everyday!

@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

Rememberance Day
We have items available at the office for this years Rememberance Day RSL Poppy Appeal. Prices range from $1-$5.

Change of Clothes
Just a reminder that if your child requires a change of clothes at school, please wash and return the items to school as soon as possible. We have a limited supply of spare clothes, so if you think your child may need a change of clothes, especially in the wet weather, please pack these in your childs bag.

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 favourite 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 5 - 8
You can collect your test kits from the office window for Weeks 5-8 (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.

News from the Canteen

CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPECIALS!!!!
WEDNESDAY - PIZZA PINWHEELS (x2) $2.00
FRIDAY- SUSHI BALLS (x2) $2.00

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