Newsletter Term 4 Week 9
Principal's Message
Dear Parents & Families,
It was lovely to have our Advent Liturgy on Friday, which was so beautifully led by our Foundation students. This week marks the beginning of Advent, a sure sign that the school term is flying by and Christmas is indeed just around the corner!
Earlier this term our Year 5 camp was cancelled due to the flooding, so it was very exciting to see them board the buses this morning to head off on to Halls Gap for what looks like an action packed few days.
This week also marks the final week for Rosie Lennox and Rachel Evans, who have been on placement here from ACU (Australian Catholic University). We have loved having them join our team for a few weeks and hope they have enjoyed their rural placement.
Fly into Foundation Transition Program
We are looking forward to our future Preppies joining our Foundation classes throughout the week to try out life at school in readiness for 2023. We also had a great turn out at the Foundation Information night with over 40 families tuning in to learn more about life at St Mary’s and we thank Beth and the Foundation team for putting together such an informative evening.
Christmas Carols Event
In another chance for the staff and children to don the Christmas gear, we are on the countdown to our annual Christmas Carols Event which is happening next Tuesday December 6th.
This wonderful evening is fast approaching and we are looking forward to seeing you all at school next week. The children, along with their teachers, Mrs Dunstan and Ms Gerakis have been practising long and hard to make sure this is a lovely night in the lead up to Christmas.
It has been wonderful to see items coming through the office baskets with families donating an a small item for our Christmas hamper raffle. These will be collated next Monday in preparation for the raffle draws which take place throughout the carols evening.
Staffing Allocation for 2023
Please find below the classroom teachers for 2023. Specialist teachers and support staff will be in the next newsletter.
Year 6: Mr Corey Daniels, Mrs Belinda Davies/Mrs Teagan Lawry, Mr Arren Smith, Mrs Lauren Martin
Year 5: Mrs Karen Jobling/Mrs Christine Free, Mrs Deanne Dacey/Mrs Deb Parsons, Mrs Archana Patney, Mr Daniel Cruickshank
Year 4: Mr Mark Bonney, Mr Brady Davidson, Mr Chaz Talboys/Ms Tagan Koschitzki, Mrs Zoe Morris/Mrs Gemma Stewart
Year 3: Mr Kyle Doran, Mrs Brooke Bannam/Mrs Megan Bett, Mr Michael Herlihy/Mrs Nikita Wade
Year 2: Mr Wes Harrison, Miss Olivia Scarce, Mr Leighton Dullard
Year 1: Mr Jacob Cleeland, Mrs Andrea Woodburn, Miss Alexia Mase, Miss Evie Jennings/Mrs Rachel Edwards, Miss Sophie Reed
Foundation: Mrs Beth Caruso, Mrs Janelle Hogan, Ms Dallas Sloan, Mrs Rachael Smith
Tutor Program Funding
It was exciting to learn that we will receive Tutor Program funding from the Victorian Government again in 2023. This is to support students who despite staff and parents' combined best efforts may have fallen behind in their learning as a result of the disruption caused by COVID-19. This money will be used to employ additional staff to provide intensive literacy or numeracy support to identified students for the 2023 year.
Casual Dress
We raised $590.45 from our casual dress day last Friday. This will be used by the SRC to purchase and wrap gifts that will be placed under the parish Christmas tree at the end of the year.
I hope you all enjoy the week ahead and look forward to you joining us when Five Blue takes centre stage at assembly on Friday.
Kate
Key Dates
Monday November 28th - Wednesday November 30th
Year 5 Camp
Monday November 28th - Friday December 2nd
Fly into Foundation - Foundation 2023 Transition program
Friday December 2nd
Assembly 12.25pm - 5 Blue
Tuesday December 6th
Christmas Carols Event
Thursday December 8th
Pupil Free Day
Friday December 9th
Orientation Day
Monday December 12th
Year 6 Graduation
Tuesday December 13th
End of Year Mass
Wednesday December 14th
Break up day activities/Last day for students
Wellbeing with Mrs Gook & Mr Prockter
Mac made a guest appearance this morning to meet the Year 6 students as part of his school familiarisation program.
RE with Mrs Davies
Make a Scene Nativity Workshops - Student Reflections
Fiona and Kay came to our school from Make a Scene Nativity to teach us about the birth of Jesus from the bible and different artists interpretations and to show us different nativity scenes from around the world. One activity was with Fiona and she was a time traveller and showed us many things from Jesus' time and how different artists saw the birth of Jesus. Another activity was with Kay and we travelled the world seeing many different nativities from countries around the world. One of my favourite things was how many recycled nativities there were, from stuff made out of paper and coconuts to real bullet shells! - Larni 5Y
The nativity activity was so interesting, we got to see so many different ways people set up the nativity scenes. I really enjoyed hearing about all of the nativity figures and how they were made by so many different things. - Will 2S
On Wednesday, worldwide nativity scene collectors came to St Mary’s. Their names were Kay and Fiona. During the lesson we got to see Myrrh, Frankincense and Gold which were the gifts that the magi gave to Jesus on his birth. After we learned a bit about nativity scenes we got to see the nativities that they had collected over their 44 years of collecting. There were nativities from Kenya, Vietnam, Australia, North America and Europe. The artists used a lot of materials ranging from glass, lolly wrappers, pumpkins, wool and straw - Ollie 5Y
I loved traveling around the work with Kate and Fiona and learning about the Indigenous nativity scenes. - Willow 2U
PE with Miss Clark
State Golf
Goodluck to Mason F who is off to Melbourne this Wednesday November 30th to participate in the State Golf finals. St Mary’s students will be cheering for Mason all the way from Swan Hill!
Sustainability with Mrs Ward
Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family and friends. This includes delicious foods and gifts with the potential for wasted food, unwanted presents and unneccessary packaging.
Here are some tips to help make this festive season a sustainable one;
Use a living Christmas tree
Reduce food waste by making a list before you shop and seding your guests home with leftovers
Avoid disposable dinnerware
Purchase gifts with minimal plastic and packaging
@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
Families of Year 6 students enrolled at St Mary MacKillop College in 2023
St Mary MacKillop College has a small supply of uniforms available to support those families who are in need of assistance in this area, please get in touch with us on 50329771 or email Mandy McCallum mmccallum@mackillopsh.vic.edu.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is kindly asking for donations of vegemite and jam. Donations can be left at the office.
Rapid Antigen Tests
We have excess supply of Rapid Antigen Tests available for families. You can collect test kits from the office between 8.30am and 4pm.
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 TO FILL THE ROSTER FOR THE REST OF THE TERM!!!!!!!
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
Birthday Wishes
What's happening in 5 Yellow?
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