Newsletter 17th May 2022
Upcoming Dates
23rd, 30th May & 7th, 14th, 21st June: Combined Schools' Days at St Brendan's, Dunnstown
17th May: Football Lightning Premiership Day
22nd May: Little Feet, Big Footprints - Session 2
25th May: Netball Lightning Premiership Day (details to come!)
26th May: Eureka Incursion for both schools at St Mary's
5th June: Year 5 girls to Loreto College for SEED Day
8th June: School Photos - full winter uniform please
12th June: King's Birthday Holiday
21st June: Healthy Harold and the Life Education Van visit both schools at St Brendan's
23rd June: Last Day of Term 2
Principal's News
I hope that all the mothers in our school communities had a wonderful Mother’s Day. The amazing weather certainly helped make the day extra special.
Our reading at the Mother’s Day liturgies was from Corinthians and is a reminder of what love is:
Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous,
it does not brag, and it is not proud.
Love is not rude,
is not selfish, and does not become angry easily.
Love does not remember wrongs done against it.
Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices over the truth.
Love patiently accepts all things.
It always trusts, always hopes,
and always continues strong.
In this reading, we hear what love is like.
Our mothers, grandmothers and aunties share this love with us each day without ever asking for anything in return.
We experience this gift of love through your kindness, support and most importantly your patience.
Mother's Day Celebrations
On Monday we celebrated our Mothers and special women in a Liturgy and with a get together afterwards. We are truly blessed to have so many women come and be part of our celebrations at each school. The children also love having their loved ones with them at school. A huge thanks to the staff that helped prepare the Liturgy and make sure that all had a cuppa and something to eat afterwards.
Uniforms
Thank you to all of the families that have helped the children transition to their winter uniforms. This week ALL children should be wearing the correct winter uniform each day, this includes the sports uniform. If you have any concerns around this, please see me.
Lightning Premierships
Some of our Senior children are playing in a Football Lightning Premiership today at Marty Busch Reserve and on Thursday, the 25th May, the netball Lightning Premiership is being held at Selkirk Stadium. We will be joining with Ballan and Gordon for both of these events.
Sports Day
Last Thursday we were part of the Wadawurrung Sports Day at Llanberris Athletics Reserve. The weather was kind to us and the children had a great day, with some even breaking records. It was wonderful to see everyone participating and giving it their all. Thanks to the staff, especially Callum that helped make the day run so smoothly and the parents that came and helped out and supported the children.
eSmart Week – Child Safety
Next week we will participate in activities around National eSmart Week. As part of our Child Safe policies and procedures, we provide education around keeping our children safe online. The eSmart Week theme is – ‘Be your best self online.’
From the website: This year’s event invites children and young people to explore what it means to be a positive digital citizen.
This week-long event is a celebration of all the incredible work that our eSmart schools and libraries across the country are doing to promote positive digital citizenship. This event provides a chance for teachers, library staff, parents, and students alike to develop new and important skills.
Some of the lessons will include the concepts of –
- What you can do and say to be positive online ?
- How algorithms, echo chambers and customised messaging impact our view of the world .
- How to use technology purposefully?
- How to use your agency to influence change in the online environment ?
If you would like some more information, please see your child’s teacher or go to the website:
Sacraments
A reminder to let myself or Louise know if you wish to have your child participate as part of the Sacramental Program this year, which will get under way in third term.
If your child is in Year 2 or above, they can receive the sacrament of Reconciliation and if they are in Year 3 or above, they are eligible to receive both Eucharist and Confirmation which are done in one Mass. This means that some children may do all three sacraments this year as the program is now being offered every two years. As we begin to transition to the model of a Parish-run program, Dianne Reynolds, a member of our Parish will be facilitating the program. She will be supported by Louise, the school's RE Leader. Dianne will be contacting families that have expressed an interest in the next few weeks.
Welcome to Vanessa
On Tuesday, we welcomed Vanessa and her parents – Maree and Michael, to St. Mary’s. Vanessa is in Year 3 and had her first full day on Tuesday. She has settled very well and had lots of help from her class mates getting used to the daily routine. Please introduce yourselves to Maree, Michael and Vanessa when you see them around.
We are excited to have them as part of our community and look forward to getting to know them over the next few weeks.
Playing on the Oval
As we begin to get into winter and the colder wet weather, many of our children love to play football. The children and teachers decided together that in order to play on the oval, the children will need to bring extra clothes and shoes to change into when playing footy so that they are not wet and dirty in class. This applies to both schools. There will be days that it is just too wet to get on the oval and this is at the teachers’ discretion on any given day.
Parents and Friends Event
The Parents and Friends from both schools have combined to organise a disco for the children at the Dean Hall on Friday, the 2nd June. The invitations have gone out and the children are very excited.
As this is an out of school event and off-site, so it will be the parents' responsibility to look after their own children on the night and all children must have a parent with them for the time they are attending the disco. This event is for families of St. Brendan’s and St Mary’s only. Thanks to all that have had a part in organising this event.
Remember, always ask if you have a question and clarify any concerns you may have with your child’s teacher or contact the school.
Take care,
Inez
Reflection of Mother's Day Liturgy
We were very excited to celebrate our mums, grandmothers, aunties and special women this week with a liturgy and afternoon tea at school on Monday. We had lots of visitors for our liturgy, with our mums, grandmothers, friends and even some of our neighbours were able to come along too.
The week before we decorated wooden heart boxes to give to our mum on Mother’s Day. We stuck pretty rhinestones on the boxes in patterns.
At the liturgy we all had a part and we were very proud of ourselves. Everyone read well, spoke clearly and remembered to have eye contact with the group. Kamden read this prayer which sums up the special feeling we have for our mums and special women:
Loving God,
We thank you for our mothers and those women who love and care for us.
Help us to value and appreciate the light they shine in our lives and to always remember the life messages they teach us, even when we may not want to hear them.
May we see, acknowledge and give thanks for all that our mothers do. Amen
Maeve shared these words:
In the reading, we hear what love is like.
Our mothers, grandmothers and aunties share this love with us each day without ever asking for anything in return.
We experience this gift of love through your kindness, support and most importantly your patience.
While we may not always say the words “I love you” we notice all the small things you do and we want you to know that there is no way to be a perfect mother, nanna or aunt, but there are a million ways to be a good one. We shared why we love our mums and this is what we said and feel:
I love you mum because……
You take me to footy games (Kamden)
You are kind hearted (Leo)
You take me to net set go (Adelaide)
You take care of me (Kaezia)
You tuck me into bed (Paige)
You do lots of things for us (Patrick)
One of the million ways you are a good mum to me is…….
You take me to netball training (Quinn)
The way you take care of me (Sull)
You organise everything and everyone (Tara)
That you take me to footy games (Will)
You give our family heaps of opportunities (Maeve)
Even though your plate is full right now you find time for all of us (Evie)
Another funny thing that we did for our liturgy was to produce a movie called Sull & Maeve On the Couch. Sull & Maeve were like real TV stars and they interviewed us by asking us lots of questions about our mums such as:
If your mum was a Disney princess who would she be?
If your mum was a food, what would she be?
What do you think mum does while you are at school?
We had lots of fun making the video and hope you enjoyed watching it. We are so thankful that so many people came to support our liturgy and we hope all our mums and special friends enjoyed the day.
All About Me!
My name is Vanessa.
I am in Grade 3.
My favourite colour is pink.
My favourite subject is Math.
My birthday is in August.
I like to watch Bluey.
Happy Birthday!
A very happy belated birthday to Paige who turned 8 on 11th May. We hope your day was full of special celebrations, Paige!
Happy Birthday to Leo who will celebrate his 10th birthday on 26th May. We look forward to celebrating with you on your special day Leo.
Help!
We're currently experiencing problems with birds making themselves home on our deck. If you have any old CDs that you no longer need and would like to donate them to a good cause, please send them into school.
We will try hanging them from the rafters to deter the birds.
Thanks, Claire