Newsletter - 5th February 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wadawurrung people.  It is a privilege to be standing on Wadawurrung country.  

We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.  We acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous Peoples from the past, present and future who contribute to this country in which we live.  

May Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians continue to work together to educate, unite and live in peace on this land we call home, Australia.

Upcoming Events

7th February:  Enrolments for St Patrick's College 2026 close

21st February:  Swim & Gym lessons commence

24th February:  Little Feet Big Footprint Session for Year 6 students

28th February:  Swim & Gym lessons

1st March:  Clarkes Hill Community Fair

5th March:  Ash Wednesday Mass at St Brigid's Ballan

7th March:  Swim & Gym Lessons

10th March:  Labour Day Public Holiday

11th March:  School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development

12th - 24th March:  NAPLAN testing

14th March:  Swim & Gym Lessons

21st March:  Last Swim & Gym Lessons

4th April:  End of Term 1

Prayer

Welcome

Dear Families, 

Welcome to the 2025 school year! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer break. It's wonderful to see our classrooms and playground buzzing with excitement once again. A special welcome to Mason and Boston Bradshaw who have joined us in Foundation and their parents, Emily and Josh. I hope that you enjoy your time at our wonderful school. 

It is wonderful to see our students look fantastic in their summer uniforms and I’m sure many of them have grown over the summer break. This term we will be reviewing our uniform to make it generic for all students.  Sports uniforms (including runners) can be worn on Monday and Friday.  On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday black school shoes must be worn. 

Remember, education is a partnership between school and home. Your involvement and support are crucial to your child's success. Let's work together to make this year a memorable and rewarding one for all our students.

I look forward to seeing you around the school and at our upcoming events.

God bless,

Clare Scanlon

Messages from the Principal

SCHOOL HOURS

Whilst our starting and finishing times have not changed, our break times have.   Our school operates during the following hours: 

8.30am – School gates open and students are supervised in the classroom 

8.40am – Students are supervised outside

8.50am – Classes commence

10.00am – Brain Burst outside (Students eat brain snack eg fruit, nuts)

10.10am – Classes resume

11.00am – First Break

11.40am – Classes resume

1.50pm – Second Break

2.20pm – Classes resume

3.20pm – End of day

BEGINNING OF SCHOOL YEAR MASS AND CELEBRATION

Our BEGINNING OF SCHOOL YEAR MASS AND CELEBRATION will be held on Wednesday 12th February, at 5pm in the grounds of Kirks Reservoir. An invitation has been sent home to all families and it would be wonderful to see everyone there. All members of the school community are most welcome to join us and Fr Matt  in celebrating this special Mass. Families are invited to bring a plate of savoury food to share afterwards.  

END OF DAY - PICKING UP CHILDREN

Safety is of utmost importance at the end of the school day.  You may have noticed the students now gather in the garden area in front of the Banksia Room at 3.20pm to be dismissed.  The teacher on duty then says good afternoon to one family at a time when the parent is seen.  This avoids all students rushing out the gate at the same time.

TAKE CARE - If you choose to park on the South side of the road, we ask that you walk to the front gate so we can dismiss your child and you safely walk them across the road.  

NEW SANDPIT

A huge thank you to Bryden and Ben Gage for the work done over the holidays to replace the wood in our sandpit and put new sand in it.  It is greatly appreciated and the sandpit has been very popular so far this year at break time.  Thanks again Bryden and Ben!

BOOK CLUB

A book club brochure has been sent home today with this newsletter.  If you would like to order anything from the Scholastic Book Club Issue 1 catalogue, please order and pay online following the instructions in the catalogue or send the order form and correct money to school in an envelope.  The catalogue can also be found at https://scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/issue-preview/.  The last day for orders is Friday 14th February.  From purchases made during the year, the school is then able to receive credits to purchase new books for our Library.  Thank you.

NAPLAN

To our Yr 3 & 5 families, NAPLAN 2025 begins Wednesday 12th March.

CAMP

Students in Years 3-6 will attend Urban Camp in Melbourne this year.  The date for camp is the last week of Term 2, Wednesday 2nd - Friday 4th July.  More information will come later regarding this camp but I know parents will want to put the date in their diaries. 

BRAIN BREAK/FRUIT

At 10am each morning students go outside for a 10 minute brain break.  An opportunity to walk around and eat their ‘Brain Food.’ It is important that your child has their brain food or fruit in its own container so your child can walk around.  Some students have it in a compartment in a larger lunchbox and they don’t always get the opportunity to walk around. 

CARITAS / ZOOPER DOOPERS

This term we are raising money for Caritas through Project Compassion.  We have money boxes that we will send home and the Leadership Team are selling Zoopers Doopers every Friday. 

This year, the Leadership Team has decided to sell the Zoopers Doopers for $1 so we can raise more money for Caritas. It would be great if the children could do a job for the $1.00 so they get the idea that they are helping others.

It would also be wonderful if staff and families would like to donate a bag of Zooper Doopers to help us raise even more money!

ASH WEDNESDAY

Ash Wednesday will be celebrated on 5th March.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. This year we will be taking our students to St Brigid’s Ballan for the 10.30am Ash Wednesday Mass.  You are more than welcome to join us.  More information will follow. 

VIEWING THE NEWSLETTER

This newsletter and more photos can be accessed via the link sent to your email each fortnight when the newsletter is published, or via the Schoolzine App, or on the school website by using the following link:

The fortnightly newsletter is published for website viewing and we do our best to make it look good for the printed version sent home with your child.  If for some reason you're not receiving the email with the newsletter link, please see Claire in the office.

SAVE THE DATE

On Wednesday 23rd April, Martin McGauran & Carley McGauran from Inform and Empower will run a parent session at the Doug Lindsay Recreation Reserve Creswick called Raising Kids in a Digital World. The session will go from 7pm - 8.30pm. Last year we had 3 families attend the same session and they all agreed it was well worth it.  Please save the date for now, more information will follow.

MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL - POLICY UPDATE

Due to policy updates we will no longer be able to store or administer medications such as Panadol, Nurofen, pharmacy only medications (including Zyrtec & Claratyne) or other non-prescribed medications at school. 

The First Aid and Infection Control Policy states: Non-Prescribed: School staff are not permitted to store or administer any non-prescribed medications including analgesics (paracetamol and aspirin). This is because analgesics and other non-prescribed medications can mask signs and symptoms of a serious illness or injury. 

As a result of this policy, medications will only be allowed on school property with a document signed by your doctor. This could include an action plan, letter or treatment plan. 

This means that from the beginning of 2025 we will no longer accept medications for your child without doctor's instructions.  We thank you in advance for your support keeping all of our children safe.

Banskia Room News

The Year 3-6 children are now in the Banksia Room. This is the name of our class and we love it! We have been learning a lot about Banksias and found out that they are:

• Adaptable
• Resilient
• Distinctive    
• Interesting
• Remind us a bit of corn
• Made up of lots of different flowers that can be straight or curly

We think that Banksia is a good choice for us as we are made up of different people, abilities, ideas and interests and yet we all make one fabulous group.

We want the Banksia Room to be a great place to learn. Where everyone feels welcomed and valued. Where our days are filled with gratitude and smiles.

We have been learning about how we can make the best use of our learning time. Instead of being passive learners we are learning the skills of active learners so that we will not forget what we have been taught. We are all looking forward to an incredible year!

Gumnut Room News

Welcome to our newly named Gumnut Room.  We are excited to have Boston and Mason in our Foundation class and Genevieve and Skyler in our Year 1 class. Everyone was excited on the first day of school! There were smiles everywhere when meeting up with old friends and making new friends, as well as discovering everything that had changed in the room. We also found out who our buddy from the Banksia room is and we are looking forward to getting to know them better. We are also looking forward to working with the Banksia room every afternoon. 

Boston:

Holidays:  Mummy took me to the candy shop at Melbourne. Mummy took me to the beach and I went in the water.

First Day:  At school I liked playing in the sandpit. I made a tunnel.

Mason:

Holidays:  I went camping at the beach with Daddy. We played in the sand and went for a swim. 

First Day:  I liked playing on the playground. 

Genevieve:

Holidays:  On my holiday I went to Queenscliff for a week. It was fun! My Nana and Pop came, we did lots of things together. I didn't want to leave. 

First Day:  On the First Day of school I was feeling excited. The first thing I saw was the posters. They are different and have leaves on them. I like the desks and the room. At the end of the day I was feeling happy. 

Skyler:

Holidays:  On the holidays I went to Princetown and I went on the Gellibrand River, all the way to the beach. My mum and Billie and I walked to some rock pools.

First Day:  I was excited for school on the first day. The first thing I saw was the room change. I like the Calm Corner and the planet light in the Gumnut Room. I was happy to get home because it was a big day!

Child Safety Information - all on Website

As is stated on our Vision and Mission, our schools ‘…are committed to the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children and young people.’ Our procedures and policies are now in line with the 11 Child Safe Standards and can be found on the St Mary's website under the tab – Child Safety.

In future editions of the newsletter we will cover the 11 Child Safe Standards.

Foster Carers

Cafs is currently reaching out to ask for support to find compassionate individuals who are willing to become foster carers for children in out-of-home care. Our organisation, Cafs, is actively seeking dedicated people to provide safe and loving homes for children who need stability and care.  For more information please see the flyer below or contact Jackie Mason, Carer Recruitment, Engagement & Support Practioner at Cafs on 03 5337 3333.

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