Term 1 Week 4 2024

From the Principal

Dear Families

What a busy week we have had. We welcomed the new school year with a school Mass, the seniors received their badges at their induction, we cooked pancakes and began the season of Lent at our Ash Wednesday liturgy. I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the parents, families and friends that joined us for these celebrations, your presence always makes events feel more special and the students love having you with us.

Tuesday afternoon was our Staff Meeting and I was able to start sharing our plan with the teachers from the professional development that Amanda and I attended last week. This work will help with the recontextualisation of our school’s Catholic Identity. I look forward to sharing more about this with you throughout the year.

Our FACE meeting was Tuesday evening and we discussed events for the year and some issues around parking and drop off zones. For those that are not familiar with the stop, drop and go procedures or the road hazards, here is an overview:

Burke Street

• Please do not cross the double line on Burke Street.
• Near the entrance to the car park is a no parking zone - as per the yellow painted gutter.
• Children must be accompanied by an adult to cross the car park.
• Students should be getting into the car by the passenger side door, for their own safety.
• STOP, DROP and GO! Area. You must stay in your car. If your child needs help, you will need to park.
• Drive slowly
• If you are walking in or collecting children, please move forward and park in the parking bays so you are not holding up traffic.

Edward Street

Please be considerate of the Not Standing and Passenger Zones.

Thank you for your assistance in helping keep our children safe.

Religious Life of the School

Shrove Tuesday

Thank you to the families who sent in frypans and the mums who showed up with their cooking skills on Tuesday.  The pancake cooking would not have been such an easy event without your help. There may have been a bit of smoke and some frypans may have worked better than others but we got there in the end. Your time was very much appreciated.

Lent

All classes have been learning about Lent as a time for praying, fasting and giving. Lent is not just about giving up something until Easter but about self discipline and forming habits to make ourselves better people. Please assist your children with their Lenten promises they have made at school. Some students have promised to be more helpful at home or to give up complaining, others have decided to pray more or to be more thankful everyday. It would be great if you could check in with them to see how they are going, and help them to keep on track.

We will be holding a Free Dress Day for a gold coin next Thursday. Students may wear what they like as long as the clothing is sunsafe and shoes are enclosed. All gold coin donations will go to Caritas Project Compassion.

Project Compassion

Lent being a time of giving, is the time of Project Compassion. You should have received your Project Compassion boxes on Wednesday. Even a small donation is helpful and can be returned in Week 10.

This year, Project Compassion brings you the stories of three resilient women from three different corners of the world. They are facing vastly different challenges, but are all united by one dream: to create a better tomorrow for all future generations.

Meet Ronita from the Philippines. Ronita lives with her husband and two children in a barangay (local district) in Quezon City, which is situated in Metro Manila in the Philippines. She went back to school to finish her education so that she could earn income to support her children.

Meet Leaia from Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water was very difficult for Leaia and her family. But, with the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their health and living conditions.

Meet Memory from Malawi. Memory, the eldest daughter from a rural Malawian family, trained to become a carpenter and is now a trailblazer for future generations of women in her village.  

Throughout Project Compassion, you will get to know the stories of Ronita, Leaia and Memory. Journey with them as they forge a path to a brighter future for all generations.

Have a wonderful week

God bless

Nicole

UR STRONG

Language of Friendship: Introduction

Explicitly teaching children how to develop healthy friendships + manage conflict in a positive way is at the heart of helping them flourish. These important social skills are the key to creating safe schools and raising KIND + STRONG children.

Check out this great Blog from Dana which goes through the URSTRONG program as well as 8 great sessions for you to watch.

Don’t forget that you are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources.  This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

As a next step, we would recommend:

• Click here to view an overview of URSTRONG.
• Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.
• Explore the hundreds of resources available to you!

You’ll get access to hundreds of resources like helpful articles & activities to continue supporting you and your child on their friendship journey. Let’s empower your child with friendship skills!

Learning Corner

How do you make decisions?

At the classroom level, decisions are usually made based on evidence identifying a need. The evidence is obtained through repeated observations of behaviour to identify a pattern, daily work samples and the results of formative (as they are learning) and summative ( when the teaching and practice of a skill are complete) tests, as well as standardised tests such as the TCE Early Years and PAT tests.

In P-3, student progress with Literacy is monitored through PLD ( Promoting Literacy Development) term screeners. The information from these screeners identifies for teachers what students need to practice more and if they are ready to move to the next stage in Literacy Learning. In Years 3-6, progress in Reading and Comprehension is monitored through PM Benchmarks, measured twice a year.

For teachers, a warning of a need for further investigation into how a child learns is when there is no evidence of progress in learning.

In consultation with parents, the class teacher will complete a referral for Student Assessment to the school Guidance Counsellor at this stage.

For the referral to proceed, reports that show that the child’s hearing and vision are within range or corrective measures have been taken are needed.

The class teacher must also submit evidence of classroom strategies used to support the child and a record of progress.

In some cases, progress is hindered long term by emotions such as anxiety or short term due to some trauma.  In these cases, a Counselling Referral is forwarded to the School Guidance Counsellor for immediate action, depending on the severity of the situation. Hearing or vision reports are not required for this referral to proceed.

All Referrals to the school Guidance Counsellor must be school or learning-related and signed by the parent, referring teacher and a member of the Leadership Team.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school office or Rita Cranitch, Inclusive Practices Teacher.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN TEST ADJUSTMENTS 

Children who receive adjustments for assessments in class can access the same adjustments when participating in NAPLAN. Your child’s teachers will contact you if your child is eligible for any adjustments.

NAPLAN Participation

We encourage all students in years 3 and 5 to participate in NAPLAN, but participation is a parent's choice.  If you do not want your child to complete NAPLAN testing, please contact the school office to request a ‘Parent Withdrawal’ form.

Rita Cranitch

APPL (Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning-Acting)

Inclusive Practices Teacher

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - SLEEP

Students today have extremely busy schedules, with ever increasing responsibilities at school and at home. Many kids, especially adolescents, are going to bed later and later and are at risk of sleep deprivation. This affects three areas of a child’s development: psychological, physiological and psychosocial. All three are essential to a child's growth, learning ability and overall wellbeing. Sleep is vital to a child’s overall development and is as important as diet and exercise.

Sleep also strengthens a child’s immune systems and supports their ability to function properly on a daily basis. Children who do not get enough sleep show increased levels of aggressive behaviour, are less attentive and are much less active. Trying to catch up on sleep on weekends is not the answer and can still lead to severe sleep deprivation.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn about the importance of sleep and how sleep deprivation can have adverse effects on a child’s health and wellbeing.

Here is the link to the Sleep edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sleep

Class in the Spotlight - 3/4B

* Explored Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and the importance of Lent.

* Year 3 have explored what makes day and night. Year 4 have looked at the changing nature of the Earth's surface.

* Year 3 created fractions using the area and mass models while year 4 participated in concrete activities to develop deep understandings of mixed and improper fractions.

* Everyone Dropped Everything And Read (DEAR)* Wrote a narrative using a stimulus picture.

* We all attended Mass on Monday and Liturgy on Wednesday

​*UR Strong activities to strengthen our friendships.

3/4B

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Tuckshop

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This letter is to invite parents &/or grandparents to become part of this year’s Tuckshop team.  Thank you to those parents who have already reached out.

The Tuckshop requires volunteers from Monday to Friday from 8:30am - 11:30am for First Break.

Working in the Tuckshop is a great opportunity to meet new parents in a friendly & relaxed atmosphere.

Please note: you will need to have completed your Volunteer Induction Online Training prior to assistance.

Volunteer Induction Online Training can be accessed via our website: https://www.sfatsv.catholic.edu.au/about/volunteer-induction-for-parents-and-carers/

Once all modules and documents have been completed please email your certificate, paperwork to ayr@tsv.catholic.edu.au

Please return the from below to the school office at your earliest convenience. Any amount of time that you can assist will be greatly appreciated. If you have any further enquiries please feel free to contact the school office on 4783 2877.

I am looking forward to another exciting year in the tuckshop.

Thanks,

Kylie Farrell

Tuckshop Convenor

P.A.T.H

Students of the Week

Community