Dear St Catherine’s Families,
It has been a great fortnight with lots of exciting teaching and learning taking place. Please note our next newsletter will look slightly different as we will be migrating to a new platform. It allows for more creative design while still keeping the existing features.
We are looking forward to celebrating Book Week next week - ‘Dreaming with eyes open’. Please see Ms Holly Brown’s section about our Scholastic Book Fair that allows the students the opportunity to browse and purchase books. Monies raised for this will be donated back to the school in the form of books.
Just a reminder that all staff will be involved in further professional learning on Wednesday 31 August. This will be a pupil free day for all students at St Catherine's. Staff will be completing Mandatory Safe Modules, further ASCIA training and supporting our Annual Action Plan by learning more about student agency. Should you require care for your child please contact KellyClub as they will be operating throughout the day.
Fathers & Special Men Breakfast
Friday 2nd September 2022 we will celebrate Father’s Day and Special Men with a delicious Bacon ‘n’ Egg Breakfast kicking off at 7.30am. The Father’s Day Breakfast celebration brings together the fathers, grandfathers, father figures and significant men in the lives of the children at St Catherine’s.
Potholes / Water
We are acutely aware of the current state of our school driveway. The potholes continue to worsen, despite attempts to shore them up. We are awaiting a quote to fix the potholes so in the meantime please be cautious as you drive through.
As we are experiencing plenty of wet weather at the moment you might like to consider sending a spare pair of pants / tracksuit pants and socks to school with your child in case they get damp/muddy.
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)
This year we once again, we are participating in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process where we listen to the thoughts of students (Yrs 4, 5 & 6), families and staff about what we are doing well and how our school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides us with valuable community insights on areas that we can focus on. It is important that all families have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of St Catherine’s.
The survey is only available online, and can be accessed from Monday August 29th and needs to be completed by Friday September 16th. This survey may only be completed once. For families where there may be more than one child attending our school, we ask that families focus on the eldest child attending the school.
We invite all families to respond via this survey and participation is completely voluntary. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers – all responses are completely anonymous and at no point are any of the responses from students, families or staff identifiable by the school. The survey is available in English, Arabic, simplified and traditional Chinese, Dinka, Falam, Karenic, Tagalog and Vietnamese. All details on how to access the survey will be shared with families via Dojo soon.
Intentions for 2023
We are currently in the process of preparing our class structures for 2023. To assist, we need to know if any students (other than Year 6) will be leaving St Catherine’s at the end of 2022. If your child will not be returning to St Catherine’s in 2023 I ask that you, please email me as soon as possible. It is always sad however when a family leaves our school for whatever reason.
School Fees
All Student levies and all School Fees should now be in the process of being finalised unless you have a direct deposit plan in place or you have a plan in place with the Principal or School Finance. Should any family experience financial difficulty, please rest assured that your trusting communication will always be met with confidentiality and compassion. We are always grateful when families trust us with their difficulties and also greatly appreciate the majority of families who pay fees on time. If you are yet to finalise your school fee payments, we trust that you will do so by the end of next week.
Regards and Blessings always,
Tracey Brincat
Principal
Some of our Year 5 & 6 students will be taking part in the Tournament of Minds tomorrow at La Trobe University. TOM is a program for all primary and secondary students providing the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork. Challenges are set in the following disciplines: The Arts, Language Literature, Social Sciences and STEM.
Our teams - The Golden Purifiers & The Golden Brains will be working through the discipline - STEM.
Thank you to their teachers and leadership team for working with the children throughout the last couple of months.
We wish both teams all the best and most of all wishing them a fantastic experience.
Dear Families,
Working Bee
Due to a lack of volunteers for our scheduled working bee on Saturday 27th August the school needs to cancel this event. However, to accommodate the various availabilities of members in our community the school has decided to trial a new 'Working Bee Model'. The new initiative will operate on a two week cycle with the first cycle beginning Monday 29th August to Friday 9th September (excluding weekends). In essence, this means that you have the opportunity to volunteer your skills anytime that suits you between the hours of 7.00am-4.00pm. Should your child wish to assist for a period of time we are happy to support this. We will send out further information closer to the date. We really do hope that this plan will make it easier for you to assist and work with us to provide the very best opportunities for the children.
Family Engagement In Learning
Tracey and I invite you to join us for a coffee / tea and chat in the staff lounge next Thursday 25th August at 9.00am. This is an opportunity to have a casual conversation and meet other people in our community. We will also be available at this time to assist anyone who would like support applying for a Working With Children’s Check. The school is also very keen to hear how engaged you feel with your child’s learning and any ideas you may have in regards to being involved in the school.
If you are available for a cuppa and a chat please stop by, even just for a little while.
Parent Volunteer Program
Over the next few days the school will be sharing a Parent Volunteer Video. If you are able to volunteer at St Catherine’s in any capacity we ask that you watch the video and complete the form. It is essential to provide your current Working With Children’s Check (WWCC) to the school office prior to starting any volunteer work. If you are unsure whether we have your WWCC please check with Tamara in the office. Please do consider working with us through this program. It takes a village to raise a child and by partnering with us we are creating a dynamic village for the children of St Catherine’s.
Wishing you all a blessed week
Ange
2022 Children’s Book Week will be celebrated from 22nd-26th August. The theme for this year is “Dreaming with eyes open…”
The classes will be exploring the shortlisted picture fiction and nonfiction books in the lead up to Book Week. Each afternoon a short video of students reading a picture story book will be posted to class dojo.
Holly Brown
Book Character Dress Up Day: 25th August
Start planning a book character costume! We will have a whole school character parade on Thursday 25th August at 9:00 am.
Hope you can join us in The Hub.
Book Fair: 25th, 26th, 29th August
Everyone is invited to our Book Fair which is like having a bookshop at school. Each class will have the chance to view the books and fill out a wish list.
Books will go on sale in The Hub before and after school on: Thursday 25th August, Friday 26th August and Monday 29th August.
Prep Green
Sebastian Viceconte for completing his learning tasks and trying his best. Keep up the fantastic work Sebastian!
Raizel Adikari for showing great effort and taking pride in her work. Keep up the wonderful work Raizel!
Prep Red
Jacob Atanasovski for taking time with the presentation of your learning tasks. It is wonderful to see your creativity! Keep up the great effort Jacob!
Lisa Philippou for your positive attitude towards your learning especially your maths, thank you for sharing this with the class! Well done Lisa!
1 Green
Jai Carlyon for working hard to stay on task and complete his work on time.
Nickolas La Ferlita for his excellent effort whilst reading.
1 Red
Declan Roeszler for his positive attitude towards learning and engagement in all tasks. Well done Declan!
Martin Sokol for showing great persistence in his learning and always having a go. Well done Martin!
2 Green
Monica Khaee for being a responsible learner by seeking teacher feedback.
Antonio Ferro for being productive during learning time. Keep it up, Antonio!
2 Red
Mahmoud Al Hassan for always demonstrating a keenness to learn. Well done Mahmoud!
Isla Francis for showing great effort and persistence this term! Keep shining Isla!
3 Green
Samik KC for demonstrating a positive attitude towards learning and always giving things a go! Well done Samik!
Jason Mousaad for showing great determination and resilience in all his work. Well done Jason!
3 Red
Brianah Parthimos for demonstrating an increased confidence with a positive attitude.
Luca Risteski for sharing his ideas and comments in a respectful manner.
4 Green
Sukoon Dhillon for making a positive start back at St Catherines and into her new class. We are glad you are here.
Elias Wlodarczyk for displaying a positive attitude towards his learning and towards his peers. Well done Elias!
4 Red
Dareen Sabah for settling into Saint Catherine’s Community with such a positive attitude!
Alana Serifoska for consistently putting effort into her learning tasks.
5 Red
Fynn Hawken for persisting in class with his reading each day. Well done Fynn and keep it up!
Deng Angok for his great commitment to improving his studies by challenging himself with difficult work each day. Well done Deng!
5 Green
Munir Abubeker for always demonstrating a positive attitude inside and outside of the classroom. We will miss having you!
Amanat Saini for always contributing and sharing to class discussions in a respectful manner. Keep it up!
6 Green
Cristian De Felice for being a responsible and respectful leader who consistently tries his best to lead by example!! Keep it up superstar!!
Rhythm Rijal for being actively involved in all our learning experiences and striving to achieve his best!
6 Red
Laura Baruzzo for being a responsible and respectful House leader and taking initiative to organise activities for her leadership team. You are a superstar! Well done Laura.
Claudia Le for taking responsibility for her learning by having a positive attitude and demonstrating great leadership skills in the classroom. Keep it up Claudia!
Rebecca Aughey, Elias Herodotou, Kyan Geldenhuys, Brianah Parthimos, Layla Al Qarakchy,
Isabella Mousaad, Sophia Al Qarakchy, Evan Boskovski, Chloe Liras, Lisa Philippou, Dareen Sabah,
Anya Hocking, Eliza Totino, Harrison Ioannidis and James Tseros
Dear Parents / Guardians,
I would like to bring to your attention that if you have not made any payments towards your school fees this year you will need to do it now as we are getting closer to the end of the year. As per our new MACS fee policy if you have not made any payments or commitment to pay your outstanding fees we are now required to forward all outstanding fees to a collection agency. I am sure that you appreciate that the school needs to have each family paying their school fees as its programs and resources can be severely disadvantaged. If you have any concerns about your school fees or would like to organise a payment plan, please come and see me personally as I am available Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
We have a variety of different payment methods. Payments may be made in cash, Direct Credit via internet banking, VISA, MasterCard and BPAY.
The Direct Debit via internet banking and BPAY is a proven success and spreads the annual payment throughout the school year.
Direct Credit Internet Banking for School Account:
St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School BSB: 083 347
Account Number: 63931 7586
Ref: Your eldest child name
BPAY options are on your statement as they are unique to each family.
Please remember to send your email confirmation to carolinc@sclalorwest.catholic.edu.au
Regards
Caroline
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