St Matthew's Catholic Primary School

Term 2, June 21st 2022, No.10

Parish Priest: Fr Florentino (Boy) Galdo

School Principal: Mr Bob Brown

Deputy Principal: Mrs Rachael Spooner

School Email: principal@smfawknernth.catholic.edu.au

School Phone: 0393595423 

St Matthew's Primary School is committed to creating an environment where the safety, wellbeing, and participation of all children within our care is paramount. 

Principal's Message

Hello to Students, Parents, Staff and Friends of St Matthew’s,

What a term it has been, only nine weeks long but with two short weeks included and we have achieved so much. Although it has been a short term, it has been an extremely busy one.

One of the greatest challenges we have had has been the sicknesses of both staff and students in this term.  We need to congratulate the leadership team, fulltime and part time staff, who often had to forgo their normal roles and other duties so that they could jump into a grade to teach and supervise as finding Emergency teachers was absolutely impossible.  Some neighbouring primary and secondary schools closed temporarily or reverted back to Distance Learning for a day or two. We have been able to stay open and conduct business as usual, thank God. We thank our students, who have been so good, patient and understanding when these sudden changes happened, sometimes on the spot.

Today and tomorrow all families who come into the school will be able to see the culmination of the work completed in every grade by the SCIENCE EXPO displays, from the Grade 6 creation of actual flying planes, to the grade ones and their creation of musical instruments. Don’t forget to check them out during Parent Teacher interviews.

It has been an amazing Term 2, beginning on the very first day with a beautiful Anzac service led by Mr Kavanagh’s Grade 4 students followed by a very successful Mother’s Day Stall, Playgroup got up and running again (Mon & Thurs 9-11am), Year 4 Eucharist day, First Holy Communions, Year 5 & 6 Interschool Sport and Interschool Cross Country.

Then there were the many incursions and excursions: Werribee Zoo, Phizzics, Moorabbin Air Museum, Mini Beasts (Butterflies and Stick Insects), PrimeSCI, Positive Schools Dance, the State Library, (courtesy of the Ardoch Foundation) and Scienceworks. 

In amongst all of this we also had Family Week (don’t forget to check out the family tree outside the Grade 3 classrooms) see picture below. There was also two weeks of  NAPLAN and a Wellbeing Closure day where the staff learnt how to have a better work-life balance, to reduce their time on emails, how to try and recover after the last two years of lock downs, distance learning and the stressors of teaching.

YEAR PREP – 6 ENROLMENTS ARE CLOSING THIS FRIDAY 24TH JUNE

Thank you to those families who have come in and taken an enrolment package and also thank you to those families who have already returned their completed enrolment forms. This already helps us enormously in planning for 2023.

PREP ACCEPTED STUDENTS FOR 2023 INTERVIEWS

In this last week of this term and the first week of Term 3 we are interviewing those families that have accepted our offer of a place in Prep for 2023.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

It has come to my and the staff’s attention that a number of students have been wearing incorrect uniform as the term has worn on.

·   Black School shoes (no runners) should be worn every day except PE / Sport days.

·   School beanies are the only beanies to be worn to school as they school uniform.

·   Long sleeved white school shirts should be tucked into skirts and pants at all times.

·   Our Winter Jackets are optional, but very warm and water proof.

Parents we have a lovely uniform, which looks great when all in place, so we ask for your assistance with this please.

As we all feel very much exhausted heading into the term holidays, Parents please make sure that  you also enjoy a relaxing and enjoyable two weeks with your family and friends.

I look forward to seeing all your smiling faces back at school at 8:40am on Monday11th July. Stay warm, safe and well.

Yours Sincerely,

Bob Brown - Principal                                             

FAMILY TREE

Dates To Remember

TERM 2, 2022

JUNE

Wednesday 22nd June – 1:00pm School Finish for PARENT /TEACHER INTERVIEWS  commencing at 1:30pm.

Friday 24th June -  CASUAL CLOTHES DAY (gold coin donation) and Principal Awards Assembly at 2:40pm in the Hall. LAST DAY OF TERM 2 – 3:15PM FINISH FOR ALL STUDENTS

JULY

Monday 11th July - Beginning of Term 3 - School resumes for all students at 8.40am

Friday 29th July 6pm - Confirmation

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

A WINTER BLESSING

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

Congratulations to Grade 4 First Communion Students.

This weekend, some of our Grade 4 students took the next step in their faith journey and celebrated the sacrament of First Holy Communion.

We congratulate the following students:

Adele Fileccia, Amelia Greco, Benjamin Gravina, Chloe Carrafa, Danessa Sawud, David Khoshaba, Hudson Offerman, Hunter Haslam, Jayden Audish, Julian Wassilieff, Lexi Minas, Livindra Liyanage, Matthew Toma, Oliver Ryan, Raffaele Maruzza, Rio Galati, Ryan Rogers, Shawn Isho, Slater Storti, Stefania Pitruzzello, Timothy Proud, Tyler Wilson, Zachary Senior.

I would also like to thank their teachers Ms Vago, Mr Kavanagh and Ms Konstandinidis who prepared all the children over term.

Congratulations and thanks to Mr Travers, our wonderful music leader who lead the choir who sang with such gusto and magnificently during both ceremonies and who also performed a new

recessional song created by Mr Travers. I would also like to thank the parents of the choir members who took time out of their weekend to drive their children to the two masses and allowing them to sing in the wonderful choir.

Congratulations one and all.

CONGRATULATIONS FATHER BOY

On Pentecost Weekend Father Boy celebrated not only the Pentecost but his 30 years of Ordination.

As St John Mary Vianney states: a man is not a priest for himself – he is a priest for others. Just as Jesus called and appointed men to follow Him as His apostles, God calls men today to lay down their lives so that others may have life. The priesthood is not a career, it is way of being. It is a life of sacrifice and service because it is the life of our Lord. No man deserves to be a priest. Like every grace, this vocation can only be accepted as an unmerited gift from God. There is no certain type of man who is called to be a priest. In fact, God calls men with different backgrounds, personalities, temperaments and gifts to be priests. What they all share in common though, is the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, serving all people with the heart of Jesus. (Vocation Centre.org.au)

We congratulate Father Boy on his years of service over many parishes and thank him for his dedication to St Matthew’s over the last number of years.

A celebration was held after mass on Saturday night and many parishioners, staff, former staff and his family came to join in the good food and wonderful atmosphere.

So next time you see Father Boy don’t forget to congratulate him on his dedication to service for all.

 

LEARNING AND TEACHING

SCIENCE EXPO

This Tuesday and Wednesday our incredibly talented scientists will be visiting all the other grades to learn about their investigations and see their Science Expo projects. Please take some time before or after your parent teacher interviews - your child will be able to explain what they have learnt and guide you through their class display. All of the Science Expo projects are set up in shared areas.


Grade              Science Inquiry                         Expo Projects

Prep             

Mighty Minibeasts

    Minibeast habitats

Grade 1           

My Senses 

    Musical instruments

Grade 2

Toys in Motion

    Toys

Grade 3

Animals Around the World

    Model animals and habitats

Grade 4

Our Changing Planet

    Earth models

Grade 5

Everyday Science

    Bath bombs & experiments

Grade 6

Learn to Fly

    Model airplanes

Lunch Clubs at St Matthew’s

Often children come home and say that they have nothing to do at recess and lunch, but in reality, there are many things happening at lunchtime at St Matthew’s.


Children, of course, run around, play soccer and have fun with their friends, but we do cater for the children who do not always want to run around or those who may be having friendship issues or even those who just want to have some quiet time.

This year we have our wonderful library open on Mondays and Tuesdays where the children can choose to play a variety of games such as UNO, Connect 4, they are able to work on a jigsaw puzzle or even read a book (the library is full of them) Mrs Pengelly is very welcoming to all those who come and join in on those days.

On Wednesdays and Friday, we have the Gardening Club that works in the garden behind the grade 4 classrooms and the staff room, where the children learn under the guidance of our Super Gardner Mrs Mazzone. It is a very fluid group and they learn some very simple skills and have assisted in selling the abundance of lemons we currently have on our lemon trees. 

On Thursday, we have the Chess Club which is run by Mrs White, where skills are taught and many of the children try to beat Mrs White (none have succeeded so far!) 

These clubs are run by teachers who give up their precious lunch breaks to assist and provide the children with something extra or a safe place to be.

On Wet Days which are held in the classroom, the children are provided with a variety of activities that they can take part in such as some board games, computer games (monitored) and of course, they can play good old-fashioned paper games such as ‘connect the dots’ ‘battleships’ ‘naughts and crosses’. 

Parents I am sure you would be able to teach your child some paper games you used to play in the classroom too and then they can share them with their classmates. 

SOOCER TEAM

Inter-school Soccer Finals

 

On the 17th of June the St Matthews Soccer team competed in the Grand Final game against St Thomas More for the Glenroy District Interschool Sport Competition. The game was very competitive, with both schools fighting it out to the last minute. The final score was 8-0, winners St Thomas More, however our journey to the final was one that entailed lots of persistence, determination and resilience. At the beginning of the Term 2 Interschool Sport Competition, we had lost 8-4 to St Thomas More and had drew against Ilim College. The students showed great initiative to organise lunch time training sessions to develop skills, game sense and tactics for the games ahead by finishing our last 3 games with 24 goals scored for us and 7 goals against, pushing us to the second spot on the ladder. Our semi-final belt against Oak Park could only be described as “edge of your seat entertainment” as both schools had many chances to finish the game off, ending in St Matthews winning 5-4.

I Mr. B, want to congratulate all the Soccer team students for their determined attitude and willingness to succeed throughout this journey, as well as the efforts of both the Football Team and Netball teams, both Grade 5s and 6s should all be congratulated on a fantastic effort. Also to Miss Di Pasquale and Mr Mckenzie for their support and coaching of the Netball teams, and Mr Donlon for the great work to develop the Football team.


Soccer Report

I was chosen to be in the soccer team term 2, 2022. Before I was chosen to be in soccer, I wasn't very interested in it. Slowly, I gained my love for playing soccer with my teammates and I gained some skills, tips and tricks. There is still a world of information I still need to learn but I hope I can gain experience and become better at Soccer. I hope to join a club as well next term and continue to practice and build up my skills with my friends at school. This will make me become a better player thanks to my experience from school.

“Emanuella Isaac 6B”

 

It was tough to get to the grand final, every team we played against was very good. We went through many ups and downs during our journey but we persevered through it all as a strong team, mentally and physically. In the final we played against St. Thomas more, they were hands down the best team we had played against so far, they passed the ball around very well with each other and were ridiculously good. In the final we stuck in our positions very well and everyone could see the improvement from our first game to last. Unfortunately, we lost the final 8-0 but we played brilliantly. We got a banner saying, runners up. Overall everyone had heaps of fun playing!

“Sport Captain – Lucas Pitruzello 6B”

 

 

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART

Hello Families, Parents and Friends,

On the 23rd of June St Matthews will be celebrating 40 years of Jump Rope for Heart by having a skipping day. This day is a healthy day we want to promote good healthy eating with lots of exercise throughout the day, so please pack a healthy snack and lunch for the day. Jump Rope for Heart is an Australian and International organisation that promotes healthy exercise through the skills of Skipping in accordance with the Heart Foundation to help donate and raise funds for sick children who struggle with heart affecting diseases and conditions, all the money raised will go to resources, research and programs to help these children. You can still donate via the link www.jumprope.org.au/parents (parents must create the account) or you can donate on the 23rd of June via a “Gold Coin Donation”, our goal is to reach $1000 and we are already half way! Which is amazing!

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

MERCY COLLEGE

PENOLA CATHOLIC COLLEGE

Did you know by shopping at Ritchie’s IGA and scanning your loyalty card you can support St Matthew’s.

When joining the Ritchies Card program you are given the option to nominate your favourite club school or charity (known as Recipients). Each time you scan your card (either physical card or electronic card in the App) when making a purchase at any of our participating stores, the total is recorded to your chosen club, school or charity. At the end of each month, Ritchies will pay your chosen club, school or charity .5% of the total accrued directly into the Recipient’s nominated bank account*. 

The Parents and Friends are proudly supported by

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