St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday 9 September, 2021
2021 St Paul's Newsletter - Term 3, Week 9
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Happy Springtime!
Last Sunday was Father's Day and while we may not have been able to go out and celebrate Fathers’ Day with extended family, many people were able to find innovative ways to communicate and celebrate as a family. Our students completed lovely cards and organised special gifts to say thank you for that special father or father figure in their life.
I would like to thank our community for their tremendous effort and support during Remote and Flexible Learning at this time. Our community has shown great resilience over the past couple of years, and our students continue to impress us with their positive attitude. Our Year 6 students, who have unfortunately had this week's school camp cancelled due to lockdown restrictions, have been very resilient, and we hope to reschedule our camp for next term.
There have been some wonderful responses online this week to student learning. For example, our Prep/1 students have been writing about the season of Spring. There have been fantastic audio responses as our juniors record themselves reading, and our junior students have created the most amazing "Gratitude Jars" on Seesaw. Our Year 2/3 students have been exploring "RU OK? Day" and making pledges to check in with their friends and family in any way they can. The Year 2/3 class are practising their division facts, as well as translating our weather descriptions into Italian via Seesaw. The Year 4/5 class is working hard on their maths problem-solving skills, as well as reflecting on their wellbeing support networks for RU Ok? day. Our Year 4, 5 and 6 students have had a blast creating the "Blob Opera" with their music tasks! Our Year 5/6s are completing the 100 point challenge for PE, challenging and developing their fitness. The friendship bracelets they are making in art are absolutely sensational.
Keep up the great work St Paul's!
Working Bee - 16 September
Please note: The Working Bee scheduled for Thursday 16 September is cancelled due to the current restrictions.
School Advisory Council
Our next School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting will be held on Thursday 16 September. You are invited to have input into the SAC meeting and if you have anything that you think the SAC should or could address please let us know by completing a short survey via a Google Form. This form is designed to be an open forum that will be used for guidance regarding issues for the SAC to discuss and advise on.
Issues or circumstances affecting an individual student would sit outside the purview of this forum and be dealt with by school staff, so this is aimed at general concerns, questions and suggestions for the school. The content of this form will be reviewed first, before disseminating to the SAC at the meetings, to ensure that no confidentiality is breached. You are invited to respond by 12:00pm this Monday.
Please CLICK HERE to open the Google Form.
School Fees
I wish to reassure families impacted financially by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that we want to assist you in every way possible with regard to school fees. Like many businesses and careers in Australia, some families may be impacted financially by the pandemic. There may be unprecedented changes to finances for some people, and we have taken a clear position on enrolments: No parent or guardian who wishes their child to receive a Catholic education at St Paul's will be denied the opportunity to do so because of financial circumstances.
If you have concerns about your financial situation and the impact on school fees, please contact me via email so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements to enable your child’s ongoing education at our school. We are absolutely committed to working with our families as we get through these challenging times.
Library Book Returns
Baskets have been placed in/near classrooms and the school office reception area for the safe return of library books. When collecting your child's learning pack this Friday please place any library books for return into these baskets. Please ensure that you do not pick up or touch books already in the baskets returned by other students. Thank you.
Prayer gathering Assembly: Monday 13 September - Send Through Your Photos
Our next Prayer Gathering Assembly is being held via Google Meet this Monday 13 September at 2:10pm. Log in to Google using your child's credentials, open Google Meet and enter the code stpassembly. Our Prep/1 classes will lead the Prayer Gathering.
We will display a short slideshow of the photos of Remote and Flexible Learning. I invite our parents and students to send me a photo of a Remote and Flexible Learning highlight from the past couple of weeks.
If you are willing and able to contribute a photo, please send your photo to mwatt@spmonbulk.catholic.edu.
Last year we did similar things to this where we collected photos for various occasions, and unfortunately, some of those photos went into my spam or never reached my email! Not sure why... however, if you send me a photo, I definitely will reply to you within a couple of hours to confirm that I received it. We would hate for someone to miss out on their photo being shown. If you send me a photo but do not receive a reply from me within 2 hours, please contact me.
Staff Planning Day - Friday 17 September
Next Friday, 17 September, our teachers will be working together to prepare for Term 4. This is not a School Closure Day as we believe that it is more helpful for families if students have school work to do, and/or have activities that can engage them.
***IMPORTANT END OF TERM NOTICE***
***Seesaw will not be monitored after Thursday 16 September. Please ensure all Seesaw tasks for next week are completed by the end of the day on Thursday.***
Please note the following arrangements for Staff Planning Day - Friday 17 September:
- On-site supervision is available for children deemed as vulnerable and children of authorised workers that have provided permits and can't work at home
- Seesaw will not be monitored on Friday 17 September
- Mr Watt and Mrs Geoghegan will facilitate a community activity on the day: "Footy Colours Day Sports Challenge" - details will be sent out to families next week (see below)
- The online School Disco will run from 12:00pm - 1:00pm (see below)
- 9:00am Google Meets will still occur in order to verify attendance and check in with students
- Classroom teachers will not be available following their 9:00am Google Meet for the remainder of the day
School Community Fridays
Friday 10 September: Principal's Pop Quiz 2.0 Tomorrow, we are hosting the second "Principal's Pop Quiz"...
- We will host the Prep-3 Pop Quiz 2.0 live with a Kahoot! at 12:00pm.
- We will host the Years 4-6 Pop Quiz 2.0 live with a Kahoot! at 12:45pm.
Log in to Google Meet and enter the code: stpquiz. Be ready for Kahoot! with a second device!!
Friday 17 September
Footy Colours AND Disco Day!
It is a BIG finish to the school term ... On Friday 17 September we will have Footy Colours Day! We will ALSO hold our online Bop Till You Drop School Disco on the day! WOO HOO!!
Friday 17 September: BOP TILL YOU DROP!!! School Disco! 12pm - 1pm
This Disco will be an end of term celebration, instead of our 'normal' evening disco that can't be held for obvious reasons. This disco will be 'virtual' - held via Zoom.
Zoom link will be sent to families next week.
Friday 17 September: Footy Colours Day
On Footy Colours Day, we encourage students to join the morning Google Meet in their favourite team colours. This does not have to be an AFL team, but any team that you support - soccer, dancing, gymnastics, cricket, basketball, ANY sport team! Students can stay in their favourite team colours for the disco, or they can change for the disco, it's individual choice, the day is yours! Students on-site can wear free dress in their favourite team colours.
On Footy Colours Day there will be a "Footy Colours Day Sports Challenge".
Details will be sent out next week - we can't wait for a great day!
Kind regards,
Michael Watt
R U OK? Day- Thursday 9th September
R U OK? is a harm prevention charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.
This week students have explored how to recognise when someone is not OK, how to ask R U OK?, who is their network of supports they can talk to and what the ALEC (Action, Listen, Encourage action, Checkin) steps are.
If you need support or someone to talk to, please contact a staff member you feel most comfortable with.
Other contacts include Kids Helpline https://kidshelpline.com.au/ and Beyond Bllue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Lunch Club
What a great turn out we've had this week at Lunch Club. Monday we tackled some origami- Wow that got tricky! Wednesday we built some fabulous Big Figures with Lego, along with a bit of singing and dancing. Check out the amazing creations.
Next week: Lego and Scavenger Hunt
Lunch Club week 9
Lunch Club
Mondays 12-12:30 and Wednesdays 1:30-2pm
Check learning grids for session focus
Here are some pictures from this week's fun- Blindfolded lego building challenge and Hand art
Lunch Club week 8
From the School Office
Uniform Shop
Ross Haywood Sports - Update:
St Paul's Online Uniform Shop
https://www.rhsports.com.au/product/school_wear/st_pauls_monbulk_ps
For in-store purchases RH Sports are located at 12/100 New St, Ringwood (subject to any COVID restrictions in force at the time).
The store is now a CASHLESS STORE, EFTPOS transactions will be the only acceptable method of purchase. Recent changes to improve the health and safety of staff and customers include perspex screens at the registers and the supply of hand sanitiser. We ask that customers please apply this on entry to the store.
Online ordering continues as normal with all delivery options available including contactless pick up. Please phone the store on 9870 1377 if you have any further queries.
Secondhand Uniform Shop
Our secondhand uniform shop is managed by Kylie Storer with items being purchased by gold coin donation. If you are looking for items of secondhand uniform please feel free to text Kylie on 0430 546 611 with your wish list. When not prevented by restrictions, Kylie will usually be at school on Thursday mornings to fill orders. Items can be sent home via class tubs or collected from the school office.
The secondhand uniform shop welcomes donations of St Paul's current school uniform items which are still in good condition. We do not accept the old St Paul's round neck jumpers, yellow shirts or non-St Paul's items. If you have any current uniform items you no longer need please feel free to leave your donations at the school office.
OSHClub
Out of School Hours Care: OSH Club
Enrolments, Bookings and Enquiries
Parents will need to enrol with OSHClub. Please visit https://www.oshclub.com.au/ and click on "REGISTER". You will need to enrol with the Monbulk Primary School service.
Community Notices
Transition Information
To assist your decision making in relation to your child's education for 2022 and beyond, please find below a link to the 136 page March 2021 edition of the Catholic Education Guide.
CLICK HERE: https://victoriaschoolguides.starcommunity.com.au/catholic-education/
Mater Christi College – Belgrave
Mater Christi College is a vibrant, inclusive and warm community where girls feel safe and build supportive lifelong friendships. After another year of leading academic and vocational outcomes, we are experiencing a surge in demand for places.
Parents of Grade 5 students are strongly encouraged to secure a place for Year 7 2023. Visit the College website to apply or arrange a tour.
Families seeking enrolment for 2022 should contact the College Registrar 9754 6611 asap.
2021 Edition of the Enrolments Guide for Parents
To assist your decision making in relation to your child's education for 2022 and beyond, please find below a link to the 2021 edition of the Enrolments Guide.
CLICK HERE: victoriaschoolguides.starcommunity.com.au/enrolments-guide
