St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday 11 November, 2021
2021 St Paul's Newsletter - Term 4, Week 6
From the Principal
School Closure Day: Monday 29 November
Dear Families,
Twelve young people from our school and Parish (8 St Paul's students) will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this Saturday, 13 November, at 2:00pm.
BE SEALED WITH THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.
After a lifetime of experiencing the guiding love of the Holy Spirit, the Year Six children from our Parish Community will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend. The students from St Paul’s School, as well as St Thomas More’s and the Parish Sacramental Program, will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, fully initiating them into the Catholic Church. They will of course be supported by their sponsors in the presence of their parents.
When administering the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Bishop will extend his hands over the Confirmation candidates and pray: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who brought these your servants to new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, freeing them from sin: send upon them, O Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, fill them with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Through Christ our Lord.
Then, the Bishop will confirm each candidate, making the sign of the cross with holy chrism on their forehead, and saying, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit."
We congratulate the following St Paul's students and we wish them every blessing this Saturday:
George, Meg, Benjamin, Shiloh, Dash, Tess, Lukas and Monty
Remembrance Day
At 11am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted allied terms that amounted to unconditional surrender. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.
Acknowledgement: The Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au
This morning all St Paul's students and staff paused to commemorate Remembrance Day. We watched the live stream of the Remembrance Day service held at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Second-Hand Uniform Shop
The St Paul's Second-Hand Uniform Shop is a wonderful resource that is available for our whole community. In recent years, Kylie Storer has been the coordinator of our Second-Hand Uniform Shop and we wish to say a huge thanks to Kylie for taking on this task. Kylie will be stepping down from this role next year. We can't thank Kylie enough for her ongoing support of the school and families through her role as coordinator of the Second-Hand Uniform Shop. She has always made herself available, been approachable and has enjoyed a great rapport with the entire community.
The good news is that Carla Rademaker has agreed to take over from Kylie as our Second-Hand Uniform Shop Coordinator. We are very grateful to Carla for volunteering in this role and we look forward to continuing this valuable service. Thank you Kylie and Carla!
Sacraments Update
We have set the dates for our Sacramental Program:
- Confirmation - 2:00pm Saturday 13 November
- First Eucharist - 6:00pm Thursday 25 November
- First Reconciliation (students only) - 11:45am Wednesday 17 November
Planning for 2022
As we enter the second half of term, staff are currently engaged in considerable planning for next year. A substantial amount of time goes into staffing decisions, allocation of children to classes and preparing procedures for the following year. The specific teachers of each class, as well as other staffing roles for 2022, have not been finalised at this stage.
As previously communicated, the 2022 class lists are beginning to be formulated, which involves the staff considering many factors. In relation to the placement of students in 2022 classes, parents will receive a letter in the last week of school indicating your child’s classroom teacher/s for 2022, together with the end of year reports.
If parents have a valid educational reason for making a class placement request or have
other relevant information which needs to be communicated to me, please send me an email, no later than 3:00pm Tuesday, 16 November. All of our wonderful staff members are worthy of a request and therefore requests for specific teachers can not be considered. I thank you for your understanding on this.
If there is important information regarding your child and class placements that you have written to the school about in previous years, please do not assume that this information carries over from year to year. You are still required to write to me again as your child’s needs and situations change each year. Please note however, that whilst class placement requests will be considered, I cannot guarantee that parent request(s) will always be met. It has been my experience, after over 20 years as an educator, that there will always be some requests that are impossible to meet.
Not returning to St Paul's? We are always sad to say goodbye to families however, if your child is not currently in Year 6 and is not returning to St Paul’s in 2022, please send an email to your child’s classroom teacher and myself as soon as possible. This is crucial for our 2022 planning.
School Advisory Council: Annual General Meeting
We are looking for nominations from interested parents to join our School Advisory Council.
The following are some ways the School Advisory Council supports the school and the Principal:
- Promoting the school’s Catholic ethos and culture
- Articulating and enacting the school’s vision and mission
- Implementing school policies as required
- Supporting and communicating school and parish matters, including the school annual
report - Giving advice on issues such as enrolments and school improvement plans
The next planned meeting, the AGM (Annual General Meeting), is scheduled for Thursday 2 December at 7:00pm.
The AGM is an open meeting. The AGM provides the opportunity for some current members to stand down while enabling new members to join.
The current board members are Fr Anthony Cruz, Stephenie Peels, Troy Czaja, Cara Kirby, Mary Larkin, Sally Zylinski, Megan Bourke and Michael Watt.
The Terms of Reference allows for new members to join the School Advisory Council, with nominations now open.
There are vacancies as some members will stand down at the AGM. The Nomination Form can be filled in electronically and is AVAILABLE HERE. Meetings are held twice per term, commencing at 7.00pm sharp. If you have any questions about the School Advisory Council, don’t hesitate to contact myself or any of the other SAC members.
2021/2022 Bushfire Season
The way schools in Victoria respond to the threat of bushfire was revised following the fires of Black Saturday. St Paul’s School has been identified as a school on the Bushfire At Risk Register (BARR). Victorian fire danger ratings and warnings provide clear direction on the safest options for preserving life. Schools – and children’s services – identified as being at high-risk of bushfire will be closed on days declared by fire authorities to be Code Red.
We will provide parents with up as much notice as possible of a planned closure. We will contact you directly by App notification, email and SMS message with advice on planned closures and will confirm the decision to close by 12 noon the day before the planned closure.
Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, regardless of improvements in the weather forecast. This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child. No staff will remain on-site when the school is closed by the threat of fire.
We will also cancel any offsite activities and out-of-school care during the fire season if the activities are at risk. There may also be changes to school bus routes. Depending on routes, this may also occur on days when the school is not closed.
On high fire risk days, families are encouraged to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan – on such days, children should never be left at home unattended or in the care of older children. For those of us living in a bushfire prone area, the safest option when a Code Red day is declared is to leave the night before, or early in the morning of the Code Red day.
As part of preparing our school for the threat of fire, the school has engaged Dynamiq Emergency Response to ensure that we are meeting Australian Standards in all aspects of Emergency Management. We keep our emergency management plan updated and we prioritise any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire including cleared school grounds and gutters.
Pre-Service Teacher
Currently at St Paul’s we are fortunate enough to have a pre-service teacher working with us, we welcome Emma Dinkgreve to P/1A. I know Emma will learn a great deal about quality teaching and learning from Maria Cook and Maree Ranahan, as well as our staff.
Creative Play
It has been fantastic to see our students enjoying their new playground equipment. We are still learning about the rules, but overall it has been great to see the students engaged and happy.
This week our junior students have thoroughly enjoyed moving between their equipment and the sandpits. They are creating very impressive sand-pit cities!
Congratulations Rubio Family
On behalf of the St Paul’s Community we congratulate Emilijana and Tim (mum and dad to Annalise, Year 2) on the arrival of their brand new baby girl, and baby sister - Zoe. We wish the family every blessing on their exciting new arrival.
Kind regards,
Michael Watt
From the School Office
Operoo - Student Medical and Contact Details
Parents/Guardians, have any of your contact details changed?
Have there been any changes to your child's medical profile?
Before your children return to onsite learning at school we encourage all families to log in Operoo to check and update your child's Operoo profile, ensuring the information held about your child and your contact details are accurate and up to date.
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
