St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday, 5 May 2022
2022 St Paul's Newsletter - Term 2, Week 2
From the Principal
Dear Families,
It certainly feels more like autumn this week! At this time of the year, you would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful location than Monbulk and the Dandenong Ranges. It is an absolute pleasure to drive up here each day, the autumn colours are spectacular as evidenced by these snapshots from around our playground. Doing Yard Duty out on this playground is fantastic for the mental health! It is truly a privilege to be a part of this community.
St Paul's in Autumn
2022 Prep Enrolments
Yes, it is that time of year again ... enrolment time! If you have a child starting school next year but haven’t yet got the paperwork together, now is a really good time. Pop into the office and see Helen, she will be able to give you all the information you need.
Our enrolment numbers for 2022 are strong once again. It is early Term 2 and we are engaged with at least 16 Preps right now, so if you have a friend or friends looking for a primary school for their child/ren and you love St Paul’s, please spread the word - families will need to get in quick to secure a place! We are hoping to have all Prep enrolment forms in by the end of May or early June at the latest.
We welcome students in all year levels as well as Prep (Foundation). School tours are available most days by appointment or we offer pre-organised tour dates and times on our Open Days.
School Photos: Monday 9 May
School photos will be taken this Monday, 9 May. Please ensure that your child is dressed in their school winter uniform. Headbands or bows may only be worn in school colours. Black leather school shoes are expected, as per our policy.
A personalised flyer with instructions on how to place your orders online was sent home last week with your child. If you would like sibling photos taken, these also need to be ordered online with the cut off time being 8am on the morning of school photo day.
In the past, students that were absent from school on the day have been brought in just for their school photo. In the climate of a pandemic, this will no longer be permitted. Thanks for your understanding.
NAPLAN WEEK
Next week our Year 3 and Year 5 students sit NAPLAN - National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy. In 2022 and from this year forward the NAPLAN Tests are conducted online.
Every Year 5 and Year 3 student will sit NAPLAN and due to the fact that it is online, they must have working headphones.
As educators, we do use the data that NAPLAN provides us in order to measure student learning growth in literacy and numeracy, but we use the data alongside all of our other formative and summative assessments. The NAPLAN data is useful, but it does not measure everything that we hold dear at St Paul’s. This is extremely important for parents to understand. NAPLAN does matter, and it is important to us, but NAPLAN is not ALL that matters!
NAPLAN tests are one-off, one-day tests and must be considered as part of a bigger picture. NAPLAN does not measure how caring or thoughtful your child is, it does not measure our people skills. Successful children are resilient, they show persistence and grit, and these are attributes that are difficult to measure.
If your child is feeling a little anxious before sitting the NAPLAN tests, please reassure them that although these tests will tell us how they did on that day, they do not tell us everything about your child. They can’t tell us that your child brightens up their teacher’s day and they can’t tell us how special each and every child is.
I wish to congratulate all of our students on their efforts each and every day. I wish to acknowledge our teachers for their professional approach to the NAPLAN tests and particularly I congratulate every year 3 and Year 5 student on their efforts in NAPLAN.
Shade Sail Installation
Exciting news! We will very soon have a shade sail being constructed over the stage/decking area. We should see the posts go in over the next couple of weeks, then the sail will be installed after that. This is part of the state government grant that was given to schools to encourage use of outdoor spaces.
FRIDAY 6 MAY
Tomorrow our P&F are hosting the MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST AND MOTHER'S DAY STALL.
Mum's and Special Person's (step mum, grandmothers, significant people) are invited to the Mother's Day Breakfast. Breakfast will be served from 8:00am. Classrooms will open at 8:10am and visitors are welcome to pop in and take a look at the children's work, and spend time chatting with teachers and other visitors.
We will also host a Mother's Day Stall on the day where students can buy gifts for Mum! Our P&F set up a Mother's Day Stall and the students are escorted in class groups to visit the stall. We begin with senior students who collect their younger siblings on the way so we don't double up on the same gift. Gifts range from $1 - $10. Children can bring cash into school on Friday 6 May.
We are grateful to our parent volunteers for organising this event.
We are looking forward to a terrific morning tomorrow and we wish all of our families a Happy Mother's Day this Sunday.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Watt
School Car Park Procedure
With regard to safety within the school, you may be aware that our school basketball court/car park lines are in the process of being re-done. Please note the following:
- Children, regardless of age, must always be accompanied by an adult when walking through the car park to the school or vice versa (In other words, hold the hands of young children. Older children should never be more than 1m away from an adult.)
- Children and adults should always use the designated pathways - please do not stand and talk on the asphalt basketball court before or after school when it is used for parking
- Please stay with your car if you stop in the drop off zone (under the basketball rings - quick drop off only)
- At the conclusion of the school day, when children have been collected from their classroom, they should never be allowed to go to their vehicle unaccompanied by an adult, regardless of their age.
These regulations exist to ensure the safety of all children and adults within the car park area.
Over the holidays we have made some changes to our school car park. These changes are indicated by painting blue lines for our car park bays, directional lines and crossing spaces. A new car park map is provided below - please note the traffic flow requirements carefully. In summary, the following changes have been made to our asphalt area:
- Car park bays at the centre and edges of the court are painted in blue
- Crossing/walking paths have been painted to indicate safe walking areas (note: some of these paths are being finished off in the coming days/weeks, weather dependent)
- There is now NO REVERSE PARKING at the bottom of our asphalt area - this has been removed in the best interest of safety.
Lunch Clubs are BACK!
Our lunchtime clubs are back up and running. They are held in the library/open learning space 1:30-2pm, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
From the School Office
It is time to check your child's Operoo Profile
As we begin another school term it is important to ensure all our records are up to date for students and Parents/Guardians.
- Have any of your family or contact details changed?
- Have there been any changes to your child's medical profile?
To ensure we are able to provide accurate and prompt care for your child, please ensure that you have logged into Operoo to review and update your child's Operoo profile, carefully checking that all information held about your child and emergency contact details are 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 Carla Rademaker with items being purchased by gold coin donation. Payments can be made via CDF Pay. If you are looking for items of secondhand uniform please feel free to text Carla on 0409 866 901 with your wish list. Items will usually be sent home via class tubs or collected from the school office by arrangement.
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
Catholic Education Guide 2022
To assist your decision making in relation to your child's education for 2023 and beyond, please find below a link to the 136 page 2022 edition of the Catholic Education Guide.
CLICK HERE: https://victoriaschoolguides.starcommunity.com.au/catholic-education/
