St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday, 12 May 2022
2022 St Paul's Newsletter - Term 2, Week 3
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our St Paul’s mums! I hope your children displayed their love for you and spoilt you all day long. It is clear to see what a vital cog our Mothers are in St Paul’s machine and we depend on parent partnership to support the high-quality education that we provide here. We welcome, encourage and thank you for your continued involvement in our school.
Mother's Day Celebrations
On behalf of the Parents and Friends Association, we thank you all for making our Mother’s Day Brekkie event such a success. It was lovely to see our St Paul’s students hosting their Mums, Grandparents and other special people in their classrooms and around the School. A big thanks also to the dedicated staff at St Paul’s for coming in early and making themselves available to chat with our special guests and help out wherever possible. Our special helpers and organisers (Travis, David, Tasha, Carla, Tameka, Jodie, Sandy, Lein, Angie and a range of others!) showed some pretty amazing grill skills to fill all of those tummies! We also thank Vin, on behalf of the Tulip Garden, for donating several bunches flowers and decorations. Many thanks to everyone involved.
Following the brekkie, students also had a great time visiting the Mother’s Day Stall to select a gift or two, or 3 or 4... we hope the gifts were a big hit with our Mums on Sunday morning.
A huge thank you to Kim, Tasha and Carla for organising such a great selection of gifts; thank you also to our mums that helped out on the stalls (Tamara, Tasha, Carla, Cara, Michelle & Jodie).
Working Bee Thank You
We had a beautiful afternoon completing our tasks for our first Working Bee of the year. Jobs completed included:
- Weeding and general tidy up of our kitchen gardens
- Adding compost/soil to the kitchen gardens
- Clearing paths of overhanging vegetation
- Trimming of low hanging branches
- Pruning back of the garden surrounding the frog pond
- Weeding and general tidy up of garden beds behind our Art Room/Administration Office
Thank you very much to the following parents and families for another wonderful effort:
Geoff Browitt, Sally Zylinski, Jodie Brown & Terry, Travis Selby, David Cox, Jacqui Perks, Daniel Spargo, Kim Dunstan, Tamara Willett, Brett Pye, Reece Boden, Andrea Lacey, Greg Moody, Lein Jenkins and Angie McErlain.
Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to maintain the grounds ourselves so we truly value and appreciate every bit of assistance at our working bees. Thank you very much.
A Working Bee message from Mrs Ranahan and the students in the junior school:
A very big thank you to all the parents and families that weeded the Kitchen Garden and filled the boxes with mushroom compost. We have already planted daffodil bulbs and look forward to planting our winter veggies. It is so lovely to have it up and running again for the children. Thank-you, thank-you!
Parent Input: "Thirsty Thursdays"
Research shows that children have better academic and social outcomes when their parents and school work together to support them. Recently, I was looking over some notes and articles from my studies on Parent Involvement and Parent Engagement. I came across a reflection I had written and it struck a chord with me. The question I asked myself in the reflection was: Do we TELL our parents what they need/want to know, or do we ASK our parents what they need/want to know? So ... What do the parents of St Paul’s want to know? What do our parents need to know? How can we find out?
Parent input is vital to contributing to effective school culture. We have formal avenues for parent input including, but not limited to, Transition Interviews, Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, School Advisory Council and our Parents and Friends Association. Moving forward, I will be running Parent Input sessions called "Thirsty Thursdays". We have hosted these sessions pre-covid, and we can now start running them once again. These sessions are an invitation for you, as our school parents, to have input, gain clarification and present ideas on the policies and procedures in our school in a more informal manner.
All parents are welcome. I will provide a morning tea in the school foyer and parents can come along for a cup of tea or coffee and discuss anything YOU wish. I may also have parent input topics in mind that I might wish to raise with you. We can have valuable discussions on topics that affect your children. I will send out an email to parents through Operoo to ascertain numbers and possible topics prior to each "Thirsty Thursday".
“Thirsty Thursday” dates and times are as follows:
- 8:50am Thursday 26 May
- 8:50am Thursday 28 July
- 8:50am Thursday 25 August
- 8:50am Thursday 10 November
I hope to see you there!
School Advisory Council - Input
Our next School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 May. 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 THIS GOOGLE FORM.
The form is designed to be an open forum which 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.
Prayer Gathering: Monday 16 May
This Monday at 2:10pm we will hold our next Prayer Gathering Assembly. The Prayer will be lead by our Prep students in our Church. Parents are welcome to join us.
NAPLAN Week
This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students sat NAPLAN - National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy. The NAPLAN Tests were conducted online (except for the Year 3 Writing Test).
Questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum in the areas of English and Mathematics and allow parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of our school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ progress.
The NAPLAN results may be used in the following ways:
- Students and parents/carers to discuss progress with teachers.
- Schools can identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.
- Teachers can identify students who need greater challenges or extra support.
- School systems use results to review programs and support offered to schools.
- The community can see information about the performance of schools over time at myschool.edu.au
I wish to congratulate all of our students on their efforts each and every day.
I wish to congratulate every year 3 and Year 5 student on their efforts in NAPLAN.
Condolences
Our deepest condolences are extended to Shona Tesoriero and her family (Simon, Noah in 2023 Prep and Dante in Year 1) on the sudden passing of her Pop, John Cox, last week. He was a wonderful man and was cherished by so many. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers at this very sad time.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)
The NCCD is an annual data collection that requires information on the extent of support and adjustments made for students with disability. The data collection supports a broader model of engagement and support for these students that draws on teachers' professional judgement and practices throughout the year to support students with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. Implementation of the model enables schools to fulfil their mandatory obligations to students under the national Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and Disability Standards for Education 2005. More information is contained in the Fact Sheet below.
Monbulk Market
A message from Year 4/5 and Year 5/6:
We have a very exciting opportunity to raise additional funds for our UpSchool Project to build a library in Pakistan!
Bek Milikins (Charli's mum) has very kindly donated a stunning range of baby, child and maternity items for us to sell, with all proceeds going directly to the project!
We have been able to secure a stall at Monbulk market this Saturday, 14th May.
This week students will be involved in sorting items, calculating the cost price and labelling everything in preparation of the big day.
We encourage our families to get along to the Monbulk Market this weekend and take a look at our stall.
THANK YOU...
We can't thank our community enough for supporting the initiatives of our Year 4/5 and 5/6 students who are raising money to build a library in Pakistan. So far they have raised:
- Gold Coin Trail - $1,031.00
- Easter Raffle - $733.70
- Donations - $110.00
Amazing effort! Please get along to the Monbulk Market this Saturday if you can. We thank the Milikins family for their generous donation.
Our students are doing amazing things!
Shade Sail Installation
The construction of our shade sail over the stage/decking area has now begun. The structural poles have gone up, and the shade sail is now being manufactured. This is part of the state government grant that was given to schools to encourage the use of outdoor space - there is very little cost to the school for this project, which is great! The students were very excited to see the construction taking place...
First Reconciliation Family Workshop
This coming Tuesday afternoon, 17 May, a First Reconciliation Family Workshop will be held in the Church for all children who have made the commitment to prepare for the Sacrament of First
Reconciliation. The workshop will commence at 3:30pm.
2022 School Closure Days
Staff Professional Development and ongoing learning are a priority for the staff at St Paul’s. We are, after all, “professional learners”.
In order to maintain teacher registration through the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) all teachers in Victoria are legally required to engage in, and record, at least 20 hours of Professional Learning each year. The St Paul's Leadership Team internally facilitate or book external Professional Learning courses to meet this requirement. We engage in Professional Learning Meetings after school during the week, plus School Closure Days.
Professional Learning is implemented strategically, in line with our School Improvement Plans and educational research.
For the remainder of this year, we have 3 School Closure days. There are no other school closure days other than those listed below. We ask that parents take note of these dates and put them in their calendars:
- SCHOOL CLOSED - Thursday 15 September: Staff InitailLit Training
- SCHOOL CLOSED - Friday 16 September: Staff InitailLit Training
- SCHOOL CLOSED - Monday 31 October (Cup Eve): Semester 2 Assessment and Reporting Day
*Please Note: Friday 16 December is the conclusion of the school year for St Paul's students.
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.
We have some very keen downballers here at St Paul's. They may like to participate in an upcoming Downball Tournament.
Students can enter the grade 3-4 tournament or the grade 5-6 tournament.
Please read the rules though and sign up via their webpage.
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.
Scholastic Book Club
Many thanks to everyone who supported our school library by ordering books through the Scholastic Book Club. Here are the books we acquire during Term 1 this year.
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/