St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday, 19 May 2022
2022 St Paul's Newsletter - Term 2, Week 4
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Many of our students are currently preparing to receive Sacraments. Saturday, 28 May, we have the Sacrament of Confirmation (Year 6) at 2:00pm. On Tuesday 14 June, we have the Sacrament of First Reconciliation (Year 3) at 3:30pm. Thanks very much to Mrs Irene Haritos for organising our First Reconciliation Family Workshop held last Tuesday in our Church. We are very grateful to those families that came along.
Monbulk Market
Despite the persistant rain on Saturday, our market stall was quite a success and raised over $300! There were many wonderful helpers on the day and special thanks to Sophia & Anna Colussi, Maddy & Brent Grogan, Mariske & Keira De Wit, Ava Klages, Violet & Angie Radley, and Sally Zylinski for all of your help carrying boxes, setting up, packing up and selling lots of goodies! I was particularly proud of the students who assisted with sales on the day and their customer service and interactions were informative and enjoyable to watch - well done girls! All funds raised will go towards our project to build a library in Tramri, Pakistan.
Save the Date: Disco Fever!
School Disco Night: Friday 15 July
It's a Girl!
Congratulations to the Simpson family on their new arrival last Friday. A little girl, Violet, weighing 3.8kg. A new baby sister for Henry in Prep.
Welcome to St Paul's
All families at St Paul’s know that we provide a high-quality education with a special personal touch. This nurturing environment is evident to all those that visit us, and this year, on behalf of the St Paul’s community, we have welcomed several new students to our school. Over the past couple of weeks we have welcomed Ella (Year 5) and also Talon (Year 1) to St Paul's.
I wish to take the opportunity to thank ALL families for entrusting us with the care and education of your children. We have a further 3 families, 5 students, committed to joining us before the end of this year. I know that many of our established families have taken the opportunity to introduce themselves to our new families and help them become familiar with our vibrant school and parish community.
Ready, Set, Prep! Pre-school Program
Beginning Monday 23 May at 10:00am, and continuing each fortnight until the end of Term 3, we are running sessions that provide pre-school children and families with a "taste" of school life. ALL preschool children are welcome! We run sessions on a range of topics including Italian, Science, Literacy, Numeracy, Health and PE. St Paul's Staff share the leading of these sessions, with Julie Dietrich taking the first session this Monday. Parents of pre-schoolers are invited to register their child for these special school readiness activity sessions that will help provide insight for families preparing for school life.
Winter Uniform Please...
The St Paul’s school uniform communicates a sense of identity and school pride. All children should now be wearing their winter uniform on a daily basis, and in an effort to stem morning confusion and debate over “what to wear”, please refer to the St Paul’s Uniform Guide.
CLICK HERE for a copy of the guide.
Classrooms Open 8:30am - 3:15pm
Just a reminder note for all families that there is no student supervision at school prior to 8:25am. Yard Duty outside begins at 8:25am and the students are permitted on the playground only. Before school, students are not permitted on the oval or undercover area, unless they are accompanied by a parent or carer. Ball games are strictly not permitted before school.
Please note - Classrooms open at 8:30am, and classrooms will only be opened by a member of staff. It is very important that we do not enter classrooms prior to 8:30am unless a prior appointment has been made with a teacher. Classrooms will open earlier if there is rain. Sometimes teachers have morning meetings, or may be absent from school, therefore on occasion there may be a delay in opening the door. Please be aware that, for a number of reasons including duty of care, parents and students are not permitted in classrooms without a teacher being present. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.
We are very grateful to our families for your awareness of our boundaries for dogs. We have a student attending St Paul’s with an anaphylactic allergy, therefore we request that dogs not be walked any further into the school than the Year 5/6 portables or remain on the school oval. We also ask that dogs be kept on leads at all times.
Thanks for your understanding and support.
Chess
Our school chess program, run by "Kids Unlimited", has begun again in earnest. Each Monday, for the duration of Terms 2 & 3, every child from Years 3-4 receives a one-hour weekly chess lesson. In a world where education is more about thinking skills and less about knowledge, where engaging young people is at the forefront of education, chess has proven to be an invaluable educational tool.
The following reflection is taken from the article, ‘Life lessons from Chess – Cause or Effect?’ written by David Cordover:
... you are the one who makes each move. You ultimately control the destiny of the game with the moves you
make. There is no luck ... in life. Life is a game of chess.
It is a game of chess within a game of chess. Much like a Russian doll – with an infinite number of chess games built into each other. Each game you play is but a move on the larger chessboard. That game, in turn, is just a single move somewhere even bigger.
In chess, you have rules which you MUST apply. These are not negotiable. The laws of the game. Yet, within and using those rules you can control the entire world – you are the cause of every move. You choose at every moment what happens, no outside influence, no ‘luck’ of the dice. Your decision. Your choice. Your
RESPONSIBILITY. If you make a bad decision you learn from it and try again. If you make a good decision you get a reward.
This is the analogy. It has all the components necessary and it is a game. It is FUN. Just as life should be.
If every child could play chess, just once a week, and unconsciously learn the lessons of responsibility that the
game teaches ... imagine the possibilities.
Student Absence
Following a review of the Attendance Guidelines by the Minister for Education and Training, ‘schools must advise parents/guardians of unexplained absences, on the same day, as soon as practicable, including for post-compulsory aged students’. All schools are required to meet this obligation.
If your child is absent from school the classroom teacher must be notified that morning prior to 9.00am. This can be via email, a written note handed to the teacher or the office, or via our SZApp.
Currently, when a child is marked absent by the teacher and the reason is unknown, parents will receive a text, notifying them of their child’s absence and asking them to call the school if notification and a reason has not been provided.
Staff Shortages Protocol
Many businesses are experiencing staff shortages these days, and schools are also facing this challenge. Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) have advised schools on a five-step staff shortages protocol. This protocol will assist us with managing the school in the event of high levels of staff absence. The following options will be considered when a staff member is absent:
- We book a casual relieving teacher (CRT).
- Explore internal management options, such as combining classes, and using specialist teachers or tutors.
- There may be times at St Paul's where classes are split and students combined with other classes.
- The school contact MACS staff, who may be able to identify opportunities for other schools to support in accessing CRTs.
- Engage a final-year pre-service teacher (PST) holding Permission to Teach (PTT). A PST holding a PTT can only be used to replace teachers who are unable to attend work due to contracting COVID-19 or caring for a child who has tested positive.
- Where CRTs or PSTs holding PTT could not be sourced, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) office staff who have current Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) registration and are available, will be considered for backfill positions.
Covid-19 Update
RATs will continue to be distributed to you as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this term. However, there are changes to the provision of rapid antigen tests (RATs) in our school for the remainder of Term 2:
- From Monday 23 May 2022, we do not recommend that your child complete a RAT twice a week as previously advised.
- RATs will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (five negative tests over a seven-day period) or who have symptoms.
The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers have tests should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.
Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.
Thank you to all families who have had their child vaccinated. Vaccination continues to remain the best way to protect students and staff in our school.
Getting vaccinated is easy and bookings can be done via the Department of Health’s website https://portal.cvms.vic.gov.au. If you have any questions about the vaccines, I encourage you to speak to your GP or a health practitioner.
Thank you again for your ongoing cooperation and support during this time.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Watt
School Closure Days 2022
We ask that parents take note of these dates and put them in their calendars:
SCHOOL CLOSED - Thursday 15 September:
SCHOOL CLOSED - Friday 16 September:
SCHOOL CLOSED - Monday 31 October (Cup Eve)
*Please Note: Friday 16 December is the conclusion of the school year for St Paul's students.
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
School Fee Statements
Fee statements have been emailed to families this week. If you have not received yours or have any questions regarding your account please contact the school office.
Request from the Art Room
If you have any yarn, wool or thread floating around at home that you could donate, we would love to have it in the art room - Thank you!
Emma-lee Curwood
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/