Corpus Christi School Newsletter 

From the Principal's Desk

End of Year Concert

On Tuesday 18th December, we celebrate the end of the 2018 school year with our traditional Christmas Concert/Picnic/Graduation ceremony. The celebration will take place in the courtyard area and all families are invited to attend.

 

The school grounds will be open from 5:00 pm for families to set up a picnic rug and deck chairs to enjoy dinner together. This year the PFA has organised the Baked Potato Express Van with potatoes being available to buy from 5:00 pm until 6:15pm.  A flyer with the menu and prices will be sent home tomorrow.

 

Also on sale will be cold drinks, lollies and potato chips.

 

If you are available to assist with the set up and serving of food items and raffle tickets please let us know via CareMonkey.

 

At 6:30pm children from Years Prep-6 will present our End of Year Christmas Concert. The children have been working hard practising their dance routine selected from their Footsteps Dance Program to showcase to you on the night. Keep an eye out for information which has been sent home by teachers as to what your child is to wear on the night. 

 

Afterwards our Year 6 children will be acknowledged as our graduating class of 2018 and we will draw the end of year Christmas Raffle.

 

The night is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the year and there might even be a special visit from a ‘man in red’. Hope to see you all there!

Christmas Raffle

Last week each family received a set of ten (10) raffle tickets to sell to family and friends @ $1.00 each for our end of year Christmas Raffle to be drawn on Tuesday 18th December at our school concert. Please return the sold tickets and money by Tuesday 18th December.

Prizes include:

  • Apple iPad
  • One Term’s School Fees
  • Book Packs
  • Professional Photo Voucher
  • Christmas Hampers

We would welcome any donations from families and businesses to include in our raffle. If you would like to donate a gift, please contact the school office.

Staff News

At the end of this year we bid farewell to Mr Bernard Hitch and Miss Melanie Larkin.

 

Melanie has been with us for the past three years teaching in our Year 5/6 community. She has a strong passion for her work and educating the children she teaches. Melanie has shared her musical talents and beautiful voice at our Sacrament celebrations and through Glee Club. Melanie has also been our Student Wellbeing Leader and e-Learning Leader and has been instrumental in introducing many new initiatives in both areas.

 

Bernard began teaching at Corpus Christi in June 1986. After a very long and dedicated career, he will literally be sailing off into the sunset as he begins his retirement. Bernard’s passion for teaching, his attention to meticulous planning and explicit teaching skills are some of his greatest strengths. Bernard has shared his gardening skills, his interest in technology, his handy man skills and even his talent for rubbish removal over the years! His sense of humour and stories of his own school days have certainly kept us well entertained!

 

We sincerely thank Bernard and Melanie for their wonderful contribution to our community, the care they have given to our children and their commitment to continual improvement in teaching. We will miss them both but we wish them all the very best for the future.

 

We  also say farewell to Mrs Victoria La Fauci as she commences parental leave and prepares for the birth of her first child. Our thoughts are with Victoria and her husband Sal and we can’t wait to meet Baby La Fauci!

 

And finally, Kristen Inchley, our After School Care coordinator, is also leaving Corpus Christi. We thank Kristen for the fun program of after school activities she has developed for the children, the delicious afternoon tea snacks she has prepared and the care she has provided to the children when they attend OshClub at the end of the day.

Staffing 2019

Next year we will welcome Miss Chantel Borg,

Mr Wil Marks,  Miss Chloe Pincho and Miss Georgia Widdop to our staff. All four teachers have been involved in the planning days for next year as part of our Induction Program and have either met their class or will meet the children next week on Step Up Day.

 

So with student numbers and staffing now confirmed, our structure for the commencement of the 2019 school year will be as follows:

 

Principal: Mr Anthony Hyde (on extended leave)

Acting Principal/Religious Education Leader:

Miss Jane Wilkinson

Acting Deputy Principal/Director of Learning & Teaching: Mrs Isabella Sabatino

School Secretaries: Miss Debbie Yarak  and 

Mrs Deanne Fitzgerald

 

Year Prep Community

  • Prep G: Miss Georgia Widdop
  • Prep N: Mrs Nives Childs

Year 1/2 Community

  • 1/2B:   Miss Chantel Borg
  • 1/2C:   Miss Chrissie Marakis
  • 1/2H:  Miss Haylea Anderson

Year 3/4 Community

  • 3/4L:  Miss Lauren Borg
  • 3/4S:  Miss Sarah Bruce
  • 3/4Z:  Mr Zachary Lane

 

Year 5/6 Community

  • 5/6C: Miss Chloe Pincho
  • 5/6S:  Miss Stefanie Poropat
  • 5/6W: Mr Wil Marks

Reading Recovery Specialist: Miss Jane Wilkinson

Number Intervention Specialist: Mrs Tina Cuni

Library: Mrs Danielle Camerota

Learning Support Officers: Mrs Anne Di Stefano and Miss Emilia Foti                  

Italian: Signora Catrina Anderson

Visual Arts: Mrs Nathalie Fraser       

Physical Education: Mr Sam Hunt

End of Year Reports & Student Portfolios

On Friday your children will bring home their End of Year Report and Student Portfolio. Please take the time to read the report while making reference to the Portfolio so as to gain a clear picture of your child’s achievements.

 

Over the past couple of weeks, we have had the opportunity to engage in conversation with teachers (as part of our Performance Development and School Improvement Processes) in regards to the achievements and performance of every child in their care.

 

It has been amazing to see the growth in each child as evident in the array of data collected, collated, analysed and discussed. The Student Report and the Student Portfolio will no doubt illustrate these achievements as well as brief you on future learning goals.

 

I’m sure you will take the time and opportunity to celebrate with your child his/her successes. I hope you enjoy exploring the Student Portfolios, which are now yours to keep, as a record of your child’s learning.

 

I would like to congratulate all our beautiful children on their achievements throughout the year. You should be proud of your efforts and be looking forward to your next stage in learning.

Sewing Help Needed

In preparation for our new Year Prep children in 2019 we require the services of a couple of ‘handy’ people to sew together a new batch of Library bags for our Preps.

 

If you can help out, please call in and see me at the office.

Thank You

As the year draws to a close, and with this being the final Newsletter for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of the life of Corpus Christi in 2018:

  • To Mr Anthony Hyde for his strong leadership of  our school community, his vision for constant improvements in not only our curriculum but also our facilities and his continued support and encouragement of all his staff even while on leave!
  • To Father John, for his leadership of the parish community of which the school forms an important part.
  • To all parents, for the efforts you continue to make in supporting our school through classroom assistance, attendance at school/parish functions, raffles, meetings, and fundraising activities. Thank you for all you do for your children as parents and as first educators of your children.
  • To the many parents (and grandparents) who assisted with events across the year.
  • To Jess Langhorne and Kylie Feely for co-ordinating Book Club throughout the year.
  • To Belinda Miller, who very generously stepped in to the role of President of our PFA and to the other parents who regularly attended the PFA meetings and supported Belinda in her work.
  • To all the children of Corpus Christi. Thank you for your friendliness, your hard work, and the cheerful way in which you have joined in school life.
  • To John Styzinski and Rodney Anderson for their tireless work in school maintenance.
  • Thank you to all our staff, whose efforts often go unrewarded.  I am grateful to all of them for their dedicated work and proud of their achievements as they continue to learn and grow in their profession.

And finally, thank you to everyone in our beautiful community for the support I have received from parents, children and the staff over the past 7 months.  Life took a very unexpected turn for Tony and the challenge of keeping our school community working together for the good of all the children has certainly been made a lot easier by the encouragement and generosity of so many people.  Please continue to keep Tony and his family in your prayers as he continues healing. The prayers and the support shown to them are very much appreciated. At Corpus Christi School we really do see what is true, beautiful and good in each other.

 

I would like to wish each and every one of you a very safe and happy holiday. May the Christmas season fill your home with joy, your heart with love and your life with laughter and good health.

 

Have a wonderful holiday break

God bless

 

Jane Wilkinson

Acting Principal