School News

Dear parents, families and friends,

Term 3 has started with a bang. This is a bumper issue, so I encourage you to take the time to read each page carefully as a lot has happened in the past two weeks and there is also plenty of information about upcoming events.

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Today our Preps celebrated 100 days of school (Prep). It is wonderful to see the growth and the developemnt of these students from the beginning of the year until now. A big part of this success is due to the hard work of Mrs Danni Schubach and Mrs Dina Mazzeo who are amazing prep teachers.

We also have some exciting and special news in prep. Ms Danni Schubach and her husband Alex have announced that they are expecting their second child. Ms Danni will be finishing work on Friday 5th September, to rest and prepare for the birth of their baby.

Mrs Dina Mazzeo will increase her days in Prep and will be joined by Mrs Helen Walker so that Dina can perform her responsibilities as Deputy Principal and Numeracy Leader.

I know you will join me in congratulating Danni and Alex and wishing them all the very best for the birth of their second little cherub. We look forward to Danni returning to us in the near future at the conclusion of her parental leave.

Year 5/6 Snow Camp

Last week from Tuesday 22nd July to Thursday 24th July the Year 5/6 students attended camp at Mt Buller. It was an amazing experience. The weather was poor when we arrived there at lunchtime on Tuesday, gale force winds and very heavy rain. However, by the evening the snow started to fall and it continued to do so for the whole of Wednesday, increasingly getting heavier by the end of the day. Wednesday was a fanstastic day. From about 9.30am until about 3.30pm the students were on the slopes learning to ski. It was great seeing so many students progress to skiing on the green run of the main slope of Bourke Street. Thursday morning was spent throwing snowballs and riding the toboggans. A very big thank you to all staff and the two parents who assisted on this camp; Miss Marissa Balbuziente, Miss Olivia Jones, Miss Alex Mathewson, Miss Natalie Librizzi, Mr Bill Manoleras, Mr James Pearce, Mark Maltar and Nick Michael who went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure our students had the best and safest experience on camp.

Naplan Results

The Naplan results for this year have finally been released. I must congratulate our students for doing their best and achieving very high results. These results are also due to the hard work of teachers from Prep to Year 5, supporting, challenging and extending the students in their learning. In general, many of our students achieved results above the national average, which is an outstanding achievement.

Library

We have been working on expanding, updating and modernising our school library. Kat, Neo's mum from Prep has been volunteering her time to assist us with this.

If you have any preloved and no longer needed items that are complete and in good condition in the following catergories, we will gladly accept your donations:

• board books
• books in general: picture story, novels, non fiction, graphic novels, comics
• puzzles
• board games
• plush and soft toys
• dolls and figurines (barbies, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disney etc)

There will be a box or a hamper outside of the library for you to place donations in.

The library will also be open during the week at select times:

• Tuesday lunch time for Book Swap Club
• Wednesday lunch time for Games Club (board games, card games and puzzles)
• Thursday lunch time for Chess Club - new members welcomed and encouraged
• Thursday recess time for reading
• Friday lunch time for reading and borrowing

Book Week 2025 - 'Book An Adventure'

Book Week will run from Monday 18th August to Friday 22nd August. The theme this year is 'Book An Adventure'. There will be a variety of activities throughout the week, including our annual Book Week Parade on Thursday 21st August at 9.00am. The parade this year will be a little bit different to past years. Each year level will be given one of the Book Week books as their focus. They will be encouraged to create costumes based on this book. More details and information to come soon.

We have some extremely exciting news! Australian children’s laureate, author and illustrator Leigh Hobbs (yes, THE Leigh Hobbs) will be joining our school for Book Week this year on Wednesday 27th August. Leigh will be conducting two workshops with each of our students, one with the Preps - Two and one with the Three - Sixes, and sharing his wisdom around writing, drawing and the creative process. Deb Force from the Sun Bookshop has very generously arranged for individually signed copies of Leigh’s books to be available to our students at a discounted price. Order forms will be sent home with your child in the coming week. Final orders will need to be placed by the 17th of August, in order for your child to receive their book from Leigh. We are thrilled for this local collaboration. Watch this space for photos of Leigh’s visit. 

In preparation for Leigh's visit we have arranged with the Sun Bookshop for the sale of signed copies of his books. Please see the attachment below for information on how to purchase these books through the online store.

Feast of St Mary MacKillop & Grandparents Day

Next Friday the 8th of August we will celebrate Grandparents Day on the Feast of St Mary MacKillop. Grandparents and Grandpeople (significant elder people in the lives of the children - aunties, uncles, neighbours) are invited to join with the children between 9am and 10am in the classrooms to complete a shared activity. We then invite all visitors to join with us at mass at 10.30am to the Feast Day of St. Mary MacKillop. After mass all visitors are invited to join us for a shared lunch of pies and sausage rolls. These can be ordered via the online ordering  form on Trybooking. Coffee and tea will be available for all visitors in the staffroom during lunchtime.

Feast of the Assumption

On Friday 15th August at 10.30am we will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption with a whole school mass. All families are warmly invited and encouraged to attend this mass with us. The Feast of the Assumption is a holy day of obligation for all Catholics.

Working Bees

We have a series of Working Bees planned to begin moving, cleaning up and clearing out in preparation for the Refurbishment Project of Building B, The St Mother Teresa Building. The working bees will be held on Saturdays; 9th and 30th August and 13th September. They will be run from 10am to 2pm. Please respond to the Operoo notification to volunteer for one or more of these working bees. For the first working bee we will need some parents who have some carpentry skills to disassemble the three music tuition rooms and reassemble them in the sports store. We will also be moving everthing out of the sports store and repacking it once the rooms have been reassembled in there. On the each of the working bees we will also fire up the wood fire pizza oven to prepare it for the first cook at the end of the term. If there are any parents who have experience with a wood fire pizza oven, your expertise will be of great assistance.

100th Anniversary of St. Augustine's Church

On Sunday the 31st August at 9.30am the Parish of St. Augustine's will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Church. Archbishop Peter Comensoli will be the main celebrant at this mass. All past and present parishioners are invited to attend and celebrated this very special and momentous milestone.

Important Upcoming Events

• Saturday 2nd August - School Trivia Night at the Vic on Hyde
• Friday 8th August: 
  • 9.00am Classroom activities with Grandparents
  • 10.30am - Whole School Mass for the Feast of St. Mary Mackillop & Grandparents Day
  • 11.15am - Shared Lunch
• Saturday 9th August, 10.00am to 2.00pm - Working Bee
• Friday 15th August, 9.30am - Whole School Mass, Feast of the Assumption
• Saturday 30th August, 10.00am to 2.00pm - Working Bee
• Sunday 31st August, 9.30am - Jubilee Mass: Back to St. Augustine's celebrating 100 years of St. Augustine's Church.
• Saturday 13th September, 10.00am to 2.00pm - Working Bee

Matthew Stead

Principal