Year Prep 2024 Transition

Our new Prep children for 2024 had their final Transition Session today in their class groupings for 2024.

They even had the opportunity to meet and work with their (future) Year 5/6 Buddy next year.

I was blown away by how seamlessly our new Preps settled in and how beautifully our Year 5/6 Buddies warmed to them. It was lovely to watch.

We look forward to working with our new children and new families next year and in the meantime, wish them a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Drink Bottles

These days drink bottles seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Some are even so heavy that it feels like a workout every time you lift if.

While some of these may be 'the in thing' they are not practical to bring to school because they do not fit in the children's lockers. They are then left all over the place and are a hazard and an eye sore.

So... the challenge for all children moving into 2024 is to get a drink bottle that fits into their locker.

For everyone's information, these are the heights of the lockers of which the drink bottle MUST fit:

Year Prep: 24.5cm
Yr 1/2: 24.5cm
Year 3/4: 27.5cm
Year 5/6: 31.0cm

Often Santa may even include a drink bottle in your child's Santa sack so you may also wish to pass this message on to him.

Timetable Changes

With the end of the year fast approaching, timetables for the next few weeks will be adjusted to allow for 2024 Year Level Planning, PSG meetings, Transition Days and the many other events synonymous with Term 4.

Therefore we ask that you pay close attention to the timetables and communications that will be published in the Newsletter, circulated via Class Dojo and communicated by teachers.

The main thing for students is that they wear their sports uniform on days when they are scheduled for Sport/PE.

Next Week's Timetable (Week 10) is detailed below.

Whole School Transition Session

This Friday our current Year Prep - 5 children will have the opportunity to gather in their 2024 Learning Communities as a 'taster' of what is to come.

This transition opportunity has worked well in past years in relieving some of the anxiety associated with the year-to-year transition. It will allow for students to experience the 'space', and for all children to 'meet and greet' as a new community.

There will be two transition opportunities provided before our Step-Up Day, where children will meet their teacher and classmates, on Tuesday 13th December.

Fees and Levies 2023

Thank you to all families who are up-to-date with Fee and Levy payments for 2023. Unless you have organised a payment plan, all fees and levies should have been settled by the end of Term 3.

As of today, we still have $31,813 owing.

Families still in arrears will be sent an up-to-date Fee and Levy Statement today and, in fairness to all, we would appreciate accounts to be settled immediately.

2024 Start Dates

A reminder that next year our governing body MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools) requires all Catholic schools to administer a series of Literacy and Numeracy assessments across the school at the beginning of the year.

Children in the middle/senior years will be capable of completing these assessments independently during regular classes however our junior children will need to do them with their teacher.

To facilitate this testing we have arranged for a staggered start to the 2024 school year as follows:

Monday 29th January:

Staff commence - NO children

Tuesday 30th January:

Staff only. NO children

Wednesday 31st January:

Years 3-6 Commence School

Testing Day for Years P-2

Thursday 1st February:

Normal classes for Years 3-6

Testing Day for Years P-2

Friday 2nd February:

Normal classes for Years 3-6

Testing Day for Years P-2

Monday 5th February:

All children at school

On Testing Days children in Years P-2 will be required to be booked in for a one-on-one assessment with their teacher. These children only come to school for their testing time which should take 45-60 minutes. Bookings will be made through our School Interviews portal and will be open once classes for 2024 are determined.

Adjustments to Friday Finish Time in 2024.

Workload agreements in the newly introduced Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement (CEMEA) stipulate that full-time (primary school) teachers may be allocated a maximum of

21.5 hours per week in 2023; and
20 hours per week in the 2024 school year and subsequent years.

The implementation of these limits has proven to be a headache for schools as they navigate themselves through the CEMEA. We have been able to accommodate this year's reduction through additional programming but next year and beyond proves a little trickier .

So in order to become compliant with the new award, in 2024 school will finish at 3:15 pm on Fridays. All other days will remain as a 3:30 pm finish. Judging by the number of early pick-ups requested on Fridays, the adjustment should prove favourable to families.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Our classes have well and truly commenced practice for our Christmas concert, scheduled for Tuesday 12th December (with a back-up date of Thursday 14th December).

Gates will open at 5:00 pm for families to set up

their picnic rug, join in some Christmas cheer and enjoy some time together before the formalities begin. Feel free to BYO a picnic dinner, or bring your own 'take-away'.

Alternatively, our PFA will be running a sausage sizzle for you to enjoy.

In consideration to all, we ask that families sitting on deck chairs and the like set up toward the back or around the perimeter.

Formalities will commence around 6:00 pm with our Christmas concert: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! A fitting title for this time of the year.

And you never know... there might even be a visit from a man in red!

Christmas Raffle

Make sure you purchase your raffle tickets for our end-of-year Christmas Raffle.

There are some fantastic prizes to be won including

the main prize of Razor Power Core E90 Electric Scooter.

And Tickets are only $1.00 each!

Tickets (and money) are to be returned to the school office by next Friday 8th December (don't forget to write your name on them) and more tickets can also be purchased from the school office. Good luck!

We hope this proves a wonderful opportunity to finish off the year on a high.

City Camp

This year our Year 5 and 6 students will be participating in Cycle B of our Camp Program which is an Urban Camp Experience to be facilitated by City Camp (CYC) 538 Collins Street Melbourne. Our students will venture off for an overnight camp on Thursday 7th December, departing school at approximately 9:15 am and returning on Friday 8th December at approximately 4:00 pm.

The idea of the Urban Camp Experience is to immerse our children in the various cultural, educational and recreational activities Melbourne has to offer including:

Melbourne Museum
ACMI
Sealife Aquarium
Laneway Tour
IMAX

Miss Stefanie Poropat, Miss Khanh Ly, Mr Dan Palanca, Mrs Veronica Tweedley and Miss Jess Kenny will be attending camp and looking after the children. We thank our staff in advance for giving up their time to facilitate this wonderful experience for our children and we hope a safe and adventurous time is had by all.

Have a wonderful week.

God Bless

Anthony Hyde

(Principal)

Year Prep L	Xavier Cergovski
Year Prep N	Edith Brown
Year 1/2 B	Zahra Osmotherly
Year 1/2 C	Mia Sawan
Year 1/2 S	Anthony Bou Abdallah
Year 3/4 K	Shreyan Chatterjee
Year 3/4 R	Sarah Cheesley
Year 5/6 K	Ada Ogilvie
Year 5/6 S	Lexi D'Agruma

Awards and Celebrations

BIRTHDAYS

December