From Our Principal

Newsletter  ~ Term 2, Week 4, 2025

Principal's Message:

Dear Parents, Carers, Families and Friends of St Mel’s Primary School,

Please find following our newsletter for this fortnight.

Sacramental Preparation:

Please keep the children and their families preparing for the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to meet together to learn more about our Catholic faith. These students, their families and friends will gather in Christ the King church (St Mel's church) on Sunday 8 June for the celebration of Confirmation Eucharist. Bishop Shane Mackinlay will concelebrate this special Mass with our priests. All welcome to attend. 

Magnify Sandhurst' 

Every Student - Every Teacher - Every School - Every Day!

St Mel's PS Framework for Positive Behaviour & Support  

As an integral component of the 'Magnify Sandhurst' initiative we have continued to incorporate our learning in behaviour support undertaken with The Knowledge Society at the end of Term One, within our overarching St Mel's PS Framework for Positive Behaviour and Support.

Teachers have commenced implementing teaching our reviewed Behaviour Curriculum and will soon commence introducing school-wide ROUTINES in support of this initiative.

Information will follow for parents and carers to support your understanding of and support for our Behaviour Curriculum. 

Student Arrival at School:

We encourage our students to commence arriving at school from 8:30am each morning.

This provides an opportunity for children to catch up, play with one another and be here well before our first bell at 8:55am. Preferably ALL children will be onside from 8:45am so that once the first bell goes they are ready to enter Learning Suites and ready to engage in their morning learning routine. 

Enrolment Enquiries & Applications Go ONLINE:

Our school joins a handful of other CES Ltd schools and colleges moving to the NEW online enrolment process this year. All future enrolment applications and/or enquiries are now being accepted via this efficient system which collects required student, parent/carer information and required documentation e.g., birth certificates, visa documentation, immunisation documentation, etc...

The NEW enrolment enquiry and application portal 'Enquiry Tracker' can be accessed via our St Mel's PS Website at: www.smshepparton.catholic.edu.au 

OR by clicking the following live link: https://www.smshepparton.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-application

Enrolments for 2026 are due by Friday 30 May 2025!

Catholic Education Week:

We celebrated Catholic Education Week last week with assembly, participating in Sandhurst Switches Off and welcoming prospective students and their parents/carers across our two Open Days. Our Year 5/6 Learning Community led a beautiful prayer reflection incorporating our late Pope Francis' encyclical 'Laudato Si' On Care for Our Common Home, Sandhurst Switches Off, the wonderful legacy of Pope Francis and our prayers for the appointment of our next Pope. Truly much to reflect on as we continue to care for our school, homes and community.

Celebrating Special People:

I was truly wonderful to celebrate our special people in our lives at the end of last week with the annual Mothers' Day and a new spin on the annual Mothers' Day gathering. This year our mums, moms, nans, nannies, nonnas, grans, aunties and special guests enjoyed a lovely early morning breakfast with their children in the hall. Thank you to all those special invited guests who were able to attend. Of course, we thank the members of our St Mel's PS Parents and Carers Social Committee for organising and delivering this significant event (and the Mothers' Day Stall the day prior!) We hope all our special people had a lovely breakfast at school followed by Mothers' Day on Sunday!

We are grateful for the support of the following supporters of our annual Mothers' Day event:

 Baking Dough for the delicious sweet and savoury treats, Jam Packed Donuts for the hot drinks, Nana Marce and Milestone Cafe for the raffle prizes and Blossoms with Love for the beautiful flowers. We are also very grateful for the Dads (Adam & Andrew) who came along to help all the mum's sit and enjoy breakfast. We are also grateful to the members of staff and students who assisted the set up and clean up. A team effort from a small, yet effective group.

We are seeking additional people to support the good works of the St Mel's PS Parent & Carers Social Committee and our future events - please register your interest via the form below. 

We Need You! And... you and you and you and you!  (CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!) [Repeat]

Our St Mel's Parent & Carer's Social Committee is in need of MORE parents and carers to indicate their support for our various school events, fun-raising and fund-raising activities.

Recently a letter was sent home detailing ways in which parents and carers can support activities such as:     Mothers' Day Stall 

                                       Ladies' Breakfast

                                       Pie Drive

                                       Fathers' Day Stall

                                       Fathers' Day Breakfast

                                       School Disco

Without support from our parents and carers we may need to change and possibly abandon activities going forward. Please find following a copy of the Volunteer Sign Up form.

Please return the form next week.

Staffing Update:

• Robyn Banfield has commenced her period of Long Service Leave this week. We wish Robyn a lovely time away for the remainder of the term. We also welcome teacher Richard Speedy who is teaching Visual Arts across the school for the term.
• Wendy Baldwin continues to enjoy her Long Service Leave this term.
• Wendy McDonald, who joined us earlier this year in the role of Learning Support Officer has returned to her previous hairdressing career. 
• Kim Bristow, who has taught Physical Education on Tuesdays and Wednesdays has finished her time with us last week. We thank Kim for her support with our specialist program, Sporting School grant applications and wish Kim all the very best for her next role. 
• Lilli Keck (Learning Support Officer) has returned to us this week from her recent practical placement at St Mel's PS Kindergarten.

Microsoft 365 Migration

This Thursday we join with the majority of CES Ltd schools and colleges who have rolled over to using the Microsoft365 platform of applications and digital resources. We have commenced professional learning in the new technologies as part of this process and hope for a smooth transition from Apple & Google products and applications. We will work through any teething issues or technical difficulties with support from the CES Ltd Information and Communications Team.

School Dates:

Please check the Upcoming Dates & Events section of the newsletter regularly.

Thank you for your ongoing support of your child/ren and our Staff Team.

Stephen 'Steve' Hicks

Principal

Did you know? ~