Dear Parents and Carers,

Last week’s celebration of our prep students' 100th day of school was certainly a highlight for the school year, and we are grateful that so many members of our community could join us in the church as part of the Thanksgiving liturgy. Click here to find out what happened on the day.

I also want to acknowledge our Year Five students and the staff who attended school camp last week at Alexandra Adventure Resort. Reports back from the centre have been very positive, with the mainly dry weather conditions allowing activities to proceed as planned. Please watch future newsletters for photos and reflections on our Year Five students' camp experience.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This weekend is the first of many over August, September and October when students in Year Four, with their families, are presenting for the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time. This will take place at many of the weekend masses in our church. During this time, we keep our Year Fours students in our prayers and thank teachers and families who helped the students prepare for this next step in their Catholic faith journey.

Feast of Mary of the Cross (Mary Mackillop)

This week we will gather as a whole community on Tuesday, 8th August, to celebrate the feast day of Australia’s first saint, St Mary of the Cross (Mary Mackillop). We will join the parish community at 9:15 am Mass, in which our newly appointed parish priest Fr Jerald Mariadas will celebrate our liturgy. All school community members are welcome to join us for this celebration.

Term 3 Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings

PSG meetings will commence this week for applicable students in prep to year two. All families with students where PSG meetings are required should have received correspondence from our Learning Diversity Leader, Matt Cherry, with dates and booking details for parents to make an appointment to meet with the school. Thank you to the families who have already responded.

We offer both face-to-face and online meetings recognising that family households are busy and the convenience of an online discussion might be helpful.

PSG meetings are conducted in blocks of time for each year level. This week we commence meetings for students in Prep, Year One and Year Two.

Car park drop-off zone

The drop-off and pick-up zone in the school carpark has been further enhanced by installing new signage and line markings. These changes seek to make the transition between school and vehicles safer for students and staff in this area. The school office has received lots of positive feedback about the changes.

School Parent Survey MACSIS heads-up

I encourage all families to click here to explore one of the ways we formally seek feedback from our parents about St Simon’s School.

Book Week - Save the Date - 21st to 25th August

Click here to find out more regarding St Simon’s celebrations of Book Week 2023

Book Week Dress-up Day - Friday, 25th August

Headlice IMPORTANT

Over recent months, we have been aware of several cases of head lice in year-level cohorts across the school. When there is a notification of a case of headlice, the school will inform all families in the year level of the identified case. Advice from Vic Health regarding managing headlice, including treatment and cleaning, can be found here.

Thank you to the families who have been so vigilant in monitoring head lice activity within their family units.

I strongly encourage all families to please build or continue their strong monitoring stance of head lice and to report cases to the School office as soon as possible. Instructions regarding the treatment can be found here.

As a whole school response, all students must take their school hats home for a thorough cleaning and wash. All students with shoulder-length hair are reminded to ensure it is tied back.

I have contacted Knox City Council regarding headlice inspection services for schools to which I was informed this is not a service provided to schools. Through the School Advisory Council, I am open to exploring ways to establish a parent-school headlice inspection program that would be available to all students after receiving explicit parent consent.

In the meantime, please monitor your child\ren’s hair for head lice activity.

St Simon’s Art Show 2023 - Save the Date Wednesday 18-22nd October

(Opening Night Celebration) Wednesday 18th October

God bless,

Tom Wursthorn

Principal

Hiroko Ito-Ryan	Georgia Stewart	Harry McPhee	Rosina Citera
Monica Minkiewicz	Kai O'Sullivan	Ryan Cen	Baylen Veltman

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