From the Principal

School Closure Day & Public Holiday

 Monday 2nd Nov and Tuesday 3rd Nov

Dear Parents and Guardians,

St Simon’s Feast Day - Wednesday 28th October

I would like to wish everyone in our St Simon’s Community, Happy St Simon’s Day as we celebrate in a different way the feast day of St Simon the Apostle, our patron saint.

Normally we would be gathering as a whole school and parish community to celebrate Mass with some outdoor school based activities to follow, however this year as we know we need to do things differently.

On Wednesday some of our year 5 students led the St Simon’s Day Liturgy via Google Meet.  The rest of the school was able to join in as part of the liturgy by watching the recording of the Google Meet.  Please click here to view.

We were able to continue the celebration as a school community by participating in an online magic show hosted by Tim the Magician! We look forward to sharing more pictures of this with you next week but in the meantime here is a sneak peek of how the Junior school participated.

Acknowledging and celebrating our feast day is an important expression of our Catholic faith and identity.  As believers in God, the saints of our church, like St Simon, provide us inspiration and understanding of what it can mean to live out our faith in God. Thank you to all the staff and students who have worked behind the scenes to make our feast day special in 2020.

Happy St Simon’s Day!

Homework @ St Simon’s for Term 4

As a school we would like to recognise all the effort and hard work our families have put into supporting their children during remote learning.

Therefore there will be an adjustment of expectations for homework.  Formal homework will not be set for students, rather we are strongly encouraging families to:

• continue the habit of reading regularly
• Any other work that MAY be completed at home would just be an extension of work undertaken in class; For example.
• Year 5 students might work on preparing their leadership speech for the end of the year
• Year 6 students might continue to work on the completion of their memory books
• or using Mathletics at home.
• or using Wushka at home.

Class Placements for  2021

We will commence the process of grouping students into their 2021 class groups later on this term. Parents who have a special request must have this in writing (email is acceptable) to me (principal@ssrowville.catholic.edu.au) by Friday 6th November. Requests must be clear and based on student wellbeing, socialisation following Remote Learning or specific learning issues.  Please keep in mind that the classes within a year level are usually located next to each other and do work closely together at times. It is also good for students to mix with different students from within their cohort rather than maintain a small social circle.

World Teachers’ Day - Friday 30th October 

This Friday World Teachers’ Day is celebrated right across Australia. This day occurs earlier in the month of October for the rest of the world however due to the day falling in our school holidays, we take time this Friday to celebrate.  This year has been extraordinarily challenging as we as a community have adapted to working, learning and connecting in different ways.  Educators and support staff across the country have responded to this challenge and I think in the scheme of things St Simon’s School staff have done a fantastic job keeping the learning environment and focus a high priority for our students.  

For more information please visit aitsl.edu.au/world-teachers-day/2020.

School Photo Day - Thursday 5th November

Preparations have now been finalised for the school photo day.  

Please go to the Latest News section of the newsletter for updated information regarding school photos.  

Please note that this year sibling photos will not be available.  If you have already ordered a sibling photo in your photo pack, a refund will be arranged by the photographer.

School Assembly - Live Stream

Some recent changes to Google’s G-Suite platform has stopped our ability to live stream the school assembly in the way we have been accustomed to.

In the short term a link for the recording of the assembly will be available.

Please click here to view today’s assembly.

God bless

Tom Wursthorn

Principal