From the Acting Principal

Dear families,

It’s hard to believe that the April holidays are almost upon us! A lot has been achieved this year, and the students and teachers should be very proud of the way in which they have worked through the term.

Unfortunately Cathy is quite unwell and away with COVID at the moment, we are wishing her well. It’s always a privilege to step into the acting Principal role when required, but I’m sure we will all look forward to having her back.

Reminder: Ride2School Day is tomorrow!

A reminder that tomorrow we will be celebrating Ride2School Day. On this day families are welcome to ride, walk or scoot to school as much as possible! Students may decorate their bike / scooter or wear a fun accessory or a touch of colour. School gates open at 8:20am with a parade at 8:55am. We will have prizes, games, free breakfast for the students, coffee for the parents... not to mention the opportunity to make some healthy smoothies using pedal power!

1:1 ICT Information Evening & save the date (Thursday 11th May)

Thank you to the carers and parents who joined us last Thursday for our ICT Information Evening. A recording for Year 3 to 6 parents was circulated via Seesaw. There will be some information emailed in the next week about GoGuardian, an app which will allow you to have visibility and control over the chromebook usage when at home. Also, please save the date for Thursday 11th May, as that evening all of our parents (from Prep to Year 6) will have access to a webinar on raising children in a digital age and I highly recommend it. An introduction to the webinar can be found below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5urKdVDElI&t=1s

Happy Campers at Camp Rumbug

Our Year 5 and Year 6 students tackled last week's camp with much enthusiasm! Thank you to the staff who attended: Angela Mason, Anastasia Romios, Denise Santamaria, Justin Buttigieg and Cathy Ferrari, and also to the Year 5 & Year 6 parents who donated goods to the hampers that the staff received upon arrival back to St Kilda.

Please have a read of the quotes from the children's experience below. So much character building and experience is gained from moments like these:

Year 5

“Something that made me laugh was when our raft broke.” Lolita

“Something that made me proud was that I climbed the tree all the way to the top, even though I thought I was only going to go three quarters of the way up because I was going to be scared and freak out. “ Tara

“The weird weeds in the lake at canoeing made me wonder...what is growing in there?” Tim

“Something that made me laugh was when Poppy, Nicole and Tim told their jokes at the St Mary’s Got Talent #2 show.” Chiara

“Something that made me laugh was when my group and I did the giant swing. It was so funny when people pulled the string that everyone had a funny look on their faces…it was priceless!” Poppy

“Something that made me proud was at raft building when I swam to shore without hesitating.” Nicole

Year 6

I had to use enthusiasm when I went on the flying fox because I had to stay cheerful when I was tired. Poppy 

I persevered when my partner and I had trouble steering our canoe because we had to steer in opposite directions. Matilda 

I used co-operation when we built the rafts and when we pulled people up on the giantswing. Nicky C 

I was curious on camp when we had to do the activity, Aeroball, because I hadn’t played or heard about the game before. Gabe 

I appreciated the beautiful trees and forests. I also appreciated the fun activities and views. Isabelle 

I appreciated all the hard-working staff and teachers for giving us an amazing and memorable camp.Anthony 

I used empathy when I made sure not to laugh at someone when something went wrong to avoid hurting their feelings. Haruka 

I had to be empathetic when we were walking up steep or long hills. I had to understand that some people may be tired or feeling a bit homesick which could have slowed them down a bit. Carmen 

I had to use confidence on the giant swing because I went to the top and it was really high and scary. Josie 

Hello again, Ms Paula!

After a few holiday attempts and postponed trips due to lockdowns, Angela Mason will be taking Long Service Leave to travel overseas in Term 2. Angela, we wish you a wonderful and well deserved trip!

We welcome back Ms Paula Incretoli teaching in Year 5 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday with Ms Anastasia Romios continuing to teach Year 5 on a Thursday. Ms Paula would be familiar to many of you and your children, and she is very excited to have the opportunity to return to St Mary's for Term 2 as the Year 5 classroom teacher. 

House Cross Country and Running Club

Our planned House Cross Country for Years 3 to Year 6 on Wednesday morning was a complete washout, although we did manage to eventually run and time the students later in the day. Thank you to the many parents who volunteered for the initial morning. Thank you Liz, George, Karen and Charmaine for returning later in the day to assist with the course, as well as Mr Simon Addicoat and Mrs Angela Mason for their organisation and Mrs Chris Kidman for assistance. The Year 3 to Year 6 students and teachers handled the change in programming with ease. It was a delight to see the children persevere through a challenging endurance run. A cross country team will be formed which will participate at the HOLT day in Term 2.

Parents Claudette and Lynn will be organising a morning running club for Monday and Thursday mornings. It’s an expectation that students in the cross country team attend the club as training, however any student (or parent!) is also welcome to join the club to increase their fitness or just purely enjoy some morning exercise.

Please note that the club will be run by parent volunteers, and Lynn and Claudette will be organising a group chat or app to coordinate the club with interested families. They will advise of the running times, meeting places and protocols that will be in place as the school is not formally supervising the students during these times.

Parents who are interested for their children to join the running club should complete this form ASAP, and Claudette and Lynn will contact you with further information: https://forms.gle/bKeR2ksiM9kysPMC7

Student Achievements

It’s always a thrill to receive a phone call from the classroom when a teacher insists that they send a student down to show and celebrate their learning. Thank you Mavis for your Harmony Day acrostic poem and Braxson for the stellar writing piece.

Easter Liturgy and Raffle, Thursday 6th April (students dismissed at 1pm)

All families are welcome to join us for our Easter Liturgy on Thursday 6th April on the school grounds at 9:15am. Following this we will be drawing out our Easter Raffle winners. As this is the last day of term the students will be dismissed at 1pm. TheirCare is available should families require supervision in the afternoon.

Wishing all of our St Mary’s Community a safe holiday this April. Despite the public holiday on Tuesday 25th April (ANZAC Day), Term 2 classes will be commencing on Monday 24th April.

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you.