Principal Announcements

Newsletter Address ~ Term 3, Week  1

Principal's Message 

Dear Parents and Friends of St Mel’s

Welcome to Term 3. I hope everyone had a happy and restful break and managed some quality time with your family.  Fingers crossed Term 3 is without the headaches of staff shortages and student absences due to illness.   Having said that, please keep vigilant and continue to follow our safe practices of staying home if unwell, washing hands, good hygiene, and testing for Covid if the symptoms are there.   

Last week was NAIDOC week and our students have been focussing on the NAIDOC Theme for 2023 ‘For Our Elders’ in their learning this week.  Across every generation, every culture, elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in communities and families.   It’s important we continue to remind our students and ourselves how lucky we are to be living in a culturally diverse country and to always respect our indigenous culture past, present and future.   

It’s always nice to speak to the children at the beginning of the term and hear of the many stories and holiday adventures families have had.  For most, staying warm at home and doing the odd trip here and there was most popular.   

Third term is a great term for consolidation of student learning and teachers have been busy preparing units of work and assessment tasks to ensure student goals and targets are being met.  We openly encourage parents to come in and speak to their child’s teacher regarding any aspect of their children’s learning.  It’s important for parents to be active and interested in their children’s education and we love it when parents can be involved.  Teachers can’t do it alone and appreciate parental support in any way, shape, or form. 

Students in 5/6 attended the NDC Matinee of "Anastasia" at Westside Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday.   From all accounts the performance was highly entertaining and included some past students from St Mel’s.   

We are looking forward to our Japanese Day next Friday 21st.   We are grateful to Demi, our amazing Japanese teacher, for organising fun activities and experiences for our students.   It’s always a fun day.   Parents welcome.   

There won’t be the usual lunch orders next Friday.  Lockwood Rd will be offering Sushi for a lunch order to those who may want to purchase.   

We have another busy term ahead with much to look forward to:

Enjoy a great week and start to the term everyone.

Do your best. Respect our school. Help others succeed.Parent/teacher

Japanese Day ~

We are excited to announce the return of the Japanese Day on Friday July 21st (Second Friday of Term 3). This biennial event incorporates a whole-day of Japanese cultural experiences from art and craft, food, games to Japanese sports.  There are many prizes to be won, Japanese knick-knacks to give away and craft work to be taken home.  

Children may dress up in Japanese costumes or in the colour of the Japanese flag which is red and white. 

There will be a special Sushi lunch order on the day provided by Lockwood Road Takeaway. This will replace the normal lunch order menu.  Please be reminded that the sushi orders must be in BY TUESDAY 18TH JULY.  Sushi lunch menu is as follows. 

<Sushi Menu>

Teriyaki Chicken & Lettuce $4.00

Tuna & Cucumber $4.00

Panko Prawn & Avocado $4.50 If you have any questions about the day, please do not hesitate to contact me (dwood@smshepparton.catholic.edu.au).

Thank you,

Demi Wood

Japanese Teacher

NAIDOC WEEK: NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s held each year during the first week of July and is an important annual event where everyone’s invited to join in the celebrations. 

NAIDOC 2023 theme is ‘For Our Elders’.  Across every generation, every culture, ‘Our Elders’ have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in communities and families.   It’s important we continue to remind our students and ourselves how lucky we are to be living in a culturally diverse country and to always respect our indigenous culture past, present and future.  

https://australianstogether.org.au/other-resources/significant-dates-and-events/naidocweek2023/

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) Updates:

See SAKG page in this newsletter 

Our SAKG program for the junior classes has kicked off this term.   Katie Ferrari, our SAKG specialist, is doing an amazing job running classes and small groups throughout the week, ensuring our kids are growing, harvesting, and cooking fresh produce from our garden and are experiencing the full benefits of the SAKG program.    We are aiming to hold another information session regarding the program this term and will be looking for volunteers to help.    If you have a current WWCC (Working with Children’s Check) and would like to volunteer your time in the garden and be part of the program, please contact the school.   

About the SAKG Program

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation provides inspiration, information, professional development and support for educators to deliver pleasurable food education to children and young people in Australia.

Pleasurable food education is a fun, hands-on approach to teaching children and young people about fresh, seasonal, delicious food so they form positive food habits for life.

Delivered through a kitchen garden program, pleasurable food education has an array of health, well-being, education, and community benefits.

Stephanie Alexander AO, one of Australia’s most recognised cooks, food educators and authors, established the Kitchen Garden Foundation in 2004, following the success of the first kitchen garden program piloted in 2001. The motivation for this work came from Stephanie’s awareness of the growing childhood obesity problem in Australia.

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation supports early childhood services, primary schools and secondary schools across Australia, and our community is growing.

ICAS ~ Term 3 2023

We’re delighted to inform you that we will be participating in ICAS again this year, to recognise and reward students’ academic achievement. The assessments are now fully online and sitting dates will commence in Term 3. Learn more by visiting icasassessments.com.

ICAS 2023

We are delighted to inform you that St Mel’s will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competitions this year. 

 What is ICAS? 

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher

order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing,

Spelling Bee and Digital Technologies. Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year.  

 Learn more about ICAS here. (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas) 

How to participate in ICAS?

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please: 

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas) 

2. go to Parent Portal here: (https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps) 

3. enter our school’s access code – RUF412

4. enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment. 

Please note that the ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.  

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records. 

  We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. You and your child can access the results once released via the Reports Portal using the TAP ID and pin found on the back of the ICAS certificate. 

 The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure. 

 Privacy Collection Statement 

Janison is aware of our responsibility to protect the identity of, and all information relating to, children, and students in general, from disclosure and consequently Janison does not: 

• collect any personal information or data of children other than as required for the purposes of completion of the assessment, test or exam; 
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in Australia to any jurisdiction outside of Australia other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in other international regions out of the child’s jurisdiction other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• share any personal information or data relating to children or students with any third parties (other than a third party whose services are necessary for servicing our products, e.g. print/distribution companies, medal engraving, etc.) except with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• use any personal information or data relating to children or students for marketing purposes. 
• Janison may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com. 

 We are proud to offer ICAS and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year. 

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions. 

NCCD ~ National Consistency Collection of Data

Staff have been busy preparing documentation and conducting parent support group meetings to ensure everything will be in place to apply for funding for students with disabilities in 2024.    Thank you to Chris Dainton who has been coordinating PSG meetings and our work for NCCD. 

For families who are new to the school or unfamiliar with the process,

the NCCD Portal is a comprehensive online resource to support principals, teachers, school support staff and parents understand and complete the NCCD, with free and practical resources such as e-learning modules, videos, case studies and templates. 

The Portal also includes information for parents, guardians and carers. 

For more information on the NCCD, visit www.nccd.edu.au.

School Uniform

It’s time to transition to our Winter Uniform.  Correct uniform including footwear, hair ties, no jewellery, hair colour etc continue to be of importance and students will be warned and parents notified if this is not attended to. 

GIRLS' WINTER UNIFORM

Winter Tartan Skirt (Grey/Green pinstripe) with bottle green tights.

Tartan slacks (Grey/Green pinstripe) with plain white socks or 

Gold skivvy or Green/gold polo shirt, long or short-sleeved, with embroidered school logo.

School jumper or bomber jacket

GIRLS' SPORTS UNIFORM

Black sports skirt or black shorts/black tracksuit pants (Winter)

Green and Gold polo top [with the embroidered logo]

Plain white socks (micro socks not permitted)

BOYS' WINTER UNIFORM

Grey trousers or cords

Gold skivvy or green/gold long-sleeved polo top [with the embroidered logo]

School jumper or bomber jackets with embroidered school logo.

Plain grey socks (micro-short socks are not permitted).

BOYS' SPORTS UNIFORM

Plain black shorts/black tracksuit pants (Winter)

Green and Gold polo top [with the embroidered logo]

Plain white socks (micro socks are not permitted)

SCHOOL SHOES

Both boys and girls are to wear plain black shoes only

While plain, black leather runners are acceptable; ALL other sports shoes are acceptable only for sporting activities. Socks must be worn with shoes. "Blundstone" type work boots are not permitted.

WEARING OF HATS

During Terms 1 and 4 all children must wear a school hat. Hats are optional for Terms 2 & 3.

St Mel’s School Open Day ~ Wednesday, May 24th

Tour Times: 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm

Community Group Expressions of Interest to Join

Each year it is expected our school will commit to raising additional funds. All Catholic Schools have an obligation to raise additional funds to meet the capacity to contribute factor.

These funds will be put towards improving the educational needs of our students through hardware or programs and/or improving school grounds or facilities. 

Please Note: Our Parents and Friends group are on the recruitment drive.  If you know of anyone especially new parents who might want to be involved please encourage them to do so by contacting the school.  

As a school, we are extremely grateful for the hard work and time our community members put into making our school the best it can be.  We are especially grateful for contributions and donations made when we hold school fundraisers or campaigns to help maintain and beautify St Mel’s.

Committee Recruitment

St Mel's relies on the support of our parents to make sure we can offer the best learning opportunities for our children.  We are grateful for the commitment of those who are already on our Parish School Education Council and Social Committee and ask anyone who would like to be involved to please contact the school.   All new or existing parents are welcome!

Attendance Requirements

If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence, by phoning or emailing the school.

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.

All Victorian schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained.

This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.

URGENT REMINDER!!!  Medical Update ~ Asthma Plans & Anaphylaxis Plans

If your child suffers from Asthma or Anaphylaxis, please remember to send in an updated Asthma Plan or Anaphylaxis Plan.  These MUST BE arranged through your family GP.   Without an updated plan your children will not be able to participate in school functions