Dear Parents,

Welcome to Holy Trinity and St Mary’s for the 2024 school year. I trust that you all enjoyed a well deserved holiday break.

It has been a pleasure to catch up with many of our students and families during our two assessment days and sense the excitement for the school year ahead.

An extra special welcome to our new Prep students, particularly our new families. We look forward to working with you for the next seven years of your child’s primary school education. It was a pleasure to welcome our new Prep students as they began their schooling with two half days of learning. There were a few tears (mostly from the parents!) as the Prep students unpacked their bags for the first time and looked for some familiar faces in their new Prep classroom. They were very brave and quickly settled into the new environment. Mrs Taylor, Mrs Dowling and Miss Cowie, our Prep Teachers, have been very impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to come to school.

We also warmly welcome the new families (other than Prep) who are joining our school community in 2024.

On a staffing note, I would like to welcome the following staff who will join our team this year; Miss Olivia Cowie (Prep), Miss Judith Sully (1/2) Mr Justin Woodcock (3/4), Mr Rhett Masters (5/6), Mr Damian O’Bryan (5/6), Mrs Bree Schafter (5/6) and Ms Elise Castersen (LSO). Elise will be a familiar face for some of our students as she previously coordinated our before and after school care program (TheirCare). I am sure you will make them feel welcome!

The first week of school is always an exciting and busy time. It is a time to establish new rules and routines to maximise learning opportunities. Many of our students are working in new learning spaces this year. For many students this can be a time of uncertainty and heightened levels of anxiety. Our teaching staff are well aware that a carefully planned transition into a new school year will enable students to feel comfortable and flourish in their new learning environment.

For the first few weeks across all levels, there will be a strong wellbeing focus on building positive student and staff relationships, establishing routines and positive behaviour expectations. Our catchphrase across the school is `Ready to Learn’. I encourage you to talk to your child over the course of the next few weeks about the activities taking place in the classroom and help reinforce the importance of establishing new routines and relationships.

During the holiday period the normal household routine tends to change, with later bedtime, irregular eating patterns and, in some cases, long sleep ins. The beginning of a new school year is an opportunity for students and parents to establish routines for school and recreational activities and re-establish earlier bedtimes for children. The first weekend is always timely after the busy first week of school so I hope you all find time to relax and recharge the batteries for the coming weeks.

As always, our school newsletter will be the central source of information. In 2024 our newsletter will be published on a fortnightly basis, usually on a Tuesday. Important correspondence will be sent via SIMON / PAM at other times.

Swimming Program - Prep to Year 4 - begins 9th February

Our annual swimming program for students in Years Prep-4 will commence on Friday 9th February. The program will run every Friday until the end of Term One. Information and permission forms have been sent via PAM. Please ensure your child’s medical information is up to date in readiness for swimming and future excursions.

Assembly - Friday 9th February - 2.30pm

Our fortnightly assemblies will continue on Friday at 2.50pm. The first assembly, however, will begin at 2.30pm to allow time to present the Year 6 students with their leadership badges and their Year 6 jackets. We will also welcome our new Prep students. Assemblies this year will take place in the Great Space. Parents are most welcome to attend. Please access the building via the glass doors near the library.

On most occasions, a class will be allocated to share their learning with our school community. Student of the Week and TORCH awards will also be presented. At this week’s assembly we will present the badges and jackets to our new cohort of school leaders. This is always an exciting time for Year 6 students and it can be challenging to convince them to remove their jackets when the weather is hot - they are so proud to be the leaders of our school! On Friday we will also welcome our new Prep students.

In addition to our fortnightly assembly, our students will gather at 8.55am every Monday morning for a brief flag raising assembly near the St Mary’s building (weather permitting). Parents are also welcome to attend.

TheirCare (Out of School Hours Care) has moved location

TheirCare will now operate exclusively from the kitchen end of the Community Hall. There have been a few changes to learning spaces throughout the school to accommodate student learning and supervision.

Parent / Teacher `Meet and Greet’ Sessions - Tuesday 13th & Thursday 15th February

These `Meet & Greet’ sessions will take place after school hours. These meetings will be held onsite. If you require an online meeting please email the classroom teacher. We encourage students to attend the short meeting with their parent(s). Further information and booking details will be sent via PAM soon.

Beginning Year Mass - Sunday 18th February

All families are invited to attend our beginning year mass on Sunday 18th February, 10.30am, at St Jude’s Scoresby. This Mass will also include Staff Commissioning for the 2024 school year. We will also welcome formally welcome our Prep 2024 students and families. A sausage sizzle and icy pole will be provided by the Parish after Mass.

Knox Festival - Saturday 2nd March

Our Parents’ Association have successfully secured a stall at this annual event held at Wally Tew Reserve, Brenock Park Drive Ferntree Gully. Details to follow.

School Closure Dates - Term 1

Our school is participating in a school review and improvement process as part of a 4 year cycle of review. This process involves both our governing body (MACS) and compliance with state government processes. As such, we will have two school closure dates this term, as advertised in 2023. The dates are as follows:

Friday 8th March & Tuesday 12th March

These two school closure dates bookend the Labour Day long weekend so students will have a 5 day break.

SunSmart!

In line with our SunSmart policy, all students are required to wear our school hat from the beginning of September until the end of April. Parents are required to supply sunscreen for their child (roll on sunscreen recommended). Staff will not apply sunscreen but will provide regular reminders for students to apply or re-apply sunscreen. When the weather exceeds 35 degrees or the UV rating is extreme, children will remain indoors.

Parking Restrictions - Important

A number of families have contacted the school in relation to traffic fines received during `pick up’ time towards the end of 2023. The fines relate to parents queueing in the `no standing’ area on Riddell Road. I have been in contact with Knox Council to request an opportunity to discuss some strategies to assist in managing traffic congestion during this time. Please be aware that the area between the supervised crossing and the parking bay is strictly `no standing’ between the hours of 8.15am - 9.15am and again from 3pm-4pm on school days. Motorists will need to wait until there is space in the parking bay outside the school before moving beyond the crossing.

Student Absence - new procedure

Could we please request that all student absence is recorded via our new SIMON Everywhere app. Simply open the app, select absence and complete the relevant details. Parents will no longer be able to communicate student absence via the school website. We also discourage phone calls unless further information is required. This new system will streamline our recording of student attendance.

All late arrivals or early departures will need to be recorded on the iPad in the School Office by the parent, not the student.

Student Medical Information

Please ensure that your child's Medical Information is up to date in PAM. Under guidelines set out by the Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools it is a requirement that Medication Authority Forms completed by a Doctor accompany all Medical Management Plans e.g. Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Allergic reactions etc. Below are links to the various forms you may require.

Important Dates

Please check out the `Important Dates’ section of the weekly newsletter to keep up to date with all that is happening at HT and SMC.

Looking forward to a great 2024 school year!

Warm Regards,

Adrian Scutt

Principal

Time to eXcel

Religious Education

Weekly Masses

St Jude's Weekly Newsletter