From the Principal

 Do all that you do with love ~

Dear Families,

And just like that, the end of term 1 is already here. What a busy term it has been for staff, students and the wider community. 

The youngest members of our community, our Foundation classes are so settled it is hard to believe that this is their first year of school. We were able to celebrate them in the Cranbourne Star News a couple of weeks ago, I hope you had the opportunity to check the article out - if not you can find it here!

Harmony Day

We are so proud of the rich and diverse community of St Therese's. Our students represent over 35 countries from around the world and approximately 75% of our children speak English as a second language. For some, English is a third or fourth language. Harmony Day was a wonderful day to celebrate who we are. Words cannot do justice how beautiful it was to walk around the playground before school and see the children dressed in a rainbow of traditional outfits. Those who chose not to still stood out - there was a wonderful sea of orange as well. The children engaged in buddy activities and there was a real buzz around the school. It even flowed into the staffroom too - the staff shared a multicultural morning tea, each of us bringing a dish from our culture. We've even started forward thinking for next year - watch this space, we're hoping to involve our parents in the celebrations!

Vic Kids Eat Well

Congratulations to our neighbours, Merinda Park Community Centre who won the Outside School Hours Care category in the Vic Kids Eat Well Awards. It is wonderful to know that our children are in great hands and learning to eat well

St Therese's is now a Vic Kids Eat Well school and we look forward to working with the children and families in promoting healthy eating - who knows, perhaps an award could be on the cards for us!

End of term celebrations

Thank you to all the family members who joined us for a our Easter egg-stravaganza 'assembly' yesterday. We kicked off the afternoon with Mr Sanchez leading the whole school in showcasing one of the dances that has been learnt this term in dance lessons and it was so much fun watching everyone join in, even the staff. 

The dancing was followed by a celebration of our 'Gotcha' recipients. For those of you who don't know, when a student is spotted demonstrating one of our School Wide Expectations - Respect, Responisibilty, Courtesy or Cooperation - in the yard, classroom or at assembly, a member of staff can write this down on a Gotcha slip. These are stored away for special assemblies and prizes are awarded. These students are almost the unsung heroes of our school, they aren't doing the right thing to be rewarded, they are showing our expectations because they know they should! 

Congratulations to the following students:

• Ryder from MO who was spotted deonstrating our School Wide Expectation of Respect when he reminded his peers to be quiet when their teacher was speaking. Ryder won a family pass to the Moonlit Sanctuary.
• Mavae from MSB who was spotted demonstrating our School Wide Expectation of Responsibility when he helped his peers make good choices. Mavae won a voucher for the holiday swimming program at one of the Splash Learn to Swim schools.

We rounded the afternoon off with a whopping 126 Easter raffle prizes. It took some doing but we managed to get all of the prizes drawn before home time! Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to our generous families for their contributions, both for donating the eggs and buying so many raffle tickets.

Things to do on the holidays

If you are looking for activities for the children over the holidays, check our our Friendly Reminders page - there are a range of sporting clinics, swimming programs and even holiday programs at the Moonlit Sanctuary on offer.

I wish you all a safe and blessed Easter, enjoy the children and we look forward to welcoming you all back next term.

Felicity Broughton

Principal

principal@sttcbourne.catholic.edu.au