Welcome to 2024 at STM!

I hope you all had a wonderful break and we are all very excited to see what 2024 has in store for us. I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year with my family, we had lots of down time, before jetting off to Cairns for a week with my Mum and Brother's family. It was very hot, but we spent heaps of time in the pool which kept us nice and cool. We also had a very exciting day on Monday as Connor, my son, started his first day of Prep. His sister Emma (Grade 2) was very good at explaining how things worked at school.

Just a note for parents, I will now be sending home a weekly newsletter. I am hoping this further improves our communication channels and allows parents to know that most of the information coming from school will be in the newsletter. The first assembly of the year will take place on February 5th @ 2:30pm in the school library, during this assembly our Year 6 students will receive their Year Six tops and baseball caps. Payment for these Garments ($70 for both jumper and hat) can now be made to the school bank account.

We will be holding a number of Open Days throughout the year for prospective families to attend. If you have a younger child (sibling of a current student), we warmly invite you to also attend one of our Open Days. You will notice a number of Real Estate Boards around our local community with advertising similar to the image below. Also a big thank you to those families who have volunteered to help letterbox drop some flyers for the school.

Just a note for parents, I will be on leave from the 26th of February - 4th of March. Danielle George will be Acting Principal in my absence.

School Vision and Values:

Last year the staff worked on updating our school vision and school values. Our new school vision is:

"We are one as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus"

Our school values are:

Kindness - We treat others as we would like to be treated

Fairness - Our school is a place where everyone can be their best

Justice - We do what is right by making good choices.

There will be more information in this space as the year progresses.

MACS Medical Management Policy - Updates to our Procedures:

New updates and policy surrounding medical management means we need to change and improve our current processes and procedures when it comes to keeping and administering medication. Please see the information below (taken from the MACS policy).

"For students with a specific health care, personal care, or complex medical need or a relevant medical condition diagnosed by a registered medical or health practitioner, our school requests the child’s parents/guardians/carers and registered medical/health practitioner to stipulate the support requirements.

The General Medical Management Plan includes details of the diagnosed health care/personal care/support need and/or medical condition, all current medications, advice on routine management and where necessary, specific advice as a response to an incident, escalated need or ongoing care relating to the child's diagnosed health care need or relevant medical condition.

Students with certain diagnosed medical conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes, continence or epilepsy) require a specific medical management and/or action plans from external associations. Condition specific medical management plan/s are required for students with certain medical conditions (acquired brain injury, cancer, cystic fibrosis) and/or certain personal care needs (toileting/ hygiene/menstrual health, oral eating and drinking, transfer and positioning) should be completed by the relevant registered medical/health practitioner."

These changes mean we are not legally allowed to supply medication that has not been signed and approved by a medical professional. This can be done by completing the attached form (these can also be collected from the office). I have also attached all of the MACS policies for your viewing.

This is the document for you to print, fill out and return.

Welcome!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome a large number of new students to our school. We welcome our amazing 2024 Preps. They have settled in wonderfully and got a day of rest yesterday to help them get into the swing of school.

I would also like to welcome the following students (and their families) to our beautiful community. I know that they will be made to feel very welcome.

Sarah - Year 3

Reishi - Year 3

Max - Year 4

Roman - Year 4

James - Year 4

Olivia - Year 6

Belgrave Football Club - Working Bee:

On Saturday 10th of February, the wonderful folks at the Belgrave Football Club, led by senior coach Darren Hamilton, will be coming to our school to run a working bee. This generosity is welcomed and we will be able to have a large group of strong lads and ladies to top up sand and soft fall around the school and also to do some weeding and general cleaning. Thanks Belgrave Footy Club!

Swimming Carnival:

On Monday 12th of February, we will be holding our annual Swimming Carnival morning (9:00am-12:30pm). Details were sent out via Operoo on Tuesday. Please make sure all details are updated and correct on Operoo and any medical forms are signed and returned.

Parents are welcome to attend and watch. We really need some parent helpers on the day, if you can help on the day (or any school events), you will need to have produced a current Working With Children's Check (WWCC) and a signed Child Safety Code of Conduct to the school office (these can be collected from the office). Please let Declan or Jeanette Wicks know if you can help jwicks@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

There will be swimming races for Years 3-6 for qualification to the upcoming District Carnival. Our Prep-2 students will be participating in our tabloid events. It sure will be a fun morning.

Ash Wednesday:

We will be holding our Ash Wednesday Mass on Wednesday 14th of February @ 12pm in the Parish Church. All community members are welcome. There is a handy video in the RE information tab for those community members unfamiliar with Ash Wednesday.

Future Sibling Enrolments:

If you have a younger child who will be enrolling in Prep at STM in either 2025 or 2026, I warmly invite you to use our new online application process. I have a list of families who I believe have Preps for 2025, I will begin to make contact with you over the next few weeks. But if you would like to start the process, just follow the information on the link below.

Teacher email addresses:

Declan McDermott - Principal - dmcdermott@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Danielle George - Deputy Principal - dgeorge@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Marcia Janky - School Leader, 4/5 Teacher - marcia@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Belinda Saville - School Leader, 4/5 Teacher - bsaville@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Donna Anderton - School Leader and Art - danderton@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Jessie Prince - 5/6 Teacher - jprince@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Katherine McLoughlin - 2/3 Teacher - kmcloughlin@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Joanne Piaser - Prep/1 teacher - jpiaser@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Jeanette Wicks - Sport and Performing Arts - jwicks@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

Kaori Bawden - Japanese - kbawden@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

School Specialist Timetable:

Late Arrival and Early Departure:

Our school day starts here at STM at 8:45am, it would be greatly appreciated if every effort is made to have the students arrive at school between 8:20 am and 8:40 am so they are ready to start the day. We do understand this is not always the case, if you are dropping your child off after 8:45am, they MUST be signed in by a parent. This also is the case for picking your child up early, the children MUST be signed out by a parent or guardian.

Parent and Teacher Meet and Greets:

On Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st, we will be holding Parent and Teacher meet and greets. This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child's classroom teacher and discuss the start of the academic year.

Due to demands on staff and implications around Time in Lieu, children who receive Substantial and Extensive adjustments in class will not be allocated a time for Meet and Greets. These families access termly Parent Support Group Meetings (PSG's), these will take place later in the term. If this impacts your current situation, you will be notified via email and letter early next week. I ask families to help the school by following and supporting our processes and procedures. If you have any questions about this, please email myself or Donna Anderton.

Music classes:

Just a reminder that we do have Jed and Madeline who come to our school and teach music. If you are interested in drums or guitar (Jed) or keyboard/piano and singing (Madeline), please contact them via email.

Jed: jedrowe@gmail.com

Madeline: musicalmother@hotmail.com

AITSL: Intercultural Development Self Reflection Tool:

Next week at our staff meeting, we will be looking at a self reflection tool provided by AITSL. This tool will help staff identify areas in which our school can continue to be a culturally responsive workplace.

If you are interested, I have attached the toolkit and survey the staff will be completing.

School Advisory Council:

Our first SAC meeting will be Tuesday, 5th of March @ 7pm. The meeting will take place at the School, in the staffroom.

Parents and Friends Committee:

Thank you to our P&F committee for organising the catering for the welcome morning tea on Tuesday. This event was well received and it is a great way for families to start making connections with one another.

We have a very active P&F group and they are always seeking more help. The first meeting of 2024 will be held on Monday 19 February at 7:0pm in the staffroom.

2024 School Closure Days:

Monday 11th of March - Labour Day (Public Holiday)

Friday 29th of March - Good Friday (Public Holiday)

Thursday 25th of April - ANZAC Day (Public Holiday)

Friday 26th of April - School Closure

Friday 16th of August - School Closure

Monday 21st of October - School Closure

Monday 4th of November - School Closure

Tuesday 5th of November - Melbourne Cup (Public Holiday)

Friday 29th of November - School Closure

Monday 2nd of December - School Closure

Tuesday 17th of December - Students Last Day

Have a great week!!

God bless

Declan

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