Dear Families,

End of School Year for Students - Friday 15th December

Parents please note that the School Year concludes on

Friday 15th December - 1.30pm

THANK YOU!

Friday 15th December - 8.30am - 9.15am

End of Year Morning Tea & 'Thank You' to families for your support!

Join us for a Coffee/Tea with Seb & Alicia from ‘Two Hens Coffee'

between 8.30am and 9.15am

We invite ALL FAMILIES to an End of Year Morning Tea from 8.30am on Friday 15th December. The staff and students wish to thank all family members for your support of the school throughout 2023. We thank members of the School Advisory Council, Parents and Friends Committee members, Classroom Helpers, Excursion Helpers, Working Bee attendees, Second Hand Uniform Volunteers, Story Dog Volunteers and the many other family members who add so greatly to our wonderful community.

Two Hens Coffee Cart will be onsite serving hot drinks for parents/carers only.

We welcome all families to this occasion.

(Please note - Refreshments are provided for adults only)

This Sunday 3rd December we commence the Season of Advent.

The time of Advent is the four week period of preparation for the season of Christmas. Advent begins the cycle of the Liturgical Year and focuses on the coming of the Lord. The first weeks offer a vision of the future, looking to the end of time when Christ will come again. The final weeks point more specifically to the birth of Christ. Christ, the promised one, is awaited with joyful expectation. The First Sunday of Advent follows the final Sunday of Ordinary Time and the season concludes on Christmas Eve.

The celebration of Advent takes place on the four Sundays prior to Christmas, follows four weekly themes; hope, peace, joy and love and ends on Christmas Eve.

During Advent, we remember our reason to hope; we are assured in a most overwhelming way that God always keeps his promises; for on that first Christmas, He sent his only Son Jesus, the long-awaited fulfillment of God's promise of salvation. Jesus was not born into comfort and security.

Dear Lord, please allow me to embrace Advent in the way the Church intends: as a way to prepare for Your arrival. May everything I do–every gift I send, every party I attend, every meal I share–remind me to prepare space in my heart for You. Be with me today. Help my heart be open to the ways Jesus is at work in my life. Amen

Celebrating St Andrew’s Feast Day - Thursday 30th November

Our children enjoyed a fabulous St Andrew’s Feast Day celebration today.

All levels participated in activities as provided by an ongoing favourite in Kaboom Sports. Families would be familiar with Kaboom Sports through their involvement at our annual Athletics carnivals. Our children were led in a celebration of our Feast Day with Fr Joe at our midday Mass.

We thank Fr Joe for his continued support of our school and for being such a positive presence with our children.

Staffing for 2024

Please refer below to the 2024 Staffing roles and level allocations.

We are excited to welcome our new team members and introduce our new programs

to our community in 2024.

STAFF LIST 2024

Prep C Holly Capomolla/Milena Santoro(Fri)

Prep R Rosemary Restaino/Milena Santoro(Thu)

YEAR 1/2 W Karen Williams

YEAR 1/2 Q Lauren Quintal

YEAR 1/2 L Lucy Levett/Maggie Sproul(Fri)

YEAR 1/ 2 V Gabi Vass

YEAR 1/2 A Natalie Arhontis/Maggie Sproul(Wed)

YEAR 3/4 T Tahira Tannen

YEAR 3/4 W Lachlan Ware

YEAR 3/4 C Emily Casaceli

YEAR 3/4 G Rachel Gurvich

YEAR 3/4 H Annette Howe/Milena Santoro(Wed)

YEAR 5/6 DW Sarah DeGuzman-Wettenhall

YEAR 5/6 MF Joachim Min Fa

YEAR 5/6 C Rosario Corio

YEAR 5/6 P Daniella Polites/Nella Lo Presti(Fri)

REL (Religious Education Leader) Nicole Black

TEACHING & LEARNING (Leader) Emma Strom

LITERACY Holly Capomolla
NUMERACY Lucy Levett

LEARNING DIVERSITY Allison McKenzie

STUDENT WELLBEING Allison McKenzie

SPEECH PATHOLOGIST Evelyn Wee (Mon & Wed)

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES Emma Cooper (Thu-Fri)

STEM/CODING Emma Cooper

SUSTAINABILITY Nella Lo Presti (Thu)

MUSIC/PERFORMING ARTS Emma Cooper

ART Catherine Bartlett

ITALIAN Maria White

PHYSICAL EDUCATION/SPORT Beth Kromer

READING RECOVERY Nicole Milne

LIBRARY TECHNICIAN Sonia Turco

SOCIAL MEDIA Rosemary Restaino

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS Rosemary Restaino

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR Anita Arslanian

EDUCATION SUPPORT STAFF

Cathy Wise Mary Cerra

Gora Vulic Wendy Scherer

Violet Tripi Annette Prete

Jessica De Lisle Sophie Blackney

Ella Johnston Katarina Littlejohn

ADMINISTRATION Annette Fullman

BURSAR Marie Bernard

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL/ADMIN/REL Nicole Black

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL/LEARNING & TEACHING Emma Strom

PRINCIPAL Paul Wakeling

St Andrew’s Positions of Leadership 2024-2025

The following leadership positions are in place for the period 2024/2025:

School Leadership Team

Deputy Principal - School Improvement - Nicole Black

Deputy Principal - Learning and Teaching - Emma Strom

Religious Education Leader - Nicole Black

Literacy Leader - Holly Capomolla

Numeracy Leader - Lucy Levett

Wellbeing Leader - Allison McKenzie

Student Diversity Leader - Allison McKenzie

Digital Technologies Leader - Emma Cooper

Social Media Leader - Rosemary Restaino

Community Partnerships - (Child Care Centre/Kindergarten/Prep Transition partnerships) - Rosemary Restaino

Dates for the 2024 Year - Closure Days & Time in Lieu Days

Parents/carers please note the School Closure dates and Time in Lieu days set for the 2024 school calendar.

There are 4 days set aside for staff professional development and first aid training. There are additional 2 days as set aside for Staff Time in Lieu Days (TIL). TIL days were introduced throughout this year as a component of the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

Friday 8th March - Closure Day (Continued partnership with Chris Daicos -training and development consultant)
Friday 26th April - (TIL - All Schools)
Monday 27th May - Closure Day - (Faith Development)
Friday 16th August - Closure Day
Monday 4th November - (TIL - All Schools)
Friday 22nd November - Closure Day (3 Hours First Aid & Data Analysis)

2024 Student Leadership Roles

We congratulate the children who have recently been appointed as our School Leaders for the 2024 school year. We also acknowledge all children who nominated for leadership roles and specifically those who delivered speeches, endeavouring to take on the Captain or Vice Captain role. Leadership positions were allocated taking into consideration the student voting, as a priority, after interviews with school leadership and meeting with specialist staff and year 5 and 6 class teachers.

Leadership badges will be presented at the end of school year mass taking place on Wednesday 13th, December at 12.00pm.

It is the expectation of all Year 6 children that they will have a presence as leaders in our school and will conduct themselves in a manner that reflects our school vision.

School Captains	Vice Captains
Xander T & Hannah M	Emily Y & Richard S

Sport

Digitech

Visual Arts

Performing Arts & Choir

Jada F

Kenzo D

Lachlan T

Zara S

Lennon O

David A

Xana S

Alexia Y

Chanelle P

Raph B

Ryan W

Edwina J

LOTE (Italian)

Library

Sustainability

Mariam B

Adam G

Krishwa P

Somi K

Vaidehi V

Jeremy H

St Andrew’s School Christmas Social Justice Campaign - Making a difference to those in need this Christmas

(non-perishable food, supermarket items, toys, accessories, Christmas table items, gift vouchers and much much more!)

Each year at St Andrew’s School we organise a Social Justice campaign during the Christmas season, dedicated to providing families who would greatly benefit from the generosity of families within our community. This initiative relies on contributions from our local St Vinnies chapter and the generosity of families and staff who generously donate a range of physical gifts such as non-perishable food, supermarket items, toys, accessories, Christmas table items and gift vouchers.

We invite you to participate in this heart-warming initiative. Your generous contribution, whether it's a monetary donation or a gift item, will help us bring comfort and happiness to families and children from within our school community and for the broader community.

Our school leaders will assist in the sorting and packing of family gift packs.

We invite children to bring items to their classroom or alternatively items can be dropped at the school office.

‘Move Up’ Transition Sessions with 2024 Class Groupings

The children will gather in their 2024 classes on Thursday 7th December to meet their 2024 class friends and 2024 class teachers. The staff have spent time preparing 2024 class groupings with an emphasis on providing a diverse range of skills, personalities and talents in each class, much the same environment as we experience in all of our social and work settings.

The children will gather again in 2024 class groupings on Monday 11th December and Wednesday 13th December. These sessions aim to provide a supportive format, allowing our children the opportunity to experience their 2024 setting prior to the Christmas holidays.

Children with our new teachers, Emily Casecelii and Lachlan Ware, will meet their teachers on Friday 8th December. Both Emily and Lachlan will be onsite on Friday 8th for a full day of 2024 planning.

Each child will bring home with them an envelope on Thursday 7th December providing details on their 2024 class teacher along with a school map identifying the location of their 2024 classroom.

Semester 2 Reports – Distributed Thursday 7th December (4pm)

The Semester 2 student reports will be distributed on Thursday 7th December through the nForma parent portal.

Student reports are one of the valuable links between school and home to allow you to gain an insight of how your child is progressing with their learning at St Andrew’s.

The reports will be accessible from the Parent Portal from Thursday 7th December at 4.00pm

The online portal has many advantages which include:

- Easy access to your student’s archived reports from previous years

- Accessible on multiple devices

- Environmentally friendlier than printed reports

When you click on the link to log in to nForma, you will be prompted to change your password. Please note that your new password needs to be at least 7 characters long and must include at least one non alpha-numeric character, e.g. *, - / or similar. If you have not received the email please look in your junk/spam folder for an email

from no-reply@nforma.com.au

If you still have trouble accessing your child’s report you are encouraged to contact one of the below staff for assistance:

ecooper@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

estrom@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

2024 Teacher/Student Learning Interviews - Year 1 to Year 6

Wednesday 31st January and Thursday 1st February, 2024

We will begin the year with two days where Year 1 to Year 6 children will meet with their 2024 class teachers for scheduled 30 minute onsite learning interviews.

These 2 days with the children are designed in the same format as took place with our return to onsite schooling earlier this term. As previously outlined to parents, the staff believe that the 2 days of learning interviews provide an invaluable opportunity for classroom teachers to meet with each child to assess where they are at in their learning journey. The learning interview will focus on each child’s literacy and numeracy development. Through gaining an understanding of where all students are at, teachers will then have the knowledge to best plan for the term ahead. The information gained from the interviews will further be built upon throughout term 1 as teachers continue their ongoing assessments with their children.

Booking Your Child’s Interview Time - Year 1 to 6 Only

Parents can book for their child's 30 minute learning interview by clicking on the direct link https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/z39f7

This will take you to step 1 to enter your details. Please select either Wednesday 31st January or Thursday 1st February, 2024.

Classes will commence full time for all classes on Friday 2nd February.

The booking portal will be open on Friday 8th December at 8.30am

Booking times will run from 9.00am till 3.00pm on both Wednesday 31st January and Thursday 1st February, 2024.

When you click finish, you will receive a confirmation email. Please check your junk mail folder if you do not receive the email.

Carols by Candlelight - Invitation to all Prep - Year 6 children

The Parish has warmly invited the St Andrew's School Choir to sing at Carols by Candlelight. We wish to extend this invitation to all students from Prep to Year 6 who would like to join our Choir on the evening. The Carols will be held on Saturday 9th December at 7.00pm.

Rehearsals with Rosemary Restaino are held each Wednesday and Friday at lunchtime. It is an expectation that all children participating in the Carols will attend rehearsals.

We will be encouraging students to dress up in the spirit of Christmas.

Simply come along for a relaxed night to celebrate the years’ end along with a touch of Christmas spirit!

Parents are invited to contact Rosemary at rrestaino@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au if further details are required.

LITTLE ANGLERS INITIATIVE

At the 2022 State election, the Victorian Government committed to providing Little Angler Kits to students via schools.

Our Year 5 students have received their kits based on the Victorian Curriculum area of focus, movement and motor development and safety considerations.

The kits include a fishing rod, reel with line, tackle box with some hooks, sinkers, swivels and a lure, as well as a Kids Guide to Fishing – all FREE!

For more information Victoria Fisheries have created a kid-friendly web hub with lots of useful information and videos.

Library End of Year Audit - Please return all borrowed books to the library

The end of Term 4 is approaching fast and I would appreciate if your child would collect any Library books from home (the ones on the book shelves, under the bed, in the wardrobe, or the toy box, in the car and anywhere else they may be hiding) and return them to the library as soon as possible.

Many thanks for your support.

Sonia Turco

Students who are not returning in 2024

If your child/ren (Prep- Year 5) will not be returning to St Andrew’s in 2024 we ask that you please notify us as soon as possible by emailing principal@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Zooper Dooper Friday’s - 50cents

Children are invited to bring 50 cents to school to purchase a Zooper Dooper on a Friday.

We thank our Year 6 children for volunteering their time to support the sales of the Zooper Doopers. All profits raised from the sales will go to our Kadasig fundraising efforts.

Important Dates for your Diary

It’s the busy time of year where we have many events scheduled. Please refer below for details on many of the forthcoming events.


Thurs 7th Dec	Year 6 Graduation Ceremony 6.00 - 7.30pm As Year 6 parents would be aware our Grade 6 students look forward to their Graduation evening
Thurs 7th Dec	Semester 2 reports distributed for Prep - Year 6 students
Friday 8th Dec	Year 6 Graduation Excursion Our Year 6 children look forward to a fun day to take place
Sat 9th Dec	Parish Family Christmas Carols at 7.00pm
Wed 13th Dec	12 Noon - End of School Year Thanksgiving Mass All families are invited to attend.
Thurs 14th Dec	End of Year Assembly - 12.30 till 1.15pm We invite all families to join us for the assembly as we celebrate with the Year 6 children their final assembly, along with also bidding farewell to our departing staff members.
Thurs 14th Dec	1.30pm - Year 6 families invited to stay for a Year 6 lunch after assembly
Fri 15th Dec	1.30pm - End of School year for students Students complete their 2023 school year

Term 4 Summer Uniform & ‘No Hat - No Play’

All students should now be wearing their summer uniform in Term 4. We also remind parents that Term 4 has a ‘No Hat – No Play’ Sunsmart policy.

As a SunSmart registered school all children will have access to Sunscreen.

The 2023 School Calendar is available on the School Website. It can be found mid-way on the front page under the heading ‘WHAT’S ON’. We will endeavour, where possible, to remain true to the dates on the 2023 calendar. We would recommend that parents make a regular visit to the school website to see updates on all school events.

Paul Wakeling

Principal

Secondary School Information

Key enrolment dates for Year 5 students in 2024 starting Year 7 in 2026

St. Bedes College