Dear Parents,

I hope you all have a chance to enjoy some family time over the long weekend and readied yourself for a busy run home to Christmas. Schools are very busy places during this time but there are lots of exciting things to be enjoyed by the students and their families.

Last week we saw on the news the story related to the death of Jack Davey, a Year 5 student at Auburn South Primary School. Jack Davey was killed after a car drove into a fence at Auburn South Primary School, striking a table where five children were seated.

These sorts of events are a reminder to us all in our school community about how simply these tragedies can happen and that we all need to do our part in making sure our school community remains safe. We still have a small group of parents who continue to flaunt the rules by engaging in unsafe practices on the roads outside the

school. These include but are not restricted to:

Dropping off and picking up children without the vehicle being parked
Parking in No Standing areas
Leaving their vehicle in the 2 Minute zone for extended periods
Not using the school crossing
Doing U turns on Holyrood Street Street in front of the school crossing

We understand that our parents are busy, but think about the impact an incident like the one at Auburn South would have on our community.

Isn't it better we all arrive a minute or two later than to not arrive at all.

Steele Anderson visits St Mary’s

On Wednesday we have the privilege of our new principal Steele Anderson visiting our school for the first time. It was a chance for Steele to meet with the students, staff and leadership. During the classroom visits he was asked a number of insightful questions by the children who were eager to find out more about him. I am sure that the most asked question was who he barracked for and he disappointed many with his answer of Collingwood. Steele will be here on a number of occasions in the remaining weeks as he is part of the planning process for the 2025 school year.

I have known Steele for a number of years in his time at St Finbar’s and I believe the selection panel has made a terrific choice for our school community. He is a strong approachable leader who values strong relations with all members of the school community. I believe it will be an exciting time for the St Mary’s community. I am extremely confident that he will work effectively with the school leadership team and School Advisory Council in leading our School Improvement Agenda in 2025.

School Lapathon

Our School Lapathon will go ahead on Friday, 15th November from 11:45 am-1 pm, where the students will take part in walking or running for the duration of an hour, with the event now taking place on Hampton Foreshore. This is a change from past correspondence, where we indicated this event would take place in the local streets.

The sponsorship form is for students to seek and record sponsorship from family members and people they know. Please note, it is important for parents to supervise their children at all times if they are seeking sponsorship from the wider community.

Students can either be sponsored per lap or there can be a total donation for participating.

This is a main student fundraiser for the year, for classroom equipment and resources that directly impact on the students.

There will be an award of recognition for the student who raises the most money from Prep-Yr 2, male and female and Yr 3-6, male and female.
The class that raises the most money overall will receive a prize.
Students are to wear their Sports uniform on the day.

We are seeking parent volunteers to assist on the day of the lapathon to maintain the safety of the students, with tasks such as counting laps and marshalling along the course. Parents will meet on the day at 11am in the Multipurpose Area for a briefing. If you’re available to help, please indicate your availability on Operoo or directly email Sam Sullivan on ssullivan@smhampton.catholic.edu.au.

Prep Orientation Sessions

Next Wednesday we will complete our Prep Orientation sessions for the 2025 Prep children. I would like to thank Ewelina Podgorska for conducting these sessions with our latest Prep children.

Prep Information Night

Next Monday in the hall we will hold our Information night for the Prep 2025 families. This is a chance for our 2025 Prep families to be inducted into the school.

Grandparents and Grand Friend’s Day

Our annual Grandparents Day will take place on Thursday 21st November from 9:00-11:00am. The morning will commence with a mass in the church followed by classroom visits. The children love having their grandparents or special friends come along to school and I would ask families to make sure that your children invite along their grandparents or special friends. This event is a celebration of the special people in the lives of our students who help them to learn about the world and how to live in it. There are so many magical moments when children spend time with grandparents or the older generation of adults in their lives. Grandparents tell stories about what life was like ‘in their day’ and include valuable life lessons about how to treat others, behave in certain situations and what it means to be part of a family.

Environment Leaders Report

On Tuesday, 29th October, two of our Year 6 Environmental Leaders, Lily and Angus F, attended the Voice of Sustainability workshop at CERES, an Environmental Education centre in Brunswick East. Five primary and secondary schools presented what they are doing to be more sustainable at school and we came back with some great ideas.

One school had an amazing wetland environment, they talked about their gardens and how what you plant can bring native wildlife and bugs back. They also had some cool school animals, like chickens, lizards, and mini pythons, which fed on the bugs from the wetlands.

Another school created a mascot to get the message to the students to recycle better within the school. The mascot was a bin chicken; we thought that was funny and effective. Another school were Dolphin Research Ambassadors, they told us about the creative ways they are teaching kids about looking after marine life.

We also learned about Nurdles - they are little plastic particles that are left when plastic doesn't break down. They wash up on our beaches and are harmful to marine life.

Our group did a tour where we learned about the history of the land where CERES is. Its a great story about how somewhere beautiful was created out of something horrible that us humans created. As we walked around, we saw many sustainable features of the park, for example, the way the buildings are designed for good energy use, solar panels, plant seed growing areas, the bicycle repair workshop and we explored the community gardens. There was so much more to see, we only got a glimpse.

In the afternoon, we went ponding, where we had to scoop up and identify the different water bugs in the pond. This was a new experience in biodiversity for us. Some bugs we found were scavenger beetle larvae and leafy water scorpions.

We were gifted with a punnet of lettuce and a tomato plant to add to our garden.

Angus - It was a good day. I learnt a lot more about sustainability from the other schools presenting and got lots of new ideas about how we can help our school garden.

Lily - I learnt a lot about the environment and CERES. It was good to hear what other schools are doing with sustainability. I learnt how important it is to buy local food and not fresh foods brought in from other countries or States because of the carbon footprint.

I was really interested in learning about the buildings there with windows facing the sun in summer to save energy and to use the natural energy to keep warm or cool.

St Mary’s is a member of the ResourceSmart schools programme. ResourceSmart Schools is a free program offered by Sustainability Victoria that supports Victorian schools to embed sustainability across the school facilities.

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week is from 11th to 15th November. What are you doing to help our environment? The attached poster has clickable links. https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/nationalrecyclingweek/?utm_source=CERES+newsletter&utm_campaign=3c71e11a7a-EDM_SCHOOLNEWS_2024_11_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-dfd2ec04a9-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=3c71e11a7a&mc_eid=a235f

Remembrance Day Liturgy

On Monday 11th November our Social Justice Leaders will lead the school in a Remembrance Day Service.

Families are welcome to join us 10.45 - 11am St Mary's Church.

November 2024 Book Fair

Our next Book Fair is drawing near! A great family event for all.

As well as purchasing books for family and friends, you will also be supporting our School Library. We have really built up our collection over the past few years, and I am sure we will add more resources this time.

Please come and support us.

WHEN: MONDAY 11th NOV – WEDNESDAY 13th NOV

TIME: 8.35 am – 9 am AND 3.00 pm – 3.45 pm

WHERE: Learning Area next to Grade 2 . ENTRY VIA OVAL

VOLUNTEERS: Our previous Book Fairs were extremely successful due to parental support. If you are able to assist with the Book Fair please email the school office@smhampton.catholic.edu.au with the day/s and time/s.

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