Dear Families,

As some of you may have seen in the media, St Andrew's has successfully received a grant through the Victorian State Government Building Authority, under the building fund for non-government schools. We have been awarded $1,625,000.00 to revitalise the administration and library spaces of our school.

Local member, Mr Meng Heang Tak MP, visited St Andrew's on Friday afternoon to share the wonderful news, and coincidentally, Paul Wakeling was visiting at this time. Mr Meng Heang Tak MP supported the application by writing a letter to accompany the grant application, and also communicating to the Minister of Education how deserving our school was. Fr Joseph Shibu also supported our application by writing a letter of support as part of the grant application. The support from both have been immense.

We received an official letter from Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Ben Carroll MP on Monday sharing our successful application and the amount of funding we will receive. It has been a long wait since we submitted our application in October 2023, with many steps along the way!

We look forward to sharing with you the excitement as we plan and implement this building project, and we cannot wait to see what amazing changes we can make to St Andrews. We will work in partnership with the Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACs) Infrastructure Program Delivery Team and the architects from Wowowa.

Exciting times ahead!

Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival - Friday 2nd August

Our Athletics Carnival is this Friday, 2nd August for all Years 3-6 students. The event will be held at school.

We would love to have some parent volunteers for this event! If you are able and willing to help, please email kpuetz@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au or nblack@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

We at St. Andrew's aim to be a Nut-Free school. We do not allow nuts or nut products in school lunch boxes.

The school aims to protect children who have allergies to nuts yet also help them, as they grow up, to take responsibility for what foods they can eat and to be aware of where they may be put at risk.

Our “Nut-Free guidance” means that the following items should not be brought into school:

Packs of nuts
Peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches
Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
Sesame seed rolls and breads containing sesame seeds (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
Cakes made with nuts
Any home cooked meals for packed lunches that are made with nuts

What types of food are nuts?

Almonds
Cashew nuts
Hazelnut
Pistachio
Walnuts
Brazil nuts
Nut oils
Peanuts

Parents and carers must notify staff if their child has any known or suspected allergy to nuts and provide all medical and necessary information. This will be added to your child’s care plan and if necessary.

The school requests that parents and carers observe the nut-free guidance and therefore do not include nuts, or any traces of nuts, in packed lunches. All children are regularly reminded about the good hygiene practice of washing hands before and after eating which helps to reduce the risk of secondary contamination. Likewise, children are reminded and carefully supervised to minimise the act of food sharing with their friends.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to me or Emma Strom.

Thank you for your help in making our school safe for all children.

Health Department Alert – Whooping Cough (Pertussis)

The Victorian Health Department recently issued a public notice in relation to an increasing number of cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in Victoria, particularly among children aged 10-12.

Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness known for causing a cough, and can lead to life threatening infections in babies. Many babies who get pertussis catch it from older children and adults who might not even know they are infected.

Pertussis usually begins with cold-like symptoms, such as a dry cough (occurring in bouts), characteristic 'whooping' sound when breathing in, tiredness, runny nose, and low-grade fever.

Please speak to your doctor (GP) and seek a diagnosis if your child is exhibiting any of these symptoms. Early identification and separation are crucial in preventing the spread to other children.

Pertussis is mostly spread to other people by droplets from coughing or sneezing, so good hygiene practices and immunisations help prevent the spread. Immunisations are particularly important for infants and pregnant women.

If pertussis is diagnosed, your GP will advise on appropriate treatments. If you have any questions, please speak to your GP. Read the full alert here: Increasing pertussis (whooping cough) cases in Victoria | health.vic.gov.au

Working Bee - this Saturday 3rd August

The next Working Bee will be held this Saturday 3rd August from 8.30am until 10.30am.

This is a terrific opportunity to make a positive contribution to the school environment and your child's learning environment.

Families who attend one Working Bee per year will have the $75 maintenance fee credited from their statement.

You are requested to sign in at the desk outside the school office on arrival and to sign out when you depart.

A job list providing outlines of the various tasks to be covered on the morning will be available.

We encourage parents with wheelbarrows, shovels, brooms, rakes etc to bring them along for the morning.

Please respond through Operoo which was sent to each family.

We hope to see you there!

Year-Level Term Newsletters

Last week, the year-level Term newsletter for each student was emailed out to families. Please take the time to read what is happening in your child's classroom this term.

2025 PREP ENROLMENTS

HAVE YOU ENROLLED YOUR CHILD FOR PREP 2025?

If you have a child ready for Prep 2025, we encourage you to please put in an enrolment form as soon as possible. This will help us with organisation purposes. To access an enrolment form:

Visit the enrolment section of our school website and download an enrolment form

Drop into the school office to collect an enrolment pack
Email office@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

2024 School Calendar

The 2024 School Calendar is available on the School Website. It can be found mid-way down on the front page under the heading ‘WHAT’S ON’. We will endeavour, where possible, to remain true to the dates on the 2024 calendar. We would recommend that parents make a regular visit to the school website to see updates on all school events.

Mrs Nicole Black

(Acting Principal)

NAPLAN Information