Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Now that we have turned the corner into December and summer AND Advent the Christmas trees are going up, there are more and more houses with colourful lights strung through their gardens and our Kris Kringle programs are underway, we are all very aware that Christmas is upon us.
At school we still have lots of work to do. Our teachers are finalising reports for example. We still have two camps to run, there is a bit of a rush to get everything finished on time.
In addition there have been a couple of fantastic Dance concerts and our social calendars have all become a bit more crowded at this time of the year.
Amongst all of this busyness we are all waiting…. waiting for Christ’s birth, waiting for Santa’s visit, waiting for the family celebrations that are part of this time of year.
Waiting is not something that we have to do so much any more. Instant gratification seems to be all the rage, doesn’t it? And yet isn’t there a saying about the best things in life are worth waiting for?
When you think about it, learning to wait is an important part of living with others in a community. Certainly at home, the toddler has to wait while mummy feeds the baby. The younger child has to wait for attention while older siblings are reading with a parent for homework, everyone has to wait for their go on the swing, slide, trampoline etc.
At school we couldn’t function without children having to sometimes wait while our teacher devotes their attention to someone else that needs it, or for everyone to line up or finish a task etc etc.
Learning to wait patiently and having the ability to use the time peacefully and productively is a virtue that we all value but is sometimes overlooked.
SCHOOL SAVING BONUS Parents may be aware of the Victorian Government’s program to support Primary School Students financially in 2025 with a $400 grant for each student. Unfortunately this grant is only available to students in Catholic schools if the student already qualifies for the Camps Sport and Excursions Fund (CSEF) by virtue of the fact that the parents hold a Health Care Card.
In this case in Catholic schools the money will be directed to our school and will be credited against the families School Fee account.
END OF YEAR MASS Our End Of Year Mass will be held at St Mary’s Church at
10:00 am on Tuesday December 17th. All parents and friends are invited to join us.
GRADUATION Our Grade 6 class is preparing to Graduate from primary school and continue their educational journeys in secondary school in 2025.
Parents and carers should please note that the Graduation Ceremony will be held at 6:00pm on Thursday, December 12th at the Jubilee Centre at Trinity College.
TRANSITION DAY Our teachers work very hard helping to put together our class groups for the following year. The children are all surveyed about who they would like to be in a class with and we ensure that every student is with at least one of their first three choices, while for other students a break from one another can be good for both parties as well.
Our students will once again all have the chance to spend time with their class for next year. We will be doing this on Tuesday, December 10th. On this day our 2025 Foundation students will join us and our current Year 6 students will spend the day in their chosen secondary school.
Please note classes for 2025 will be announced on this day and are final. Putting classes together is incredibly complex and we always do our best to balance any and all competing needs, including the children’s own requests for which friends they might like to be in their class. If parents have any concerns that they need to let us know about, now is the time.
SOME EARLY NOTICE The last day for our students this year will be Wednesday December 18th, exiting school at 3:15pm.
The start of the new school year will begin for our teachers on Tuesday January 28th with training and preparation. The children will begin class on Wednesday, January 29th. Please note Wednesday the 29th will be the first day for our new Foundation students as well. Foundation students will attend school until 1:00pm for this first week and a half.
Jack Lenaghan - Principal