Newsletter Address ~ Term 3, Week 7

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Friends of St Mel’s,

The culture of our learning community stems from a shared vision, parents as partners in the learning, a vision of 21st century learning spaces and pedagogy, and an understanding of the Catholic school in 2023. Culture does not emerge overnight it is nurtured and developed overtime.

At St Mel’s its foundations were founded in the first cohort of clergy, staff, and families almost 70years ago. Over time the culture of our school has grown and been enriched through the presence of new families, new cultures, new ideas and new backgrounds. The core elements of the culture have been faithfully upheld and over many years valued and expressed by external parties as a very positive learning community culture.

As educational leader I am privileged to lead this community. At times it isn’t easy. Many different opinions and points of view can make it difficult deciding on what’s best for the kids and what’s best for the community. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t and sometimes people get frustrated or upset and sometimes everything runs smoothly which makes us happy and content. That’s life in general.

I am thankful for those who positively engage with the community supporting the school in its educational endeavours. The educational endeavours, more broadly expressed, are seen in attention to the social, emotional, academic, and spiritual dimensions of each child. This is also expressed in our school through the foundational Christian belief in the human person made in the image of God. It is for these reasons that members of the wider community express their desire to join this learning community.

In highlighting our professional learning community and those who are committed and passionate about education, we are constantly looking to ways to improve our practices to give our students the best education possible. By engaging in dialogue with experts, professionally reading and viewing evidence-based practices and critiquing our current practices, helps us to improve and respond to trends in data internally and externally. This is good practice and help us to strive as a community.

As a reminder, if you have concerns about your child and or their education, they are best addressed in a civil and respectful way with the learning space teacher, or with a member of leadership or the principal. This process is clearly outlined in the Complaints Handling Policy on our webpage. Contacting the school anonymously or bad mouthing through social media or gossiping is not appropriate. This also includes approaching other parents or teachers about their child’s behaviour at school or the child concerned—this is not only inappropriate but a breach of our Child Safety Code of Conduct.

In highlighting my concerns, I’d also like to express my thanks to the many parents and staff who support our community through civil and reasonable communication and their support of the school’s ongoing teaching and learning with a focus on positive and respectful interactions with others.

As a school community we have lots to celebrate and be thankful for. Below are some of the wonderful experiences our students have been engaged in the past fortnight.

Book Week

This week we celebrated Book Week and all things special about reading books. This year’s theme “Read, Grow, Inspire” evoked many conversations and wonderings to the power of reading. Thank you to Maria Makin for her incredible hard work ensuring our library was set up and the kids could have an enjoyable Book Week.

Special Friends Day

Today we celebrated Special Friends Day. Special Friends Day is an annual event where mums and dads, aunts and uncles, grandparents, or someone close in families or friendship groups are invited to come in and spend time with their loved ones. We had a great turn out of special friends who enjoyed being part of school celebrations.

Student Success

Congratulations to Evie Ciancio and Annelyse Johnson who recently competed and came 6th at the National Titles for Cheerleading in Adelaide. This is a wonderful achievement and we’re super proud of their efforts, well done girls.

Grade 5/6 Melbourne Excursion

On Wednesday our grade 5/6’s had a wonderful day visiting the National Gallery of Victoria and Science Works. This was a free all expenses paid initiative and the kids had a ball. Thank you to all staff who attended especially Robyn Banfield for organising the excursion.

Japanese Speech Competition ~ Sunday 27th August

Best wishes to our Japanese Extension students who are competing in the State-wide Languages Speech Competition this Sunday 27th August in Melbourne. Our students have been practising hard for the competition and we’re sure they will go well. Best wishes to the following students: Kai Henry, Indi Emanuelli, Ollie Kealy, Lara Tedesco, Arya Banning, Evie McNamara, Hayley Austin and Lily McNamara.

Grade 3/4 Learning Expo.

On Thursday our grade 3/4 students showcased their learning through an expo. Students in grades 3/4 have been learning about Natural Disasters and it was wonderful to see how much the kids have learned. Learning Expos provide students the opportunity to highlight their assets of being researchers, good communicators, self-managers, and thinkers.

ASHEdaya ~ Monday 28th August.

Next Monday students from ASHE will be running Indigenous games and cultural activities for our kids. This is a wonderful opportunity to allow ASHE students to hone their skills presenting to school students whilst allowing them to be leaders in their community. Seldan Andrews (Aria and Braylen Impey's dad) is the coordinator for ASHE and has offered this fun learning opportunity for our students. Please feel free to join us throughout the day.

*** End of Term Change of Dates ***

14th September Term 3 Ends / Footy Colours Day (school finishes normal time 3:20pm)

15th September School Closure Day ~ No students.

Staff Retreat Day ~ Indigenous Perspectives Winton Wetlands

Enjoy a great fortnight everyone.

Enjoy a wonderful fortnight everyone.

Do your best. Respect our school. Help others succeed.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) Updates:

See SAKG page in this newsletter

Our SAKG program for the junior classes has kicked off this term. Katie Ferrari, our SAKG specialist, is doing an amazing job running classes and small groups throughout the week, ensuring our kids are growing, harvesting, and cooking fresh produce from our garden and are experiencing the full benefits of the SAKG program. We are aiming to hold another information session regarding the program this term and will be looking for volunteers to help. If you have a current WWCC (Working with Children’s Check) and would like to volunteer your time in the garden and be part of the program, please contact the school.

About the SAKG Program

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation provides inspiration, information, professional development and support for educators to deliver pleasurable food education to children and young people in Australia.

Pleasurable food education is a fun, hands-on approach to teaching children and young people about fresh, seasonal, delicious food so they form positive food habits for life.

Delivered through a kitchen garden program, pleasurable food education has an array of health, well-being, education, and community benefits.

Stephanie Alexander AO, one of Australia’s most recognised cooks, food educators and authors, established the Kitchen Garden Foundation in 2004, following the success of the first kitchen garden program piloted in 2001. The motivation for this work came from Stephanie’s awareness of the growing childhood obesity problem in Australia.

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation supports early childhood services, primary schools and secondary schools across Australia, and our community is growing.

NCCD ~ National Consistency Collection of Data

Staff have been busy preparing documentation and conducting parent support group meetings to ensure everything will be in place to apply for funding for students with disabilities in 2024. Thank you to Chris Dainton who has been coordinating PSG meetings and our work for NCCD.

For families who are new to the school or unfamiliar with the process,

the NCCD Portal is a comprehensive online resource to support principals, teachers, school support staff and parents understand and complete the NCCD, with free and practical resources such as e-learning modules, videos, case studies and templates.

The Portal also includes information for parents, guardians and carers.

For more information on the NCCD, visit www.nccd.edu.au.

School Uniform

It’s time to transition to our Winter Uniform. Correct uniform including footwear, hair ties, no jewellery, hair colour etc continue to be of importance and students will be warned and parents notified if this is not attended to.

GIRLS' WINTER UNIFORM

Winter Tartan Skirt (Grey/Green pinstripe) with bottle green tights.

Tartan slacks (Grey/Green pinstripe) with plain white socks or

Gold skivvy or Green/gold polo shirt, long or short-sleeved, with embroidered school logo.

School jumper or bomber jacket

GIRLS' SPORTS UNIFORM

Black sports skirt or black shorts/black tracksuit pants (Winter)

Green and Gold polo top [with the embroidered logo]

Plain white socks (micro socks not permitted)

BOYS' WINTER UNIFORM

Grey trousers or cords

Gold skivvy or green/gold long-sleeved polo top [with the embroidered logo]

School jumper or bomber jackets with embroidered school logo.

Plain grey socks (micro-short socks are not permitted).

BOYS' SPORTS UNIFORM

Plain black shorts/black tracksuit pants (Winter)

Green and Gold polo top [with the embroidered logo]

Plain white socks (micro socks are not permitted)

SCHOOL SHOES

Both boys and girls are to wear plain black shoes only

While plain, black leather runners are acceptable; ALL other sports shoes are acceptable only for sporting activities. Socks must be worn with shoes. "Blundstone" type work boots are not permitted.

WEARING OF HATS

During Terms 1 and 4 all children must wear a school hat. Hats are optional for Terms 2 & 3.

St Mel’s School Open Day ~ Wednesday, May 24th

Tour Times: 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm

Community Group Expressions of Interest to Join

Each year it is expected our school will commit to raising additional funds. All Catholic Schools have an obligation to raise additional funds to meet the capacity to contribute factor.

These funds will be put towards improving the educational needs of our students through hardware or programs and/or improving school grounds or facilities.

Please Note: Our Parents and Friends group are on the recruitment drive. If you know of anyone especially new parents who might want to be involved please encourage them to do so by contacting the school.

As a school, we are extremely grateful for the hard work and time our community members put into making our school the best it can be. We are especially grateful for contributions and donations made when we hold school fundraisers or campaigns to help maintain and beautify St Mel’s.

Committee Recruitment

St Mel's relies on the support of our parents to make sure we can offer the best learning opportunities for our children. We are grateful for the commitment of those who are already on our Parish School Education Council and Social Committee and ask anyone who would like to be involved to please contact the school. All new or existing parents are welcome!

Attendance Requirements

If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence, by phoning or emailing the school.

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.

All Victorian schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained.

This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.

URGENT REMINDER!!! Medical Update ~ Asthma Plans & Anaphylaxis Plans

If your child suffers from Asthma or Anaphylaxis, please remember to send in an updated Asthma Plan or Anaphylaxis Plan. These MUST BE arranged through your family GP. Without an updated plan your children will not be able to participate in school functions

SA Kitchen Garden

Come & visit our garden to see the improvements we have made. Our students & staff have been working so hard.

Our SA Garden and Gardeners Need Your Help!