Dear Families,

Our Holy Saviour Day celebrations were a huge success! It all began with our school celebrations last Friday, and we were blessed with amazing weather. A giant game of “Freeze Ball” was played after mass, then we moved straight into a rotation of activities hosted by Proactivity. I think the highlight of these activities was the splash zone, especially as I had the chance to tip buckets of water over the children! We had a wonderful lunch from Tummy Topper. Thanks to Belinda Saville for arranging the food truck and coordinating the lunches to make sure everyone got the correct food! We didn’t get time to hold our first Holy Saviour’s Got Talent. This has been moved to our assembly next Wednesday 22nd November.

Our celebration continued on Sunday with our Parish celebration, it was great to see so many families attend. We were again blessed with beautiful weather, and following mass, celebrated with some dancing, games on the oval, and plenty of food. Special thanks to the Parish Pastoral Council for all their hard work in preparing our celebration on Sunday.

Now, we look forward to celebrating 50 Years of Holy Saviour Parish in 2024!

Senior Camp

Early Monday morning, our Year 5/6 students boarded the bus with Yr 6 students from St Bridget’s and headed to Alexandra Adventure Resort in Alexandra for three days. We experienced all sorts of weather, have established some great connections with each other, and have enjoyed a wonderful couple of days together. Special thanks to Mrs Rebecca Taylor, Mrs Jenni Kilkenny, and Mr Justin Buttigieg for joining me in giving up time with our families to make this possible for our Year 5/6 children. Please refer to the "SLC Camp Highlights" page further in the newsletter for photos and student reflections.

Tiwi Islands Fundraiser

Last term, we celebrated our Footy Colours Day and combined this with a special fundraiser for the Tiwi Islands, specifically for the restoration of the 82-year-old church on Bathurst Island. I am very excited to share with you that as an East-Central network, we raised nearly $8500 to help restore St Therese’s Church! This is an absolutely amazing effort, one of which we can be extremely proud of our contribution.

Slime Fest - Slime the Teacher (or Principal!)

Our Slime Fest celebration day is fast approaching, it’s only 12 days away! As a bit of incentive, today I announced to the SRC that every child who raises $200 or more will go into the draw to slime me! 5 lucky students will be drawn at random and will have the pleasure of pouring a bucket of slime over my head without having to deal with any consequences! At the moment, we only have 3 children who have raised more than $200, so I’m feeling pretty safe!

Student Leadership Opportunities

Term 4 is an exciting time for our Grade 5 students as they begin to think about and prepare for the 2024 Grade 6 Leadership positions. The senior teachers have begun talking with their students about the many wonderful opportunities that await them. Students will be able to nominate for roles as School & House Captains, they will then prepare and deliver speeches in early December.

Holy Saviour Christmas Picnic

Save the date! On Thursday 7th December from 6:00pm-7:30pm, we will be celebrating the year with our Holy Saviour Family Christmas Picnic. Children will be performing Christmas songs, Footsteps Dance will showcase all they have been doing with the children this term, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the end of the school year together. More details will follow, but we encourage all families to make an effort to attend.

School Advisory Council Vacancies

The School Advisory Council (SAC) provides a forum for discussion and discernment, where the parent/guardian voice and perspective are available to inform and support the decisions made by the Principal and Parish Priest for the good of School and Parish where the wellbeing and outcomes for students is paramount. The role is to give consideration to, and advice on, important School matters in order to support the Principal in the context of the MACS governance arrangements.

We are seeking new SAC Members for the 2024-2026 period, from a mixture of year levels and professional backgrounds. More information regarding the SAC can be found in its Terms of Reference. If you have an interest in being on the SAC, any of the existing members would be happy to be contacted and discuss the commitment involved. If you would like to be involved in the SAC, please complete your details in the attached form and we will be in touch shortly.

Google & Facebook Reviews

As we all know, word of mouth is the most important tool for sharing the successes of our school in our local community. We invite our community to leave a review of Holy Saviour on our Facebook page and on Google. Thank you to the generous families who have already left a review in this space.🙏

Google Review: https://g.page/r/Ceo4uN0EZbnuEAg/review

Facebook Review: https://www.facebook.com/HolySaviourPS/reviews

Enrolments open for 2024

Enrolments for 2024 are currently open! If you have a younger child who turns 5 before 30 April 2024, please come and see Sherridan or Kerry in the office for an enrolment form. Also, if you know of anyone else in the community with a child the same age, pass on our contact details– we would love to give them a tour of our fabulous school! At Holy Saviour, every other day is Open Day!

Catholic Secondary School Enrolment Applications

Key Enrolment Dates for Year 5 Students in 2024 starting Year 7 in 2026

The key enrolment dates for students in Year 5 in 2024 who will be starting Year 7 in 2026 have been agreed after consultation with the Executive of the Principals Association of Victorian Catholic Secondary Schools (PAVCSS).

The timeline of events and dates are as follows:

29th January 2024 – Applications will open for Year 5 students commencing Year 7 in 2025.

16th August 2024 – Applications will close.

18th October 2024 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.

8th November 2024 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.

Parents of Year 5 students in 2024, please diarise these dates so you don’t miss out.

Final Thoughts ~ Making Decisions

The following came to my inbox last month as part of a Principal Leadership email. Having read through this numerous times, I’ve come to realise the message within is more than just about making decisions with leadership at school, the following can relate to all decisions in life...

Whilst it can be tempting to make the 'easy', quick fix decision, try to consider the long term plan and the effect of the decision on tomorrow...your future self will thank you!
Appreciate that people are part of the equation. To make a complete decision, you need to use your heart and your head in the decision making process.
Respect those around you and consider how any decision will impact their lives, for better or worse, and understand this in the context they find themselves.
It is important to have an informed and impartial view based only on the evidence presented to you. Believe only in what you know, not what you assume to be true, and try to be aware of any prejudice or bias that may affect your ability to discern the facts.

Kind regards,

Steve Evans

Principal

Community Notices

Vermont Sth Neighbourhood House Garage Sale

Siena College Open Morning

Whitehorse Carols & Festive Season Activities

Highvale Preschool

Nextgen Soccer Academy After School Program

Coding & Robotics Camp School Holiday Program

Australian Youth Choir

Birralee Preschool - 2024 Enrolments Open