Principal's Report 

Dear Families,

We are in an extremely busy time of the year. We have held many special events and have many more on the horizon! We thank the parent community and staff for being so supportive and for always putting the children's needs first. I encourage readers to keep a close eye on the Key Dates page of this newsletter.

Year 5/6 Camp Rumbug

Our Year 5 / 6 students leave for Camp Rumbug, next Monday and return on Wednesday afternoon. This means that we need to close the Springvale Rd car park on Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon. Please find alternative parking for these times, such as the Allen St car park, Central Reserve or surrounding streets.

Students and staff are very excited to be attending camp. The Year 5/6 teachers and Chiara Pascuzzi, Frank Stokes, Tricia-Rose Robinson and I will accompany and supervise the students. During this time Aimee Gale will be Acting Principal.  We hope to develop a strong sense of connectedness, inclusion, leadership and resilience as the students and staff tackle the challenges presented to them. Camps provide students with the opportunity of experiencing a sense of achievement through participating in a variety of challenging outdoor situations. Such experiences develop skills, as well as build confidence, self-esteem and team work. https://www.pgladventurecamps.com.au/rumbug/

Due to the our latest EBA (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) staff are given time in lieu for the extra time they work out of the usual school hours. Therefore, Thursday, 29th of September, will be our official Camp Recovery Day as staff who are attending the camp receive a day off work in lieu of their time and it will be non school day for the year 5/6 students. Year 5/6 students who have registered for ICAS Mathematics exam will be expected to be at school promptly at 3:15pm to sit the exam.

I thank the PFA for organising the Father's Day Stall a week early to allow the Year 5/6's to participate.

We invite all of our wonderful Dads / guardians to celebrate Father’s Day together with their children.  

When: Friday 30th of August 

Time: 7:30-9am

Where: Community centre at our school

Please use the following link to order breakfast for yourself and your child/children.

https://www.trybooking.com/CUIAY

Orders are DUE by Friday 23rd of August.  

No late orders will be accepted 

The PFA need help with setting up tables and decorations for our Father’s Day Breakfast. Set up will take place on the Thursday 29th August in the evening at 8.15pm when we will have access to the community centre. If you are available to assist we really need your help to make this event happen !

Please use the following Sign up link

https://signup.com/go/xxrNfnX

On Book Day we expressed our gratitude to Kaye Gregory for instilling a passion for reading - into the students. We awarded Kaye a certificate of appreciation for processing over 4,000 books, mostly sets of readers, that were donated to our school. This job alone took many many hours, on top of Kaye's usual workload. 

Our students dazzled us by coming to school dressed up as a book character from one of their favourite books or come as something related to the theme ‘Reading is Magic.’ The 9am Book Parade, activities and the live performance of "Maybe a Miracle," had the students mesmorised.

Another impressive feature of the day was to witness the Year 5/6 students taking on leadership roles with such enthusiasm and responsibility. I thank everyone involved in making it such a fun day. please read the Library page of this newsletter for more details.

Prep 100 Days

Although a little late, our amazing Preps celebrated 100 days of School on Wednesday. They dressed up beautifully and made pictures of themselves with grey hair at the age of 100. I really enjoyed reading their writing, such as the one pictured below, by Raya.

When I asked them what it would be like to be old, here are some of the Preps responses:

Ariya: I will do knitting in my pyjamas and I will have wrinkles and glasses and grey hair.

Yuvien: I will play in the grandpa and grannies Olympics in basketball using a wheelchair. I will celebrate my grandchildren's birthday parties. There is only 19 sleeps until my birthday party but I won't be 100, I will be 6.

Ayla: When I'm 100 I will spend my time sleeping all day long and I will eat lots of soup because I will have false teeth. I will go to my grandchildren's house and play tic-tac-toe with them.

Mia: 100 days of school was great because we did fun things like playing with balloons and counting to 100 with our Year 6 buddies. 

Lucas: When I'm 100 I will do on a holiday to Queensland and I will get some fruit to eat. When I'm home I will play soccer and have fun with the other grandpas. I would rather be young, for now!

Joyce: Miss Campli dressed up like an old lady with rollers in her hair, a scarf and flowers around her neck. She looked like a 100 year old a grandmother who cooks. I had a walking stick and sun glasses.

Prayer 

This week’s prayer focus for Week 5 is  "A Helping Hand." 

Gospel Reading - John  6:51-58

Jesus said to the crowd: ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. 

Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Here are some potential reflection questions from Anthony Adaman to consider:

Personal Reflection

• What makes you happy to help others?
• How does helping others show God’s love to the world?
• Why is it important to be kind and helpful?
• Can you think of a time when someone helped you? How did it make you feel?

Understanding Impact

• How can being nice to someone make their day better?
• Can helping others make the world a better place?
• How can we share God’s gift of love by helping others?
• When we help others, are we helping to build God’s kingdom on Earth?

Community and Action

• How can St Leonard’s be like a big, loving family that helps each other?
• How can we work together to help others in our school?
• Can we ask God to help us be kind and helpful?

MACSSIS Surveys 2024

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) are conducted annually for schools in the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. This year’s MACSSIS window is from Monday 2 September to Friday 20 September 2024. MACSSIS produces perception data. This data tells us about what different people in the school community think and feel about their learning environment. We invite all families to complete the family survey using the link and pin that will be sent home in the week before the surveys open. All students in Year 4-6 will complete the student survey during class time. If you do not want your child to complete the survey, please contact the office before the 30th August. Our staff will also complete the survey. St Leonard's views MACSSIS as a positive opportunityfor gathering feedback and engaging the community in ongoing school improvement efforts.

Briefly

• We thank the Year 5/6 staff, students and parents for participating in the Confirmation Workshop evening, on Wednesday.
• The Australian Girls Choir will be offering an assessment workshop on Tuesday 3rd September for girls in any year level who might be interested in joining the choir. We have a number of our girls who have joined the choir after being involved in these sessions. If you would like your child to participate please complete the registration form that has been sent home or register online at https://ausgirlschoir.com.au/schoolworkshop/
• We can't wait to see our Wakakirri group performing live at Frankston Arts Centre tomorrow night. We wish "chookers" to every student involved.

Wishing every family a very happy week ahead. 

Rob Horwood

Principal