Dear parents, students and families,

Last Friday was one of the most special days a primary school principal could ever have. Commencing our Feast Day with Mass was wonderful. As our Saints of our parish schools are St Anne and St Joachim it was an ideal day to also celebrate Grandparents Day as they are the Grandparents of Jesus. We had so many visitors, whether much loved grandparents, special visitors or parents that we were truly blessed. After Mass the special visitors had classroom activities and then many went to the hall for a well-earned cuppa and a bit of cake. Thanks to our visitors for attending and making our Feast Day so special.

Our Soccer Team, who had shown themselves to be the best in our local area, then went to Mt Eliza to represent our school and our Division. They won their semi final 2-1 against Ballam Park PS and then faced Woodlands PS, a school of over 800 students, in the regional final. They lost 5-3 in an entertaining game and the students can hold their heads high with what they achieved.

I returned to school and late Friday afternoon I took a call from Mrs Sonya Kilkenny who is our State Member of Parliament for Carrum. We have been applying for grants over the past two years, both to the State and Federal Governments, to improve the senior end of the school. With a tired building and increasing student numbers it was imperative that we received funding to build more learning spaces. Sonya rang to let me know that the State Government would be providing, in full, the nearly 2.2 million dollars we had requested so that we can do this. The first on-site meeting with the architects and MACS is next Wednesday as we already have council approval. Hopefully we will be underway with the tender process in the not too distant future.

A reminder that over the next 2 weeks a number of our students will be receiving Eucharist for the first time. We pray that the Holy Spirit helps them to develop their gifts as they move to becoming full members of the Church. Please keep Luke B, Lola T, Lawson C, Kevin C, Grace F, Oscar L, Jasper H, Logan P, Chantelle B, Oliver H, Edward K, Ziggy P and Lilith T in your prayers. Special congratulations to Lawson, Kevin, Grace and Oscar who received Eucharist for the first time last weekend.

On Monday our Year 3/4 students had an excursion to the Gould League which I have heard from many children was a great experience. The teachers said it was ideal to continue to build student learning around for the remainder of the term.

Today our Year 5/6 students have commenced their Winter sport program playing Netball, T-Ball and Soccer against Aldercourt PS. Aldercourt requested this change as it was supposed to be tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a fundraiser by travelling actively to school for the "Open the Doors Foundation" and I trust many were able to join in with this.

Sonya Kilkenny will also squueze in a visit tomorrow to celebrate with us regarding the State Grant.

Looking ahead to next week our African Drumming continues and on Friday our seniors will play against Kananook PS away. Thursday is St Mary of the Cross' Feast Day- our very first Australian Saint - as we commemorate and celebrate Mary MacKillop.

I trust many of you are becoming experts in sports that previously you didn't have an opinion about while we watch the Olympics! I still can't believe Skateboarding and Surfing are Olympic sports though I can't argue how talented the competitors are.

Kind regards and God Bless

Rod Shaw

Principal

School Attendance and Unexplained Absence

Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on

9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with a reason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.

If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.

If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.

As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:

Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.

If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.

If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.

Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.

This is a legal requirement.

Democratic Principles

The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:

(a) elected government; and

(b) the rule of law; and

(c) equal rights for all before the law; and

(d) freedom of religion; and

(e) freedom of speech and association; and

(f) the values of openness and tolerance

Grandparent's Day