Dear families,

Welcome to another edition of the newsletter. The weather has been spectacular and the students have enjoyed their time outside playing at recess and lunch times. We are very quickly coming up to the season of Lent, this begins next week on Wednesday (Ash Wednesday). We will be celebrating Mass from 9:00am in the Parish church, parents and carers are welcome to attend. On Tuesday we will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday, all dietry requirements will be catered for. I have attached some more information about Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday below.

Just for your reference I have started adding some Term 2 dates into the "Important Dates and Upcoming Events" tab. Please keep checking these dates each week as new things are added as they pop up

Please be reminded that the school is closed tomorrow, 28th of February. The staff will be attending a professional learning day in the city. The school will also be closed on Monday, 11th of March and Tuesday 12th of March. The Monday is the Labour Day Public Holiday and on the Tuesday, staff are once again engaging in Professional Learning. Schools are allowed to have 4 professional learning days and 3 time in lieu days per year. These dates are sent to and approved by MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) each year.

Preps first Wednesday:

Just a note for families that Prep students will have their first Wednesday at school on March 13th, this falls after the Labour Day Public Holiday.

MACSEYE:

Please see the attachment below for more information on our Out of School Hours Care transfer from YLV to MACSEYE. This was sent yesterday via SchoolStream.

Family Life Workshops!

Thank you so much to the families who supported our family life workshops. We had roughly fiveteen 3/4 families and over twenty 5/6 families attend. A very strong turnout, I hope families found the sessions useless and started some dialogue at home. We will feature this program again in 2027, next year we will have family workshops for Cyber Safety.

Thank you!!!!

A huge thank you to all the families that braved the heat to help at our Working Bee last week. It was the last chance before our first Open Day (which was held on Tuesday), to get a few last minute jobs done. I am so proud to lead this amazing community.

An Update from Parents and Friends:

The committee met last Monday evening and set some dates for upcoming events. Some of these dates included.

Hot Lunch: Fish and Chips - Friday 21st of March

Bakers Delight Hot Cross Bun Drive - 2nd last day of term

Easter Raffle - Drawn on the 2nd last day of term.

More information regarding these events will come out shortly. The next PnF meeting will be held on Monday 17th of March, starting at 7:00pm.

First Reconciliation and First Holy Eucharist:

In 2025 along with the St Thomas More Parish, we will be running programs for families interested in the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Eucharist. First Reconciliation will be held in late June and First Eucharist will be held in August.

These Sacraments are open for students who are in Year 3 this year and for any other students who may have missed due to school change or other reasons. We will next be offering First Reconciliation and First Eucharist in 2027. Confirmation will take place for eligible students in 2026. If you are interested in any of the 2025 Sacraments please get in contact with Mrs Marcia Janky to add your name to the list (marcia@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au).

School Camp: Year 3/4 to Sovereign Hill:

Thanks to Mrs Belinda Saville who ran our Parent Information Night for the upcoming Year 3/4 Camp. The session was well attended and I am sure the countdown to camp is on in many households.

Children must bring their recess, lunch and a water bottle for the first day as per exmplained at the Camp Information Session.

Just a reminder for those families who require medication to be supplied to their child on camp, they must get a MACS Medical Authority form signed. Please see a copy of the form below. I have also attached a copy of the packing list.

Prep 2026 Enrolments:

We are now accepting enrolments for Prep 2026. If we have any families with siblings due to start in 2026 please contact the office for the online link, otherwise you can collect a hard copy enrolment pack from the office.

NAPLAN:

School Photos:

School Photos can be booked online, please see below:

Just a reminder for all families, students are required to wear their FULL SPORTS UNIFORM on this day. That includes:

Navy blue STM sports top
Navy blue shorts or track pants
White socks (with no writing)
Runners
Navy blue STM fleece zip up or Year 6 rugby jumper

School Uniform:

Flexible School Uniform 2025:

In 2025 the school will be adopting a more flexible uniform approach. There are some guidelines and they are outlined below:

Students can wear which ever uniform they like on any-day of the week (students can wear sports uniform 5 days a week if they please).
Sports uniform is to be worn with WHITE SOCKS.
Girls and Boys can wear the polo / pants or shorts combination (must wear sports uniform on sports days). Polo / pants or shorts combo must be worn with BLUE SOCKS.
Red jumper or Blue Zip up fleece are the only jumper options (apart from Year 6 Jumper)
There is to be no non-school uniform worn (different jumpers, socks, shorts).
Girls can continue to wear the dress or tunic options.
Runners can be worn at all times with any uniform.
On School Photo Days all students will wear Full Sports Uniform.

Principal

Assembly