2023 NSW Term Dates

Term 1: Friday 27 January 2023 – Thursday 6 April 2023

Term 2:

Monday 24 April 2023 (STMM Staff Development Day)
Monday 25 April 2023 (ANZAC Day)
Wednesday 26 April 2023 (First day for students)
Friday 30 June 2023 2923 (Last day for students)

Term 3: Monday 17 July 2023 – Friday 22 September 2023

Term 4: Monday 9 October 2023 – Tuesday 19 December 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to Week 4 and the beginning of the Lenten season for 2023. During the next 40 days, we as Catholics, are called to work on three things: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Over the coming weeks the children will discuss these three concepts and how they can be applied to their own lives. I invite you to share your own experiences of Lent with your children and model ways of praying, fasting and supporting the wonderful almsgiving initiatives here at school. All money raised will be donated to Caritas through Project Compassion.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Today we had a beautiful Ash Wednesday Liturgy with Fr Pat. The children were reminded of the fairytale of Cinderella which Fr Pat explained means ‘ash girl.’ He went on to provide a fitting analogy of us behaving like Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters when we are not being kind to one another. Naturally Jesus was likened to the fairy godmother who can help us in our times of need.

Term 1 Initiatives in Teaching and Learning

This term the teachers are working collaboratively to improve their skills in explicit instruction. According to well known Australian educational researcher John Hattie our teachers ability to make learning visible through clear learning intentions has a significant effect on student learning outcomes. Robert Marzano is another world renown educational researcher from the United States and he agrees that teachers must provide students with a clear focus for their learning.

General Road Safety

A reminder to parents using ‘Kiss and Go’ of the need to keep the traffic moving. If your child cannot enter the vehicle from the curb and fasten their own seat belt, please park and collect them from the playground. I welcome any feedback on the changes to our afternoon dismissal processes as the safety of our students is my highest priority. A big thank you to our morning ‘Kiss and Go’ volunteers and all parents who are following the school’s parking and pickup procedures.

It is also important to ensure you are supervising your child and using the designated crossing in Clovelly Rd as it is often difficult for cars to see children, and often vehicles are exceeding the 40 km speed limit.

Through the week I found a brochure from the Randwick Council with a timely reminder of the need for road safety around our school. This brochure also provides updated information on fines and loss of demerit points for parking offences.

Below are some steps to ensure the safety of all students.

Children need assistance in the traffic environment until at least the age of 10. They are not equipped physically or developmentally to make the crucial decisions to keep themselves safe.
All children need to be actively supervised in and around moving vehicles including on footpaths, shared paths, driveways and carparks; at traffic lights, zebra and other road crossings; and on quiet streets and busy roads.
Hold hands with your children around traffic. If your hands are full, make sure your child holds onto your bag, pram or even your arm or sleeve.
It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that each passenger is secured in an appropriate seatbelt or child car seat. Check before you start the car on every trip.

For more detailed information on school zones please see links below to RMS website

http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/schools/index.html

https://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/services/roads/road-safety/school-zones

Year 5 & 6

Anna Kelly & Laura Courtenay