Principals Announcments

Newsletter Address ~ Term 1 Week 7&8 2022

A Prayer for Ukraine

Gracious God, we pray for the people of Ukraine suffering from war. May they be held in your loving care and protection and given the strength to endure their suffering and hardship.

 Transform the hearts and minds of those who perpetuate the violence and oppression. Grant wisdom to world leaders in advancing efforts toward peace; may they not be compromised by self-interest and blind indifference. 

We ask all this through the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and in the name of your Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Praying Lent This Year 2022

 Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism.  In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.  

Lenten Prayer 

Almighty and Everlasting God, You have given the human race, Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man And giving His life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to You By following His example of suffering And make us worthy to share in His Resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son.

Amen. 

Second Week of Lent  (Week beginning Monday 14th March)

This week through Project Compassion we learn about Biru who lives in a rural village in India’s east. He lost mobility in one of his legs, after contracting polio as a child. Biru worked as a shepherd, looking after other people’s cattle, to support his wife and four daughters. Keeping up with the cattle was a challenge.

Biru taught himself how to repair bicycles by watching other people, but he never dreamed of using those skills to start his own business. With your generous support, Biru was able to access an entrepreneurship and livelihoods training program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas India. He gained the support and skills he needed to start his own bicycle repair business. 

Now, Biru earns enough money to support his family. Watch a short film about Biru’s story here.

Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

What will you do to make your Lent worthwhile! 

St Mel’s Parish Prayer

God our Father,

Bless our Parish so that we may love you more. Encircle our families with your loving care.  Help parents to be good examples to their children and our youth to grow in strength as good Christians. To the sick, grant health. To the aged, bring serenity and to those in sorrow, joy.

May we grow stronger in faith and may our love for one another become

 deeper in our daily living. 

Amen

Child Safe Commitment:

All students enrolled, and any child visiting St Mel’s, have a right to feel safe and be safe. The wellbeing of children in our care will always be our first priority and we have zero tolerance to child abuse. We aim to create a child safe and child friendly environment where children feel safe and are free to enjoy life to the full without any concern for their safety.

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Friends of St Mel’s,

There is great uncertainty in our world at present and in light if the current situation in Ukraine Pope Francis invited all people believers and non-believers to respond with prayer and fasting. 

As a faith community we keep the people of Ukraine in our prayers.  In conversations I have had with members of our community it has become apparent that for several families the experience of a war-torn country and the urgency to flee to a safer place is well known. Seeking refuge is also a real experience many in our parish community understands well.  We can appreciate that this brings with it a great sense of compassion for the people of the Ukraine and a vivid reminder of their own experiences.  It’s important to think of our community members currently and pray with Pope Francis this Lent for peace.

‘God of love, we are disconcerted by the violence in our world, and especially now by the acts of war in Ukraine. Enable us to stand in solidarity with those who suffer, and who live today in fear and anxiety. Sustain the hope of all those, in this beloved part of the world, who seek justice and peace. Send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of peace, to inspire the leaders of nations and all human beings’.  Brother Alois, Taize`

Thank you, Jen, Maria and Naomi, ~ St Mel’s Administration Staff

I’d like to take the opportunity to recognise our office staff, especially Jen Amadei, who have been going above and beyond their usual hours of duty in preparation of our financial audit.   They are superstars!!! We are grateful for all they do.

Leaders Conference

Next week I will be attending the Victorian Association Catholic Primary School Principals [VACPSP] 2022 Leaders Conference, Hope, For Now and Whatever Lies Ahead. I am looking forward to the many innovative keynote speakers and engaging discussions that will take place during the week. The Conference aims to explore the importance of hope and optimism in education and leadership within our own school communities and throughout Catholic Education Victoria.  Danae Napier, Chris Quinn, Laura Emanuelli and Cherie Malnati will certainly take care of things in my absence. 

Social Media & Tic Tok dangers

Unfortunately, children do use social media and do access platforms and apps such as TicTok regardless of age limits.   Please be aware TikToc has a very disturbing ‘challenge’ circulating where users are asked to hold their breath and hyperventilate until they pass out.   The dangers of this are beyond imaginable. Please be aware of your child’s online activity and reassure them that if they see something that is concerning, they must report this to their parents or teachers.   We do our best to educate students at school regarding online behaviours, please do the same at home.   For parenting ideas and tips please visit:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/

https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you

New School Website

We are excited to announce our new website is now live. Please take the time to check it out.  Your feedback would also be appreciated.   Thanks to Hannah Chasemore our new ICT coordinator for making this happen.

https://www.smshepparton.catholic.edu.au/

School Philosophy ~ Who we are and what we do at St Mel’s

Below is an extract from our Learning Philosophy…

Playful learning to inquiring minds,

Inquiring minds to cooperative learners,

Cooperative learners to self directed individuals.

Developing creativity through learning.

At St Mel’s we acknowledge that the child is a capable person and is able to make meaning of their world around them.  A Community of Inquiry is one that is committed to engaging in all learning opportunities through an inquiry approach. The language and phases of inquiry associated with this approach are paramount to its success. Learners are immersed in and experience the process of Tuning In, Finding Out, Sorting Out and Taking action. As part of this process learners are required to engage with each other as researchers, thinkers, collaborators, communicators and self-managers. These are referred to as learning assets. Further to these assets we wish to nurture certain dispositions such as being curious, courageous, open-minded, flexible, persistent, resilient, responsible, reflective, empathetic, compassionate, reliable, confident, responsive, respectful and resourceful. These assets and dispositions are not learnt over night but they are nurtured through the learning opportunities that are masterfully facilitated by expert educators who listen attentively to student voice, in other words, your son or daughters teachers.

As Kath Murdoch, a leading educational consultant of whom we base much of our learning and teaching says, ‘Teachers who use inquiry-based methodologies have a firm belief in the transformative power of ownership. When students feel they are the ones ‘doing the learning’ rather that the teacher ‘doing the learning to them’ they are undoubtedly more engaged, and with engagement comes increased potential for learning’ (Murdoch, 2015).

This approach is far from an afternoon of integrated learning. A community of Inquiry is totally committed to engaging in an inquiry approach in all learning. Such an approach captures much of the educational literature that promotes lifelong learning and what are called 21st century competencies such as being adaptable and flexible to new information, being creative and being able to solve and consider real world problems.   Through these competencies we hope all students graduating from St Mel’s are equipped with the skills, attitudes and social attributes necessary to have a successful and rewarding life. 

Your child’s teachers are the experts and are more than happy to discuss with you, at any time, your child’s education, setting goals and working towards developing the assets they need to be successful contributors to society.   

Do your best. Respect our school. Help others succeed.

Enjoy a wonderful fortnight everyone,

Project Compassion 2022

Caritas Australia’s annual fundraising and awareness-raising appeal, bringing thousands of Australians together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

‘Cultivate with love the seeds of goodness, beauty and truth that God sows in every new generation’.

Pope Francis.

Online Welcome Google Meets

Thank you to the many parents who were able to attend these meeting throughout the week.   If you were unable to attend and would like information about your child’s education or anything else they will be doing this year, please contact your child’s teacher.   

Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey.

Parents are invited to participate in the ECSI survey this year.   ECSI assist us in better understanding how our Catholic Identity is expressed in work and practice here at St Mel’s.  We participate in this survey every 4 years and it is designed to capture a cross section of the school population thoughts and understanding of what catholic education means to us in our setting.

The ECSI survey is a key element in this process and families will be randomly selected to participate.  It is completely voluntary and parents can opt in and out.  It is completed online and all responses will be kept confidential. 

If you would like to participate and have not received an envelope in the coming weeks, please drop into the school office to pick up a ‘sign on’ envelope. 

The online survey also gathers responses from students in Years 5 and 6, all school staff, school council members and a representative sample of parents.

The Catholic University in Leuven, was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools, based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see itself in the future.

All Catholic Schools use the information gathered to form future goals and directions for enhancing their Catholic Identity, an essential part of who we are as Catholic Schools.

It’ll be wonderful for families to take up the opportunity. 

For further information please contact the school.

Participating in NAPLAN

As children progress through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics – skills that will set them upon the path to success as adults.

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents and carers to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

Federal, state and territory education ministers agreed to gradually transition NAPLAN online by 2022. NAPLAN online is a tailored test that adapts to student responses, providing better assessment and more precise results.

Read the NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers, also available in Simple English. To see the types of questions and functionalities in the online tests, visit the public demonstration site page.

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to participate in NAPLAN tests, and schools should not exert influence on parents or carers to withdraw their child from the tests. NAPLAN tests give you information on how your child is progressing against national standards. This information can be used to identify areas in which your child may benefit from additional assistance. NAPLAN does not replace, but rather complements assessments run by your child's classroom teacher throughout the year.

Adjustments can be provided for students with disability to enable them to access the tests on an equivalent basis to students without disability. Read about the adjustments in the next section.

Some students who have been attending school in Australia for less than a year before the tests may also be eligible for exemption. Exemptions should be discussed with your child's school.

Parents or carers may withdraw their child from the tests to address issues such as religious beliefs and philosophical objections to testing. It is recommended that withdrawal be considered in consultation with your child's school. States and territories have different ways of managing student withdrawals, but formal notification must be received by the school principal prior to testing.

Wherever possible, schools will organise for individual students who are absent at the time of testing to complete missed tests at another time during the test window.

Detailed information about exemptions, withdrawals and absences from NAPLAN can be found in the 'Student participation section' of this website.

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

School Calendar

Please visit the 'Upcoming Dates & Events' page to keep informed about what's coming up and any date changes to events.