From the Principal's Desk

A Letter From a Parent

We often receive  letters and notes of appreciation from families which is always lovely and much appreciated so thought I'd share (with permission) a letter we received a couple of weeks ago which really stood out.

Dear Mr Hyde,

I wanted to reach out to you this afternoon to share a moment I witnessed this morning at drop off which has stayed with me for most of the day.

After my Preppy had put her bag away, and before the bell, she found her little Prep friend and asked her teacher if they could go out and play which they were given permission to do. Well, they made a beeline for the Big Kids playing Duck, Duck, Goose. I believe the group was made up of Year 5 and 6-ers as there was a mixture of Leavers t-shirts and yellow sports shirts.

I held my breath a little watching my baby approach the Big Kids, thinking how brave she was. I hoped that they would let them play… and they did. They embraced them into the group and treated them as one of their own.

I wanted to reach out to you this afternoon in the hopes that you might say thank you to The Big Kids on behalf of this Prep Mum. I know what it is like to be a Little Kid, idolising the Big Kids and what it is like to be a Big Kid sometimes wishing I could sit with my friends and talk at lunch rather than be a Big Buddy. I also now know what it is like to be a Prep Mum, worried that your child may be having a hard time transitioning into school, that they are lonely without you and struggling to make a friend. What I witnessed this morning has left me confident that my child is safe and happy.

SO Big Kids, thank you for your kindness and patience. To the teachers and parents of this group, there are so many things to be proud of and I can only hope that when it is my Preppy’s turn to be a Big Kid, that she might show the same level of care and leadership.

A Prep Mum

New Appointment

Next Monday we welcome Miss Emilia (Milly) Foti who has been appointed as an additional Learning Support Officer: Student Needs at Corpus Christi School.

Some of you will already know Emilia as she has been working as our assistant co-ordinator at our OshClub program for the past few years. 

Email and Contact Details

With most school communications now electronic it is imperative that family details including email addresses  are kept up to date by families. Too often we are assisting with the recovery of CaeMonkey accounts and the like due to changes in email addresses.

This is easily avoided by simply updating your CareMonkey profile with the new email address prior to discontinuing the old one. We will be automatically notified of these changes and can then update our business systems to reflect the changes. In fact we get automatic notifications of any update you make to your  CareMonkey profile.

Making sure your details are always up to date allows you to  receive necessary communications. If you are not receiving Newsletters, Fee/Levy accounts and CareMonkey requests you need to check your email details now.

Casual Clothes Day 

This Friday 23rd March, children are invited to wear casual clothes to school in return for an Easter egg donation on the day. These Easter egg donations will then be packaged as prizes for our annual Easter Raffle which is drawn after our Holy Week celebrations  (see Education in Faith Page) on the last day of Term 1. Please drop the Easter Eggs into the hall on your way into school. Be careful with your eggs as it is also Ride2School Day.

Easter Raffle

Please remember we are looking for donations of cane baskets to package our Easter egg prizes for our Annual Easter raffle. These can be donated at any time and handed in at the school office. Make sure you  return raffle tickets and money to the office by next Wednesday 28th March.

Easter Egg Wrapping

We will be holding an Easter Egg wrapping morning (to wrap all our raffle prizes) on Monday 26th March, straight after Assembly) in the hall from 9:15am. If you are able to help, please click here to reply: info@cckingsville.catholic.edu.au 

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Time Table Changes

A reminder of timetable changes over the next week to facilitate extensive planning for Term 2.  See the amended timetables below.

Years 1 - 6 Learning Conferences

For any family of children in Year 1-6 who is yet to make a booking for the upcoming Learning Conferences, you need to do so ASAP. Please go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au and enter the event code of:   xr74m to book interviews for the times that suit YOUR FAMILY.

Families who fail to make a booking by Sunday evening will be allocated a set time to attend.  Learning Conference are scheduled for next Wednesday 28th  March: 2:00pm - 8:00pm

Athletics Carnival

This year’s Athletics Carnival will be held on Monday 23rd April (which is the second Monday of Term 2) at Moonee Ponds Athletics Track (Aberfeldie Park). All children (Year Prep – Year 6) will be transported by bus to the track for a 9:30 am start and will return around 1:30pm.

BUSES WILL DEPART FROM SCHOOL AS CLOSE TO 9:00AM AS POSSIBLE, SO PLEASE BE ON TIME!

You will all receive an e-Form (Permissions Form) via CareMonkey and this NEEDS to be ‘signed off’ so your children can attend.

All children will be involved in the sprint events. In addition, Years 3-6 will participate in the field events while our Years Prep – 2 children will participate in a tabloid sport arrangement. 

The children will eat lunch (which they will need to bring) upon their return to school. Children will need to:

• Wear sports uniform (Children may wear a T-shirt of their team’s colour)
• Bring a refillable water bottle
• Bring ‘playlunch’ in a plastic disposable bag (please pack an extra ‘something’ as the children will not be having lunch until their return to school)
• Have an extra-large healthy breakfast!

In order for such an event to run smoothly, we will need several parent volunteers to assist. On the CareMonkey notification, you will notice that there is also an area, which calls for volunteers. Please respond here if you are able to help out on the day and you hold a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC).

Long Service Leave

Mrs Nives Childs will taking a period of Long Service Leave commencing next week and we wish her well on her travels. Mrs Karly McGregor, whom we all know well,  will be  teaching  our Preps in Nives' absence. Mrs Child's will be back on deck on 23rd April.