Dear Families,

It is great to see that things are slowly getting back to normal. The sun is shining and we are free to move around our wonderful state of Victoria. On Sunday my family and I went for a drive to Olinda to have a bite to eat and enjoy the sunshine!

I hope you and your family also had the opportunity to have a relaxing weekend.

Father Pearce

On behalf of our school community I would like to wish Father Pearce all the best on his new appointment as Parish Priest of St. Michael’s North Melbourne and his chaplaincy role at the University of Melbourne.

Father Pearce has been a wonderful support for our school staff and many families in our school community during his time as Parish Priest. It has been a pleasure working with someone who has a passion for building community. On Monday at assembly a few of our students shared their memories of Father Pearce and presented him with a gift from our school community to say thank you.

We will miss you!

NAIDOC Week

Our students have acknowledged NAIDOC week this week. Our school leaders mentioned the importance of this week at assembly and our teaching staff have been given access to activities to use with our students.

The theme for NAIDOC week is ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this country for over 65,000 years.

Remembrance Day

On Wednesday our school community acknowledged Remembrance Day with a prayer service led by myself and Miss Considine. At the end of the service all classes logged on to the live streamed service from the Shrine.

I would like to thank our students for being so prayerful and reverent during these services.

St. Vincent de Paul

Over the last couple of weeks we have continued to ask for donations to support those in need. I would like to thank all of our families for your amazing and continued generosity.

I would like to acknowledge two students in our school who have used their pocket money to buy items for those in need. Last week their mum drove to school with the back seat in her car down to make room for all of the amazing donations from her family - this is a true example of Social Justice and looking out for someone else!

Values of the Week

Since our students have returned to onsite learning we have gathered remotely each Monday morning for our whole school assembly. During this assembly our Social Justice Leaders introduce a value for the week which is linked to scripture.

Our value for this week is ‘charity’ and the scripture reference comes from the Gospel of

John 13:34 -

‘A new commandment I give to you,

that you love one another;

even as I have loved you,

that you will also love one another.’

This week our students are invited to ‘charity’ towards others by donating personal items to our St. Vincent de Paul hampers.

Families are encouraged to send along soap, shampoo, handwash, toothbrushes, toothpaste, ...

Book Week 2020

Congratulations to all of our students who dressed up as their favourite book character to celebrate Book Week last Friday. Thank you to Mrs Gleeson and Mrs Williams for organising such a fun day!

Prep 2021 Transition

We were so excited today to be able to welcome our Prep 2021 students onsite for their second transition session. Our students attended sessions throughout the day in small groups.

We hope that each of our new students had a fun time in Prep Land!

Prep 2021 Parent Evening

The parents of our 2021 Prep students are invited to attend an online session by Carley McGauran (psychologist) which supports parents to assist their child with school readiness. This session will be held on Thursday 19th November at 7.30pm. Information has been shared with these parents.

School Closure Day

On Friday 27th November we have our final closure day for 2020. On this day our staff for 2021 will work in their planning teams to look at student data and begin to plan for 2021.

Year 6 Celebration Day

Our Year 6 students and teachers are busy preparing for their Graduation. On Friday 20th November our Year 6 students will be involved in a number of activities to celebrate their 7 years of primary schooling.

Education Board AGM

The AGM for our Education Board will be held remotely on Wednesday 18th November. At this meeting reports for the year are tabled by the Parish Priest, Principal, Deputy Principal, Learning and Teaching Leader and Parents and Friends Association. No new business will be presented at this meeting.

Parents and Friends AGM

Our Parents and Friends Committee will meet for their AGM on Tuesday 24th November at 7pm. This meeting will be held remotely depending on government restrictions at the time.

The Big Art and Expression Competition