Dear Parents and Carers,

The St Simon’s Canteen is back!

Last week we saw the return of our school canteen service. After a long period of recess, the canteen was ‘rebooted’ last Friday for students in prep to year 3. A huge thank you to Kelly Olarenshaw and Michelle Vidinovski for all the work done behind the scenes to get us to this point.

Thank you to all the canteen volunteers from our community who have put up their hand to help out once or twice a term. It is a great way to get to know other parents and carers within the school community whilst working as part of a team that makes the canteen possible. If you would like to join the canteen helper volunteer list please contact Kelly (See newsletter’s Canteen section for more details)

For many of the students in Prep-Year 3, this has been their first canteen experience at school. A parent shared with me last week their child was having difficulty understanding the concept of lunch being delivered to the classroom from the canteen. The parent said, “Well it’s kind of like Uber Eats for school!”. The child had a “light bulb moment” and it all made sense!

This Friday year 4 to year 6 students will have the opportunity to order from the canteen using the new online ordering platform. Please see the Canteen section of the newsletter for more information.

Orders must be received by Thursday 10am.

Reconciliation (Sacrament of Penance) - Year 4

This Thursday is the first of two ceremonies where we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) for Year 4 students. This is an important milestone for students and is another step in their sacramental journey of the Catholic faith. Please keep our Year 4 students in your thoughts and prayers over the coming weeks.

Mother’s Day Stall - Friday 7th May

On Friday 7th May, the students will have the opportunity to purchase something from the Mother’s Day stall, thanks to the St Simon’s Parents’ Association. Classes will be visiting the mother’s day stall at a scheduled time on the day.

Parents and carers: if you would like your child\ren to purchase something from the stall then please send them to school with the appropriate amount of money to allow them to buy something special.

Wishing all our St Simon’s mothers and mother figures a very happy Mother’s Day for this Sunday. (I will have a Mother’s Day message to share with the community in next week newsletter)

Staffing

It is my pleasure to announce that Hedy Carvalho has been appointed as Deputy Principal of St Simon the Apostle Primary School until the end of 2022. Hedy has been in an acting role for this position since Maree Fatouros went on long service leave and then retired from St Simon’s in 2020. I am grateful for the experience that Hedy has brought to the leadership team during the challenges of 2020 and heading into 2021. I am looking forward to working with Hedy, our leadership team and staff in this year of school review as we continue a path of continuous improvement for the students’ learning at St Simon’s.

Congratulation Hedy.

St Simon’s Parish Fete - Saturday 20th November

Despite the uncertain times caused by the COVID19 pandemic, the parish is planning to host the St Simon’s Fete later in the year.

The Fete is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a parish\school to build community, enjoy each other’s company and fundraise for important works and needs of parish and school.

The success of the Fete is strongly based on a solid volunteer base from parish and school, and so I would like to invite all families in our school community to consider how you might be able to assist with the Fete this year.

Finally, please put Saturday 20th November in your calendars now as we would like to see as many St Simon’s families as possible attend Fete day.

For more information go to stsimonsparish.com.au/fete

Date for the Diary: School Closure Day - Monday 17th May - Teacher Professional Development

Monday 17th May will be a student-free day to allow teachers to engage in professional learning activities.

Beyond Edu Care have a Day program available for families who would like to utilise this service. See the newsletter's Beyond Educare section for booking details.

God bless

Tom Wursthorn

Principal

Parenting Ideas