Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3. I hope the school holiday has provided you and your family some time to break from routine to rest and relax. Whilst travel further than the state may not have been possible, there may have been some families that travelled into regional areas. These short trips are a great way to refresh and relax.

Our Term ahead is full of lots of excitement for the students with activities such as NAIDOC Week, school camps, sports days for basketball as well as the swimming program, just to name a few.

As a school community, we will be commencing the preparatory work for School review this Term. School review is a great opportunity for our staff and parents to take stock of the strengths of our school community with the intention to set further improvement goals and targets. As a learning community, we are constantly adapting and reviewing the best ways to help students with their learning, and the School review creates a process for this to happen once every 4 years. The formal meeting part of the review process will take place in Term Four.

Staffing: Welcome

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mrs Ivonne Lucas who is joining our community this Term as a classroom teacher of Year 5G.

I would also like to welcome Mr Matthew Cherry as the newly appointed Learning Diversity Leader for our school.

Matthew and Ivonne will both certainly “hit the ground running” in their respective roles however they are well supported by our fantastic St Simon’s staff.

NAIDOC Week 2021 - Heal Country

NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life.

This year, NAIDOC Week was held from 4-11 July during the school holidays. As we return to Term 3, our school community will be engaging in activities and experiences that raise awareness and appreciation of our First Nation people.

As a whole school, students will be gathering in allocated clothing colours on Tuesday afternoon to form a human-made Aboriginal Flag as a sign of support and openness to learning about our First Nations people. We hope to be able to share the photos of this activity in next week’s newsletter.

I invite parents and families to “check-in” during school drop off and pick up with the NAIDOC Display located on the windows of the Atrium over the next few weeks to see some of the work and experiences that students have been participating in.

This week our school will be having three flag poles installed near the basketball courts and prep playground area. As part of our school and community culture, we will fly the Australian Flag, the Aboriginal Flag and Torres Strait Islander Flag. This serves as a reminder of the rich and sacred heritage the lands of Australia have to our First Nations people.

Car Parking and Safety

At the beginning of the Term, I would like to take the opportunity to remind our community regarding the importance of car park and pedestrian safety, within and surrounding the school.

As a parish and school community, we know that car parking is an inherent challenge for visitors to the site. The safety and wellbeing of all students and visitors to the parish and school site is the highest priority.

Car parking rules and regulations set out by the parish, school and Knox City Council are there to ensure that people move safely on and off the property.

The practice of parking on the nature strip on Taylors Lanes is illegal. The practice of making a U-Turn over a continuous solid line is illegal.

All school families are asked to take note and follow the signage on Gate 1 of the parish property. Please do not walk through these areas during school pick up or drop off time.

New School Zone Speed Advisory Signage Announced

Just prior to the school holidays, the school received news that project works would be commencing to make the section of the Wellington Road that runs along the side the parish and school site boundary into a School Zone reduced speed area. These works will include electronic speed advisory signs to indicate the appropriate speed limit for school zone times.

This is positive news and, to my understanding, is the result of the hard work and determination of many Rowville locals lobbying the various level of government and including Vicroads. These measures are a further step to ensuring the safety of children and families coming to and from school.

The Resilience Project: Importance of Sleep

The team at The Resilience Project have some insights and tips regarding the management of personal devices and screens. As a parent, I found this article helped me take time to think more closely about how to get the balance right in our household. Click here

School Canteen Resumes this Friday!

The school canteen resumes this Friday for service for the whole school. Thank you to amazing canteen volunteers that make this all possible for the students.

Families, please note throughout the course of the Term, there is a number of offsite events that different year levels are participating in (ie Hoop Time, Summer sport Days etc) where those students will not have access to the canteen. Please keep this in mind when planning your ordering.

God bless

Tom Wursthorn

Principal

Hooptime