Dear Families,

We have had a great week at Trinity despite some very ordinary weather and have fortunately managed to get to the pool for swimming lessons thanks to our very resilient children, teachers and parent helpers. Having so many parents share in this part of our children's learning has been fantastic.

Next week is shaping up to be even busier with Careers Week beginning on Monday 15th May. Ms O'Connor has been busy planning for our Careers, Dress Up day on Wednesday 17th and all children are invited to dress up in an outfit to match the career they think they might love to pursue in the future. I am sure we will see some builders, teachers, astronauts, sports people, entrepreneurs, designers and who knows what other careers our children have in mind.

Next week our Juniors will continue their swimming lessons and our Year 3-6 students will be joining them as their program begins. Even though our older children are a little more independent we would still love to have some parents able to help out especially with the walk to and from the pool.

Parents & Friends

An essential ingredient in any successful school has to be an active and enthusiastic Parents & Friends Group. Whilst both these words accurately describe our current parents & friends members it would be great to see a few more people taking on these important roles. This will enable us to continue planning and running the many social and fundraising activities which are a big part of the school year. Even if you are not quite ready to put your hand up for a formal role like President, Secretary or Treasurer, just being part of the group can be a lot of fun and a very satisfying experience. Jenny, our current P&F president has included a page in this week's newsletter with all the information you need to know and I hope that we will hear from a few parents keen to lend a hand.

Mother's Day Stall & Breakfast

A reminder that tomorrow, Friday 12th, our Mother's Day stall will be running to allow children to purchase a special gift for their mums or a special person in their life. Our Mother's Day Breakfast will be once again held in the Library from 8am and we are looking forward to seeing a great crowd enjoy breakfast and a coffee or tea together. Brad will once again have his coffee cart here to serve up some delicious hot drinks.

AAP Goals

As I hope you are all aware, each year the Leadership Team at Trinity develop an Annual Action Plan for the year. Our Annual Action Plan sets out the priorities, goals and outcomes we hope to achieve thoughout the year. Over the next few weeks I will endeavour to share some of these and in particular those which directly involve our families working together with staff. Below I have outlined one of our main priorities and goals for this year which we will be hoping to gain input from our families.

Priority 3: Enable staff, student and parent voice to guide thinking and practice

Goal 4: Privilege the voice of families in planning and decision-making.

In order for us to achieve this goal some of our actions for the year will be to:

Survey Families to seek input in regards to communication and school policies
Invite families to contribute to a working group around communication and school policies

Our first step in working towards this is for all families to complete this Communication Google Form which I will also send via email.

Thank you all in advance for your input into our planning and initiatives which help to provide the best learning environment for our children.

SAC - School Advisory Council (School Board)

Thank you to our current members of the School Advsory Council. It is, of course, my hope that you will all be happy to continue in 2023. Whilst we do have an existing group I am still keen to hear from any new parents who might be interested in finding out more about the work of the SAC and how to join. The SAC is a very important part of the partnership with families and the school and acts as an advisory group to the Principal and Parish Priest.

The following are some ways the School Advisory Council supports the School and the Principal:

Promoting the school’s Catholic ethos and culture
Articulating and enacting the School’s Vision and Mission
Promoting faith formation and development
Capital resource planning and maintenance
Disseminating information about the School in accordance with the SAC's Terms of Reference
Reviewing & Implementing School policies as required
Supporting and communicating School and parish matters, including the School annual report
Giving advice on issues such as enrolments, School Improvement Plans and enrolment trends
Engaging in discussion about the annual School Budget and other financial matters
Giving advice about the school Master Plan

If you are interested to find out more or would like to consider joining the SAC in 2023 or 2024 please email me directly: principal@tcs.catholic.edu.au

Uniform Expectations

At the beginning of 2022 we began introducing our new school uniform. I believe all of our Prep and Year 1 students are now proudly wearing the new uniform as well as many other students from other year levels. It is important that each child is wearing their correct school uniform each day. Currently many children are wearing different coloured socks, tights, skivvies, hair ties etc. I will be reminding children of the uniform requirements over the next few weeks and appreciate all parents suport in this.

Xavier MCG Excursion

Twenty lucky students and Ms Maryanne were the guests of Xavier College last Saturday and what a wonderful day they had. Despite the clouds and some showers their first stop at the Maytime Fair was a great way to start the day. Some hot chips and a drink as well as much fun at the fair was followed by a private bus trip to the MCG to watch the Richmond Tigers take on the West Coast Eagles. Fortunately for all, especially Ms Maryanne the Tigers were victorious and made the day even more special. The Xavier staff and Ms Maryanne were extremely impressed by the children from Trinity and spoke very positively of their behaviour and gratitude throughout the day. Thanks also to all the parents who dropped off and picked up, on time to make sure the day was a great success. See the page in this week's School Newsletter with some great photos from the day.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and we at Trinity Primary School are excited to be participating.

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development.

It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 6 September 2023.

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge

Please let me, Mrs. Shaw, know if you would have any problems with your login.

Happy Reading

Mrs. Shaw Librarian

School Photos

A reminder that school photos will be taken on Tuesday 6th June. We will communicate further in the coming weeks. A photo order form has already gonme home with your child.

Prayer for Mothers

Lord, we are looking for a hand that holds and encourages us, that calms and protects us.

We need a hand that is strong and supports us, that accompanies and guides us.

Mothers have such hands for us. We thank you for that today and every day of our lives.

Amen.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

PARENTING AND SUPPORT SERVICES

Being a parent or caregiver can be challenging as well as rewarding.

You want to do the best for your child in a world that often looks very different from the one you grew up in. That's why the City of Yarra offers a range of parenting sessions, course and resources for families.

Yarra City has some really interesting and informative sessions coming up over the next few months. Parenting information sessions | Yarra City Council

Return to Work is designed for women returning to work (RTW) after parental leave, and those looking to enter or re-skill after a period away from paid work. It will be delivered online on Thursday 25 May @ 7:30pm.

Food for Thought – introduction to solids is an online session delivered by Maternal Child Health and Allied Health professionals on ways to transition your child from breast or bottle feeding. For parents of children aged 4 – 7 months the session is on Wednesday 19 July @ 10:30am.

First Aid for Parents gives parents practical tips and advice on safety with young children. It will be held on Thursday 20 July @ Bargoonga Nganjin in the evening at 6:30pm. There is a $50 charge per person.

Toilet Training will be delivered online on Wednesday 26 July @ 7:30pm and is full of great tips to help parents with young children preparing for toilet training.

Community Calendar - Keep up with our important dates!

Kind Regards

Nigel Rodrigues

Principal

Excursion to the MCG and Xavier College