Principal's Message

Dear Parents, students and the wider community,

And so after 10 weeks, 2 of them in remote learning, Term 2 is finished!  But even with us losing two weeks of 'at school learning' we celebrated Alleluia Day, we celebrated an Anzac Liturgy, we said farewell to Miss Le Griffon who had her baby, Indi, we welcomed Mr Bright to help teach the Foundation classes, we formally opened our newly refurbished school areas with a variety of visitors headlined by Carrum parliamentarian Sonya Kilkenny, we welcomed Fr Martin Jeramias as our new Parish Priest, we had our School Photos, we had our House Cross Country and the Seaford District Track and Cross Country events, we had Saints in Schools work with our Year 3-6 students on leadership, we had a Foundation excursion to the Zoo, our Year 3 and 5 students completed NAPLAN, our Grade 5's had a Transition Day at JPC, our school participated in National Simultaneous Storytime, we celebrated Pentecost Day, we had a school promotional video filmed, we had the students participate in a series of Taekwondo lessons and just this week staff have sent home reports, we have held our Parent Teacher interviews, we have had Italian Day, many of our students have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a House Spirit Day was held today finding out who wants to be a Ninja Warrior!! A very full term of important experiences that complement the traditional curriculum and make St Anne's a school where great learning occurs educating the whole child. 

Speaking of this week I have greatly enjoyed attending the Year 3/ 4 Learning Expo on Space and the Year 5/ 6 expo on Natural Disasters. These great exhibitions conclude what have obviously been very interesting Inquiry units. Well done to students for sharing their learning and parents for the support they provided in helping to create the student's presentations. 

Italian Day was a lot of fun as we celebrated both learning and culture. Gelati, pizza, Italian themed activities and a wonderful slapstick visit from our regular performing group. These two comedians entertained both young and old as they taught everybody how to make gnocchi. Fair to say I wouldn't be letting your children loose in the kitchen to cook you gnocchi relying on how they were taught on Wednesday!! Thank you to the P & F who ensured the pizza was distributed as it had been ordered - no mean feat!

On Wednesday and Thursday afternoon many of you will have met with your child/ren's teacher/s to set some goals for second semester and celebrate together what the students have achieved in the first semester. Thank you for your attendance and thanks to staff for the effort they put into preparing the reports and to both staff and families in seeking to build positive relationships for the benefit of our students. 

On Thursday this week many of our students celebrated their Sacrament of Reconciliation. It has been a long wait for many to recommence their Sacramental journey which began with their Baptism. We thank Fr Martin for his flexibility in finding a date for this and we are obviously saddened that due to COVID restrictions that families could not join the ceremony. Mrs Thomas and myself however were very proud to support the students in your absence. The 21 students reflected on the story of Zacchaeus and his actions in both seeking forgiveness and looking to make better choices in the future. 

As part of the examination of conscience we prayed these three sentences and I thought you may appreciate reflecting on them:-

Forgive me Lord, for when I have hurt others and I did not help them.

Forgive me Lord, for the times I have refused or was unable to forgive.

Forgive me Lord, for the times I have not lived well or followed your example.

Father appreciated how respectful and well prepared the students were so congratulations to the staff and most particularly the families. All the parents should feel very proud. 

Today the term concluded with a House Spirit suggested celebration day as the children were able to challenge themselves on a modified Australian Ninja warrior course. I trust everyone enjoyed it and thank you to Mrs Lacey as House Spirit Leader and the House Spirit team for their drive in getting this event to happen for the good of their peers. 

We are a school that has a uniform policy and correct uniform is expected, subject to any medical issues.  I also understand there is an occasional day where your child may be out of uniform due to other reasons. However I have noticed some variations to uniform recently which appear to be occurring consistently for some children. A reminder that with the girls' winter uniform white socks and stockings are not part of it. I have also noticed that some of the older students are regularly in runners. If, for medical reasons, any changes to uniform are needed please advise the class teacher of this. If students do need to wear alternate footwear can you please ensure that socks are the correct colour and shoes are black if at all possible. 

I have been asked by our 'Hour of Power' mums who do so much with our gardens that if anyone has any external doors at home we need to replace some on the back fence. We are not after the hollow ones as when left in the weather they split and peel as you would have noticed if you use the rear entrance of the school. Please contact the office if you can help with this. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful half year break. See you all on Monday 12th July. 

God Bless

Rod Shaw

Principal

School Attendance and Unexplained Absence

Please ensure you contact the school before 9:30am if your child is going to be absent or late  by leaving a message on 9786 4736 and press #1.

If you are running late (after  9:00 am ) please attend the office to sign your child into school. 

As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:

Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a phone call or text message.

If parent does not reply or is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.

If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.

Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.

This is a legal requirement.