Dear Parents and Friends of St Therese's School,

'MARANATHA' - Come Lord Jesus
Advent: Week 1 HOPE

Advent is a four week season of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas and it always has a theme of looking towards the future coming of Christ at the end times. One of the prayers of the early Church which is linked with the season of waiting and longing, was the Aramaic word 'MARANATHA', which means 'Come Lord'. Use this prayer often this week as one way to begin preparation for Christmas.

Advent Theme: God shows his mercy through the face of Jesus We need to be the face of Jesus in the world today. During this Advent season we are waiting "for all the individuals and nations on earth to grow into the kind of relationship with each other that will encourage mutual help instead of competition and conflict. Then the Kingdom of God will be established!".

Each week at Assembly we will learn more about Advent.

HOOPTIME

Congratulations to our A Team who played on Friday in the State finals at the Dandenong Basketball Stadium. While they didn't win overall, they won 3 out of the 4 games. St Therese's was proudly repesented by Declan C, Joshua P, Ela C, Ilia M, Mark D, Angelo E and Mia O. Thank you to Mr Sanchez for his support coaching and support to enable the team to get this far. Thanks to Mrs Beshera for helping on the day along with the parents who stayed to cheer the team on! Well done, we are very proud of you.

Christmas Nativity Concert

This Thursday 5th December, we will hold our annual Christmas concert. This year's theme is that of the traditional nativity. Miss Bishop has guided the teachers and prepared the children for the occasion.

Students are asked to wear Christmas colours and need to gather with the class teachers at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start.

Families are invited to a BYO family picnic at school prior to the beginning of the concert from 5:30pm.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

School Fees

All outstanding School Fees were due to be paid by November 30. If your family is experiencing difficulty with paying fees or you would like to arrange a direct debit please contact the office and speak to Colleen Johnson at your earliest convenience.

As advertised, this week the School will be sending home letters to all families who have made no attempt to pay their school fees.

Transition for 2020

Today, the children learned who their teachers are for 2020. The teachers spend a lot of time working out class lists and take the following factors into consideration; academic challenges and strengths, friendships and behaviour. Please understand that these lists are final. Often children become distressed if their best friend is not in the class with them. Please speak with your child about the fact that while in the classroom, learning is the priority and recess and lunch playtimes are a great time to connect with friends.

With that being said, change can be stressful for many. I ask that when your child comes home that you speak to them positively about their new teacher and class. Learning how to cope with change is part of growing up and in order to assist our children to become well adjusted and resilient adults, we need to model a positive attitude. If there is a concern, listen to and reassure your child and then please allow yourself and your child to 'sleep on it' before reacting.

I am pleased to announce that we have new staff joining our learning community in 2020.

Mrs Michelle Hinds will take on the role of Deputy Principal and Religious Education Leader.
Mr Michael Palmer will take on the role of Year 4 classroom teacher. Michael has been teaching for a number of years and is currently teaching at St Francis Xavier College in Beaconsfield.
Miss Caitlin Hall will take on the role of Year 2 classroom teacher. Caitlin has recently completed the Bachelor of Education at Australian Catholic University.
Miss Maddie Foster will take on the role of Year 3 classroom teacher. Maddy has recently completed the Bachelor of Education at Australian Catholic University. Both Caitlin and Maddy completed their final teaching placements at St Therese's and are already quite well known by our staff and students.

I know you will warmly welcome all new staff for 2020.

The class teachers and education support officers for 2020 are as follows;

Foundation - Ms Sharon Evans, Ms Colleen Kathard and Mrs Vanessa Cowan
Year One - Mrs Linda Carter, Mrs Meghan Brockman and Mr Zvonko M
Year Two - Mrs Rosie Osthmuller/Miss Jackie Bishop, Miss Caitlin Hall and Mrs Donna Weare
Year Three - Mrs Rosina Chandra, Miss Maddie Foster and Mrs Elle May
Year Four - Mr Michael Palmer, Miss Jane Heard and Mrs Kirsten Beshara
Senior - Miss Shelby Griffiths, Mrs Helen Hancock/Ms Meegan Blackney, Mrs Trish Lloyd/Mr Carlos Sanchez and Mrs Kerry O'Connell

The specialist teachers for 2020 are:

Languages - Japanese - Mrs Joy Andrews
Health & PE / PMP - Mr Carlos Sanchez & Mrs Carmel Perrins
Visual Arts - Mrs Catherine Hogan
Performing Arts - Miss Jackie Bishop

In 2020, Miss Irena Krejic will take leave for 12 months due to personal reasons. We wish her all the best and look forward to having her back in 2021. Mr Dobric will continue on leave and will not return in 2020. Mrs Carmel Perrins has decided to reduce her days next year and as such will teach for 3 days. Her duties will involve junior PE, PMP and releasing teachers.

You may remember that at the end of last year Mrs Lyn Kelly resigned and then to help us out she came back. Lyn has again officially resigned from her position as Education Support Officer. We wish her all the very best and I am very pleased that Lyn has offered to return in 2020 in a volunteer capacity.

The Leadership Team members and their roles for 2020 are as follows.

Michelle Bruitman - Principal
Michelle Hinds - Deputy and Religious Education Leader
Meegan Blackney - Learning and Teaching Leader/Classroom teacher
Rosie Osthmuller - Learning Adjustment Leader/Classroom teacher
Trish Lloyd - Student Wellbeing Leader/Classroom teacher
- Sharon Evans - Foundation Leader/Classroom teacher
- Meghan Brockman - Junior Level Leader/Classroom teacher
- Rosina Chandra - Middle Level Leader/Classroom teacher
- Shelby Griffiths - Senior Level Leader/Classroom teacher

The Admin Team is as follows:

Finance Officer - Mrs Colleen Johnson

Admin Officer - Mrs Kerry O'Connell/ESO

Maintenance - Richard Martin

Canteen & Library - Lynn Harris

Works around the school

The electricity upgrade continues and should be finished by the end of the Christmas holidays.

Tomorrow the new fence will be installed. This will mean during the school day any visitors will need to report to the office rather than being able to access the school grounds without signing in. This fence is required to assist us meet the Child Safety Standards. Please understand that the pedestrian gate will continue to be the main point of access for students and families entering and exiting the school.

New basketball court, netball court, volleyball court and carpark lines will be painted over the holidays. Congratulations to everyone for coming along to the disco and raising the money for this to happen!

I hope you all have a terrific week and enjoy the Christmas concert on Thursday.

Yours in Christ,

Michelle Bruitzman

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