Where Everyone is welcome!

Calendar Dates- What's on.

MARCH

2nd    Artist in School

8th     Yr 3-4 Summer Sports Gala Day

13th   Labour Day Public Holiday

21st   Harmony Day

23rd   Yr 5-6 Summer Sports Gala Day

28th   About Real Life - Online parent meeting

APRIL

5th      School Photos

6th      End of Term 1 - 1.00pm Dismissal

24th    School Closure Day - Staff PD

25th    ANZAC Day Public Holiday

26th   School resumes for Term 2

PLEASE NOTE:  SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS IS BETWEEN 8.40AM TO 3.45PM ON SCHOOL DAYS. 

PRAYER

Let us praise our loving Redeemer, who gained for us this season of grace, and pray to him, saying: Lord, create a new spirit in us. Christ, our life, through baptism we were buried with you and rose to life with you, – may we walk today in newness of life

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends,

In the second week of the Lenten season we are encouraged to reflect on the biblical story of Jesus’ time in the desert where he fasted and prayed before his death and resurrection. This is an opportune time for us to think of how we are living our lives and consider what our priorities are.

Artist in Residence

This week all students have worked with artists Olana and Abbey who have supported us in our art project. This project was funded by the Artist in Residence grant we received from the City of Whitehorse last year. Our theme was belonging and gathering as a community and linked to students’ learning in Civics and Citizenship and Health and Physical Education. The project entailed painting our shipping container which has been transformed into a beautiful art piece that will remain as a special memory of the classes of 2023. 

NAPLAN

NAPLAN begins in the week commencing 13 March for students in Grades 3 and 5. Tests will be online this year except for the Writing test for Grade 3. The schedule is as follows:

Student Representative Council 

Our Student Representative Council (SRC) is an important part of student leadership at St Philip’s. The purpose of the council is to report and reflect on concerns or ideas raised by individual students or class groups. Congratulations to this year’s SRCs: Teddy (Prep), Christopher (Grade 1), Aria (Grade 2), Maria (Grade 3), Carol (Grade 4) and Daisy (Grade 5). Our Student Representative Leader, Sophie (Grade 6) will help to lead the SRC this year.  

District Swimming

Yesterday Chloe G, Ethan A and Sophie K represented St Philip’s at the district swimming. They are all to be congratulated, not just for their efforts in the pool, but also for their team spirit and for being good sports and supporting each other. Thank you also to Nicole G for her support on the day. 

Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week commences Sunday 12 March. During that week, the school will be open from Tuesday 14 March until Friday 17 March from 11.30am until 1.00pm. Parents and friends are welcome to come into the school to see their child/ren’s learning spaces and some of the learning they have done this term. 

Sexuality Education

Sexuality education begins in the home and is supported by the school as part of a broader health curriculum and student wellbeing. Parents and carers of students in Grades 3 to 6 are invited to an information evening, presented by Sue Pain from About Real Life, on Tuesday 28 March at 7.00pm. This is an online meeting. Further details will follow. 

School Closure Day

Throughout the year we have four school closure days that are used to support teachers’ professional learning and development. Our first closure day is planned for Monday 24 April, 2023. On this day staff will engage in first aid training. Term 2 will commence on Wednesday 26 April following ANZAC Day.

Warm regards,

Michelle Worcester

Principal 

HATS

As part of the school’s SunSmart policy students are required to wear a school hat in Term 1 and Term 4 when they are outside. Hats can be purchased at our school Uniform Supplier Beleza or department stores such as K-Mart, Target, Best & Less or Big W.

CSEF

The Victorian Government are once again offering the Camp, Swimming, Excursion Fund to families who qualify. An information Flyer is attached to this newsletter. If you hold a Centrelink Health Care Card please come to the office to obtain an application form. Please Note: An Eligible Health Care Card would also provide eligibility for the School Fees Concession Program. Please see the office for further information.

SCHOOL FEE STATEMENTS

2023 Fee & Levy Statements have been emailed to families. Please ensure regular payments are made as per instructions on the statement. Please contact the school office 

if you have any queries.

TUCKSHOP

The Tuckshop will be closed for the next 2 Fridays - March 3rd and March 10th. 

STEM 

STEM- Recyclable items needed please

In our STEM lessons we will soon begin our marble run project! We will require recyclable household items to help the children create their own marble run. Could I please ask families to collect recyclable items, such as cereal boxes, cardboard tubes (from foil and cling wrap) tissue boxes, paper plates etc. Please bring the items to school and place them in the collection box outside the Art Room.

Thank you very much for your support.

Michelle Sherriff

SHROVE TUESDAY

All students enjoyed making and devouring pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.  Thank you to our parent volunteers for organising this event.

HARMONY DAY

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Harmony Day is a day where we celebrate all countries getting along with each other. It is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism and the successful integration of migrants into our community. We will be celebrating this special day at school on Tuesday 21st March. 

Home Learning

We ask families to discuss and choose a recipe that reflects your cultural origins or is a favourite, and send it to school with your child/children. 

All the recipes will be compiled to create a school cookbook to share amongst our school and parish community.

Gabe Kinsman

Student Wellbeing Leader

ARTIST IN SCHOOL

Our students showing how creative they are as they work together to paint the shipping container. What a masterpiece!

Parents & Friends

Week 5- Updates

Thank you to all of the volunteers we had for Shrove Tuesday. What a wonderful morning it was, the students and staff really appreciated all of the time and effort everyone put into making it a success!

See below for important P&F notices:

Easter Raffle

We are looking for donations of Easter goodies to make up the prizes for the Easter Raffle. Every class will have a collection box for you/your child to drop off your contributions. We are looking for Easter themed gifts, crafts, decorations as well as chocolates! Thank you for your joyful support of our fundraisers. Raffle tickets will be sent home next week. 

Class Reps

We are still looking for Parent Reps for classes 1/2, 3/4, and 5/6! Tasks include; sharing P&F communication with other classroom parents via a whatsapp group and end of year thank you gift for classroom teacher/s. Many hands make light work! See the sign up sheet here - https://volunteersignup.org/QK4B8   

Cake Raffle 

Thank you for your enthusiastic support of the cake raffle. There are still a number of slots to fill for the rest of term!

Week 5 - Joanne

Week 6 - Needed

Week 7 - Needed

See the sign up sheet here - https://volunteersignup.org/BKTTK 

Cakes need to be delivered to the school office on Friday morning.

Please include your family name and ingredients.

Tuck Shop

Thank you to Nicole and the tuckshop team for running tuckshop, enjoy the next 2 weeks break, the kids (and parents) look forward to seeing you again on the 17th March! 

Looking to get involved? Please contact: Nicole George - 0409 253 863 

Entertainment books are another piece to our fundraising puzzle. When you sign up you receive 12 months of discounts and offers - and our school benefits - 20% of every membership purchased goes to support our school! 

https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/9a27151

Ashley Mitcham and Veronika McLindonpandf@stphilipbbn.catholic.edu.au

Community

Online Safety

Dear Parents and Guardians,

New research has uncovered the top five platforms young people feel the most unsafe whilst using. Click on the link below to access the article from INEQE Safeguarding Group, a company who believe in empowering people to stay safer through education and the use of innovative technology.

Pupils most commonly feel unsafe whilst using:

• Roblox (15%)
• Snapchat (12%)
• Instagram (7%)
• TikTok (6%)
• Fortnite (4%)

The Pupil Safeguarding Review of Top 5 Platforms 

Gabe Kinsman

Student Wellbeing Leader

Our Lady Of Sion College

OPEN DAY 

Tuesday 21 March, 2.30–6.30 pm 

See how your child will embrace life at Sion

Australian Youth Choir.