22 Term 1 Week 5

We acknowledge the major Catholic events held this week, we welcome new students and staff to Stella, we invite you to an important meeting and we reiterate our messages of providing a safe and supportive learning environment. This is Week 5 of Term 1.  

A BIG WEEK IN OUR CATHOLIC LIFE:

This week was a big week in our Catholic school. On Tuesday, we acknowledged Shrove Tuesday with the traditional ‘cook up’ of pancakes. Shorove Tuesday is a long held religious tradition of 'preparing' for the fasting of Lent. 

On Wednesday we gathered in full voice in our classrooms as we live streamed our Ash Wednesday liturgy. We acknowledged the beginning of the very important season of Lent. Lent is a period of forty days leading up to Easter. It is a time of prayer and reflection on the way we live our lives – we are challenged to be ‘better people’. Traditionally it is a time where we might ‘give something up’. This year we are also challenging our students to ‘take something on’ – something that may make a difference for other people in their lives. It might be something at home – cleaning up a room without being asked, setting the dinner table, fighting less with a sibling! It might be making an effort to say hello to someone at school who they don’t normally say hi to. A kind word, a cheery good morning, a good deed to someone we might not even know. Jesus taught us and challenges us to be true peacemakers. This Lent our challenge is to live our life as compassionate peacemakers. What a world we would have if this was our reality.

Another great traditional aspect of Lent is our support of Caritas Australia through Project Compassion. All families should have received a letter from Paula and their Project Compassion boxes yesterday. I encourage you to engage in our Project Compassion mission – you can visit their website: https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/  for more information. Thank you to all families who began our fundraising initiative with almost $500 raised through the gold coin donation on Tuesday.

I thank Paula Clark for her leadership in ensuring the week has had the focus it deserves and to Tony and our parent helpers for their work in cooking and serving over 400 pancakes on Tuesday. You can read more about this in Paula’s article.

STUDENT AND STAFFING NEWS:

It was great to have Francesca McMillan start with us this week. Francesca has begun in her role as ESO-Curriculum support and will support a variety of classes in her time with us. Please say hello to Francesca if you see her around the yard.

We also welcomed some new students over the last couple of weeks. Madeline and Evie (5HM) and Lachlan (5DM) and Levi (2PH) have joined our community. We wish them well as they begin their time with us.

PARENT-TEACHER CONVERSATIONS:

We had planned to hold Parent-Teacher conversations in Week 8 of this term. Unfortunately COVID rules still dictate that these conversations are unable to go ahead in a face-to-face manner which we are very keen to do. As such, we will look to hold these conversations in Week 10 with the hope that restrictions will lift and allow us to hold them as face-to-face. 

Further information will be provided in the coming weeks.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:

We will hold our school’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday the 30^th March at 7:00pm. We have put this back a little, again in the hope that we are able to welcome parents and community members to this important meeting. Further information will be provided in the coming weeks.

One of the important elements of our AGM is to elect parents to our School Board. We have 5 of our School Board members whose two year tenure comes to an end at the AGM. As such, we are calling for nominations for parents to join our School Board. A Catholic School’s Board is a significant position of leadership in the school community.

Each School Board member serves for a period of two years and the main responsibility is to be involved in monthly Board meetings at the school. Many people don’t consider themselves suitable or ‘qualified’ to serve on the Board, when in truth, all that is required is that you are parent in the school AND have a passion and enthusiasm to see our school succeed. 

Please consider your nomination or someone else in the community who you think would make a good Board member. If you need any further information about becoming a member of the School Board, please see myself, Rachel Miller (current Board Chair) or any current member of the School Board.

ENSURING OUR SCHOOL IS A SAFE PLACE FOR ALL:

As the school year commences I want to assure all parents and carers of our absolute commitment to ensuring that Stella Maris is a safe place for all. Some of our key initiatives include the fact that:

• Our staff are committed and trained to protect the children and young people in our care. 
• All staff and regular volunteers have current police checks and necessary training and induction.
• We teach our children age-appropriate strategies to keep themselves safe through South Australia’s Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum.
• Staff complete certification and undertake regular updated training in Responding to Abuse and Neglect in Education and Care Settings.
• We also promote strategies to minimise bullying and help students stay safe online (see SAFE information below). 

Additional information about the broader protection policies of Catholic Education SA can be found on their website. http://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/safe-environments-for-all. The website also includes links to online resources for parents and students on a range of topics including anxiety, depression, bullying and how to support your child. 

If you have any questions or concerns about child safety please contact me. 

S.A.F.E ACTION PLAN – BULLYING AND HARASSMENT:

As a Principal, my number one job is to keep all members of our community feeling safe and positive. Unfortunately, our world and indeed our school is not perfect and occasionally we are faced with the challenges of conflict. Often this can be in one-off situations and can be dealt with relatively quickly and easily through conversation and discussion. But on occasion, unwanted behaviour continues and develops into what we define as Bullying behaviour. Bullying by definition is behaviour which is ongoing, targeted, deliberate and often involves a power imbalance. 

At Stella Maris, we use our S.A.F.E Action plan for students at our school who feel as though another student (or students) are treating them poorly. Each class has been explicitly taught this Action plan and copies of it are up around the school. A copy of the Action plan can be found further down in our newsletter today. I encourage you to discuss this plan with your child and use it when your child speaks to you about a challenging situation at school. 

Of course, as always, if you are concerned about anything in particular about the way your child is being treated here at school, you are encouraged to see your child’s teacher or myself.  

Bullying is unwarranted, unwanted and will not be tolerated at our school. 

As we continue to roll through Term 1 at breakneck speed, despite the COVID challenges we continue to face, our staff continue to work extra hard to ensure we maintain a calm, supportive and dynamic learning environment centred on each child’s holistic growth.  If you have any concerns, queries or otherwise, please feel free to chat to me, and I very much look forward to being back on deck on Monday. At the same time, I certainly thank Ella and Paula for their outstanding leadership on site while I continue to work from home.

Regards,

James

SHROVE TUESDAY – PANCAKE FUNDRAISER FOR PROJECT COMPASSION

What a fantastic fundraiser we held to celebrate Shrove Tuesday! Not only did the students enjoy their pancakes, they were also able to begin to unpack how their donations are able to help others in our world.

So far, our donations to this fundraiser for Project Compassion are over $500! Please note, donations are still able to be made either by bringing in a gold coin this week and giving it to the front office, or by using the Stella Maris QKR app.

Thank you to Tony Carbone and the parents and grandparents who helped us on the day, Sarah Stanborough, Sally Hocking, Megan Violi, Noelene Perry and Dianne Ward.

All donations collected from the day will be sent off to Caritas Australia to support their fundraising drive, Project Compassion.

ASH WEDNESDAY -THE BEGINNING OF THE LITURGICAL SEASON OF LENT

The liturgical Season of lent began on Wednesday with the marking of ashes on our foreheads. We came together virtually, each in our own classroom, with the year 6 students from Mr Hill’s class, Miss Clark and Fr Joseph – via video, leading us in this liturgy. We thank Mr Hill and his Year 6 Class for presenting the liturgy, Mrs Traeger for providing the music and leading the year 6 students who sang, and Mrs Kirkham for running the technology required to live stream the liturgy into each of our classrooms.

What is so important about Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is one of the most important holy days in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. Ash Wednesday opens the liturgical season of Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. The colour we associate with this liturgical season is purple.

Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. Ashes can also symbolize grief, and in this case, grief that we have sinned and caused division from God.

As the class teachers applied ashes to the children’s forehead, they said the words: “Turn away from sin and follow the way of the Gospel."

The ashes are made from blessed palm branches, taken from the previous year's Palm Sunday Mass.

PROJECT COMPASSION – CARITAS AUSTRALIA

During the Liturgical season of Lent, Caritas Australia run their fundraising campaign, Project Compassion. The theme of this year’s campaign is, ‘Together we can make a difference, now and for all future generations.’

Each week over the five weeks of Lent, a story is shared of a different person or group of people who have received the support of the Project Compassion fundraiser to improve their life and the lives of others, now and for future generations.

This week I share with you the first two week’s stories.

Project Compassion Stories 2022

First Sunday of Lent:   5 & 6 March – Anatercia - Mozambique

Anatercia 12, was struggling to cope with adult responsibilities after her father died. Then she participated in Caritas Australia- supported training and gained access to psychosocial supports.

Now, Anatercia can easily access clean drinking water, community members are able to grow healthy crops all year round, and there is enough nutritious food to eat. Anatercia feels better supported by her community, has more time to study and do her homework, and hopes to fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse.

Second Sunday of Lent: 12 & 13 March – Biri - India

Biru 30, lives in a rural village in Jharkand State in India’s east. He lost mobility in one of his legs, after contracting polio as a child, which makes it difficult for him to walk. With your generous support, Biru was able to access an entrepreneurship and livelihoods development program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas India. He gained the skills, support and encouragement he needed to establish his own bicycle repair business.

Now, Biru is able to provide a good life for his family – and an essential service to his community. He has discovered a sense of pride, confidence and hope which has inspired others living with a disability and paved the way For All Future Generations. 

Please donate to Project Compassion 2022 to help young people succeed in the future and bring stability to vulnerable youth and adults.

Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow For All Future Generations.

You can donate to Project Compassion either by using the donation boxes given to the eldest child in each family on Ash Wednesday, by visiting lent.caritas.org.au,  or by calling 1800 024 413.

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2022

Enrolments are now open for St Ann’s Parish Sacramental Program for 2022. Enrolment forms can be collected from the school office or from the foyer of Holy Spirit Church.

As a guide, Reconciliation is the first of the sacraments that students receive after Baptism and it is usually celebrated around year 3. Once children have celebrated Reconciliation the following year they are able to celebrate both Confirmation and First Holy Communion, normally around year 4.

If you are unsure which sacrament your child is able to celebrate this year please make contact with me at school either via phone or email; paula.clark@smps.catholic.edu.au

Please note all enrolment forms must be into the Parish office, 24A Ramsay Avenue, Seacombe Gardens, by close of business, Tuesday 8 March, so that planning can be finalised for these sacramental programs. (I am happy to take forms across to the office if they are returned to our front office prior to this date.)

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.

Paula Clark

APRIM

Classroom Pulse Check In 

With all that has been happening in the world of late, ensuring the wellbeing of our children is more important than ever before. We cannot underestimate the impact that the ‘different’ start to the year may have had on students. The shifting dynamics of these unprecedented times also continues to highlight that your child’s relationships, identity, belonging and learning are essential to their happiness and success at school. We recognise this and as a school and sector, we are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all students, in order for them to thrive.

This commitment saw the introduction of the Classroom Pulse Check In, which is completed by all students in week 5 of each term, in all Catholic Schools in South Australia. This Check In is in the form of a brief survey, which has been developed to ascertain how students are currently feeling about their experience in school. It provides us with an immediate snapshot of how they are feeling, which assists us in supporting any social, emotional, or learning needs that they may have. Furthermore, it is tailored to allow your child’s class teacher to check in and provide immediate feedback to support them.

A sample of the Classroom Pulse check in can be found at the following link: https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/news/wellbeing-initiative

We deeply value the home-school connections that we have within our Stella Maris community, which helps to support the needs of students. As always, I invite you to contact me at any time if you have any concerns related to your child’s learning and/or wellbeing.

Assessment

At Stella Maris, assessment is an essential element of our teaching and learning programs. We see assessment as the process of identifying, gathering and interpreting information about student achievement for a number of purposes. These include assisting students with their learning, evaluating and improving teaching and learning programs​ and providing information on student learning and progress in relation to the achievement standard​s. Teachers expertly gather all sorts of data in order to get to know students, what their needs are and the best ways to ensure progress with their learning. To assist with this, we are in the process of creating a whole school assessment schedule, which will allow us to identify key, research based assessments that we will use to measure student growth over time.

As a result of the work we have been doing, we have begun implementing DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), an assessment tool aimed at assessing literacy skills. DIBELS is a set of one minute subtests that are designed to detect students at risk and to monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills across R-6. DIBELS is conducted three times a year and results can be used to evaluate individual development as well as provide feedback against set benchmarks. We look forward to collecting this important data and using it to ensure we continue to meet the learning needs of our students across all year levels.

As James has mentioned, we are planning to hold Parent-Teacher conversations in Week 10 with the hope of them being face-to-face, where we will be able to share some of this data with you.

Kind Regards

Ella Kirkham

Assistant Principal (Learning & Wellbeing)

ella.kirkham@smps.catholic.edu.au

Dear families,

I'm writing this from isolation, like so many of us have experienced, including our Principal as we speak, or will experience in the near future. 

It is tough and shows how important community connection is to our wellbeing. It is true for me that the jobs sitting there waiting for you are not so appealing when you don't have the reward of heading out somewhere afterwards! However, I'm very grateful my household is feeling not too bad.

I'd like to bring awareness to March 8 - International Women's Day. A very important date that gives us a chance to celebrate the amazing women in our world, community and lives. Use this day to show recognition and appreciation to the girls and women in your life who are making the world a better place. This to me includes every woman here at Stella Maris who works so hard to make this school special. Well done also to Ella and Paula, two of our three leaders at school who have held the fort on the ground while James has been working hard from home. 

Emily Hughes

Pastoral Care Support|ESO