22 Term 4 Week 1

There is always something special about returning to school after a holiday break. Our students and staff are well rested and re-energised and students are excited to reconnect with each other – there is a special buzz in the playground and classrooms! With the sun shining on Monday as it was, it made for an even more exciting start to Term 4. When we met for our whole school notices which occur on Monday mornings, I described the noise as students entered as an ‘excited chatter’. It is great to be back. Welcome to Term 4!

A BUSY, BUSY TERM:

As I have recently mentioned in correspondence to you, Term 4 is shaping as a particularly busy one. I often say the most important way families can be ‘involved’ in their child’s education is to ensure that they know what is going on. I also acknowledge that you are often inundated with information and constant messages from us here at school. If you are also engaged at other schools with other kids – the amount of information often doubles and triples in nature!

As we navigate the next few weeks however, I would ask that you support us by ensuring you read carefully about and are aware of the many pieces of information we will send to you. In most cases this will take place via email or See Saw. Please ensure you check your email regularly and read and action the items which require it.

Please see the important whole school, class and cohort dates that are outlined in the newsletter and other correspondence.

SOCTOBER INITIATIVE THIS FRIDAY:

These events kick off with our Year 5 Soctober initiative occurring this Friday. As part of our commitment to supporting Social Justice initiatives and in particular in this case those who are much less fortunate that us, we are supporting Catholic Missions in their work.  More information about this was posted on See Saw earlier in the week.

In short on Friday:

• Students are invited to wear a favourite sporting team top or socks.
• Each class will participate in a game of soccer organsied by our Year 5s - with a twist! The balls they will use will be made of recycled socks and plastic bags to drive home the message that we  often take for granted what we have to use in our everyday life.
• We are asking that families donate a gold coin (in person) or a small donation (via the QKR! App).
• Families are also invited to send in any plastic bags they have lying around or odd socks. These will also be donated to Catholic Missions so more soccer balls can be made.

Thanks for your support of this initiative.

DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH:

What do Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg, Picasso, Dick Smith, Tom Cruise and Steve Jobs have in common? They are all very famous (and some very rich) people who were also diagnosed as having dyslexia. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

We are learning more and more about dyslexia and the number of people who have being diagnosed with dyslexia is increasing significantly. It is believed that is because we are becoming more and more aware of it, and many people in the past (and today) have probably had dyslexia but never been diagnosed with it.

October is Dyslexia awareness month. This is a great opportunity to shine a light on dyslexia and we are encouraged to spread the word about ways to support people living with dyslexia, by sharing their stories and planning activities that support their learning.

As I am sure you would know we pride ourselves on ensuring we have in place excellent support structures and knowledge around best practice in supporting students with dyslexia.

ANOTHER STATE CHAMPION TEAM:

Our sporting trophy cabinet is going to need an upgrade! Yesterday our Senior Girls Basketball team became the third Stella Maris sporting side to be crowned as SAPSSA State Champions, taking out the championship with a commanding 5-0 whitewash of other schools throughout the day. This is a fantastic achievement by the girls.

We thank Helen Minnear, Kym Hill and Larry Clark for their coaching, support and preparation of the girls throughout the year.

KATHY GROAT:

Over the holidays, our Finance manager Kathy Groat had a nasty fall and dislocated both bones leading to her elbow. I hear this is as painful as it sounds. While Kathy is now recuperating and recovering comfortably at home, as you can imagine, she will need to have some time away from school as she does so.  Kathy will be continuing to do some work from home, so if you need to get in contact with her, please do so via email in the first instance. With Tony also away on camps over the coming weeks, please bare with us as we may be a little short staffed in the front office.

CANTEEN IS BACK:

I am pleased to let you know that our canteen will be back up and running from next week! After a relatively long hiatus due to COVID, we are very pleased to say that the canteen will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the term. At this point, we will be selling ice blocks for 50c.

2023 PREPARATIONS AND CLASS PLACEMENTS:

We are finalising our plans for the 2023 school year and in the coming weeks I look forward to sharing more information and details about the year ahead with you including teaching and ESO appointments.

I can let you know that for next year we will continue to have the same class structure as this year with two classes per year level from Year 1 – Year 6. Due to increased enrolment interest, we have accepted a third class of Reception students next year.

One of the very important aspects of our work in Term 4 is the organisation of classes for the following year. I can tell you from previous experiences, that this is very involved and time consuming work. There are many things which we consider when we place students in particular classes. Educational, behavioural, well-being and social needs and a balance between them is vital.

In the first instance I would ask that you trust that our teachers, who know your children in the school environment extremely well will put the time and energy and consideration into placing your child into what they would determine to be a suitable class for the following year. 

If you would like any aspect of your child’s needs in terms of class placements considered when we complete placements, I would ask that you put this in writing to me via email. I would ask that this is completed no later than Friday 28^th October. 

Please ensure that your request has a clear ‘educational’ reason behind them and if you need to discuss any further information with me about this, you are welcome to do so in person. I would also suggest that requesting specific teachers is generally unhelpful – as often there will be changes to the teaching structures and personnel we have in place from year to year.

REMINDERS:

The start of the term is always a good time to remind parents of important whole school practices.

LATE ARRIVALS:

As you know our gates are open from 8:15am and close at 8:50am. Our expectation is that students arrive at school anytime between 8:15am and 8:40am when our classroom doors open. Our day officially begins at 8:45am. Arriving on time is a very important deal. Often the first 5 – 10 minutes of each day involves important information and preparation for the day ahead.

We often find that when students arrive late, they are rushed and this impacts upon their success in the morning learning block – which is generally the core curriculum area of Literacy / English.

Please ensure that you are making the effort so that your child arrives on time to school.

PICK UPS AND DROP OFFS:

I am aware that we have had some cars parked in our Kiss and Drop/Pick up area in the first few days of the term. We have been unable to identify who this is, but believe it may be a new resident who has moved into the area. We have provided a polite reminder note about the importance of having this area free from parked cars during these times.

We’d ask that you ensure that you read and pass on these messages to any member of your family who uses our Kiss and Drop area in the morning or afternoon:

• Don’t arrive prior to 3:00pm to pick your child up. There is no point, students do not leave classrooms until 3:00pm and you risk a $192 fine for ‘parking’ in a no parking space. Instead, arrive between 3:05 – 3:15pm and this will ensure that you will be waiting for no longer than the 3 minutes allowed. We have staff on duty and supervising students until 3:20pm, so there is no need to rush to get to pick up time.
• If you arrive and the line in the Kiss and Drop in Mulga Street is full, do a lap of the block and wait until a spot in Mulga St opens up. It is both illegal and very dangerous to ‘line up’ down Ramsey Avenue.
• Ensure that if you are using the Kiss and Drop to collect your child, they can quickly, easily and without adult support get in the car, do their seatbelt up and allow you to move off from the line straight away. There really should not be a need for you to get out of your car at this time. If there is, we’d ask that you park and walk in to school to collect the students.
• We will keep reminding students of the need to be ‘ready’ and concentrating on knowing when your car arrives.

As always I thank you for your continued support of our school!

James

PARISH MASS TUESDAYS TERM 4

This term students will join members of the St Ann’s Parish at Mass on a Tuesday at 9.15am, in multiyear level cohorts and also together as a whole school.

The Masses will be held on the following dates;

• Whole School Mass - Tuesday 1 November – All Saints Day
• Reception/ Yr 1/ Yr 2 Classes – Tuesday 8 November
• Yr 3/ Yr 4 Classes – Tuesday 15 November
• Yr 5/ Yr 6 Classes – Tuesday 22 November
• Whole School End of year Mass - Wednesday 7 December – 9.15am

At these Masses the children will have the opportunity to participate and to bring joy to the Parishioners with their beautiful singing led by Ms Traeger.

We would love to have families join with us at these Masses.

SOUTHERN CROSS

The current edition of the Catholic newspaper put out by the Archdiocese called,’ The Southern Cross,’ is available at; www.thesoutherncross.org.au

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

Our children are like mirrors – they reflect our attitudes in life.

God’s Blessings,

Paula Clark

APRIM

On Monday 24th October we will be celebrating Diwali (Deepavali) here at Stella, a very important festival in India that is known as 'the festival of lights.' As it is also celebrated with colour - children are invited to wear traditional dress on Monday, or a splash of colour - such as socks, hair accessory, ribbon or bracelet. We will have fun activities for the children to participate in and will look at the meaning of Diwali.

Emily Hughes

Pastoral Care Support