23 Term 1 Week 7

Welcome to Week 7!

BUILDING:

As the photo above shows, our building project continues to take shape. This week significant preparation and civil works has continued in preparation for the concrete slab to be prepared in the coming weeks. 

LENT:
We are almost half way through the Lenten season. Lent is a time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus. During this time, which lasts for 40 days, we are asked to consider how we can be ‘better people’ – people more like how God would want us to live our lives. At Stella Maris, we name this type of life as living out our school values and to be a ‘Stella Person’ – living with Compassion, Respect, Inclusivity and Courage.

SOME IMPORTANT SAINTS TO CELEBRATE:

This week we recognise two significant Saints days. St Patrick’s Day occurs today - the 17^th of March and St Joseph’s Day is on Sunday 19^th March. Significantly, if not for both of these men, we probably wouldn’t be doing what we are doing in our school today.

St Patrick was an Irish missionary born some time in the 5th Century. This feast day has always held a significant cultural and religious presence in Australia because of the legacy of Irish history, faith, culture and religious practices of the Catholics in early Australia. St Patrick’s story – involving pirates, kidnapping and escape is the stuff of a Hollywood blockbuster! His strong faith in God and his commitment to spreading God’s message around the world make him a very important Saint in history.

St Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, with his spirit of simplicity and humility so inspired St Mary MacKillop and the Josephite Sisters (to this day) in their faith and everyday works. In South Australia there are over 30 schools with the name St Joseph, and all Catholic schools have strong links to the life and work of St Joseph. Without the influence and inspiration of St Jospeh, Mary McKillop may well have never begun the first Catholic school Penola in South Australia.

Both of these days are significant in our Catholic life. We are offered the opportunity to reflect on the messages and lives of these two great saints.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS:

Our Parents and Friends have been a busy committee over the last few weeks, with their first committee meeting occurring and a number of fundraising events on the go.

You will have or will shortly receive information about:

• The Colour Run – we are excited to have this very popular event back for this year. The 2023 Colour run will occur on Friday April 14^th (last day of Term 1) after lunch. Families received this information about how this will work in hard copy form last week. We are looking forward to a ‘colour-ful and fun’ afternoon.
• Kytons Easter Fundraiser – for all your Easter and holiday needs -including Hot Cross Buns, Choc-Chip cookies, Lamingtons and everything in between.  Orders are due by 29^th March and can be completed via QKR!
• Easter Raffle – we are looking for donations from all families so that raffle prizes can be put together for our Easter Raffle. Families will also be asked to purchase a book of raffle tickets – or even better to sell them to family and friends. We will draw the prizes at the end of Week 9.

Our next Parents and Friends meeting will take place on Tuesday 21^st March at 7:00pm here at school and as always, all parents are welcome to attend this meeting.

NAPLAN:

This week our students in Year 3 and 5 began sitting the NAPLAN tests. These are national assessments in Literacy and Numeracy. This year these tests are being sat earlier than normal. Our students have managed the Writing and Reading tests well and next week will tackle the Language Conventions (including Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and Numeracy tests.

Our students are encouraged, as they are in all aspects of their schooling, to give their best in these assessments.

CLASSROOM PULSE SURVEY:

Over the last couple of weeks all students in Reception – Year 6 completed the Classroom Pulse Survey. This is effectively a ‘Well-being’ survey which asks students 8 questions about how they feel about school life. There are two different surveys, one for Reception – Year 3 students and another for Year 4 – 6 students. The surveys ask they same thing, while using more age-appropriate language depending on the survey. These surveys are then re-done in Week 5 of each term.

We have access to these results straight away and we make it a priority to ensure that we look at and use this data at an individual student, class and whole school level. In all this terms survey results, the data that tells us the very high majority of our students are happy, feel safe and feel like they are learning.

THE RESILIENCE PROJECT:

Our Pupil free day last Friday was dedicated to Wellbeing. We spoke about the importance of understanding Wellbeing and the interconnected nature of Wellbeing and learning. We also spent a fair bit of the day looking at a new project which we will be working with this year. The Resilience Project - Partnership Program - is a school based educational program with a strong focus on Wellbeing and learning about the importance of Emotional Literacy, Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. Our staff have begun to engage with the project and the school program, and we will begin to use this in classes over the next few weeks. Early in Term 2 we will be inviting parents to take part in parent workshops where we will unpack this work further and explain how you to can use this program to support your child's Wellbeing.

For more information about The Resilience Project, you can visit this site:

https://theresilienceproject.com.au

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:

On Wednesday night we held our Annual General Meeting. This is an opportunity for us to review and discuss the 2022 school year – the things which we were proud of, our achievements and growth and the areas which were challenging. As part of this process, an AGM Booklet with all of the reports is produced. If you would like a copy of the AGM booklet, please email Carol in the front office and she will send you copy.

On the night, we also formalised our 2023 School Board personnel. This year we had 3 Board members whose tenure had come to an end. Andrew Colette (Xavier Y1 and Ethan Y4) and Katherine Thrussell (Phoebe Y6) renominated for another term and we farewelled Brendan Duffy who after a number of years of service to the Board will be taking a break.

HARMONY DAY:

Next week is Harmony Week and as well as various activities through the week, we will acknowledge this important day on Thursday 23^rd March. Harmony Day is a ‘Nation wide’ day that aims to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.​ This sits so comfortably and aligns perfectly with our School Values of Compassion, Respect, Inclusivity and Courage. Activities will occur in classrooms and students are invited to wear a ‘splash of orange’ OR dress in cultural dress which celebrates the cultural diversity of students in our school. 

PARENT-TEACHER CONVERSATIONS:

Parents would have received an email from me earlier this week regarding Parent-Teacher Conversations which for most classes will occur in Week 9 of this term. Please read the email carefully and book in for a conversation with your child’s teacher as soon as possible.

As always, please know that my door is always open should you wish to come and chat to me about anything at all.

Take care,

James

Dear families and friends,

We are now in the third week of the Lenten Season and I thought it timely to put a human face to the recipients of our generosity when we donate to Caritas Australia’s, Project Compassion.

Let me introduce you to ‘Priscilla who lives in the Hwange district in Zimbabwe with her husband, Charles and two of their grandchildren. Climate change continues to bring unprecedented challenges for people living in the most vulnerable and remote communities in Zimbabwe. During times of intense drought and food shortages, Priscilla had to commute to the town centre and wait in long queues to collect food.   With the support of Caritas Hwange, Priscilla learnt conservation farming skills to grow drought-resistant crops and started poultry farming to support her family during the current food crisis. Priscilla was able to produce a bumper harvest in her first year of practising in conservation farming. Priscilla also used the funds from her harvest to start poultry farming, which enabled her to sell eggs to pay for her grandchildren’s school fees, books and stationery. The poultry farming provides a safety net for Priscilla and her family during times of hardship, like the current drought.

While the situation in Zimbabwe and across eastern Africa remains dire, the work of Caritas Hwange means that Priscilla can learn the techniques, tools and resources she needs to build resilience and support her family during this current food crisis.’

If you go to the Caritas Website, you can find many such stories of vulnerable people and communities who are supported and provided with targeted education, materials, mentors and funds to regain their independence and open the door to a hope filled and promising future.  So please don’t forget to try and fill the donation box your child/children brought home a couple of weeks ago, or if you prefer you can donate via the website.  Every little bit helps!   www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion.

 Stella Project Compassion initiatives

We are very grateful to our Yr. 6 classes who are putting ‘justice into action’ by selling ice blocks each Wednesday at lunch times to raise funds and are participating in the Annual Caritas Fun Run/Walk on Monday March 27, with other schools in our region.   Also, Chandra has organised a Book Sale this coming Monday (see information attached) and the money raised will be going to Caritas as well.

Sacramental Programme

We have received a few more Registration forms from families and it is not too late to still put one in.  The Sacramental Team has met to plan and is very much looking forward to the first Family Session for the Sacrament of Reconciliation which is at 7pm on Tuesday March 28 in the Holy Spirit Church hall.  Please email me if you need an information sheet and form.  tanya.stott@smps.catholic.edu.au

Classes attending Tuesday Morning 9.15am Parish Mass

Next Tuesday March 21 our Yr. R – 2 classes will be joining parishioners for the Tuesday morning mass and the following week, our Yr. 3 students will be attending.  We warmly invite families and friends to join us – it really is a lovely way to begin the day!

Celebrating St Patrick (Patron Saint of Ireland) and St Joseph (husband of Mary)

The feast days of these two well known saints fall on March 17^th and 19^th respectively.  We honour St Patrick for the work he did in bringing the Christian faith to Ireland and for living his life true to the Gospel values.  St Joseph is honoured for the love, care and dedication he gave to his little family – Mary his wife and Jesus.

I will leave you with a traditional Gaelic blessing….

“The blessing of light.

May the blessing of light be upon you, light without and light within…

And in all your comings and goings, may you ever have a kindly greeting from any you meet along the road.”

Many blessings,

Tanya Stott

Next Thursday (23rd March) students are invited to wear a splash of orange, or cultural dress as we celebrate Harmony Week, which is a "Celebration of Cultural Diversity." The theme this year across Australia is "Everybody Belongs". Students will engage in activities across the week, with the main focus being on Thursday where they will participate in a Bollywood Dance Lesson and spend some time with their buddy classes looking at how 'everybody belongs' in Stella Maris. 

We are fortunate to have a diverse cultural background in our school community, which makes our school an interesting and enriching place to be!

Emily Hughes 

Pastoral Care Support

A reminder to all families wishing to receive the early payment discount of $100 per student ($50 per student with split family accounts) that full payment of fees is due by 31 March 2023. Please contact Kathy Groat, Finance Manager, telephone 8306 4833, if you have any questions.

For those considering enrolment at Cabra Dominica College in Year 7, 2025 of the following key dates:

• Applications for Year 7, 2025 will close on Friday 14 April 2023. 
• Siblings of existing students will need to complete an enrolment application form.
• Applications received after the above closing date will be placed onto a waitlist.

Our final Principal’s tour for Term 1 will be held at the college on:

• Thursday 16 March at 9.15am

If families are interested in attending, please visit the enrolments page at www.cabra.catholic.edu.au for the registration link.

For families still seeking enrolment at Cabra in Year 7, 2024, there is a waitlist which will continue to be reviewed throughout the remainder of the year.