BACK IN THE CHURCH:
It was great to be back in our Church as a whole school in full voice last week as we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption with a shared Parish mass.
With Fr Joseph away on holidays, we had Fr John celebrate mass with us. He was a touch late to arrive and so our students were waiting in the Church for around 10 minutes before mass started. Our students sat in complete silence for this entire time and the reverence and respect they showed during the mass was outstanding. It was lovely to be able to gather together again, the first time we have done so for a long time.
MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA:
At the time of our last newsletter we were preparing for our first ever ‘Stella’s Music Extravaganza”. And what a great night it was. It was such a great buzz to see our students put their learning and skills into action on stage and in performance mode. We had 99% of our students present on the night and so I thank you all for your willingness to make the night a priority.
I hope you enjoyed the performances as much as the students enjoyed performing. The feedback we have received has been very positive. As I said on the night, while these nights take a great ‘team’ to put together, we particularly thank and congratulate Victoria Traeger on her organisation, skill and talent in preparing the students in the high quality way she did.
BOOK WEEK:
This week is Book Week! A great opportunity for us to acknowledge the amazing things books do for us. The theme for this year's Book Week is “Dreaming with Eyes open”. We have had a number of activities running throughout the week and this will culminate in our big Book Week parade which will occur tomorrow morning (9:15am) in the court area. Parents are most welcome to watch the parade.
PUPIL FREE DAY:
A reminder that we will hold a Pupil free day next Friday 2nd September. This day will be used as a whole staff spiritual reflection and formation day. Camp Australia will be running a whole day program for those families who require it. Please book in via the normal means.
FATHER’S DAY:
An email and See Saw message will go home today with details of our Father’s Day Breakfast to occur on Monday 5th September. We would love to see as many dads, grandpas or male role-models present for this celebration. In short, details include:
When: Monday 5th September
Time: Breakfast served from 7:45am – 8:45am
Where: Stella Maris Parish School
What: Bacon and Egg sandwiches and juice served with love! (Coffee van also available for purchase).
All guests are welcome to join us for a whole school Father’s Day Liturgy in the Church after the breakfast from 9:00 – 9:30am.
Please RSVP by filling in this form:
RSVP: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=q2QiNpggQkGJVNZfIlG_pfvhQh5W_e5MtVMowIUvk1VUODVNUTBRUURLUUg1NkVCSjYwSTJQN05UNS4u
PARENT WORKSHOPS:
As has been advertised over the last few weeks, we have had great interest in our Term 3 Parent Workshops.
This week we held our Early Years Literacy practice workshop where we outlined the why and how of our Literacy program at Stella Maris. It was great to have about 30 parents present for these workshops. The PowerPoint presentations will be made available to parents in the front office, or by emailing Cathy. I thank Marney Yeates (Speech Path), Ella Kirkham and our R/1 teachers for their leadership and willingness to run these workshops.
We have two more workshops on offer over the next few weeks, including:
PARENT WORKSHOP 2:
Supporting Students with Anxiety:
WHEN: Workshop 1 - Tuesday 30th August 9:00am and Workshop 2 - Wednesday 31st August 6:30pm
WHAT: An opportunity for parents to hear about what Anxiety is. Anxiety is an emotion, a normal human emotion that we all experience. Join us to learn how to recognise and identify when anxiety is causing a problem in our lives (or our children's lives) and take away some practical tips to help support your child and yourself. Everyone is welcome.
WHO: Presented by Emily Hughes (Pastoral Care Coordinator) and James Quigley
REGISTER: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=q2QiNpggQkGJVNZfIlG_pfvhQh5W_e5MtVMowIUvk1VUQk1DRUtRTDg2Q0M2N0pDRkcxSUQ3WEtTMi4u
PARENT WORKSHOP 3:
Creating a Cybersafe Home:
WHEN: Wednesday September 14th - 7:00pm
WHAT: Cybersafe Families school parent sessions provide parents and guardians with strategies to make their home environment cybersafe. It’s important for parents and guardians to understand both the opportunities and the threats that the online world provides, to equip them with knowledge about the best practices available to protect their family.
WHO: Presented by Cybersafe Families
REGISTER: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=q2QiNpggQkGJVNZfIlG_pfvhQh5W_e5MtVMowIUvk1VUN0dVWEkzRFZHRUdHUFkwME5DVlMxUUtNOC4u
Two other workshops – “How to support Numeracy development with games and activities at home” AND “What are the Stella Capabilities and how can parents help develop them” will also be provided in Term 4 - more details will follow shortly.
Please feel free to contact me here at school should you have any questions about these great parent workshops.
LLL SURVEY – FINAL CHANCE:
The LLL Survey is a Catholic Education SA initiative to provide important information to our school about the positive aspects of our school and the areas which require more focus and attention. At last count, we had just over 100 respondents to the survey. We would like to have double this number and this is the last week for responses. Please take the short 4-6 minute survey in the coming days:
To fill the survey in, simply click on the following link:
https://www.nsipartnerships.com.au/ (click Start questionnaire)
Then enter our school code: LLLPSMP
As we near the half way mark of a very busy Term 3, I again wish to thank you for your continued partnership and support of our school. As always, I encourage you to pop in and see me if you have any questions, concerns or celebrations to share.
Take care
James
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