Catherine's News
Dear Parents,
I hope everyone enjoyed the opportunity to get out and enjoy the long weekend. With warm weather on the way, please ensure your child has a hat each day, sunscreen and plenty of water.
Please remember to keep your child at home if they are unwell, including a runny nose, a cough, sore throat or flu like symptoms. We have students and staff who are vulnerable and I ask each of you to be vigilant in supporting the health of all members of the community.
World Teachers Day
This week we are celebrating World Teachers Day at St Paul’s.We are having a meeting free week, a special morning tea and I would like to invite our families to make a card (or two) for a special teacher in their child’s life. A great homework task for the family to share. This year all teachers and staff have shone in the lives and hearts of our families.
Leadership in Action!
It was one of those proud moments when a group of Year 5 boys, Josh, Tano, Will and Caden came to see me and asked to discuss recycling at St Paul’s. The boys came armed with posters they had made for their own classroom as they had taken on the challenge of getting their classmates to dispose of rubbish in a safe and sustainable manner. They couldn't believe what a challenging task they had set themselves.
The boys are now getting the word out on the playground, visiting classrooms and monitoring all the bins as they educate their peers on the difference between soft plastic, recyclables, green waste and landfill. The boys will contest that it is not an easy job!
Please support their efforts by sending ‘Nude Food’ in your child’s lunch box as we work together for a sustainable future. Your children’s planet. Each day we can make a difference.
Year 6 Students Connecting with the Community
Year 6 students have written cards to many parishioners that may have felt isolated during these past weeks. Students introduced themselves and shared a little of what they enjoy. They wrote a little about lockdown and were hoping to 'put a smile' on some of our parishioner’s faces.
School Photos
School Photos are being taken on Thursday 12th November. Please return envelopes if you received them with your payment or indicating you have paid online. A number of people paid earlier in the year and if so your child will not have received an envelope. If you are unsure please contact Anna. If you require a sibling photo envelope please let Anna know and she will send one home for you. Children are to wear full summer uniform. If it is your child's sport day, they can bring their runners in their bag.
Swearing
Since we have returned to school after Remote Learning, there has been a significant decline in appropriate language being used on the playground. I have spoken to all senior classes and will follow up with further consequences for those students who continue to use language that is unacceptable. Consequences will include time off the playground and a phone call to parents. Could parents please discuss this matter with their children which is mainly a problem with many of our boys in Years 3-6.
A peak inside the school gates. We miss you all.
The gardens are growing.
Students have made gratitude hearts and hung them on the fence.
Lego World has arrived.
The veggie garden is being carefully tended.
The sandpit is a popular hangout.
Bookweek - there were certainly some Strange and Curious Creatures roaming the school!
We are all working hard to stay safe and connected.
VINNIES Christmas Appeal
On Friday 4th December St Paul's will be asking all students and staff to offer a gold coin donation to go towards purchasing Woolies Vouchers. These vouchers will be given to the local St Vincent de Paul group in Bentleigh.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local Vinnies Branch decided that vouchers were the best option for the Christmas Hampers.
On this day students will be allowed to wear casual clothes and each year level, with their teacher, will be given one letter of the word “VINNIES” to fill up with their donations.
Prior to this day students will be learning a little about the works of St Vincent de Paul so that there is an educational component to the giving of donations.
A good news story of one of our amazing Dads!
Robbie Hendry - Westfield Local Heroes 2020. Making a tangible difference
TaskForce Community Agency
Driven. Encouraging. Compassionate. Robbie Hendry might start his day by helping a young person find accommodation after a family breakdown. Next, he might be helping someone with their resume and coaching them on job interview skills. After that, he might travel to the city to support a TAFE student. In-between appointments, Robbie will send all his clients their daily SMS to check that they are OK. If they aren't, he might provide grocery vouchers, myki cards and clothes for the workplace. Robbie runs a TaskForce Community Agency pilot project to support young people into employment after they have left school early or disengaged from the community. The project offers a 12-month traineeship as well as multiple layers of support to help with mental health, substance misuse, housing, antisocial behaviour and study. "The people I work with have faced a lot of struggles in life, which can be quite heartbreaking," Robbie says. "It's really about working to help them help themselves to build resilience and independence. The reward for Robbie is seeing the young people engaging with their studies and improving their lives.
"When I see what a difference I can make to a young person in need, how could I do any other job?" he asks.
Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. The TaskForce Community Agency will use its grant to support young people in various ways, including through crisis support, peer support and possibly a graffiti program.
Birthday Treats
Birthdays are a special time for all of us and even more so during this time of Covid.
We love celebrating with your child, but we ask that sugary treats are not sent into school to be shared. If you want to send in a treat, try fruit on skewers, separate bags of popcorn or sugar free icy poles.
Thank you for your support.
School Fees 2021
Please see the letter in this edition of the newsletter.
Swimming Program 2020
Due to the current restrictions and the focus on our three priorities for the remainder of the Term, the Swimming Program for this year has been cancelled. Rebate information for the Swimming Levy is attached in the Fees letter. We look forward to another great swimming program next year.
2021
As we begin to work on class lists and teaching staff for next year, could you please email me if your child is not returning to school next year.
Fun Fridays
This Friday the Year 6 Leaders will be out supervising lunchtime games for the Junior students. It is also coloured sock day. Just for fun!
New Governance Arrangements for Catholic Schools
The new governance arrangements will see schools owned by the Archdiocese, its parishes or associations of parishes in the Archdiocese of Melbourne transferred to a new company called Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Ltd (MACS), which will be responsible for the governance and operation of the schools.
All 293 schools owned by the Archdiocese, its parishes or associations of parishes as of 31 December 2020 will be directly affected by these arrangements. This includes 262 parish primary schools, 26 secondary colleges that belong to associations of parishes and five schools that belong to the Archdiocese.
The changes follow the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) acceptance of Recommendation 16.6 from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that: ‘The bishop of each Catholic Church diocese in Australia should ensure that parish priests are not the employers of principals and teachers in Catholic schools.’
The changes also align with the Victorian government requirement for organisations providing services to children to be appropriately insured and incorporated. This requirement is scheduled to take effect in funding agreements for Catholic schools from 1 January 2021.
The governance arrangements seek to:
- build a foundation for the future that ensures archdiocesan schools offer the best education possible and are places to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth
- ensure all 293 schools owned by parishes or the Archdiocese are operated from a consistent and system-wide approach to the educational and operational compliance aspects of schooling
- lessen the increasingly onerous compliance burden for an individual who is asked to be responsible for the growing breadth and complexity of legislation and regulation associated with school governance
- provide a real opportunity to revitalise current partnerships, review and update a variety of system policies and procedures, embrace efficiencies, and strengthen reporting and accountability measures
- respond to contemporary community expectations regarding transparency, accountability, consultation and participation in the governance of entities which provide services to children
- give further opportunities to maintain and strengthen ties between parish and school, as the parish priest and the parish continue to play a pivotal role in providing the environment and faith community in which the school’s Catholic mission and identity can be expressed as ‘a summons to revive our hope’.
Schools are currently preparing for this change to take place, by liaising with Catholic Education Melbourne. In addition to the change to a new Governance structure, we are beginning preparations for a new administration system ICON. This new system will provide schools with more streamlined functionality, shared services and support of a Business Manager. All Catholic Schools in Melbourne will be using the new platform by the end of 2021.
Have a great week.
Catherine