Dear Parents,

A very warm welcome to our students, families and staff to the school year. I hope you have enjoyed the summer break and that the year ahead brings many blessings on you and your families. 

A special welcome to all our new families for 2021. We welcome Aria O’Halloran in Year 1, Mandy Lee in Year 3, Cristian Bianchi in Year 4, Gianni Di Fabrizio in Year 5 and Alexander Krajewski in Year 6. 

On Thursday we welcomed 52 new Prep students, who completed their 2020 Orientation which was disrupted last year due to Covid19. On Friday they arrived with happy faces and excited parents in eager anticipation of finally starting school. A special thank you to the Yr 1 parents who provided a warm welcome and morning tea for all our new and old  Prep families on Friday.  Prep parents are asked to bring their children into the classroom each morning for the first few weeks and collect them outside the classrooms each afternoon. 

All other families are encouraged to drop their children at either the Higgins Rd gate or Riddle St gate from 8.40am where children will go straight to their classrooms. All students will be dismissed at 3.30 and parents are asked to meet their child outside the school gates for the first few weeks as we manage social distancing and a Covid safe environment for all. Parents are asked to wear a mask if coming onsite. Class newsletters will be emailed next Monday with details of the planned curriculum for Term 1.

Thank you to all parents for the trust you place in us, knowing that your children will be safe and happy and be given every opportunity to thrive in their learning. 

On Wednesday we will  gather in the Church for our beginning of the year Mass. Due to restrictions on numbers, sadly, parents are unable to attend. 

Over the first two weeks staff and students will spend time developing classroom protocols, engage in ‘getting to know you’ activities and will discuss opportunities that will enable a safe and happy learning environment for the year ahead. Already the classrooms are looking amazing!

Parent Teacher Meetings

Parent Teacher interviews for Prep - Yr 6 will be offered as zoom meetings or as face to face meetings during week 5 on Tuesday 23 February and Wednesday 24 February. Booking details will be sent out next week. These meetings are an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s teacher and for parents to provide information on 

Swimming Carnival

This Friday, 5 February, the students in Year 3-6 will participate in our annual Swimming Carnival. Danny Maher has sent out information re participation and organisation for the day via Operoo. Parents are very welcome to attend.

Birthdays

A reminder that birthday invitations are not to be delivered directly to students at school. Please use the Friendship List to contact other parents via email. We are still operating on 2020 Friendship list until all details are confirmed on Operoo.If you would like to help your child celebrate their special day at school, please remember to only send along healthy treats including popcorn, fruit platters or icy poles. 

School Uniforms

In Term 1, all students are expected to wear full summer uniform. A reminder that jewellery, non school coloured ribbons and hairs ties are not allowed and students are asked not to wear nail varnish. School colours for ribbons include red, white, blue or tartan school scrunchies and headbands are available from PSW.  During the warm months of this term, hats are required at play breaks and outdoor sports. Sports uniforms are only to be worn on the day your child has a sport lesson.

Newsletters

Newsletters will be sent out each fortnight and provide a vital information link between home and school. In the next Newsletter, I will include a photo of all staff and their positions. 

Operoo

Please attend to all requests sent via Operoo as soon as possible as this helps with the smooth running of events and alerting you to important information. Any changes made to your contact details, emergency contact details or your child’s medical information are to be made by you on your child’s Operoo profile. If you have any issues with Operoo please let Anna know.

Assemblies

Our first whole school Assembly will be held on Tuesday of this week. This will give me the opportunity to introduce new staff and students and to set goals with the students for the year ahead. 

Parents are invited to subsequent assemblies only if their child’s class is presenting or hosting (Yr 6 students). All Assemblies are run on a Tuesday from 2.45.  Information provided below:

16 February - 2H

2 March - 5O

16 March - 3W

30 April - 4GM

Exciting Opportunities to be Involved

2021 is a year of change and handover. 

• School Advisory Board

This year we are seeking 3 new Board Members to serve for a tenure of two years. At the end of last year we thanked and farewelled Meghan Speers (Chair), Greg Ryan and Craig Schneider for their valuable support and leadership. If you are interested in a position on the Advisory Board please email me on ctammesild@spbentleigh.catholic.edu.au

The Board meets each term to act as a forum to provide advice to the Parish Priest, Principal and Coordinating Principal on matters of Policy, School Review, Finance, Capital Building works and building a strong school community. If you are interested, please email me or give me a call to find out more information.

• Parents and Friends Association - We need your help!

The parents and Friends are the conguite between school and families. They are at the heart and soul of creating and nurturing a strong school community who seek to bring families together and fundraise for additional resources for the students at St Paul’s. They are the voice in the community and a support to all its members.

During 2020 there were very limited opportunities to come together socially, to celebrate special occasions and to hold fundraising events. The challenge this year is to rebuild our community socially and spiritually as we seek opportunities to come together in a Covid safe world.  Unfortunately, our PnF Co Presidents, Libby Dewar and Claire Stanely, will be stepping down after many years of service. Both their children are now in their final years of school and we are seeking a new cohort of parents to take over. Libby and Claire took on the position as a shared role where they were able to bounce ideas off each other, share the load and have lots of fun along the way. They have also paved the way for others by setting up systems and information that will support succession planning, while being on hand to support the transition.

If you would like to know more about the positions or are interested in being on the PnF Committee please contact Claire on c.stanley01@optusnet.com.au Or Libby on pgdetc@bigpond.net.au  

Parent Representatives

At the beginning of each school year, parents volunteer to be the representative for their child’s year level. Responsibilities include organising social get togethers, liaising with the Parents and Friends Committee, communicating with other parents when volunteers are needed and being a contact person for the classroom teacher.

If you are interested or need further information please give Anna a call in the Office.

Excursions and Sports Days 

Another great way to get involved. Teachers will generally invite parents to help out when excursions have been planned throughout the year. 

Parent Helpers

Later in the Term Danni Molino will run a ‘Parent Helpers Course’ so that you can come and help in the classroom to support our Literacy Program. Danni is our Literacy Leader for P-6. More information will be provided over the next few weeks.

As you can see there are many different opportunities to be involved in the life of the school. When everyone contributes in some way, no one is left to carry the load. Have a think about how you can be involved in contributing to build a strong and connected community.

Curriculum News

Covid has had an impact on children's learning across all levels in 2020.  In October the Victorian Government announced the Tutor Learning Program, which provides funding to support students to accelerate their learning in 2021 and compensate for the disruptions they have experienced last year. The funding we received will support small group intervention for a period of 15 weeks with two sessions per week.

Currently we are looking at the qualitative (teacher judgements and work samples) and quantitative (formal assessments) data that was collected at the end of last year in addition to further testing that will be conducted in the first few weeks of this term. In examining school based data we will be able to identify students who require support and select the best intervention required. The ongoing collection of data allows teachers to provide a differentiated curriculum for all students. 

At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction. Pre assessment at the beginning of a new unit of work will continue to determine where each learner is before planning is undertaken. Pre assessment is considered best practice to eliminate re-teaching knowledge that students already know and enabling more in-depth exploration of new content. 

Ongoing Programs being offered in 2021 include:

Levelled Literacy Intervention will again be offered for students in Year 2, 3 and 4.  LLI is an intervention system that gets students back on track so they can benefit fully from classroom instruction. The program supports students who find reading and writing difficult. Its goal is to give students the boost they need to read at the same level as their peers.

Reading Discovery will continue with Danni Molino in 2021. This is a reading intervention program offered to students in Year 1 only who have not reached the Prep benchmark by the end of their first year of schooling. Reading Discovery offers personalized, individually designed lessons for struggling readers, through flexible teaching, in response to each individual student's need with explicit, contingent teaching.

Literacy Extension will be offered to students in the senior years who are performing above grade level standard in writing. Katie Lachal will be running the extension program each Wednesday.

Numeracy Intervention for students in Year 2-4  will continue to run for students who need additional support in grasping basic number skills. Eve Asmar will be running this program each Wednesday.

Numeracy Extension in Years 5-6 will continue with Cathy Epstein, Numeracy CoOrdinator, each week where students work on high end problem solving strategies.

Extension Digital Technology is a new program run by Cath Knights, Digi Tech Leader, where a senior and junior group of students will work in teams on project based lessons each week. These lessons will cover areas of Computational Thinking with a focus on Sustainability and Engineering. 

Medications

A reminder that no medication is to be administered at school without a doctor's letter. That includes paracetamol etc. If antibiotics are needed at school please obtain a letter from your doctor at the time of your appointment. All children who require medication for allergies etc need to have a plan signed off by their doctor and uploaded to Operoo. This includes Asthma plans.

No Dogs on School Grounds

A reminder that dogs are not to be on school grounds. If you are walking with your dog to pick up your children please wait outside the gates. 

Camp

The students in Yr 5 are preparing for camp at Sovereign Hill  in Week 4. This is their first camp experience and there is much excitement in the air!

In week 8 the Yr 6 students will be travelling to Phillip Island for a two night, outdoor Ed camp.

Thank you for sending your children each day ready for learning.We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead. See you at the Welcome Picnic next week.

Best wishes,

Catherine