Freda's News
Dear Parents,
It seems incredible that we’re already in October. We’d like to say that the weather is warming up but…well..it is Melbourne after all. We know Melbourne weather doesn’t like to behave. We hope the Year 4 students will enjoy their Portsea camp. The campers were here bright and early with suitcases, sleeping bags, and a bundle of excitement for their very first St Paul’s camp! We hope, hope, hope the weather holds out for them and that the children have a fantastic time away. We also hope the teachers are able to get some sleep!
Grandparents Day - Friday 20 October
This Friday we celebrate Grandparent’s Day at St Paul’s. We are very excited to see our wonderful Grandparents come and join us in the Church for our Whole School Liturgy, followed by classroom visits and wrapping our morning up with a lovely Morning Tea in the Hall.
Liturgy will begin at 9:15am. Classroom visits at 9.50 am. We can appreciate it can be a bit tricky for Grandparents to spend equal time with all their grandchildren in the classrooms. The teachers are keeping activities nice and light so Grandparents can spend time with all their grandchildren.
Morning tea will be provided by the P&F in the Hall at 10.20am.
Upcoming Swimming Program
The Aqua Star Learn to Swim Schools Program begins in Week 5 for Prep - Year 3 (30 October - 3 November) and in Week 7 for Year 4 - 6 students (13 - 17 November). The Swimming program is an essential component of the Victorian Physical Education curriculum and the cost is embedded into the school fees. It is an expectation that all students participate in the program. Last week, parents received an email with important information regarding the Swimming Program.
Classes for 2024
Term 4 brings with it a wonderful buzz and the excitement of new class groupings for the year ahead will soon begin. Teachers will soon begin the process of allocating students into classes for 2024.
If you have any relevant information regarding the class placement for your child, please put your reasons in writing or make a time to see me. This information must be in relation to your child’s needs, not teacher preference, as class teachers have not been finalised for 2024.
Students will nominate 4 of their peers with whom they are friends with and believe they work well with. We will ensure that at least one of these students will be in their class for next year.
There are many factors that go into planning class groupings so that students are supported and given the best opportunities to learn and grow. Great care is taken to ensure, as much as possible, a balance between the classes, including: academic needs, gender, friendships, wellbeing and social-emotional needs, classroom support, even class sizes, working relationships, considerations for neuro-diversity, as well as written requests from parents. As I am sure you can appreciate, staff spend many hours collaborating with each other to construct classes for the following year. Thank you for your continued trust and support. I ask that parent requests are submitted by Friday 10 November.
Free eSafety parent and carer webinars
Throughout Term 4, the eSafety Commissioner has free parent webinars that look at online friendships, social media, and gaming. These webinars are suited to parents with Primary or Secondary-aged children. Please see the flyer attached for information.
Office Sign in
We kindly remind parents and carers that they need to sign in to the office during school time. This forms part of the Victorian Child Safe Standards and our emergency procedures. Please do not go straight to classrooms. Sign in and Louise will call the classroom.
Traffic Update
South East Water and the Department of Transport continue with road works around the school. Higgins Road is now open to traffic. Riddle Street access remains restricted. Please remember this is a kiss-and-go zone. Parents are asked to avoid parking on Riddle Street until works have completed. Jasper Road night works also continue. The new lights are currently not in use and line markings have changed. Unfortunately, this has caused some driver confusion. Thank you to parents who have brought to our attention the issues with line markings. The school contacted the Department of Transport immediately and they are working with us to rectify it.
Active Schools - Go for Gold Program
School Master Plan
St Paul’s has recently engaged the services of Foreground Architecture to look at the next phase of planning for St Paul’s. The firm has worked with many schools in developing contemporary learning that reflect the needs of the school community. Later this term, the team at Foreground will be looking for parents interested in participating in community workshop sessions. When dates and times are finalised, we will communicate these with families. In the meantime, feel free to look at Foreground’s website:
https://foregroundarchitecture.com.au/
Thank you
A very big thank you to our P&F and St Paul’s Dad’s Group for organising the BBQ for Saturday’s referendum. There was a wonderful turnout of volunteers. The great community atmosphere at St Paul’s was on show as many of our dad’s came out to help. As always, the ever-present Danny Maher was there to help organise a seamless event.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Kind regards,
Freda