Dear Families,

Staff News - thank you and farewell Angela Lagas

Last week we said farewell to Angela Lagas, one of our Learning Support Officers at St Paul’s. Angela has taken on a new job opportunity at a private school. We thank her for building wonderful relationships with the children and for the friendships she’s made with staff at St Paul’s. We wish her all the best at her new school!

School Disco

Last Thursday 6 June, the school disco was on in the hall. There were some great prizes, a slice of pizza and some blockrocking beats being played for the children! There were lots of great dance moves and karaoke played throughout the night! A very big thank you to Laura Broadhurst, the parent volunteers and everyone from the P&F for organising a spectacular disco vibe. We certainly took advantage of the long weekend to recover!  Please see the P&F section of the newsletter for some fantastic photos.

School Closure Day last week

Whilst the children were recovering from the disco, teachers were busy with professional learning on Friday 7 June. The focus of our School Closure Day was to look at current instructional practice and how students best learn. We explored Cognitive Load Theory and some of the strategies on how students learn successfully in the classroom. We also looked at some research on working memory and how students best retain knowledge by combining information from our environment and from explicit teaching. This is all hinges on evidence based practices which are derived from research on how students learn, and some of the practices we have here at St Paul’s.

Casual Clothes Day - Friday 28 June 

The last day of Term 2 - Friday 28 June - is a Casual Clothes Day for the school. The theme for this upcoming casual day is Wacky Hair Day, with a touch of purple. The touch of purple is to raise funds and awareness for the Epilepsy Foundation. We ask for a gold coin donation to help raise funds to turn things around for those living with and impacted by epilepsy.  Please refer to the section further down the newsletter for more information.

AFLW Gala day

Well done to all the girls who participated in our gala football day at Centenary Park last Tuesday. It was a great day and we hope everyone enjoyed it!

Congratulations

Jack O’Brien, Jack Skinner, Josh Williams, Louis Hall & Jack Burgess from Year 3 and Year 4 at St Paul's, formed over half of a team that finished champions of their U12 division in the Nunawading basketball tournament over the King’s birthday long weekend. The tournament draws over 1000 teams including many from interstate.

Class Awards for Term 2

Cold and flu Season 

As winter is now well and truly upon us, we are noticing that there are a number of students who are coming to school quite unwell, with cold and flu symptoms. These symptoms may include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, watery eyes and/or a fever. In order to protect our community, it is vitally important that we monitor these symptoms and keep students home if they are unwell. 

Drop off and Pick up

The drop off zone on Riddle Street is quite a busy area in the mornings. In the interests of keeping everyone safe, especially the students, and to keep traffic flowing, parents are asked to NOT make U-turns here. We ask that you please continue driving along Riddle Street, rather than trying to turn around. We thank you for your understanding with this, as we try to create a safe drop off and pick up zone for the students.  

Please also remember that the driveway next to the Church is not to be used by cars for either pickup or dropoff as this is a pedestrian thoroughfare.

Upcoming Events

Monday 17 June - Whole School Assembly 3.00pm

Tuesday 25 June - End of Term Mass 10am

Friday 28 June - casual clothes day. Wear a touch of purple and bring a gold coin donation to support Epilepsy awareness. Finish 2.30pm

Monday 15 July - first day of Term 3

Thursday 18 July - Beginning of Term Mass 10am

Wednesday 31 July and Thursday 1 August - Parent Teacher interviews finish?

Lost Property

We have an incredible amount of clothing and containers in Lost Property.  We do our very best to return items to their owners but this can be a hard task when property is not named clearly or at all, or has a past family name on it.  Please come and check for any items that you feel you may be missing. Any unclaimed clothing will be donated to the second hand uniform shop; any unclaimed containers will be thrown out.

2024 School Closure Days

Monday 9 September - School Closure Day 

Monday 4 November - School Closure Day

Tuesday 5 November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

Friday 29 November - School Closure Day

Stay warm and enjoy the rest of your week!

Kind regards,

Freda