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Dear Parents,
St Paul’s Fete 23 October. Come onboard and Sign up!
The Fete is fast approaching and already an enormous amount of work has gone into planning and preparations by Donna Campbell, Kaitin Challis, Toni Anderson, Fete Coordinators, the Fete Committee, Stall holders and volunteers. After so many years, this is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together and raise money for further updates and improvements around the school. There are many benefits for your children also when they see their parents actively involved and working as a community. Building a strong sense of pride and belonging for students and families supports positive relationships and good mental health!
To date, only one-third of parents have signed up to work on a stall throughout the day. We cannot run this day without the help and support of every family. There is a Fete Meeting planned for tonight and I ask every family to click on the link below and put their name down to help out for a few hours before tonight’s meeting. The success and organization of this event depends on all families' contributions. Don't delay putting your name down, your contribution is crucial.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B094BAEAF2FA6F49-fete2
Welcome to Week 9, Planning Week. This week each class will have all their specialist lessons on the one day to allow teachers to meet in their teams and plan for next Term.
An email was sent out last week with a change of days for students to wear their sports uniform.
Learning Assemblies
Term 3 Learning Assemblies have been a great success with many parents joining their children in the classroom for ‘hands-on learning’. Teachers and students have welcomed the opportunity to open their classrooms and showcase learning in many areas of the curriculum including STEM, Science, Literacy, Numeracy and the Arts.
Happy Father’s Day
Fathers come in all shapes and sizes, just as families do. I ask for God’s abundant blessings on all the dads, grandads, uncles and special people in the lives of the students at St Paul’s. You enrich our lives and play such a special role through your love, support and encouragement.
On Thursday morning we had record numbers of families gathering for a wonderful breakfast hosted by Kristina Rafferty, Toni Anderson, Zoe Holland, Mel Wong, Jennifer Di Domenico, Anthea Silom, Nicky Keeble, Katrina Gray, Kim McDade, Shana Comito, Linda O'Halloran, Sarah Arnott, Petrina Woods, Dee Yorke, Alicia Mercieca, Yvonne Kerridge, Marta Baker, Kate Vandenberg, Dianne Johnson, Danny Maher, Rebecca Yeates and Katherine Maraventano. Thank you also to Vanessa Bevacqua, Audrey Craig, Sandra Lettieri, Bec Belej, Marisa Manakis and Florence Nadaya who came and helped students pick out just the right gift for this special occasion.
Updated Policies
At the recent School Advisory Council Meeting, two policies were reviewed and updated. They are now available on the Parent Portal.
I would like to draw your attention to the Dog Policy, stating that dogs are not allowed on school premises (large or small) to ensure the safety of students.
Please also note the updated social media policy for parents.
https://spbentleigh.
Thank you to the Advisory Council members for your work and continued support.
Calendar dates
We have two busy weeks ahead as we approach the end of Term three.
Checking in at the Office - Child Safety
A reminder to all families that it is a requirement that you check in at the Office before entering classrooms during the school day. The only exception is for parents who stay for prayer and meditation in the mornings. Thank you for your support in keeping our school a safe place for all.
Principal Appointment
Ms Deb Egan, Regional Director MACS, has asked me to inform you that a decision has been made to re-advertise the position for a Principal at St Paul’s. The position will be readvertised in mid-September. Re-advertising for a principal position can be common when a suitable candidate has not been found.
This will be the final Newsletter for the Term. Best wishes for a safe and relaxing holiday. School resumes for Term 4 on Monday 3 October. It’s almost Christmas!
Catherine
National Child Protection Week is all about the ways that we can all work together to build communities that support children and families.
Children are safest when they are listened to, respected and believed.
All adults can play a part by ‘tuning in’ to children in everyday situations about small worries; then they are much more likely to feel comfortable telling us if something big is wrong.
Talking with children about safety:
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Support children to identify trusted adults (both within the family and outside) they can talk to, if they are worried, upset, or don’t feel safe. Make sure these adults know they are on your child’s list.
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Remind children that they can talk to you or a trusted adult about anything, no matter how big or small their worry might be.
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Talk to children about how they know when they feel safe or unsafe. Help them to listen to their early warning signs (how their body feels), and to trust their feelings and instincts.
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Use everyday activities as opportunities for conversations (e.g. preparing meals and snacks, going for walks, playing, shopping). If children are used to having lots of communication, it can make it easier to talk when big or tricky issues come up.
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Be open to talking about all kinds of feelings, including anger, joy, frustration, fear and anxiety. This helps children to develop a ‘feelings vocabulary’.
National Child Protection Week is a great time to start conversations with children and families about feeling safe.
The website has posters, information, webinars, a section for children and lots of other useful resources. https://www.napcan.org.au/get-involved-2022/
At St Paul’s the safety and wellbeing of the children is our highest priority. Earlier in the year we updated all our Child Safe Policies to ensure we are compliant with the new National Standards. We are constantly reviewing what we do to ensure that our commitment to Child Safety is visible.
RUOkay Day is a nationally recognised day for starting a conversation that could change a life. The R U OK? organisation who built awareness and established this event is an Australian non for profit organisation. It was founded by Gavin Larkin in 2009.
R U OK? inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener.
Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:
- Ask R U OK?
- Listen
- Encourage action
- Check-in
On Friday the 9th of September we would like students to come to school in casual clothes wearing something yellow to raise awareness. Yellow is the nationally recognised colour for this event. In the classroom, students will engage in a range of activities.
On Wednesday the 31st August a team of 59 children represented St. Paul's at the Bentleigh District Athletics Carnival at the Duncan McKinnon Athletics Centre. The team finished 4th overall and St. Paul’s won the Adjusted Points Shield for the ninth year in a row which is based on school size. The children represented St. Paul’s in a manner that should make us all proud – they did their very best, demonstrated excellent skills and displayed great sportsmanship and school spirit.
The following 15 children achieved outstanding results in their events and will now progress through to compete in 19 events at the Beachside Division Athletics Carnival on Tuesday the 11th October at Duncan McKinnon Aths Track.
- April Arundel - 9/10y - 800m
- Sienna Woloshenko - 11y - Hurdles
- Bianca Pawlak-Bloch - 11y - Long Jump, 100m Relay
- Ella Logan - 11y - Triple Jump, Shot Put, 100m Relay
- Zoe Burgess - 11y High Jump, 100m Relay
- Tash Morgan - 11y - 100m Relay
- Ingrid Foster - 9/10y - High Jump
- Lara Smith - 9/10y Shot Put, Discus
- Maddie Kerridge - 11y - Discus
- Jay Jay Masaquel - 12/13y - 100m, 200m
- Jasper Tonkin - 9/10y - Hurdles
- Matt Strupl - 9/10y - Long Jump, High Jump (District Record)
- Charlie Delacorn - 9/10y - Triple Jump
- Carter Hoffmann - 11y - Triple Jump
- Gianni Di Fabrizio - 12/13y - Shot Put
Well done and good luck at Beachside Division, we are all very proud of you!
Danny Maher
Phys Ed / Sport Coordinator
Fete RAFFLE tickets now available
Please go to https://rafflelink.com.au/stpaulsbentleigh2022 to purchase tickets.
Prizes include: $1500 Chadstone voucher, $700 RACV voucher, $570 sports pack, $250 Cones Studio (ceramics) prize, $100 Arcadia Whisky Lounge voucher.
This year, instead of giving families a book of 10 tickets to sell, we ask that you use the link above to purchase tickets and that you send the link far and wide (to family, friends, colleagues and everyone you know) to sell as many tickets as you can (please aim to sell at least 10 tickets per family)!
As incentives:
- The family that sells the most tickets will win a $100 St Paul’s tuckshop voucher, generously donated by Gill Brady (purchasers should include your family name in brackets when purchasing their ticket); and
- All ticket purchasers can receive a 10% discount off purchases before 30 November 2022 from 99Bikes in Bentleigh (just show proof of purchase and ID). *T&Cs in-store.
Thank you to all our families for supporting this important fundraiser!
