Friday 18th October ~ Issue 31

Child Safety Statement

School Values

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Respect Our School - Hormati Sekolah Kita

Do Your Best - Lakukan Yang Terbaik

Help Others to Succeed - Bantu Teman Untuk Berhasil

Important Dates

Term 4

Monday 21st October - 3/4 Regional Hooptime

Friday 25th October - World Teachers' Day

Friday 25th October - Assembly

Monday 28th October - 5/6 Regional Hooptime

Monday 4th November - Report Writing Day - Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 5th November - Melbourne Cup Day Holiday - Pupil Free Day   

Wednesday 13th November & Thursday 14th November - Book Fair

ADVANCE NOTICE 

Friday 6th December - Christmas Parade @ 6pm

Tuesday 10th December - 2025 Orientation Day

Friday 13th December - Junior Athletics Carnival (Prep - 2)

Sunday 15th December - End of Year School Mass and Gr 6 Graduation @ 10.30am

Wednesday 18th December - Last day for students

Wednesday 29th January - First day of 2025 school year for Gr 1-6

Thursday 30th January - First day of 2025 school year for Preps

From the Principal

Dear Families,

Yesterday we shared a wonderful day of learning at our Catholic Social Teaching Day. Our focus was on using our gifts and talents for the good of all. Our learning culminated with a Talent Quest which showcased the most amazing variety of our students' talents. It was so much fun!

Today we have put our learning into action by raising money on our Mission Day. A huge thank you to our families for your amazing generosity! The students have had a fabulous day.

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, I will be on long service leave for the next two weeks, visiting our daughter and her fiancee in London. Thanks so much to Tania and the rest of our staff for looking after the school in my absence.

Have a wonderful weekend, shared with those you love,

 Terrielynn

Catholic School Culture

MASS TIMES – 2024                                                 

Hamilton: Saturday 6pm and Sunday 10.30am                                    

Dunkeld: Sunday 8.30am                  

Glenthompson:  Sunday 8.30am

Penshurst: Sunday 8.30am

Learning and Teaching

School Wide Positive Behaviours

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is:  A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.

For the next two weeks at St Mary’s we are working with our students on the following:

RESPECT -  Be willing to compromise - not everything will go your way!

SAFETY - Be cybersafe

 RESPONSIBILITY - Join in all activities by having a go

Staffing News

Kerry Stevens, who has been an integral part of our St Mary's community for many, many decades, has enjoyed her year of leave so much that she has decided to resign from her position at the end of the year. We will have much more to say about Kerry's dedication and commitment to our school as the year draws to a close, but we would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to her as she begins an exciting new time in her life.

Cybersafety Sessions

During the week, our students in Gr 3-6 participated in cybersafety sessions with Victorian Police Officer, Keleigh Flavel. She then delivered a similar information session to our parents. Keleigh's message was quite simple, we must be super vigilant with what our students are doing online, as the dangers are both real and serious. She asked that I share her email address with families so that she can be contacted should we have any questions.

Keleigh.Flavel@police.vic.gov.au 

2025 Staff PD

Next year, our governing authority DOBCEL has made the suggestion that using the three days between Easter Monday and ANZAC Day for staff to collaborate with other school's through PD would be an excellent use of time! So...that means that the holiday break at the end of Term 1 will be three weeks long and we will return to school on Monday 28th of April to start Term 2.  

2025 Planning

Planning is well underway for 2025. Currently we looking at staffing and in the coming weeks we will begin compiling our classlists. 

Sports Catch Up

Regional Athletics

We had some amazing achievements from last Friday's Regional Athletics Carnival in Ballarat. It is a huge achievement to qualify for these events, and we had a range of students participating in a variety of events.

Charlotte Morton: 7th - 1500m

Bella Templeton: 4th - 1500m, 9th - 800m

Johannah Winnell: 8th - 1500m

Navvi Thomas: 6th - Discus

Ruben De Jager: 5th - Shot Put

Taya Sherlock: 3rd - High Jump, 8th - Hurdles

Charlie Moyle: 2nd - Hurdles, 9th - Discus

Alexander Price: 12th - 100m

Sophie Uebergang: 11th - 100m

11 Year Old Girls Relay (Johannah Winnell, Charlie Moyle, Sophie Uebergang and Luella Causer): 6th

Charlie now qualifies for the State Athletics Carnival, where she will compete in hurdles. A huge congratulations to everyone!

Saturday Morning Netball

Saturday Morning Netball began last weekend and from all students that I’ve spoken to, lots of excitement and enjoyment was had. It is great to hear such wonderful feedback for such a great event. Matches continue this weekend and don’t forget that the times for matches will be the same for the entire season.

Grade 3-4 Swimming Program

This will be held in Week 6 of this term. Notes were sent home last week outlining the information of the program. The blue note needs to be completed in full and returned by today. If you need another one, please get in contact with me and we can send another home.

Grade 3-4 and Grade 5-6 Regional Hooptimes

We have 5 teams across our Grade 3-4 and Grade 5-6 students who have qualified for the Regional Hooptime days, to be held in the next couple of weeks. Our Grade 3-4’s are playing this coming Monday, and our Grade 5-6’s will be the following Monday. A huge thank you to those families who have offered their time to assist with the scoring on the days. We are looking forward to another great event!

Grade 5-6 District Cricket

A note was sent home earlier this week for students in Grades 5 and 6 about District Cricket on Friday 1st November. The turnaround is short, with expressions of interest due back today. I need to have the teams submitted today, so I appreciate your quick turnaround with returning the note. More information will be shared shortly to students and families who will be participating on the day.

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival

Over the next week or two, I will be sending home a note giving students an opportunity to select at least two events that they would like to participate in for our swimming carnival later this term. Please take the time to talk with your children about what events that they would like to participate in. I have events for the carnival that will suit all levels of swimming ability. I also look very closely at the feedback that is provided by the trained swimming instructors during the swimming programs to ensure that students are entering events that are suited to their level. Below is a copy of the note that I will send home.

Dates for your Diary

Saturday Morning Netball: Continues this weekend @ Pedrina Park

Grade 3-4 Regional Hooptime: Monday 21st October @ HILAC

Grade 5-6 Regional Hooptime: Monday 28th October @ HILAC

Grade 5-6 District Cricket: Friday 1st November @ Pedrina Park

Grade 3-4 Swimming Program: Monday 11th November - Friday 15th November @ HILAC

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival: Friday 29th November @ Monivae Pool

Junior Athletics Carnival (Prep - Grade 2): Friday 13th December @ St. Mary’s

Latham Wishart

lwishart@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au

Library News ~ Book Fair

Great news - our annual Book Fair is back for 2024! It will be held in Week 6 of this term, in the new classroom space, next to 5/6MW.  

The Book Fair will be open for browsing on the Monday and Tuesday of that week, with the buying days being Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th November, both before and after school.  It's a great chance to grab some Christmas gifts too!

More information will be sent home in the next couple of weeks and I will keep you updated in the newsletter. Thanks!

Tania Stevens

Wellbeing

Child Safety 

We were very fortunate to have Keleigh Flavel work with our Grade 3-6 students and our parents this week around Cybersafety.  This is an ever changing landscape and it is important for us to be vigilant.  I have linked the Victoria Police Online Child Safety page below.

The eSafety Commissioner is once again running some valuable parent webinars for Term 4.  The one listed below is a very important one with the end of the year approaching and our Grade 6 students transitioning to high school.  They are just half an hour and definitely worth checking out!

Supporting healthy tech use as your child transitions into high school
This webinar explores the social pressures, peer influences, and technological challenges young people face as they transition into high school. It also offers practical strategies for navigating online friendships and connections to help minimise negative experiences.

It's suitable for parents and carers of children in upper primary school (ages 11 to 12) and Year 7.

Term 4 dates

Tuesday, 29 October, 12.30 pm
Thursday, 28 November, 12.30 pm

Whooping Cough

The incidence of Whooping cough cases is continuing to increase across Victoria, particularly among school-aged children.

Whooping cough is a very contagious infection, mostly spread through coughing or sneezing. 

Symptoms include:

• blocked or runny nose
• tiredness
• mild fever
• severe bouts of coughing, often followed by a ‘whooping’ sound on breathing.
  

Whooping cough can lead to life-threatening infections in babies.

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Please see a doctor if you or your child develops whooping cough symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the spread of the infection.

Students diagnosed with whooping cough must not attend school

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, they must not attend school for 21 days after the onset of the cough, or until they have received 5 days of antibiotic treatment.

You must notify the school if your child is diagnosed with whooping cough.

To further reduce the spread of infection to your child and the school community, the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 require that some students who were in the same classroom as a student diagnosed with whooping cough should not attend school.

Your child should not attend school for 14 days after they were last exposed to a person diagnosed with whooping cough, or until they have taken 5 days of a course of antibiotic treatment if they are:

• aged less than 7 years; and
• not fully vaccinated with 3 doses of whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine.

This exclusion is required by law – refer to the School exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services.

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please contact the school to let us know.

Your support in keeping our students safe and well is greatly appreciated.

For more information about whooping cough, refer to Whooping cough on the Better Health Channel.

Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk of whooping cough. The Department of Health recommends staying up to date with immunisations, including booster doses. A free booster dose of the pertussis vaccine is covered under the national immunisation program for students aged 12 to 13. If you are unsure about your child’s vaccination status for whooping cough, please discuss with an immunisation provider, such as your doctor.

Community Engagement

St Mary's Christmas Parade

Leadership and Stewardship