2023 St Mary's Primary School Term 4 Newsletter Week 9

Acknowledgement of Country

St Mary’s Primary School respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the
Wotjobaluk Nation, the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk
peoples, and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Nation Peoples of the Wimmera Mallee area. 

As partners in Catholic Education and open to God’s presence, we pursue the fullness of life for all.  St Mary's Catholic Primary School  is committed to the safety and well-being of all students.

Key Dates

Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 4 Week 9

This Sunday is the first day of Advent. 

The use of the wreath and candles during Advent are a longstanding Catholic tradition that was originally adopted by Christians in the Middle Ages as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas.

The wreath and candles are full of symbolism tied to the Christmas season. The wreath itself, which is made of various evergreens, signifies continuous life. The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life we find in Christ.

 The wreath as a whole is meant to remind us of both the immortality of our souls and God’s promise of everlasting life to us through Christ.

The candles also have their own special significance. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and one candle is lit each Sunday. Three of the candles are purple because the color violet is a liturgical color that signifies a time of prayer, penance, and sacrifice

The first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah.

Early next week our school will join together for a short Advent reflection.  As we light the first candle, the Candle of Hope, we will say: “We light this Advent Candle today as a reminder of the coming of Christ, the light of the world.  We light the candle of Hope as we continue to wait for Christ’s return.”

Our prayer we will pray is:

Almighty God, we begin this Advent Season as an ‘Advent People’ – people of hope, ready to do your will. Let your blessing come upon us as we light this wreath. May it turn our hearts to you in the days ahead. Grant us the peace and joy we long for, as we await the coming of your Son with patient hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A lovely way we will come together as a Warracknabeal community will be through the Prelude to Christmas, to be held at the Lutheran Church this Sunday 3 December, the first day of Advent. I look forward to seeing all our St Mary's families there for this eucemenical occasion to celebrate all faiths of our community in Christ in this Advent season. 

As we head towards the final days of the year, there is still so much to be done but also lots to look forward to. Next week will be the second transition Days our 2024 Foundation students and also the Grauation Dinner for our Grade 6 students. The following week on Tuesday 12 December will be our  whole school Transition day for the morning session whilst our Grade 6's head to the secondary College for their transition day. Later in the week will be the visit from Santa on Thursday 14 December and on Friday 15th December will be the last day of school to finish with the Pool Party followed by a BBQ lunch provided by members of St Vincent de Paul.  Again thank you to all staff for the incredible work happening in the organisation of these events, including Andy Malcolm and Bron Orval for the Grade 6 celebration preparations. Bron in particular has been working solidly in ensuring all is arranged for a great evening for our Grade 6 students - thank you. 

Travel safely with God's blessings,

Nerrida

Prelude to Christmas - Sunday 3rd Dec 6:00pm at the Lutheran Church

The event starts at 6:00pm - please be at the Church by 5:50pm. Students are to wear full summer uniform. As this a formal school event, held in Church, please no tinsel/ coloured ribbons or Christmas decorations to be worn - school uniform hair attire only. Simple earrings eg gold/silver studs or sleepers as per uniform requirements. 

The children will present two songs, and this year our Grade 6 students will also be saying a prayer in between the readings and carols. 

The songs the children are singing are "Christmas Is The Time" and "Walk to Bethlehem".  At the end of the newsletter are links to You Tube clips for the songs and copies of the words. Please practice these with your children.  We want the students to learn the words by heart and your help is greatly appreciated.

Student Leadership

Announcement of 2024 School Captains

All of our Grade 5's are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm and willingness to be school leaders for 2023.  We will have a terrific team of Grade 5 students as school leaders who are all very keen to represent St Mary's and be a role model to others.  Special congratulations to Pippa, Issac and Ivy who have been chosen from amongst their peers and staff to be our School Captains for 2024 - we know you will be wonderful representatives of St Mary's! 

DOBCEL Board Visit

Assisted with Ms Holland, our current school captains recently hosted DOBCEL Board member Barry Bennett for a tour through the school and sharing of their achievements throughout 2024. Evan, Blake and Mia all spoke very well, guiding Barry through the school, They explained the process they followed in establishing the Child Friendly Child Safe standards in Horsham earlier in the year, the beginnings of our Student Council and designing the St Mary's Beanie, the potential of the school garden area, events through the year where they represented the school and of course the great actvities they did on camp in Robe. Barry was very impresed with how the students presented themselves and spoke so highly of the school. We then together enjoyed light refreshments in the staffroom.

Foundation 2024 Transition Day

We had a very exciting day on Tuesday welcoming our Foundation students for 2023. The Grade 5 student buddies were just as excited as the kinder children!  There was a lovely energy in the air as all the St Mary's students greeted the new Foundation students on their arrival. The new students had a busy time 'looking for the green sheep', and then making their own woolly sheep! Thank you, Louise Kemp for your work in providing such an engaging morning for our new students for 2024.

         Next transition Dates

• Tuesday, 5^th December, 9:00am - 12:00pm
• Tuesday, 12^th December, 9:00am - 1:45pm (Statewide Orientation Day)

       What to Bring

• Fruit snack, morning tea, water bottle
• Sun Hat
• Lunch (on 12/12)
  

Parents - on Tuesday December 12  - please meet with Louise Kemp in the Chickpea classroom at 1:00pm where Louise will share with you further information to assist with your child's transition. Sally Anderson will also speak regarding our Speech Pathology services. At 1:30pm, while your child eats lunch with their buddies, parents are welcome to enjoy a cuppa and light refreshments together in the staffroom)

We will display samples of the school uniform on transition days in the front office for parents to view. Clothing can be purchased at the front office. We also have some good quality second hand uniform to purchase with a donation.

Please refer to information that has been sent home with siblings or posted home. We look forward to meeting you and welcoming your child to the St Mary's school community. It is an exciting and important time for families, so we will do our best to ensure both parents and students make the transition smoothly. If you have any questions please ring Paula in the General Office on 5398 2001 or email principal@smwarracknabeal.catholic.edu.au.

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Parent Engagement in Learning with Tony Dalton

On Thursday 30^th November, educational consultant Tony Dalton guided parents, Nerrida and fellow Principal Melissa Drum (St Mary’s Donald) through the process of a Learning Walk.  Rather than a school tour, the Learning Walk allows parents to participate on their terms, with their questions and focus as opposed to a school’s. The Learning Walk has structure and a clear protocol to follow to provide families with the opportunity to wander through classrooms and speak to children with set questions, to find out about the learning at our school and name it.

Parents Meg Werner, Jess Lang, Hannah Starbuck and Renae Clyne attended and were very impressed with the process. From their classroom observations and conversations with students, they were able to answer :

So what does learning at St Mary's look like?

- "it is explicit and child-centered"

- "it is meeting children's individual needs"

- "help is always available, it is a very caring environment"

- "we are developing independent and resistant learners in a safe environment"

Tony and Melissa stated St Mary's is a very welcoming and hospitable school - it cries "come in and learn". They told me they noted quality learning in the classrooms in a really calm learning environment. This feedback from parents, Tony and Melissa is a wonderful testament to our school and the amazing hard work of our teachers and learning support officers and all staff at St Mary's. 

The Learning Walk protocol allows families to see for themselves what is actually happening in the classrooms  - often children don't want to share what they are doing at school. "What did you do at school today?...Nothing!" By attending a Learning Walk, parents can flip this to now "What are you learning in (maths/ music/ reading)"? It allows parents to witness the learning in the classrooms and then have engaging conversations with their children about their own learning. 

We will offer our next Learning Walk in Term 1 2024. Please keep a look out for this date as you are very welcome.  Tony Dalton will be working with staff on our first school closure day next year (30th January 2024) and also during the year with our School Advisory Council. We  look forward to working in partnership with Tony throughout 2024. 

Partnership with Rural Northwest Health - Bike Education program for 2024

We are very pleased to be working in partnership with Rural Northwest Health. This began at the end of October with a friendly cricket match bewtween RNH and St Mary's staff. It was a terrific afternoon and a wonderful opportunity to mix with new people and build relationships with fellow members of our community.  Following on from the afternoon, Joe Guta, health promotion coordinator for RNH met with Nerrida and Meg to share RNH has received a grant which encourages primary school youth to be more active when travelling to, or within school. Called the Active Travel Iniative, RNH has purchased a number of bikes for the school and will also cover the costs for a bike education course for Meg to complete and build into the physical education curriculum across the school. The bike course and education program aligns with the the statewide 'Achievement Program' from the Victorian Government. By embedding activities such as bike education into the physical education curriculum alongside healthy eating, SunSmart, tobacco harm prevention, and others - in partnership with RNH we can comprehensively promote and make a lasting impact on our students' health and overall well-being.  We are very grateful for the generosity of Joe and RNH for their time and commitment to the program to be working with St Mary's and other Warracknabeal schools. 

Chickpea Assembly

Thank you Chickpeas and Mrs. Kemp for your amazing assembly.  Although many students had been away in preparation for the assembly you all did an incredible job in sharing your learning about the toys you invented and imaginative stories. Please see the Family Facebook page for the video of the assembly, kindly filmed by Sarah-Jayne. 

Barley and Chickpeas Class Award Winners

Intensive Swimming Program continues next week.

Our swimming program is underway, weather permitting of course! Next week the students will continue with the intensive swimming program on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is to build students' water safety confidence and swimming capabilities in readiness for their time in the water over the warm summer ahead of us. Thank you Jess Boyd, Sally Anderson, Bec Lewis, Sarah-Jayne Holland, Renae Clyne, Deb Templeton, Paula Winsall and also Warrackneabeal Secondary College work experience student Cody, for your time throughout these sessions to enable this program to happen.  This program is more skill related and has a different emphasis to the water familiarisation program that is provided at the beginning of the school year. Thank you to Jess and Bec who have spent an incredible amout of time in creating this program for the children.

We now have our own lifeguard!

Thankyou Meg Werner for giving up your time to complete the lifesaving course in Hopetoun recently. It is terrific we now have someone on staff qualified who may be available for our swimming programs. 

Sacramental Program 2024

This year St Paul VI Parish completed its first Sacramental Program involving over 50 children and their families. The program has been engaging and enjoyable, as well as educational and inspiring. Parents and their children re-discovered the richness of our faith, responding with their lives to the words of Jesus “ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Mt. 7:7)

Parents are the first teachers of the faith to their children. The fruit of parents playing an active part in helping their child prepare for the Sacraments this year has been evident, and therefore the Parish based Sacramental program will run according to this model in 2024 also.

For those families who have a child in Year 4 and above who has not received the Sacrament Reconciliation or Holy Communion, or for children in Year 6 and above who have not received the Sacra-ment of Confirmation – please feel welcome to the information session at Warracknabeal: Tuesday 5 Dec 3.30pm (in church)

2024 Beginning of year arrangements and School Closure Dates

For your planning for 2024, our school closure dates have been allocated in consultation with Catholic Education Ballarat staff and external providers for staff professional development. The first school closure day for 2024 will be Tuesday 30 January.  This means all students, including Foundation, will have their first day of school on Wednesday 31 January. Foundation students will then have each Wednesday as a school free rest day from 7th February until 6th March inclusive. 

Our school closure dates for 2024  are:

Tuesday  30th January  (details as above)   Family Engagement in Learning

Friday 8th March (Friday before the Labour Day Long Weekend)  Learner Agency and Data Analysis

Tuesday 11 June (Tuesday after King Birthday Long Weekend)   Catholic Culture and Identity

Monday 15th July (first day of Term 3)  Wellbeing and School Wide Positive Behaviour

These professional development days for staff align with our school Annual Action plan for 2024

Catastrophic Fire Danger Days

Closure of the school due to a forecast Catastrophic day will be confirmed on the day prior and we will provide you with advice before the end of the school day when possible. Any information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by our Family Facebook page and email and School Newsletter.  Please see below DOBCEL's communication regarding BARR (Bushfire at Risk Register) schools including St Mary's.

Virtual Emergency Department

Staff updated their First Aid Certificate this week and were shown this terrific service - the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department  which allows you to access care for non-life-threatening emergencies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will be  connected to our doctors and nurses via a video call, and receive medical advice from the comfort of your home.  See the flyer below.

Year 5 students - Little Angler Kits

Parents of our Year 5 students can call in to the school office to collect your child’s kit. Students are not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer.

The Victorian Government is investing $1.5 million from the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund to provide up to 95,000 Little Angler Kits to primary school aged children (Year 5) in Victoria.

The free kits provide a wonderful school holiday activity for children with their families and help ease the cost of living, providing a fun activity close to home.

Year 5 students at all Victorian schools, including ours, will be offered the opportunity to receive a FREE Little Angler Kit. Year 5 students have been selected based on the Victorian Curriculum focus, movement and motor development, and safety considerations.

The program is entirely voluntary. Schools were provided with the option to opt out of the program. Our school has opted to stay in the program so that parents can decide whether they want their child(ren) to receive a free fishing kit.

Parents of Year 5 students can advise the school if they do not wish their child(ren) to participate for any reason whatsoever. We support parents in making decisions that align with their family values and beliefs.

The roll out of kits will occur through the second half of 2023 (16 October - 4 December) so that all participating children will have a kit in time for the summer school holidays.

The kits include a rod, reel with line, tackle tray, some tackle and information on how to use them to catch a fish. Please note that the tackle tray includes fishing hooks. The tackle tray will be wrapped in cardboard and placed inside a pocket inside the fishing kit bag, which will be sealed with a cable tie to discourage students from opening their kits until they are with a parent or carer.

Parents of our Year 5 students can call in to the school office to collect your child’s kit. Students are not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority will create a Little Angler hub on their website, which will be live when the kits start being distributed. It will have useful information, instructional videos and online resources about where and how to fish linking to existing resources from Fishcare and new resources to be produced just for the Little Angler Kits program.

This initiative aims to grow recreational fishing participation in Victoria by actively encouraging primary school aged children to learn how to fish, as well as learning more about marine life and the natural environment.

School Fees - please finalise accounts

Families please finalise your accounts for 2023 . Statements have been emailed.

School fees for 2024 are:

Family fee $895  per family

Capital fee $90 per family

Student fee $180 per student

Technology levy $100 per student

If you have concerns regarding fees and fee payments, or wish to have a confidential discussion regarding how you can best contribute to your child's fees, please call the school or contact Nerrida at principal@smwarracknabeal.catholic.edu.au

Upcoming dates

Monday, Wednesday,  Friday for next two weeks swimming - 27/11, 29/11, 1/12, 4/12, 6/12, 8/12

Thursday December 7: Graduation Dinner at the Creekside Hotel 6:00pm

Wednesday December 13: Graduation Mass 5:30pm (with presentation of the Shine Award and farewells to families and staff leaving St Mary's.)

Thursday December 14: Santa visiting by helicopter ANZAC park from 10:30am

Friday December 15:  Students last Day   St Mary's students Pool Party and BBQ lunch by SVDP

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