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Dear Parents, community and Guardians,
Just a real THANK YOU for everyone's efforts this Term. Thanks for your support for the school, the staff, your own children and other members of our community. We hope to see everyone back in the school soon.
Friday, school closure day. This Friday is one of our planned closure days. We will have no students on site. Our timetable for the day will be broken down into three parts. The morning session will be looking at the school review document and beginning the journey of producing our next four year School Improvement Plan. (SIP) The middle session has our teaching teams planning for Term 4 and our Final session will be a session on Staff Well Being. Teachers will not be providing lessons on the day, however you are welcome to use some of the activities from our Snap Lock-down Plan that we shared with families earlier this term and the many online programs students can access.
Paul Burke. We of course, are saying goodbye to Paul Burke, as he begins the journey with his new position at the Royal Children's Hospital. Paul has been at the school for nearly twenty years and has worked in a number of roles, including Math's Leader. He is well loved by students, the community and staff and will be much missed. We wish Paul all the best for the future and thank him for all he offered St Mary's.
We also say goodbye to Karoline Cooke and wish her well as she prepares for imminent arrival of her new baby. Jordan Lovett joins us as her replacement PE Teacher and Daryl Marmion, another Irishman, replaces Paul Burke.
Take Care and Stay Safe.
Anthony
Upcoming Events
TERM 3 |
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Year 5 First Eucharist
Saturday 9th October 6pm
Sunday 10th October 8.30, 10.30am & 5pm
Friday 15th October 2.30pm - class Mass
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Thanks to the parents who have changed to another Mass to lower the numbers for Communion.
If you are booked into the Saturday 6pm or Sunday 10.30am Mass and wish to change to one of the extra Masses added, then please email Michelle Ebinger at: mebinger@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Please note that there are 4 spaces left for the Sunday Mass at 5pm. (10th October)
Please note that we are anxiously awaiting any government announcements in regards to whether or not this event can go ahead. Fingers and toes are crossed!!
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TERM 4 |
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Year 4 First Eucharist Saturday 16th October 6pm
Sunday 17th October 8.30 & 10.30am
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Bookings will be transferred from the original date and time to the new date and times
If these new dates create any problems, then please feel free to contact Father Greg directly. |
Sunday 24th October - Sunday 21st November |
Father Greg on annual leave |
Encouraging a growth mindset
As parents, you play a huge role in influencing the mindset of your children, so it’s important for you to model a growth mindset for your children. Showing your children that you are excited by challenges, see mistakes as learning opportunities, and understand the value of practice and trying different strategies will go a long way in cultivating their growth mindsets!
Understanding Mindsets
A growth mindset is the underlying belief that abilities can be developed through effort and practice. Children with a growth mindset persist in the face of challenges because they understand that effort and hard work can change ability and intelligence. A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence is static, and cannot be changed. When children have a fixed mindset, they tend to give up easily when they encounter obstacles, because they believe that they don’t have what it takes to learn hard things.
Try playing the game ‘Pig’ regularly for a week or two as a family. Does your child’s ability to quickly add numbers improve?
It’s not just grown-ups worrying about the Coronavirus and the changes happening day by day. As parents it is important we listen to the questions coming from our children and that we offer clear and honest answers. It’s also OK to admit we don’t know the answers. Much better to do that, than pretend we know the right response.
Remember, our children will be picking up information from their peers, the media, and what they are observing in the streets and shops. It is our roles as parents to make sure we don’t unnecessarily add to their anxiety and tailor information to their age and developmental stage so we can be sure they have understood.
This article from The Black Dog Institute provides some advice on some of the best ways when discussing the topic with your children.
Click here for the linkSt Mary’s Lego Station and the Rainbow Retreat
St Mary’s School is gratefully asking for donations of any unwanted lego you might have at home. We have set up “Leah the Lego Lorry” and are looking to increase supplies at school for students to use their creative skills during recess and lunchtimes. We are also seeking any Matchbox cars you no longer need to top up the ones available in the Rainbow Retreat.
Donations are being accepted at the school office.
In continuation of supporting families with guiding students in the online world, please find the following resources to support your family through navigating the world of technology safely with your family.
A reminder that the following interactive webinars are being offered online by the Australian Government’s e-safety Commissioner to help parents and carers.
eSafety parent guide to digital technologies and mental health
This webinar will provide parents and carers with strategies to help young people and their mental health when they are online.
It is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 10–18.
It will cover:
- what do to about accidental exposure to content about suicide, self-harm or eating disorders
- using games, apps and social media to support mental wellbeing
- the pros and cons of digital mental health platforms
- strategies for young people to support friends online.
Dates (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)
Tuesday 19 October 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Wednesday 20 October 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Thursday 21 October 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Tuesday 26 October 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Tuesday 9 November 7.30 to 8.30 pm
Thursday 18 November 12.30 to 1.30 pm
Thanks to all the families, teachers, support staff and students for supporting and participating in the many P&F activities throughout Term 3. We are looking forward to providing an update on activities for the final term of 2021 when we return in Term 4.
As we look towards planning for 2022, which if all going well will be our School Fair year, we would love to hear from you if you have any ideas or are keen to get involved with the P&F in 2022.
Our next meeting will be held on Monday 11th October at 7pm, email secretary@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au if you would like to join.
Chocolate Drive
Thank you to everyone that has been able to participate in the Chocolate Fundraiser and congratulations to Leo Loftus 5C who is the winner of the $150 Santorini voucher. For those families that haven’t yet returned their money and/or box of unsold chocolates can you please try to get those in by the end of this term.
If you hare having any issues can you please email president@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Jemima Bowen
P&F President (president@smwiliamstown.catholic.edu.au)
A message from Code Camp to the school.
I hope that you're keeping well!
Regrettably, due to the growing COVID-19 situation, it doesn't look like we'll be able to run camps in Victoria in the upcoming holidays. This is so disappointing for us, but hopefully we can return for a better, safer camp in the Summer. However, we really appreciate how helpful you have been with navigating through COVID and all of the constantly changing information and restrictions around running camps.
As a massive thank you for sticking with and supporting our small business, we'd love to offer your school community 50 spots (each valued at $129, for a total value of $6,450) at our online camps these holidays. Over 8000 students have already bought these online programs for the upcoming holidays, and they'll be making websites, games, and animations. It's been a tough year for students, teachers, and parents, and some online coding or animating will hopefully help some stressed-out families during the break.
To offer this to your students, you can distribute the code MARYS-SPRING21 to parents, for 50 total uses. Parents can choose from a range of coding/animations programs depending on their age and skill level. Here's some more info about our online camps if you want to check them out first.
Each camp runs over 5 days (Monday to Friday, 2 hours per day), and all students get access to live online tech support. Parents can choose which week of the holidays they want to book into and students can complete the 2 hour daily lesson at any time of the day to provide them with the most flexibility! These 50 codes are all set up and ready to go as soon as you want to send them out and can be used totally at your discretion.
Also a quick note -- though the camps are generally open to children aged 7-12, I find that the online camps work best with Year 4 to Year 6 as they are able to learn more independently.
As one of our favorite partner schools, we want you to know how important you are to the success of Code Camp and how appreciative we are of your ongoing support. Hope this helps!
CODE CAMP
St Mary's School is pleased to offer you one complimentary booking (valued at $129) for your child to join an Online Coding or Online Animation program these school holidays.
Simply click this link, select a program and week of the school holidays and enter the code MARYS-SPRING21 at checkout. This code expires on 30/9/21.
Your child will receive 2 hours of exciting and engaging activities to complete each day. This means you don’t have to complete the program at the same time each day. It’s flexible. Your child can be creative when it suits their schedule!
The Code Camp live tutor team will be online Monday - Friday between 9:30 am - 3:30 pm to help your kids over the course of the program.
Get in touch with the Camp Camp team via email at hello@codecamp.com.au if you've got any questions.
Applications for Year 7, 2023 closed on Friday 20 August, 2021. If you have a child currently in Year 5 and have not yet submitted an application, please contact the College Registrar via enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au or by calling on 8325 5119 as a matter of urgency
Also, please note that our next College experience event is the Twilight Talk and Tour event at each campus scheduled for November this year. For dates and essential bookings, please use the tours and events tab on the right hand side of the homepage of the College website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
We would love to see you there.