st. elizabeth’s school · a great day as we visited a beautiful cathedral. the students were...
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Message from Mrs Ferguson Dear Parents and Guardians, On Friday afternoon, many of us were in shock to hear of the tragic events that took place in New Zealand, and then to discover that the alleged terrorist was Australian. As adults we have difficulty in understanding the enormity of terrorist attacks, so it naturally makes us wonder how do our children comprehend this, especially since the media is saturated with the tragedy? According to psychologists the best way to help our children understand and deal with any type of trauma, whether it be personal, local or global is by the way we react. Our children take their cue from us as parents; they look for the signal on how they should react to a situation. It is important in times like this to help our children identify their emotions. Ask them to name what they are experiencing. This helps them to verbalise and organise what they are thinking, which is one of the first steps in being able to process what has happened. When our children are anxious or fearful, it is okay to distract them for a little while, but it is just as important to help them name their feelings and to deal with what they are feeling. It is important to ask them what they would like to know and share with them information that is age appropriate and will help them feel safe. During this time, we keep all the families of the victims in our prayers and thoughts. Project Compassion
It has been extremely heartwarming to see the amount of children donating to Project Compassion during this Lenten season.
The money raised by Catholic schools and parishes, helps to empower communities with hope and helps those in great need to shape a better future for themselves, their families and communities. Classes have been viewing the stories of the children and adults whose lives have been changed due to the generous donations of others. All families had a Project Compassion box sent home on Ash Wednesday. These can be handed into the office at the end of term or at Mass during Easter. Professional Learning On Monday, our school closure day, staff were fortunate to engage in professional learning with Lane Clark. During our time with Lane, we investigated and unpacked what contemporary learning is; what it looks like within our school; and how this becomes an embedded practice. Lane took us through some processes to assist us in our planning for contemporary learning. Then on the Tuesday, Lane worked with each level to “unpack” the curriculum and incorporate contemporary learning practices within our teaching practice. This is an exciting time in education, where we can use current knowledge on how children learn best, in conjunction with relevant and contemporary teaching practices to ensure that all children are taught at their point of need and achieve personal success. [email protected]
St. Elizabeth’s School Newsletter: 21st March 2019
(Always refer to FlexiBuzz messages for up-to-date information)
School playground is supervised from 8:30am until 8:55am and 3:15pm to 3:30pm
Message from Mrs Walker St. Patrick’s Day Mass 15th March A special day of celebration as part of Catholic Education Week, was shared by the school captains and myself last Friday.
Here are some of their reflections: Jayden: Last Friday, the school captains went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We attended the one and a half hour Mass. The choir was amazing and we even got to shake the Archbishop Peter Comensoli’s hand.
Tommie: On St. Patrick’s Day, we went to the city to attend Mass and then went to the park to watch a band play. At the Mass, Tori and I were picked to carry the flag to represent our school. The bagpipes were playing during this procession.
Tori: Friday was a great day as we visited a beautiful cathedral. The students were lovely and kind and so were the helpers. The band in the park played really good songs. I hope to go again someday.
Phuong: Last Friday the school captains went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and enjoyed a beautiful Mass. The schools carried their banners down the aisle whilst listening to an amazing choir.
Prayers in Pyjamas Many Foundation students and their families celebrated a special event called ‘Prayers in Pyjamas.’ The students meditated, explored family prayers and wrote prayers which were then shared with everyone.
At the end of the evening, Fr. Tad blessed the families and children and we all said Our Lord’s Prayer to conclude the evening.
Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord Please join us at the whole school Mass on Monday 25th March at 9:15am in the church.
Reconciliation candidates It was lovely to see so many Reconciliation candidates and their families attend the Information night on Tuesday. Please pray for the children who will receive the Sacrament on Tuesday 2nd April at 6:30pm.
Harmony day The message of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’. The day aims to engage people to participate in their community, respect cultural and religious diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone. Since 1999, more than 70,000 Harmony Day events have been held in childcare centres, schools, community groups, churches, businesses and federal, state and local government agencies across Australia.
Why orange?
Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Day. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.
Today the children wore colours of their national flag, or wore a “touch of orange”
The children worked together to share discussions and activities on how we all get along. The afternoon parade was a great way for everyone to see how we all marked the day and that everyday should be Harmony day.
Please see the photos included in this
newsletter.
Message from Ms Koutroumanis This term Mr Young and I were fortunate enough to visit our sister school in the Philippines. We flew to Cebu where our school is located in a little town called Matutinao. Our friendship school, Matutinao Elementary is a beautiful school of 245 students, who all welcomed us with a lovely traditional dance and held an assembly for us. To our surprise, students came in on a Saturday for us to meet us and receive messages and school supplies from our students and our school community. The teachers and students of Matutinao were beyond grateful for our friendship and took us on a tour around the school to show us what they had done with our donations over the years. It was so lovely to see that some of the teachers were using the laptops we had sent over 4 years ago, while students were using books and pencils that we had sent over. Unfortunately, the students and teachers over there have very little to work with. They have one computer lab, with only 4 of their computers that work, they often had three students to one small desk as they had no space, and no paper or books to write in. Teachers paid out of their own money to build a fence around their school as strangers were walking into classes and into the playground during school time. One of their biggest needs at the moment is for all students to access IT in some way, shape or form, and for each child to have their own writing books, pencils and pens.
Mr Young and I had an amazing time seeing our friendship school and appreciated the opportunity to meet the staff and students. Our school will continue to support our sister school and do our best to encourage our students to make a positive difference in their lives.
Message from Mr Andrew
This week our Mixed and Girls’ Softball teams will be playing in the Noble Park District finals. They have well coached this season by Mrs Hatley-Smith and Miss O. The players improve every week as they develop their skills, their strategies and their teamwork. They have well certainly deserved their top of the table finish. Mixed Basketball, Cricket B and both of our cricket teams all finished 3rd and just missed out on finals. Well done to everyone for the season. Our Summer and Winter sports program are part of the School Sport Victoria pathway. It starts at a district level in a round robin competition against local schools. The top two teams of each pool go through to semi-finals
and, if the team wins that game, they get to play in the District Grand Final. District winners go on to play in the Greater Dandenong Division finals. The winners at division level go on to the South Metro Regional finals. Regional winners earn a spot in the Victorian State finals. Win State and you have a party! Another recent highlight was from one of our Year 5 students in the swimming pool. Marjy, along with Giovannah D, George and Maya competed at the Greater Dandenong Swimming Carnival. Marjy came second in her chosen freestyle and backstroke events and just missed out on going to Regionals. We are all very proud of all of the swimmers for their efforts. Thank you to the families who made the day possible for our team. [email protected] St. Elizabeth’s Community Thank you to everyone who has already returned their Easter raffle tickets. If you want more tickets, please let either myself or Lisa know and we will send another sheet home for you. Woolworths Earn and Learn is happening again this year. This is a very easy way for us to obtain equipment for our school. The more completed sheets of tokens, the greater the selection of goods. It will run from 1st May to 25th June. We will have a box set up at the Waverley Gardens Woolworths store. Should you shop at Woolworths, please remember to ask for the tokens. More information will come as it gets closer. Parents and Friends are busy this year:` ~ Easter Raffle (current) ~ Mothers Day Stall ~ Chocolate Drive (end of May) ~ Bunnings Sausage Sizzle (July), ~ Fathers Day Stall ~ looking into a Disco Night (Term 3), ~ having a Hot Dog lunch for Footy Day (September) ~ Movies under the Stars (term 4) and a Fair next year.
As you can imagine a lot of work goes into the organisation of such an event and we are asking our community to help with this. Please consider coming along to our next meeting on Wednesday 3rd April beginning 7pm. Our aim is to be able to purchase and install solar lighting for our pathways.
Enrolments Do you know of anyone who has a child beginning school next year? Please remind them that they can come for a tour and see what our wonderful school has to offer. All they need do, is ring Lisa and book a day and time that suits.
St. Elizabeth’s Out of School Hours Care Program …
YOUTH LEADERSHIP VICTORIA PRESENTS – ST ELIZABETH’S OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE
Contact Details ….
111 Bakers Road,
Dandenong North
Ph. 0422 803 709
Before School Care
Permanent: $13.50 /Casual $16.00
7am to 8:55am Monday to Friday during
school term, excluding all Victorian Public
Holidays.
After School Care
Permanent: $14.50 /Casual $17.00
3:15pm to 6:15pm Monday to Friday during
school term, excluding all Victorian Public
Holidays.
Vacation Care / Pupil Free Days
Per Day: $50.00
7am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday
(The School Holiday Programme in January
will be held at St Anthony’s and St. Marys)
Late Pick Up Fees: Per minute: $1.00
For enquires or further information, please
contact Elarine on 0422 803 709 during
session times.
Fortnightly Activities …
Monday 25th March to Friday 5th April
Monday Make Splat Monsters,
Caterpillar Prints, Enjoy
the Writing Game
Tuesday Create Bubble Dinosaurs,
Create Collage Robots,
and Make Techno Paper
Wednesday Make Your Very Own
Jigsaw; Flying Saucer
And/Or Swimming Turtle
Thursday Art Bouncing Spiders,
Straw Dangles, Sitting Foil
Balls
Friday Create Felt Creatures,
Monster Masks, Window
Lights
If you need care, please contact
Elarine, on 0422 803 709