ISSUE 26: 19th August, 2022
Principal / Executive Leadership Team
Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends,
It is hard to believe that we are at the end of Week Six! I am currently on the Year 3 camp and students are having a great camp experience and have been representing our school community with pride. While on camp I received this letter from a visitor to the Pioneer Settlement which certainly demonstrates the great behaviour the students displayed.
My husband and I have recently visited the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement and I believe a group of your students were visiting at the same time. I would just like to compliment the behaviour of all the students, they were a credit to your school. I would also like to thank those children for sharing the Heart of the Murray experience with us. Everyone would do well to see life through the eyes of children. They made the experience more enjoyable. Thanks
Book Week
This week we celebrate CBCA Book Week with the theme of “Dreaming with Eyes Open”. Thank you to Mrs Collins for her planning and organisation for Book Week. This is a great opportunity to promote the importance of reading at school and at home, and recognise the enjoyment that comes from reading a good book. All students are encouraged to dress up on Monday 22nd August as their favourite book character. We look forward to seeing some great costumes! Throughout the week Mrs Collins will work with each class in library sessions with a focus on Book Week activities.
Athletics & Book Week Assembly
Due to our Year 5 camp our assembly is scheduled to be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm on Monday 22nd August. The focus for this week’s Assembly will be on Athletics Presentations. Parents of students receiving a medal or ribbon will be sent a text message. Following the presentations, each year level will stand up to show their Book Week dress ups.
Year 5 Ballarat Camp
We wish our Year Five students all the best for this week’s Ballarat Camp which is being held from Wednesday 24th August to Friday 26th August. Miss Zappia, Mrs Kotsiakos, Mrs Thompson, Mr Dashington, Mr O’Callaghan and Mr Burford will attend with our students. We are really pleased that students are able to participate in this camp, which means that all year levels have been able to hold all camps this year. To revisit your permission form on PAM please go to School Activities under your child’s profile.
Parish Mass - Karinya
We have Karinya participating in the Parish Mass at the church this Thursday 25th August. This celebration will begin at 9.30am and parents are welcome to attend.
School Advisory Council Meeting
Our School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting will be held on Tuesday, 23rd August at 5:15pm in the staffroom. An agenda has been sent home to SAC members on Monday.
School Sports Victoria (SSV) Division Golf
Division Golf is being held this Friday 26th August at the Mildura Golf Club. Cameron Beggs, James Clay, Nicholas Walder & Alby Woollard have been selected to represent our school at this event. We wish them all the best. Grant Beggs, a parent, will attend with our students.
Work Experience Student
We welcome Lillee Driscoll for Work Experience this week. Lillee is in Year 10 at Merbein P-10. Lillee has been rostered on to work with a range of classes.
SIMON Everywhere Update
This weekend there will be a significant upgrade to SIMON Everywhere with an outage beginning Friday evening and ending on Sunday evening.
Parents should upgrade to the new version of SIMON Everywhere via the App Store as soon as it becomes available, as the old version will cease to function after the rollout.
The SIMON Team understands that while the outage is not ideal for parents, this outage will present significant improvements to the experience.
RUOK Breakfast (8th September) Orders
On Thursday 8th September we are planning to hold an RUOK breakfast. This will be a great way to educate our community how we can have conversations with people who are struggling with life.
Our breakfast is free for students, parents and guardians. To assist with catering you will need to complete an order via CDFPay.
Bacon & egg rolls, fruit salad, corn flakes and rice bubbles will be available. Meals will be packaged according to orders received so please ensure we finalise our orders before Thursday 2nd September. People will not be able to turn up on the day and receive breakfast.
School Uniform
Over the next couple of weeks we will be focusing on School Uniform. It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that children come to school wearing the correct uniform. Classroom teachers will take note of students who are ‘out of uniform’ and give them a friendly reminder. If there is no change, then parents will be contacted, emailed, spoken to in person etc.
If for some reason, particular items are not available on a given day, a note should be sent with the child, to eliminate any misunderstanding. We thank you for your cooperation.
School Closure Days & Pupil Free Days
Below is a list of our remaining Pupil Free Day for 2022.
- Monday 31st October: Curriculum Planning Day
- Thursday 15th December: Staff First Aid Training
- Friday 16th December: 2023 Staff Planning
Please note that our last day for students in 2022 is Wednesday 14th December.
Year 3 Camp
Our Year Three students have arrived back from Swan Hill this afternoon. They are all exhausted after what has been a wonderful experience for them all. A big thank you to Mrs Rowles, Mrs Beckwith, Miss Price and Mr Dashington for their organisation and coordination of the camp, and for their supervision and care of our students throughout the camp. Most importantly, congratulations to all students for making it through their first 'real' camp experience. Great effort by all!
God Bless!
Mark Gibson
COVID Update
COVID is still out there in our community and we can expect that this trend will continue for some time. We would encourage families to continue with twice weekly testing at home to help prevent the spread. RAT tests can be collected at any time from the front office. We will still send these home at times throughout the term.
The COVID Schools Operations Guide has been updated to reflect that:
- Visitors and staff are no longer required to meet COVID-19 vaccination requirements to attend school.
- Staff and students must inform the school if they have tested positive to COVID-19 and isolate for 7 days.
- If a student or staff member tests positive through a RAT test, but they don’t have symptoms or have not been in contact with anyone who has COVID-19 it is recommended getting a PCR test within 48 hours and staying isolated at all times until they receive their result. If the subsequent PCR test is negative, you can return to school.
- Household contacts are required to test negative using a rapid antigen test on at least 5 out of 7 days if they are attending or working at a school onsite.
- Household contacts are required to inform the school that they are attending during the 7 day period.
- Social distancing, good hand hygiene, air purifiers and use of outdoor spaces for teaching are still recommended.
- Students and staff refrain from returning to school if they remain symptomatic.
- Parents/carers who are positive to COVID are able to leave isolation if other arrangements cannot be made to transport someone they live with to and/or from school.
- After having COVID you do not need to be tested if you have been re-exposed within 12 weeks of ending self-isolation.
- It is recommended that face masks are worn in indoor settings (except for close contacts, who must wear a mask indoors unless an exception applies).
- Everyone including students aged 8 years and above must wear a face mask when travelling on public transport, taxis or rideshare vehicles.
Religious Education
2022 Sacramental Program Dates
Sacrament of First Communion (Eucharist) 2022 Year 4 students
Parents Information Night Wednesday 7th September 7pm Sacred Heart Church
Celebration of Sacrament Friday 21st Saturday 22nd Sunday 23rd October
Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) 2022 Year 2 students
Parents Information Night Wednesday 12th October 7pm Sacred Heart Church
Celebration of the Sacrament Wednesday 23rd November 7pm Sacred Heart Church
Learning and Teaching News
The Sacred Heart Showcase, an event which focuses on the learning from Specialist classes, will be happening on Tuesday 13th September from 5:00-pm-6:30pm. Pop the date in your diary- a note with more information will be sent home early next week!
Learning Diversity News
Visual Processing: Children with visual processing issues often struggle with visual memory, visual-motor skills and processing what they see, which can affect their reading, tracking, writing and maths abilities. What you may see in your child.
Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings will be held on Monday 29th, Wednesday 31st August and Thursday 1st September. Emails will be sent out to parents with scheduled days/times next week.
Prep Unit News
This week in Prep we have been working hard learning the days of the week, Australian money and ordering the coins from the least amount value to most, working out the problem and solution in stories and how to cope in a positive way to all types of situations.
Some reminders:
- Sounds to continue practising with your child/ren at home: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, r, f, o, c, d, h, e, n, g, l, k, u, b, j, w, ck, ll, ff, ss, sh, ee, qu, z, ch, .
- Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
- Library day is Monday however due to change with Mrs Collins timetable ALL prep students need to return their library books each FRIDAY.
- Show and tell reminder for this coming Thursday = odd week.
Monday is ‘Book Week’ dress up day…. the students are encouraged to come dressed up as their favourite book character.
Prep Unit Team Contact Details
- Unit Leader: Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan
- Cooinda (Year Prep): Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan
- Wahroonga (Year Prep): Miss Courtney Sheridan
Junior Unit News
We are super excited to see the amazing costumes our Junior Unit Students will be rocking on Monday for Bookweek and we look forward to celebrating the Athletics age group champion successes at 2:30 in the stadium.
In Week 8, Bundaleer are presenting assembly. We will be celebrating Father's Day and sharing photos of the children with their dads. Could each family please send a photo of their Bundaleer child with their dad/s or special man to Mrs Pacher apacher@shmildura.catholic.edu.au by the 19th of August (Friday Week 6). TODAY.
We are very proud of our students and thank our fabulous families for supporting them to regularly practice their tricky words and completing the nightly reading/ homework requirements. We see such a difference in our students' confidence and ability when this occurs frequently.
Junior Unit Team Contact Details
Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.
- Unit Leader: Mrs Katrina Groves
- Karinya (Year 1): Mrs Katrina Groves (Monday-Thursday) & Mrs Amilea Pacher (Friday)
- Bundaleer (Year 1): Mrs Maree Irvin (Tuesday-Friday) & Mrs Amilea Pacher (Monday)
- Barramunga (Year 2): Miss Georgina Hewitt
- Waminda (Year 2): Mrs Chris Carmichael
- Kyema (Year 2): Mrs Kim Taylor
Middle Unit News
This week Year 3 students have had a wonderful time away on our Swan Hill Camp!
After an early morning we made the most of our first day in Swan Hill by exploring the Pioneer Settlement and participating in some activities such as visiting the blacksmith, butter churning, taking some snaps at the photo parlour and even a bit of retail therapy at the old fashioned shops.
We finished our night with a yummy dinner at the Murray Downs Golf Club and viewing the spectacular Heartbeat of the Murray Sound and Light Show. After a big sleep last night today we concluded our experience with some final activities at the Pioneer Settlement before making our journey home.
No doubt our travellers are a little weary after a big couple of days making memories! Well done to all Year 3 students for your positive attitude and excellent behaviour whilst on camp.
Middle Unit Team Contact Details
Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.
- Unit Leader: Miss Sophie Price
- Minga (Year 3): Mrs Cathryn Rowles
- Eumeralla (Year 3): Mrs Sarah Beckwith
- Amaroo (Year 4): Mrs Natalee Johnson
- Yongana (Year 4): Mr Corey Barbary
- Mootwingee (Year 4): Miss Sophie Price
Senior Unit News
Year 5 Camp
The countdown is now on and the excitement is starting to build in anticipation of the upcoming Year 5 camp. Correspondence with what to bring was sent home and emailed to parents on Tuesday. If you have any queries, please contact your child’s teacher. We look forward to hearing about the great learning experiences the students will have while on camp when they return.
Year 6 Human Development
The Year 6 students will participate in their Human Development session this coming week.
Please click the below link for resources and webinars recommended by Denise Pragt.
Time to talk puberty? Here are some tips l New webinar on Feisty Roosters & Sensitive Lambs I Parental As Anything print edition now in UK and US
Senior Unit Team Contact Details
Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.
- Unit Leader: Mrs Jo Campbell
- Myalla (Year 5): Mrs Kerryn Weaver (Monday-Wednesday) & Mrs Emma Kotsiakos (Wednesday-Friday)
- Illawarra (Year 5): Miss Belinda Zappia
- Narooma (Year 6): Mrs Jo Campbell
- Dourim (Year 6): Mrs Xana Priestley
Library
CBCA Book Week
Book Week will be celebrated this week. We will have our annual dress up day on Monday 22nd, so children may dress up in this theme, as a book character or in “comfy reading clothes”.The theme for Book Week this year is “Dreaming with Eyes Open”. See the following photos for some ideas!
Scholastic book club issue #6 w orders are to be completed online by Thursday 26th August. See the catalogue for details.
Middle and Senior students: Laptops are needed each week in our Library time to search for books and to complete research. A number of students in the Middle and Senior years are either not bringing their laptop to school or they go flat. Please ensure students are charging their laptops at home and bringing them to school. If students do not have their laptop, they may be asked to complete a task in their own time.
Timetable:
Please note that Illawarra has now changed Library sessions to Monday. Prep students will also be required to now return their library books to school on Fridays, in preparation for borrowing on Monday.
Monday - Illawarra, Eumeralla, Preps
Tuesday - Amaroo, Minga, Karinya
Wednesday - Bundaleer, Barramunga, Year 6, Mootwingee
Thursday - Yongana, Kyema,
Friday - Waminda ***please note this change for this week ***