WELCOME TO ST PETER'S

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The beginning of a school year brings the excitement of families new to St Peter’s joining our community. On behalf of our community I welcome the following families with children starting in Years One to Year Six.

Abdelahad, Fernandez, Giraga Hewage, Hatzoglou, Kinch, Kochergina, Maling, Marcos, Mesaritis, Pehlivanas, Toey, Venkatesh.

I also welcome families who have their first child starting in Foundation at St Peter’s.

Achari, Arena, Bowditch, Briggs, Britto, Cachart, Ellett, Filice, Fitzsimons, Goldberg, Huang, Kinch, Lien, Mesaritis, Mouzos, Mudrinic, Murphy, Nguyen, Patnaik, Patzel, Perera, Pow Iturrieta, Prendergast, Rizzo, Roach, Robinson, Rogers, Sali, Sandhu Sanabria, Sese, Smith, Stanbrook, Stevenson, Suleyman, Tinnirello, Torres,Tudor, Vandenberg, Watkins, Young.

STAFF UPDATE 

Victoria Xiong - Victoria one of our  Learning Support staff has requested and been granted Leave without Pay for the 2024 school year. We look forward to her return in 2025.

Chloe Power - We welcome Chloe Power who has joined us as a Sports Trainee. She will be working with Ben Cavarra supporting our PE lessons and Sports Program.

Zoe Power - (Not related to Chloe) Zoe is a graduate from St Peter’s and is returning as a Business /Administration Trainee supporting Loretta and Trish in finance and the front office.

Jessica Mair - We welcome Jessica to the Learning Support team. Jessica is currently studying for a Bachelor of Education and will be working in Year Four Monday to Wednesday.

Gabby Collingwood - Gabby is also joining our Learning Support team having worked in a number of roles supporting children in their learning and development. Gabby will commence work on Monday, 19th February. Gabby will be working in Year Two Monday to Thursday. 

MEET THE TEACHER

Classrooms will be open from 3:30pm to 6:00pm this Thursday, 8th February. Students are invited to show their parents their classroom and introduce their teacher. They are also able to show their parents around the school. This is a relaxed opportunity for the relationship between home and school to be enhanced. It is not a parent teacher interview as it is too early to discuss anything other than how students have settled in.

2024 SCHOOL THEME - “Aspire not to have more but to be more” Oscar Romero

Our 2023 theme will continue for 2024  “Aspire not to have more but to be more” this quote was made by Oscar Romero. St. Oscar Romero (1917-1980) was a Salvadoran Roman Catholic Archbishop who was a vocal critic of the violent activities of government armed forces, right-wing groups, and leftist guerrillas involved in El Salvador’s civil conflict. As a voice of the voiceless, he was an outspoken champion of the poor who were the ones most affected by the civil unrest and violence. His advocacy provoked several attempts on his life and on March 24, 1980, St. Oscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass. 

This theme was the focus of much of our school approach to social justice and I look forward to sharing some of our 2024 projects with you in future newsletters.

CENTRE RD PROPERTY UPDATE

After a period of delay in being able to access one of the three properties on Centre Road,  I am very pleased to advise that as of last Monday we have full access to all three properties. The asbestos audit of the third property is taking place today and we will then be able to progress the plans we have. While we have been in delay we have been able to progress a number of other steps and I look forward to being able to provide you with a more detailed update in the next newsletter on the 19th of February.

PHOTOS SWAP OF DATES

I have needed to adjust the school photo dates. 

Friday, 1st March will now be Sibling Photos and Monday, 4th March will now be the Class School Photos and Individual Photos for the students. As Monday is a sports day for Year One and Foundation they will wear their normal summer uniform on this day. Reminders will be sent closer to the day. My apologies for any inconvenience.

SCHOOL FEE STATEMENTS

School fee statements have been sent out today. If you have any queries regarding your statement please contact Loretta Ballas our Finance Officer on 9575 0909 or via email lballas@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au If you wish to discuss any challenges you may have paying your fee account please contact me via email principal@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au 

BEGINNING OF YEAR MASS THIS FRIDAY, 9th FEBRUARY

Our beginning of year Mass will be celebrated this Friday, 9th February at 10:00am. All families are invited to join us for this celebration. 

SHROVE TUESDAY - Tuesday, 13th February

Historically Christians abstain from all meat and items that came from animals, including butter, eggs, cheese, and fat during Lent which begins the next day on Ash Wednesday. In preparation for this period pancakes were often cooked to use up any eggs and butter before Lent. A number of classes will be making pancakes next Tuesday. If your child’s class is involved you will receive a separate communication. Not every class or year level will make pancakes.

ASH WEDNESDAY MASS - Wednesday, 14th February

Our Year Three to Year Six students will be attending Mass next Wednesday, 14th February for Ash Wednesday. Mass will begin at 10:00am and families are invited to join us. Students in Year One and Year 2 will be receiving the ashes during an age appropriate prayerful liturgy at different times during the day depending on specialist lessons.

LUNAR NEW YEAR

Happy Lunar New Year to our Chinese,  and Vietnamese families. I hope your celebrations will be joyful and there will be many opportunities for families to gather together to celebrate. People born in the year of the Dragon are powerful, endlessly energetic and full of vitality, goal-oriented yet idealistic and romantic, and a visionary leader. 

SCHOOL THERAPY DOG - TITO! 

In 2024, St Peter’s  will continue to have a trained Therapy Dog on site with one day a week visits.  The dog’s name is Tito and he has undergone extensive training through ‘K9 Support’ to complete his certificate in Animal Assisted Therapy. Tito is a Labrador / Golden Retriever who is three years old, and has had experience working with primary school aged children from the age of 16 weeks.
His visits to the school community are designed to reduce stress, manage anxiety and build positive relationships. In different classroom settings, this will be presented  differently.

We understand for some families and students this is a very exciting opportunity, however others may have concerns. We recognise that some students may have allergies or a fear of dogs. If this is something that applies to your child, please email your child’s teacher so we can ensure that all children are comfortable.

UNIFORM REMINDERS

Hair - Fashions come and go and there are very few restrictions on hair styles at St Peter’s. There is one constant that applies to all students at St Peter’s and that is if hair is beyond collar length then it needs to be tied up, Mullets included. This is not the fashion police, it assists in preventing the potential spread of head lice.  

School Shoes -  Our uniform guidelines that the shoes worn with the normal uniform must be a black school shoe. This allows for any black shoe to be worn BUT it must be all black, black runners with white emblems etc are not acceptable. Please make sure your child is in the correct shoes for school. When wearing black shoes with the grey shorts uniform the socks MUST be grey not white. When wearing the summer dress the socks are white.

Sports Uniform - Every level has advised it’s families which days children need to wear sports uniform. Starting this week I will be catching up with students, particularly in Year 5 and 6 who are wearing sports uniform on non-sports days. Consistency on the little things helps us ensure that the high standards we aspire to for everything at St Peter’s are achievable.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

This is a special way to start the day as it relaxes the children and prepares us all for learning. Please respect this sacred time. Families, including babies and toddlers, are welcome to stay for meditation. However, it is important that it remains a quiet time so that the students are not distracted, it is their time. If you have a smaller child who is struggling to sit quietly with you, we ask that you please leave meditation time and try again another day. If your child is late, please encourage them to leave their bag near their locker and quietly join the circle. Families staying for meditation for Foundation will commence once they are full time which is the week beginning the 4th of March.

PLAYGROUND BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL

When students arrive at school they are to go to their lines and are not allowed to play on any of the adventure playgrounds. After school I ask that families limit play under parent supervision to a couple of minutes as gates need to be locked and staff on duty have to head to different after school meetings. On Friday afternoons we extend this time to 10 minutes. On any occasion that students are in any play areas after school they must be under parent supervision. Some children have been playing while their parents/carers are waiting in their cars and this is not allowed. Teachers on duty at these times are monitoring gates, not play spaces.

PARKING

Front Car Park

• A huge thank you to families who have waited until the gates open in the afternoon to be able to enter the front car park. One week in and there have been no cars queuing in Centre Rd and I have even seen cars indicate to drive in, see the gates closed and drive around the block. It makes a  huge difference to safety and our school’s reputation within the community. 
• When parking in the front car park please make sure that the gap between cars is reasonable and not too large.
• If arriving later in the day to pick up students from OSHC please be aware of students using the car park for basketball training and other members of our local community.

Florence Street Parking

• When parking in Florence Street morning or afternoon it is very important that time restrictions are observed. The limit is two minutes. It is not a parking area that allows for parents to park and enter the school grounds. Council no longer issue paper tickets when booking cars. They record car registrations and issue parking tickets using that information.

USE OF BASKETBALL COURTS AFTER SCHOOL

If using the Basketball Courts in our front car park after school please make sure you and children you are responsible for are aware that cars are using this car park for a number of reasons and everyone needs to be aware of cars to ensure safety for all. 

UPCOMING PARENTS AND FRIENDS MEETING

Our first Parents and Friends meeting for 2024 will take place next Monday, 12th February. This meeting is our Annual General Meeting and will take place at 7:00pm in the staff room with entry through the front office via the Centre Road car park. All families are welcome.

DOGS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS

Dogs are an important part of life for many St Peter’s families, and as such, are often included in day-to-day activities such as walking children to and from school.

While the school appreciates this inclusion and values pet ownership as an educational experience, it also acknowledges other families (and individuals) can find contact with dogs stressful, even frightening.

For this reason we have a Dog Management Policy which applies particularly at pick up and drop off times.

If you have a dog that you walk at drop off and pick up time please read carefully. Thank you for your co-operation.   

As part of this newsletter I have organised two community sections. One is to advertise for local community organisations ie sporting clubs etc with information that may be of interest to our families.

The second is a section where St Peter’s families can advertise their businesses. If you are seeking a particular service there may be a St Peter’s family who you could use. If you wish to add your business to this section of the newsletter please send details to Trish Ticca in our office tticca@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au

Further information regarding bookings for the Masses will be sent out closer to the date of the sacrament.

If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Gibson or Chris Joplin.

Many thanks,

Michelle Gibson

RE Co-ordinator

WELCOME BACK 2024 !

Hope all our St Peter's families had a wonderful Christmas and New Year break. 

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