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- NEWS FROM MICHAEL HANNEY
- UPCOMING EVENTS
- COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
- MATHS GAME DAY AT ST. PATRICK'S MENTONE
- INCLUSION OUR WAY - IN SCHOOL ACTIVITY
- YEAR 3 OLYMPICS
- SPORTS NEWS
- DIGI TECH NEWS
- BUSH DANCE
- STUDENT WELLBEING / BUCKET FILLER / STAR AWARDS / MARVELLOUS MANNERS AWARDS / WALK/RIDE TO SCHOOL DAYS
- SACRAMENTS NEWS
- P & F NEWS
- PARISH NEWS
- COMMUNITY NEWS
STAFF UPDATE
It is with a combination of sadness for us but joy for them that I can advise the following staff will be retiring this year.
Josie Gleeson - Year Three and Year Five
Josie has advised that she will be commencing 12 months Long Service Leave at the end of this term. At the end of this leave Josie will be retiring after a teaching career that began 39 years ago! An amazing career.
Trish Mooney - Literacy Intervention
After forty continuous years of service, the last 15 years at St Peter’s, Trish has advised me that she will be retiring at the end of this school year bringing an end to her incredible career.
Marian Peake - Year Two
Marian began teaching in Catholic Education in 1987 and after 38 years has advised me that she will be retiring at the end of this year after an amazing career.
Peter Hurst - Year Five
After 18 years at St Peter’s, Peter has advised me that he will be retiring at the end of this year. Pete’s contribution to Catholic education and to St Peter’s has been outstanding.
Josie, Trish, Marian and Peter’s joint contribution to education exceeds over 130 years and has impacted thousands of lives. We will celebrate their contribution to education before they finish.
DEMOLITION OF PROPERTIES
We have reached the point where demolition is about to begin with houses to be removed by the end of this term. We then move into the civil works which includes laying turf and installing fencing. Completion is in sight!!
UNIFORM DURING WARMER WEATHER
The focus of our uniform has been consistency in wearing whatever uniform correctly. For example white socks with the sports uniform, not black socks. With seasons changing I have been asked what students can wear when it is hot. Currently we move into summer uniform during Term Four. However common sense can apply so if the weather makes wearing the winter uniform too uncomfortable then wearing the appropriate summer uniform is acceptable.
“LEAVE THOSE TEACHERS ALONE”
Friday’s Herald Sun included an article with this title. The article reported on new laws coming into effect on the 26th of August that protects the rights of staff to not be harassed or asked to respond to emails outside of business hours. The focus of the laws is a direction to employees not to expect staff to read or respond outside scheduled work times. The example given was of school parents and school principals emailing and expecting responses out of normal work hours.
I thought it was a good opportunity to reinforce expectations at St Peter’s. Firstly the bottom of our emails includes the statement.
St Peter's staff access their work emails normally between 8.30 am-4.30 pm and will endeavour to respond to emails within 24-48 hours.
However, staff are not expected to respond in this time frame during weekends, public holidays and term breaks.
I cannot control when emails are sent but via this statement it is clear to all our families and school leaders that staff will not respond outside the hours of 8:30 - 4:30pm and I advise staff not to read or respond to any work emails from colleagues or parents outside these hours.
PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENT
Deb Darvell, one of the Senior Managers, at Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Southern Office will be leading the Principal appointment process at St Peter’s. She will be meeting with staff and members of our School Advisory Council to seek staff and parental input. I am also going to ask Chris Joplin and Anna Pullan to meet with our School Representative Council so we can have Parent, Staff and Student input into what St Peter’s needs in your new principal.
The position will be advertised widely including social media, newspapers and job sites. Once applicants have been shortlisted interviews will take place. The panel will consist of Deb Darvell, Fr Jacob, Phil Dimitriu (Chair of our School Advisory Council) and a principal of another school chosen by MACS Leadership.
PRINCIPAL LONG SERVICE LEAVE
At the beginning of the year I requested and was granted LSL to attend my son’s wedding which will be held in Noosa. I was also granted permission to attend a conference for Australian and New Zealand principals in the last week of this term. As a result I will be on Long Service Leave from the 26th of August to the 13th of September and I will then be attending the conference in New Zealand for the last week of Term Three. During my absence Chris will again step into the role of acting Principal and Steph will step into the role of Acting Deputy Principal. Sam will continue in the Teaching and Learning role, Anna in the Wellbeing role and Michelle in the REL role. I will be back as principal during the holiday period and for the remainder of the year.
DADS FOOTBALL MATCH
BUSH DANCE
A huge thank you to Kate Nugara (Ruby 3AM) and the P&F team for organising last Thursday’s bush dance. A lot was learnt during the day and the families who attended the after school sessions had a great time.
Please see separate post in this Newsletter.
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Our second round of parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Tuesday, 10th September between 2:00pm and 7:30pm. School will finish for students at 1:30pm on this day. This round of interviews is not compulsory and if you feel that you do not require an interview you do not need to book an interview.
There may be occasions where you do not require an interview but your child’s teacher would like to meet with you. If this is the case you will be contacted separately.
Separate advice will come home next Monday, 26th August with details of how to book in for your interview. Families can choose to attend Parent Teacher Interviews on site face to face or on line via google meet.
END OF TERM
The last day of Term Three will be Friday, 20th September with students being dismissed at 2:30pm.
START OF TERM FOUR
The first day of Term Four will be Monday, 7th October.
WEEK 6
Wednesday, 21st August - BOOK FAIR
Thursday, 22nd August - BOOK FAIR / Australian Girls Choir Workshop - For Enrolled Students Only / 4MH Visiting Warrawee - 1.50pm - 3.15pm / FEDPAS - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Friday, 23rd August - BOOK FAIR / BOOK WEEK PARADE / 4MH & 4MM Attending Mass - 10.00am
WEEK 7
Monday, 26th August - FHK & FMM Attending Mass - 10.00am
Tuesday, 27th August - Kelly Sports - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 3.30pm- 4.45pm
Wednesday, 28th August - Father's Day Breakfast
Thursday, 29th August - FEDPAS - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Friday, 30th August - P & F Father's Day Stall / 4MK & 4OG Attending Mass - 10.00am
Sunday, 1st September - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL DADS!!
WEEK 8
Monday, 2nd September - NEWSLETTER / 3ES & 3GJ Attending Mass - 10.00am / P & F Meeting - 7.00pm
Tuesday, 3rd September - Year 1 Performance - 6.00pm / Year 2 Performance - 7.00pm / Kelly Sports - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 3.30pm- 4.45pm
Wednesday, 4th September -
Thursday, 5th September - Bentleigh District Athletics - Selected Students / FEDPAS - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Friday, 6th September - WALK/RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY / 2AM & 2SS Attending Mass - 10.00am
WEEK 9
Monday, 9th September -
Tuesday, 10th September - Parent Teacher Interviews - 2.00pm - 8.00pm - Students Finsh at 1.30pm / P & F Second hand Uniform Shop Open - 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Wednesday, 11th September -
Thursday, 12th September - FEDPAS - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Friday, 13th September - 2RN & 2PG Attending Mass - 10.00am
WEEK 10
Monday, 16th September - NEWSLETTER / P & F Sausage Sizzle & Footy Colours Day
Tuesday, 17th September - Foundation Performance - 6.00pm
Wednesday, 18th September -
Thursday, 19th September - P & F Second Hand Uniform Shop Open - 8.30am - 9.00am / WRITE A BOOK IN A DAY - Selected Students / FEDPAS - For Students Enrolled in the Program - 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Friday, 20th September - End of Term Mass - 10.00am / TERM 3 ENDS - Students Finish @ 2.30pm
Here is a video we created with a beautiful song Mary Pray for Us by Drew Lane featuring drawings by our Year 6 students.
On Thursday, 8th August, a group of eight Year Five students travelled to St Patrick's Primary School in Mentone to participate in a highly anticipated Maths Games Day, completing maths problems that would require high level thinking.
When we arrived, we were given a maths sheet where we had to use a specific four digits to use in an equation to get answers for the numbers 1-100. After that, the people at the school gave each group five work booklets to complete as a group in one hour. After carefully completing the maths worksheets we enjoyed our recess.
When we came back in from our recess, we settled down for the next challenging activity. The school host announced that next we would be doing the maths trail, which was an assortment of outdoor maths puzzles and problems that we had to complete in a certain amount of time.
We ended off the day with playing a very diverse variety of maths games such as Rows and Columns, Prime Climb and Number Tic Tac Toe. Sadly, our group didn’t do very well in the games but we all had an amazing, fantastic day.
Now was the time we all had been waiting for. It was time to announce the winner of the 2024 Year Five Maths Games Day Victoria was… Oxley Christian College by 1.5 points! We may not have left successful after our day at St Patrick's Mentone but we all enjoyed our day and got to experience something that not many people get to do and that is what mainly matters the most.
The Year 5 students that participated were Paige Reneaux, Paige Divall, Aarav Kurien, Avnee Karandikar, Beckett Cooper, Leah Kim and the two authors of this very text Shivvy Patel and Savvas Batzaxis.
We are very thankful for Ms Epstein and Mrs Hunt for organising this opportunity to participate in such an amazing event.
By Savvas Batzaxis & Shivvy Patel
Last week Tracey and Baruch came to talk about disabilities. Baruch is a thirty one year old who can’t speak and is a bit blind but we put that behind us and we focused on his huge, kind heart. Tracey is a helper for people who need help. At first, I was worried to meet Baruch but by the end, we were amazing friends. Tracey taught us some sign language. We learnt the whole alphabet and Baruch taught us lots of sports. It was an amazing day and I hope to see Baruch and Tracey again. By Louisa Wan 4OG
Last Monday all the Year 4s gathered to meet a special person called Baruch. He has some disabilities of deafness and a bit of blindness. A woman called Tracey was telling lots of facts about Baruch like his favourite sport being basketball. He also had a tube to help him breathe. Instead of food he had this liquid to help him eat. He is 31 years old, he knows of 500 + Auslan signs. We tried on glasses to see what Baruch sees. His family is from the US so if he could speak, he would sound American. He wore a helmet in case he falls and special glasses to help him see. He had a mobility walker to help him walk. Tracey told us about ‘Para Olympics’ meaning that it runs parallel to the non-disabled Olympics. He was very kind and funny and is very famous in the community.
By Ollie Walker 4OG
By Tilly, Seán Óg, Thomas and Georgie (3AM)
On Monday, 19th August, some of the Year 5 and 6 girls had the opportunity to represent St. Peter’s at the Girls Soccer Regionals Championship. We got to do this because we won our Interschool Sport Division and then won the Beachside Division. We were doing so well and won the first game, 5-1. Then we went on to the next game and won 7-1. In the last game we lost 1-6.
We were really sad that we lost but we really enjoyed it, especially spending time with all our friends. The bus ride there and back was so much fun talking and listening to music with Chrissy as the DJ.
Thank you so much to Mr Cavarra for organising the day for us and thank you to the parents who came to support and cheer us on.
By Sadie, Geneva and Chrissy
SPHERO OLYMPICS
Last week saw the end of the St Peter’s Sphero Olympics for Years 5 and 6.
Students used Sphero robots to interact directly with technology. They used programming skills to code their robots to complete various challenges such as Soccer, Hurdles, Archery, Rhythmic Gymnastics, a 400m Sprint and a Marathon. The robots’ ability to move, change colours, make sounds and perform various actions made for a thrilling competition.
The Olympic-style challenges required students to think critically and solve problems. They needed to figure out in teams how to code their robots through logical sequences, algorithms, and problem-solving techniques and to navigate and complete various tasks with fundamental STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) concepts.
Through trial and error and a lot of perseverance, teams were able to participate in the challenges and it made for some very entertaining and memorable moments.
Well done Year 5 and 6 and congratulations to all of the gold medal winners.
Click on the link below to watch a video
VR IN THE METAVERSE
Last week the Year 6 students experienced virtual reality (VR) in their Digital Technology lesson.
Students got to explore virtual reality and the metaverse; a virtual world where people interact, play, and experience things as they would in the real world but through a digital platform.
Thanks to Deakin University, who work closely with the eSafety Commissioner, they were able to deliver a tailored session for our students about safety in the metaverse. The innovative CyberNinjas program combined the excitement of virtual reality with important online safety education. It was followed by an interactive VR game using the latest technology, whereby players had to investigate a scenario set within a futuristic library. Their experience revealed important key messages about online safety, respectful relationships and cyber resilience.
It was great to hear positive feedback that everyone really enjoyed their experience and took away some key learnings.
Students will continue to learn about online safety and privacy throughout the year and gain greater understanding about being cautious online, treating others with kindness, and contributing to a supportive and constructive digital environment.
On Thursday, 15th August, we had special visitors come to teach us some bush dances.The visitors names were Chris and Declan, they taught us five dances. The dances included The Virginia Real, The Heel-Toe Polka, Give Me a Home Amongst the Gum Trees and many more. Before we left Chris showed us all his amazing and unique instruments, which they used to play the music with.
Night Time Dance!
At night, it was time to get our cowboy hats and boogie to all the cool dances we had learnt during the day. After showing all the dances, we grabbed our parents and made them hit the hay (the dance floor) and see what fun bush dancing is.
Overall, we had a spectacular time and we would love to have Chris and Declan back to learn another couple of dances.
By Annabelle Purcell
“To every single one of you, thank you! The Olympic Games would not be the same without the support of you and your students” -
Australian Olympic Committee
PEER SUPPORT
Peer Support Session 1- Friday, 16th August 2024
Last week our students completed their first Peer Support session with their Year 5 and Year 6 leaders. They began the session with activities from our Stronger Together unit - Feeling Safe- Being Me and Strong Me!
Feeling Safe- Being Me!
The session included activities for the members of the group to get to know each other by using a range of social skill interactions that promote diversity and engagement in a sensitive yet productive manner. It also establishes a safe learning environment where the group feels able to join in, share and contribute to developing a sense of belonging, to better protect themselves from the effects of bullying.
Strong Me!
The session encouraged students to identify their personal strengths as a key protective factor to address bullying and look at ways of utilising these positive attributes to support themselves and others to build resilience.
The next Peer Support session will be on Friday, 23rd August (Week 6) and will include concepts of including others and making the change towards positive decisions.
BUCKET FILLER - TERM 3 WEEK 4
MARVELLOUS MANNERS AWARD - TERM 3 WEEK 4
STAR AWARDS - TERM 3 WEEK 4 - TEAMWORK
FOUNDATION - YEAR 2 - For Demonstrating Outstanding TEAMWORK!!
Evan Chea, Elsie Romano - FHK / Regan Cooper, Lyla Arena - FMM / Evie Watkins, Xavier Achari - FEL / Isla Patzel, Leo Mudrinic - FMB
Kiaan Sharma, Lola Gesterkamp - 1BG / Christian Tzimopoulos, Brooklyn White - 1MS / Alessia Peluso, Xavier Sass - 1MH / Matthew Vidotto, Gian Simonetta - 1RE
Charlie England, Alice Grypych - 2PG / Maya Sibley - 2RN / Ana Mijajlovic, Aubrey Meara - 2AM / Will Van Eeden, Riley Isidro - 2SS
YEAR 3 & YEAR 4 - For Demonstrating Excellent TEAMWORK Skills by Offering Assistance to Other Students!
Elyse Macken, Rafael Racelis - 3ES / Brooklyn Samuel, Anthony Caminiti - 3GJ / Oscar Parisotto, Imogen McGivney - 3AM / Zachary Tzimopoulos - 3MS
Jeremy Dudeja, Sophie Martin - 4MK / Lexi Healy, James Raios - 4MM / Eugenie Zhou, Jake Taylor - 4OG / William Farr, Isabel Bonnici - 4MH
YEAR 5 & YEAR 6 - For Demonstrating Excellent TEAMWORK Skills by Offering Assistance to Other Students and Teachers !!
Noah Lentine, Harper Westlow - 5MH / Joseph McCarthy, Victoria Quiroz Medina - 5HG / Shivvy Patel, Sophie Ferwerda - 5AC / Merrick Stasiak - 5PC
Woun-Hao Tan - 6SH / Lulu Bloomfield - 6BG / Stratos Trantalis, Jack Mather - 6LM / Sophia Batikas, Orlando Zhang - 6LD
In the meantime keep Active by Walking, Riding or Scootering to school whenever you can!!
Don't forget to have your cards clipped whenever you walk, ride or scooter to school and return your completed cards to the office to receive a new one.
NEXT P&F MEETING - MONDAY, 2nd SEPTEMBER 7PM
We look forward to seeing all our existing and new P&F members at our next meeting on Monday, 2nd September at 7pm. Join us for the latest news from our Principal and discussions about our upcoming events. All parents are welcome !
Rebecca and Natasha
P&F Leadership Team
Bush Dance - Week 5 - Thursday, 15th August
Thank you to Kate Nugara for her leadership and efforts in making the inaugural Bush Dance a massive success. It was a wonderful event enjoyed by the children and parents who boot scooted and heel and toe'd to much delight in our lovely bush theme decorated hall. We extend our thanks also to the volunteers who assisted Kate to coordinate the event and special thanks to Michael Hanney for his assistance in the set up and cleaning of the hall.
Father’s Day & Special Friends' Breakfast - Week 7 - Wednesday, 28th August
Plans are well underway for our extremely popular Fathers and Special Friends' Breakfast which will be held on Wednesday, 28th August, proudly hosted by our Parents and Friends.
Please refer to the above flyer for all the details and book using this link https://www.trybooking.com/1266505 by no later than Friday, 23rd August.
Please note that due to seating capacity, only 1 Adult (Dad or Special Person) and St Peter's school children attend; sorry no young siblings.
MUMS: We need helpers please, to set up the Hall on the night before the breakfast and to assist with cooking, serving and cleaning on the day. Please use this link to sign up https://signup.com/go/kcpiTeA.
Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Please send a photo of your children with dad or a special father figure to community@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au to be included in the photo slideshow.
Father’s Day Stall - Week 7 - Friday, 30th August
Get ready to spoil Dad at this year's Father's Day Stall. Items will range between $2 - $8. Reminder for children to bring their shopping skills and a bag for their purchases.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS !!
We would love some parents to help out with the stall. We need eight people at each session:
- 9.00am to 11.00am
- 11.30am to 2.00pm.
Please sign up at the link below if you can help:
We look forward to spoiling all our Dads for Father's Day.
Sausage Sizzle / Footy Colours Day - Week 10 - Monday, 16th September
Orders will be open via flexi-schools closer to the date as will a call for volunteers.
Christmas Cards
Our students have been very busy celebrating Christmas in July and designing their amazing Christmas Cards. Families can place their orders through Flexischools until Friday, 30th August, and all money raised will go towards the Parents and Friends' fundraising efforts. Cards are $12 for 12 cards - what a fantastic way to celebrate Christmas with personalised, hand drawn Christmas Cards.
