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As we approach the end of Term I have tried to cover as much of what is happening in the next two and half weeks as possible. Hopefully I have covered everything. However if you have any questions please contact us.
RESTRICTION CHANGES
Changes to current restrictions advised last week have had some small effect on life at school.
Drink Taps - Our Drink taps were flushed out and cleaned last Friday and were made available to all students from recess onwards. They will remain available for the rest of the year.
Students mingling with students from other Year Levels - This will enable buddy classes to be able to hold get-togethers before the end of year. We will be continuing to hold whole school assemblies and liturgies online for the next fortnight.
Adults on site - Drop off and Pick up - Although there is some greater flexibility the size of our school will make monitoring who is on site a challenge. For this reason we will be continuing with the current drop off and pick up arrangements for the remainder of the 2020 school year.
STAFF UPDATE
Robyn Wilson - Librarian
After 32 years working at St Peter’s Robyn Wilson, our Librarian, will be on leave for the remainder of this year and will be retiring at the end of this school year. Robyn has been amazingly committed to St Peter's and our community and to ensuring that her love of books and literature has been shared with generations of St Peter’s students. Such incredible service and passion will be celebrated by our community. At Robyn’s request we will be doing this in Term One 2021. We wish Robyn all the best as she moves into the next stage of her life.
Sheena Hopkins - Prep Teacher
Sheena Hopkins, who joined St Peter’s as one of our Prep Team in 2018, has advised me that she will be moving interstate next year and will not be returning in 2021. Sheena has worked tirelessly to ensure our youngest student’s start to school life is smooth and enjoyable. We wish Sheena all the best in her move.
Marian Peake - Year Two Teacher
Marian will be taking leave for the 2021 school year. She will be returning to St Peter's at the end of this leave. We wish Marian all the best for all she has planned in 2021.
Classes for 2021
Teachers are currently looking at class groupings for 2021. Due to the limited time students had in their class groupings this year, only minor changes to class groups will be made for next year.
Allocating Class Groups to Teachers
Once teachers have created class groups they are checked by our Learning Diversity leader, our Literacy Leader, Numeracy leader and our Teaching and Learning Leader against the data they have on the students to ensure academic balance in each class.
Completed class groupings are provided to me with information that identifies previous class experiences including:
- If I have moved a teacher from a lower grade into a higher grade how many children in each class would repeat that teacher if they were in that teacher's class.
- As half our classes are shared teacher classes and half are one teacher classes students should average half, 3 or 4 years, of their primary schooling in a shared grade and half in a single teacher's grade
- I hope to have every student experience a male teacher in their time in primary school. As students head in to senior grades the created class with the largest number of children who haven't had a male teacher are likely to have a male teacher.
As you can see this is a detailed process that begins at the start of Term Four. The process does not have a place for parents to request specific teachers.
School Fees 2021
This week you will receive a letter detailing the 2021 school fees. It will include information on a range of payment options. The fee increase in 2021 will be a total of $45 per family. $15 of this towards ongoing costs and $30 to our capital fund to support the refurbishment of the Hall and classrooms off the hall area. If you have any queries or concerns re fees please email fees@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au
FRIDAY 11th DECEMBER - HEADS UP
We have a big day planned for the 11th of December that I wanted to give you notice of.
Plans for our whole school House Athletic Sports were cancelled earlier this term when whole school gatherings seemed unlikely. However we do want our students to be able to experience a modified version of the House Athletic Sports. On the same day the P&F have organised a fun Colour Run for the afternoon.
What does this mean for you?
- Children wear their Sports Uniform to school with a t-shirt that is the colour of the team they are in. If you don’t have an appropriate coloured t-shirt then a coloured ribbon on their sports shirt is fine.
- After lunch is the Colour Run. Children can wear the Sports t-shirt they have for athletics or bring a different t-shirt (White does show up the colours really well) and there will be time to change into it ready for the afternoon.
- Year Six children will not be involved in the House Athletic Sports due to Confirmation and other commitments on the day. They will wear casual clothes on that day and will bring a change of clothes for the Colour Run.
SCHOOL CLOSURE DATE - Friday 4th of December
A final reminder that there is no school for students on Friday the 4th of December. This day is used by staff to plan for 2021. OSHC is providing care for students who require it on this day. Bookings must be made via OSHClub website.
DATES FOR FINAL THREE WEEKS
Thursday 3rd December
- Prep 2021 Transition Sessions Groups - Whole Class Groups
Friday 4th December
- Pupil Free Day - Staff Planning for 2021
Monday 7th December
- 8:50am Advent Liturgy - Live streamed within school
- Year 5 Camp to Portsea
Tuesday 8th December
- Year 5 Camp to Portsea
Wednesday 9th December
- Year 5 Camp to Portsea
- Prep 2021 Transition Sessions Groups - Whole Class Groups
Friday 11th December
- Reports to go home via email on this day
- 9:00 - 10:00 Tabloid Athletics Prep-Year One
- 10:00 - 11:00 Tabloid Athletics Year Two and Year Three
- 11:40 - 12:40 Tabloid Athletics Year Four and Year Five
- 11:30 - Confirmation celebration for some Year 6 students
- 1:00pm Early lunch
- 2:00pm P&F Colour Run for fun (details will follow)
Monday 14th December
- 9:00am End of Year and Advent Liturgy - Live streamed within school
- Swim Trials Year 2-5s
- P&F Sausage Sizzle
- Year 5 Bike Education
- Year 6 Graduation Ceremony - 6:00pm Details TBC
Tuesday 15th December
- 9:30am - 11:00am Meet the 2021 Teacher
- Year 5 Bike Education
- Year 6 Swimming - Surf Life Saving 11:40am - 3:00pm
Wednesday 16th December
- Year 6 Surf Life Saving 9:00am - 1:00pm Mentone SLSC
- Year 5 Bike Education
- Early Lunch 1:10pm - 2:00pm
- 2:00pm Final Assembly - Year 6 Farewell - Details to follow
- Students Finish as per staggered finish times
2021
Wednesday 27th January
- First day back for staff
Thursday 28th January
- First day back at school for students
PARENTS AND FRIENDS MEETING
The Annual General Meeting for our Parents and Friends will be held on Monday, 7th December at 7:00pm. The meeting will be held on site in the refurbished room next to the School Office. Parking in the staff car park off Bignell Road and entrance via gate between school and church.
MOVEMBER
Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men's health. Together we can make a difference in prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. Thank you for helping me to change the face of men’s health.
If you would still like to donate the link to the fundraising page is here: https://movember.com/m/14260332?mc=1
Thank you so much for your generosity towards this great cause!
The School Photos for 2021 have been booked. Please see dates below:
Photos with Siblings - Friday, 26th February 2021
Class Photos & Individual Photos - Monday, 1st March 2021
YEAR 5 NEWS
Please click to the link below to see the Assembly
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qr9C2f9S2_HP10aYEB5xbKQ9imCEGO0-/view?usp=sharing
BUCKET FILLER AWARD - Week 8
For Showing Excellent TEAMWORK When Working On Group Projects!!
For catering purposes, please return your order to the Office with the correct money or order via Flexi Schools no later than 5.00pm Tuesday, 8th December. Please note that late orders can only be accepted under exceptional circumstances.
Why Give Thanks
A teacher once remarked that at the end of the day, it’s not about the lesson plan. It’s not about the fancy stuff we teachers and other Schools make—the crafts we do, the stories we read, the papers we laminate. No, that’s not really it. That’s not what matters most.
They won’t remember how organized your bulletin boards were. How straight and neat are the desk rows.
No, they’ll not remember that amazing decor you’ve designed.
But they will remember you.
Your kindness. Your empathy. Your care and concern. They’ll remember that you took the time to listen. That you stopped to ask them how they were—how they really were. They’ll remember the personal stories you tell about your life: your home, your pets, your kids. They’ll remember your laugh. They’ll remember that you sat and talked with them while they ate their lunch.
As teacher and staff we hope at the end of the day we have made a difference in the children’s lives.
If a student wakes up in the morning and wants to come to School then that is a great sign. If they finish the School day wanting to come back the next day that is also great. At one level we have done our job.
A person’s happiness is the key to everything in life. One of the greatest gifts my parents gave to me was they never said to my teachers and also to me that I was no Einstein. Today, I would be a billionaire, if not a trillionaire, for the number of times parents have described their child as bright, special or gifted.
Every child is special, bright and gifted because every child, like you and I, have God within us. But we are often too quick to parade our child as better than others. To me, a child’s happiness is the core gift and value in life which will then transfer, hopefully, into adulthood.
The greatest disservice we can do for our children is to pressurise them beyond their limits. Yes, we all want them to be successful but if success is at the price of happiness then we do a disservice.
We are all on our own journey. None of us know the path this will take. At times it will be rocky and other times a breeze. The God we believe in says to us to find the blessing in whatever we are doing and give thanks. When we give thanks we learn something about ourselves and therefore about God.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 25, the story of the Sheep and the Goats is a wonderful story which in many ways is a list we could keep to check off at the end of our lives.
I can assure you, that when we have our meeting with God, to enter eternal life, God will not ask what score we got in our VCE, or why you couldn’t play an instrument, etc. But the God I believe in will ask whether I was kind, forgiving, loving and happy.
This is not to dismiss academia in any way but it is time we focussed on what life is really about. If there was a blessing in the lockdown this year it was the blessing of looking at the priorities in our lives. The quiet streets was a blessing to many, the curphew for many was a blessing, crime was down, people having dinner around the kitchen table was up, board games were up and parents saw much of what their children were learning in remote learning.
Now that we are coming out of lockdown, have we returned to the past rat race or have we started to live in a different way.
Joan Chittister says, “All of life cannot be planned. Our life is God’s and gratitude is its key”.
She says, Giving thanks to God is good psychologically to keep our thoughts light and full of energy. It is not true, psychologists tell us, that we think the way we feel. On the contrary, we feel the way we think, and thoughts can be changed.
Giving thanks to God is good spiritually. That is the beginning of contemplation.
Giving thanks to God is good socially. It makes us a positive presence in a group. (Only negative people want to be around negative people.)
We need to stop and thank God—consciously—for the good things of the day. We spend so much time wanting things to be better that we fail to see our real gifts. The ordinary is what reveals to us, little by little, inch by inch, “the holiness of life, before which, we bow down in worship.”
Do we ever stop to just Give Thanks? How often do we stop and say, Thank You God?
To be more than Catholic by name is to take these little things seriously. Giving Thanks is a courtesy we all want, and so too does God!