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START TO THE YEAR
Last Monday was a wonderful day as our students returned to school for the 2022 school year. The staff had been excitedly anticipating and planning for this day and to see so many smiling faces entering classrooms and reconnecting with friends was brilliant. A special mention to our Foundation students and their families who like all our families had a modified start with limited access to the classroom on the first day of their school journey. They did an amazing job and have settled quickly into being “school kids”.
We are currently in a modified COVID impacted plan that limits student interaction between year levels and visitors to the classrooms. This plan is in place for four weeks and I hope that by the next newsletter we are able to announce plans for the remainder of the year that will allow an even greater return to normality.
The next delivery of rapid tests is expected later this week and tests for weeks three and four should come home with your child on Monday. A reminder that I would like your children to undertake a rapid test on Tuesdays and Thursdays but under government guidelines this is not compulsory.
At the moment I am receiving over 100 emails a day and I do want to make sure I prioritise our families. I am only checking the principal@ email once a day whereas I am checking feedback@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au a couple of times a day as it is restricted to St Peter’s family use. Any general queries, concerns or COVID reports should be sent to this email.
I hope you enjoyed the sunshine of the weekend and we continue to remain in a COVID safe environment learning and teaching at school.
WELCOME
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.
Wijaya, Skaliotis, Rao, Goes, Swart, Gupta, Bradshaw, Mather, Lizana Medel, Dillon, Kham
I also welcome families who have their first child starting in Foundation at St Peter’s.
Barry, Baskoro, Bellucci, Buick, Ciabattoni, Chen, Cleary, Crea, Crosse, Djapri, Enver, Garro, Georgiades, Ghaith, Gibson, Haralambous, Hornum, Isidro, Joseph, Karisson, Lally, Low, Luong, Lutjen, Mai, Meinhardt, Murray, Nougher, O'Hara, Puhalo, Putz, Recupero, Romano, Semaan, Sibley, Spyrellis, Terry, Tsatsaronis, Weerakoon, Williams, Zhu
FAREWELL
With a move away from East Bentleigh Michaela Lee (4MM) and Ethan Lee (2GP) will be finishing their St Peter’s education journey at the end of this week. We wish Michaela, Ethan and their family all the best in this move.
Happy New Year to our Chinese and Vietnamese families. I hope your celebrations have been joyful and there have been opportunities for families to appropriately gather to celebrate. The Tiger embodies courage and bravery. Hopefully all the courage and bravery allows us to return to some normality while addressing all the fears it can bring.
2022 STAFF
I am delighted to advise you that the staff and their roles for 2022 are as follows.
Classroom Teachers
Foundation
Meg Rahilly (FMR) Monday to Friday
Stephanie Hunt (FSH) Monday to Friday
Sam Stasiak (FSS) Monday to Friday
Angela D'Amelio (FDM) Monday to Wednesday/ Imogen McKillop - Thursday & Friday
Year One
Chris O'Brien (1CO) Monday to Friday
Angela Bligh (1BC) Monday to Wednesday / Gillan Sullivan - Thursday & Friday
Annette Bainbridge (1BP) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday / Anna Pullan - Wednesday
Carmel Godino (1GP) Monday to Thursday / Anna Pullan - Friday
Year Two
Rebecca Nielsen (2RN) - Monday to Friday
Liz Opie (2OG) Monday to Wednesday / Helen Groves - Thursday & Friday
Megan Greetham (2GP) Monday to Wednesday / Marian Peake - Thursday & Friday
Andrea Crough (2AC) Monday to Friday
Year Three
Isabella Kottek (3IK) Monday to Friday
Eliza McNamara (3EM) Monday to Friday
Wendy Gooch (3GL) Monday to Thursday / Drew Lane - Friday
Year Four
Jim Kendall (4KG) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday / Josie Gleeson - Wednesday
Renee Burchell (4RB) Monday to Friday
Michelle Knight (4MK) Monday to Friday
Mandi Mackey (4MM) Monday to Friday
Year Five
Michelle Gibson (5GR) Monday to Thursday / Jessica Reaper - Friday
Monica Bramich (5BR) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday / Jessica Reaper - Thursday
Peter Hurst (5PH) Monday to Friday
Year Six
Pat Kelly (6KM) Monday to Thursday / Kerry McKee - Friday
Mia Hunt (6MH) Monday to Friday
Sean Hanrahan (6SH) Monday to Friday
Specialist Teachers
Creative Arts - Cate Sanders (Monday to Thursday)
Digital Technologies - Luana Keays (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Language other than English (Japanese) - Joyce Henderson (Tuesday to Thursday)
Performing Arts - Drew Lane (Tuesday to Thursday)
Physical Education - Ben Cavarra (Monday to Friday)
Intervention
Literacy - Trish Mooney (Monday - Wednesday)
Numeracy - Luana Keays (Monday and Thursday)
Literacy / Numeracy - Gill Sullivan (Wednesday)
Learning Support Staff
Mary Beaumont, Julie De Sa, Anna Efstratiou, Kreeya Gladman, Edwina Hogan, Donna Jemetta, Niamh Lavelle, Sarah Logan, Lucy Mackey, Silvana Merola, Ross McAsey, Sue O'Mahoney, Loretta Rabel, Litsa Smith, Tricia Taylor, Amy Williams, Victoria Xiong, Karen Young
Administration
Office Manager / Enrolment Officer - Trish Ticca (Monday to Friday)
Finance and Administration - Loretta Ballas (Monday to Friday)
Library - Karen Young
Leadership
Learning Diversity Leader - Lousie Van Corler (Monday - Thursday)
Wellbeing Leader / School Operations Leader - Justin McCarthy (Monday - Friday)
Literacy Leader - Kerry McKee (Monday - Thursday)
Numeracy Leader - Cathy Epstein (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday)
Director of Child Safety / Compliance and Policy - Michael Juliff (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday)
Deputy Principal / Religious Education Leader/ Teaching and Learning Leader and
Digital Technologies Leader - Chris Joplin (Monday to Friday)
Principal - Michael Hanney
ADULTS ON SITE
Thank you to all families who have followed my request that all adults who are on site are to WEAR A MASK. I have asked this as an added security to do my best to keep us open as a school. If any adult has an exemption then please have it with you. If you have forgotten your mask the staff on the gates will have a mask for you. If you do not want to wear a mask then please drop your child at a gate. If you are asked respectfully by a staff member why you do not have a mask they are asking because I have directed them to, please be respectful in your response.
PUPIL FREE DAY CHANGE
Under current restrictions the ability for staff to work together face to face with each other is limited. When I set the 21st of February as our Pupil Free Day for Term One I was not aware of the plans put in place by the Victorian Government for the start of the 2022 school year. Knowing the restrictions we currently face and with the changes likely from the 28th of February I have moved our Pupil Free Day to Monday, 7th March. OSHC will be offering a full day’s program on this day. My apologies for this change.
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
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
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 shoe 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 shoe for school.
Sports Uniform - Every level has advised it’s families which days are required to wear Sports Uniform. The first week back contains a few occasions where people are not even sure what day it is. 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. The sports uniform also requires the wearing of white socks, not any other coloured socks.
BEGINNING OF YEAR MASS - Cancelled
With restrictions on numbers allowed to gather we have cancelled the beginning of the year Mass planned for Friday, 11th February. We will celebrate with an online liturgy for the students. It will be shared with our families as a recorded version.
We are planning our first whole school Mass to take place at 10:00am on Friday, 8th April, the last day of Term One. At this Mass we will celebrate our first term and acknowledge our School Leaders in Year 6 and our Foundation students.
WALK RIDE TO SCHOOL WINNERS
At the final assembly of 2021 the following students were drawn out as winners of our Ride and Walk to School Program. Congratulations to
Oscar Parisotto - FMR 2021
Meagan Wan - 1GD 2021
Jack Cannington - 4MK 2021
Zach Sahib - 6SH 2021
Thank you to Mrs Van Corler for organising the prizes for this program.
CALLIGRAPHY COMPETITION
At the end of last year some of our senior students entered a Japanese Calligraphy competition. I received an email from JLTAV last night announcing all the winners for the Calligraphy competition. One of our students was placed 3rd in the Pencil Division: Amanda Bao in 6MH (2021). Congratulations to everyone involved and thanks to Sensei Henderson for organising this competition.
The next newsletter will be sent on Monday, 21st February.
CYBERSAFETY WEBINAR FOR PARENTS
We are excited to announce a FREE webinar covering cyber safety for our parents and carers. This webinar will cover a range of topics in the cyber security space, including cyberbullying, social media, the impact of screen time, managing devices in the home, and more.
Register now: www.bit.ly/23febcyber
Hosting the webinar are Carley McGauran, Psychologist and mum to school-aged children, and Martin McGauran, Primary School Teacher and Education Consultant.
This event will take place on Wednesday 23rd February at 7.30pm.
To register, click the link below: www.bit.ly/23febcyber
Any queries please email me. mbramich@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au
Kind Regards
Monica Bramich
Community Engagement Leader
SCHOOL REFUSAL
STATE TEAM TRIALS 2022
School Sport Victoria conducts State Team Trials for the sports listed (below) along with other sports that can be found on their website; Cricket, Basketball, AFL, Netball and Soccer nominations are due to open on December 1st and close on various dates depending on the sport. There will not be District trials, instead elite and outstanding performers in each specific sport only can apply via the School Sport Victoria website if they have been approved by their school. The expectation is that students nominating would have won at least a Best & Fairest or MVP in their chosen sport at the highest level of competition offered at their club, preferably finished high in League voting, along with being very fit, most likely in Cross Country and Athletics teams as well as being outstanding players in our Inter-school Sport Program. Any parent considering nominating should consult Mr Cavarra by emailing bcavarra@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au prior to paying the nomination fee to assess the student's suitability. The closing date for initial school (not SSV) nominations to ensure your child's participation is Friday, 11th February.
Should your child ultimately be successful, there may be multiple days of trials and camps requiring parents to transport / attend with their child in order to be involved. There are also significant monies required if selected. Parents must be committed to the entire process and understand this is not a come and try activity. Sending students without the necessary skills / talent could not only undermine their confidence but will also increase numbers at the trial making the selectors job a lot more difficult. If there are more than 3 students nominated in a chosen sport a school-based trial may be required. Generally, these trials are for Year 6 students or exceptional Year 5's. (Top 3 in League B&F standard)
After consideration and consultation, if you think your child is ready for State Team selection trials .. .. Parents can then Google School Sport Victoria or go to
http://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic
for more information and should monitor this website for closing dates and relevant information as it is updated. There is also a link to the SSV home page on our Bentleigh District web page.
12 Years and Under Sports Sports include but not limited to:
Australian Football (Boys / Mixed & Girls), Softball, Basketball, Football (Soccer), Hockey, Golf, Netball, Rugby League, Touch Football and Cricket (see SSV site for more details).
Check the website for all other sports noting some years State Swimming, Cross Country and Athletic Teams can be chosen via external competitions rather than through school-based District / Division/ Region/State Competitions, When nominating your child for more than one sport you should also note that trials for AFL, Soccer, Netball and Basketball may be on the same day eliminating the possibility of going through for more than one mainstream sport.
Kind Regards
Ben Cavarra
PE Teacher
