St Peter's Bentleigh East eNewsletter

Child Safety – IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY

The safety of the children in our community is paramount to us and something that is the responsibility of all of us. As a school we continue to focus on it and seek to give the students a ‘voice’ so that we are finding out how they feel about their own safety and what makes them feel ‘unsafe’.

St Peter’s, St Paul’s and St Catherine’s have been invited to participate in a Project with the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) at Australian Catholic University (ACU) partnering up to gather important information on students’ perception of safety.

The project entails piloting the Australian Safe Kids and Young People (ASK-YP) Survey with students and evaluating the benefits for participating schools.

The survey is designed for students from the age of 10-18.
Pilot schools will invite groups of students to complete the online survey with parental consent.
Individual schools will be able to access the results through a dashboard representation.
CEM will also receive a tailored aggregated report to support system planning.

Before the end of the month the Yr 5 & 6 students will be taking part in a survey on ‘Child Safety.’ It is an initiative that seeks ‘student voice’ and that evaluates the data it provides us to improve student safety and their perception of their safety.

Families also have a role to play in regards to child safety. It is important to talk to your child about safety and if they might not be feeling safe, who they can talk to about it. It is important also that the environment at school always makes the children feel safe. Recently we have had examples of parents coming up to the fence in Florence Street and calling over and talking to their child and or other children. I ask parents not to do this as it gives other children the perception that people they don’t know come and talk to children. Similarly standing outside the classroom looking in can again give some children a sense of feeling unsafe as they may not know that adult. if you need to speak to your child it is essential you come to the Office first.

It is important that if there is an issue with your child and another child that you trust the school to deal with it. It is not acceptable to speak to another child's parent at any time regarding an issue or incident. The school can sort it out, hear both sides of the story and then report back to families if necessary. Speaking about other students to other parents based on your perception of a situation is not only unkind and unjust but also against the values we have at St Peter’s.

We welcome Michael Hanney back today and hope he had a great break. Thanks to Mick Schinck, Rachel Smith and Cat Noble for the wonderful leadership and support they gave me in Michael’s absence.

ST. PETER'S FETE 2019

After a break last year, the St. Peter's Fete is set to go ahead this year on Saturday, 16th November.

There will be a meeting next Monday, 29th July in the McKenna Centre beginning at 7.00pm for anyone interested in sharing ideas on how to make this year's Fete a success. Everyone Welcome!!

RECONCILIATION

Congratulations to the following students on celebrating their Reconciliation:

Isla Recupero, Paige Dessent, Florence Kimball, James Caltabiano, Zoe Clemens, Madelaine Wain, Eloise Fitzpatrick, Imogen Bracken, Patrick Dolgov, Alice Eyles, Fraser Hall, William Sam, Lily Gatto.

FIRST EUCHARIST

Congratulationbs to the following students on celebrating their First Eucharist:

Hannah Lentine, Emily Sill, Daniel Kelly, Lauren Fitzpatrick, Imogen Murphy, Christian Ritchie, Ethan Grenfell, Jimmy Cho, Eliza Forster, Gabriella Maratos.

We will only find peace when we know how to forgive.

By now you would have worked out that I am a great admirer and reader of Joan Chittister’s writings. Her books, articles and other writings make me think and reflect on how I am living life. 95% of the time I can take something she says and use it in everyday life.

Society goes through different phases with every new generation. My parents thought differently to me. I am sure one of the reasons for this is that they lived through the Great Depression and World War II. I have been blessed to have been given a good upbringing and have lived a life through relative peace.

This has its blessings but it also has its detriments. One of the challenges we face today is the Sin of Entitlement. Many of my generation and generations to follow believe they are owed something. My parents’ generation knew they had to work for something. These are two very different ways of thinking, living and operating.

The latest Sin in our world is the Sin of Blaming. Everyone else is to blame but me.

For me, the definition of an “Adult” is a person who no longer blames their parent’s or others for their own problems.

Becoming an adult has nothing to do with age but more to do with how we think, act and operate. It has a lot to do with forgiveness.

The article below by Joan Chittister is a wonderful piece of writing which allows us to think about the true virtue of being an adult-a person who knows how to forgive.

We will only find peace when we know how to forgive.

Edward Dooley (Mission and Faith Leader)

The burdens we carry

“I kept my sin secret and my
frame wasted away. Day and night
your hand was heavy upon me.”—Ps. 32

This psalm is a piece of very good psychology about the burdens we carry within us, our unforgiven sins.

When we don’t face our faults, our problems, our weakness, our angers, our sense of inadequacy—worse, when we blame them on others, or deny them, or need to be perfect, or become defensive—we refuse to accept ourselves. Every doctor and psychologist in the country sees the effect of that in their offices every day.

We all have things we need to forgive in ourselves or face in ourselves. We have things we know we ought to ask forgiveness for from someone else, but pride and stubbornness hold us back.

These things become a barrier between us and the community, a hot stone in the pit of the stomach, a block to real happiness. And nothing is going to get better until we face them.

Forgiveness occurs when we don’t need to hold a grudge anymore: when we are strong enough to be independent of whatever, whoever it was that so ruthlessly uncovered the need in us. Forgiveness is not the problem; it’s living till it comes that taxes all the strength we have.

Some people think that forgiveness is incomplete until things are just as they were before. But the truth is that after great hurt, things are never what they were before: they can only be better or nothing at all. Both of which are acceptable states of life.

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness,” Norman Cousins said. You will, in other words, have lots of opportunity to practice. Don’t wait too long to start or life will have gone by before you ever lived it.

—from Songs of the Heart: Reflections on the Psalms by Joan Chittister (Twenty-Third Publications)

Read Less

Peer Support Program – Term 3

We commenced our Peer Support lessons last Friday. The whole school participates in Peer Support for 30 minutes each Friday. Three to four Year 5 and 6 Peer Leaders facilitate sessions with a small group of approximately eight younger students. They work together through a number of structured activities. Each teacher will supervise two groups in their classroom.

This year we are working on a module called Stronger Together. This module focuses on working together to stop bullying. Our first session included activities designed to help members of the group to get to know each other, 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 peer group feels able to join in, share and contribute to developing a sense of belonging, to better protect themselves from the effects of bullying.

Please note there will be no Peer Support session on Friday this week due to Grandparents Day.

Bucket Filler Award

The last Bucket Filler Award for Term 2 was presented to Max Alessi in 4JK for being kind and supportive to a friend in need. Max will proudly display the Bucket Filler trophy in his classroom until our next Bucket Filler winner is announced this term.

Ride/Walk 2 School

Our first Ride/Walk to School day for Term 3 was held last Friday, 19^th July. Winners will be announced at assembly this week!

Wellbeing Warriors

Wellbeing Warriors continues on Thursdays this term. Sessions take place in the library at lunch time. Thank you to Mrs Dowling for organising and running these enjoyable Wellbeing Warriors sessions.

PARENTING IDEAS by MICHAEL GROSE

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 10 parenting books including Thriving!, the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It, and his latest release Spoonfed Generation: How to raise independent children.

Click here to read the latest article:

Parenting for Resilience

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bgQYLfYMwfiomh1gyk8G-jkUb0H67BSN/view?usp=sharing

Well done to our Year 5/6 teams that competed in the Bentleigh District Winter Sports Finals at the end of Term 2.

Results for the day were as follows:

Girls Netball - 1st

Mixed B Netball - 3rd

Boys/Mixed AFL - 2nd

Sof-crosse A & B - 3rd

Soccer Boys/Mixed - 1st

Netball Girls and Soccer Boys now join our Girls AFL team in participating at the Beachside Division Finals this week. We wish all teams the best of luck!!

Congratulations to Daisy Nousis who came 24th in the State for Cross Country last Thursday. Up against 100 other students including many squad Cross Country runners, Daisy ran a great race in very muddy and hilly terrain. In Year 4 & 5 Daisy has now competed at State Level for Cross Country, Swimming, along with Region for Basketball & Athletics where she only missed going to State by one place. All looks very promising for the rest of the year along with Year 6 next year.

Well done Daisy!!

Justin McCarthy

Sport & Specialist Coordinator

jmccarthy@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au

During Inquiry last term, as part of our Design and Technology Unit, we were given a brief to design a birdhouse for native birds in our school environment. We had a choice to work on your own or in a small group.

At the beginning we needed to find all the information to build a birdhouse. We were lucky enough to have Tricia Taylor to teach us about Native Birds in this area. She told us about the foods that they need and all about their habitats.

Design

Our birdhouse designs used solid materials that look good but at the same time keep the birds safe, keeping its predators away.

Building

Building our birdhouse was a challenge because firstly we needed all the materials. We needed to use plywood because it is strong but not too heavy. We needed our dads to purchase the materials and then help us to build them.

Placement

We are going to put our birdhouses in local trees around St Peter's. We are putting them outside the Junior School Building, near the grass area if any parents and children want to see them.

Thank you to our dads for helping build our Birdhouses.

Lincoln Leversha, Jesse Downes, Henry Gleeson and Max Agrimi

This semester Save It Sisters and Year Five are working on a project called Helping Hands!

St Peter’s has joined a unique initiative to help other children by collecting plastic bottle caps which will be made into 3D printed prosthetic hands and arms.

Bottle caps are fully recyclable. Unfortunately, as reported on ABC’s ‘War on Waste’, they aren’t being recycled. They get sent to landfill, they fall through machinery, and in worst case scenarios, if attached to a bottle, they can explode and force expensive re packing issues.

In the breezeway there will be a small rubbish bin for you to put all of your plastic lids into!! You can help kids by not throwing away rubbish but turning it into something helpful.

Please click this link to view the process.

TERM 3 DATES TO NOTE

GRANDPARENTS MASS & MORNING TEA - FRIDAY, 26^th JULY

FATHER’S DAY STALL - FRIDAY, 30^th AUGUST

FATHER’S DAY BREAKFAST - FRIDAY, 6^th SEPTEMBER

SAUSAGE SIZZLE & FOOTY DAY - TUESDAY, 17^th SEPTEMBER

GRANDPARENTS/ SPECIAL FRIENDS MASS & MORNING TEA – FRIDAY, 26th JULY

St Peter’s Community through the organisation of the School Staff and our Parents & Friends Committee invite the Grandparents or Special Friends of our children to a special morning where our guests are invited into the classrooms, to attend Mass and be treated to morning tea.

9.00am - 9.40am - Spend time in the classroom and/ or collect children for Mass

10.00am – 11.00am - Mass

11.00am - 12.10pm - Morning Tea served in the Hall

Classrooms will remain open to visit between 11.00am - 11.40am (the children will have a later play time on this day). Morning tea will continue to be served for those who visit the classroom after mass.

Due to the safety of our visitors and children, visitors are not permitted in the playground at playtime and the school children do not attend the morning tea.

For the Morning Tea to be a success, we would love for you to bring a plate to share. These can be left in the hall at school drop off on the Friday. Thank you to those who have offered to help with morning tea.

TRIVIA NIGHT UPDATE

After a busy lead up, a fun filled Trivia Night, a well earned break and a final tally count, the Trivia Night Committee is proud to announce that this year our event raised a total of $18,605.38

The P&F aims to make a contribution towards the development of a new play space in the “Street” - the asphalt area between the Junior School and the Senior School.

The Trivia Night has always been the biggest fundraiser on the P&F events calendar but let’s not forget that events like this would not be possible without the support and generosity of our amazing school community, our wonderful sponsors and dedicated organising committee and as such would like to acknowledge the following:

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Jellis Craig & Kon Galitos

GOLD SPONSORS

World of Music
Cramer Design
Melbourne Orthodontic Group

SILVER SPONSORS

Southside Pizza & Pasta
OshClub
Bentleigh Service Centre
Custodian Kitchen
Marvin Coleman - Mortgage Choice Oakleigh
Tobin Brothers Cheltenham
Nick Staikos

TRIVIA NIGHT COMMITTEE

Dani Leversha, Dianne Rayner, Katie Tiberi, Jo Melita, Mel De Luca and Katrina Dimitriu

Congratulations and thank you to all involved!

If you haven’t already done so, please like our Facebook page and have a look at the links we have posted to our sponsor’s pages.

https://www.facebook.com/St-Peters-Primary-School-Bentleigh-East-Parents-Friends-388657947987381

Be sure to head on over to their pages and have a look, pop in and say hello, thank them for their support of our school and next time you may require their services, be sure to give them a call!

LOCAL MATTERS- GRILL’D COMMUNITY DONATION PROGRAM

A big thank you to the Local Matters Grill’d Community Donation Program that sees each Grill’d restaurant donate $500 back into the community every month. St Peter’s came in at 2^nd place and received $100 from the Carnegie store to put towards our next project. Thank you to Grill’d and the families who supported us.

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS

A reminder to all families who received an Entertainment Book home to please pay for the book or return it ASAP. Reminder letters were sent to all families with an outstanding book prior to the school holidays.

Please go to the link below to pay for your book.

https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/1879g67

Next 2 P&F Meetings – Monday, 19th August - 7.00pm - All Welcome (Meeting Room off the Breezeway)

Then Monday, 16th September

Please send us an email on the address below if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the P & F.

pnf1@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au

We also have a Facebook Page. Follow us on

https://www.facebook.com/St-Peters-Primary-School-Bentleigh-East-Parents-Friends-388657947987381/

Thank you

P & F Committee

Everyone is doing a great job reading and St. Peter's has read over 4,500 books so far!

Congratulations to those students who have already read enough books to complete the challenge.

Please remember to enter your books so that we can verify them.

If you are having any difficulties, please let your teacher know.

Happy reading!

Week Beginning Monday, 22nd July

Wednesday, 24th July - Kirsty Lentine & Irene Major - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Thursday, 25th July - Michelle Bridges & Nicole Catania - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Friday, 26th July - Colleen Dowling & Vanessa Lawless - 9.00am - 10.30am

Yvonne Gower - 1.00pm - 2.15pm

_________________________________________________________

Week Beginning Monday, 29th July

Wednesday, 31st July - Shanell Wood-Bradley - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Thursday, 1st August - Foula Voukelatos - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Friday, 2nd August- Julia Eyles & Amanda O'Connor - 9.00am - 10.30am

Emma O'Connor, Monique D'Zilva & Maree Deeth - 1.00pm - 2.15pm

________________________________________________________

Week Beginning Monday, 5th August

Wednesday, 7th August - Chris Kell & Joanne Melita - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Thursday, 8th August - Sandra Biviano - 1.30pm - 2.15pm

Friday, 9th August- Colleen Dowling - 9.00am - 10.30am

Karen Campbell, Heidi Sill & Katrina Dimitriu - 1.00pm - 2.15pm

_______________________________________________________

Please click on the link below to view the Canteen Price List

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8IsZ9pU28TqY08xei1Hc0cyUFBRS3dMZHpvUmxYOXBUVHdz/view?usp=sharing

The Scholastic Bookclub Brochures were distributed last Friday. Please note that orders are due back no later than Friday, 2nd August.

Payment can be made by cash, credit card online or cheque (made out to Scholastic Australia).

Please join us in fellowship and community for

The Ecumenical Lunch

at

St. Paul’s Hall

122 Jasper Rd Bentleigh

Enter via Higgins Rd

Friday 2^nd August 2019

12:00pm – 3:00pm

Funds raised on the day will be distributed to

Tickets $20 per person

Raffle tickets and trade table goods also for sale.

Please advise when RSVPing if you have any special dietary requirements

RSVP Monday 29^th July

Carmel Merrey 0409 682 602

An invitation from the Parish

Holy Trinity Parish, made up of the communities of St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s and St. Catherine’s, strives to respond to people asking questions about Christian faith and spirituality in the context of the Catholic faith. One way we do this is through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults known as the RCIA. It is the process for welcoming and integrating new Christians into the Catholic community.

If you or someone you know has questions about spirituality and the Catholic faith we would love to hear from you or them. The initial part of the process is called inquiry – it is a time when we listen to your questions, and together explore and deepen our understanding of faith and the way we live as Christians. If you would like to know more please contact us soon, as we have a new group beginning soon.

Contact Holy Trinity Parish Office by ringing 9579 4255 or sending an email to office@holytrinityparish.org.au. Your name will be given to one of the RCIA team, who will contact you. You will be warmly welcomed!

ST. PETER'S FOODBANK

Thank you to all the volunteers that have cooked for us in the past few weeks.

St. Peter’s Primary School Food Bank was established in 2013 with families volunteering to cook meals for other families in the school community during a time of need. Whether there is illness, hospitalisation of a family member, bereavement, the arrival of a new baby, moving house or even if someone is in need of a little extra TLC, the Food Bank can help.

We would like to invite parents to consider becoming one of our volunteer cooks. We anticipate each volunteer would only be required to cook 2-3 times per year. Of course, you are welcome to cook more often if you like.

We also encourage you to think about your friends and classmates at the school and keep the Food Bank in mind if they are going through a tough time. It is a completely confidential service and you can access it through us or through a staff member at St. Peter’s. If you would like more information about the service or volunteering, please download our electronic brochure below.

We are looking for some new parents to sign up as volunteers to start cooking for our Food Bank. We love to have as many volunteers in our Food Bank pool as possible.

If you have not cooked for our Food Bank before, please ensure you email us prior to cooking, at sppsfoodbank@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au, and ask us for a Food Bank information pack.

If you become aware of someone in the school community needing a little help or TLC, please contact us. You can contact us confidentially at: sppsfoodbank@spbentleigheast.catholic.edu.au or call Karina Clement 0404 057 522 or Katrina Chapman 0488 386 088 (Program Co-ordinators) or your class teacher, school office or Michael Hanney directly.