Term 1 Week 10
2024 Prep Enrolments Now Open
This Week’s Newsletter Items:
● ● Message From The Principal
● Whole School Photo Day
● Celebrating Mother’s Day
● Credential Del Sacramento – Holy Week
● What An Egg-cellent Effort!
● Un-Bee-Lievable! A Junior School Incursion
● The Sports Shed Looks Amazing
● Dance Battle – Grade 5s
● Spirit Day
● Easter Sunday Gospel & Reflection
● Week 10 Student Awards
● Term 2 Dates
● School Photo Booking Process
2024 Prep Enrolments Are Open
And Filling Fast!!!
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
~ St. Patrick
Dear Parents, Students & Friends,
It was wonderful to see so many families gathered this morning talking together, young students playing whilst others gathered in groups to talk about common interests or share a game…. And this was all before 8.30am.
What was most surprising was that today is the last day of term when generally parents, students and especially our school staff are pretty tired and here we all were, smiles on our faces, excited to be at school. This term has been such a positive one for our students. We, as a staff, began the year by making a concerted effort to enhance the relationship and connectedness of our students to their teachers and school. It looks like the effort being made is certainly paying off.
Next term will begin all too quickly and we want to make the most of the time we have with your children. There is only five hours of face to face teaching time in a day. The effectiveness of that teaching and learning time is impacted upon by the preparedness of both teacher and student, explicit teaching practice and an enthusiasm to learn and experience success in that learning. A healthy body allows one to have a healthy mind. With the onset of winter, we ask that students are rested well during the school week, dressed warmly in their winter school uniform and have both a substantial breakfast and lunch so that they have a great start to each day. Winter is coming!
As we now turn our attention to Holy Week and look forward to Easter Sunday, I encourage you to support your child in their own journey of faith by participating in all, or at least some, of the Holy Week and Easter liturgies. They are all each filled with ritual, meaning and the story of us, as we live out our lives in faith and the love of God that is so deeply expressed in the scripture of Holy Week.
Wishing you each a very happy, safe and holy Easter.
With every blessing.
Des Noack
Principal
Whole School Photo Day
Thursday 11th May
& Catch Up Day In Case Your Child Is Away
At the back of the newsletter are the instructions for ordering this year’s formal school photos.
To ensure that there is consistency in the wearing of the school uniform and that our formal school photos (Thursday 11th May) represent both your child and the school as best we possibly can, we ask that all students are in full new Winter Uniform by Friday 5th May (End of Week 2.)
We are aware that there are several families that will be away on extended holidays so have arranged for a photo catch up day just in case you’re not back by the 11th May. The photo catch up day has been booked for Thursday 18th May 2023.
With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday 14th May we are looking forward to once again celebrating with a Mother’s Day Mass, classroom visits and a special morning tea next Friday 12th May 2023.
Mass will commence at 9.00am with mums and special visitors invited to join their children after Mass to participate in a classroom activity. At approximately 10.20am, our amazing mums and special visitors will be invited to a delicious morning tea to be hosted in the school hall.
Our students have been busy, under the guidance of Mr Jake Moloney (Visual Arts Specialist) creating a beautiful gift for their mum or that special person who cares for them in the same way.
An Operoo form has been sent to all families in the hope that you will be able to join us in celebrating this very special day.
It has been wonderful to see so many families supporting their children in preparation of their child receiving either the Sacrament of Communion or Sacrament of Confirmation. Your efforts make a huge difference to the value that your child places in regard to the sacrament being part of their life journey of faith.
Fr Gerard would like to encourage families to also take up the opportunity to participate in both the Holy Thursday Mass (7.00pm) and Easter Vigil Saturday Mass (7.00pm) or Easter Sunday Mass (8.30am / 10.30am).
There will be opportunities for your child to have their Sacramental passports stamped during the Easter Masses.
What An Egg-cellent Effort!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this year’s Easter Egg Raffle such a success.
This certainly couldn’t have happened without the vision and support of so many parents who not only participated in the fundraising committee but also gave of their time, creativity and energy to put together so many of the Easter Egg Raffle prizes. In total there are 37 prizes!
A special thank you to Katrina Abagatnan, Daniella Psaila, Carmel Marsh, Josette Zahra, & Caterina Callea
Un-Bee-lievable!
Yesterday, the Grade 1 and 2 students continued their exploration of mini-beasts.
To do this, we asked Mr Noack if we were able to visit him to see the Resurrection bees.
Mr Noack explained to us that there are many different types of bees and that in each hive there can easily be 10,000 bees. This means that we might have around 30,000 bees at the school. But we rarely notice them.
Mr Noack also showed us the smoker which he used to calm down the bees as well as the hive tools to open up the hives. We could see all of the bees and the honey that they were making.
We also learnt that Mr Noack wears a white bee suit because if he wore brown or black the bees may think he is a bear and attack him.
Thank you Mr Noack for showing us the bees and helping us learn about different mini-beasts.
The Sport Shed Looks Amazing
I would like to say a huge thank you to Jackie Tamburro and Peumila Jalajjage for their amazing help on Monday with cleaning out the sports shed. It was a huge job and I couldn't have done it without you. So thank you so much and wishing you each a wonderful Easter.
Ms Jen Baressi (Physical Education Teacher)
During Term 2, our Grade 5 students, as part of their Performing Arts program, will be learning dance routines in preparation for our school’s first “Dance Battle”.
Learning dance routines over a term, our Grade 5 students will get the opportunity on Wednesday 14th June at 12.00pm which is in Week 8 of Term 2 to showcase their performance piece in front of the whole school, with a panel of judges (similar to talent shows on TV) giving encouraging & positive comments after each performance.
Stay tuned for more information early next term.
Our inaugural House Spirit Activity took place on Friday 31st March and what an afternoon it was. As students walked in through the gates, there was a flood of blue, red, yellow and green clothing as the learners buzzed around the grounds with excitement.
Not only were the students dressed in their house colours, our lovely staff got involved. Mr Dalton was even wearing a cape for Pedro House, and Mr Galea looked proud to be part of MacKillop House in his yellow top hat and sparkly oversized bow-tie!
After the second break, students made their way to meet their House Captains as well as all of their peers in their houses from Prep to Grade 6. Once they had a ‘Meet and Greet’ with their house leaders, they engaged in some fun activities including soccer, kick ball, duck duck goose, yarn ball and ‘Golden Child’.
Our student leaders should be so proud of their efforts in planning and organising such a successful afternoon of fun for all of the student leaders and staff. They all stepped up into their roles and have demonstrated some great resilience when problem solving during the planning process of the event. They are doing so well to build their confidence, particularly when speaking in front of large groups of people.
What a fantastic way to build our house spirit, and get to know students from across the school in each of the four houses MacKillop, Sebastian, Pedro and Teresa!
We look forward to our next House Spirit event in Week 7 of Term 2.
The teaching of scripture is that he must rise from the dead.
It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’
So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
On this, the most important celebration in the Christian calendar, it is a shame that the reading chosen for the Lectionary is something of a let down.
Certainly, within the gospel reading we have the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary of Magdala; the disbelieving disciples running to find things exactly as Mary had described; and the dawning realisation of what Jesus had meant when he so frequently spoke about rising from the dead. However, if the editors of the Lectionary had chosen to also include the next nine verses of the gospel we would have also heard the magnificent encounter between Mary and the risen Lord, confirming that it was a woman, Mary Magdala, who was the first witness to Christ’s resurrection. As it is, we never hear this account as part of the cycle of Sunday readings.
The discovery of the empty tomb – although so simply told – is an astounding event that completes the Paschal Mystery: the passion, death AND resurrection of Jesus. Whilst Christ’s willingness to go to his death on the cross was an extraordinary statement of God’s love for humankind, it is his rising again from death that offers all Christian people hope. It is the second disciple – the one whom Jesus loved – who is the first to grasp the meaning of what has happened inside the tomb. The gospel tells us that upon entering the tomb and seeing Jesus’ burial cloths lying there, ‘he saw and he believed’. Unlike the later encounters with the risen Lord, this disciple recognised the truth and significance of what he saw in the empty tomb. He didn’t need to see the risen Lord to believe. Perhaps it is he that we today can best identify with. Not in a position to physically encounter the risen Christ, we are capable of seeing the signs of his resurrection and continuing presence in the world and choose to believe.
Historical Context – Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene, or Mary of Magdala, plays an important role in the gospel accounts of the resurrection. She was obviously a significant follower of Jesus, being named as a witness to the crucifixion, discovering the empty tomb and the first to encounter the risen Christ. One would think that she would hold a prestigious place in the Church, but for many years she was confused with another character identified in the gospels and was portrayed as a prostitute and sinner. Mary is named in each of the four gospels and not once is it indicated that she was a sinner or prostitute. She has been a victim of mistaken identity for 2000 years.
Gospel Focus – The disciple Jesus loved
In this week’s gospel we see reference to a disciple as ‘the one Jesus loved’. It is generally agreed that this disciple is John. There is some suggestion that the disciple, John, is in fact the John ascribed as the author of this gospel. If this is so, to describe himself as the disciple Jesus loved is merely a means of avoiding using a personal pronoun – I or me. Just as Jesus described himself as ‘the Son of God’ or ‘the Son of Man’ rather than say ‘I’, John uses the same convention to avoid naming himself. It is not to suggest that Jesus didn’t love his other disciples.
Different View – An empty tomb?
There are some writers who have questioned the historical accuracy of the empty tomb account of the resurrection. Some theologians and biblical scholars (e.g. members of the ‘Jesus Seminar’) argue that historically, it is far more likely that the victim of Roman crucifixion would be left to rot on the cross or buried in a shallow criminal’s grave – not laid to rest in an expensive private tomb. However, they do not argue against resurrection. They maintain that Jesus’ body was not ‘resuscitated’ or ‘reanimated’. What happened to his corpse, they argue, is irrelevant to Christ’s resurrection.
Week 1
Monday 24/04
● School Closure – Staff Professional Learning Day
Tuesday 25/04
● ANZAC day (Public Holiday)
Wednesday 26/04
● Exec Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
● Saint Mark, Evangelist
Thursday 27/04
● Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort
Friday 28/04
● Saint Peter Chanel
● Grade 5 Excursion – Melbourne Zoo: Focus - Adaptations
● ONWZ Principals Network Meeting
Saturday 29/04
● Saint Catherine of Siena
Sunday 30/05
● 4th Sunday of Easter
Week 2
Monday 01/05
● Saint Joseph the Worker
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Grade 6 Excursion – Melbourne Zoo: Focus - Adaptations
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 02/05
● Saint Athanasius
● Parent Advisory Council 7.00pm – 8.00pm
● Emergency Displan Practice
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 03/05
● The Feasts of Saints Philip and James
● Prep Excursion to LegoLand Discovery Centre, Chadstone.
● Canteen Committee Meeting 7pm
Thursday 04/05
●
Friday 05/05
● Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival
Saturday 06/05
●
Sunday 07/05
● 5th Sunday of Easter
Week 3
Monday 08/05
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 09/05
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 10/05
● Saint John De Avila
Thursday 11/05
● Whole School Photo day
Friday 12/05
● Saints Nereus and Achilleus
● Whole School Mass - Run by Seniors
● Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea
Saturday 13/05
● Our Lady of Fatima
Sunday 14/05
● 6th Sunday of Easter
● Mother’s Day
Week 4
Monday 15/05
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 16/05
● Learning Diversity Leaders Network
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 17/05
●
Thursday 18/05
● Saint John I
Friday 19/05
● Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea - Middles
Saturday 20/05
● Saint Bernadine of Siena
Sunday 21/05
● Solemnity Of The Ascension Of The Lord
Week 5
Monday 22/05
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 23/05
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 24/05
● The Solemnity of Our Lady, Help of Christians
● Student Wellbeing Leaders Network
Thursday 25/05
● Saint Gregory VII
● Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
● Saint Bede
Friday 26/05
● Saint Philip Neri
● Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea - Juniors
● Staff Social Dinner
● Religious Education Leaders Network
Saturday 27/05
● Saint Augustine of Canterbury
● First Communion Masses
Sunday 28/05
● Pentecost Sunday
● First Communion Masses
Week 6
Monday 29/05
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 30/05
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 31/05
● The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Thursday 01/06
● Saint Justin
● Deputy Principals Network
Friday 02/06
● Saints Marcellinus and Peter
● Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival (Backup date)
● Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea - Preps
● Deputy Principals Network
Saturday 03/06
● First Communion Masses
Sunday 04/06
● Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity
● First Communion Masses
Week 7
Monday 05/06
● Student House Activity Day
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 06/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
● Mary, Mother of the Church
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 07/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
Thursday 08/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
Friday 09/06
● Saint Ephrem
● Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea – Seniors
● ONWZ Principals Network Meeting
Saturday 10/06
● First Communion Masses
Sunday 11/06
● Feast Of Corpus Christi
● First Communion Masses
Week 8
Monday 12/06
● King’s Birthday – School Closure
Tuesday 13/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
● Saint Anthony of Padua
● Parent Advisory Council 7.00pm – 8.00pm
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday 14/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
Thursday 15/06
● Parent Support Group Meetings
Friday 16/6
● Instalment 2 - Family Fee Payment Due
● Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
● Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea - Middles
Saturday 17/06
● Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
● First Communion Masses
Sunday 18/06
● 11TH Sunday In Ordinary Time
● First Communion Masses
Week 9
Monday 19/06
● Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
● Reports back to teachers
● Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
● Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm
Tuesday 20/06
Wednesday 21/06
● Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
● Resurrection Day Celebration
● Resurrection Day Mass 9.00am (Whole School)
● Last Day of Term 2 Dismissal Time 3.15pm
● Semester 1 Student Reports Sent Home
Thursday 22/06
● School Closure Staff Faith Formation Day 1
Friday 23/06
● School Closure Staff Faith Formation Day 2
WEEK 10 STUDENT AWARDS
PA - Anna Druitt
Natalie L - For being a knowledge learner when writing a fantastic sentence about what you did on the weekend. Keep up the great learning!
Osten T - For being a resilient learner by working hard each morning during phonics with your letter formation. Keep up the great work Osten!
PC - Carla Tirotta
Aluk G- For being a knowledgeable learner when confidently making 3-step colour patterns and identifying what the pattern core is.
Grace K- For being an independent learner during writing lessons and using her letter-sound knowledge to record the dominant sounds she hears in words.
1A - Enza La Rosa
Pabalu A - For demonstrating resilience in applying her knowledge about minibeasts and showing improvement on how to structure her information report writing. Well done!
Christina T - For demonstrating the ability to use her skills in creating an amazing recount of the mini beast excursion. Well done!
1B - Matt Galea
Mesak C - for showing an improved engagement in his learning and sharing his knowledge about colour patterns in Mathematics.
Tha Tha T - for sharing her knowledge by writing an amazing description about ‘moths’. Keep up the great learning Tha Tha!
1C - Natalie Donevska
Amelia L- For being a thinker and an effective communicator when sharing her knowledge about mini beasts. Keep up the great work Amelia!!
Elvis - For being a risk taker in his learning during maths and showing his understanding about making patterns. Well done Elvis!!
2A - Rebecca Koutivas/Shannon Ziebell
Micaiah - For sharing her knowledge on Holy Week, in particular The Last Supper, and actively participating in floor discussions.
Joseph - For being a great learner through maths with Mrs Koutivas and actively participating in creating different subtraction number sentences
2B - Ric Martin
Miranda S - For being a caring student within the junior building, looking out for other students.
Akoch D - For being a communicator and sharing his knowledge on different minibeasts.
2C - Dorothy Hall
Levi C - For being a thinker and a responsible learner when applying himself to make connections between ideas in mathematics.
Nila Then T - For being a reflective learner when taking on teacher feedback and consistently making efforts to improve in her learning.
3A - Ella Nowak
Kayla V- For showing resilience and working to the best of her ability when completing her multiplication grid. Well done Kayla!
Pinidi T- For being a respectful, resilient and responsible student in all areas of school and always challenging herself to take risks within her learning. Keep up the amazing learning!
3B - Emma Lyons/Sophie Duddington
Vihaan K - for being an effective communicator by sharing his ideas and reflections on the use of vocabulary in the book ‘Fire’. Keep up the fantastic work, Vihaan!
Alyssia P - for being a reflective learner by making text to self connections to the book we read in class. Keep up the brilliant thinking, Alyssia!
3C - Joss Coaley
Sannamahn Z - for making great choices in the classroom and being a responsible learner. Congratulations Sannamahn, keep it up in Term 2.
Salom T - for being a responsible and respectful learner in the classroom. Congratulations Salom on a successful first term of Year Three.
4A - Lavina Stewart
Karl K - For being a respectful and reflective communicator when sharing his knowledge about forgiveness. Keep sharing your awesome learning Karl!
Isaac S - For being a risk-taker in his learning by showing his understanding of how to create composite shapes. Keep up the great work Isaac!
4B - Thomas Pham
Selena H - for being principled by consistently demonstrating ‘active listening’ during whole-class discussions in all subject areas. Keep up the respectful learning Selena!
Mac R - for being reflective and a thinker when he explored ‘past, present and possible future’ in his Inquiry poster of how electronics change over time. Keep up the critical thinking Mac!
4C - Brittany Davidson
Angelo M - for being such an enthusiastic inquirer, always asking questions to clarify his learning. I LOVE your inquisitive nature Angelo, keep it up!
Thao N - for being a communicator and demonstrating responsibility when sharing strategies for building up resilience in the classroom and yard. Keep it up Thao!
5A - Katherine Salloum
Kaida B - for being a reflective learner by rearranging her sentences when writing a book review about Dog Lost.
Margarette D - for being a reflective learner by editing her book review, to convert the simple sentences that she wrote into compound and complex sentences.
5B - Shannon Betham
Noah D - For being a balanced thinker when taking on challenges in your learning, particularly when creating your visualisation of a page in 'Dog Lost'. Awesome effort!
Adrienne D - for being a passionate and determined learner when challenging yourself to include new vocabulary in your persuasive writing. Well done!
5C - Malae Suaesi
Louis Q - For being a resilient learner, when using the Area Model strategy to solve multiplication problems. Great learning!
Isabel L - For being a risk-taker, when considering using a graphic organiser to plan and gather ideas to improve her persuasive writing.
6A - Annette Lee
Mangtong- for being a knowledgeable and balanced learner. You consistently share your ideas and strategies with our class - keep up this great effort!
Sarah- we are so happy to have you back at school, we really missed you! Well done for settling into the class so well! Welcome back!
6B - Niamh Mulcahy
Hung B - for being an enthusiastic reader and making a great contribution to the reading challenge.
Ngopawpha K - for your valuable contributions to class discussions. Keep up all the great work.
6C - Jane Huang
Ajak M - For being a knowledgeable learner when sharing his understanding about how to create a rhetorical question for persuasive writing.
Thuan Tien P - For being a responsible learner by always finishing learning tasks on time and double checking your answers before handing them to teachers.
Specialist Awards
Japanese: Yumiko Aiki
Kayla M (1A) - for being a thinker and having a positive attitude during Japanese class. Congratulations on her terrific effort when delivering Japanese presentations!
Performing Arts: Jody Banks
Sofia W (2A) - For being a conscientious learner and memorising all of the lyrics to the Australian national anthem, and for having the courage to sing in front of the whole school. An outstanding effort, Sofia!
Visual Arts: Jake Moloney
Leila C (Prep A) for being a knowledgeable learner when showcasing her ability to create multiple types of lines on her Zodiac Rabbit. Well done Leila!
S T E M: Matt Dalton
Madison M (5C) For being an inquisitive learner during STEM. She demonstrated enthusiasm and creativity while constructing her catapult. Well done Madison!
P.E: Jen Barresi
Eamen S (Prep C) for being a kind and caring member of Prep C. You are always respectful towards others and display resilience if an activity is challenging. You are a valuable member of the Resurrection community. Well done Eamen
