Friday, 25th August 2023

This Week’s Newsletter Items:

● School Disco

● Environment & Sustainability student leader update

● 2024 Prep Enrolment

● MACSSIS Survey

● District Athletics

● Seatbelt Safety

● PBL Update

● Grade 6 Production

● Gospel Reflection

● Understanding The Gospel

● You Make A Difference

● Term 3 Date

Dear Parents, Students & Friends,

What a fantastic night we had at our Prep to Grade Two and Grades Three to Six discos last Friday evening. There were over 240 tickets sold in total with the schools fundraising committee making a profit of just under $350!

A huge thank you to all our parent helpers who offered to assist with the evening. A special thanks must also go to the Resurrection staff who gave up their Friday evening to ensure that the students had a wonderful time.

A special thank you to DJ Yaz-zy from Kids Disco party for playing some incredible tunes and getting our students up and dancing! The disco was such a hit that we are already looking to book dates for a disco in 2024!

Environment and Sustainability Leader Meeting

Last week I had an opportunity to meet with Nyakir and Daniel our Environmental and Sustainability leaders for 2023. In our conversation, we spoke about how there seems to be a lot of wrappers and papers in the yard at the moment. They suggested

we should hold a whole school ‘clean up’ afternoon which we did this week. Nyakir and

Daniel have allocated each Grade Level a part of the school grounds to maintain and we have provided each class with a bucket, large tongs and gloves!

Daniel also suggested that we should try to encourage students to have wrapper free lunches to reduce the amount of waste at our school. Together we decided that each Wednesday in Term 4 we will hold ‘Wrapper Free Wednesdays.’ Students who have lunch boxes that don’t have any wrappers will earn house points.

Our school leaders will visit the classroom in the upcoming weeks to show examples of what wrapper free lunchboxes can look like. As parents it is much cheaper to buy food like chips or biscuits in bulk packets and put into smaller containers than it is to buy smaller individually wrapped items.

2024 Prep Enrolments

We are still accepting enrolments for Prep students in 2024 however, places are limited! Just a reminder that we are offering an enrolment incentive for current families.

How the referral incentive works:

If you have referred a new family to the school and as a result, that family enrols their child/ren and they remain at the school for the 2024 school year, your eldest child’s Curriculum Levy will be credited back to you for the 2025 school year. For every family you have referred, which results in an enrolment for the 2024 school year, a further credit of the same value of your eldest child will credited.

God bless,

Jess Davis

Acting Principal

Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS).

MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights into areas that each school can focus on. Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.

The survey is available online, can be accessed from Monday 28th August and needs to be completed by Friday 15th September 2023. This survey may only be completed once.

For families with more than one child attending our school, we ask that you focus on the eldest child attending the school when completing the survey. The school has invited many families to respond via this survey and participation is completely voluntary. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers – all responses are completely anonymous and at no point are any of the responses from students, families or staff identifiable by the school.

The survey will be available in English, Arabic, Assyrian, Chaldean, simplified and traditional Chinese, Dinka, Falam, Hakha Chin, Karen, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Zomi.

The MACSSIS family survey will be emailed out to families on August 28th, we would really appreciate your input.

Kind Regards,

Mr John Hien

Deputy Principal: Curriculum & School Organisation

Athletics

On Friday 18th August students who qualified in specific events attended the District Athletics at Keilor Park Athletics track.

These students not only excelled in their performances but also exhibited behaviour that brought honour to our school. Congratulations to each and every one of you.

I would also like to thank the following staff for their support on the day. Thank you Miss Salloum, Miss Jolene and Miss Paola.

Great effort everyone!

Ms Jen

Ensure Your Child Is Wearing a Seatbelt

Recently we have seen a number of students in vehicles that have not been seated correctly in the vehicle nor wearing a seatbelt.

Could ALL parents please ensure that their child/ren are properly seated and are wearing a seatbelt prior to the vehicle moving and at no time allow heads, hands or feet be outside the vehicle whilst it is moving.

The following has been provided to clarify what the law states in regard to this.

Car Safety: Seatbelts

In Australia it’s illegal to drive or travel in a car without a properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt. It’s also illegal and unsafe to carry your child on your lap in a private car, even if you’re wearing a seatbelt. Also, you should never share a seatbelt with your child or another passenger.

You can set a good example for children by always wearing your own seatbelt. Young children learn most by watching the grown-ups around them.

Start driving only when all seatbelts are done up. Never drive while your child’s car seat straps are undone or twisted. If your child removes straps or undoes buckles, stop the car and do up the straps or buckles again. Explain what you’re doing.

If you need to give your child a reward or incentive for leaving straps or buckles alone, it’s best to use one that will distract your child from the straps and last until you reach your destination

Where Children should sit: The Law

There are minimum legal requirements children:

· Children aged under six months must not sit in the front row of a vehicle if the vehicle has two or more rows of seats.

· Children aged six months up to four years must not sit in the front row of a vehicle if the vehicle has two or more rows of seats. If the vehicle has only one row of seats, children can sit in the front row if they’re using an appropriate child car seat. But rear-facing child car seats can’t be used if there’s a passenger airbag.

· Children aged four years up to seven years can sit in the front row of a vehicle with two or more rows of seats only if they’re in an appropriate child car seat and only if all other rear seats are occupied by children under seven years. If the vehicle has only one row of seats, children can sit in the front row if they’re using an appropriate child car seat.

· Children aged seven years and older can sit in the front row using an appropriate booster seat or seatbelt.

Car safety tips: limbs, locks, loose items, pets, kerbside

Tips when travelling in the car:

· Ensure your child always keeps arms, legs and head inside the car when it’s moving or parked on the side of the road.

· Activate childproof door locks so your child can’t get out when the car is moving or standing still. These locks are usually inside most car doors. Check your car’s manual.

· Keep loose items in the glove box or the boot or behind the cargo barrier in station wagons and four-wheel drives. Loose items can fly about in a crash and increase the risk of injury.

· When travelling with an empty child car seat in the car, make sure it’s correctly installed. This should prevent it from flying about and injuring someone in a crash.

· Restrain any pets travelling with you. You can buy pet harnesses that you can secure with a seatbelt or luggage tie. This protects not only your pet but also any passengers in your car.

· Always get your child in and out of the car on the kerbside, away from traffic.

PBL UPDATE

As a part of our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Framework, students throughout the school receive a PBL card from staff when they are showing they are being Respectful, Responsible and Resilient. These PBL cards are then able to be traded in to obtain a reward that ranges from a Sniff and Scratch Sticker to the Rare PBL Card.

Last week, three students in Grade 2 had saved their PBL Cards and traded in 60 cards each for a special reward. They were able to choose from either a Donut for afternoon tea or an Icy Pole. All three girls chose the Icy Pole and enjoyed them in Mrs Davis' office.

Congratulations to Matisse, Sharon and Miranda for showing the PBL values of being Respectful, Responsible and Resilient. Keep up the amazing work!

GRADE 6 PRODUCTION 2023

THE TREASURE MAP

THE TREASURE MAP Show details…

WHEN?

Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th September

WHERE?

School Hall @ 7.00pm

A TEXT MESSAGE WILL BE SENT OUT NEXT WEEK TO GRADE 6 PARENTS TO ORDER TICKETS!

MEET THE CAST

Captain Treasure and his Crew

Captain Crook and his Crew

Darlia & Scuffles

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-20)

You are Peter, to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Like last week’s gospel, this week’s story takes place in a region that was outside predominantly Jewish territory. Caesarea Philippi (north of Galilee and in the region of modern day Syria) had long been a centre of pagan worship. It was used originally by the Canaanites as a site of worship; the Greeks built a temple to one of their gods there; in 20 BCE Herod the Great built a temple to Caesar Augustus; and after his death, Herod’s son, Phillip, renamed the city Caesarea Phillipi after Tiberius Caesar and himself. It is intriguing that Matthew’s gospel chooses such a site as the location for such a significant revelation of faith.

Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is. They report that people associate Jesus with one of the great prophets of Jewish tradition. By people identifying Jesus with other great prophets they were projecting Jesus into the same mould as that prophet. What they were saying was that Jesus will be a great leader in the style of John the Baptist, or Elijah or even Jeremiah. The expectation of a messiah was running very high at the time of Jesus and everyone had their own idea about what that messiah would be like – usually aligned with some previous leader. They didn’t seem to understand that Jesus was breaking the mould and was not going to fit in with any of those expectations. To see him as one of the great prophets come again is always going to be an inadequate understanding of Jesus as messiah.

When Jesus pushes the disciples for their own ideas, it is Simon Peter who speaks up and identifies Jesus as being the Son of the living God. Making a play on Peter’s name (in Greek, petros = Peter and petra = rock), Jesus states that hereafter, Simon Peter will be known as Peter and upon the rock of his profession of faith the church will be built.

Have you thought? What’s in a name?

On many occasions in the Bible a character is given, or takes on, a new name when they take on a new role or move to a new level in their faith and relationship with God. Abram became Abraham; Sarai became Sarah; Jacob became Israel; and Saul became Paul. In all of these circumstances the person took on a new name to reflect their new relationship with God. This tradition has continued right to this day. Men and women entering religious life have traditionally taken on a new name to indicate the new life they are entering. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became pope he took on the name Benedict to indicate the new role and the new life he was beginning.

Living the Gospel ... Who do YOU say I am?

The question that Jesus asks the disciples is a question he asks of all of us. How we answer that question reflects our relationship with Jesus. But more importantly, how we answer that question reflects the way we live our life in response to who we believe Jesus to be. If we truly say that we believe in Jesus as the son of God, then how do we live our lives in such a way that we act on that belief? The gospel shows us that an inadequate answer to that question leads to missing the point of all that Jesus is.

Gospel Focus

Jesus’ words to Peter, ‘on this rock I will build my church’, are obviously the gospel writers’ words and not the words of Jesus himself. (Jesus did not set out to build a church community; that did not emerge until later.) In fact they appear only in this particular gospel. The other synoptic gospels have Peter’s confession of faith but not these words attributed to Jesus. The words are sometimes understood as asserting that Peter himself is the rock on whom the church will be built, rather than his declaration of faith being the rock. This has then sometimes become confused with the line of popes beginning with Peter.

We noticed that over the weekend over 30 families

jumped onto Operoo and updated their child’s details. Doing this makes our jobs so much easier. Thank you from all the Office staff.

Week 8

Monday 28/08

Saint Augustine
Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
Grade 4 Camp - Wyuna
Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm

Tuesday 29/08

Parent Support Group Meetings
The Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Parent Advisory Council 7.00pm – 8.00pm
Grade 4 Camp - Wyuna
Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm

Wednesday 30/08

Parent Support Group Meetings
Grade 4 Camp - Wyuna

Thursday 31/08

Parent Support Group Meetings

Friday 01/09

Instalment 3 - Family Fee Payment Due
Father’s Day Morning Breakfast

Saturday 02/09

Sunday 03/09

Father’s Day
22nd Sunday In Ordinary Time

Week 9

Monday 04/09

Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm

Tuesday 05/09

Parent Support Group Meetings
Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm

Wednesday 06/09

Parent Support Group Meetings
School Review Day 1

Thursday 07/09

School Review Day 2
Parent Support Group Meetings

Friday 08/09

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Year Level Mass followed by parent morning tea – Middles
ONWZ Principals Network Meeting

Saturday 09/09

Saint Peter Claver

Sunday 10/09

23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time
Sacrament of Confirmation
1.30pm
4.00pm

Week 10

Monday 11/09

Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
Exec Team 9.30am - 11.00am
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm

Tuesday 12/09

NO Staff Meeting

Wednesday 13/09

Saint John Chrysostom
Senior School Production

Thursday 14/09

Senior School Production

Friday 15/09

Our Lady of Sorrows
Whole School Mass 9.00am
Last Day of Term 3
Footy Colours Day
Dismissal Time 3.15pm

Dates will be in next week’s newsletter

Term 3 Week 7 of 10