Dear Parents,

I would like to formally thank Simon for all he has contributed to St Catherine’s since the beginning of 2022. He has been an inspirational leader and has implemented many changes for St Catherine’s and his legacy will continue. He will still be connected with St Catherine’s as our School Leadership Consultant.

This week has been a very busy week at St Catherine’s.  We have had Family Learning Conversations for 3S7 and 5LA4, four reconciliation ceremonies and ‘The Kids Roar’ program has been running in classrooms.

Staffing News
This week Jessica Ornsby and Rian Prestwich who have been appointed as Acting Deputy Principals until the end of the 2023 school year, commenced their new roles. Their specific roles are as follows; 

• Jessica Ornsby - Acting Deputy Principal Learning Adjustment / Student Support / Camps and Excursions.
• Rian Prestwich – Acting Deputy Principal School Operations / REL

They are both extremely capable leaders and I am extremely grateful to have them supporting me and am confident that they will do an excellent job.

Father’s Day and Special Person afternoon.
Thank you to the following parents who assisted at the Father’s Day stall, Jo, Sheree, Lisa, Renee, Jessica, Melissa, Jodie, Luke, Emma, Gurpinder, Sephora, Nilmina and Sarah. A special thanks to Jo Riley, who has over the years coordinated many P&F events and activities, this is Jo’s last year as her daughter Georgia is in her final year at St Catherine’s.

Thank you to all who came to visit classrooms on Friday for Father’s Day and Special Persons afternoon. We had well over 200 visitors that day which was terrific. The classrooms were full and buzzing. It was wonderful to see the students interacting with their special people and those of others.

Book Week / Book Week Parade
Our Book week parade was very successful with the weather being kind to us and many parents attending to watch the staff and students celebrate Book Week at St Catherine’s. This year’s theme was ‘Read, Grow, inspire’ The students participated in a wide range of activities to celebrate this significant event. 

Reconciliation
Reconciliation has taken place over the past two days in the Chapel. I congratulate all candidates. Anyone who has not booked a Mass for their First Communion will need to do so asap through the Parish office.

Disco
Thursday 7 September is the school disco.  Details have been sent out to families. All students will need to be signed in near the administration office prior to attending and they will need to be signed out from the vines area which will be opened at the end of each session. Mobile phones and smart watches are not permitted and we suggest that all students bring a drink bottle which will be put into classroom baskets and are to be collected at the end of each session.  This is not a fundraising event but we are asking for a gold coin donation from each student to cover the cost of the DJ for the night.

2024 Prep Information night
Our Prep parent information night for 2024 was held via Google Meet last night.  The 2024 parents were informed by our team of Prep teachers what to expect for the transition sessions for later this year and for the beginning of 2024.

Car Parking
Due to the restricted car parks, we have had to close off the very end of the driveway to all cars except our contractors, admin and DOSCEL staff. We have regular visits from these people and need to be able to give access to them and if necessary, emergency services.

To allow this to happen and to keep our children safe, we have put bollards out to restrict access to allow the crossing near the chapel to be a safe zone for children to cross the driveway.

These Bollards will be moved each morning at 8.30am and each afternoon at 3.00pm to allow traffic through when the chapel gates are open.

We also request all students accessing the office via the SFX driveway, to walk down the SFX side of the driveway on the footpath and cross at the Chapel crossing.

Footy Day
The last day of term 3 – Thursday 14 September will be a footy colours day.
We ask children to wear footy colours from any football code.

2024 Planning 
The process of planning for 2024 has begun.  Any parents who have any special requests will need to put them in writing and email to info@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au by Monday 9 October.  

Please note that requests from any other previous year will not be considered as circumstances change.  We are blessed at St Catherine’s to have a very professional and committed staff that plan together to ensure that the same learning opportunities are afforded to the students regardless of what class they are in, so please do not request individual teachers. All requests will be given the appropriate consideration; however, it is not a guarantee.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser
Thankyou to all families who participated in our recent fundraiser, we raised $3376, a fantastic contribution to our new playground!  Most of this has been collected now and I thank Danielle Hinds and Hayley Martin for their hard work in getting all of this out to parents. I would also like to thank Brooke Riley who assisted with the distribution.

Vinnies Winter appeal
Thank you to all families who supported the Vinnies winter appeal. These donations were collected today and St. Vinnies were most grateful.

Out of School Hours Care Program
Please see the flyer below regarding our new OSHC Program - Bookings are now open!