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- Principal News
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- Year 5 Leadership photos - UPP Incursion
- Grandparents Day - Friday 10 November
- Day for Daniel - Friday 27 October
- Student Disco Term 3
- Lunch Time Club
- Hayfever season
- Student Celebrations
- Book Club
- Uniform News
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- Canteen
- Lost Property
The beginning of Term 4 has been very busy at St Catherine’s.
Term 4 is a long term
Term 4 started with a Professional Learning Day for staff run by Dr. Margaret Carswell from ACU in Ballarat. Marg is a lecturer in Theology specialising in Scripture and the inquiry-based teaching of Religious Education in Catholic schools. The staff were engaged in their own learning as well as being assisted with the planning of their RE units for Term 4 .
We have also had Grade 6 swimming and the Grade 2 excursion to Scienceworks.
Camp Australia have started as our Out of School Hours Provider with what has been a very easy and seamless transition. With all new providers of all types, there will be teething problems but I assure you that Camp Australia have been very professional and easy to work with to resolve these issues.
Staffing News
We have started recruitment for 2024 and have been interviewing for classroom teachers with appointments still to be made and announced.
The Deputy Principal role has also been advertised with applications closing this afternoon.
Alexandra (Alex) Bland has taken over as the classroom teacher for 6LA6 this week and has hit the road running with swimming kicking off on her first day in the classroom. Her email is alexandra.bland@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au for parents of the students in 6LA6, Rian is obviously still here so can also be contacted if necessary and is working closely with Alex to ensure the transition is smooth and as easy as possible for student and parents.
We welcome Vicky Donlan back after having baby Rowan earlier in the year. She has become the classroom Teacher for 4S6 for the remainder of the year. Vicky will again be part of our Leadership Team and will be the grade 3 and 4 Level Leader. Vicky’s email address is victoria.donlan@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au
I would like to congratulate Rian Prestwich and his wife, Sarah on the arrival of baby girl, Ruby.
The Sacrament of First communion
First Holy Communion Masses started on the weekend and will run through the next few weeks. This Sacrament is taking place during the Parish masses at St Michael’s. We pray for those students receiving this Sacrament and wish them well with this step in their Faith Journey.
Disco
The school disco took place on Thursday 7 September. This was not a fundraising event but we asked for a gold coin donation from each student to assist with covering the cost of the DJ for the night.
This was a very successful night, despite the rain. The DJ planned different age appropriate music and dance sessions for each year level goup. The students came out exhausted but on a real high, all saying they had so much fun. It was lovely to be able to provide this experience for the students. A huge thank you to the staff for dedicating this time and making this so enjoyable for our students. I thank the parents for their patience and flexibility as we were operating with limited spaces and unfortunate weather.
Footy Day
The last day of term 3 was our footy colours day. The students all joined in on the basketball court and got to stand up and dance when their team’s song came on. It was a terrific way to end the term.
Grandparents Afternoon November 10 2023
We will be having an afternoon dedicated to Grandparents and special others who play a similar role to our students on Friday 10 November. This is the Friday AFTER Cup day. More information will be sent out regarding this. The day will run on the same Friday every year.
Please make these special people aware so they can save the date.
Student attendance
We have a number of students coming after the bell most mornings. This impacts the
specialist subjects and also leads to missing vital instruction as our teaching starts at
8.50am.
Students on scheduled out of classroom intervention programs may also miss their sessions which will also impact student learning.
Regular late arrivals trigger our attendance/absence processes which means parents and carers will be contacted by classroom teachers at first but may be escalated to other governing bodies.
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.
Student access and child safety
We request all students accessing the Administration Office and who may be coming in late do so via the SFX driveway. Students are to walk down the SFX side of driveway on the footpath and cross at the Chapel crossing.
We remind parents that the driveways are limited to 5 kilometres an hour for the safety of our students.
Hats and Uniform
Hats are needing to be worn at all break times and must be worn properly by our students to ensure that we are remaining a sunsmart school.
Summer uniform is to be worn for the remainder of the school year with sports uniform being worn on PE lesson days and SPECIAL sports days as notified by the office/classroom teacher.
2024 Planning
Thank you to all those parents who have put in the separation requests for students in preparation for our 2024 class planning. This process has started and the background work is in progress. 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.
Your child/ren will be working with their classroom teacher to identify 5 learning buddies to assist with classroom placement for 2024. These are used to assist with selection but your child will be guaranteed 1 of these students to be in their class for 2024.
Students leaving St Catherine’s for the 2024 school year
If there are any students leaving St Catherine’s at the end of the 2023 year we ask that you notify the office as soon as possible by emailing enrolments@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au This assists the school with planning and ensuring that all students are sent home with relevant documentation and belongings.
Fees
Fee statements have been emailed today if you have not received your email please contact the office.
Out of School Hours Care Program
Please see the below flyer regarding our new OSHC Program - Bookings are now open!
Anna
Monday 6 November | Cup Weekend School Closure |
Tuesday 7 November | Cup Day |
Friday 10 November | Grandparents Day |
Tuesday 21 November | Prep Orientation session 1 |
Friday 24 November | SPORT - St Catherine's Athletics Day - Casey Fields |
Wednesday 29 November | Prep Orientation session 2 |
Thursday 7 December | Prep Orientation session 3 |
Thurdsay 7 December | Christmas Carols |
Monday 11 December | 2024 new families orientation and meet the teacher |
Friday 15 December | Students Last Day - End of Term 4 |
Monday 18 December | School Closure Day 2024 Planning |
Tuesday 19 December | School Closure Day 2024 Planning |
In Term 4, students will be looking at the Life and Mission of Jesus through different lenses. They will use the scripture from Mark 1: 1-8 where John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus.
Our whole school inquiry question is “Preparing and Waiting”. Students will engage with this question through dialogue and incorporate their experiences, perspectives, cultures and backgrounds. By relating this to their life, and the life within our community and world, they will be able to engage in rich and meaningful discourse.
The month of October is devoted to the Holy Rosary in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are reminded to pay gradittude for the protection she give the Church in answering our prayers through the Rosary. We also recognise the important work of the lay people and missionaries who dedicate their lives to the calling of Jesus, much like Mary. We are called on the last Sunday of the Liturigical year to honour and recognise Jesus and respond to the world by emulating his total gift of self by serving others. Advent is the first week in the new Catholic Liturgical calendar and the four weeks before Christmas where we celebrate the birth of our infant Saviour, Jesus Christ. Its name comes from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming." Whilst it is easy to be distracted by the gifts and glamour at the shops, we are reminded to prepare and wait for the second coming of Christ and look inward on ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves.
The school community will integrate the following important days into lessons:
October
- Whole month - Month of the Holy Rosary
- Sunday 22nd - Catholic Mission Theme: Hearts on Fire, Feet on the Move
- Friday 27th - Day for Daniel Morcombe Foundation
November
- Wednesday 1st - All Saints’ Day
- Thursday 9th - The Dedication Of The Lateran Basilica
- Sunday 11th - Remembrance Day
- Sunday 26th - Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
December
- 3rd December - First Sunday of Advent
- Friday 8th - The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Monday 11 - Friday 15 - Christmas
Important Sacramental Dates for Term 4:
First Communion
- October: Saturday 14th, Sunday 15th, Saturday 21st, Sunday 22nd, Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th
Have a great final term for 2023.
Rian Prestwich
Acting Deputy Principal: Religious Education Leader and School Operations
First Communion Masses.
The First communion Masses are held over four weekends from the
7 October till the 28 October.
You may have received emails regarding these . You must book a date and time for candidates as spaces are limited for each Mass. Please ring the Parish and do so as soon as possible.
Anna Viney
Deputy Principal/Religious Education Leader
Division Athletics Results from Wednesday September 13
A huge congratulations to our students who represented St Catherines at the Casey South Division Athletics Carnival in september! We wish the below students all the best of luck at the Southern Metro Carnival on Wednesday 18 October at Casey Fields Athletics track. Thanks to the parents who helped gather the results and photos on the day.
Jacob O year 4 1st 9/10 Boys 100m and 200m
Hudson B year 5 1st 11 Boys 80m hurdles and Triple Jump
Charlie E year 6 1st 11 Boys Shot Put
Isabel M year 6 2nd 12/13 Girls 200m
Sienna P year 6 1st 12/13 Girls 800m
Boys 9/10 relay 1st - Jacob B, Bradley M, Zane M and Kepler P
Boys 11 relay 1st - Alex P, Hudson B, Charlie E, Rocky G
PLEASE NOTE THE CANTEEN WILL BE UNAVAILABLE FOR PURCHASES ON THE FOLLOWING DATES
Tuesday October 24 | Wednesday October 25 |
Thursday October 26 |
Our Canteen runs from Tuesday - Friday. To register please follow the following link Quickcliq registration, then once registered you can login to Quickcliq. When registering if your child is in Prep you will need to click foundation. Your UID (student ID) number can be found on the home page of your Simon App. For further information please see the attached flyer. Ordering cut off times will be the day before at 8pm, to receive your child's order the very Our next day, any orders placed after 8pm will automatically be placed with orders placed the following day, this allows for time to purchase any extra items needed on the day. For those children with dietary requirements there will be a folder placed in the school office outlining ingredients of certain items. Please see the attached Menu, which will also be available when ordering through Quickcliq.