Reception students blessing
our mothers for Mother's Day

Upcoming Federal Election

As you would well be aware, the federal election is only days away. On Saturday 18th May we will be asked to vote for who we believe will best lead our country and the party who will best meet our needs. I know that when our parents vote next weekend many factors will influence their decision. As parents who have chosen a Catholic school to educate your children I ask you consider how the major parties will address the following big ticket issues with regard to education funding.

This week the Catholic Schools in the Hindmarsh electoral division wrote to candidates raising the following issues of importance to Catholic Education in South Australia.

Recurrent funding to Catholic Schools
The Commonwealth is the predominant funder of non-government schools. We are asking assurances from all parties that they will provide a school funding model that ensures Catholic schools will remain affordable for our families.

Continuation of Choice and Affordability Fund
The Choice and Affordability Fund ensures low fee primary schools can continue to provide an affordable choice alongside the local, free government school. We are seeking assurances   that this outcome will be supported.

Capital funding
Catholic schools in South Australia currently receive $5.5m per annum across 101 schools from the federal government to support capital works in our schools. This year our school is undertaking a capital building project that is totally funded by the Star of the Sea Community. This responsibility cannot be shouldered by our communities to this degree for much longer. We are seeking a significant increase in capital funding from the Commonwealth to support building new schools and upgrading current facilities to meet current educational needs, e.g. STEM.

Funding for Students with Disability
Funding for students with disability has decreased since 2017 while the number of students with disabilities enrolled in Catholic schools has increased. In order to enable every student    access to their full education entitlement in their parents’ choice of school, adequate funding needs to be provided to students with disability in Catholic schools.

Early Childhood Education
Every child should have the opportunity to access quality early learning opportunities.We believe that funding for 15 hours per week of quality early learning for three and four year olds should be made available in ways that are accessible to families in the settings they choose.

Below I have included two links by the National Catholic Education Commission which will further explain the facts on school funding in Australia and the 2019 Federal Election Party Responses.

Facts on School Funding
Election Party Responses

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mums. It's a pity you have to share it with the Showdown!

Enjoy the weekend ahead,
Joe De Tullio

Each year around this time, Australia holds the 'Walk Safely To School Day' with the aim of promoting the 'Active Kids are Healthy Kids’ message.

The National Walk Safely to School Day will again be supported this year. Children and parents are encouraged to walk rather than drive to school on Friday 17th May.

As usual there will be three Walk to School Virtual Buses departing at 8am:

Bus 1 - With Ms Victory will leave from the Grange Kiosk

Bus 2 - With Mrs Manera will leave from St Michael's on Mitton Ave

Bus 3 - With Mr De Tullio will leave from Henley High School on Henley Beach Road

We look forward to you joining us.

The weather forecast is looking very bleak for Friday so we have decided to initiate plan B and prepare for a worst case scenario. As a result we have had to change some of our plans to ensure a successful Grandparent’s Day.

Would you please let our grandparents and other visiting guests know of these changes.

The welcome gathering and liturgy on the school oval has been moved to the church.

9.15am – 9.30am   Grandparents and Friends to meet in the church hall. We cannot enter the church earlier because the Parish Mass will still be in progress. Grandparents are most welcome to attend the Parish mass which starts at 9am.

9.40am Year 1s and Year 4s and SRCs will gather on the sanctuary for the Liturgy and Blessing.

10.00am  Grandparents and Friends follow the Year 6 tour guides to the classrooms for visiting time. It would helpful for grandparents to know the classes their grandchildren are in eg 3CL

10.40am Grandparents and Friends gather in the undercover area outside the library for morning tea. Scones, jam and cream, tea and coffee will be served.

11.30am Grandparents and Friends Day concludes

Please dress warmly. We look forward to sharing this special day with our guests. Please check your Skoolbag messages for any changes to these arrangements.

We had a great start to the year with around 150 of our Year 3 to Year 6 students starting or continuing tuition on instruments and voice. Many of our tutors are full but we have space in trumpet, trombone, violin and cello.

For those who are already enrolled, the article below may help you to encourage your child to practice their instrument. Regular practice between lessons is essential for improvement and also to get your ‘hard earned moneys-worth’!

Taken from an article by Russell Torrance on the ABC Classic website.

You can watch a video of the full interview on the following link:

https://youtu.be/T714B-Zk6Hg

Friday 10 May 
Grandparents Day

Monday 13 May
P&F Meeting

Tuesday 14 May - Thursday 16 May
NAPLAN online testing

Friday 17 May
Walk Safely to School
Year 5 Parish Mass

Sunday 19 May
Year 6 Parish Mass, Commissioning Mass
and Multi Cultural Day

Monday 20 May
School Board 6.30pm

Tuesday 21 May
SAPSASA Metro Athletics Carnival

Wednesday 22 May
Year 4 Excursion

To view the  this term's Road Monitors Roster click on the link below.

To view the Tuck Shop roster and price list click on the link below.

A big welcome back to Term 2. I trust you all had a wonderful Easter break and are well and truly back into the swing of things. Over the Easter break I noticed a beautiful display down at Henley showcasing all the faith denominations in our community. It was a moving and beautiful representation of community and diversity. A wonderful message to share with our kids because we are very blessed to live in a country where we are free to practice the faith of our choice. Below are a few images from the display.

Little Stars Welcome

Last week we welcomed our Little Stars students to Star of the Sea. These students will commence this year in our mid year intake class for Terms 3 and 4. It was wonderful to see the excitement and confidence of these beautiful young people. We thank Laura and Tania for providing a creative and inviting learning space and program. They will be attending every Wednesday for this term and will make a smooth transition into school life in July. We wish them all the best and warmly welcome any new families to Star of the Sea!

NAPLAN Testing

The National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take place next week. All schools in Australia participate in the assessment program at the same time. This year we will have our Years 3 and 5 students participating. As you are aware testing is now a normal part of data collection that all schools are required to do, however it is recommended that we do not over play the tests and keep routine and family life as normal. Teachers have spent time preparing the students and making them familiar with the format of the tests. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is one testing format taking over the week that provides one piece of information about your child. At Star of the Sea we use a multiple array of data collection and assessment strategies to ascertain the progress of your child. Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any questions about NAPLAN.

We are making bags of life giving love;

Bags to show someone cares; Bags to make someone’s very cold & lonely life a little brighter.

Each week for 10 weeks we would like people to bring to Mass a specific item. As these bags are predominantly for homeless adults could you please bring items in the specific sizes requested. They will be collected in tubs at the back of the Church.

On Monday 8 July we will make up the bags in the Church Hall and distribute them to those in need.

Week One – 5 May

Small tissues x 2

Week Two – 12 May

Socks – adult size unisex colour

Week Three – 19 May

Cheese dip n biscuit OR

small packs of sultanas x 2

Week Four – 26 May

Beanie – adult size unisex colour

Week Five – 2 June

Fruit boxes x 2 AND

Muesli bar x 2

Week Six – 9 June

Lip balm

Week Seven – 16 June

Small pack of cereal AND

small long life milk (200ml) x 2

Week Eight – 23 June

Gloves – adult size unisex colour

Week Nine – 30 June

deodorant

Week Ten – 7 July

Small packet chips x 2

Wednesday 5 June 2019.

St. Joseph's Old Scholars Winter Luncheon. 11.45 a.m. for 12 noon start. HAMPSTEAD HOTEL, corner North East/Hampstead Roads, Collinswood. Seniors Menu ranges from $10-$13 (salad/veg bar $2 extra). Seating WILL NOT be allocated. Bookings by 31st May with Josie - 8295 3667 or Chris - 8263 1948. Most (male or female) have a connection with a Josephite School/College as a teacher/student and/or St. Mary MacKillop. All welcome.

Join our Community on Facebook for a 'behind the scenes' look at what happens at Star of the Sea School.

Devon clothing uniform shop are pleased to announce that Star of the sea customers can now purchase uniform from:

84 daws Road, Edwardstown Ph: 83731776

Email: dcus@devonclothing.com.au

What does this mean for you?

You can now purchase your uniform Mon – Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-12pm during the school holidays* and school term, as well as during the usual opening times a the School Shop.
Your Online Orders will now be processed as we receive them, at Edwardstown, and you can still opt to have your order put in your child’s classroom box or have it sent to your Business or Home address or you can collect it from the school uniform shop on Tuesdays or anytime during regular trading hours at Edwardstown