Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome back to the start of Term 3! I hope everyone enjoyed the opportunity to have a break from the routine of school and you managed to keep out of the cold and rain. The holiday rain has been most welcome to our gardens and hopefully will hold us in good stead when the warmer weather arrives. I am pleased to report the children have returned to school in good spirit and have managed to shake off the coughs and cold bugs that were so prevalent last term. The teachers are also back on deck re-energised and fresh, and we look forward to another term of fun and exciting learning opportunities.
Welcome to Jessica Izzo who will be teaching in Reception, taking over from Breanna Brockman. We are very fortunate to have Jessica join our staff having recently returned from teaching Reception in London. Jessica is also an old scholar of Star of the Sea and knows our school and parish very well.
We also welcome back Anthony Pigliacell. Anthony completed a contract position at St Joseph's Payneham and looked after Year 4I for several weeks while Marian Izzo was on leave last term. Anthony is teaching Year 3 for the remainder of the year, taking over from Nikki Hall who left at end of Term 1 to have her baby. Welcome Anthony to Star of the Sea.
Capital Building Works
A great deal of work took place during the holidays and the builders took great advantage of the opportunity to demolish, drill and excavate while we were away. As a result of the changes there has been some inconvenience but I am sure all will be worth it when we return to new buildings next year.
The children have been captivated by the diggers and pylon machines, so much so I heard one new Reception boy call out through fence, "Hey mister, have you found any treasure?" To which the digger operator called back, "yes". The boy replied, "Where is it?" only to receive the reply, "I took it all home!" "Oh" said the Reception boy "I would have liked to have seen it."
The retaining pylon work has now been completed and in the weeks ahead 650 tonnes (30 trucks) of sand from the area will be excavated and the footings and steel structure will begin to appear giving shape to the new building.
Next week there will be the need to close off the central breeze way thoroughfare as work commences on the MacKillop Building external cladding and corridors. More information will be provided as the work draws closer. Thank you for your patience and flexibility in adapting to the changes.
Term 3 Reception Class
This term we have welcomed our new Term 3 Receptions students. 2013 was the last time the school had a Term 3 intake and a result of a change in policy, Catholic schools have reintroduced the opportunity for children who turn five years after 30 April and on or before October 31 to begin school and have six terms of Reception.
The new Term 3 Receptions have all settled in very well and we wish them all the best as they start their school journey. It is great to welcome back Abbey Hinge and Tara Hetherington who are both teaching and sharing the Term 3 intake class.
The Ken Kelsey Award
Each year we encourage children from Years 3-6 to write a story and enter the Ken Kelsey competition for the Ken Kelsey Award. Ken was a former student of Star of the Sea School and Ken won the Year 7 award for the highest academic grades in the City of Henley/Grange in his final primary year at school. Many years ago Ken donated the medal he won which is now part of a perpetual trophy. Each year two students are awarded the Ken Kelsey Junior and Senior awards for the best story. Over the years there have been some amazing winners and short stories written. We encourage students in Year 3-6 to enter the competition. They can write a new piece especially for the competition or they can enter a classroom piece of writing that they have re-worked. We look forward to announcing this year's winners at the Book Week Parade in Week 5 of this term.
Whole School Parish Mass
A heads up, Thursday 15th August in two weeks' time, is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It is one of two holy days of obligation on the Church's calendar and a time when we are called to honour the true glorification of Mary. Pope Francis (Evangelii Gaudium 288) proclaims Mary, the first disciple of Jesus and the mother of the church. We will be celebrating a whole school Mass with the Parish at 9.30am in the church. All parents and friends are welcome to join us for Mass and morning tea directly afterwards in the hall.
Thank you to all of our families for a wonderful start to Term 3. It is also great to have Matt Perry back at school following his time as Acting Principal at St John Bosco. It was great to see the children greeting Matt when they saw him in the yard last week. Welcome home Matt!
Enjoy the weekend ahead.
Joe De Tullio