Newsletter Term 2 Week 1

Dear Families,

Welcome to term 2.  I trust you have had a lovely break from the school routine and maybe your family has had a chance to perhaps have a holiday too!

I had a great three weeks, hooking up my caravan and caravanning in Queensland for most of the holidays.  I lived in denial of turning 60 on Anzac Day but were treated to lovely celebrations with the staff and students on my return.  I was presented with a lovely book, full of pages produced by each class, which is quite delightful.  Thank you everyone who were part of producing this.

Now back into the real world!

STAFFING CHANGES

We welcome to our school Domenique Laurendi, to the role of substantive APRIM for our school.  You may recall that Domenique filled the same role last term in partnership with Sheena Pattinson.  We thank Sheena for her support last term. 

We also welcome Mel Tokic who will be working in 4LF (Mel is replacing Domenique).

A number of ESO’s are doing their teaching professional experience this term and we welcome a number of new ESO’s for term 2:  Brodie, Connor, Beth and Julia.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

As you would know these are to be held next week.  This information was sent to families via email last term and a number of reminders over the break.

If your child has a Personalised Plan for Learning this will be the focus of the meeting.

The interviews will be followed by our Semester 1 reports that will come out at the end of term. 

PERSONALISED PLAN FOR LEARNING (PPL)

A PPL is a working and evolving document constructed in conjunction with teachers, parents and the leadership team. It is simply a record of the ways in which we are working to best support your child in the classroom, based on our observations over the last term and possibly last year. 

The “Functional Impact On Learning” section of the PPL identifies any underlying characteristics that ‘get in the way’ of your child’s access, participation and learning at school. This information then directly informs us as teachers as to how we can best support your child.

The “Personalised Adjustment For Access, Participation and Learning” section is then a list of the strategies, supports and interventions that we are implementing in the classroom to address the functional impact and needs of your child. 

AGM

In this newsletter you will find information about our AGM to be held on Monday 22 May 2023.

 NEWSLETTERS THIS TERM

This term we will publish newsletters in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 & 9.

PARKING AROUND THE SCHOOL

Please be considerate of others, especially our neighbours and the rules for parking around our school.  In particular we are very mindful of parking in and around the church.  Last term we released quite a bit of information about this which can be reviewed  here.

Regards,
Damian Weeks

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This year, with the easing of Covid restrictions, the School Board is hoping to run a traditional Annual General Meeting on…

Monday May 22nd – 7pm in the Stella Maris Room

The format for the evening will be:

• Welcome
• Prayer
• Presentation of reports
• Elections of Board Members
• Thank you from the School Board Chair

Nominations – Included in this newsletter is a Nomination Form.  Please consider if you would like to take up this most important role.  Below is a description of the role of a School Board member.  If you wish to nominate, return the signed form after having someone in the community (ie another adult) sign to second your nomination.  Nominations close on Wednesday 17th May 2023.  School Board appointment are for two years.  Many School Board members renominate for another period of two years, while some choose not to. Every year 50% of the positions become vacant for which community members can nominate.

What do School Board Members Do?

The faith community has a responsibility for the maintenance and development of its Catholic school.  A practical way of accepting its responsibility is to appoint some of its members to use their gifts in working with the principal and staff in School Board ministry.

There are 5 elements of community responsibility that the School Board undertakes:

• Policy Direction – to guide the school
• Financial Management – to account for and administer all income
• Planning & Development – for the present & future
• Pastoral Care – is care for people (students, parents & staff)
• Evaluation – of the effect of policy decisions

The School Board meets monthly during the four school terms (on the Monday of weeks 4 & 8 at 7pm).  Meetings run for no longer than two hours, at which discussion is based around reports from the P&F, Principal, Parish, Staff, Treasurer/Bursar and other key groups.

If you require any further information, please feel free to contact me.

Damian Weeks
Principal

See nomination form below.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back! I hope you were able to spend some connected time with your family during the holiday break. It is wonderful to welcome all our students back ready for the term ahead. Next week, we will have the opportunity to discuss in detail your child’s learning progress and wellbeing. These conversations are integral to ensure our educators are working in partnership with you to best support your child(ren). Just a reminder that this Friday night is the cut-off date for you to book a time for the Parent Teacher Interviews.

Goal Setting: Clarity Learning Suite

An agreed practice across our school is goal setting for all our students. In each year level, our teachers support our students to construct meaningful goals in both learning and wellbeing domains. Developing capacity for our students to set individual goals is an integral part of learning and assessment. The aim is to foster student agency and increase motivation. The goals that students set are then regularly reviewed in conjunction with the teacher and the feedback provided helps shape future goals.

Dr Lyn Sharratt’s work, in Clarity, reinforces the importance of goal setting as one of the five elements of effective assessment practice. Also included, which is evidenced in our classrooms, are learning intentions, success criteria, descriptive feedback and peer and self-assessment opportunities.

When visiting the Year 2 classes this week, some of the goals I saw included:

• Literacy – I will improve my handwriting, I will read with fluency and expression, I will re-read my writing and edit using COPS.
• Numeracy – I will ask for assistance when I am stuck, I will practice counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s, I will have a go before asking for help.
• Behaviour – I will use my manners, I will own my actions, I will use safe hands and feet.

The goals that are set vary across year levels, and we encourage you to discuss these with your child.

Mother’s Day Stall next week

Our wonderful P&F committee will be running a stall next Wednesday for our students to purchase gifts for the special ‘women’ in their lives - mothers, grandmothers or caregivers. There will be a catch-up day on Thursday, at recess and lunch for any children absent on the Wednesday. We thank the committee for all the work behind the scenes to help make Mother’s Day a special one for our community.

In other P&F news, two major events we encourage you to support this year is the Quiz Night held on Friday 30th June and the Gala Ball scheduled for 28th October. Both are wonderful opportunities to ‘friend’ and ‘fund’ raise for our school community

Meaningful May: Action for Happiness

This month’s calendar found on the Action for Happiness website, focusses on meaningful actions and interactions self and others. Simple acts on the calendar this month include letting someone you know how much they mean to you, taking a step towards an important goal, however small and to reflect on what makes you feel valued and purposeful – just to name a few. I encourage you to print the calendar and share with your family!

www.actionforhappiness.org

Enjoy the weekend ahead.

Go well,

Kelly Manera
Acting Deputy Principal

Staff Retreat Day

‘Education of the Heart is the Heart of Education’- Fr Peter Mary Mermier

On Monday 1st May, our Pupil Free Day, the Star of the Sea staff came together for a retreat day, called “Journeying to the Heart and Mind”. Our staff retreat day was a wonderful opportunity to get to know new staff members, connected with each other, reflect and pray together.

It has been a long time since we have all gathered together as a whole school staff community and it was wonderful to have 70 staff attend.  We were graciously hosted by the Sunny Brae Estate where we were well looked after and generously fed.

We spent time reflecting back on where Heart Moments began in our school and what the ideology was behind this initiative. We reflected on our current practice and collaborated new ideas towards our vision for Heart Moments moving forward.

We also explored our current Vision for Learning and how it relates to our school motto of “Open Hearts and Open Minds”.

It was wonderful to have Father Manu join us for part of the day, where he shared some of his personal story and celebrated Mass with us. He gave a very moving and inspiring Homily on Heart Spirituality. Father Manu spoke of the need for Educating the Heart in the modern age. “My wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to the education of the heart, teaching love, compassion, justice, forgiveness, mindfulness, tolerance and peace. This education is necessary, from kindergarten to secondary schools and universities. I mean social, emotional and ethical learning. We need a worldwide initiative for educating heart and mind in this modern age.” The Dalai Lama.

We were asked to reflect on the question: “If you had the power to ensure your students or children would learn one thing from you, what would it be?”

It was a wonderful way to begin the term.

Sacramental Program

A reminder that we will be having our first Sacramental Information Evening next Wednesday 10th May at 7:00pm in the church. If you have a child who will be receiving the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion this year, we look forward to seeing you there. Please remember to nominate your preferred Ceremony date by filling in the form at https://forms.office.com/r/Q2fffgrVe7

Also a reminder to pay the Sacramental fee via QKR.

Project Compassion

A huge THANK YOU to our wonderful Star of the Sea community. Through all your generous donations, our school raised approximately $1,600.00.  This money will go to Caritas Australia where it will be used to fund many of their projects assisting communities in need.

With graditude
Domenique Laurendi

APRIM