New Website Live to complete our Parent Engagement Platform

Last Friday the new school website went live. In our revamp of the way in which we communicate with current families and prospective families, we have created our e-Newsletter, Schoolzine App and now the new website. I thank the school board for their input to the design and content of the webpage and we would certainly appreciate any feedback as to how we can improve it. We see the eNewsletter with all the current parent information in the sidebar and the App for our existing families and the website as a first ‘port of call’ for new families.

The St Catherine’s site is  https://scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au/

Lost Property

We seem to have collected a large amount of uniform in lost property. Parents are asked to please name uniform items so as if items go missing we can return them to students.Unamed items are stored in the laundry basket outside the sick bay.

From time to time jumpers may end up in the wrong student's bag. Please check your child’s uniform items and if you find that you have another student’s jumper please return the item to the classroom teacher or student.

Parent teacher Student Meetings

Parent Teacher Student meetings will take place on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26  June from 3:45-6:30pm in the school hall. Bookings for these meetings are now opened. Parents can click on the link below

https://scmoorabbin.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/1

OR you can access this link via the side or top menu of the Parent Engagement Platform.

 The link will prompt you to enter an email address and set up a password before you can make a booking.

Click on the link below for further information about how to make a booking.

https://scmoorabbin.schoolzineplus.com/sk-booking-guide

Students are encouraged to attend meetings with their parents. Parents who attend Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings in week 10 of this term do not need to also attend Parent Teacher Student Meetings.

Lunchtimes in the Learning Hub

This term the learning hub is open twice a week for students at recess or lunchtime. Activities in the learning hub include leggo, finger knitting, building with planks, reading and other quiet play activities. Many thanks to Kath Barca for supporting these activities and to Karen Glancy for supporting and encouraging finger knitting.

Bendigo Bank Easter Colouring Competition

Congratulations to Lucy Bartleman for winning the year 3-6 Highett Bendigo Bank Easter Colouring Competition. Lucky Lucy will be presented with a prize at our whole school assembly on Wednesday 12 June in our school hall at 9:15am. A very big thank you to Bendigo Bank as our school will also receive a cheque from Bendigo Bank for $400!!! The school will use this money to purchase more leggo for our lunchtime leggo club.

School Attendance

It is really important for students to arrive at school on time ready to begin the day. Meditation time in the morning is a great way for students to be settled before learning begins. Classrooms are opened at 8:45am ensure students have time to unpack belongings and get ready for the day.

Screen Time- Time Online

At school teachers are very aware of the amount of screen time students are exposed too during learning time. Mobile devices are used as a tool for learning. Programs, apps and the internet can engage students in their learning and support accessing information quickly, practise skills and record learning in an interactive way. Students are always monitored closely by staff when using devices. Teachers aim to get a balance with using technology and the fundamental skills of writing, making and creating, speaking and listening and mental computation.

Too much screen time on devices such as TV, phone and computer can have a negative impact on young children if it effects their sleep or face-to-face connections with family and friends. Parents can access further information on supporting thier child to  have safe and enjoyable experiences online through the esafetyComissioner https://esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues/time-online

Signs that your child’s online activity may be having a negative impact on them or on your family include:

•  less interest in social activities like meeting friends or playing sport
• not doing so well at school
• tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain
• changes in eating patterns
• reduced personal hygiene
• obsession with particular websites or games
• extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity
• appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer
• becoming withdrawn from friends and family

Lynda O'Donnell

Principal

The feast of the Visitation, the meeting between Mary of Nazareth and her cousin Elizabeth, is observed on May 31. (Artwork: The Visitation by Janet McKenzie)

On Thanksgiving Day, 2008, a popular TV morning news show featured the story of the mother of a 22-year-old soldier who had been killed in Iraq. Part of a supply convoy servicing the perimeter of Baghdad, his Humvee had been hit by an explosion-rigged vehicle. Just days after his twenty-second birthday, the young man and two of his best friends were dead, the other, permanently brain damaged. His mother, reading the diary returned in his army trunk, discovered the names of the friends who had been killed and wounded with him. Then she searched the United States until she found their mothers. In their mutual pain, these women have found both support and understanding. “There is no difference in our grief. It’s absolutely painful,” Doris said. “There is nothing in the world that is going to bring our boys back, but we have each other.” For this small bit of shared humanity, for this cocoon of emotional safety, for this personal place of support in their grief and the hope of sustenance it brought for the future, they were thankful.

It is, I think, the same story Janet McKenzie is begging the world to see in her painting, The Visitation. The faces of Mary and Elizabeth, dark and sombre, thoughtful and aware, in McKenzie’s Visitation say something far beyond either the exultation of pregnancy or the creative power of it. This is not a picture about the delirium of motherhood. There is a storm stirring in the hearts of these women–deep and different than most at such a moment as this, something epochal and eruptive.

Women scholars have for long now pointed out that at the moment of change, in the face of awesome, perhaps even terrifying awareness of her situation, Mary does not go to her fiancé, Joseph, for understanding. She does not go to her father for protection. She does not go to the priests of the Temple for vindication. No, Mary goes to another woman. Mary, the pregnant but unwed woman, travels to the hill country to be with her old cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant, also dealing with overwhelming change and the isolating implications of it in her life. None of it, the two women knew and the academic world realized over the centuries, made any human sense. After all, to be unmarried and pregnant in the Middle East of that time was dangerous space for a woman. She can be driven out of the family. She will certainly be forever disgraced. She can be stoned to death. So, it seems sensible to wonder, why go to another woman, an old woman, who can herself do nothing to save her, who has no power to make the social situation better?
 
But to a woman it makes sense. Seeking the support of another woman in the midst of struggle has made emotional sense to women for centuries. And now it makes scientific sense, as well. According to principal investigator Shelley E. Taylor of a UCLA study, Behavioural Responses to Stress, “For decades, psychological research maintained that both men and women rely on fight or flight to cope with stress–meaning that when confronted by stress, individuals either react with aggressive behaviour, such as verbal conflict and more drastic actions, or withdraw from the stressful situation.”
 
But, these researchers discovered, the participants in the five decades of research that consistently confirmed the “fight or flight theory” were primarily men. The UCLA study, using women rather than men for the first time in the history of the study of stress research, discovered that,“fight or flight” is not the primary or normal response of women. Instead, science now understands, women under stress “tend and befriend.” They gather with other women to construct other means of dealing with conflict and pressure, rather than aggressive ones. Women, under stress, they found, take care of one another. They take care of children. They continue to concentrate on the functioning and development of the human community. They bring stability to situations of tumult and confusion.
 
Now science knows what scripture and art, women and society, have known for eons. Mary and Elizabeth, Doris and the mothers of her son’s now dead soldier friends–women everywhere–calm the chaos of the world. They show us all another way to be in the midst of the daily maelstroms of life. They help us survive. They bind us together to carry each other, to carry the human community, to allow others to carry us when we cannot carry ourselves.
 
To look at McKenzie’s Visitation is to look at an alternative world. It is to define the role of women in a new way. It gives new dignity and meaning to the friendship of women. It gives us all reason to believe that there can be another way through conflict other than force.

         —from "The Visitation," by Joan Chittister, in Holiness & the Feminine Spirit: the art of Janet McKenzie (Orbis, 2009)

Term 2, 2019

Hello and welcome to the first board report to be included into our school’s newsletter. Moving forward a report from the school board will be included into the St Catherine’s school newsletter following each board meeting. Board meetings occur once per term with two additional board meetings held across the Holy Trinity involving all three schools in the first and fourth terms.

The School Board is an advisory board to the Parish Priest and Principal.

The broad aims of the School Board are to:
• act as an advisory body to the parish priest and principal, on matters concerning education in the school and parish
• act as a forum for discussion on matters concerning education in the parish and parish school
• provide a link between the parish priest, principals, parents, teachers and parishioners in relation to the provision of Catholic education in the parish community
• promote community development by fostering strong relationships between parish and school.

The School Board is made up of the Parish Priest, Co-Ordinating Principal, School Principal, a staff representative and elected parents and parishioners. 

Hopefully many of you will have seen the School Board noticeboard that has been created in the school foyer in the office. This noticeboard provides details of which parents are currently serving on the school board, their children involved in the school and an email address for the school board. If there is anything you would like the school board to know, review or discuss please feel free to approach any member of the board at any time however if you prefer you can also email the board on schoolboard@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au. The email address for the school board is also provided on the noticeboard.

On Monday, 27 May we held our term 2 board meeting. The key agenda items discussed were:

1. An update on specific policies, namely our privacy policy and our conflict of interest policy. Our school works tirelessly to ensure that we have the appropriate policies in place to maximise our children’s education and all elements that go towards ensuring this happens as effectively as possible. Copies of our policies can be found on the school website and I would encourage all families to become familiar with these.
2. Child Safety Survey – Currently a survey is being undertaken by year 5 / 6 students to seek their feedback on what safety means to them and how they believe our school is managing safety for our students. The findings of this will be released in due course once completed.
3. Parent Engagement Platform – A lot of work has been done in recent months to ensure communication and information is seamless throughout the school, in particular to the parent body. I would encourage all parents / carers to read the previous newsletter which details the new school app platform as well as updates on what is now being used and what is no longer being used i.e. flexibuzz. I believe we have come along way in this area in recent times and am confident that the systems and processes we have in place now serve both the school and parent body in our communication and information needs.
4. School Masterplan – St Catherine’s is currently undertaking a review of upgrades to certain facilities to enhance student learning. Predominately this is in the area of creating indoor / outdoor flow and outdoor learning areas enhancing classroom environments. This masterplan is also designed to ensure maximisation of school grounds to incorporate current ‘dead areas’ not being utilised. We are currently in the design phase of this project and the school will work on applying for a government grant to fund the plans. This is a medium-term project and once at a stage of progression will be made available.
5. Parent Code of Conduct – A policy was released recently in the areas of codes of conduct and given recent media attention in this area pertaining to parent conduct within the school environment it appears this was ironically quite timely. This topic was discussed at the board level and Lynda made particular note to highlight the fact, from a Principal and faculty perspective, how fortunate we are at St Catherine’s to have such an engaged, professional and polite parent body. It would appear given recent media releases that this is not always the case within the education system and it is great to see such a warm and friendly environment occurring with our school. For the wellbeing and future of our children it is imperative that faculty and parents work together to enhance our overall community environment and I believe we are definitely succeeding in this area.
6. P & F – I would like to take this opportunity to thank, on behalf of the school board, the tremendous work that Julie Griffin has done so far this year and is continuing to do. Without her tireless coordination in this area we would not have experienced some of the wonderful events already held this year. Although the structure of the P&F may have changed in recent years the need for parent body engagement remains as imperative as ever. I would encourage all parents, where possible, to get involved in activities, social events and functions from time to time to assist Julie and the other parents that I know provide much needed support in these areas. As they say “it takes a village to raise a child” and I personally feel blessed that we all operate and live within a truly wonderful village in the St Catherine’s primary school community.

Lastly, and again, please do not hesitate to touch base with one of our school board members if you would like to discuss anything or make anything known. It is our responsibility to represent the parent body within the St Catherine’s school and we are only too happy to do so.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this board report and I look forward to speaking with you around the school grounds.

Darren Forner

Chair – St Catherine’s School Board

On the 27th May the Year 1 & 2 students shared all of their learning based on our Inquiry concept of Life & Living. The students have experienced a diverse range of learning experiences within the first 5 weeks of this term beginning with our wonderful excursion to Werribee Zoo where they learnt how to be habitat heroes. The students have grown bean plants from seeds while learning about the life cycle of plants,  They were immersed in the life cycle of chickens as they watched our chicks hatch over 2 days.

The students shared their information reports and Google slide shows that they had researched on their chosen animal. They created a triorama to show their knowledge of the habitat of their animal and made a clay model to place in their habitat. The students each shared a fun fact about their animal on a green screen movie.

Entries close Wednesday 19th June

Congratulations to last week’s winners

AGE 4-7

School starts at 9 o’clock in the morning and ends after 6 hours. What time does school end?

500 × 500

AGE 8-10

AGE 10 upwards

David owns 83 sets of basketball cards. Each set has exactly 504 cards. What is the total number of basketball cards Manny owns?

Congratulations to the 25 students who participated in the Chess Competition hosted by St Catherine’s on Thursday, 30th May.This was the first time our students competed in a formal competition. Many had not experienced playing an unknown opponent using a timer. I was very proud of their efforts.

We entered a Senior (Yr 3-6 Students) and a Junior Team (Foundation -Year 1/2/3 students).

Our senior team place 4th out of 9 teams and our junior team placed 8th out of 9 teams.

Nicholas Stamatakos won an individual medal: Highest placed unranked player (8th out of 74 players)

Liam Carapeto won an individual medal: Highest ranking score for an unranked player

Ben Castrillon achieved an individual medal: Most successful Foundation student during the competition.

We are looking forward to competing in the Term 3 Interschool Chess Competition during Tem 3. The Term 3 competition will be hosted by Tucker Road Primary school on Wednesday, 4th September. More details to follow early next term. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Carmel Donlon- Coordinating Leader

cdonlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au

St Catherine’s Chess Team

Albie Hupfeld; Andrew Mccormack; Archie Lucas; Charlee Inglis; Cohen Walters; Darcy Stevens; Jack Thorp; Jensen Walters; Jessica Lee; Kai Seymon; Lex Lovegrove; Liam Carapeto; Linus Hupfeld; Mason Wang; Mia Wang; Nathan Anesidis; Nicholas Stamatakos; Oliver McDonald; Peter Kokkalos; Ramy Khodr; Sienna Webb; Vivienne Ronchi; Zachary Forner; Theodore Goulas; Ben Castrillon

Interschool Sport

On Monday the 20th of May the 3/4 students had their term 2 learning Assembly. They shared their learning on word work, multiplication strategies, writing sizzling starts, endangered Australian animals and friendology with their parents and family members. Thank you to everyone who came along to support the students.

Kingston Libraries run a school holiday program four times a year.

The July 2019 School Holiday Program is out now.  

Click this link for more information Kingston Libraries

Bookings open on Friday 14 June.