Year 3/4 Learning Assembly

The Year 3/4 Learning Assembly has been rescheduled from the Monday 26 August to Tuesday 27 August.

School Performance

Tickets for our school performance are now available to purchase. Please click on the link below or enter into your browser to book tickets for our whole school performance at 7:00pm on Tuesday 8 October at Kilbreda College School Hall Mentone. 

All students are expected to attend on this night. Parents  do not need to purchase a ticket for St Catherine’s Students. The proceeds of ticket sales support the hire of the venue, dance lessons, costumes and sets. 

https://www.trybooking.com/BESMN

Father’s Day Stall & Breakfast

Many thanks again to our Parents and Friends for organising and running the Father’s Day Breakfast and Stall. Students love to see their parents involved in activities at school. Please see the message below from our Parents and Friend Coordinator Julie.

To celebrate Father’s Day we invite all our awesome Dad’s, to breakfast on Friday 30 August in the school hall. Our lovely mum’s will provide hot and cold drinks, egg and bacon rolls and other breakfast treats for the Dad’s & kids to enjoy together.

Children will have the opportunity to visit the stall during school hours on Friday 30th August to purchase a gift for their dad, grandfather or special someone.  Where possible we will try to ensure siblings can choose gifts together. All gifts will be $5 each. 

Hard copy information was sent home to eldest in the family and needs to be returned to school  by Monday 26 August.

Costumes

Thanks to Trish O’Gorman and Maree Hills for sourcing and organising many of the costumes for our performance. We have tried to make costumes fairly easy for parents  and have most items covered. We are asking parents source the following items for their child. Of course if you are able to borrow or find items second hand that would be great. If not we have located where you may be able to purchase items at a reasonable price.  Could these items please be sourced by the end of week 8 - Friday 6 September. Please let your child’s teacher know if you have any queries regarding costumes. Thanking you in advance for your support.

Andrew Fuller- Guerrilla Tactics for Parents

St Catherine’s is hosting an informative evening for parents. We are hoping to see lots of our school families supporting this event. Andrew Fuller well known clinical psychologist, author and consultant to parents and schools will be presenting at our school on Thursday 12 September at 7:00pm. Many thanks to one of our parents Suzanne (Cooper’s mum in F-DW) for organising this event. Please see the flyers below, and make sure you book for this event by using this link:  Guerilla Tactics for Parents

School Fee Statements

School fee statements will be emailed home this week.

Year 5 Parent Helpers Needed-Year 6 Graduation

Last Thursday we had only one year 5 parent attend the graduation meeting. Traditionally our year 5 parents have supported the year 6 graduation by organising, serving and cleaning up after the family dinner. It would be a shame for this tradition to not go ahead this year. No previous experience necessary, we just need some volunteers to support making this a special night for our year 6 students and their families. 

We will be holding another meeting on Thursday 22 August at 3:40pm in the learning hub, hope to see you there. Many hands make light work.

Footy Day

Footy day will be held on Tuesday 10 September.  The canteen will have a special menu available for ordering online.  More information to come.

Lynda O'Donnell

Principal

LIFE IS MORE THAN WORK

In one of her many articles Joan Chittister says, “If the question is, What is really important in life?—the answer is only life itself, living it well, immersing it in beauty, love, and reflection”.

When I was younger I bought myself an A4 diary which had a page for everyday of the year.  If that didn’t make me feel important enough then I made sure the diary was filled with appointments, all day and every day.

When people asked me how I was I could truly answer BUSY!  The dreadful buzz word which says something about you but allows you to hide behind much.

For a number of years I was busiest person alive and at the same time the crankiest, impatient and exhausted person alive.

I defined myself by how busy I was rather than who I was.  Work was my life.

If people saw how busy I was then they would love and respect me.

How stupid I was!

Three years ago I somehow contracted Legionnaires Pneumonia.  I was in hospital for two weeks including five days in intensive care.  I lost 13 kilos in weight (I now which I could lose some weight!!!) and was not allowed out of hospital till I could walk by myself.

Having been a marathon runner I was amazed how quickly the body deteriorates.

It is often said that when something major happens in your life the way you look at life and live life after the episode can change.

I think this is true for me.

My work life now is only part of my life.  It is not my life.

Dr Chris O’Brien, a Sydney surgeon who died from cancer over 10 years ago, said that his life as a surgeon was everything to him. “The people need me!”  When he had to retire due to his illness it amazed him that he did not miss work at all.  His whole focus in life changed.

I do believe if you can find the right work place environment I think you have won the pot of gold.  For me, I think at present, I have won this pot of gold.  My alarm clock buzzes at 6am and I get out of bed to begin the many morning rituals. I make a cup of coffee from my Nespresso machine and pour it into a keep cup and take it with me to my car around 6.45am.  Start the car and turn the radio on to SEN and listen to Garry and Tim as I make the journey to either Bentleigh East, Moorabbin or Bentleigh arriving around 7.15am.

The mornings are a wonderful part of the day as I experience the various seasons of the Melbourne weather pattern.  Now, fortunately, I am arriving at work in a little daylight.  Soon I will experience the sun rising as I drive down Centre Rd.  The people I mix with at the three schools are all focussed on the importance of learning and teaching.  There is always a vibrant conversation happening in the staff room as everyone runs around trying to get done what they need to get done.  The joy and enthusiasm from the students lifts my heart to realise that God is truly present in creation.

At the end of the school day I leave through the school gates very happily and leave it all behind.

In the past I would take work home.  This would either be for correction or more often than not it would be the thoughts occurring in my head.  I could never leave these thoughts at school.  I never knew how to turn off.  The thoughts would lead to crankiness, impatience, anger and exhaustion.

There is so much merit in the 8-8-8 day.  How many of us live this way?

All of us at some stage in our life need to address where we are in our relationship with self, others and God.

I now know that at my funeral no one is going to say I was great because I had the biggest diary in the world which was also filled with so many appointments.  He was so important because he was so busy.  At the end of the day the diary is nothing. 

But they will say what sort of person I was. 

How loving was I?

How giving was I?

How generous was I?

How caring was I?

How humble was I?

How thoughtful was I?

“For when you did these things to others you did them to ME!”

Edward Dooley (Mission and Faith Leader)

Years Prep to 2

Research supports the claim that chilldren need many experiences in making, counting, drawing and talking about numbers. It is clear the developing numeracy skills early lays the foundations for your child’s learning and development but how can you do this as a parent? Luckily, this is quite an easy task as once we take note of the mathematics around us, we notice that it is everywhere - at home, in the playgrounds and at the shops. So how do we incorporate our world into teaching it? Here are a few examples suggested by the Department of Education. And please remember, maths is not about speed. Focus on the process and not the outcome.

Doing maths together at home

Talk about maths. Use mathematical language like ‘a litre’ or a ‘kilogram’ when cooking or even words such as ‘empty’ of ‘full’. Everyday conversations about your child’s movement such as ‘over’ the fence and ‘under’ the table also helps you child grasp their own spatial awareness.  Sorting piles of ‘same’ and ‘different’, recycling into differing piles - making comparisons and sorting all all powerful mathematical concepts. 

Counting

Count everyday.  For young children, counting is one of their first maths experiences. Children will often say or sing a number before the know what it looks like. Keep this activity up. Listen to many and varied songs and rhymes - use fingers, toes, buttons, toys - almost anything to count. 

Other everyday counting activities

Cut fruit into six pieces and ask your child to count the pieces; count the pieces of toast you cooked at breakfast; add the total number of cutlery items at the table; Count the number of people travelling in the car or on the bus; count the number of houses as you walk along the street.

Hunting for numbers 

Always a fun and engagin activity, get your child to notice numbers around them. Look at and say the numbers on car number plates, signs, calendars, newspapers, shopping catalogues, speed signs, and houses.

Play shop

Need I say anymore. Use sticky notes for prices, talk about money, collect receipts and circle most expensive item, create coin rubbings, order food in weight (heft the items or use scales), look at the people and animals on our money - a plethora of actitvities here.

These are only some activities that encourage mathematical dialogue, helo cement understanding and show chuldren that maths really is fun!

Dear Parents

Students from Foundation to Year 6 are invited to participate in the term 3 Interschool chess compeition at Tucker Road Primary School, (16 Tucker Road, Bentleigh).  As this is a competition, students need to have a good knowledge of the chess rules.

Carmel Donlon will walk with the students to the school at 9am and return by 3pm.  Children are to wear their full school uniform, and require snacks, lunch and a drink.  Volunteers are required to walk and assist on the day.  A Care Monkey eForm went out today.  Please indicate on Care Monkey if you have a current Working with Children Card, and are available to help.

The cost is $24 per student.  Please send the money to school office in a named envelope (cash only please) by Friday 30 August.

Over the next 4 weeks all of the students in the Junior school will be doing the Mascot Challenge. This program has been sponsored by Cricket Australia. Each week the students will be given 4 activities of varying levels of difficulty for them to work through each day. These activities will follow a different theme each week developing the students motor skills.

This week we have been learning how to catch a ball. We have practiced for 10 minutes every day. It has been a lot of fun but it has also been a little challenging. It has helped us all learn how to catch better and this will help us at our sports lessons with Mrs Patto and in other sports we do. We can’t wait to see what activities we get to do next week.

Written by 1/2 MH

Handmade by St Catherine’s Stall

This year we plan to have a stall of items made by St Catherine’s students, families and friends.

We are planning to host some 1 hour making sessions after school on alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Term 4 to make treasures to sell. Students and families are also encouraged to make treasures at home for the stall.

We would like student committee to decide what to make and will have meetings this term for interested children and families to help plan the making sessions. Some ideas we have already come up with are Tie died t-shirts and pencil cases, Christmas Decorations, Bath Bombs, Kris Kringle gifts and reusable Christmas wrapping.

If you or someone you know has a skill to share, we’d love you to help out. Students will need to be accompanied by an adult at these sessions.

So far we need people who can:

• cut fabric in to shapes
• knit, sew or crochet (we also need people to teach these skills to the children)
• iron
• help clean up
• help label and package items in jars and bags

We ask that interested students and adults put their name and family email address down on the form in the Learning Hub by the end of August so we can plan days and dates. If you have an extended family member or friend who would like to be involved or have any questions, please let Karen (Lily from FDW’s Mum) know via email. Karen.glancy@optusnet.com.au