Term 2: Week 2 2024
Mothers Day Event 10th May
Principal Message….
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you all had a relaxing Easter break and are ready for the Term ahead. We will be undertaking School review this term. School review occurs once every 4 - 5 years. It is a process to ensure that we maintain accreditation as a registered school and to review and reflect upon our practices. it is a great opportunity for parents and staff to collaboratively provide feedback which will help to shape future directions for the school. If you are interested in being part of the Review panel please complete the expression of interest form found here.
We began our term with professional development for our staff that focused on the Explicit Teaching Approach to learning. Our leaders guided our staff through an informative day of learning, and the teachers left more equipped than ever to make their teaching even more successful for the students at our school. You’ll find more information about this teaching initiative in our Learning and Teaching News below.
Over the Easter holidays our Deputy Principal Tom, and his wife Gemma welcomed their first bub, Edward (Teddy) Quaife. Tom and Gemma are enjoying lots of newborn snuggles and sleepless nights as they navigate the newest addition to their family. Congratulations Tom and Gemma!
We keep our Year 6 students in our prayers over the coming weeks as they prepare for a significant faith milestone in their lives, receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. We wish them well as they spend time reflecting and learning about the gifts and fruits of the holy spirit. I ask you to keep all our Confirmation candidates in your prayers in the coming weeks.
Over the coming weeks two of our teachers, Elisha Spiteri (Year Two) and Shannen O’Donoghue (STEM), will be relocating internationally. We wish them well as they set off for New Zealand and Dubai. I am sure many exciting adventures and opportunities await them. They will be missed by staff, students and families but hopefully we will see them back in our community in the future. We welcome Danel Miller, arriving from South Africa at the end of the term to teach Year Two.
I am looking forward to catching up in person with many families in a fortnight’s time as we celebrate the special women in our community at the Mother’s Day Breakfast. Further details about this event can be found below.
It will be a busy few weeks for myself and our Deputy principals as we conduct our Prep 2025 Enrolment Interviews. It is always an exciting time of the year as we meet new faces or have the opportunity to connect again with existing families and welcome the next sibling to our school. If you haven’t done so already, please complete all enrolment paperwork. We have a large number of applications and do not want your child to be waitlisted if we do not have their enrolment.
Warm regards,
Michelle
Melbourne Archdiocese Vision for Instruction: Flourishing Learners
You may have seen news stories recently about new directions in Education around the Science of Learning. At SFA we're very proud to be ahead of the curve in our focus on quality PBL practises, targetted reading instruction and explicit instruction.
Last term, the Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS) released their Vision for Instruction where they outlined the practices that they will support Catholic schools across Melbourne to implement over the years up to 2030. The first area that MACS is supporting schools with is a solid PBL framework. As you know, SFA have been leading the way for Catholic schools in PBL for a number of years in this area.
While some schools focus on PBL this year, we are able to focus on student learning. The second focus area for MACS is guiding schools to build their Explicit teaching practices. Again, we have been building skills with our staff in this area for the last two years, when we started with a change in the way that we teach Reading at SFA.
This year, teachers have also made changes to the way that we teach Mathematics and even after only 1 term, they are already seeing growth in student's Maths fluency. We have been very pleased to see that all Catholic schools will work towards the practises that we are already working on at SFA, and we're very proud of our staff for the way that they have changed their teaching and planning to align with evidence-based practises.
We will continue to share more information about the changes we're making to our teaching practices over the upcoming newsletters.
Thank you to everyone who brought a red poppy from our Community Leaders in support of the Werribee RSL Sub Branch this week. It was wonderful to see some of our families in attendance at the Dawn Service in Werribee. We are very grateful to our School Leaders for their reverence when laying our School Wreath, to pay our respects at the Cenotaph.
On Friday 15th March, our School Captains, Ancelin, Tsion, Neel & Anton joined with the School Leaders from TCC, St Clare’s, St Teresa of Kolkata and St James to proudly represent our Parish in the Catholic Education Week Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral.
It was very exciting to meet Bishop Peter Comensoli and we had a great time exploring the Altars at the back of the Cathedral. Following Mass we all celebrated together at the ‘Party in the Park’ and everyone enjoyed playing games and mixing with other Victorian Catholic Primary School Leaders.
eSmart
Before the holidays, we shared the Inform & Empower resources about Screen Time and Green Time. Over the next few weeks, Marty will join each year level again and the focus this term is Screen Time and the way that it can make us feel. Keep an eye out on Seesaw for the Tip Sheets that will be shared after your child has had their session.
The Inform & Empower also encourage children to be aware of the Kids Help Line resources. If you haven't visited the site before, you might like to check out the Parent Resources or spend some time with you child showing them the Child Resources and how they can access help if they encounter something online that makes them feel uncomfortable.
To link in with the Screen Time Vs Green Time topic, here is the Kids Helpline advice on "Should I be worried about gaming addiction?"
MOTHER’S DAY PHOTO COLLAGE
The Parish wishes to honour the great work mothers do in their families and community with a Photo Collage to be shown at all masses on Mother’s Day Weekend (11/12 May). We encourage you to send a picture of Mothers or Grandmothers, living or who have passed away, near or far. Only 1 picture/family please. We will take the first 60 pictures received via email (hopperscrossingnorth@cam.org.au) and include them in our Photo Collage. Last date for submission is Sun 05 May or once all spots are filled, whichever is first. All pictures received will be deleted after inclusion into the Photo Collage.
Weekend Masses: Sat 6:00pm, Sun 8:30am, 10:30am and 5:00pm
St James Parish MOTHER’S DAY RAFFLE AND STALL:
Our Mother’s Day Raffle and Stall fundraisers are back again this year with all proceeds going towards the church extensions.
The Raffle:
• Three fabulous prizes – total value $950.
• Tickets $5 each available after all masses or 5 for $20 available from
20th/21st April after all weekend masses
• Tickets will also be on sale at the Parish Office Mon-Fri, 9:30 am – 2:30pm.
• Prizes are on display in the Church Narthex.
• Winners will be drawn on Mother’s Day 12th May after 10.30 mass.
The Stall:
Our Mother’s Day Stall will be held in the Church Narthex after each weekend mass on 27/28 April, 04/05 May and 11/12 May (until after 10.30 mass).
We have a vast variety of gifts available for mums of all ages. Come and buy Mum a gift or just treat yourself to something special and support this fundraiser.
Project Compassion Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Project Compassion. Project Compassion Boxes may be returned in the Project Compassion Basket on the Sanctuary next to the Altar.
Thank you also to all who sponsored a child through the MSSP Missions and the MSSP Feeding the Children Program in the Philippines.
Child Car Seat Concerns.
It is the law for all children up to the age of 7 to be in a child restraint or booster seat when travelling in a vehicle.
Choosing the right child restraint for your child will depend on their age and size. See Child restraints, booster seats and seat belt readiness [PDF 3.9 Mb]
To keep your child safe, the restraint must also be properly adjusted, fastened, and fitted to the vehicle. Please ensure all children are restrained before driving away from school.
If your child cannot quickly put on their seat belt, please park outside the school and walk into the school to collect your child/ren.
