March 13th, 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

Second Week of Lent

We pray for all those whose access to food and water is insecure.

May the whole human family respond generously in creating lasting justice in the distribution of life’s necessities.

May we respond to opportunities such as those presented by Project Compassion this Lent to Unite Against Poverty.

May we all be one.

Amen

This week, Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion shares another story of education. We visit a primary school in Samoa with 400 students and 11 teachers. Until 2023, the school had no reliable access to fresh water. At times, teachers had to fetch water from neighbouring families, and this took considerable time out of the day and limited classes. It also meant that each class had a single bucket of drinking water for everyone to share. Thanks to your generosity, this has now changed. 

A Note from our Principal

Ngata families, 

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our families for your support and understanding with Tuesday’s school closure day. These dedicated professional development days are critical for our school’s growth and planning of learning and teaching, we truly appreciate your flexibility.

On Tuesday, our entire team focused on strengthening our teaching strategies, particularly through the lens of structured literacy. This approach is essential in ensuring that our students receive explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction in literacy across multiple levels. From phonemes and letter-sound relationships to more complex concepts such as syllable patterns, morphemes, vocabulary, sentence structure, paragraph structure and text structure – we are committed to equipping our students with the essential tools to succeed as readers and writers.

As we continue to work together towards high-quality learning and teaching, it is your support that helps make this possible. Thank you for being an integral part of our school community and for partnering with us in this important journey of student development.

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

Lenten Liturgy

Throughout Lent, each area of the school will prepare a liturgy to guide us in reflecting on this significant season in the life of the Church.

Tomorrow, our Grade 1/2 students will lead us in prayer.

All are welcome to attend. The liturgy will begin at 3:10 PM in St. Pius X Church.

Parents and Friends 2025

Our next Parents and Friends meeting is next Tuesday March 18th 7.30pm. 

If you’re looking for a way to get more involved in our school and make a meaningful contribution to our students’ experiences, we’d love for you to join the committee this year. It’s a wonderful way to meet other parents and carers, share ideas and be part of something truly special. Every bit of support helps, whether it’s attending meetings, volunteering for events, or simply offering your ideas.

2025 meeting dates.  All meetings 7.30pm at school. 

• Tues 6th May

• Tues 10th June 

• Tues 5th Aug

• Tues 9th Sept

• Tues Oct 21st

• Tues Nov 25th 

We would love to see new faces at these meetings and welcome your involvement in any capacity. Together, we can continue to support our school and provide even more enriching experiences for our students. This year we will also offer the ability to attend the meeting via video conference. We have had feedback that some people would like to be involved but can’t attend meetings in person at school. If you can't make every meeting that is OK too!

Parents and Friends meeting Google meet link
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jyv-ibcw-ohp 

Thank you again to all who have supported our school through the Parents & Friends Committee. We look forward to another fantastic year working together!

Health Update

As communicated by email earlier in the week, we have had a small number of cases of both school sores (impetigo) and influenza at our school. In accordance with advice from the Victorian Department of Health and school policy, the following exclusion periods apply:

• Impetigo (School Sores): Exclude until appropriate treatment has commenced. Sores on exposed surfaces must be covered with a watertight dressing.
• Influenza & Influenza-like Illnesses: Exclude until well.

If your child shows any symptoms of these illnesses, please seek medical advice and notify the school promptly. This helps us manage the situation and protect the health of our school community.

We are currently encouraging our students to practice good hygiene by promoting behaviours such as: Washing hands regularly, using hand sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes, cleaning desks, avoiding sharing personal items and staying healthy. 

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Lost Property - Middle Pod Camp

We have a number of unclaimed items in the Middle Pod from Camp Kangaroobie.  If you are missing something it might be here in MP3.  Please come in before/after school on Friday or Monday.  These items will be donated to Vinnies on Tuesday after school if they are not claimed.

Walking School Bus

On Friday March 21st, as part of our healthy moves initiative, students are invited to take part in the national ride to school day by joining in with the walking school bus program! Students are invited to meet staff and other students at one of the below meeting points by 8:10am and walk together to school! 

Parents and friends are more than welcome to join in!

Foundation and Gr 6 buddies Picnic

We are excited to invite all Foundation 2025 families and their Grade 6 buddies to a fun and relaxed picnic at Lake Pertobe! This informal gathering will provide the perfect opportunity for our new Foundation students to strengthen their friendships with their peers and Grade 6 buddies, while allowing families to meet and connect in a friendly, low-key setting.

Event Details:

• Date: Tuesday 18/3/25 (weather dependent) 
• Time: 5:30pm-6.30pm
• Location: Lake Pertobe (area near playground adjacent the surf club carpark) 
• What to Bring: A picnic blanket, dinner to share with your family. 

This picnic is a wonderful chance to come together, enjoy the outdoors, and get to know each other better. Whether you're new to the school community or already familiar with some faces, it's a perfect time to make new connections. It’s also a great opportunity for Foundation students to bond with their Gr 6 buddies, strengthening those valuable relationships in a relaxed atmosphere.

The Foundation Files

Sacred Show and Tell

On Friday the children were asked to bring along something sacred to share for Show and Tell. The word sacred means special and important.There were a range of different objects that were brought along such as medals, coins, statues, baby blankets and baptism and wedding photos. There were plenty of little people who were so proud of their sacred items and knew exactly why they were so special to them. Here are just a few pictures from our Show and Tell time. 

Race to 10….a different way!

Maths and counting are some of our favourite things to do at school. We have been learning so much about the number 10 and how we can see collections of numbers quickly in different ways. We call this subitising! This week we learnt how to play Race to 10 but in a different way. Instead of using a number line we had to fill our ten frame. The first person to fill their ten frame was the winner. Sometimes our roll was ‘too big and we couldn’t go’ but we had so much fun. We love learning about numbers. 

An extra long weekend…some little stories!

What a wonderful long weekend we had with such beautiful weather. We had lots of people do lots of great things. Let’s see what some of us enjoyed doing…

Ms Osborne - I went to Traralgon for the weekend and stayed in a really nice caravan park. 

Ms Lane - I watched Collingwood on the TV but they lost! It was still a good weekend!

Samuel - I had a sleepover at Zac’s house in the bunk bed and played lego.

Theodore - I went to the skate park and had a ride on my skateboard. 

Arlo - I went to Halls Gap with my cousins and all my family and we had a big scavenger hunt.

Tommy - I played Mini Golf and had lots of swims in the pool because it was so hot. 

Livinia - I went to Nanna and Pa’s and had a sleepover. 

Eadie - I went to the river and had a swim with all of my family.

Remie - I went to the beach and made sandcastles and swam in the water. 

School Closure Days 2025

Thurs 24th April – Southern Zone Collaboration Day (DOBCEL determined date)

Fri 30th May – School Review 

Mon 2nd June – School Review 

Fri 29th August – School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS)

Mon 6th October – Structured Literacy 

Fri 7th November  – Religious Education 

Breakfast Club

Thank you to all involved in the co-ordination, set up and serving of breakfast and to our sponsors Western District Foodshare and Woolworths Dennington who supply all the food items. 

Breakfast Club is on every Wednesday from 8.20am in the Function Room.  

A special message just to say.............

The following students are celebrating their birthdays over the coming week:

Eadie Parkinson ,  Jasper Henry,  Indi-Rose Meyer and Zac Brisbane.

Toy Donations Required!

Canteen Roster for next week.

A big thank you to those Parents who have kindly donated their time to help in our canteen this year.  Your help is greatly appreciated.

Before & After School Care.

Important Dates.

Friday 4th March - Lenten Liturgy 3.10pm Church

Tuesday 18th March - Foundation / Yr 6 Buddies Picnic - Lake Pertobe

Tuesday 18th March - Parents and Friends meeting 7.30pm

Thursday 20th March - SAC meeting 7.30pm

Friday 21st March - Walking school bus

                                         Assembly

Monday 24th March - Reconciliation Formation Day - Emmanuel College

Tuesday, 25th March - School Sports Day

Wed-Fri 26th-28th March - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Monday 31st March - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Wednesday 2nd April - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Thursday 3rd April - Reconciliation Sacrament

Friday 4th April - Last Day of Term 1

Friday 4th April - Assembly

Monday 21st April -Easter Monday Public Holiday

Tuesday 22nd April - First Day Term 2

Thursday 24th April - Closure Day - Southern Zone Collaboration Day (DOBCEL determined date)

Friday 25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Monday 28th April - Confirmation Parent Meeting (7pm St Joseph's church)

Tuesday 29th April - School Photo Day

Wednesday 30th April - Cross Country

Thursday 1st May - May Races Public Holiday

Free Uniforms!

If you are looking for some good quality second hand uniforms, we currently have a display set up in the foyer area near the office.  You are welcome to come in anytime and have a look through what we have.   Items include summer dresses, shorts, pants, shirts etc. in various sizes.  All items are FREE to take.

Parish Contact.

Sunday Mass 9.00am @ St Pius X Church. School families are always welcome.

The Parish office can be contacted on 5562 2231

Other information and contact details can be found on the Star of the Sea South West Coast website: https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/parish/southwestcoast/ 

HARFEST Colouring Competition..................

West Warrnambool Neighbourhood House - Calendar of Events