Due to our current climate and the Archdiocese decision to suspend public liturgies and celebrations of the Mass until further notice, you are encouraged to continue active participation in the life of the Church through prayer, reflection, action and participating in a Mass online.

melbournecatholic.org.au offer the following resources for you.

● Online Mass and other resources
● 1000 ways to love your neighbour during coronavirus
● Digital devotion: online resources
● Helpful prayers during this time

Holy Week Easter Tableau

We are sharing with you the Holy Week story. You may read this with your children during the Easter days to reflect on Jesus’ journey and what this means for us, today.

 1. Jesus Enters Jerusalem As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the Mount Of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead to a village to find a donkey. They brought the donkey to Jesus and spread their cloaks over it. The people cut branches from trees and spread them on the ground too. They cheered and chanted “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest”. Reflection: Is Jesus in your life? Do you think about him? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 2. The Passover Jesus told two of his disciples to prepare for the Passover feast. At the feast Jesus took some bread, blessed it and broke it. “Take and eat” Jesus said to his disciples. Then he took a cup filled with wine and gave it to them saying “Drink all of you from this, for this is my blood. Do This In Memory of Me”. Reflection: Have I been a good person to others? Do I share and include others? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 3. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane After the meal with his disciples, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus was really scared and asked his disciples to stay with him while he prayed. Jesus knew what was going to happen and he asked God if he really had to do this. He knew God would be with him. Jesus checked on his disciples 3 times but they were asleep. Jesus felt disappointed that his disciples were not there for him. Reflection: Are you a good friend? Do you let your friends down when they ask you to do something which is difficult for you? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 4. Jesus is Betrayed by Judas and Arrested While Jesus was speaking, Judas one of the disciples who shared the Passover meal with Jesus, arrived and with him were a crowd with swords and clubs and soldiers too. Judas had betrayed Jesus. Judas told the Chief Priests, who did not like Jesus, that he would kiss the man they were looking for. Judas went up to Jesus and said “Rabbi”.And then kissed him. The soldiers arrested Jesus and took him away. Reflection: Do we treat our friends fairly? Do I let others have their say? Am I loyal to my friends and classmates? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 5. Jesus Is Condemned To Die Jesus is standing before Pilate. Pilate asks Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus feels sad. There are angry people who are yelling and saying mean things to Jesus. Some of them tell lies about him saying that he did bad things. Reflection: Has anyone ever said mean or hurtful things to you or told lies about you? Do you find it hard to forgive others when you have been hurt? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 6. Jesus Takes Up His Cross The soldiers put a heavy cross on Jesus’ shoulder. He knew he had to carry that cross a long way and he knew it would be very hard for him. Jesus knows God is with him and asks God if he will help him to carry his cross even though it is too heavy. Reflection: Have you ever had something happen that was hard for you? How did you get through this difficult time? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 7. Jesus Falls The First Time Jesus was tired as he walked along the road. The stones on the road hurt his feet and the heavy cross kept pushing into his shoulder. People yelled at Jesus and pushed him. Jesus fell down but he never gave up. The love in his heart was stronger than his hurt and pain. Jesus got back up with his cross. Reflection: How do you feel when something seems too hard and you feel like giving up? How do you feel when you can’t make anyone understand what you are trying to say? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 8. Jesus Meets His Mother As Jesus carried his cross, his mother Mary came up to him. Mary was so sad to see her son Jesus in pain. Mary and Jesus can’t say anything to each other but Mary consoles Jesus. Mary’s love for Jesus kept him going. Reflection: How do you feel when you see someone you love in pain? How do you feel when your Mum holds you? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 9. Simon Helps Jesus Carry The Cross Jesus was very tired and the soldiers could see that Jesus could no longer carry the heavy cross by himself. The Roman soldiers looked in the crowd and saw a passer- by named Simon of Cyrene who looked strong enough to carry Jesus’ cross. Jesus looks at Simon and quietly says ‘Thank you’. They continue on the long road carrying the cross together. Reflection: Do you go out of your way to help others in need? How do you feel when helping is difficult? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 10. Veronica Wipes The Face of Jesus Jesus is hot, tired and sweating. His hair is tangled and he is covered in dust from the long walk. Suddenly a woman pushes her way out of the crowd and stands in front of Jesus. She takes a clean cloth and gently wipes the face of Jesus. Jesus’ face print is left on the towel. Reflection: Have you helped someone? Have you done something that makes someone feel better? Do you realize what a difference you can make to someone? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 11. Jesus Falls the Second Time In spite of the help from Simon of Cyrene, the cross was heavy and the road hard and full of stones. Jesus was unable to hold its weight and so he fell a second time. The noise of the crowd and the soldiers made Jesus feel worse. Reflection: Have you ever had a hard time with something? Maybe you can’t do something the way you want to? How does your heart feel when this happens? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 12. Jesus Falls A Third Time Jesus is so tired that he can hardly take another step. It is hard for him to breathe. He has been walking along the dusty road and he has no energy left. Then Jesus falls for a third time. Jesus asks God to help him and Jesus gets up again though this is very hard for him. Reflection: How can we be the helping hand for others? How can we be more understanding of others who find it difficult to do their best all the time? Have you ever persisted and tried again? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 13. Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes and Nailed To The Cross When they reached the place called the Skull, the soldiers crucified Jesus there with two criminals. One on the right and the other on the left. Jesus asked God to forgive them. The soldiers cast lots to share out Jesus’ clothing. Jesus looks at his mother and tells her to take care of the others. Even though Jesus accepts his fate, there are those around him that are filled with anger and hate. Reflection: Can you think of a time when someone hurt you with unkind words or actions? Was it hard to forgive? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 14. Jesus Dies On The Cross It was now the sixth hour and, with the sun eclipsed, a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. The veil of the temple was torn right down the middle and when Jesus cried out in a loud voice he said, “Father into your hand I commit my spirit” With these words he breathed his last and bowed his head. Reflection: What sacrifices are we prepared to make for the sake of others? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

 15. Jesus Is Taken Down From The Cross and Placed in the Tomb Jesus’ friends took him down from the cross. They gave him to his mother and she held him. This was a sad moment. Jesus’s friends stayed close to Mary. After this they washed him and wrapped him in a clean sheet. They put him in the tomb and rolled a door across the doorway. They had to say goodbye to Jesus. Reflection: Do you ever thank others for special things they do for you? Are you thankful for Jesus in your life? Jesus, we praise you, we thank you, we love you.

Project Compassion

In Malawi, 18% of the population are undernourished.

Tawonga is a 10 year old girl, living with a disability. She lives in a village in northern Malawi in a region plagued by food insecurity and poverty. For most of her life, her parents have struggled to provide food for the family.

Since participating in a Caritas Australia program, Tawonga’s life has transformed. Her family now grows enough food to provide three meals a day, ending the struggle of malnutrition, and helping her thrive at school.

With your help, this transformational program can continue to empower vulnerable women, men and children, and strengthen the communities around them.

Watch a short film about Tawonga’s story: https://lent.caritas.org.au/#blank

Thank you for supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign. Your generosity will work for the freedom of those living in poverty, challenge unjust structures, and empower people to work for a sustainable way of life.

Please return all Project Compassion boxes to the school office by Friday 1st May.

Michael Grose
Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. His latest release Anxious Kids, was co-authored with Dr Jodi Richardson.

Leading the way for children during the Coronavirus pandemic   

If you’re like me, the news of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has your head spinning and your heart pumping. That’s only natural as life as we know has taken a seismic shift in recent days.

International travel bans, cancellation of sporting and cultural events, shopping frenzies and talk of school closures continue to dominate the airwaves. Terms such as social distancing, self-isolation and social lockdowns have entered our vocabularies and may soon become part of our daily lives.

Coronavirus is having an unprecedented impact on our daily lives, and will probably do so for some time. While keeping ourselves and children healthy and safe is our main concern, it’s also essential to address the anxieties of children and young people during these changing times. Here are some ideas to help inform, reassure and keep children and young people safe.

Build on what your children know

Children and young people have already been exposed to a great deal of information about corona virus through media, digital means and direct social contact. Their understanding will vary depending on their age and also the quality of their information sources so you probably will need to help kids process what they already know.

Casual conversations with teenagers and older children can be useful ways to glean their understanding. You could ask questions like “What are you hearing about Coronavirus? Is there anything you’re not sure about?” Younger primary age children may need a more direct approach with parents addressing their specific concerns without giving too much information that can overwhelm them.

Check your own thoughts and feelings

Check your own frame of mind and emotions about COVID-19 before talking to kids. Most children are astute mood detectives and they’ll gauge their safety by the way you communicate with them. If you tell a child, “You’ve got to wash your hands or you’ll get infected,” you are communicating your own anxieties, making it difficult for them to maintain a healthy state of mind. Have a think about how you can frame your instructions and their importance in a way that doesn’t heighten your child’s anxieties.

Stay informed

It’s difficult to work out fact from fiction, correct from incorrect, information from exaggeration when the news is changing so fast. However you need to educate yourself about the virus itself, including how it’s transmitted and how to stay safe. Get information from trustworthy sources such as The Australian Government Health Department website and the current federal government corona virus information media campaign.

Answer questions truthfully

It’s important that parents and teachers answer children’s questions honestly in age-appropriate ways and within context of what is happening at the given time. If their sport or hobby has been temporarily cancelled empathise with their concerns, while helping them maintain a sense of perspective.

Initiate positive action

One way to reduce anxiety and allay children’s fears is to involve them in planning and preparation for their personal and group safety. Positive activities such as maintenance of personal hygiene, greeting people with an elbow tap and getting plenty of sleep can help restore a sense of control, that is so important for their wellbeing.

Find refuge in rituals

Regular rituals such as mealtimes, bedtime stories and regular one-on-one time provide both an anchor to normality and a sense of connection for kids at times of change. Consider reconstituting favoured family rituals at this time if they have lapsed due to lack of time, or lifestyle frenzy.

Look outwards

In difficult times there is a tendency to look inwards, which is a natural protective strategy. The alternative is to establish a sense of connection and community spirit by focusing on generosity and togetherness. Help children see past their own needs and look for ways to assist others whether it’s shopping for an elderly neighbour, helping a younger sibling occupy themselves, or planning an indoor movie night for the whole family.

The Coronavirus presents many practical challenges to parents and other important adults in the lives of kids. Staying calm, keeping informed, and adjusting our own habits are just some of the challenges we face. However a significant challenge is one of personal leadership. That is, during these difficult times we need to be civil to each other, look out for each other and be mindful of the common good in everything we do. In this, we can all take a significant lead.

Premiers Reading Challenge is on it’s way!! Keep your eye out at the start of next term for registration details in the newsletter.

Story Dogs
Unfortunately our story dogs will temporarily not be visiting us in the library. We look forward to having them back in the library for pats and reading soon!

Dear parents,

Friday 20th March marks the 10th anniversary of the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). St Martins celebrates this day every year and joins schools from around Australia to both educate our school community and promote a greater awareness of the issue. We aim to work together for a safer school and instil in our students the strategies they need to respond to this important issue.

To help us promote the day your child is invited to wear one orange item of clothing (eg, cap, socks, hair tie, runners) to school on Friday 20th March. If that is not possible rest assured that teachers will be supplying your child with an orange wristband to promote the day.

You are an essential part of what we do

At St Martin of Tours Catholic Primary School we aim to create a safe and supportive school community for everyone.

You are an important part of our work to prevent bullying and to respond effectively if it happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone.

The following tips are shared with you to compliment the work that we do at school. Parents know their children best and know the best way to tailor communication to their needs. Adapt these tips to what works for you and your child.

If your child talks to you about bullying:

1. Listen calmly and get the full story. Your calm response is important to allow your child to tell you all about the situation. After they’ve told you their story, ask questions to get more details if you need: who, what, where, when. Although you may feel some strong emotions about your child’s experience, try to keep calm to avoid more distress to your child.

2. Reassure your child they are not to blame. Many children blame themselves and this may make them feel even worse. You could say things like, ‘That sounds really hard to deal with. No one should have to put up with that.’ or ‘I’m so glad you told me. You should be able to feel safe at school; that’s not fair at all’.

3. Ask your child what they want to do and what they want you to do. A critical part of your response is to avoid jumping in to solve the problem. While it is natural to want to protect your child, helping them to find their own solution is a better option. It helps them feel they have some power in the situation.

4. Visit www.bullyingnoway.gov.au to find some strategies. The website has tips and ideas for different bullying situations. One idea is to practise strategies at home to help your child feel more confident.

5. Contact the school via the classroom teacher. Your child may be reluctant for you to do this, so discuss the idea and reassure them that their teacher would want to know and is able to help. Make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and, if you need to, ask to talk with the principal, Mrs Jacqui Marshall. Contact the school immediately if you have a concern about your child’s safety.

6. Check in regularly with your child. Keep the conversation going. It can take time to resolve issues, so check in regularly with your child about their experiences and their feelings. Your ongoing support is important.

If you are looking for support for yourself to deal with a bullying situation, you will find ideas on the Bullying. No Way! website for parents. As well, please feel free to contact the school if you would like to discuss any aspect of our approach to preventing bullying.

Thanks for your support to make St Martin of Tours Primary School a great school for everyone.

Warmest regards,

Jamie Atherton
Student Wellbeing Leader

For families paying school fees via instalments first payment is due by Friday 27th March 2020

If you have any queries in relation to this or any queries regarding fees please email me
marym@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au
I am in the office Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Mary Milione
Bursar

WEEK 7

PGR Jackson for always trying his best and having a go with challenging activities.

Michaela for sharing her super ideas in group discussions and listening carefully to others.

PPV Amelie for her enthusiasm for learning and happy demeanour. Well done Amelie.

PVL Lola for being a great friend to others. Well done!!

Abigail for being a polite and respectful girl in Prep VL. Well done!!

1B Dylan for always using his time effectively in the classroom and for completing all work to a high standard

1F Henry for your excellent handwriting and recount plan. Well done!

1LB Max for his consistent and wonderful effort during discussion time where he regularly shares his ideas in a clear manner and responds to questions. Keep up the amazing work Max!

2C

2OC Sophie for always contributing your thoughts with the class. You have valuable ideas to share.

Blake for using his place value knowledge when expanding three-digit numbers. Well done.

2T Jack F for challenging himself during place value lessons and for using his knowledge of place value to expand four and five digit numbers.

3C

3JC Clementine for using persuasive language to create an advertisement.

3MT Felicity making valuable contributions to class discussions.

4C

4T

5C Olivia D for demonstrating how to be a learning champion by always trying his best.

5L Jed C for demonstrating excellent problem solving abilities in Mathematics. Well done, Jed!

5V

6AM Adam M for persisting in Maths task and showing great results in his Whole Number Post Test. Keep working hard Adam.

6W

6ZW Dean C for showing such a drive to improve his reading this year. Dean is choosing challenging and engaging books and reading for extended periods of time well above the expectations of grade 6.

Sam R what a fantastic start to the year. I'm so impressed by your persistence with difficult tasks in Maths and your choice of books. Such a courteous member of our classroom.

WEEK 8

PGR

PPV

PVL Marcus for being an enthusiastic and engaged learner.

Bailey for making great choices and being a good role model to others.

1B Hugh for working so hard to sound out his words when reading, and for being a kind friend in 1B.

1F

1LB Evie for having a positive outlook with her learning by always aiming to challenge herself and seeking feedback to improve the overall standard of her work. Amazing effort Evie!

2C

2OC

2T

3C

3JC Isabella for using persuasive language to create an advertisement

3MT Riley for showing persistence and using higher digits with his place value work.

4C

4T

5C

5L Matthew P for taking exceptionally good care of a very upset prep student, showcasing his kindness and empathy. Well done, Matthew!

5V

6AM Chloe B for the detailed response you shared about St Martin as an example of a Spirit Filled person. Your work was through and detailed. Keep up the fantastic writing!

6W

6ZW Zach A - What a great start to the school year as School Vice Captain. Zach always has a positive attitude to his school work and shows persistence when attempting difficult tasks.

Hannah G - What a fantastic start to the school year. Hannah is a kind and courteous students who has already shown growth in her Maths, reading and descriptive writing this term.

Our School/Parish Carnival has been postponed to Sunday 29th November from 11am -4pm.

Parents who have purchased wristbands for rides will have their money refunded by trybooking as soon as possible. We will still go ahead with an online Silent Auction at an appropriate date so watch this space. Thankyou for everyone’s support!

Any queries, please email: carnival@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Snow Cones Day

Last Wednesday 11th of March we had our first Snow Cones Day for the year.  Thank you to Adept IP for sponsoring the event and donating the syrups for the Snow Cones.  We made $747.60 from the event and had many happy children.  Thank you to our parent helpers on the day Michelle, Kate, Penny G, Penny K, Sally, Clara and Nadia.

PFA Persuade the Principal

The closing date for submissions is next Friday 27th March 2020.

PFA events in Term 2

Due to the current uncertainty with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the PFA will review plans for any PFA activities in Term 2 after the school holidays.

PFA Community Business Directory

The St Martin of Tours School Parents and Friends’ Association (PFA) have developed a Community Business Directory for the St Martin of Tours School (SMOT), Rosanna, Community. This initiative serves to connect families, staff, alumni, parishioners and supporters of our school throughout our community.

Now, more than ever, it is so important to support our local shops and businesses, many of which are struggling during this difficult time. Why not choose from professionals within our own school community via the Business Directory? 

For a small fee of $20 for the year, the Directory provides a unique opportunity for businesses to promote themselves and provide special offers directly to our SMOT Community, whilst also supporting our school.

If you would like to advertise your business, please visit: http://smotpfa.weebly.com/business-directory-registration-form.html  

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 

Enrolment is free. All families must be enrolled to attend the program. Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Visit our Event Calendar for more events and information   

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPASS NEWS FEED AND CALENDAR FOR CHANGES AND UPDATES TO OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Saturday 21st March Year 5 Weekend Mass 6pm Cancelled

Thursday 26th March Parish and School Carnival Cancelled

Friday 27th March Last day of Term 1, Casual Clothes Day (Gold Coin Donation) Students Dismissed at 1pm

Due to the current circumstance, confirmed events for Term 2 will be published in our next newsletter.

Term Dates 2020

Term 1: 29th January - 27th March

Term 2: 14th April - 26 June

Term 3: 13th July - 18th September

Term 4: 5th October - 18th December (TBC)

OFFICE HOURS: Mon— Friday 9.00 am — 5.00 pm (closed for lunch 1.00 pm — 2.00 pm )

PLEASE NOTE NEW PARISH NUMBER 9401 6338. A DIVERSION REMAINS IN PLACE FOR THE OLD NUMBER, HOWEVER PLEASE UPDATE YOUR PHONE DIRECTORIES.  EMAIL ENQUIRIES: macleod@cam.org.au

Message from Fr. Michael:

All weekend and weekday Masses have been suspended immediately until further notice, for funerals, weddings and baptisms please phone the Parish Office on 9401 6338, please read the  Letter from the Bishops of Victoria for more information.

Sr Maria talked to me this week about a health professional she was watching on the TV. This person was giving a message to people that would help them at this time of anxiety as we face the pandemic. And the message was: “Stay balanced! - Sleep well, eat well, drink enough water, stay fit. Do not get too anxious because it will lower your immune system. Be hygienic and look after yourself and your family” This is sound and professional advice. And in regard to growing anxiety we could also say—"keep praying, trusting in God’s presence within you and with you at all times. Jesus did this always and at every testing time it always helped him so much. And he encouraged his disciples to do the same".

VALE FR PETER

It is with great sadness that we learnt this week of the passing of our dear friend and former Parish Priest Fr Peter Robinson. Fr Peter passed away on Saturday 14 March aged 87 years. Fr Peter was much loved and respected for his ministry. He was blessed with a wonderful sense of humour and a genuine love for life. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Fr Peter’s family have advised that there will be a private funeral for him next Monday 23 March with the intention of holding a more public Memorial Mass and celebration at a later stage after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.

‘O God, listen favourably to our prayers offered on behalf of your servant and priest, and grant that Peter, who committed himself zealously to the service of your name, may rejoice forever in the company of your saints. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen’.

CANCELLATIONS DUE TO THE THREAT OF COVID 19

The following functions have been cancelled due to the COVID 19 threat:
* CWA High Tea originally planned for the 28th March
* ‘ASHES TO EASTER’ Lenten Program in Heidelberg on the 26 March

Dear Parents,

As we head into a long weekend it is always a great opportunity to make time for yourself and also enjoy family time together.

Over the past fortnight a lot has happened at St Martin’s. It was great to see so many families at our Prep and Year 6 buddy Mass last weekend. It was lovely hearing how well the Preps have settled in and the children could articulate how they belong to the St Martin’s community. A big thank you to the parents who supported in the supper after Mass, we do hospitality well at St Martin’s.
It was unfortunate that we had to cancel the annual Shrove Tuesday Picnic. The team were hopeful the weather would improve but the late downpour made the area unsafe. Thank you to the PFA for the time and energy put into coordinating this event. I would encourage any new parents to our school to consider joining our PFA as it is a great way to meet other parents and support our community. If you are interested please let me know.

The 2021 Prep Enrolment process has begun with our first open morning this week. I was very proud of our Year 6 students as they took prospective families on a tour of our school and shared with them the narrative of St Martin’s.

It is wonderful to see many of our families are using the Kiss n Drop Zone on bottom yard in the mornings for school drop off. We do ask that you consider the 5km driving zone through this area so that we can keep our students safe at all times.

Coronavirus update

The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) has been provided new information regarding the emerging outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The Australian Government has updated existing travel restrictions to include visitors from Iran who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents. These restrictions were implemented from 1 March 2020.

The extension to existing travel restrictions for visitors from mainland China remains in place. Visitors from mainland China who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, or their dependants, will not be allowed entry into Australia. These restrictions will be reviewed by 7 March 2020.

Parents/guardians/carers should ensure that any child returning from mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) from 1 February, and from Iran from 1 March, is isolated at home and should not attend school until 14 days after they were last in mainland China or Iran.

Can I please ask that any families from St Martin’s who are travelling overseas to please engage with me before returning back to school so we can ensure the safety of all in our community. I understand that many parents are concerned and as Principal I am following Catholic Education and Department of Education's guidelines in managing this situation.

I would also like to remind everyone to practice good hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene at this time. Here are some tips that everyone at school should follow:

● Cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing with a tissue, or cough into your elbow.

● Dispose of the tissue into a bin and then wash your hands afterwards.

● Wash your hands regularly, after using the toilet, and before eating.

Please click here for further information and updates.

Staffing

Last week we were delighted to have a special visit from Jess Mitchem (McGrath) and baby Rosie. Carmel Chubb will remain on leave this term.

Learning Conversations

Learning Conversations are coming up on the 10th and 11th of March. They are an opportunity for you to meet and get to know your child's teacher and strengthen the link between school and home. Through the sharing of information, the teacher can understand more about your child and their needs. Thank you for scheduling a time to meet with your child’s teacher.

Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne to celebrate their Catholic identity. Catholic Education Week will run from Sunday 15 March 2020 to Sunday 22 March 2020. The theme is 'The future is listening'. Some of our Year 6 students will attend the annual St Patrick's Day Mass at the Cathedral on Tuesday 17 March.

Carnival - Thursday 26 March

The Carnival Committee have secured some great stalls for our event in less than 3 weeks. Thank you to those who have volunteered their time to help out. Don't forget to purchase your wrist bands for unlimited rides. Soon there will be an opportunity to participate in an online silent auction with some amazing items up for grabs.

Please take some time to read this week’s parenting ideas article. It is called 'Making new friends and staying in touch with old classmates'.

Our Year 6 Student Leaders have had a focus this term of introducing themselves to our community and reflecting what they want to achieve in their roles. They have also reflected on leaders they aspire to be like. Please take the time to read what they have written.

I look forward to connecting with more of you as the term progresses.

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Introducing our 2020 Year 6 Student Leaders

Hanna (Captain)

I love SMOT because it feels like one big family and everyone is inclusive and caring! All the teachers are amazing and make class time so much fun. If someone gets hurt at playtime, there’s always someone there to help. A leader I admire is Allysa Healy. I admire her because she is such a good cricket player, always gives 100% and is a great role model for all young girls who play cricket. When I grow up I hope to be just like Allysa Healy. This year I hope to make SMOT a better place to be. I would like to bring back a nude food day. Over the years that I have been at SMOT I have seen many wrappers all over the school. Having a nude food day will make our school a cleaner place and will also save our planet.

Luca (Captain)

At SMOT we all fit in and are encouraged to give new ideas and help make our school blossom. I admire one of our previous captains Ryan. Ryan helped me get a feel of what we have to do to help our school in 2020. One of the things I will hope to achieve this year is to try set up more fundraisers and give more money to the people who are in need or sick and try and give families a better and easier future.

Maya (Vice Captain)

I love SMOT because I always walk into school feeling happy and leave school feeling happy. It is an amazing place to learn where we all feel included and safe. We have amazing teachers and LSO’s who make us all feel good about ourselves. A leader I admire is Caitlin Bassett, the goal shooter for the Australian Diamonds and captain since 2017. Caitlin demonstrates determination and fairplay in every game. She displayed resilience to get back up last year after an unbeatable team lost an unlosable gold medal netball match at last year's commonwealth games. This year I hope to achieve going to regional athletics in sprinting and going to the Banyule District netball grand final.

Zach (Vice Captain)

I love the fact that our school SMOT is a religious school so we can learn more about Jesus and the Catholic Community. I love how our school has a buddy program so all students can either look after their buddies and the younger students have an older buddy. A leader that I have admired is a past student and vice captain Dane. When I received my badge from him last year he gave me some great tips which gave me confidence. I hope to support fundraising ideas so we can help those in need.

Lily (RE Captain)

I love all different things about SMOT. I love all the fun and everyone is nice to each other. Our school has lots of different sports we can play. All the teachers are nice and are always here to help you if you need them. A leader I admire is Sharni Layton. Sharni is now playing for Collingwood in AFLW and she used to be an excellent netballer for the Australian Diamonds. I look up to her not only because she is good at sports but because she never gives up. This year I hope to achieve all different things including helping students at our school be kind and respectful. I also want the school to become clean.

Connor (RE Captain)

What I love about SMOT is that everyone works well together. I admire Mrs. Marshall because she is new to the school and is already a lot of people's favourite person in the school. (Thank you Connor, you are very kind) This year I hope that the school is clean and a better place to be.

Noah (Tours House Captain)

I love SMOT because everyone is friendly around here and if you need help, there is always someone willing to help. The leader that I admire is Father Michael because he is respectful to everyone’s thoughts and opinions. This year I hope to make the school a better place for the students and the teachers.

Luke (Xavier House Captain)

I love that everyone at our school is unique and special in their own way. I also love that we all learn and have fun at the same time. Someone who I admire as a leader is Trent Cotchin. Ever since I was little I have been a mad Richmond supporter. The way Trent teaches the young Richmond players amazes me. One day I hope I will be just like him guiding the Richmond footy club to premierships but that starts now by showing the little ones around the school. Obviously I hope Xavier brings home the chocolates, but I'm really looking forward to making our school known for being clean, safe and friendly.

Chloe (Mercy House Captain)

I love SMOT because it is a great place to learn and has amazing teachers and students. You always feel like you belong and you can always find a friend within the school grounds. We have great classrooms and open play grounds so we always have room to run around. We have lots of interschool sports which gives us plenty of opportunities to interact with other schools. A leader I admire is St Joan of Arc. She is a great role-model and always helped people. This year I hope to help our school be a better place for students and teachers. I also hope to help Mercy win the house points competition. I would like to have the donation buckets constantly full so that we can help more people who are disadvantaged.

Charlie (McAuley House Captain)

I love that in our school everyone is welcoming and gets treated the same way as everyone else. I also love how we are a massive team and we can cooperate with each other. We always have a lot of fun. Someone who I admire is Scott Pendlebury, yep that's right I barrack for the PIES!! Ever since I was young I have looked up to him. Every time he does an amazing skill I try to do it. One day I hope that I will be guiding Collingwood, as a supporter to a Premiership win. I hope to achieve a great year and have the funniest year of my life. I want to make this school known for being a really good school even though it is the best school ever and obviously I want McAuley to bring it home.

Learning Conversations 

Learning conversations are coming up on the 10th and 11th of March. They are an opportunity for you to meet and get to know your child's teacher and strengthen the link between school and home. Through the sharing of information, the teacher can understand more about your child and their needs.

The learning conversation takes place between the class teacher, the child and parents. It is vital that the child is present for this meeting. The focus is to discuss with the child how they feel they are going at school and what the next steps in their learning will be. The teacher will also discuss with you their progress and show you samples of their work to date.

If parents wish to speak to the class teacher about other matters without their children present, they should make this known to the class teacher at the beginning of the session and a subsequent discussion can take place after the child has left (if time permits) or at a mutually convenient time. However, it is vital that your child is present for the duration of the learning conversation and we would ask you to take that into consideration when selecting convenient appointment times.

As a parent/caregiver, your insights are invaluable in these learning conversations. Some things to consider might include:

● Are there any family/home issues (e.g. change in living or working arrangements, unexpected loss/grief, illness) that your child’s the teacher may need to be aware of to be of support to your child?

● Do you have any concerns about any specific learning areas? Eg work habits, socialisation, Mathematics, Literacy

● Do they have any special interests/hobbies outside of school time?

● Talk with your child before the interview and ask him/her if there is anything in particular he/she would like raised at the interview.

Communication

Respectful communication is vital in the learning conversation. It is an opportunity for discussions where you can be informed, as well as actively contribute. Discussions are more productive when everybody is calm. Remember that your child’s teacher also wants the best for your child too.

PARENT HELPER TRAINING SESSIONS  

At St Martin’s, we encourage parents to volunteer their time in classes to support student learning.
Parent Helpers’contributions are important and valuable to students’ learning.
If you are interested in becoming a Parent Helper that assists in classes, we ask that you attend one of our Parent Helper Training sessions (approximately one hour).
They are on the following dates:
Tuesday, 10 March at 9:15am
Wednesday, 18 March at 7pm
Please email our Literacy Leader for the Junior School to confirm your attendance. Dinesha Rajasingam - drajasingam@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

**If you are a teacher or if you have attended a training session previously you do not need to attend one of these sessions.**

Michael Grose
Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. His latest release Anxious Kids, was co-authored with Dr Jodi Richardson.

Making new friends and staying in touch with old classmates 

Educational Learning
As a parent there is a great deal you can do to help your child adjust socially at the start of the school year. Here are some tips to help.

Encourage your child to be open to new friendships
An open, friendly attitude is a child or young person’s best social asset. Students who open to forming new friendships are more likely to succeed than those who seek solitude, who are critical and who limit themselves to just one or two familiar faces. Encourage your child or young person to seek out new friendships, even though they may feel uncomfortable or strange at first.

Encourage healthy relationships
Do all you can to encourage healthy relationships based on respect and common courtesy. Generally, when a relationship is healthy a child feels safe, valued and able to speak up. Unhealthy relationships, such as cliques, are restrictive, one-sided and are full of gossip and criticism.

Encourage inclusiveness
Studies have shown inclusiveness to be one of the prime social skills shared by socially successful students. Encourage your child or young person to include others in games, conversations, team activities and other group activities. Inclusiveness is not just a wonderful friendship skill, it’s strong leadership attribute as well.

Encourage friendships with both genders
If you are in a co-education environment encourage your child to form friendships with both boys and girls. This is particularly valid if your child has siblings of their own gender, or don’t have siblings. It’s through these early relationships that we gain the confidence to mix with different genders in the later years. Forming friends across genders helps to break down the mystique that sometimes forms, when a child has little contact with the ‘other’ gender.

Stay in touch with former classmates and school friends
Encourage your child to maintain friendships with former classmates and groups outside of school as this helps to insulate against unfriendly behaviour that they may experience with their close social circle.

Provide social scripts
Your child may benefit from being provided with some social scripts that they can use in common social situations such as meeting a new friend, joining in a game or asking someone else for help. Boys, in particular, can benefit when given the words to use in a variety of different social situations.

Forming new friendships can take time
Meeting new students and forming new friendships can be anxiety-inducing. If this is the case for your child, then it helps to acknowledge their feelings of discomfort, but also remind them that these feelings will pass. As well discuss the fact that feeling comfortable with new friends often takes time, particularly if your child by nature is reserved or slow to warm up in social situations.

Helping kids work through friendships can be tricky for a parent as you don’t have a great deal of control over what happens at school. However, with empathy, patience, encouragement and a supportive attitude you can do a great deal to help your child make a smooth social transition.

Lent: Did you know?  

Lent is 40 Days long because Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days with the Lord (Exodus 24:18), Elijah travelled forty days to Horeb to encounter the Lord (Kings 19:8) and Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness praying and fasting (Matt. 4:2).

Although the number of days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday add up to 46 days, we observe the season as the 40 days of Lent. Some may feel it would be more accurate to refer to it as the "forty day fast within Lent." While the Sundays during Lent are certainly a part of the season, they are not prescribed days of fast and abstinence.

Project Compassion

First Week of Lent:
Around 2.8 million children in the Philippines do not go to school.

We begin Project Compassion learning about the story of Shirley. Shirley was struggling to support her family and keep her children in school. She faced regular discrimination and disadvantage, limiting her family’s access to food, education, employment and healthcare.

With Caritas Australia’s support, Shirley trained to become an indigenous health worker. She has learnt to supplement her income and feed her family. The program has also empowered Shirley to send her children to school. Watch a short film about Shirley’s story: https://lent.caritas.org.au/#blank

Thank you  

So far we have raised $250 which is bringing us closer to training 100 farmers in Malawi. Your generosity is greatly apprecated. Please return all Project Compassion boxes to school by Monday 23rd of March. 

Are you thinking about baptising your child before participating in school Sacramental programs? What is RCIC?

RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation of Children) is the process through which children of catechetical age (7 years and older), are prepared to celebrate the sacraments of initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist and be welcomed into the Catholic Church. It is the process of initiation the Church asks us to use and is modelled on the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).

The Parish will be offering classes to children and their parents who are looking to be baptised into the Catholic faith. The Parish will conduct RCIC sessions for interested families. If you are interested in participating in these sessions, please contact Marita Anderson (REL) at school on 8458 7500 or Sr Maria at the Parish Office on 9401 6338.

S.T.E.M 'ROBOGALS'

Congratulations to the following year five and six students Charlotte T, Olivia D, Isabelle K, Caitlin F, Mietta T, Sophie H, Hanna W, and Sarah E. These students applied and were selected to participate in the 'ROBOGALS' program at Melbourne University on Tuesday the 25th of February.

Students participated in challenges using robots and were tasked with working with students from other schools in order to solve space aged problems.

Coding the robot and checking for different types of variables was a big focus of the day and the girls did a terrific job in collaborating with other students and using different technology. Thank you to Katherine D. and Kathryn T. for being excellent parent helpers throughout the day.

Brendan Ooi
S.T.E.M Teacher

The senior school students at SMOT are being offered the opportunity to participate in the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee. This is an online competition run by ‘Kids News’ and invites students to expand their vocabulary and practise their spelling skills in a fun environment.

Please look out for a permission to participate form that will have come home today, sign it and send it back to school as soon as possible.

Any further information can be found here: https://www.spelling-bee.com.au/

Story Dogs

So far Ava and Charlie are having a wonderful time in the library. They work just inside the library entrance, so please be mindful of entering the library quietly on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings so as not to disturb them too much.

Please explain to your children that they will need to be patient whilst waiting for a turn with Charlie and Ava. Some students will visit them each week (as is a requirement of the program), but we also have made provisions for ‘one off turns’ so that all students have a chance to read to the dogs. We have a list of interested children and we are doing our best to work through this.

The list is kept in the library, so if your child is desperate to read to the dogs, please ask them to add their name to it when they come to their library class.

Religious Education Dates

March
★ 13th - St Patrick’s Day Mass and Concert for Student Leaders (all day event)
★ 21st - Year 5 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ Easter Tableau 
★ 26th - Parish/School Carnival 3.30pm-8.30pm

April
★ 10th - Good Friday
★ 12th - Easter Sunday
★ 13th - Easter Monday (holiday)
★ 14th - ‘He is Risen’ Liturgy
★ 18th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 19th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 10am
★ 27th - ANZAC Assembly

May
★ 2nd - Confirmation Masses at 11am or 1.30pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Information Evening at 7pm
★ 30th - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 31st - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 10am

June
★ 6th - Winter Appeal commences
★ 13th - Year 2 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 19th - Sacred Heart Mission Mass at 9.15am
★ 20th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 21st - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

July
★ 16th - Eucharist Retreat Day (TBC)
★ 25th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

August
★ 7th - Mary Mackillop Mass at 9.15am
★ 8th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 9th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am
★ 14th - Feast of the Assumption Mass at 9.15am
★ 15th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 16th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am

September
★ 1st - Reconciliation Information Evening at 7pm
★ 5th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 6pm
★ 6th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 10am

October

★ 13th - 3MT Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 17th - Year 1 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 20th - 3JC Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 27th - 3C Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm

November
★ 11th - St Martin of Tours Feast Day Mass at 9.15am

December
★ 14th - Graduation Mass at 5pm
★ 15th - End of School Year Mass at 9.15am

For families with children participating in the music program for 2020, invoices were issued and due for payment on 3rd March 2020

If you have any queries in relation to this or any queries regarding fees please email me
marym@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au
I am in the office Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Mary Milione
Bursar

WEEK 5

PGR Isabella for taking time to draw her wonderful pictures and for concentrating well when completing her activities.

Noe' for always being ready and lining up on the green dots and for using his polite manners at school.

PPV Zane for 'having a go' and doing his best! Well done Zane.

PVL Tully for being a kind and caring girl in Prep VL.

Oscar for making such a great start to his school days!

1B Xavier for his valuable contributions to class discussions, and for being a wonderful classroom helper.

1F Allegra for always being so helpful and kind to others with a lovely smile. Well done!

1LB Gibreel for using his time effectively during writing where he was able to record clear and interesting sentences on what makes him special. Great effort Gibreel!

2C

2OC

2T Nancy for her perseverance during place value lessons this week. A great effort!

3C Chloe for the marvellous effort that she has shown in her writing.

3JC

3MT Lia for her persistence with her learning in all areas of the curriculum especially with her Writing and Mathematics.

4C Chiara P for her hard work and effort in every lesson and the creative comic she wrote in Writer's Notebook. Well done, Chiara!

4T

5C Mikayla M for starting the year on the right foot by demonstrating how to be a learning champion.

5L Sophie H for her skilful application of the "Show, Don't Tell" strategy in writing.

5V

6AM Oliver P for always offering his thoughts and ideas when learning and in class discussions. We all value his mature responses and respect for other people’s opinions. Keep it up Oliver!

6W Lily is kind and helpful. She is on task and helps the people around her learn.

6ZW Mara S for consistently working hard in every task presented to her and tackling work at home which either isn't finished or she is having difficulties with.

WEEK 6

PGR Charlie for being a wonderful listener and for making good choices about where he sits.

Nat for showing how much she enjoys her classmates by giving them cuddles and lots of smiles.

PPV Olivia for always completing neat and well presented work! Well done Olivia.

PVL Harper for being a kind and respectful girl at all times. Super!

Liesel for always using her beautiful manners. Amazing!

1B Grace for always showing beautiful listening and being respectful towards all of her classmates in 1B

1F Sofia L for making lots of different teen numbers with counters and helping her friends make more numbers. Good work!

1LB Zoe for trying her best during Place Value where she challenged herself by making larger numbers. Fantastic effort Zoe.

2C

2OC

2T Mikaela G for her beautiful reading during teacher group this week. I love how you paid attention to punctuation. Well Done Mikaela.

3C Lucia for working really hard to complete work to the best of her ability.

3JC

3MT Thomas for including others in classroom and break time activities.

4C Olivia B for her persistence and can-do attitude in completing challenging tasks. Well done for all your hard work and effort Olivia!

4T

5C Charlotte T for starting the year on the right foot by demonstrating how to be a learning champion.

5L Jamie S for making big gains in his reading and confidently sharing his narrative piece with the class.

5V

6AM Lucia for always persisting and working hard in all learning areas. Lucia always applies herself to tasks and is also one of our School District Swimming champions. Keep up all the hard work!

6W

6ZW Hanna W for being an amazing school captain and always leading by example. All work is completed on time and to a high standard even when Hanna is called out of class on official School Captain business. What an amazing start to the year.

In just under 3 weeks, we'll be celebrating at our school and parish carnival.
We're excited to share with you the progress of the planning thus far.
We can confirm that the following food trucks will be supplying us with delicious food, drinks and desserts.

• Curly Spuds

• Connie's Pizza

• Greek Trojan Yiros

• Mr Wonder Whip

• Elvize's Coffee Cuizine

The market stalls are all preparing for the big day, stocking up on products that will appeal to our school community.

Some of these include:
• Chelja Soy Candles - selling amazing candles, soaps, diffusers etc

• Clay by Design - beautiful handmade clay jewellery - look out for the school coloured earrings and Easter themed jewellery.

• Madwoman (Stands for Making a Difference) - a range of handmade (mostly hand sewn) items including bags, hair accessories, gratitude and thank you cards, purses, jar openers, reusable straw bags and much more. This wonderful organisation helps support Australia's most vulnerable and needy people. For more information: www.madwoman.com.au

• Boma-licious - hand made, fun, delicious smelling bath bombs, bath crumble and bubble bath with a great kids range.

• Melbourne Dance Theatre will be displaying their different genres of dance. Which might involve a little bit of dancing on top yard .... watch this space.

• Second-Hand Uniforms.

• Scrunchies made by our talented Year 6 students Declan and Maya.

• Year 5 Sustainability Stall

• Kumon

Don't forget to like our Facebook page (St Martin of Tours Carnival) for ongoing updates and pics on all things Carnival.

** FINAL CALL for businesses within the school community to come forth and assist us in the form of a donation or gift vouchers, for goods and/or services that you may be able to offer our school families and the wider community.

Thank you to all the people who have offered to volunteer at the Carnival. Your assistance is greatly appreciated and we will contact you shortly with your roster.

ONLINE SILENT AUCTION --- > Going LIVE next week!

We have some fantastic items that will be listed for auction next week until the Carnival. You do not want to miss this!

Details will be sent out via Compass and with each student soon.

Rides wrist bands are selling strong.... purchase yours prior to Friday 20th March 2020 to save $$$.

For online purchases of wristbands: https://www.trybooking.com/BIIBH
Cash payment can be made by placing order details and correct money in an envelope addressed to Carnival Committee, via the school office.

Reminder that this event (other than the external market stalls) will be CASH ONLY. So, bring lots of it (haha)

If you forget, we will have an ATM on top yard.

For any comments / questions, please email: carnival@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Be sure to follow us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smotcarnival/ for updated info. Please feel free to invite family, friends and our wonderful community by sharing the page and details of our Carnival. 

Visit our Event Calendar for more events and information   

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPASS NEWS FEED AND CALENDAR FOR CHANGES AND UPDATES TO OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Monday 9th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 March Parent / Teacher / Student Learning Conversations Year 1 -6 Students ONLY 
Parent Helper Training Session 9.15am 

Thursday 12th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Sunday 15th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Tuesday 17th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Wednesday 18th March Parent Helper Training Session 7pm  

Thursday 19th March Prep 2021 Enrolment Information Evening 

Saturday 21st March Year 5 Weekend Mass 6pm

Thursday 26th March Parish and School Carnival

Friday 27th March Last day of Term 1, Casual Clothes Day (Gold Coin Donation) Students Dismissed at 1pm

Term Dates 2020

Term 1: 29th January - 27th March

Term 2: 14th April - 26 June

Term 3: 13th July - 18th September

Term 4: 5th October - 18th December (TBC)

PFA Community Business Directory

The St Martin of Tours School Parents and Friends’ Association (PFA) have developed a Community Business Directory for the St Martin of Tours School (SMOT), Rosanna, Community. This initiative serves to connect families, staff, alumni, parishioners and supporters of our school throughout our community.

People prefer to use service providers they know, like and trust. Rather than having to search through unknown service-providers, community members can choose from professionals within our school community via the Business Directory. Details on listing your Business in the directory have been sent home today and can be found on the Compass News feed; PFA Community Business Directory.

For a small fee of $20 for the year, the Directory provides a unique opportunity for businesses to promote themselves and provide special offers directly to our SMOT Community, whilst also supporting our school.

If you would like to advertise your business, please visit: http://smotpfa.weebly.com/business-directory-registration-form.html or email smotpfa@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au.

‘Persuade the Principal’ Student Letter

The PFA are aiming to raise $20,000 this year and we have invited St Martin Students to send a persuasive letter to Mrs Marshall to let her know their ideas on what they would like to see funds allocated towards at our School.

The Persuade the Principal letter was sent out to students on Tuesday and also posted on Compass. We will present all suggestions to Mrs Marshall and let you know in Term 2 what this year’s fundraising activities will be allocated towards.

PFA Activities

Below are upcoming dates of PFA activities for your calendar, please visit our 'Helping Hands' register at https://signup.zone/smotpfa-volunteer to sign up. 

*Snow Cones Day - Wednesday 11th March

*Easter Raffle Drawn - Monday 23rd March

*Next PFA Meeting Term 2 - Tuesday 21st April (week 2)

*Mother's Day Stall - Wednesday 6th May

*Mother's Social Night - Friday 8th May

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 

Enrolment is free. All families must be enrolled to attend the program. Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

OFFICE HOURS: Mon— Friday 9.00 am — 5.00 pm (closed for lunch 1.00 pm — 2.00 pm )

PLEASE NOTE NEW PARISH NUMBER 9401 6338. A DIVERSION REMAINS IN PLACE FOR THE OLD NUMBER, HOWEVER PLEASE UPDATE YOUR PHONE DIRECTORIES. ALL EMAIL ENQUIRIES PLEASE USE macleod@cam.org.au

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION GROUP

The Christian Meditation Group has commenced for the year. The group meets in the Parish House at 7.30pm on Wednesdays, except during the school holidays.
Contact Joan McKeegan on 0418 584 970

CARING FOR CREATION

Pope Francis says, "We are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and one social, but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental".
I look forward to gathering with you, my fellow Catholics, and using our good hearts and minds to address this.
If you are interested, please contact me, Dennis Wollersheim, dewoller@gmail.com or 0414 529 454.

LENTEN DISCUSSION GROUP -“LIGHT FROM WITHIN”

Held in the Parish House and continuing up to Holy Week.
If you have any queries please contact the Parish Office.
Maeve Louise Heaney VDMF.
Tuesday Mornings: 10.00 - 11.00am
Thursday Evenings: 7.30 - 8.30pm

Dear Parents,

It was lovely to have the opportunity to meet many of you last week at the Band recruitment night, Confirmation and Prep information nights and PFA meeting. It is wonderful to see that St Martin’s provides so many opportunities for our students gifts and talents to shine and I can already see great interest in all things musical. At the Confirmation information night Fr Elio reminded our parents that we are all called and awakened by God to take on the values of Jesus. Our Prep families had the opportunity to learn all about school routines and expectations to support a successful year for their prep children.

The PFA have planned some great community and fundraising events for the year. The first one is coming up on Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday Picnic which is always a great community event.

Below are upcoming dates of PFA activities for your calendar:

Shrove Tuesday Picnic - Tuesday 25th February 5pm

Snow Cones Day - Wednesday 11th March

Easter Raffle Drawn - Monday 23rd March

Next PFA Meeting Term 2 - Tuesday 21st April

Mother's Day Stall - Wednesday 6th May

Mother's Social Night - Friday 8th May

Please take the time to read all about some new PFA initiatives such as 'St Martin of Tours School Community Business Directory' and 'Persuade the Principal' in the PFA News section of The Cloak.

Carnival News - Thursday 26 March

The committee has been working hard to ensure our Carnival is a great success. Many hands make light work so we would appreciate you offering your time to support in whatever way you can. Thank you for your generosity with the Mystery bottles and other donations that are being made. Please take the time to read all the Carnival News correspondence that is coming home.

Parenting Ideas - Michael Grose

St Martin's subscribes to ‘Parenting Ideas’ which is one of Australia’s leading providers of parenting education resources to schools. We will be uploading a new article fortnightly to our website. As parents we can often benefit from guidance when making decisions for our families. This week’s article is 'Managing separation anxiety at school drop-offs’

Community Prayer/Assembly

Our student leaders are doing a wonderful job leading our community on Monday mornings. As we finalise the best seating/standing arrangements for the students can we please ask parents to stand around the perimeter of the top yard as soon as the first bell rings. This will lessen congestion and allow teachers to supervise the students. Thank you for your support.

Prep and Year 6 Buddy Family Welcome Mass - Saturday 29 February

We look forward to our prep families and their Year 6 buddies joining us for the Prep Welcome Mass. We will be asking for God’s love as our children learn new things, make new friends and our families begin their journey at St Martin's. Our Prep families are then invited to share pizza together in the GECCO after mass.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Parents are warmly invited to attend Ash Wednesday Mass on Wednesday the 26th of February at 9.15am, please read the R.E News section of the newsletter for more information.

Parent-Teacher-Student Learning Conversations

Learning Conversations for Year 1-6 students will be held on Tuesday 10th March (4pm-8pm) and Wednesday 11th March (4pm-6pm). It is a requirement for Year 1-6 students to attend with their parents to support the conversation and establish a shared vision for the student’s learning. Bookings can be made via Compass, please check your Compass News feed for instructions and further information. Bookings close Thursday 5th March.

School Photo Day

School photos will be taken on Thursday 5th March. Students are to wear their summer uniform. Orders for school photos must be made online, further details can be found on the Compass News feed.

We keep in our prayers the family of Anthony Auslebrook who passed away recently. Anthony was a previous Principal at St Martin’s between 1988 - 1990.

Once again I have enjoyed getting in classrooms and seeing the wonderful learning taking place. My door is always open, so please come in and say hello!

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Books are like shoes – they need to be a good fit!

In Library lessons we have been discussing how important it is to be engaged in the book you are reading.

The Year 3s have been speaking about how books are like shoes, they need to be a good fit!

The Year 4s, 5s and 6s have been using the ‘Does it engage me?’ strategy to help us choose good fit books. When we select a book in the Library, we read the first few pages. Whilst reading we ask ourselves some of the following questions to help us determine if the book ‘grabs us’ and is a good fit:

Can I read most of the words?

How do I feel about this book?

Can I see the story in my head?

Do I care what happens next?

Do I want to keep reading?

Students have been having some important conversations around how we all enjoy reading different books and our answers to the above questions will be different from our classmates.

Here are some students that have found a good fit book! Happy reading!

Story Dogs Starting!

We are so very lucky to have Ava and Charlie, our trained story dogs, working with us in the library to listen to our students read.

Ava and Charlie will be starting with us on Wednesday and Thursday next week! Yay!

Library Opening Hours

Please find a copy of our library timetable here.
We remind all families we are open every day from 8.30am, and we LOVE seeing families come in together and take some time out to read a book.
We are also open until 3.45pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

LRC TIMETABLE 2020

Year Six: What is ZENDALA?

Year six students completing their Zendala's during the confirmation information evening with Father Elio.

Zendala is a process of creating a Mandala using the Zentangle® technique. Using this magical art form to create beautiful tangled mandalas is a fun and easy way to create both a meditative experience and a piece of personal artwork.

The year six students used only symbols that represent Confirmation to them to create their Zendala’s. These meditative pieces of artwork will be continued throughout the term and displayed during Confirmation.

Year Five Sustainability: WASTE NOT! WANT NOT!

As part of the Year Five sustainability topic, Waste Not! Want Not!,’ we will be collecting donations of pillow cases and t-shirts that you now longer use.
We will be recycling these items into shopping bags! Items can be printed materials or plain.
We will not be accepting new items as we are encouraging students to recycle and reuse.

The more donations we get, the better!

You will get the opportunity to see our finished products during the school Fete at the Year Five sustainability stall.
Could you please send washed items to the 5V classroom by Friday 13th March.

We appreciate your support,
The Year 5 Team

Michael Grose
Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. His latest release Anxious Kids, was co-authored with Dr Jodi Richardson.

Managing separation anxiety at school drop-offs

Going to school for most children is a positive experience however some children can struggle making the transition from their home environment to school. It’s naturally distressing to see your child upset at school drop-off but there is a great deal you can do to make school drop-offs easier for you and your child.

Breaking the cycle of separation anxiety at school

A child’s clinginess, crying or tantrums at school drop-off can be disturbing for you as a parent. Despite putting on a brave face, you can feel guilty that somehow you’re the cause of this behaviour. Unless something traumatic has occurred then leaving your child at school is a normal part of life, something your child will get used to. The following strategies may help eradicate your child’s tears and fears when you take them to school:

Tell the story

Prepare your child thoroughly each morning for what will happen when you leave your child at school. Repeat the story each morning before school so they can fully prepare for drop-off.

It takes two

Involve your child’s teacher in the drop-off process as they will be the person who must deal with an upset child. In extreme examples, at the start of term or after a long absence, a later starting time may give your child a chance to say goodbye in more relaxed circumstances.

Give me five

Rituals are both personal and reassuring so develop a special goodbye ritual that you consistently use when you leave your child each morning. Your special ritual may be simple such as a special wave or kiss, or fun such as a high five, low five, fist pump bursting into a hand explosion. Then leave quickly without stalling or looking back. Avoid making leaving a bigger deal than it what it is.

Reduce the rush

Is your child a morning star or night owl? Many children are slow starters in the morning, which can mean that they’re frequently rushed and arrive at school in highly anxious states. Do all you can to reduce morning stress, which may include earlier bed and waking times; laying out school clothes the previous evening and making minimal demands on their time.

This is the place

Location carries memory so choose carefully the place you say goodbye to your child. If a kiss or hug at the school-gate means a happy child, then you’ve probably found your goodbye place. Experiment with your goodbye location until you find one that works.

It’s your job

If goodbyes continue to cause tears, tantrums or clinginess consider, if possible, saying goodbye to your child at home and allowing another adult – your partner or another parent – to take your child to school.

If separation anxiety continues

If your child’s separation anxiety interferes with their concentration and learning, prevents them from making friends, is excessive and goes longer than a month, consider getting professional support. Separation anxiety left unchecked can lead to school refusal and other anxiety disorders later on. For professional support consult with welfare teacher at your child’s school, your local general practitioner or local council for suitable health care professionals in the area.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Parents are invited to attend Ash Wednesday Mass on the 26th of February at 9.15am. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church’s season of Lent.
During the Mass, we will receive a marking of ash on our foreheads as an expression of our faith and a sign that we are asking God for forgiveness.

Did you know?

The ashes come from the Palm Sunday palms. Parishioners have been asked to bring their palms to this weekend's masses so they can be burnt in readiness for Wednesday’s Mass. Parishioners will then receive new palms on Palm Sunday.

Project Compassion

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and giving to others. Through prayer we come closer to God so that we are better able to realise our baptismal promise to live justly as Jesus teaches us.
Fasting joins us in solidarity with the poor who often have no choice but to go without basic needs such as food, water and shelter.
Yesterday, families received a Project Compassion box. Giving to the poor or ‘almsgiving’ is a sign of our commitment to justice and our thanks for all that God has given us.
One way we can do so during Lent, is to fill a Project Compassion box. In the last week of the term, as a school, we send the donated money to Caritas, a catholic organisation who help communities in poorer countries.
During Lent, class teachers will show some video clips from Caritas - Project Compassion of communities around the world that we have supported in past years.
To view the Caritas Project Compassion video clips, please refer to the link: https://lent.caritas.org.au/#blank

Religious Education Dates

February
★ 25th - Shrove Tuesday
★ 26th - Ash Wednesday Mass at 9.15am
★ 29th - Prep Welcome Mass at 6pm

March
★ 13th - St Patrick’s Day Mass and Concert for Student Leaders (all day event)
★ 21st - Year 5 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ Easter Tableau (TBC)
★ 26th - Parish/School Carnival 3.30pm-8.30pm

April
★ 10th - Good Friday
★ 12th - Easter Sunday
★ 13th - Easter Monday (holiday)
★ 14th - ‘He is Risen’ Liturgy
★ 18th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 19th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 10am
★ 27th - ANZAC Assembly

May
★ 2nd - Confirmation Masses at 11am or 1.30pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Information Evening at 7pm
★ 30th - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 31st - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 10am

June
★ 6th - Winter Appeal commences
★ 13th - Year 2 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 19th - Sacred Heart Mission Mass at 9.15am
★ 20th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 21st - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

July
★ 16th - Eucharist Retreat Day (TBC)
★ 25th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

August
★ 7th - Mary Mackillop Mass at 9.15am
★ 8th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 9th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am
★ 14th - Feast of the Assumption Mass at 9.15am
★ 15th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 16th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am

September
★ 1st - Reconciliation Information Evening at 7pm
★ 5th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 6pm
★ 6th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 10am

October

★ 13th - 3MT Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 17th - Year 1 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 20th - 3JC Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 27th - 3C Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm

November
★ 11th - St Martin of Tours Feast Day Mass at 9.15am

December
★ 14th - Graduation Mass at 5pm
★ 15th - End of School Year Mass at 9.15am

PARENT HELPER TRAINING SESSIONS  

At St Martin’s, we encourage parents to volunteer their time in classes to support student learning.
Parent Helpers’contributions are important and valuable to students’ learning.
If you are interested in becoming a Parent Helper that assists in classes, we ask that you attend one of our Parent Helper Training sessions (approximately one hour).
They are on the following dates:
Tuesday, 10 March at 9:15am
Wednesday, 18 March at 7pm
Please email our Literacy Leader for the Junior School to confirm your attendance. Dinesha Rajasingam - drajasingam@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

**If you are a teacher or if you have attended a training session previously you do not need to attend one of these sessions.**

WEEK 3

PGR Prep GR for being so wonderful starting their full days at school! Woohoo!

PPV Alex for being a fabulous member of Prep PV and participating in class activities.

PVL Clara S for colouring in so neatly and carefully. Well done!!

Fabian M for taking great care when completing his schoolwork!

1B Leo for being such a fabulous listener and a wonderful friend to everyone in 1B!

1F Sofia B for being a respectful member of the class who is always so smiley and willing to teach me Spanish! ‘Muy bien!’

1LB Milana for being a caring and friendly member of our class. She is always willing to help others and sets a fantastic example for her peers. Amazing effort Milana!

2C Chloe S for making my hear happy.

2OC Josh for always following the school rules and being a great role model.

2T Jack N, for his hard work in every lesson and the beautiful reflective prayer he wrote in R.E. Great work Jack!

3C Gabriel for being helpful and offering to assist his teacher and others.

3JC Finn R for using fantastic describing words when retelling, 'The Bear's Lunch'. 

3MT Evie for using 'sizzling starts' and adjectives to make her writing come alive.

4C Aiden F for his positive attitude towards his learning and being a role model for others. Well done Aiden!

4T Max S for making good choices and setting an example for others.

5C Isabelle K for starting the year on the right foot by demonstrating how to be a learning champion.

5L Molly P for being so vigilant and looking out for the health and safety of her peers. Well done, Molly!

5V Issy for her persistence during writing tasks. She has really listened to feedback from the teacher and applies this to her writing. Keep up the growth mindset.

6AM Adam D for his huge efforts and application to his class work. You have listened, tried and applied yourself. Well done!

6W Luca has been responsible in catching up on learning tasks when he has been out of the room for leadership duties.

6ZW Liam D for being so helpful and organising Mr. Zac when he needs to be reminded of important events. Also for working hard and climbing out of the learning pit when working on binary coding.

Audrey C for making fantastic choices in class. Audrey has started the year exceptionally well focusing on her work and ignores distractions.

WEEK 4

PGR Maddie for being a great listener and a kind helper to her new friends.

Jesse for playing fairly with his friends and for using the pictures in the classroom to follow directions.

PPV Sienna for being an enthusiastic member of Prep PV. Well done Sienna.

PVL Lewis B for always using his beautiful manners at all times. Well done!!

Genevieve D for being a kind and patient member of Prep VL. Super!!

1B Kayleigh for always trying her best in all learning activities and being a kind and caring 1B class member.

1F Ethan for always putting 100% into his work and being a focussed learner. Awesome stuff!

1LB Jonty for consistently presenting his work at a wonderful standard and striving for his best in every lesson. Fantastic effort Jonty!

2C Olivia F for always staying on task and making good choices with her learning.

2OC Zara for beginning her procedure steps with a verb. Beautiful writing Zara!

2T Loukas for his outstanding enthusiasm and participation throughout our procedure unit this term. Well Done Loukas!

3C Matilda for listening attentively to the speaker and trying her best in class time.

3JC Chloe C for writing a fantastic 'sizzling start' to a story.

3MT Jacob for helping others to log onto the chromebooks and assisting those in need when using them.

4C Sam F for his positive choices in behaviour and encouraging others to meet classroom expectations. Keep it up, Sam!

4T Olivia S for always offering to help others in the classroom.

5C Jhon S for demonstrating how to be a learning champion by always trying his best.

5L Marko S for his efforts seeking out and applying teacher feedback to improve his writing. Well done on such a positive start to the year!

5V Emmy for being a kind and caring member of the classroom, by helping others in need. Thank you for helping your injured classmate during the school day. You really are a kind person.

6AM Adam K for his positive work ethic and strong work habits. His enthusiasm and maturity makes him a leader in our 6AM classroom.

6W Sid is patient and understanding, especially in Maths when he helps other students.

6ZW Lachie B for his positive attitude towards his learning and being a role model for others by always putting in 100% effort in everything he is doing.

Natasha B for going to such great lengths to climb out of the learning pit, always seeking out and applying feedback to improve her writing. Well done on such a positive start to the year!

PARENT INFORMATION 2020                      

Welcome to the 2020 school year. We have included some general information that we hope will assist parents throughout the school year. Specific information relating to your child’s year level and class shall be provided by your child’s classroom teacher.

Starting Time

Students are expected to be at school by 8.40am and in the classroom by 8:45am. Punctuality is important as we start meditation at 8:50am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Monday mornings we hold a Community Prayer and Assembly on Top Yard. 
If you are late to school, please take your child to the office and sign them in via Compass. Teachers take the roll at 9:00am. Students that arrive after 9:00am will be recorded as late. The overall number of absences and late attendance will be recorded on each student’s report at the end of each semester.

Bell Times:                   
8:30am Gates Open 
8:40am Students begin to enter the classroom with their belongings when the music plays.
8:45am Students begin morning routine and meditation
9:00am Classes begin 
11:00am Eating time
11:10am First Break
11:50am Classes resume
1:50pm Eating time 
2:00pm Second Break
2:40pm Classes resume
3:30pm End of school day

School Pick Ups (Year 1-6 Students)

Please ensure you have arranged a safe pick up point with your child and throughout the year you advise your child of any changes in the usual routine for pick up. Students can leave the school grounds via the Top Yard gate around the back of the Mercy building and via the pedestrian gate at Dobson Avenue. Students can also be collected by an adult and must be escorted down the stairs to the car park. NO student is to enter the carpark without an adult. Primary age children do not have enough car awareness to walk through the car park safely.

If your child is to attend OSHClub (After School Care), it is their responsibility to know which nights they go. Please ensure you are registered with OSHClub as students who are not picked up at the end of the school day will be sent to OSHClub. 

School Pick Ups (Prep Students)

At the end of the school day Prep students can be picked up from their dots. 

Seesaw Digital Portfolio 

This year teachers will continue the use of a digital portfolio in place of the Learning Journals. It is an opportunity for parents to gain greater insight into learning at St. Martin’s. More information will be sent out regarding Seesaw digital portfolios from your child’s classroom teacher. 

Home Practice/Learning Requirements  

An expectation of all St. Martin’s students is that they read for at least 20 minutes every night. Classroom teachers will advise parents of specific Home Practice/Learning Requirements for each year level.

Specialist Timetable 

Your classroom teacher will avise you of the days your child has Library, LOTE, STEM, Art, Music and Sport. 

Brain Food    

We encourage healthy eating because of the benefits this has to both our mind and body. We ask that students bring a labelled small plastic container with diced or chopped up fruit or vegetables (Nude Food) that can be eaten as a snack during class time.

Communication 

All our school communication is via Compass. Parents can email their child’s classroom teacher via Compass. Due to teaching and meeting commitments it may take up to three working days before a teacher is able to respond to emails. If your matter is urgent, please contact the school office. 

Absences

Student absences must be placed on Compass as soon as possible. Failure to place an absence on Compass will result in parents receiving an SMS from the school office. As a courtesy, could you please provide your child’s classroom teacher with an email, so that they are able to monitor your child upon their return to school.

Early Leavers

If you need to pick your child up before 3:30pm, please enter this absence on Compass indicating the time of early release, late arrival or return to school. As a courtesy please send a short note with your child to give to the classroom teacher on the day. If possible avoid collecting your child during first and second break as students can be difficult to find on the yard.

Permission Forms

Permission forms for excursions are sent via Compass. Please check Compass regularly and ensure you approve excursions by the due date. Failure to approve an excursion may result in your child not being able to attend.  

Medication

If students require medicine to be administered during school time, you will need to complete a Medical Request Form, (also available at the school office). Please clearly label all medicine as it is kept in the school office. Medication will be given by the office staff and must be returned to an adult.

Allergies

At St. Martin’s we strongly encourage 'no sharing of food' amongst students due to some students having allergies. We also ask parents not to send products containing nuts. Please advise the school office of changes to your child’s medical condition so that our school records are up to date.

Birthdays 

If you wish to send a treat for your child’s birthday, please refrain from sending food, we ask you to consider those students that have food allergies. Instead please consider sending in small items, such as, balloons, bubbles, stickers, pencils etc.

School Visitors/Parent Volunteers 

It is a legal requirement that all parent helpers and visitors assisting in any way in the classroom, sport days or on excursions MUST have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC). You will need to provide your WWCC number to the school office when signing in. Please ensure you check the expiry date of your card.

School Uniform, Hats and Bags 

Full school uniform must be worn appropriately at all times, this includes wearing sports uniforms on sports days. If your child is out of uniform please provide your child’s teacher with a note explaining why. Please ensure you label ALL school uniform items. Hats are to be worn in Terms 1 and 4. No hat means No play. Sunscreen is strongly encouraged however it is your child’s responsibility to apply it within school hours. 
We also encourage all students to carry their own school bag to and from school and to be responsible for packing and unpacking their own bags.

Canteen 

The canteen is open on Thursdays and Fridays. Students are able to purchase icy poles during first and second break. Lunch order items are listed on the canten menu.

Office Items

If any money is to be sent to the school office, please ensure it is clearly labelled with your child’s name, class, the amount payable and what it is for and given to your child's classroom teacher. 
We ask parents to advise the school of any changes to family/student information as they occur e.g. home address, emergency contacts, place of employment and occupation. These changes can be made by completing a Change of Information Form. 

Personal Items 

Students are not to bring mobile phones or electronic devices to school. Expensive and sentimental toys/items are also discouraged, as they could be easily damaged or lost. Please label any balls etc. with your child’s name. Lost property is located near the school office.

Please visit our school website for further information.

We wish families a smooth start to the 2020 school year.

The St Martin of Tours School & Parish Carnival is 5 weeks away!! Make sure you have Thursday 26th of March booked in your calendar for a fun afternoon celebrating our School, Parish and Community.

Our Carnival flyer and ride wristband booking details have gone home with students today. They contain lots of information about the Carnival so please take the time to read them. Un-limited ride wristband bookings are now open on Trybooking- https://www.trybooking.com/BIIBH

Wristbands are $30 per child for unlimited rides on the Cha Cha, Bungee Run, Chair-o-plane, Giant slide, Jumping Castle and Activity Centre. Early Bird wristband sales on Trybooking close on Friday 20th March and after that wristbands will be $35.

Requests for Carnival Volunteers on various stalls went out yesterday via different year levels, these formas are also available on the Compass News feed. Please complete the form that was sent home and return it to the office if you are able to volunteer your time on that stall, or email us at carnival@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au
Many hands make light work, so your help is greatly appreciated!

We are also still looking for people with a current RSA to help out with the bar on a roster basis, no longer than an hour of your time. Please get in touch if you can assist.

Collection of second hand children's books and games (both in good quality) is still ongoing. Collection tubs are outside the GECCO and house points will be received for each item.

Be sure to follow us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smotcarnival/ for updated info. Please feel free to invite family, friends and our wonderful community by sharing the page and details of our Carnival. 

The PFA held its first meeting of 2020 last Wednesday evening and we had a productive start to the year with our fundraising planning.
Below are upcoming dates of PFA activities for your calendar.

*Shrove Tuesday Picnic - Tuesday 25th February 5pm

*Snow Cones Day - Wednesday 11th March

*Easter Raffle Drawn - Monday 23rd March

*Next PFA Meeting Term 2 - Tuesday 21st April (week 2)

*Mother's Day Stall - Wednesday 6th May

*Mother's Social Night - Friday 8th May

PFA Community Business Directory

The St Martin of Tours School Parents and Friends’ Association (PFA) have developed a Community Business Directory for the St Martin of Tours School (SMOT), Rosanna, Community. This initiative serves to connect families, staff, alumni, parishioners and supporters of our school throughout our community.

People prefer to use service providers they know, like and trust. Rather than having to search through unknown service-providers, community members can choose from professionals within our school community via the Business Directory. Details on listing your Business in the directory have been sent home today and can be found on the Compass News feed; PFA Community Business Directory.

For a small fee of $20 for the year, the Directory provides a unique opportunity for businesses to promote themselves and provide special offers directly to our SMOT Community, whilst also supporting our school.

If you would like to advertise your business, please visit: http://smotpfa.weebly.com/business-directory-registration-form.html or email smotpfa@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au.

Shrove Tuesday Picnic - Tuesday 25th February 5pm

Our first event for the year is hosting the annual St Martin of Tours Shrove Tuesday Picnic this Tuesday at 5pm.

There will be BBQ sausages, pancakes and drinks for sale. Lawn games and two jumping castles ($2 ticket).

Please bring BYO picnic blankets, chairs etc. It's always a lovely evening to catch up with friends or to meet new ones in our community. If you are able to spare 30 minutes of your time to assist serving food, please visit our Helping Hands register at https://signup.zone/smotpfa-volunteer to sign up.

‘Persuade the Principal’ Student Letter

The PFA are aiming to raise $20,000 this year and we have invited St Martin Students to send a persuasive letter to Mrs Marshall to let her know their ideas on what they would like to see funds allocated towards at our School.

The Persuade the Principal letter was sent out to students on Tuesday and also posted on Compass. We will present all suggestions to Mrs Marshall and let you know in Term 2 what this year’s fundraising activities will be allocated towards.

PFA Administration Note

On an administration note, we would like to remind the community that St Martin of Tours School Parents and Friends' Association is a School Controlled PFA.

In late 2019 we held a Special General Meeting where our Constitution was amended to include the necessary wording to comply with the CECV Financial Compliance Obligations Guide (2016) since becoming a School Controlled PFA in late 2016. There have also been procedural changes during this time to ensure we are following the guide and school audit requirements.

Being a School Controlled PFA means that the income and expenses of the PFA are included in the School's annual financial statements. As funds raised by PFA activities already form part of the School's financial reports, the decision on how fundraising money will be allocated lies with the Principal. The PFA do not have discretion to make decisions on allocating PFA money that is not for fundraising purposes.

Visit our Event Calendar for more events and information   

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPASS NEWS FEED AND CALENDAR FOR CHANGES AND UPDATES TO OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Tuesday 25th February Shrove Tuesday PFA Picnic 5pm

Wednesday 26th February Ash Wednesday Whole School Mass 9.15am

Saturday 29th February Prep and Year 6 Buddy Family Welcome Mass 6pm

Tuesday 3rd March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Thursday 5th March School Photo Day Students to wear Summer Uniform

Monday 9th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 March Parent / Teacher / Student Learning Conversations Year 1 -6 Students ONLY 
Parent Helper Training Session 9.15am 

Thursday 12th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Sunday 15th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Tuesday 17th March School Tours - Open Morning 9.30am

Wednesday 18th March Parent Helper Training Session 7pm  

Thursday 19th March Prep 2021 Enrolment Information Evening 

Saturday 21st March Year 5 Weekend Mass 6pm

Thursday 26th March Parish and School Carnival

Friday 27th March Last day of Term 1

Term Dates 2020

Term 1: 29th January - 27th March

Term 2: 14th April - 26 June

Term 3: 13th July - 18th September

Term 4: 5th October - 18th December (TBC)

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 

Enrolment is free. All families must be enrolled to attend the program. Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

OFFICE HOURS: Mon— Friday 9.00 am — 5.00 pm (closed for lunch 1.00 pm — 2.00 pm ) 03 9401 6338

ASH WEDNESDAY 26th February 2020

MASSES - 9.15 AM and 7.30 PM

Project compassion boxes will be available on this day.

LENTEN DISCUSSION GROUP - “LIGHT FROM WITHIN”

Maeve Louise Heaney VDMF.

Tuesday Morning: 25th February 2020, 10.00 - 11.00am

Thursday Evening: 27th February 2020, 7.30 - 8.30pm

Held in the Parish House and continuing up to Holy Week.

Please put your name on the sign up sheets in the foyer to indicate your attendance to the Lenten discussion sessions.

The parish office will order books for you to use during these sessions. If you have any queries please contact the Parish Office.

ALTAR SERVER’S TRAINING:

All students from Year 3 upwards are invited to attend Altar Server’s training on Tuesday 3rd March at 11.45 am in the Church.

BAPTISM TEAM:

Volunteers are invited to join this Team. Those interested in this important role, please contact the Parish Office. Training will be provided.

Children’s Liturgy Program- WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS !!

The purpose of this Ministry is to bring the Good News to the younger members of our community, in a safe and age-appropriate environment.

Volunteer parents and helpers take children out to partake in a short lesson based on the readings of the day during 10 am mass.

Suitably trained adults are welcome to join as leaders and helpers of the program. Children aged 4 – 12 are invited forward at every mass during the academic year.

There are currently 10 adults involved in this ministry. Working with Children Checks are required.

Adults may contact the Pastoral Associate, Sr. Maria Bui maria.bui@cam.org.au or the Coordinator: Sarah Gittins at Sarah.Gittins@bigpond.com

Dear Parents

Our students have settled into their new classes getting to know their teachers and classmates. Yesterday Fr Michael and I walked around the school with our school captains Hanna and Luca and blessed all the learning spaces, children and staff. At the beginning of the school year mass on Tuesday, we gathered together and asked God to bless us all and guide us in all that we do. The choir consisting of students and teachers, sang with joy as we embrace a year of new beginnings.

We welcome many new families to St Martin's this year and look forward to supporting them on their journey. Communication processes are very important in understanding the life of a school so I encourage all families to regularly check Compass and the school events calendar for upcoming events. Our fortnightly school newsletter will provide valuable information as schools are vibrant places that provide many opportunities for celebration of learning, social and community events and enrichment, information and faith formation experiences.

Our prep students are loving school life.

Many of our volunteer groups such as; Parents and Friends Association, Parish Education Board and Carnival Committee are planning their dates for the year which will be included in the calendar shortly.

Community Prayer and Assembly

Every Monday morning at 8.50am, parents are invited to join Fr Michael, the student leaders, teachers and students to participate in our Community Prayer on top yard. Parents are invited to stand next to their own children to listen to the weekly Gospel Reading and announcements about other events which involve the student community. We conclude our Community Prayer and Assembly with the raising of the flags whilst singing our national anthem.

School closure days for 2020

The following days have been set aside for staff professional learning. As we are undergoing a Catholic Education School Review this year additional days are needed to address school improvement and compliance matters. I will outline the review process at a later date. Thank you for your support. Wednesday 17 June, Thursday 23 July, Thursday 15 October, Friday 16 October, Monday 2 November (day before Cup Day) and Monday 30 November.

Parking and student safety reminders

Student safety is very important and the beginning of the year is a time to remind you all of the processes for morning drop off and afternoon pick up.

Morning
Kiss and Drop - each morning at 8.30am the Silk St entrance to bottom yard is opened for a ‘Kiss and Drop’ procedure. Cars enter in a single file and stay in single file and move towards the junior playground equipment. A teacher will be on duty adjacent to the play equipment. Students will be able to exit their car from this point only. No parking on bottom yard. Cars must exit via Dobson Avenue gates.

Afternoon
The bottom yard will be opened at 3.15pm. Cars must enter through the Silk Street gate and exit through Dobson Avenue gate. Parents may park in the yard from this time onwards. Children are to be collected by parents from a designated safe point within the school yard. Children will be under the supervision of the teacher on yard duty. Playgrounds are out of bounds before and after school. Do not wait in your car or call children through the traffic. To avoid traffic congestion it is suggested that where possible, cars are parked away from the school and children walk the remaining distance. Walking promotes physical activity, independence and responsibility in children.

Silk Street Pick-up/Drop-off Zone
This zone is designed for quick movement of cars and is a council enforced standing time of 2 minutes - no parking is permitted. Normal parking restrictions and council signs should be observed when the flags are displayed on the School Crossing. Note that cars may only turn left out of Silk Street and NO cars should attempt to make a U turn and hold up the flow of traffic along the drop-off area. Parents are welcome to use the community centre car park located on the corner of Silk Street and Lower Plenty Road when there is a space available.

Mercy Building car park
Parents are asked not to park in this area for the safety of students. There may be times when community events are happening that it may be open and we will advise this through compass.
Thank you for your support.

School Counsellor

Throughout this term we will be reviewing our school counsellor program. Feedback will be sought from families and staff. During this time all matters related to Student Wellbeing should be directed to your child’s classroom teacher, Jamie Atherton (Student Wellbeing Leader) or Jacqui Marshall (Principal).

Upcoming events

Monday 10 Feb Community Prayer and Assembly - 8:50am
                     Band Program Information and Recruitment Night - 7pm

Tuesday 11 Feb Confirmation Information Night - 7pm

Wednesday 12 Feb Prep 2020 Information Night - 7pm
                          PFA Meeting - 7:45pm

Saturday 15 Feb Confirmation commitment mass - 6pm

Sunday 16 Feb Confirmation commitment mass - 10am

Monday 17 Feb Community Prayer and Assembly - 8:50am

Tuesday 25 Feb Shrove Tuesday Picnic - 5pm

2021 Prep Enrolments are NOW OPEN

It is that time again where we ask existing families to drop into the school office to register, collect and complete an enrolment form for their child. It would be appreciated if families could do so as soon as possible so that we can make some projections of how many places we are able to offer new families. Parents are welcome to spread the word to potential new families that our enrolments are now being taken for 2021.

2020 Open Days - Please let your friends know.

School tours will be conducted at 9.30am on each of the following days. Tours will be approximately 30–45 minutes and will be conducted by staff and Year 6 students.

● Tuesday, 3rd March

● Thursday, 12th March

● Sunday 15th March

● Tuesday, 17th March

● Tuesday, 5th May

Prep 2021 Enrolment Information Evening – Thursday 19th March, 7pm.

Families are welcome to contact the school office to arrange a personal tour on other days.

This term we excitedly prepare for the St Martin's Carnival on 26 March. I have been so impressed by how much has already been achieved by the committee and know they are looking for volunteers to support. Your generosity of time is much appreciated.

I will introduce our student school leaders to you in our next newsletter.

Congratulations to Jess McGrath and her husband Johnny on the safe arrival of their beautiful daughter Rosie Merle. We look forward to meeting Rosie when Jess pops in for a visit.

Thank you for the warm words of welcome and I look forward to walking alongside you all to ensure your children meet their potential. St Martins is a wonderful place to be.

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

PREP 2020 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

PREP PARENTS INFORMATION EVENING

An information evening for Prep Parents will be held on Wednesday 12 February at 7pm in your child's classroom. 

Compass login details have been sent to our new families. Please contact th school office if you have not received your details or if you have any queries.

PREP 2020 SCHOOL DAYS AND TIMES

Monday 10th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Tuesday 11th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 12th February -NO SCHOOL for Prep Students 
Thursday 13th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Friday 14th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm

Monday 17th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Tuesday 18th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 19th February -NO SCHOOL for Prep Students 
Thursday 20th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Friday 21st February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm

Monday 24th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Tuesday 25th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 26th February -NO SCHOOL for Prep Students 
Thursday 27th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm
Friday 28st February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm

During the month of February Prep students do not attend classes on Wednesdays as Prep teachers conduct Prep student assessments.

Monday 2nd March - Prep students commence FULL school week days.

Religious Education Dates

February
★ 11th - Confirmation Information Evening at 7pm
★ 15th - Confirmation Commitment Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 16th - Confirmation Commitment Mass at 10am
★ 25th - Shrove Tuesday
★ 26th - Ash Wednesday Mass at 9.15am
★ 29th - Prep Welcome Mass at 6pm

March
★ 13th - St Patrick’s Day Mass and Concert for Student Leaders (all day event)
★ 21st - Year 5 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ Easter Tableau (TBC)
★ 26th - Parish/School Carnival 3.30pm-8.30pm

April
★ 10th - Good Friday
★ 12th - Easter Sunday
★ 13th - Easter Monday (holiday)
★ 14th - ‘He is Risen’ Liturgy
★ 18th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 19th - Confirmation Preparation Mass at 10am
★ 27th - ANZAC Assembly

May
★ 2nd - Confirmation Masses at 11am or 1.30pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Information Evening at 7pm
★ 30th - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 31st - Eucharist Commitment Mass at 10am

June
★ 6th - Winter Appeal commences
★ 13th - Year 2 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 19th - Sacred Heart Mission Mass at 9.15am
★ 20th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
OR
★ 21st - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

July
★ 16th - Eucharist Retreat Day (TBC)
★ 25th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 6pm
★ 26th - Eucharist Preparation Mass at 10am

August
★ 7th - Mary Mackillop Mass at 9.15am
★ 8th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 9th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am
★ 14th - Feast of the Assumption Mass at 9.15am
★ 15th - First Eucharist Mass at 6pm
★ 16th - First Eucharist Mass at 10am

September
★ 1st - Reconciliation Information Evening at 7pm
★ 5th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 6pm
★ 6th - Reconciliation Commitment Mass at 10am

October

★ 13th - 3MT Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 17th - Year 1 Level Family Mass at 6pm
★ 20th - 3JC Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm
★ 27th - 3C Reconciliation Liturgy at 7pm

November
★ 11th - St Martin of Tours Feast Day Mass at 9.15am

December
★ 14th - Graduation Mass at 5pm
★ 15th - End of School Year Mass at 9.15am

PARENT INFORMATION 2020                      

Welcome to the 2020 school year. We have included some general information that we hope will assist parents throughout the school year. Specific information relating to your child’s year level and class shall be provided by your child’s classroom teacher.

Starting Time

Students are expected to be at school by 8.40am and in the classroom by 8:45am. Punctuality is important as we start meditation at 8:50am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Monday mornings we hold a Community Prayer and Assembly on Top Yard. 
If you are late to school, please take your child to the office and sign them in via Compass. Teachers take the roll at 9:00am. Students that arrive after 9:00am will be recorded as late. The overall number of absences and late attendance will be recorded on each student’s report at the end of each semester.

Bell Times:                   
8:30am Gates Open 
8:40am Students begin to enter the classroom with their belongings when the music plays.
8:45am Students begin morning routine and meditation
9:00am Classes begin 
11:00am Eating time
11:10am First Break
11:50am Classes resume
1:50pm Eating time 
2:00pm Second Break
2:40pm Classes resume
3:30pm End of school day

School Pick Ups (Year 1-6 Students)

Please ensure you have arranged a safe pick up point with your child and throughout the year you advise your child of any changes in the usual routine for pick up. Students can leave the school grounds via the Top Yard gate around the back of the Mercy building and via the pedestrian gate at Dobson Avenue. Students can also be collected by an adult and must be escorted down the stairs to the car park. NO student is to enter the carpark without an adult. Primary age children do not have enough car awareness to walk through the car park safely.

If your child is to attend OSHClub (After School Care), it is their responsibility to know which nights they go. Please ensure you are registered with OSHClub as students who are not picked up at the end of the school day will be sent to OSHClub. 

School Pick Ups (Prep Students)

At the end of the school day Prep students can be picked up from their dots. 

Seesaw Digital Portfolio 

This year teachers will continue the use of a digital portfolio in place of the Learning Journals. It is an opportunity for parents to gain greater insight into learning at St. Martin’s. More information will be sent out regarding Seesaw digital portfolios from your child’s classroom teacher. 

Home Practice/Learning Requirements  

An expectation of all St. Martin’s students is that they read for at least 20 minutes every night. Classroom teachers will advise parents of specific Home Practice/Learning Requirements for each year level.

Specialist Timetable 

Your classroom teacher will avise you of the days your child has Library, LOTE, STEM, Art, Music and Sport. 

Brain Food    

We encourage healthy eating because of the benefits this has to both our mind and body. We ask that students bring a labelled small plastic container with diced or chopped up fruit or vegetables (Nude Food) that can be eaten as a snack during class time.

Communication 

All our school communication is via Compass. Parents can email their child’s classroom teacher via Compass. Due to teaching and meeting commitments it may take up to three working days before a teacher is able to respond to emails. If your matter is urgent, please contact the school office. 

Absences

Student absences must be placed on Compass as soon as possible. Failure to place an absence on Compass will result in parents receiving an SMS from the school office. As a courtesy, could you please provide your child’s classroom teacher with an email, so that they are able to monitor your child upon their return to school.

Early Leavers

If you need to pick your child up before 3:30pm, please enter this absence on Compass indicating the time of early release, late arrival or return to school. As a courtesy please send a short note with your child to give to the classroom teacher on the day. If possible avoid collecting your child during first and second break as students can be difficult to find on the yard.

Permission Forms

Permission forms for excursions are sent via Compass. Please check Compass regularly and ensure you approve excursions by the due date. Failure to approve an excursion may result in your child not being able to attend.  

Medication

If students require medicine to be administered during school time, you will need to complete a Medical Request Form, (also available at the school office). Please clearly label all medicine as it is kept in the school office. Medication will be given by the office staff and must be returned to an adult.

Allergies

At St. Martin’s we strongly encourage 'no sharing of food' amongst students due to some students having allergies. We also ask parents not to send products containing nuts. Please advise the school office of changes to your child’s medical condition so that our school records are up to date.

Birthdays 

If you wish to send a treat for your child’s birthday, please refrain from sending food, we ask you to consider those students that have food allergies. Instead please consider sending in small items, such as, balloons, bubbles, stickers, pencils etc.

School Visitors/Parent Volunteers 

It is a legal requirement that all parent helpers and visitors assisting in any way in the classroom, sport days or on excursions MUST have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC). You will need to provide your WWCC number to the school office when signing in. Please ensure you check the expiry date of your card.

School Uniform, Hats and Bags 

Full school uniform must be worn appropriately at all times, this includes wearing sports uniforms on sports days. If your child is out of uniform please provide your child’s teacher with a note explaining why. Please ensure you label ALL school uniform items. Hats are to be worn in Terms 1 and 4. No hat means No play. Sunscreen is strongly encouraged however it is your child’s responsibility to apply it within school hours. 
We also encourage all students to carry their own school bag to and from school and to be responsible for packing and unpacking their own bags.

Canteen 

The canteen is open on Thursdays and Fridays. Students are able to purchase icy poles during first and second break. Lunch order items are listed on the canten menu.

Office Items

If any money is to be sent to the school office, please ensure it is clearly labelled with your child’s name, class, the amount payable and what it is for and given to your child's classroom teacher. 
We ask parents to advise the school of any changes to family/student information as they occur e.g. home address, emergency contacts, place of employment and occupation. These changes can be made by completing a Change of Information Form. 

Personal Items 

Students are not to bring mobile phones or electronic devices to school. Expensive and sentimental toys/items are also discouraged, as they could be easily damaged or lost. Please label any balls etc. with your child’s name. Lost property is located near the school office.

Please visit our school website for further information.

We wish families a smooth start to the 2020 school year.

Confirmation Information Evening

Next Tuesday evening the Year 6 parents are invited to gather together to listen to Fr Elio Capra speak about Confirmation as a sacrament in today’s world. The Year 6 students, along with the Catechist children, will also attend the evening to work with their teachers on developing their understanding of the Sacrament.

Confirmation Commitment Mass

We invite our school families to pray with our Year 6 students as they begin their preparations for Confirmation. At the weekend Masses (15th/16th February), the Year 6 students will commit to their faith as they prepare to receive the final Sacrament of Initiation.

Welcome back to school! It’s been great to see all of our students return to the library and enthusiastically start borrowing from our collection again this week.

We have some exciting things planned in the library space this year and we know 2020 is going to be a wonderful year for our students where they will continue to develop a lifelong love of reading.

Please CLICK HERE find our library timetable. We remind all families we are open every day from 8.30am, and we LOVE seeing families come in together and take some time out to read a book. We are also open until 3.45pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

Library Team for 2020

Monday: Chloe Jones
Tuesday: Emma Kent
Wednesday: Martine Klaic
Thursday: Chloe Jones
Friday: Emma Kent

Library technician: Wendy Roussety (Monday and Thursday)
Library assistant : Cristina Grande

Story Dogs

We are beyond excited to share with you that we have two new library staff members at SMOT this year.

Please meet………

Ava and Charlie

Ava and Charlie are trained story dogs and they will be working with us in the library to listen to our students read. Please look out for correspondence regarding this program via Compass in the coming week. We hope to have the program beginning in late February.

Ava came for a little visit last Wednesday…….and judging by the response of everyone she met, she is going to be a very welcome member of the SMOT library team.

She definitely got the ok from our new Principal!

Band Program Information and Instrument Try-Out Evening - Mon 10th Feb 7pm GECCO

St Martin of Tours offers your child the opportunity to join the St Martin of Tours Catholic Primary School Band Program.

To find out about this amazing opportunity we would like to invite you to an information evening explaining our program and offering your children a chance to try out instruments and see which one might best suit them.

Instrumental tuition is available for the flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, and percussion.

Students who take up this opportunity will rehearse with the school band weekly on Thursday mornings at 8am. They will also attend a weekly instrumental tuition session. There is a cost involved that covers both tuition and band membership fees. The band will be given opportunities to participate in performances, workshops, festivals as well as visits with other school bands.

Please join us this Monday the 10th Feb at 7pm in the GECCO to find out all the information you need about this program.

Feel free to contact Elliott Westbury - our new band program coordinator and senior school music teacher on band@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au with any questions.

S.T.E.M Partnership with Rosanna library

Rosanna library - After School Activities
Craft Box - Every Monday - 4.00pm–5.00pm
Ages 5–12 Finished primary school for the day and looking for something to do?
Enjoy craft activities, puzzles, technology or games. Contact the branch for information, weekly focuses or themes.

Rosanna Library - LEGO Club
Every Tuesday 4.00pm–5.00pm
Ages 5–12 LEGO helps to build skills in construction and creativity. Imagination meets feats of engineering in this after school club.

Rosanna Library -Doggy Tales
Every Tuesday 4.00pm–5.00pm
Ages 5+ Doggy Tales program is an exciting way for children to practice their reading. It provides children with a non-judgmental, canine audience. No need to book. Just come along and meet our reading dog.

Rosanna Library -STEAM Club
Climbing Firemen Wednesday 19 February 4.00pm–5.00pm - Book Now
All Ages Join us for some wacky experiments, amazing arts and engineering feats as we explore all things STEAM each week.

Rosanna Library -Code Club:
Saturday 8 February 10.00am–11.00am
Scratch for Beginners -Ages 8+ Learn basic coding! Create games, animations and interactive stories with Scratch – a programming language for beginners. Book Now.

SCHOOL FEES 2020

Families who are paying fees via instalments I have been issued statement of school fees this week.

If you wish to discuss your school fee payments I am in the office on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, alternatively you can email: marym@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Mary Milione
Bursar

WEEK 2

PGR Prep GR for being so smiley and happy settling in to school on their first week.

PPV Prep PV for a fabulous start to school life. Looking forward to a big year of fun and learning.

PVL All of Prep VL for having such a settled start to their school journey. Well done!!

1B To all of 1B for their amazing start to Year One! 

1F Well done 1F for making a fantastic start to the year. You are all quickly learning to make good choices in and out of the classroom and being respectful people. Awesome!

1LB 1LB for having a fantastic start to Year One. They have settled in so well to their new routine and have a great attitude towards their learning!

2C

2OC All the wonderful students in 20C for being so kind and supportive of each other and settling in so well to Year 2!

2T All of 2T for having such a beautiful and settled start to Year Two.

3C All of 3C for a marvellous start to Year Three!

3JC Vivienne for settling in to your new school so well!
      
3MT For settling into the 2020 year so well. Great work 3MT.

4C To all the wonderful students in 4C for being kind, safe and fair in all that they do. Well done!

4T Emily H for being a fantastic listener in the classroom.

5C

5L Mietta for providing a very articulate induction into the daily operations of the school.
    Gus M for his excellent attitude to his learning and willingness to ask for help when required.

5V Max for settling positively into his new classroom and school. We are so happy to have you as part of our team.

6AM Rochelle for her positive start to her grade 6 year. She has shown initiative and maturity in her attitude and is always willling and keen to share her work with the class.

6W Mia M has contirbuted her thoughts to Class discussions.

6ZW

THURSDAY 26TH MARCH 2020 3:30PM – 8:30PM

St. Martin of Tours is hosting an amazing parish/ school carnival as its major fundraiser, next month!
The Carnival is a celebration of our school, parish and community.

We are very excited for this occasion, which vows to be a fun afternoon / evening comprised of:
• Food trucks
• Bar
• Market stalls
• Entertainment
• Children’s rides
• Activities (Bubble Soccer, Petting Zoo)
• Silent Auctions / Raffles

We would love your support / involvement in the form of sponsorship, donations, or even assisting with running of the stalls / activities.

We are particularly looking for people who could coordinate:
• Cake Stall
• Games / Books Stall
• Chuck-a-choc stall
• Set up and Packing up of Eating Areas

This role would involve liasing with the committee, setting up on the day and organising a roster for someone to be present in your area at all times.

We are also looking for some volunteers with a current RSA to help out with the bar on a roster basis so no longer than an hour of your time would be greatly apreciated.

Wanted: talented face painters and / or hair sprayers who could volunteer their time on the evening of the carnival please.

If you are able to assist in any way, please email carnival@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Also,
• Mystery Bottles are back! Bottles will be sent home with each child on Tuesday. Instructions to follow.

• Collection of second hand children’s books and games (both in good quality) is ongoing. Collection tubs are outside the GECCO. House points will be received for each item.

• A couple of our wonderful Year 6 students are making hair accessories out of school dresses and boys and girls blue shirts, to sell at the carnival. If you have any of these items that are no longer required, please forward on to Declan L in 6AM via the office. 

Be sure to follow us on our Facebook page 'St Martin of Tours Carnival' for updated info. Please feel free to invite family, friends and our wonderful community by sharing the page.

We would love to hear from you.

The Carnival Committee
carnival@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Firstly, we wish to welcome all our new Prep families to St Martin of Tours Primary School. The Parents and Friends Association (PFA) hosted 'Tea and Tissues' morning tea on Monday 3rd February and it was pleasing to see so many parents, grandparents and carers come for a cuppa and a chat in the GECCO. We hope all the Preppies are settling in well!

We also extend a very warm welcome to our new Principal Jacqui Marshall.

The first PFA Meeting for 2020 will be held next Wednesday 12th February at 7.45pm in the Seminar Room (new building). All parents and carers are welcome to attend our meetings and we encourage new members to join us this year. The PFA meeting on Wednesday will be following the Prep information evening, so if you are a new parent to the school and are interested in getting involved with the PFA, please come and say 'hi'.

If you'd still like to be involved with the PFA's activities but can't attend meetings, please visit our Helping Hands register to view and volunteer for upcoming events. Sign up as a volunteer at: https://signup.zone/smotpfa-volunteer

Our first event for the year is the traditional St Martin of Tours Shrove Tuesday Picnic on Tuesday 25th February at 5pm. Please save this date, it's a wonderful evening for families to catch up and meet new faces. More information on the Shrove Tuesday Picnic will be coming out next week.

A reminder you can also keep up to date with our PFA activities on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SMOTPFA and our Website: http://smotpfa.weebly.com

Our Executive Committee for 2020 is:
Co-Presidents: Kate Kelly and Belinda Pryse; Secretary: Michelle Don Paul; Treasurer: Carla Ting.

We look forward to a wonderful 2020 school year.

Visit our Event Calendar for more events and information   

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPASS NEWSFEED AND CALENDAR FOR CHANGES AND UPDATES TO OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Tuesday 11th February Confirmation Information Evening 7pm GECCO

Wednesday 12th February Prep Parents Information Evening 7pm in your child's classroom

Saturday 15th February or Sunday 16th February Confirmation Commitment Mass

Tuesday 25th February Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday 26th February Ash Wednesday Whole School Mass 9.15am

Saturday 29th February Prep and Year 6 Buddy Family Welcome Mass 6pm

Thursday 5th March School Photo day Students to wear Summer Uniform

Monday 9th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 March Parent / Teacher / Student Learning Conversations Year 1 -6 Students ONLY 

Saturday 21st March Year 5 Weekend Mass 6pm

Thursday 26th March Parish and School Carnival

Friday 27th March Last day of Term 1

Term Dates 2020

Term 1: 29th January - 27th March

Term 2: 14th April - 26 June

Term 3: 13th July - 18th September

Term 4: 5th October - 18th December (TBC)

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 

Enrolment is free. All families must be enrolled to attend the program. Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

OFFICE HOURS: Mon— Friday 9.00 am — 5.00 pm (closed for lunch 1.00 pm — 2.00 pm ) 03 9458 4275

WEEKEND MASSES

Saturday Vigil: 6.00 pm

Dawn Mass: 7.30 am

Italian Mass: 8.30 am

Family Mass: 10.00 am

WEEKLY MASSES

Mon 9/2, Tues 10/2, Thurs 12/2, Fri 13/2- 9:15am Mass

Wed 11/2 Liturgy of the Word & Communion 9:15am

Saturday 8:30 am Mass. Reconciliation 10am

Vigil Mass 6pm Saturday

Welcome to the 2020 school year.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you all. Firstly I would like to sincerely thank Fr Michael and the panel for appointing me as your principal and look forward to meeting all in the community.

I have been working in Catholic Education for 30 years having had a range of experiences as a teacher and leader. As an educational leader my focus is always on continuous improvement. I want to see learning environments that reflect personalised learning, developing creativity and curiosity. My aim is to ensure there is always a focus on engagement, achievement and wellbeing, where everyone’s voice is valued. I want to ensure a whole school vision that promotes trust, optimism, resilience and respect.

Family is very important to me and I am fortunate to be a mother to two adult boys, Jacob and Liam and wife to Gary. We enjoy travelling as a family with Hawaii being our happy place. I follow Richmond in the AFL and our gorgeous groodle is named Dusty after my favourite player.

My initial observations are that St Martin’s is a warm and vibrant community. I have felt so welcomed by the staff, students and parents this week. I took the opportunity to go around to all the classrooms today and share a little about myself with the students and they were just delightful. I feel blessed to have been given this opportunity and look forward to meeting everyone.

The staff is looking forward to a great year, ensuring every student meets their potential. Thank you for supporting the student assessments over the last few days. This allows teachers to have accurate starting points to ensure they can personalise the learning for all students. I feel confident that 2020 will be a great year, full of hope, celebration and new beginnings.

A Prayer for the New School Year
Blessed are you, Lord God.
As we begin this new school year,
we ask for your blessings on our community.
Open our minds as we learn more about one another,
grant us courage as we accept new challenges and help us to cherish and protect our environment.
Bless every family and open our hearts to the love of your Spirit.
Amen

Today’s newsletter is a short one, we will begin our fortnightly newsletters next week.

2020 Staffing Line Up

Principal:  Jacqui Marshall
Deputy Principal: Marita Anderson
Literacy Leader / Coach (P-3) : Dinesha Rajasingam
Learning & Teaching, Literacy Leader / Coach (4-6) Martine Klaic
Learning & Teaching (P-3), Maths (P-3) Leader / Coach: Sandra Tieppo
Maths (4-6) Leader / Coach:  Terry Zacharakis
Religious Education Leader: Marita Anderson
Learning Diversity Leader: Teresa Michelangeli
Student Wellbeing Leader: Jamie Atherton
Literacy Intervention 4-6: Carmel Chubb

Prep PV: Lisa Philp / Donna Vincent
Prep GR: Andrea Getson / Dinesha Rajasingam
Prep VL: Leslie van Loggerenberg
Year 1B: Laura Bumpstead
Year 1LB: Laura Butler
Year 1F: Claire Forbes
Year 2C: Michelle Cameron
Year 2OC: Emma O’Malley / Karen Crimmins
Year 2T: Melanie Thierjung
Year 3C: Melissa Campbell
Year 3JC: Kris Jordan / Joanne Collier
Year 3MT: Lilia Mosbauer / Sandra Tieppo
Year 4C: Tess Cosgrave
Year 4T: Adele Truefeldt
Year 5C: Aaron Connolly
Year 5L: Stephanie Laws
Year 5V: Neesha Valvo 
Year 6AM: Jamie Atherton / Jo Maloney
Year 6W: Gareth Wells
Year 6ZW: Terry Zacharakis / David Witchell

ART: Lisa Cherubin / Emma Kent
STEM: Brendan Ooi
PE: David Witchell
LOTE: Maria Mandarano / Steve Domini
MUSIC: Elliott Westbury / Maryanne Kos
LIBRARY: Martine Klaic / Chloe Jones / Wendy Roussety / Emma Kent

Administration:
Wendy O’Keefe, Mary Milione, Karen Livingstone, Patsy Lynch, Veronica Castles.

Learning Support Officers:
Patsy Lynch, Ida Fruci, Gayle Carrazza, Jessica Casamento, Cristina Grande, Kate Sanford, Carmel Malignaggi, Tomasina Lagos, Niki Potenza.

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

PREP 2020 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Monday 3rd February - Prep students commence Term 1, finishing school at 1pm.

Prep Parents 'Tea and Tissues' morning tea 8.45am - 9.30am

PREP PARENTS INFORMATION EVENING

An information evening for Prep Parents will be held on Wednesday 12 February at 7pm in your child's classroom. 

PREP 2020 SCHOOL DAYS AND TIMES

Monday 3rd February - Prep students commence Term 1, finishing school at 1pm.
Tuesday 4th February - Prep students finish school at 1pm.
Wednesday 5th February -NO SCHOOL for Prep Students. 
Thursday 6th February - Prep students finish school at 1pm.
Friday 7th February - Prep students finish school at 1pm.

Monday 10th February - Prep students attend school from 8.45am to 3.30pm, except for Wednesdays.
During the month of February Prep students do not attend classes on Wednesdays ie 5th February, 12th February, 19th February and 26th February, as Prep teachers conduct Prep student assessments.

Monday 2nd March - Prep students commence FULL school week days.

Visit our Event Calendar for more events and information   

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPASS NEWSFEED AND CALENDAR FOR CHANGES AND UPDATES TO OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Friday 31st January Years 1-6 students commence formal classes

Monday 3rd February Prep students start school on 8.45am-1.00pm (half days only this week). Please click here for further information regarding Prep 2020 students

Prep Parents 'Tea and Tissues' Morning Tea 8.45am - 9.30am GECCO

Tuesday 11th February Confirmation Information Evening 7pm GECCO

Wednesday 12th February Prep Parents Information Evening 7pm in your child's classroom

Saturday 15th February or Sunday 16th February Confirmation Commitment Mass

Tuesday 25th February Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday 26th February Ash Wednesday Whole School Mass 9.15am

Saturday 29th February Prep and Year 6 Buddy Family Welcome Mass 6pm

Thursday 5th March School Photo day Students to wear Summer Uniform

Monday 9th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Saturday 21st March Year 5 Weekend Mass 6pm

Thursday 26th March Parish and School Carnival

Friday 27th March Last day of Term 1

Term Dates 2020

Term 1: 29th January - 27th March

Term 2: 14th April - 26 June

Term 3: 13th July - 18th September

Term 4: 5th October - 18th December (TBC)