Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am amazed at how fast the year has gone and we are at our last newsletter for 2020.

On Friday I asked some Year 3 students - Zoe B, Lucas L, Madeline what has been their most favourite memory of 2020 and their responses were;

I enjoyed home learning because I got to play at home more and I could finish my work when I wanted to. I also enjoyed seeing my friends and going on bike rides.

It was great to come back to school from home learning because I hadn’t seen my friends for a while and I really wanted to stop the screen time. I also loved that I could get all my work done in 4 days and have Fridays off!

When I came back to school I really enjoyed being asked to be on TV - it was such a great day to see everyone so happy to be back at school.

2020 certainly has been a year like no other and one we will never forget.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your warm welcome. I had dreamed it would be different as I love connecting in regularly with students and parents, so the challenge for me was to find different ways to do this. St Martin’s is certainly a wonderful community to be part of and I am incredibly proud of how we all work together to ensure our students have had every opportunity to learn. The focus on the wellbeing of all in our community was also a priority for me this year. I commend the staff for their dedication and positivity this year. They are a great team who love what they do and always show belief in every student.
Thank you once again to all our parents for your trust and support in the complex decisions that had to be made this year to ensure the safety of everyone.
I certainly have been a COVID Marshall this year!!!

The last couple of weeks have been very busy as we have engaged in many extra school activities. We congratulate our Year 6 students on celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation and thank Fr Michael for his faith leadership. Our Year 6 students had a wonderful day last Friday at Funfields at their Big Day Out. It was the perfect day to enjoy the rides and water activities. This week our whole school community has been involved in our annual Compassion in Action Year 6 fundraising week and yesterday we held our School Sports Day onsite.

We are incredibly proud of our Choir and Band students for allowing music to remain an important part of 2020. Our band under the direction of Elliott Westbury had their End of Year Virtual Concert on Thursday night. It included their award winning performance of Thrill Ride, some well known songs from movies and Christmas Carols.

We are always encouraging our students to show empathy and think of others, an example of living a life like Jesus. Olivia from Year 5 is once again organising a shoe drive to help those in need. A Compass newsfeed will be sent with further information, please see if you can support.

Staffing for 2021

Parish Priest                        Fr. Michael O’Connell
Principal                             Jacqui Marshall
Deputy Principal/RE Leader    Marita Anderson

Prep VL                                Leslie van Loggerenberg
Prep GR                               Andrea Getson/Dinesha Rajasingam
Prep PJ                                Lisa Philp/Chloe Jones
Year 1LB                               Laura Butler
Year 1CF                               Claire Forbes
Year 1CM                              Cristina Menegas
Year 2MT                              Melanie Thierjung
Year 2LB                               Laura Bumpstead
Year 2JS                               Jeanine Sutherland
Year 3KJ                               Kris Jordan
Year 3MT                               Lilia Mosbauer/Sandra Tieppo
Year 3LA                               Lauren Addati
Year 4AT                               Adele Truefeldt
Year 4CM                              Melissa Campbell/Jess McGrath
Year 4TD                               Toni Dent
Year 5VC                               Neesha Valvo/Jo Collier
Year 5SM                              Shannon Molloy
Year 5JM                              Jacob Marshall
Year 6AM                              Jamie Atherton/Jo Maloney
Year 6GW                              Gareth Wells
Year 6ZW                              Terry Zacharakis/David Witchell

Learning and Teaching Leaders                  Sandra Tieppo, Brendan Ooi and Neesha Valvo
Literacy Leaders                                     Dinesha Rajasingam and Melissa Campbell
Numeracy Leaders                                   Sandra Tieppo and Terry Zacharakis
Student Wellbeing Leader                         Jamie Atherton
Learning Diversity Leader                          Teresa Michelangeli
Digital Technology Leader                         Brendan Ooi

Intervention*                                          Dinesha Rajasingam, Sandra Tieppo, Melissa Campbell
                                                            and Teresa Michelangeli

Physical Education                                  David Witchell
Performing Arts                                      Mary-Anne Kos
Visual Arts                                             Lisa Cherubin and Emma Kent
Italian                                                   Maria Mandarano and Steve Domini
Library                                                  Emma Kent and Chloe Jones
STEM                                                    Brendan Ooi and Steve Villani

Learning Support Officers                         Ida Fruci, Gayle Carrazza, Patsy Lynch, Niki Potenza,  
                                                            Kate Sanford, Tomasina Lagos, Carmel Malignaggi,
                                                            Cristina Grande and Olivia Jenkins

School Bursar                                        Mary Milione
Office Administration                              Karen Livingstone, Wendy O’Keefe, Patsy Lynch
                                                            and Veronica Castles

Library Administration                             Grace Bocquet
Digital Tech Support                                Jay Dickson
Band Program                                         Elliott Westbury

Welcome
We welcome the following staff members to St Martin’s in 2021.

Lauren Addati will be teaching in Year 3 and comes to us with two years of experience including working in London.

Grace Bocquet who has been working in the library this term and will continue on next year as our Library Technician.

Toni Dent has close to ten years teaching experience and comes to us from St Anthony’s Glen Huntly. Toni will be joining our Year 4 team.

Olivia Jenkins has just finished her training as an LSO and is looking forward to joining our team.

Jacob Marshall has three year’s experience and comes to us from St Dominic's Camberwell and will be joining our Year 5 team.

Jess McGrath is returning from maternity leave and will work two days a week in the Year 4 team.

Cristina Menegas is a graduate teacher from ACU and is very excited to begin her teaching at St Martin’s in the Year 1 team.

Shannon Molloy is also a graduate teacher from ACU and can’t wait to begin her teaching career at St Martin’s in the Year 5 team.

Jeanine Sutherland is an experienced teacher having last taught at St Francis Montmorency and is excited to join our Year 2 team.

Carmel Chubb will remain on leave in 2021.

Congratulations
We congratulate Emma and Ben O’Malley and big brother Jack on the safe arrival of beautiful Mila on Saturday December 5. A daughter and little sister to love and cherish. We look forward to meeting Mila soon.

We also congratulate Tarah 5V on receiving a gold medal in the 2020 Young Australian Art Award in the Computer section for her artwork titled Ice Dragon.

  

Reports
Reports are now available via Compass. Our reporting and assessment processes have been adjusted this year due to the impacts of COVID. At the beginning of 2021 we will re-assess students starting points to plan for rich teaching learning to ensure all students reach their potential. Please note reports can only be printed via a computer or laptop.

Change of Governance for Catholic Schools
Next year the governance for Catholic schools will change. This will result in all schools in Melbourne being governed by a new company - Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS) rather than Parish Priests. Our Archbishop Peter Commensoli has written a letter to all parents to help explain this.

End of year activities
We have two action packed days ahead of us next week as we wrap up 2020.

Monday
We say farewell to our Year 6 class of 2020. Before first break all our students will have the opportunity to wish them well.
At 12pm we welcome Year 6 parents onto bottom yard as we celebrate together. Our Year 6 students will leave at 1pm.
Students in all other year levels will then spend some time in their new classes for 2021 with their new teachers. Book lists for next year are available on Compass and our website.
At 5pm we welcome back our Year 6 students for their Graduation Mass and celebrations. Year 6 families have been given additional information about this.

Tuesday
We gather together at 9:15am for our end of year Thanksgiving Mass. Our Year 5 students and parents have been invited to attend in the Church and it will be live streamed to classrooms and for those wanting to watch at home.
We are excited to announce our 2021 Year 6 student leadership roles at this Mass and say thank you to our staff who are leaving.
Students will be dismissed at 3:30pm (via the usual staggered pickup arrangements)

2020 Year 6 Legacy Piece
Over the past few weeks Lisa Cherubin has been working with our Year 6 students to create an art piece that will remain in the school to help us remember them. You can see from the photos what a wonderful job they have done decorating pebbles to create this special memory.

   

*Priorities for 2021
At the beginning of next year I will share with you the priorities for 2021 to ensure all our students reach their full potential.
You will notice in the staffing schedule for 2021 that four staff have been named to work in the area of Intervention. Part of this work will include the implementing the Victorian Government Tutor Program that has come about due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

2021 Important dates
We begin the school year with student assessments on Thursday 28 January and Friday 29 January. Your child/ren’s scheduled assessment date/time will be sent via a Compass Event early next week.
All students begin on Monday 1 February for what I am sure will be a wonderful year.
Marita Anderson our Religious Education Leader has shared again with you all our Sacramental Dates for 2021.

Thank you
I would like to thank the parents who have contributed this year on both the school board and the PFA.
Parent partnerships are so important in developing a sense of community. Thank you also to all our Class Parent Reps who have supported communication, engagement and celebration.
Many classes have had special treats in the past week and I know they have also loved their special Zooper Dooper Days. I would also like to congratulate all our school raffle winners announced via Compass yesterday.

We thank all our student leaders for their outstanding work this year and discovering different ways to ensure they have an impact. This includes our school captains, RE Leaders, House Captains, Band and Choir Leaders and Fire Carriers.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The staff at St Martin’s look forward to gathering together as a community in 2021.
Take care
Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Advent

This week is the Third Sunday of Advent and the theme is `joy’. The liturgical colour is rose/pink and the rose coloured Advent candle is lit in the Church. We wait with joy for the coming of Jesus! In this week’s Gospel, we hear more about John preparing the way for the coming of `the light’ - Jesus our Lord.

This reading comes from the Gospel of John (1:6-8, 99-28)

John said “make the road straight for the Lord!”

There was a man named John who was sent by God. He came to tell people about the Light, so that all people could hear and believe.
The Jews in Jerusalem sent messengers to John to ask him who he was. He said clearly, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” John answered, “No, I am not Elijah.” Then they asked, “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer. What do you say about yourself?

John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I am the voice of a man calling out in the desert:
Make the road straight for the Lord.’” In the group there were some religious leaders. They said to John: “You say you are not the Christ, not Elijah and not the Prophet so why do you baptise people?” John answered, “I baptise people with water. But there is one here among you that you do not know. He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”

Sacramental dates for 2021     

Confirmation - Year 6
9th February - Information night
13th/14th February - Commitment Masses
1st/2nd May - Preparation Masses
28th May - Confirmation 5pm and 7.30pm

First Eucharist - Year 5
13th March at 11am and 1.30pm
14th March at 3.30pm
Reconciliation - Year 4
11th February at 5pm
18th February at 5pm
25th February at 5pm

Eucharist - Year 4
25th May - Information night
29th/30th May - Commitment Masses
19th/20th June - Preparation Masses
24th/25th July - Preparation Masses
7th/8th August - First Eucharist Masses
14th/15th August - First Eucharist Masses
21st/22nd August - First Eucharist Masses

Reconciliation - Year 3
31st July - Information night
4th/5th September - Commitment Masses
12th October - Reconciliation at 7pm
19th October - Reconciliation at 7pm
26th October - Reconciliation at 7pm

Compassion in Action: St Vincent de Paul Fundraising Week
Throughout Term 4 our Year 6 students focused on ways that we can support our local and global communities. As newly confirmed Catholics we understand our responsibility to care for each other and the special care that needs to be provided for the vulnerable or marginalised in society. The children had a special guest presenter from our parish, Mrs Marianne Power, and she shared her story of the work that is done by the lay Catholic organisation, the St Vincent de Paul Society. Following this visit the Year 6 students researched the global outreach that the society has and its aspirations to live the gospel message by serving others with love, respect, justice, hope and joy.

The initial plans that we had as a Year 6 community was to create food and clothing hampers for our local community members but unfortunately the COVID outbreak made this impossible. It even put an end to the annual class collection of Christmas food hampers that every family contributes to. The students then turned their attention to our annual Compassion in Action Fundraising Week to raise money for the society. The students formed groups to promote the work of the St Vincent dePaul Society to every class in the school and then created fundraising groups to plan a fundraising activity. This week has become a very special tradition here at St Martins. We would like to thank our families for the way that they embraced the week. The week’s activities also included a casual dress day on Wednesday and we were able to add this gold coin donation to the week's fundraising.

It is with great pride that our Year 6 children can share with you a grand total of $3, 632.55 that was raised for the St Vincent de Paul Society. In a time when financial hardship has struck the most vulnerable in our community, this money will be converted into food and clothing vouchers, that will be redeemed at St Vincent de Paul shops, for so many needy families. Once again, we would like to thank everyone for your support with this important work. It has been a very real experience for our Year 6 children as they drew upon their love and compassion to help make a difference in the lives of others.

Warmest regards
Jamie Atherton on behalf of our Year 6 family

Thank you to our lovely Year 6 Fire Carrier students Elena, Declan, Mia and Noah. We thank you for the wonderful job you have done promoting Reconciliation and an Aboriginal Perspective in our school.

We would also like to thank Mr Aaron Connolly who has been a Fire Carrier Leader for the past eight years. He has worked beautifully with many of our students and the North Eastern Network. His passion, respect and knowledge of our Indigenious people is amazing. We will miss his presence and his remarkable storytelling abilities.

We would like to welcome our new Fire Carrier members Kayleb, Jordan, Belle, Winnie, Olivia, Sophie, Caitlin, Mietta, Charlotte, Olivia, Louise and Tarah. We know they will continue to do a wonderful job in 2021.

Melissa Campbell
Co- Fire Carrier Leader.

  

On Friday we held our annual school sports carnival in perfect weather. Unlike previous years, this year we held our sports at school.
The children competed in five activities including the 50m sprint where children received ribbons for their hard work.
The Prep to Year 2's competed in the morning while the Year 3 to Year 6 competed after recess.

Thank you to our wonderful Captains of the school who helped run the activities for the junior children and to our four great Sport Captains for leadership of their teams:
McAuley   Charlie G
Tours       Noah J
Mercy      Chloe B
Xavier      Luke D

The results were:

1st – Tours 

2nd – Mercy 

3rd – McAuley 

4th – Xavier

Thank you to all of the children for their participation and to all of the teachers who helped on the day. It was a great way to finish what has been a very difficult year.

Our Band Program at SMOT has had a very interesting and successful year of learning at home. Since we first went to remote learning in Term 2, the band members have been continuing with online instrument lessons, band rehearsals. When the whole school was doing remote learning, we were able to also join for online instrument workshops and sectional rehearsals. Our band members had so much time to practice their instruments then too! Even in Term 4 as we returned to the school in person, band members have still been Google Meet-ing after school, with something happening every day of the week!

It is a very different experience learning band when you can’t play music in the same room together! As anyone that has tried to sing Happy Birthday to someone as a group over a Google Meet or Zoom call knows, the technology for that doesn’t work at all. So as well as our Google Meet lessons and rehearsals, our band members have recorded their music individually throughout the year. This means both children and parents have learnt a lot about technology this year as well! After a lot of video editing magic by Mr. Westbury, we can show everyone together playing some of their music.

We presented band music and some solo items in our Virtual End of Year Concert on Thursday the 10ᵗʰ December. In the concert we have awesome music written for bands, including Thrill Ride which is based on the experience of a rollercoaster. We recorded this in Term 2 and won an Honourable Mention in the Boorondara Eisteddford’s Virtual Ensemble Competition.

More recently we also have learnt to play a piece called El Conquistador, featuring Ellio C on trumpet in Year 6 (with up and coming competition from Gabby B in Year 5 and Juanito C in Year 4!). We have also learnt some movie music, and finally some Christmas carols. A Compass newsfeed will be available from Monday with a link so you can watch our online concert.
  
Thank you to all the band members for your continued enthusiasm for our Band Program this year, and parents for helping your children to practice with the technology. A big thanks to our instrumental teachers in the program, Mr Maddison Carter and Ms Misa Murphy and to our principal Mrs Jacqui Marshall for supporting our program. Our 2020 Band Captains Maya D and Mia B have done an amazing job of helping to keep everyone engaged and positive, and helping to organise our end of year party.

If you are interested in joining the Band Program in 2021 and you will be in Year 3 or above, please fill out the expression of interest form here. We then make sure you can come along to one of the instrument try-out and information sessions at the beginning of Term 1 2021.

We have weekly lessons and band rehearsals, and (in normal years!) perform at least once per term, including going to festivals and holding a major concert of our own each semester. Lessons occur during class time, and rehearsals are before school on Thursdays at 8am for the Junior Band.

The available instruments are flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, percussion, and keyboard bass. After you try the instruments, you enter your preferences, and we allocate instruments so that we have a balanced band. Almost everyone gets their first or second preference! If you have learnt one of these instruments previously at another school or in external lessons, you are welcome to join the program, just contact band@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Hope to see you as a band member, or an audience member in 2021!

Mr. Elliott Westbury
SMOT Band Program Coordinator and Woodwind Teacher

Congratulations to the following St Martin's students! 

WEEK 9

PGR

Atish for settling in so well to Prep GR by being a friendly classmate and a super worker! Super star!

Xavier for trying hard in class to do his best work always and for being a kind and friendly classmate. Super boy!

Oliver for making fabulous choices in the playground and for always doing his best work in class. Super hero!

Joshua for making great choices playing out on the playground fairly and for challenging himself to record more ideas in his writing. Super star!

Natalie for sitting on the floor nice and still and being a super listener. Super girl!

PPV

Mila for working well during group activities and setting a good example for her peers.

Lora for being an enthusiastic learner who willingly participates in group activities.

Riley for his fabulous art work (that he enjoys sharing with his class) and his new enthusiasm with his story writing.

PVL

Gianluca for making good use of different reading strategies when decoding unknown words. Well done!

Tahlia for being a thoughtful and caring member of Prep VL. Well done!

1B

Valentina- For displaying amazing creativity when making her marble run, and for always helping others in 1B.

1LB

Anthony for showing pleasing progress when working on his personal learning goal to use his time more productively in class. It has been wonderful to see Anthony begin tasks without prompting and seek support when he is unsure of what to do. Keep up the great work!

2T

Sophie for always contributing wonderful ideas to classroom discussions and for always trying her best.

Leo for his enthusiasm in classroom discussions.

Monique for participating more in classroom discussions and for being a kind friend to all.

3C

Tristan for his lovely reading with expression.

Henry for being a lovely friend and caring for others.

Priscilla for working really hard during writing time and including a lot of detail. 

Leon for sharing his ideas in class discussions. 

Angus M for speaking very clearly during his Aboriginal flag presentation. 

Luke for showing perseverance and including a lot of detail into his totem pole.

3MT

Luca for working so well in his group on the Inquiry task and for the drawing of his crocodile on his totem pole.

Charlotte for her artistic and detailed drawing of the kookaburra on her totem pole.

Patrick for being a champion in his automatic response for addition, subtraction and multiplication number facts.

Felix for being a good leader in his group and his artistic drawing of a snake on his totem pole.

Kevin for working collaboratively in his group on the Inquiry task and sharing his ideas.

Maja for always showing care and concern for other members in the class.

Maya for the improvement she has made with her work in Maths. Keep it up!

Max for his informative retell of ‘Bunjil the Eagle’ and his awesome sketch of Bunjil.

Ava for her creative pieces of writing throughout the year. I look forward to reading the novel you will write in the future.

4C

Juanito for being focussed and working hard to complete his work to a high standard. Well done!

Ruby B for her efforts with her persuasive piece "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs".

Bethany for persevering when faced with different challenges. Well done Bethany for showing such courage and strength.

6AM

Elena for being such a wonderful friend to everyone in the 6AM class. You are always thoughtful, kind and considerate and the first person willing to assist others. Your compassionate nature is an example for all of us.

Ethan D for displaying good sportsmanship in our class sport games. You are a valuable member to the team you are part of and always try to play your best. Good role models in sport are always important! Keep it up!

WEEK 10

PGR

Raya for working well with her friends when playing games and sharing counters, dice, blocks and other materials. Love your style!

Tiago for making good choices when sitting next to his friends and for always doing his best work. Super star!

Violet for being such a super reader and writer. We have also loved you sharing all of your thoughts and ideas with us during class discussions. Super star

PPV

Steph for always participating in class discussions and sharing her news and information with her peers.

Genevieve for completing neat and well presented work and focusing on her set tasks.

Alessia for trying hard with her writing by including spaces and uppercase letters. Good effort!

Maddison for working hard on her oral reading and answering questions about the text read. Well done!

PVL

Gabriel for making great progress with his reading and high frequency words this semester. Well done!

Noah for having a great smile on his face every morning when he comes into Prep VL. Well done!

Siena for making great progress with her writing and recording of ideas. Well done!

1B

Maxwell for always sharing his great thinking and ideas during class discussions and for being a kind and caring member of 1B.

1LB

To 1LB for being enthusiastic and positive learners and trying your best throughout the Term! It has been wonderful to see you all support and care for one another in 2020 and make wonderful gains in your learning. Well done 1LB!
3C

For being a wonderful class and showing great perserverance throughout the 2020 year. Well done working hard to improve your learning and showing great care with one another.

3MT

Lilliana for the great improvements you have made in all the learning areas. Keep it up.

Thomas for your cheeky smile and for sharing your stories throughout the year.

Evie for using a variety of strategies when working with multiplication number sentences.

Nikola for his retell of ‘Bunjil the Eagle’ and his artistic sketch of Bunjil. You have a very creative streak Nikola.

Chiara for a well written retell of ‘Bunjil the Eagle’. Keep up the great writing Chiara.

Joshua for his creative piece of writing on ‘Bunjil the Eagle’ and his detailed sketch of Bunjil. Keep on sketching portraits Joshua.

Madeline for her informative presentation on the Aboriginal flag. She used a clear and loud voice. Well done Madeline.

Lucas for the friendships he has made this year. You have intrigued everyone in 3MT with your go karting stories.

Lucas for applying yourself to all areas of the curriculum and for being caring and thoughtful towards your friends.

4C

Darcy K for applying himself and focussing on his work. Great effort Darcy.

Jaydon for working hard at expanding his ideas in writing. Well done!

6AM

Orlando for taking on teacher feedback and suggestions to make improvements to his own work and your willingness to listen and improve.

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

2020 Term 4 Calendar Dates

December

★ 14th Year 6 last day of primary school - farewell at 1pm

★ 14th Year 6 Graduation Mass at 5pm (format to be advised)

★ 14th Years P-5 Transition to 2021 Classes

★ 15th End of Year Thanksgiving Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 15th Term 4 concludes at 3.30pm

2021 Term 1 Calendar Dates

January

★ 28th -29th Year 1-6 Student Assessment Sessions (further information will be provided via Compass News Feed) 

February

★ 1st ALL students commence Term 1

★ 2nd Beginning of School Year Mass 9.15am

★ 11th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 16th Shrove Tuesday

★ 17th Ash Wednesday Mass 9.15am

★ 18th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 25th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 27th Prep and Year 6 Welcome Mass

March

★ 4th School Photo Day

★ 8th Labour Day Holiday

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 14th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

April

★ 1st Term 1 Concludes 

The PFA would like to thank the generous support of the St. Martin of Tours Rosanna community. With your support throughout the year, we are excited to announce that we have raised $7,450.

Congratulations to the winners of our School Fee Raffle which was drawn by Mrs Marshall yesterday.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the support of the administration staff Patsy, Karen, Mary and Veronica. They are always willing to meet any of our requests and without them we would be lost.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the support of the teaching staff, in particular Mrs Anderson and Mrs Marshall. We appreciate their attendance at meetings in their own time, their positivity and encouragement and their willingness to support our events during this challenging year.

Please click here for updates on PFA activities. 

Wishing all our families a safe and happy Christmas, followed by a healthy, prosperous and sparkling 2021!

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS MASS 2020 SMOT

Liturgy Team is calling for children to perform in the Christmas gospel play at 5pm during the Christmas Eve Mass on 24th December 2020 here at St Martin of Tours Church.
We need shepherds, wise persons, a drummer person, angels, singers from the school choir, speaker for prayers of faithful and more...All costumes provided.
Parent helpers are also required to assist with rehearsals and at the 5pm Mass. This is a great opportunity for parents and children to be involved in their school parish and help bring the Christmas story to life!
Please email Mira Puspa at mirapuspa@gmail.com should you wish to participate at this Mass. To attend/participate at this Mass bookings will need to be made via Trybooking. This link will be provided closer to the date.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY - CHRISTMAS APPEAL

Unfortunately due to the Covid19 restrictions we cannot have our usual Christmas collection of toys for the children of families we have helped during the year.
Macleod Conference will still provide our usual Christmas food gift cards for those families with a bit extra to enable the families to provide some toys for the children.
As we will probably have a limited number of Masses for collections, Vinnies have provided a way of making donations:
1. By phone using a credit card and calling 13 18 12. Donors can allocate donations by giving the name of the conference (eg Macleod Conference M915) over the phone.
2. By an online donation to vinnies.org.au allocating the donation to a specific conference (eg Macleod Conference M915).

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 
Enrolment is free. All families must enrol to attend the program.
Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What a beautiful day we had on Friday and a perfect one for Zooper Doopers. I know our students appreciated it, so thank you to the PFA for making this happen.



It’s hard to believe there’s only just over two weeks left for school this year. This week our Year 5 students have presented their leadership speeches and confidently shared their hopes and dreams for our school in 2021. We have been incredibly proud of all of them.

Following announcements by the Victorian Government on Sunday we were then provided with updates on how to operate within COVID safe guidelines. Some of the most recent changes include:
● Drinking fountains can be reopened for normal use
● Face masks are to be worn outside when you are unable to social distance
● Limited visitors and parents onsite
● Sporting activities can resume
● Limitations still in place for graduation ceremonies and liturgies

The movement of traffic around the school at the beginning and end of each day has always been problematic and even more so with the restrictions due to COVID. We can now begin making some adjustments but will begin very slowly as we can have no more than 50 parents onsite at one time, which means we can not have parents parking onsite yet.

Starting Tuesday 1 December, we will no longer need to do the staggered beginning of the day routine. All students can arrive at school from 8:30am (there is no A-L and K-Z arrangements) and enter through the gate on top yard or be dropped off at the kiss and drop on bottom yard. The end of the day pick up processes will remain the same at this current time. With the 3pm, 3:15pm and 3:30pm pick up times.

Over the past couple of weeks we have received a number of complaints from local residents about the traffic. Some of the calls have been quite aggressive and very unsettling. Could I please ask for your help in ensuring that you show respect by allowing residents to get out of their driveways.

As mentioned in previous communication, we have a school closure day on Monday 30 November to begin planning for 2021.

Staffing

At this time of the year we often say farewell and thank you to members of our staff who are moving on or retiring. It is just an honour and a privilege to be in a profession that impacts the lives of our future generation, so we say thank you to the following wonderful staff - Karen Crimmins, Donna Vincent, Aaron Connolly, Michelle Cameron, Martine Klaic, Tess Cosgrave and Jessica Casamento. Some members of our team have shared some beautiful words about each of them.

Karen has been sharing her knowledge, expertise and wisdom over the last 27 years, here at St Martin's. Students present and past have been immersed in Karen's expert teaching and learning mainly in the Sciences and Mathematics. She then adopted a new passion and extended her studies and qualifications in the area of Student Wellbeing where both students and teachers have gained valuable professional growth and understanding. We wish Karen all the best in her retirement.

Donna has been a member of St Martin's staff for 14 years. She is passionate about teaching and her experience has had a positive influence on all the teachers and children who have been fortunate enough to work with her. She is very dedicated and has always gone above and beyond what is expected of her - coming in for planning and meetings when it's not her work day - and always with a smile on her face. We will definitely miss Donna and wish her every success in her retirement.

Aaron has worked as a senior educator at St. Martin’s for well over ten years. Mr Connolly is known across the school for his warm and relaxed manner, always with a smile on his face. Now the time has come for Mr Connolly to move on to a place that has been calling him for years, the beach. A combination of early morning surfs and relaxed family afternoons on the sandy shores, alongside a new role at Our Lady of Fatima School, Rosebud are the perfect fit for his active nature. He will be missed, not least for his musical abilities and good humour in the staff room and classroom alike.

Michelle started at St Martin's in 2017 and has nurtured many cohorts of Years 2's and 3's over her time at our school. Michelle or 'Mishy' is known for her kindness, empathy, love of candles and the joy she brings to the children she teaches. We will miss her flair for writing, her dramatic reading of Roald Dahl books, her comforting conversations and the way she puts her heart and passion into teaching. We wish her all the best at St Charles Templestowe.

Martine has made many contributions to the learning at St. Martin's over the past 3 years. As Learning and Teaching and Literacy Leader, Martine has provided much support to staff in providing for the learning needs of the students. Her passion and enthusiasm for learning has been a driving force in the school. Martine has also been such a big part of the Library, encouraging a love of literature for students, staff and families. We appreciate the beautiful new spaces they now have to enjoy. We wish her all the best at St Francis Mill Park.

Tess who has been at St Martin’s for 2 years, has a warm and friendly smile and a great sense of humour. She is a kind, patient and compassionate teacher who always prioritises the wellbeing of her students. The students in her class thrive on her warm and inviting teaching approach and she has shown experience that is well beyond her years when implementing learning programs. She will be greatly missed by the staff and students at SMOT. We wish Tess every success as she begins teaching next year at St Monica’s Moonee Ponds.

Jess has been a dedicated member of the St Martin's family for the last two years when she joined the Learning Diversity Team. She has supported many of our students with their learning and this year played an important role during our remote learning time. We wish her well as she begins her teaching career at Gladstone Park Secondary College.

We will also farewell Peter Jordan our school groundsman/gardener at the end of this year as he puts away his gardening tools and heads off on a well deserved road trip with his wife Joan. We thank Peter for his dedication to keeping our school grounds beautiful and for his generosity sharing his home grown fruits and vegetables.

Sacrament of Confirmation

This Thursday 3 December our Year 6 students who are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation will be confirmed by Fr Michael at St Martin’s Church. There are 3 masses throughout the day. We truly do appreciate the understanding of our families and how they have adjusted to the restrictions in place due to the current COVID directives.
We pray for our students and their families and ask God’s blessings.



End of year events

Our Year 6 students have their Big Day Out at Funfields on Friday 4 December.
We are planning an adjusted onsite school sports day for Friday 11 December. Dave Witchell will send more information out about this next week.
We are finalising plans for our Year 6’s so they can be celebrated as they finish up their primary school journey. A letter will be sent out to year 6 families next week about events on their final day at school Monday 14 December.
We are also exploring how we can get into the Christmas Spirit together with possible virtual experiences.

Reports

Students' Academic Reports, Alternate Academic Reports and Individual Learning Plans will be released at 4pm on Friday the 11th of December via Compass. Teachers have worked extremely hard this semester to ensure the student's report is a clear reflection of what the student has achieved while at school. This has been a very challenging year for everyone and our students have learnt a variety of things with remote learning. The school reports will be adjusted this year due to the time spent away from school however, English and Mathematics will be displayed in the Victorian Curriculum scale.

Please keep an eye out on Compass for any reminders or important information as we move closer to the end of the 2020 school year.

In our next newsletter I will share with you the staffing schedule for 2021. Our students will meet their new teachers and classmates in the last week of term.

Take care
Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Sacrament of Confirmation

We ask our school community to pray for our Year 6 students as they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and a special Blessing, an important milestone in their faith journey, on Thursday 3rd of December. This year, the Archbishop has given permission for Parish Priests to confirm the candidates and has invited the parents of the candidates to attend to be a part of this special celebration. Fr Michael will lead each class in their own Mass.

We pray for…


Christmas Hampers for St Vincent de Paul

Each year our families are extremely generous in providing each class with food items and Christmas decorations to create Christmas hampers for those in need. This year we have received notification from the St Vincent de Paul Conference that they are unable to deliver hampers due to COVID.

We would like to support this great organisation by asking families to donate a gold coin on a casual clothes day, like we did for the Winter Appeal. Students are able to wear casual clothes on Wednesday 9th of December and bring a gold coin to school. We will collect the gold coins and along with the monies raised in the Year 6 Fundraising week, we will provide supermarket gift vouchers to the St Vincent de Paul committee who will then distribute these amongst those in need.

In the Art Room - Term 4, 2020

It has been so wonderful to have the students from Year 6, Year 3, the Preps and Year 1LB in the Art Room this term. We have been busy learning new techniques, having fun and creating some wonderful artwork. Here is a snapshot of what’s been happening…….

The Prep Children and Year 1LB have been investigating and exploring the element of Line. We have drawn, painted and printed various lines and made line sculptures using paper. Here are some examples.


Inspired by Vincent Van Gough’s ‘Almond Tree’ painting, the Year 1’s created a textured painted background and used cardboard offcuts, fingers and the back of a paintbrush to print the tree branches, leaves and flowers.

 

We have started making a family Christmas gift which will involve some hand sewing and manipulation of textile materials. The Preps also learnt how to make a wet felted ball using wool roving.



   Rolling the wet, soapy wool roving to creat a felted ball and learning how to sew a running stitch.

The Year 3’s have completed a unit of work focusing on the use of analogous colours. They learnt how to identify and blend these colours using chalk pastels and created an abstract artwork inspired by the artist Sandra Silberzweig. As you can see, the results were outstanding!

The Year 3’s will also make a family Christmas gift using paper clay, wire and bead embellishments.

The Year 6’s completed a unit of work on printing and collage. They created various designs onto a foam block and did multiple prints. These were then cut out and glued onto a collaged tissue paper background.

The Year 6’s will also create painted textured papers and attach an acetate self portrait which will be highlighted with a contrasting paint colour. They will look amazing when they are finished.

Well done everyone for your enthusiasm and creativity this term!

With a happy heART,
Lisa and Ms Kent

Congratulations to the following St Martin's students! 

WEEK 7

PGR

Abigail for being a kind and caring friend and for having a go at stretching out new words in her writing. Superstar!

Dain for persevering with challenging tasks and for working well taking turns when playing learning games. Keep it up!

Isabel for really trying hard to write her letters on the line and for being a super reader stretching out her words and making sure the story makes sense. Fabulous!

Isabella for working so well in small groups and asking questions when she is not sure of the instruction.

Isla for always sharing her thoughts and ideas in our class discussions and for her super story writing. Superstar!

PPV

Orla for working well in small groups and following instructions. Good work!

Amelie for her neat and well presented work. Nice one!

Atticus for his excellent explanation of how he adds and subtracts numbers. Awesome!

PVL

Lukas for working independently during writing time. Well done!

Amelia for hearing and recording so many new sounds and words when writing. Well done!

1B

Emilia for reading with such beautiful fluency and expression when reading aloud to others.

1LB

Thomas for showing a respect and kindness towards his peers and demonstrating a positive attitude towards his learning. Keep up the amazing work Thomas!

Blake for showing perseverance when seeking to improve his writing skills. It has been wonderful to see Blake add more detail to his sentences and work towards using his punctuation more accurately. Well done Blake!

Daisy for challenging herself in our Mathematics unit on Money. It was wonderful to see Daisy move out of her comfort zone to solve more challenging problems. Keep up the amazing work!

2T

William for his focused learning during our Division unit and his improvement in this area. Well done William

Phoebe for her creativity and enthusiasm during our Inquiry Game Design Challenge and for sharing her ideas happily with others. Well done Phoebe.

Adelaide for writing a fantastic narrative and editing it to add interesting adjectives. Great job Adelaide!

3C

Alessia for being supportive and caring towards her peers.

Patrick for listening to feedback and using it to improve his work.

Alandra for asking inquisitive questions to improve her learning.

Cara for making great contributions to class discussions.

3JC

Mitchell for using a variety of Multiplication strategies when solving 2 digit by 2 digit problems.

3MT

Felicity for her interesting pieces of writing that engage her audience through the use of sizzling starts and descriptive words.

Max for applying himself and focussing on his work. Great effort Max.

Lia for all of her persistence and determination with her reading and writing at home and at school. You shine.

Harrison for his growth mindset with his learning and trying his best with all tasks presented. You’re a champion.

4C

Stefano for all of his efforts with his reading at home and at school. Well done!

Anika for always offering to help around the classroom. Thank you, Anika!

Zac for his effort and persistence in our Fractions unit. Keep it up!

Lea for her persistence with challenging tasks and for offering to help her peers with their work. Thank you!

6AM

Elly for the wonderful efforts you have put into Maths, especially BODMAS work. You show great persistence, effort and accuracy in many subject areas and we all admire this quality about you. Keep working hard!

Heidi for being so precise in your Maths. You attention to detail highlights your ability in this subject area, especially when recording elapsed time to the minute is fantastic. Keep up all the hard work!

Harrison for the growth and understanding you have shown in your reading and comprehension. Even when it was challenging you kept referring to the text to draw evidence and understanding. Keep striving for your goals!

WEEK 8

PGR

Michaela for contributing her ideas and thoughts in our class discussions and for being the BEST new big sister to baby Lincoln!

Mila for using positive feedback to take risks in her learning and for being a fun and kind classmate.

Noe for rewarding his classmates for being super learners each day and for being so thoughtful and caring to his classmates.

Jesse for making really good chopices when working with his learning partners and for showing interest and enthusiasm when learning new things.

Jackson for making good choices in the playground and for trying hard to remember to put his hand up when he needs help or to share an idea. Superstar!

PPV

Alfonso for his fluent reading and understanding of what he has read. Well done Alfonso.

PVL

Gianluca For being a good friend to all in Prep VL. Well done!

Alaska For being a kind and patient girl. Well done!

1B

Charlie for always taking on challenges with his learning and ensuring his work is presented neatly.

1LB

James for presenting an interesting and engaging show and tell about where his family comes from. He spoke confidently, while making sure to look at the audience and it was wonderful to see James add humour to his presentation. Great work James!

Zara for making wonderful progress in her reading. It has been fantastic to see Zara grow in confidence with her ability to read different text types using added expression and accuracy. Keep up the amazing work Zara!

Jonty for showing perseverance when working towards his personal learning goal of being a more active participant during discussion time. Jonty regularly shares his thoughts and ideas in a well articulated manner. Keep up the amazing work Jonty!

2OC

For all 2OC Students for the fantastic way they are applying themselves to their schoolwork to finish off the year so positively. Great work!!

3C

Amelie for working hard in her Reading and Writing.

Zoe for projecting her voice clearly during her Flag presentation.

Luke for his lovely manners and sharing his general knowledge with the class.

Jacob for working hard to complete all his set tasks.

3JC

Shayna for writing and accurate retell of the Aboriginal creation story, 'Bunjil the Eagle'.

3MT

Riley for showing his working out clearly when solving multiplication number sentences. Keep it up Riley!

Zoe for always being attentive and working hard to produce her work to a high standard.

Elaine for always being focussed and working hard in all areas of the curriculum to show a huge improvement in her learning.

Kevin for the growth he has made with his reading and his energetic discussion about the text. Keep up the enthusiasm and reading Kevin.

Alice for her positive attitude to everything. She is respectful, kind and inclusive towards her peers. Keep on being you Alice!

4C

Domenico for his efforts with his numeracy skills at home and at school - well done Dom, keep it up!

Giulia for being an upstander and looking out for her friends.

Cohen for always offering to help his peers and teachers and for trying his best at all class tasks.

Giacomo for his effort with planning his persuasive piece on the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Well done!

6AM

Connor for obtaining perfect results in his Maths work on complementary and supplementary angles. This reflects the accuracy in your calculations and understanding of the topic. Awesome job Connor!

Jonah for the role you have undertaken in collaborating with your Action Team in the promotion work for St Vincent de Paul. You have ensured your team provides all the information needed and have been willing and flexible with making changes and improvements to your work. Super job Jonah!

Patrick for the sense of fun, playfulness and stories that you bring to our classroom. You remind us to have fun in all that we do. Well done Patrick!

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

2020 Term 4 Calendar Dates

November

★ 30th School Closure Day

December

★ 3rd Year 6 Confirmation Ceremonies

★ 4th Year 6 Big Day Out -Funfields

★ 7th - 10th Compassion in Action Week (Year 6 Fundraising) 

★ 9th Casual Clothes Day, (Gold Coin Donation) 

★ 11th Whole School Sports Day (event held at school)

★ 14th Year 6 last day of primary school - farewell at 1pm

★ 14th Year 6 Graduation Mass at 5pm (format to be advised)

★ 14th Years P-5 Transition to 2021 Classes

★ 15th End of Year Thanksgiving Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 15th Term 4 concludes at 3.30pm

★ *Christmas Spirit Activity with possible virtual experience (TBA)

2021 Term 1 Calendar Dates

January

★ 28th -29th Year 1-6 Student Assessment Sessions (further information will be provided via Compass News Feed) 

February

★ 1st ALL students commence Term 1

★ 2nd Beginning of School Year Mass 9.15am

★ 11th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 16th Shrove Tuesday

★ 17th Ash Wednesday Mass 9.15am

★ 18th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 25th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 27th Prep and Year 6 Welcome Mass

March

★ 4th School Photo Day

★ 8th Labour Day Holiday

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 14th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

April

★ 1st Term 1 Concludes 

Advent Reflection Week 1

Advent is pointing us to the birth of Jesus, our hope and joy in troubled times. There is so much to take from the readings we hear each week so here are some ideas for each week of Advent which will hopefully lead to further reflection. As you reflect, look at the environment of the church which will also engage our senses so we can immerse ourselves in this happy and hopeful season.

God is like a potter who shapes us to be people of faith.
We can trust God for ‘God is faithful’

What struck me most about this years reading’s was the emphasis on waiting, a theme that seems particularly poignant given our world’s, and our community’s, experience this year of the pandemic. We have all been waiting, waiting for the daily numbers, for the easing of restrictions, for a vaccine. Depending on our circumstances and our personalities, we have experienced this in different ways and with varying degrees of hardship. The readings reflect upon exactly this. The tone is sometimes angry and despairing, pleading or joyful. We can all find our experience mirrored in the words of the scripture. Just how this might be expressed in the church environment is another matter! That I will have to “ponder in my heart”, but a few ideas are churning.

Overall though, the message that spoke to me above all, is that waiting can be an active and positive state rather than a passive one. It can be about hope, trust and preparation.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY - CHRISTMAS APPEAL

Unfortunately due to the Covid19 restrictions we cannot have our usual Christmas collection of toys for the children of families we have helped during the year. Macleod Conference will still provide our usual Christmas food gift cards for those families with a bit extra to enable the families to provide some toys for the children.

Vinnies is holding its Christmas Appeal and this will provide funds to assist families and people who are in need over the Christmas period. With the problems of Covid19 we expect there will be a greater need than ever in this very difficult year. St Martin’s parishioners have been very generous in the past and we are very grateful for your wonderful help. It would be much appreciated if you can help again.

As we will probably have a limited number of Masses for collections, Vinnies have provided a way of making donations:

1. By phone using a credit card and calling 13 18 12. Donors can allocate donations by giving the name of the conference (eg Macleod Conference M915) over the phone. Receipts will be issued by the Fundraising Team.

2. By an online donation to vinnies.org.au allocating the donation to a specific conference (eg Macleod Conference M915). Receipts will be automatically emailed to donors.

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

CALENDAR OF MASSES
All Masses are capped at 75 people
Monday 30           9.15am Mass
Tuesday 1             No Mass
Wednesday 2        No Mass
Thursday 3           9.15am Mass
Friday 4               9.15am Mass
Saturday 5 Dec     5.30pm Vigil Mass - Trybooking link https://www.trybooking.com/BNFBG
Sunday 6 Dec       8.00am Mass (English) - Trybooking link https://www.trybooking.com/BNFBL   10.00am Mass - Trybooking link https://www.trybooking.com/BNFBQ
It is no longer necessary to book for weekday Masses. However, you must still sign in with your name and contact number as per the government guidelines when you attend.

Returning to Mass will be different compared to what we are used to. We are still required to collect a list of attendees and contact details to enable contact tracing should it be needed. There will also need to be extensive cleaning after each service with a 1 hour gap between services.

Please be patient while we continue to steer our path through the easing of restrictions whilst adhering also to the government guidelines. If you are attending Mass you must wear a mask. Hand sanitiser is available and must be used, and any further directions, such as seating arrangements, given by Fr Michael must be adhered to.

Please only attend if you are well.

TRYBOOKING
To simplify the booking process as we move to larger numbers, we have decided to introduce Trybooking.
PLEASE BOOK EACH PERSON COMING TO MASS SEPARATELY SO WE HAVE CONTACT TRACING DETAILS.
Children over 12 months must also have a ticket for the weekend and are included in the count.
Please note an 8am Sunday Mass (English) has also commenced.
The capacity of our Church as per the DHHS Government guidelines is 75 people (1 person per 4sq mtrs).

Greensborough Road into Newtown Road and Finlayson Street

Thursday 3 December 2020 for up to six months.

Southbound traffic on Greensborough Road will no longer be able to turn right into Newtown Road and Finlayson Street.

Northbound traffic on Greensborough Road can still turn left into, and out of Newtown Road and Finlayson Street.

Pedestrian and cyclist detour options – Greensborough Road, Yallambie

* Greensborough Road Shared User Path closed due to North East Link Project Early Works

* Detour via Erskine Road and Drysdale, Wilmott, Finlayson and Silk streets

* From THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER 2020* for approximately 6 months (*Please note date has been changed)

* The footpath on the west side of Greensborough Road will remain open for local pedestrian use

From THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER 2020* Greensborough Road cyclists will be detoured along Erskine Road and Wilmott Street for southbound riders and Drysdale Street for eastbound riders to avoid major North East Link early work sites.

Pedestrian and cyclist detour options


About the works

Over the next 6 months, works to relocate the water services will be carried out on the western side of Borlase Reserve which will result in a closure of the shared user path and southbound slow lane on Greensborough Road from Monday 23 November.

To find out more visit northeastlink.vic.gov.au

Contact the North East Link Project team

If you have any questions or comments about these works please contact the North East Link Project team on 1800 105 105 or NorthEastLinkEarlyWorks@cpbcon.com.au

      

*Please note date has been changed

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 
Enrolment is free. All families must enrol to attend the program.
Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we gathered together as a whole school community via google for assembly on Monday and St Martin’s Feast Day/Remembrance Day on Wednesday. 


We also acknowledged the Day for Daniel on Friday. The Day is all about child safety education and awareness. It is very important that our students are informed on how to keep themselves safe.

On Thursday night the Parish Education Board met remotely for the last time this year. We discussed; Child Safety, school fee schedule for 2021, CEM Governance changes and some of the recommendations from the recent school review.
We are pleased to advise you all that there will be no increase to school fees in 2021 to support our families with the impacts of COVID. Also excursions levies will not be charged next year (other than for Preps and newly enrolled students).  Please note the fees schedule for 2021 will be going out next week to all families. A reminder to all families completing payment plans that one must be completed each year. On receipt of the payment plan you will receive an email to confirm the payment amount. If you have any questions regarding fees please email our Bursar, Mary Milione - marym@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au
I will share with you before the end of the year our main priorities for school improvement and a summary of the new governance changes currently being finalised by Catholic Education Melbourne.

Prep Orientation

Our 2021 Preps have attended two transition sessions which have been adjusted to meet our COVID safe plan. The students were very excited and settled in very well.

The Prep teaching team for 2021 is as follows:
Mrs Leslie van Loggerenberg (PVL)
Mrs Lisa Philp and Mrs Chloe Jones (PPJ)
Mrs Andrea Getson and Mrs Dinesha Rajasingam (PGR)

We look forward to seeing all our new preps back next Thursday for their final orientation session.

Staffing news

Mrs Emma O’Malley begins her maternity leave this week and we wish her good health as she prepares for the birth of her second child. Emma displays passion for teaching every day and has had a significant impact on many students at St Martin’s. 


We congratulate Mr Steve Villani who joined our staff in term 3 this year as our STEM teacher. He became a father for the first time this week. His wife Sara gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Leonardo on Thursday.

Student Leadership

Our Year 5 students are currently exploring leadership as part of their inquiry into Civics and Citizenship. I recently had the opportunity to share with them my leadership journey and they certainly asked me some challenging questions. The experience gave me an opportunity to reflect on my leadership which is important to do. I shared with them some of the qualities I feel make an effective leader and they included; integrity, respect, openness to listen and learn, team-oriented and aspirational. I look forward to being part of this process with them all.

Confirmation 2020

Our Year 6 families were informed on Friday that we received news earlier this week from Archbishop Comensoli that parish priests are to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to our Year 6 students before 31 December 2020. The Sacrament may now be celebrated in accordance with this Decree and follow specific COVID safe directives. Students who are to be confirmed in Year 6 will receive the Sacrament on Thursday 3 December during school time. Year 6 families have been given additional information.

Coming up

★ We have a school closure day on Monday 30 November to plan for 2021.

★ Year 6 Big Day Out at Funfields on Friday 4 December.

★ We are exploring having an adjusted whole school sports day (onsite) on Friday 11 December.

★ Year 6 students last day will be Monday 14 December and they will finish at 1pm.

★ Transition session for 2021 Year 1 to 6 classes is scheduled for Monday 14 December.

★ Year 6 Graduation Mass will be on Monday 14 December 5pm.

★ End of Year Thanksgiving Mass on Tuesday 15 December (format to be advised).

★ Last day of the school year for Prep - Year 5 students is Tuesday 15 December, students finish at 3.30pm.

★ We are exploring the logistics of having a school Christmas Carols event - watch this space.

On Friday we had an emergency management situation where we needed to close off bottom yard at pick up time. The safety of your children was never at risk; we needed to isolate an area to deal safely with an individual matter. We thank you for your understanding and patience at this time.

We have been advised by North East Link Project Team commencing Monday 23 November Pedestrian and cyclist detour options will commence along Greensborough Road, Yallambie. Please click here to read further details.

Once again I thank you all for adjusting to the COVID way of being at the moment. Our morning and afternoon routines will remain the same until further notice.

Take care

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Our Patron Saint - Martin of Tours

On Monday we streamed our school assembly into the classrooms and our Year 6 RE Captains shared the story of St Martin of Tours with the students in readiness to celebrate his Feast Day and Remembrance Day on the 11th of November. On St Martin’s Feast Day, we watched a recording of Mass in our classrooms and paid our respects to those who fought and continue to fight in war. St Martin’s Feast Day festivities are celebrated in European countries where bonfires are built and children carry lanterns as they walk along the streets singing songs. During the day, the students created their own lanterns. Some of these lanterns are currently hanging in our Church.

The story of St Martin's of Tours - by Lily and Connor (RE Captains)

St Martin was born in 316 AD to Roman parents. His father was in the Roman Army so he had to join. At the age of 15 he wanted to become catholic and so he got baptised. The legend says that one night he was riding his horse and was giving away clothes that he owned to people who could not afford them when he saw a beggar on the street who was shivering from the cold. Everyone just ignored the man and left him there. Martin did not leave that man there the same way as the others but took out his sword and sliced his cloak in half. His cloak was the only thing he had left. He gave half of it to the other man. That night he had a dream that Jesus was there wearing that half a cloak he gave away and said “ whatever you do for one of my brothers you are doing it for me.” He left the army shortly after he was baptised. He also became bishop of Tours which is in France. He was buried there on November the 11th.

November the 11th is his feast day and celebrated all over the world. We remember him and his actions at our school as it is named after him. I think we need to remember that St Martian did things for others and thought about them before himself. I think he believed that everyone deserves simple things in life. On Wednesday it is the 11th of November so pray for Martin whenever you get a chance and in your actions everyday remember what he did.

Let us follow in the footsteps of St Martin by caring for one another.

Community Prayer of St Martin of Tours

God our Father, source of unity and love, make your faithful people one in heart and mind,
so that Your Church, the community of St Martin of Tours, may live in harmony.
Pour out on us the spirit of understanding, truth and peace.

Your will is to gather us all as one family in Yourself.
Fill the hearts of all of us with the fire of Your love and the desire
to share all good things You have given us
so that we may build a community based on love and peace.

Help us to strive with all hearts to know what is pleasing to You and,
when we know Your Will, make us determined to do it.

Mary, Mother of God - Pray for Us
St Martin of Tours - Pray For Us
Let us always remember - to pray for one another

During Term 4, the Year 5 cohort are inquiring into the civics and citizenship questions of ‘What is a democracy?’ and ‘What are the qualities of a great leader?’. This inquiry unit will culminate in the election of school leaders for 2021. We hope that the work we have covered in this area will leave students well placed to choose the best student leaders to represent our school in 2021.

For the moment, we are focusing on School Captain, Religious Education and House Captains. Moving forward (into 2021), we are exploring the idea of adding captain roles for The Arts and Sustainability and Environment.

Below is a timeline of our election process for your information. Should you have any queries about this process or timeline feel free to contact your child’s teacher.

* Wednesday 28th - October Student Leadership Application to go home

* Friday 13th November - Student Leadership Application due

* 9th-23rd November - Students to work on Leadership Speech

* Wednesday 25th November - Speeches and voting for School Leaders and Religious Education Leaders

* Friday 27th November - Speeches and voting for House Leaders

We wish all our student leader nominees the best of luck.

Pedestrian and cyclist detour options – Greensborough Road, Yallambie

* Greensborough Road Shared User Path closed due to North East Link Project Early Works

* Detour via Erskine Road and Drysdale, Wilmott, Finlayson and Silk streets

* From Monday 23 November 2020* for approximately 6 months (*3 December 2020)

* The footpath on the west side of Greensborough Road will remain open for local pedestrian use

From Monday 23 November*, Greensborough Road cyclists will be detoured along Erskine Road and Wilmott Street for southbound riders and Drysdale Street for eastbound riders to avoid major North East Link early work sites.

Pedestrian and cyclist detour options


About the works

Over the next 6 months, works to relocate the water services will be carried out on the western side of Borlase Reserve which will result in a closure of the shared user path and southbound slow lane on Greensborough Road from Monday 23 November.

To find out more visit northeastlink.vic.gov.au.

Contact the North East Link Project team

If you have any questions or comments about these works please contact the North East Link Project team on 1800 105 105 or NorthEastLinkEarlyWorks@cpbcon.com.au

      

*Date changed to 3 December 2020

Congratulations to the following St Martin's students! 

PGR

Caitlin for putting up her hand in class to share her interesting thoughts and ideas. So proud of you!

Maddie for working so well with her learning partners and for writing lots of detail in her wonderful stories. Great efforts!

Evie for being so super and focusing on writing her letters on the line and using spaces between her words. Keep up the fabulous work!

Charlie for working so hard at school and for especially writing his stories by himself using the word list to help him. Superstar!

Dain for making really good choices on the playground and for being a wonderful listener in class. Keep it up Dain!

PPV

Giorgia for trying hard with her writing and beginning to hear and record dominant sounds. Well done!

Ethan for listening to the teacher and focusing on his work. Awesome!

Ellie for her fluent reading and working on her understanding of the text. Nice one!

Harry for his excellent automatic response of number problems. Great work!

Liana for her fabulous story writing. Great ideas!

Eva for focusing on her activities and completing work of a good standard. Well done!

PVL

Lewis for making great progress with his reading and writing. Well done!

Marcus for hearing and recording so many new sounds in words when writing. Well done!

1B

Juliet for her amazing and detailed retell of the story 'The Bear's Lunch.'

Harry C for showing kindness and helping others in 1B.

1LB

Eva for her detailed and interesting retell on the story 'The Bear's Lunch'.

Lachlan for showing perserverance with tasks, even when they become challenging. He has continued to build a positive mindset with his learning and this has been brilliant to see. Keep up the great work Lachlan!

Ana for presenting an interesting and creative show and tell all about where her family came from. She spoke confidently about her family culture and traditions. Well done Ana!

2T

Mikaela S for effectively following the Design Process to create her wonderful Spoonville character.

Kathleen for being an attentive listener and for always being ready to learn.

Violet for being a wonderful team member and for always helping others. 

Christian C for his wonderful persuasive writing piece on the topic 'All Children Should Play Sport" and for challenging himself to include examples.

3C

Angus N for being very helpful and assisting others.

Jye for his interesting narratives and using describing words.

Maisie for working to the best of her ability and completing her set tasks.

Alessia for being supportive and caring towards her peers.

Patrick for listening to feedback and using it to improve his work.

Alandra for asking inquisitive questions to improve her learning.

4C

Abby for always having such a positive and inclusive manner and for taking great care and showing persistence with all areas of her work. 

Darcy D for all of his efforts with his reading at home and at school - you are reading with great fluency and understanding. Well done!

Tameeka for her kindness and creativity shown within the classroom. Thank you, Tameeka!

Nathan for his efforts with his multiplication skills at home and at school. What a mathema-gician!

Greg for being focussed and working hard to complete his work to a high standard. Well done!

Ruby A for always offering to help her peers and teachers and for her careful presentation of her work.

Ethan for always listening attentively and for trying his best at all class tasks.

5L

Natasha C for her bravery in coming forward and making good choices.

6AM

Stefan and Ethan P for the wonderful contributions they made to our school gardens by making them look more tidy, healthy and sustainable by applying mulch. Your efforts and hard work is greatly appreciated by our school community!

Sandor for working extra hard on solving BODMAS problems. Your persistence and determination was wonderful to witness. Keep it up for all subject areas!

Ben for your amazing kicking and running skills in our class sport game of continuous soccer. You made some great kicks and lucky kicks that even saved your teammates. Great teamwork!

Noah for your efficient and accurate skills in solving BODMAS equations. You were a great support and model to your peers around you.

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

2020 Term 4 Calendar Dates

November

★ 17th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 19th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 3 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for parents 6.30pm

★ 25th PFA AGM 7.30pm Via Zoom (click here to register)

★ 30th School Closure Day

December

★ 1st - 4th Compassion in Action Week (Year 6 Fundraising) 

★ 3rd Year 6 Confirmation Ceremonies

★ 4th Year 6 Big Day Out -Funfields

★ 11th Whole School Sports Day (event held at school)

★ 14th Year 6 last day of primary school - farewell at 1pm

★ 14th Year 6 Graduation Mass at 5pm (format to be advised)

★ 14th Years P-5 Transition to 2021 Classes

★ 15th End of Year Thanksgiving Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 15th Term 4 concludes at 3.30pm

★ *Carols night (TBA)

2021 Term 1 Calendar Dates

January

★ 28th -29th Year 1-6 Student Assessment Sessions (further information will be provided via Compass News Feed) 

February

★ 1st ALL students commence Term 1

★ 2nd Beginning of School Year Mass 9.15am

★ 11th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 16th Shrove Tuesday

★ 17th Ash Wednesday Mass 9.15am

★ 18th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 25th Reconciliation (Year 3 2020)

★ 27th Prep and Year 6 Welcome Mass

March

★ 4th School Photo Day

★ 8th Labour Day Holiday

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 13th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

★ 14th First Eucharist Mass (Year 4 2020) 

April

★ 1st Term 1 Concludes 

CARITAS ASIA EMERGENCY APPEAL

The devastation caused by the worst storms and flooding in the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam in nearly a decade is urging us all to act. Since early October, Vietnam and Cambodia have experienced unprecedented rainfall and severe flooding. Several people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes have been submerged. The region has been hit by back -to- back typhoons in a very short period of time. Typhoons Quinta and Goni have bought havoc hitting the Philippines with gusts up to 225km an hour and causing even more flooding in Vietnam and Cambodia. Entire villages are without power. Thousands are flocking to evacuation centres where the risk of Covid transmission is higher again, due to cramped conditions, and high numbers. Please help all you can by phoning 1800 024 413 to donate, by post GPO Box 9830 in your capital city or access on line donation via caritas.org.au/give

CHILD SAFEGUARDING RESOURCE

The eSafety Commissioner has recently published a free e-book resource 'Online safety for grandparents and carers' which provides advice about online safety issues that children and young people may experience. This resource provides “key advice about online safety issues that can affect children and young people” including practical tips to help grandparents and carers to talk about these issues with children and young people and manage them. Helpful topics include: setting up devices safely; managing time online; preventing unsafe contact from strangers as well as a guide to some of the most popular sites and apps. Grandparents and carers can download and view the resource online:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/seniors/online-safety-grandparents-carers

The SMOT Safeguarding Committee have been working hard this year to prepare the parish for an Archdiocese audit at the end of November. Website updates coming soon…

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 
Enrolment is free. All families must enrol to attend the program.
Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We thank you for the words of appreciation on Friday for World Teachers’ Day. I know every staff member at St Martin’s loves what they do and will continue to aspire to be the best they can be.

It is so great to be able to reflect on two weeks of fun and engaging activities at school all taking place in a COVID safe environment. They have included:

● Book Week activities that included a parade of characters and virtual story night.
We thank Emma Kent and Chloe Jones for all their efforts in ensuring it was a week to remember.

● PFA meeting via zoom.

● Footy colours day - we congratulate all our Richmond Supporters.

● Year 5 STEM MAD project with Catholic Education Melbourne.
We are extremely proud of all that our students achieved, including our award winners.
https://sites.google.com/vic.catholic.edu.au/stemmad/home (STEM website)
https://www.cem.edu.au/News-Events/2020/October/STEM-MAD-2020.aspx (CEM News article)

● As a staff we have commenced a rich professional learning journey titled - The Learning Collaborative. The research behind this approach based on the work of Lyn Sharrat, leads to highly effective practices that improve student learning outcomes.

Planning for 2021

Teachers are in the process of organising classes for 2021, they need to take a broad view and consider the needs of all students. It is our intention to provide well-balanced class groupings for 2021. To achieve this, we must consider the academic, emotional, social and behavioural needs of all students. Teachers will draw upon their collective knowledge of the students to arrange the classes. It is important that we support our students through this process of change. If you want to discuss matters with me that relate to educational reasons for your child please email me by no later than Friday 6 November. It is important that we work together through this process and trust that the processes used are about the best interests of everyone.

Staffing news

Emma O'Malley will commence her maternity leave soon with her last day being Friday 13 November. Karen Crimmins will teach 2OC, 3 days a week and Anne Hubber will replace Emma on Thursday and Friday for the last 5 weeks of term. We thank Emma for all she has contributed to St Martin’s and look forward to seeing her back with us again.

Megan Williams who has been on leave this year, has decided to finish her time at St Martin’s. We would like to take this opportunity to reflect on her time with us.

Meg led our school and community in 2019 as Acting Principal during a very difficult period. She put the needs of students, parents and staff before her own. During her time at St Martin’s her many roles included, classroom teacher, Mathematics Leader, ICT Leader, Deputy Principal and Acting Principal.

Meg attended primary school at SMOT, her family has been part of the parish for many years and she continues to hold this community close to her heart. Meg spent many years teaching overseas and brought that wealth of knowledge to our school along with her cultural sensitivities. Meg has no interest in sport, except in 2018 when West Coast won the Premiership. She was the only West Coast supporter in our footy day parade. Meg’s quirky nature enabled her to relate very well with all students. She had a gentle and caring manner and a genuine rapport with the students. She challenged many students in mathematics, STEM and technology. She cared for all students and shared her quirky ideas with all.

Meg was a very approachable person and nothing was too difficult for her. She made staff comfortable in her presence. She shared her contemporary ideas with staff and her enthusiasm shone through. Her forward thinking in the technology area set us up for success during our remote learning this year. Meg was happiest working behind the scenes, tirelessly and quietly for our school and community. The best interests of our students being her highest priority.

We take this opportunity to thank Megan for her tremendous contribution to the St Martin’s community and wish her happiness and success in all her future endeavours.

Prep 2021

We look forward to welcoming our new preps to St Martin’s on Thursday and Friday for their first orientation sessions. We have had to make some considerable changes to ensure we remain COVID safe. Students are only allowed onsite in smaller groups (around 10) and the sessions will now run over two days and be held in the GECCO. We will wait to hear from CEM regarding the adjustments that will need to be made to the next two sessions planned for November 12 and 19. We have also had to postpone our Prep Parents' 2021 Welcome Dinner which was scheduled for Friday 13 November. I thank all our parents for their understanding at these challenging times.

Human Sexuality Program for senior students

In the next few weeks our Year 6 students and their parents will be participating in online sessions as part of the Health and PE component of the Victorian Curriculum. St Martin’s is proud to be delivering such an important unit for our students and families. In 2021 the program will be expanded and will be inclusive of Year 5. Therefore, if your child is currently in Years 4 or 5 they will participate in the program next year.

Reminders

A reminder that all students MUST WEAR A HAT at break times and during PE classes for the remainder of the term. Students are also encouraged to wear sunscreen to school and bring sunscreen to school to reapply before going out to play.

We have St Martin of Tours Feast Day on Wednesday 11 November and Remembrance Day. We will be exploring ways of acknowledging this as a school community (more information to follow).

If you are using the Community Centre car park in Silk St could I please ask you to be respectful of other vehicles. One of our teachers' cars was damaged last week and a parent witnessed another parent hitting the car and leaving without notifying us of the damage.

We are so appreciative of how all parents have supported our COVID safe plan by remaining offsite. Could I please remind parents to not congregate outside of school for too long and gather in groups. We certainly have hope with the very low numbers of new COVID cases at the moment, so I thank you for all doing your part. As processes and procedures change we will inform you.

We hope you are enjoying the long weekend and we look forward to seeing our students back at school on Wednesday 4 November.

For the last time in 2020 - Go Tiges !!!

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

An action packed SMOT Book Week 2020!

We had an amazing and action-packed Book Week this year at SMOT! Even though we have had to celebrate a little differently this year, we certainly didn’t let that take away our enthusiasm and love of books and reading!

The fun began with our Book Week parade on Monday. Everyone was very creative this year and found things that could be used from home or made their costume into a family holiday project. Students shared their costumes, parading for their year levels whilst the rest of the school watched the parade in their classrooms.

       

Students participated in Book Week activities in their classrooms and made marvellous monsters and curious creatures!

   

The Preps, Year 1s and Year 2s explored the theme ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’ in their Library lessons and used various materials to create their own curious creatures.

       

The Year 3-6 students met (virtually!) the talented illustrator of ‘The Glimme’ and ‘The Deltora Quest’ series, Marc McBride….



The fun continued last Thursday night at ‘Virtual Story Night’. Over 200 families across all year levels shared in their love of reading, listening to their teachers read some of their favourite stories. Teachers were dressed in dressing gowns and students snuggled up on their couch or were tucked up in bed, all eager to be part of this special St Martin’s tradition.



BOOK WEEK CREATIVE COMPETITION WINNERS


A huge congratulations to all the amazing students who participated in the SMOT 2020 Creative Book Response Competition. We were blown away by the incredible creativity students displayed in their entries and are so very proud of the amazing effort all the students who entered went to.

It was such a tough job to choose the winners, as it is every year! Here are the winners and students who received honourable mentions for 2020...

OVERALL SCHOOL WINNER
Elena S
PREP
1ST- Mila Zj PGR
HM- Tiago L PGR
Year One
1ST- Anthony V 1LB
HM- Sofia B B 1F
HM- Henry A 1F
Year Two
1ST- Maddie M 2C
HM- Phoebe W 2T
Year Three
1ST- Patrick C 3C
HM- Evie D 3MT
Year Four
1ST- Lea A 4C
HM- Rayaan G 4T
Year Five
1ST- Tarah C 5V
HM- Olivia N 5V
HM- Belle K 5C
Year Six
1ST- Oliver V 6W
HM- Chloe B 6AM
Sibling Award
1ST- Lena and Shayna
HM- Finn and Jonty R

A huge thank you to the SMOT community; teachers, parents and the students for making Book Week 2020 one to remember!

Emma Kent and Chloe Jones

In Term 3 the Year 5 students undertook an inquiry unit where they explored the question, ‘How can we work together to best meet the diverse needs of all in our community?’ Students researched a specific disability or impairment and used their knowledge to create designed solutions to support people with this disability and impairment so that they can perform daily tasks or enhance their quality of life. The students were aware that at the end of the unit, some students' designs would be entered into the STEM MAD competition run by Catholic Education Melbourne. We were extremely proud to discover that six of our students were chosen as finalists.

These students participated in an online incursion at school. This incursion was run by the CEM and allowed these students to use materials and participate in STEM challenges made by different STEM experts from Victoria. Nominations and awards were announced throughout the incursion. The students had to prepare for the finals by creating and showcasing an interactive video which demonstrated their understanding of the design process and how it related to Catholic Values.

Emmy H created ‘Sand Art’. This prototype allowed people with a vision impairment to use different coloured sand and different templates to create artwork that could be displayed.



Lily S created the ‘Sock on’ which is a device used to help people with arthritis put their socks on so they don’t need to bend down and hurt their limbs.



Jasper M created ‘Super Tech Leg’ a prototype which uses hydraulic technology to assist people who have an amputated leg. Jasper was nominated for the Immersive Education Future is STEM award and was awarded in the top three finalists out of all the participating Catholic Primary schools in Melbourne.



Erica W created ‘Chat Mate’ a phone application which allows people who are deaf or mute to quickly communicate with others. Erica was nominated for the Best Integration of Technology award. She also was awarded in the top 3 out of all the participating Catholic Primary schools in Melbourne in this category.



Mietta T created ‘Uña colour nails’ a nail polish which changes colour when it comes close to hot surfaces, this was to assist people who suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy. Mietta’s design was nominated for two categories. The Monash University Social Entrepreneurship award and the Immersive Education Future is STEM award. Mietta came top 3 in both categories out of all the participating Catholic Primary schools in Melbourne.



Olivia D created ‘The Texture Puzzle’ which is a puzzle for people who are vision impaired and use textures instead of pictures. She was nominated for and WON the prestigious CEM award for Wellbeing. This was a huge achievement as this included all the primary schools in all categories and was awarded by the head of Wellbeing at the CEM.


Congratulations to all of the students who were nominated in these STEM awards, it was an amazing achievement.

It is important to note that there were many other amazing designs that our Year 5 students developed during home learning in Term 3. It has been a wonderful experience for us to be creative whilst endeavouring to help those around us. We are very proud of all of the Year 5 students who participated in the Inquiry unit and look forward to continuing this successful program next year.

The Year 5 Teachers

The Learning Collaborative

This year the school has begun its journey on ‘The Learning Collaborative’. This is a Catholic Education Melbourne initiative based on the research of Dr. Lyn Sharratt from Canada. There are 14 parameters which frame school improvement leading to growth in student learning.

1. Shared beliefs and Understandings

2. Embedded Knowledgeable Others

3. Quality assessment informs instruction

4. Principal as lead learner

5. Early and ongoing intervention

6. Case Management Approach

7. Focused professional learning at staff meetings

8. In school meetings-collaborative assessment of student work

9. Book rooms of levelled and multimodal resources

10. Allocation of school budgets for learning

11. Collaborative Inquiry- a whole system approach

12. Parental and community involvement

13. Cross Curricular literacy connections

14. Shared responsibility and accountability

Over the past few weeks, the staff have worked enthusiastically on unpacking the 14 parameters in professional learning meetings. There was lots of good discussion and impressive thinking. We look forward to keeping you posted on our progress.

2020 Postponement of Sacraments

Due to Covid19 Sacraments throughout the Archdiocese have been postponed until 2021. As you are aware we are operating in a constantly changing landscape and as we organise these celebrations the school and parish need to follow Government and Archdiocese guidelines closely. Therefore our celebrations may look a little differently to what they have been like in previous years.

Sacraments follow a particular order of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation.
Our current Year 3 students will receive two Sacraments in 2021. Maintaining the order for this level, Reconciliation will take place in Term 1 followed by Eucharist in Term 3.
Our current Year 4 level will receive the Sacrament of Eucharist in Term 1 also.
We will invite our current Year 6 students to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in May.
Booking information will be provided in the coming weeks via Compass.

2021 Dates for Sacraments postponed this year

February

★ 11th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

★ 18th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

★ 25th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

March

★ 13th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 11am

★ 13th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 3.30pm

★ 14th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 3.30pm

May

★ 21st Current Year 6 Confirmation Mass at 5pm

★ 22nd Current Year 6 Confirmation Mass at 11am

We will advise you of the 2021 Sacramental dates for the 2021 - Years 3, 4 and 6 cohorts at a later date.

Congratulations to the following students for a fantastic start to Term 4!

PGR
All PGR students for settling back into our classroom routine with smiles on their faces and full of enthusiasm.

PGR class for working so hard on their super writing skills of writing on the bold line, leaving spaces between words and using upper case letters and full stops. Lots to remember!!

PVL
Abigail: For making great gains with her reading.

Clara: For putting so much effort into her work during home learning.

Lola: For making great progress with her reading.

Tully: For making a smooth transition back to school after home learning.

Genevieve: For always being a patient and gentle girl in Prep VL.

Fabian: For always being a kind and friendly boy in Prep VL.

1B
Olivia M: For making amazing progress in her reading and for being a superstar listener in the classroom.

Maxwell: For making valuable contributions to class discussions and for being a wonderful friend to everyone in 1B.

Kayleigh: For always trying her best in all areas of learning and for being a kind and caring friend.

1F
Evan: For improving on his independent learning and working and having a positive approach to learning. Evan is always a fun member of our class! Well done!

Raphael: For working hard to follow instructions, especially in the morning to get ready for the day. Raph is always so caring to his class mates. Awesome stuff!

1LB
David: For making positive choices on the yard with his play and being a good friend to his peers.

Poppy H: For being an enthusiastic and respectful participant during class discussions. She regularly shares her ideas and actively listening to her peers. Fantastic effort Poppy!

2T
Grace P: For her wonderful persuasive writing piece on, "Why Essendon is the Best Football Club".

Jude N: For his improved behaviour in class and for trying hard to improve the quality of his work.

Emma C: For her perseverance during our multiplication unit and for her improvement. Well Done Emma!

Eliza O: Always listening attentively and for trying her best at all class tasks.

3C
Leila: For using feedback to improve her work.

Lachlan: For trying really hard with his writing.

Nathan: For offering to assist others.

Claude: For showing persistence with his Maths.

Kaya: For using her manners and offering to help others.

Madison: For using adjectives and paragraphs in her writing.

3JC
Nicholas: For always making valuable contributions during remote learning Google Meet sessions.

Indiana: For doing an amazing job at settling back into school life.

Yichen: For saying his times tables with speed and accuracy.

3MT
Patrick: For being focussed and working hard to complete tasks.

Lilliana: For using paragraphs and including great detail in her writing.

4C
Paxton: For doing an amazing job at settling back into school life, and helping those around him be good learners.

Tommy: For his commitment to reading during school and his impressive information report on Salamanders.

Claudia: For her great listening skills and being such a positive and encouraging member of 4C.

5L
Gus M for his commitment to reading during school.

Mietta T, Jasper M and Erica W for competing and placing in the top 3 of the STEM MAD competition at the CEM.

5V
Emmy for competing in the STEM MAD competition with her very creative prototype.

6AM
Mia B for the professional way that she has moved back into her class routines. Mia is so prepared, so enthusiastic and always ready to learn.

Tom D for the way he has applied himself to the start of term 4, sharing ideas and thinking outside the square. He is a young man with amazing ideas.

Declan L for being the most selfless person in our class. Declan is always the first to jump up and help others in need and this is a very special quality that we all admire.

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

2020 Term 4 Calendar Dates

November

★ 2nd School Closure (day before Cup Day) Report Writing Day

★ 3rd Melbourne Cup Day (Public Holiday)

★ 4th Human Sexuality Year 6 Parent Information Session at 7.00pm (online)

★ 5th and 6th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 1 

★ 10th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 11th St Martin’s Feast Day Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 12th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 2 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 13th Prep Parents' 2021 Welcome Dinner (postponed)

★ 17th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 19th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 3 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for parents 6.30pm

★ 30th School Closure Day

December

★ 1st - 4th Compassion in Action Week (Year 6 Fundraising) 

★ 14th Year 6 last day of primary school - farewell at 1pm

★ 14th Year 6 Graduation Mass at 5pm (format to be determined)

★ 14th Changeover Day for Years P-5

★ 15th End of Year School Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 15th Term 4 concludes at 3.30pm

★ *Carols night (TBA)

Dates for Term 1 2021, will be provided in our next newsletter.

Ready, Set, Pray! Children’s Liturgy of the Word @ Home

The Ready, Set, Pray! Children’s Liturgy of the Word @ Home video series has been created to provide an engaging space for families to encounter Jesus through the Sunday gospel.

Each week includes an invitation for families to create and gather in their own prayer space, to sing, hear the Gospel, pray and respond creatively through an activity.

This weekly resource follows the familiar Children’s Liturgy of the Word format provided in many parishes – but moved to an online setting. It can be used by families in their homes, and also by teachers and catechists.

The series consists of 10 weekly sessions of 15-20 minutes duration, commencing from Sunday 18th October and continuing each Sunday until Christmas.

This resource is produced by Proclaim: The Office for Mission Renewal at the Archdiocese of Melbourne. To access the free program see https://bit.ly/ReadySetPray 

SMOT NATIVITY SCENE THIS CHRISTMAS

Parishioners will recall the beautiful nativity scene created a few year ago by Domenic D’Agostino. It was located in the main foyer. Little did we know that this was to be his legacy, as he passed away earlier this year.

So now we need some volunteers to help set it up. It would be good to have a small group, maybe 3 people to organise setting it all up. If you are handy and have some time to do this, please contact the Parish Office.

REPORT FROM THE SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE (FORMERLY CHILD SAFETY TEAM)

The Safeguarding Committee works on behalf of parishioners to ensure that St Martin’s has a child-safe environment.

Throughout this year, the committee has been working to update the parish’s policies and procedures in line with the ten National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (Standards) which were published in 2019.

The committee has:
· Met regularly via Zoom
· Participated with other parishes in the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne (CAM), Northern Regions - Safeguarding Network meetings held via Zoom
· Revised the SMOT Policy and Code of Conduct to better reflect the Standards
· Submitted the revised Policy and Code of Conduct for the endorsement of the Parish Pastoral Council
· Created a Risk Management Plan for which we are seeking feedback
· Documented procedures to implement the Standards
· Prepared an initial ‘Self-Assessment of Compliance’ audit relating to the Standards. This audit has to be completed and a copy lodged with CAM’s Professional Standards Unit by 30 November 2020. Committee members are all contributing to this challenging work to ensure we can meet the 30 November deadline.

We will be consulting with parish group leaders about some of these documents and look forward to receiving feedback. It is anticipated that the website will be updated in the coming weeks. You will be notified when this occurs.

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 
Enrolment is free. All families must enrol to attend the program.
Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been such a wonderful week having all our students back with us. The last day we heard the sounds of all our students playing on school grounds was on Friday 26 June. There have been many opportunities for them this week to connect back in with their peers and teachers, experience some hands-on learning in the classroom and also explore learning experiences outside.

We have loved hearing our students reflect on their first day back to school and have also appreciated the parent feedback we have had on our special Disney day on Monday. From little things big things grow and this was certainly the case on Monday. We have compiled some photos for you all to remember the day.

I was very surprised to see all the Disney characters. My favourite ones were the Disney Princesses because I loved them when I was younger and all the pretty dresses - Leila 3C.

I think it's the happiest place on earth because at school we learn new things and we always have fun at school because sometimes we find things tricky but then we learn how to do it - Chloe 2OC

When I saw all the teachers on Monday, dressed up as Disney characters, I was very surprised, my first thought was “Wow! This is different”. I felt happy for the little kids because it would make them feel happy and excited, also it made me feel happy - 6AM

Just wanted to extend my warmest thanks to you and your incredible staff for the amazing “Back to school welcome” you organised for the students yesterday. The impact of arriving to see the teachers all dressed up was immediate. The nerves soon turned to excitement and the radiant smile on my son’s face when he saw his teachers filled my heart with such warmth and happiness - Parent

We also have a very excited week planned next week with all our Book Week activities. Students have already been working on creative book responses for our competition and activities planned for next week include dressing up as a favourite book character and a virtual story night and book fair. It will be another amazing week at St Martin's.

St Martin’s COVID safe plan

Maintaining a COVID safe school applies to all Victorian schools. Some of the principles of our plan includes the following:

★ Stay home when unwell

★ Practice good hygiene this includes keeping surfaces clean and enhanced environmental cleaning and disinfection

★ Wear a face mask and ensure social distancing

★ Avoid interactions in enclosed spaces

★ Limit school access to parents and outside visitors

★ Reduce mixing between groups

★ Adapt, modify or defer higher risk activities

★ Move activities outdoor where possible, weather permitting.

Teachers and support staff are not required to wear face masks while teaching, but those who wish to do so, can.

We thank you for your patience as we manage the logistics of the end of the day pick up. Our updated pick up schedule worked well yesterday and today. We believe the following plan and reminders will support both parents and staff moving forward:

★ 3pm pick up time slot (A-Z), where children can be collected from the office area to avoid the congestion on the later pick up times.
Parents will be expected to park their vehicles, walk over using the school crossing and wait in the area between the church and office, with social distancing - please email your request for this permanent change in time to: office@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

★ 3:15pm pick up for A-J families and 3:30pm pick up for K-Z families

★ No right hand turn in to bottom yard from Silk street both in the morning and afternoon

★ If your circumstances change and you need to change your pick up point (3:15pm or 3:30pm) please email your classroom teacher by 12pm, to notify them of the change

★ Please do not arrive before 3pm for drive through pick up, we will open the gates around 3:10pm to reduce congestion.

Planning for 2021

In our last newsletter I asked parents to advise me if their children will not be returning to St Martin’s in 2021 (other than Year 6 students) could I please request this information once again.

Today I would like to inform you all of the structure of classrooms for 2021. We will have 3 classes at every year level, a total of 21 classes throughout the school. We have made the decision to change the current Year 4 structure and have 3 Year 5 classes next year. We feel this will support our students best.

We would also like to share with you the 2021 Dates for Sacraments postponed this year for our students currently in Years 3, 4 and 6 who have missed out on celebrating their Sacraments this year.

Making connections as a parish community

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you
John 13-34

Covid19 has presented all in our community with many challenges. When we heard that many of our elderly parishioners were feeling isolated, the caring students in Year 5 were ‘on the job’.
Our students spent time during remote learning sending letters to our fellow parishioners. The letters included a joke, an inspirational quote and a prayer. The students also shared how they were feeling during this time and what they were doing to help them pass the time. They also were sure to let the parishioners know that they were not alone and that someone was thinking of them during this time.

The way this was received by our parish community warmed the hearts of many. Letters and emails came flooding back, and the students were so touched by the responses they received.

The activity undertaken by you showed great sensitivity to fellow parishioners. I enjoyed the joke -even though I think you can take 10 ,10 times from 100, your quote and most of all, the beautiful prayer which brought me much solace.

We are praying for a release from restrictions which are causing much stress -please add your prayers to expedite such a decision.

Thanks again for your letter -we pray that the rest of the year is full of successes and lots of fun for you and your friends.

We are proud to live in a parish community that follows the example of Jesus Christ who loves and cares for us all. Thanks to our Year 5 students for showing such compassion to others and living Christ’s mission.

Term 4 Events

As you can imagine planning future events whilst under COVID restrictions can be very challenging. We have put together a calendar of Term 4 events to help you with your planning. A risk assessment will need to be considered for many school activities this term, so we thank you for your understanding that we can not plan for everything at this current time.

Providing opportunities for transition is a key priority this term. We will be connecting in with our feeder schools to support the transition of our Year 6 students to secondary school and we will also be exploring how to best celebrate our current Year 6’s graduation. Exploring outdoor options seems the most realistic at this stage.

We are also looking forward to the opportunity to have our Prep 2021 students onsite this term for their orientation program. Lisa Philp has been busy contacting many pre-school to support the process.

Next week we have a four day week with the AFL Grand Final being held on Saturday 24 October. Our students can wear their footy colours to school on Thursday 22 October as our senior students plan a fun day for them.

Thanks again for all your support this year.
Go Tigers (I’m feeling very nervous about tonight's game!!!)   

Take care

Jacqui Marshall
Principal
If you can dream it, you can do it!

2020 Postponement of Sacraments

Due to Covid19 Sacraments throughout the Archdiocese have been postponed until 2021. On Tuesday, Jacqui and I met with Fr Michael, Sr Maria and Ingrid, Parish Secretary, to propose dates for Sacraments and School Masses for 2021. As you are aware we are operating in a constantly changing landscape and as we organise these celebrations the school and parish need to follow Government and Archdiocese guidelines closely. Therefore our celebrations may look a little differently to what they have been like in previous years.

Sacraments follow a particular order of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation.
Our current Year 3 students will receive two Sacraments in 2021. Maintaining the order for this level, Reconciliation will take place in Term 1 followed by Eucharist in Term 3.
Our current Year 4 level will receive the Sacrament of Eucharist in Term 1 also.
We will invite our current Year 6 students to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in May.
Booking information will be provided in the coming weeks via Compass.

2021 Dates for Sacraments postponed this year

February

★ 11th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

★ 18th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

★ 25th Current Year 3 Reconciliation at 5pm

March

★ 13th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 11am

★ 13th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 3.30pm

★ 14th Current Year 4 First Eucharist Mass at 3.30pm

May

★ 21st Current Year 6 Confirmation Mass at 5pm

★ 22nd Current Year 6 Confirmation Mass at 11am

We will advise you of the 2021 Sacramental dates for the 2021 - Years 3, 4 and 6 cohorts at a later date.

Book Week at SMOT is going to be truly splendiferous!

This year Book Week is in Week 3 - Monday 19th to Friday 23rd October.

The theme is Curious Creatures Wild Minds

Please put the following exciting dates in your diary!

Friday 16th October: Creative Minds Book Response Competition entries due.

Students are invited to share a creative response to one of their favourite books. Details were shared on Compass over the holidays Please click here to read the flyer for further information. We can’t wait to see your amazing entries!

Monday 19th of October: Book Week Dress Up Day.

Come dressed as one of your favourite characters in a book! Students participate in some fun Book Week activities with their classes. A smaller version of our parade will be held for students only this year. Each year level will parade separately and social distancing protocols will be followed. Please click here to download the Book Week Parade information.

Thursday 22nd October at 6:30pm: SMOT Virtual Story Night!

Dress up in your pj’s and enjoy some special stories read by our teachers from the comfort of your home! Each year level will have a different Google Meet code to join in the fun, please check your Compass news feed for the codes.

Monday 19th October to Monday 2nd November: SMOT Virtual Book Fair!

This year the Book Fair will be held completely online. If you wish to purchase any books, these will be delivered directly to your home free of charge! Please click here to view the flyer.
We can’t wait until Book Week!

Mrs Jones and Ms Kent
Contact us on: cjones@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au OR ekent@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

OBITUARY FR Peter Robinson 13/1/1933 - 14/3/2020

Dom Dimattina wrote a beautiful reflection of Fr Peter in an article that appeared as an obituary in the The Age newspaper on the 9 September 2020.
Please click here if you are interested in reading it.

SMOT PARISH WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK (WWCC) and POLICE CHECK RECORDS

This is a notice to all our volunteers involved in any ministry at St Martin of Tours Parish. It is now mandatory for all volunteers to have a current WWCC and Police Check (for some ministries) to assist in any ministry that you are involved in.

I am currently updating records and have come across a number of volunteers with expired WWCC cards and police check records. I would appreciate it if you could all check your cards and if they have expired please renew/update your cards as soon as possible. (Please ensure that you have St Martin of Tours Parish listed as one of the venues that you volunteer at). Hopefully as restrictions ease we may commence the process of returning to some normality. With this in mind we need to ensure that all volunteers have current WWCC and Police Checks prior to participating in your ministry. If you do not have a current WWCC and Police Check you are unable to assist in your ministry until these records are updated and I receive a copy. This is a requirement of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and we must adhere to these rules. Should you have any queries regarding this please do not hesitate to contact me via email: elizabeth.jernejcic@cam.org.au

Elizabeth Jernejcic, Safeguarding Committee

SMOT NATIVITY SCENE THIS CHRISTMAS

Parishioners will recall the beautiful nativity scene created a few year ago by Domenic D’Agostino. It was located in the main foyer. Little did we know that this was to be his legacy, as he passed away earlier this year.

So now we need some volunteers to help set it up. It would be good to have a small group, maybe 3 people to organise setting it all up. If you are handy and have some time to do this, please contact the Parish Office.

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

2020 Term 4 Calendar Dates

October

★ 19th Book Week Dress Up and class activities

★ 20th PFA meeting at 7.30pm (virtual)

★ 22nd Footy Day

★ 23rd Public Holiday

November

★ 2nd School Closure (day before Cup Day) Report Writing Day

★ 3rd Melbourne Cup Day

★ 4th Human Sexuality Year 6 Parent Information Session at 7.00pm (online)

★ 5th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 1 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 10th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 11th St Martin’s Feast Day Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 12th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 2 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 13th Prep Welcome Dinner at 7.15pm (format to be determined)

★ 17th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 19th 2021 Prep Orientation Session 3 (9.30am-10.30am)

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for students at 12.00pm

★ 24th Year 6 Human Sexuality Program for parents 6.30pm

★ 30th School Closure Day

December

★ 14th Year 6 last day of primary school - farewell at 1pm

★ 14th Year 6 Graduation Mass at 5pm (format to be determined)

★ 14th Changeover Day for Years P-5

★ 15th End of Year School Mass at 9.15am (outdoor event)

★ 15th Term 4 concludes at 3.30pm

★ *Carols night (TBA)

OSHClub at St. Martin's operates from Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.15pm. 
Enrolment is free. All families must enrol to attend the program.
Further information can be found at: www.oshclub.com.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are extremely excited to all be back together on Monday as we return to onsite learning.
We are very grateful to you all for the important part you have played over the past months with remote and flexible learning. As you would be aware we need to enact upon our COVID safe plan for the return to school which includes the following:

★ Classrooms will be cleaned regularly and students will have access to hand sanitiser.

★ Primary school students 12 years and over do not need to wear masks.

★ Students from various year levels will play in specific areas only and play equipment will be cleaned.

★ Please ensure your child has everything they need for their school day as we need to limit parents entering the school to drop off items during the day. We have bottled water for students who forget their drink bottles.

★ No sharing of food and we ask that birthday treats are not sent to school until further notice.

★ Our library will remain closed at the moment for before school and after school borrowing. Books can be dropped off by students in the boxes outside the library.

★ Students must remain at home if they are unwell.

★ If parents choose to keep their children at home as a safety precaution, teachers will not provide work for them unless a medical certificate is provided.

★ Temperature checks are not recommended at this stage however if students present to sick bay unwell, we may seek parental permission.

★ Office staff will check the lost property cupboard regularly and return named items to students.

★ If you are requiring any second hand uniform items please email the school office with your request.

★ As parents are not permitted onsite at this stage, we ask that parents only come to the school office if absolutely necessary and sign in at the office.

★ It remains extremely important that I am advised immediately of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our school community or if you have been in close contact with a confirmed case.

Other reminders include:

★ Students must wear their summer uniform and a hat when playing outside.

★ The canteen will not be open at this stage.

★ Remember to use the school crossing at the beginning and end of each school day.

★ Please communicate with your child’s teacher via email.

★ We need to be mindful of our neighbours and ask that vehicles do not come prior to 3.15pm as this will cause traffic congestion on Silk Street.

★ Dobson Avenue gates will remain closed for pedestrians at all times. If you are walking, please use the Silk Street entrance to collect your child at the end of the school day.

★ When driving in the school yard please move in a zig zag (follow the lines) so that more cars can move through and we can ease the traffic on Silk St. Also a reminder that cars should not enter from Lower Plenty road and turn right into the school yard.

★ If you are using Kiss and Drop in the morning can you please ensure your child has their school bag with them in the car (not in the boot).

★ If you think your child may be unsettled in the morning, we encourage you to come to school a little later (9am) and bring your child to the office.

★ Please do not send sports equipment with your child. We have organised a tub of sports equipment for the students to use during play time for each level. At the end of each play time, the equipment will be collected and sanitised.

Technology - Return of devices - Monday 12 October

We ask that if students have borrowed devices from the school, bring the devices with them on Monday 12 October or as soon as possible.
Below we have outlined the requested preparation, to be done before returning the device.

1. The devices expected to be returned are: the device, the associated charger that was issued to you (if you were issued one). The original charger issued with your device should be returned not a replacement.
Please ensure the charger is in one piece (cord is connected to the plug) and wrapped neatly.

2. Please ensure the device is logged out and properly shut down as opposed to just closing the lid.

3. Confirm the stickers attached can clearly be read and have not been removed. If the sticker is missing or damaged, please attach a note with the original information that was on the sticker.

4. Wipe down the device’s surfaces. Do not use chemicals or soaps. Both the iPad and Chromebook should be wiped down with a soft, slightly damp cloth. Be extra careful around ports and keys so as to avoid damage to the device.

5. Place the device and charger in a single plastic bag, please don’t tie the bag, just wrap it around the device and charger.

6. Send the device with your child. Classroom teachers will be assisting in the collection so the student should take it with them to class, not to the office or any other school location.

If you have any further questions please contact Brendan or Jay at technologyuse@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Pick up and Drop off Reminders

Thank you for responding to the Compass alert in relation to student pick up at the end of the school day.

We respectfully ask for all parents to adhere to social distancing when dropping off and picking up your child. It is very important for the safety and wellbeing of all in our community that parents do not congregate in groups in or around the school. Cars will not be permitted to park onsite at the end of the school day.

Morning Drop Off

8:30am: A - J Families
8:45am: K- Z Families
9am: Students who may need additional support in transitioning back to school

Option 1 - Kiss and Drop on bottom yard (preferred option)

★ Please ensure students have their school bags with them so they can exit the car quickly.

★Parents must remain in their cars.

★Students will be asked to walk directly to their class room, where they will be met by their classroom teacher.

★No pedestrian access through the gates in Dobson Avenue to ensure cars can leave the school quickly.

Option 2 - Student Drop Off on top yard

★Please adhere to the social distancing signs placed out on Silk Street.

★Students will enter and go straight into their classrooms.

★Parents must remain outside the gate.

★Parents to move on quickly to avoid small gatherings of adults on the footpath.

Option 3 - 9am - Students requiring further assistance

Parents to walk their child to the school office where they will be met by a teacher for the handover. Parents are asked to move quickly from the school grounds. Students will often settle quickly once they are in their classrooms with their teacher and classmates.

Afternoon Pick Up

A-J students to be collected from 3:15pm
K-Z students to be collected from 3:30pm

It is important to remind your child in the morning of their pick up point.

Option 1 - Drive through Pick up Point on bottom yard

★Children will be waiting in family groups in the undercover car park.

★Parents are to remain in vehicles.

★We would like parents to put their family name in large print on paper on their passenger side windscreen.

★Staff will support children getting into cars.

★To support the flow of traffic on Silk Street and Lower Plenty Road we ask that there be no right turn into the school ground and you adhere to your pick up time.

Option 2 - Walking to Pick up Point on top yard

★Students will be placed in family groups ready for pick up. As each parent comes to the gate we will call out for your child/ren to meet you.

★Students with A-J surname who are walking home will be dismissed at 3.30pm.

Please be assured that all students will be cared for until you are able to collect them at the end of the school day. We will work closely with OSHClub to ensure students on their roster are collected after school.

Our priority in the coming weeks is to focus on the wellbeing of our students as we transition back to school. We will ensure we provide students with safe ways to engage socially with their peers and support their social and emotional learning.

Next week we will send out a calendar of events for Term 4.

Once again we thank you for your amazing support over the past few months and we look forward to seeing our students back at St Martin's on Monday. It certainly will be a happy day and one to be celebrated. We may have some media presence, I will confirm this with you all over the weekend. Over the past few months we have taken on many challenges and we have laughed, imagined and dreamed together, let us all embrace Term 4 with excitement.

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Masses at SMOT this week….

Weekend Mass can be found on our website www.smot.org.au or on our facebook page @SmotParish
Weekday Masses livestreamed Tuesday (13 Oct) & Thursday (15 Oct) this week at 9.15am on our facebook page and Friday via Zoom (16 Oct)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86821580873?pwd=OHQ5Y21pNUtlWkFTRUd6SFVVaDlZUT09

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What an incredible Term this has been. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and praise to you all. Together we were able to achieve a lot. It has not always been easy, so I thank you for your understanding and resilience in getting yourselves and your families through an extremely challenging situation.

I am incredibly proud of our staff who have shown commitment to their roles by putting our students front and centre in every decision they have made. From planning rich and engaging tasks to assessing and giving quality feedback to all our students.

Our school motto - Non Recuso Laborem - We shall not refuse the task by embracing life’s challenges, has certainly given us the strength to reach our goals. I am delighted to share with you snapshots of the learning that has taken place this term and a video of our community embracing remote learning. Thank you to the creative talent of Claire Forbes in putting the video together. It certainly did bring a big smile to my face.

Term 4

The first week of term commencing Monday 5 October remains in its current form as remote and flexible learning for all students, with onsite care for students of essential workers. Catholic Education Melbourne have highlighted three main priorities for schools in planning for Term 4. They are; Wellbeing and Equity, Learning and Excellence and Transitions.

We are excited to be welcoming back our Prep to Year 2 students on Monday 12 October and hope that Year 3 to 6 students will be returning soon after. We will communicate further details with you about the return to school for students but I would imagine it would be a similar model to earlier in the year.

As our Government continues to evaluate the latest COVID data and trends, adjustments may be made to the original roadmap. We will keep you informed as to how this impacts our school. I plan to send out detailed correspondence on Monday 5 October about our plan for return to school for our students. I also hope to have greater clarity on the possibility of school events that can be held in Term 4 in the coming weeks.

School Review

We are very pleased to share with you that we met all the requirements for compliance in relation to Child Safety Standards and standards for school registration last week. It was an amazing effort from both the leadership team and administration team to complete all this documentation. We will receive official recommendations on October 15 of our key priorities for school improvement for the next four year cycle.

School Fees

Many school events have not been able to take place this year due to the impacts of COVID on the community. As a result of camps being cancelled, adjustments have already been made to accounts. I am currently exploring possible alterations for 2021 school fees. This will include no excursion levies as we will roll over the levy received for 2020. We will also hold off on any annual increase. Mary Milione (Bursar) will be in contact with our current Year 6 families in relation to the 2020 excursion levy.

We have been advised by the Department of Education and Training that they have extended applications for CSEF for families with Health Care Cards.
If you have had a change in your financial circumstances and are eligible for a HCC from Centrelink you may be eligible for this payment. Please email Mary (marym@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au) if you require the application form. In the meantime please send Mary a copy of your Health Care Card. Applications reopen on 5th October and close in late November.

Please know you can always reach out to me for support if you are experiencing financial hardship.

Planning for 2021

During the past few weeks, I have met with all our staff for an Annual Review Meeting. This is one opportunity to speak one on one about achievements, wonderings and future goals. As we begin planning for 2021 I will inform you of the progress in upcoming newsletters.

Could I please ask that any families who are not returning to St Martin’s in 2021 (other than our Year 6 families) inform us in writing as soon as possible by sending an email to office@smrosanna.catholic.edu.au

Learning Packs

Learning Packs for week 1 of Term 4 will be sent home for Prep- Year 3 students during the second week of the school holidays. Please be sure to look out for them.

Parish/School links

Building parish and school links is very important to me as school principal. I was just thrilled with a recent project that our Year 5 students engaged in. They wrote letters to reach out to our elderly parishioners who no doubt are struggling, like many at the moment, due the isolation of COVID life. In their letters they shared a little about themselves, school life, questions and wonderings and included a prayer like the one below. The initial feedback I have received from members of the Parish Pastoral Council is that this very kind gesture has made an enormous impact.
I would like to once again thank you all for walking with us on this unique journey. I truly do hope we are able to celebrate some school events together in Term 4. We hope to send out a diary of dates early next term with optimism that we will be able to connect in with one another in some form.

Please take the time to read the article 'Encourage kids to occupy themselves' written by Michael Grose, as it provides parents with some useful strategies for the upcoming school holidays.

Please know I remain contactable over email in the school holidays and please continue to take care and create some more special family memories together.

Jacqui Marshall
Principal

Prep

The Prep students learnt about living and non-living things in their environment. They learnt that all living things need food, water, shelter and air to survive. They discovered that plants and animals are both living things. The clever Preps learnt that birds, fish, reptiles and mammals all have features and even learnt how to label a diagram of each animal showing these special features. They also recorded some facts learnt about each animal in an “Animal Discovery Book”.
   

Year 1

The Year One students learnt about what life was like in the olden days. They identified the similarities and differences between schooling and home life and showed their understanding through writing a journal entry. They made connections by sharing their knowledge of what life was like in the olden days through creative and engaging show and tell presentations. It was wonderful to see students interview their family members and ask questions about what it was like for them growing up in a different time. It was great to celebrate our learning by having the students dress up in olden day clothing and share what they learnt from the unit!

Year 2

The Year Two students learned about the wonderful rainforests all over the world and why they are so important to us. They researched rainforest animals and wrote impressive information reports, which they presented to each other. The students put their creative hats on and made their own rainforests in S.T.E.M! They reflected on the difference they can make to our world, by being caretakers of creation.
   

Year 3

The Year Three students were encouraged to be Conservation Warriors. They learnt about a variety of extinct, endangered and vulnerable animals. At the end of the unit, they researched and composed an information report about an endangered animal of their choice and created a campaign to encourage all people to take action. This was supported by the different persuasive devices they were exposed to in Literacy and it was great to see their passionate presentations.

Year 4

Year 4 students became inventors of arcade games! During the term, students learned about forces, motion and the six simple machines. They used their understanding of the unit to design and build their very own arcade game using recycled materials at home - and had a lot of fun in the process! Through problem solving and design trial and error, students were able to put their knowledge of forces and motion into everyday machinery.

Year 5 - ‘See the person, not the disability’ Jack Swift

The Year 5 students asked the question ‘How can we best work together to meet the diverse needs of all in our community? Our particular focus was on understanding what life might be like for those with a disability, and how people in our community live with these everyday. After studying the design process, students began thinking about how they might design something that could assist a person with a disability. With the help of AKORN Education, students followed a design to come up with a prototype of some sort of assistive technology. They reflected on inclusivity and how they can show justice and compassion towards all people within our community. We are extremely proud of the amazing prototypes our students created throughout this inquiry unit.

Year 6

Our students investigated the pros and cons of a variety of renewable energy forms and became experts in a particular type. Not only did they present their understandings of their inquiry as online presentations, for writing, they wrote persuasive pieces to highlight their ability to create evidence informed justifiable opinions about the value of these forms of energy and their impact on our world, both now and into the future.

Our Sacramental Life: A message from Archbishop Peter Comensoli

In his latest video message, Archbishop Peter Comensoli sends his prayers and blessings to the Melbourne Catholic community, and explains some of the work being done in the background to help us move towards an opening up again of sacramental life in the Archdiocese for our students.

Art and Soul: Fr Elio Capra                     

I am sharing with you a message from Fr Elio Capra in regards to his new website called Art and Soul. Over the past few years, Fr Elio has worked closely with the staff and parents of St Martin’s in supporting us and the students in their Sacramental journey. If you are seeking ways to build on your own faith formation, Fr Elio uses art works as a way to reflect on scripture and prayer and makes links with the Liturgical year, where possible.

From Fr Elio...
My dear friends,
Being home because of COVID19 gave me extra time to start a website on art and spirituality.
The website is called Art and Soul with Elio. I would like to make it clear that I am not an art historian. I am presenting from my heart, the ways that art has touched me and what I see and experience when looking at art.
While I may discuss the techniques and history related to an art work, my primary focus is the spiritual dimension that the work opens and the way it provokes reflection and prayer. The length of the videos is between 3 to 5 minutes so that they can be used for prayer and reflection in a classroom, staffroom, home or any way you may like. I hope that sharing my thoughts and ideas will prompt you to uncover the spiritual in art as you experience it.
This is the address https://elioartandsoul.wordpress.com/ This is a free website and so let your friends and colleagues know about it. I intend to make one new video per week. Whenever possible the theme of the videos will reflect the cycle of the Liturgical Year.

Please, enjoy and let me have your feedback.
Keep smiling,
Elio

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.

Encourage kids to occupy themselves    

A child’s ability to fill in their own time and cope with moments of boredom are important independence skills to develop. Children have less practise at keeping themselves occupied than those of past generations. You have many jobs as a parent, but constantly entertaining your child, should not be one of them. These ideas will help:

Invite them to keep themselves busy

When your child tells you that he or she is bored they are bringing you a problem to solve. Boredom is your child’s problem, not yours. If this happens, encourage your child to keep themselves busy by asking questions such as “How can you keep yourself amused?”

Make a list

If your child is stuck for ideas make a list of activities that they can refer to when they’re bored. Include a variety of activities such as creative tasks, performance tasks, crafts, sports, indoor and outdoor games, music activities, reading and helping. Place the list in a convenient place with easy access and visibility.

Make a boredom buster jar

Cut up a list of boredom busting activities and place them in a jar. When your child is stuck for an idea to keep him or herself amused invite them to select an activity from the boredom buster jar. Ask your child to add enjoyable activities to the jar over time.

Encourage plenty of green-time

Today’s children spend more time in front of screens, and less time outdoors than those of previous generations. Not only is time spent in natural environments refreshing, relaxing and rejuvenating, but It’s also a wonderful way for kids to relieve boredom. Encourage your child to spend some of their free time outside in natural environments to promote good mental health and develop their confidence.

Help find their interests

If your child struggles to keep him or herself occupied, consider helping them identify a hobby or interest that they enjoy. Often finding that one activity a child loves or excels in makes a huge difference to their self-esteem and wellbeing, and can become the driver for future career choice.

Build in downtime

A trait common among healthy families is the propensity for everyone to enjoy spending downtime or unstructured time together. It’s during downtime that parents and children share activities together, which promotes better relationships and helps children’s informal learning.

Most children when given unstructured time will rise to the occasion (even after some complaining) and will find interesting things to do. By encouraging them to find something “to do”, other than filling their time with screen-based activities, you are promoting a fabulous life-skill in your kids.

We wanted to share and celebrate some of the incredible artistic work that has been happening at home during Term 3 of remote learning.
While being away from the art room has been a challenge at times we have been amazed by the creativity that’s continued to flourish in your homes.
We are so proud of all the incredible work that’s been created. Here is just a sample for you to enjoy.

With a happy heART
Ms Kent and Lisa

Magnificent Prep Artists

Year 3 Amazing Artists

Year 6 Talented Artists

Masses at SMOT this week….

Weekend Mass can be found on our website www.smot.org.au or on our facebook page @SmotParish
Weekday Masses livestreamed Tuesday (22 Sept) & Thursday (24 Sept) this week at 9.15am on our facebook page and Friday via Zoom (25 Sept)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86821580873?pwd=OHQ5Y21pNUtlWkFTRUd6SFVVaDlZUT09

SOCIAL SERVICES SUNDAY On 20th September 2020

We mark Social Services Sunday within the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne on Sunday 20 September 2020.
On this day we are invited to give thanks and pray for all who stand with and provide support to those who are marginalised and vulnerable within our communities. We recognise with deep gratitude, those working within Catholic Social Services Victoria’s 45 member organisations, the 7,000 staff and 17,000 volunteers, who together, serve more than 200,000 people in need each year.
We also give thanks for all in our parishes, who are so often at the forefront of providing practical support and care to those in need within their local communities, and beyond. We call to mind the 2020/21 Social Justice Statement brought out recently by the Australian Catholic bishops, To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today, and so draw your attention to a recent event hosted by CSSV, Counselling and Therapeutic Support in a Time of COVID, which provided an opportunity to become more familiar with mental health services, and how to practically reach out for or point to assistance. Parishioners will find the resources in this article helpful.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Spring is in the air (and our hair today) and the warmer days are certainly lifting our spirits.
                

Oh Lord
Thank you for Spring,
The season of your expression of joy
Let every bloom remind us of your grace
Let each sunny day bring light to our soul
As we spring ahead let these months give birth to warm thoughts and kind gestures.
Amen

Thank-you for continuing to support your children at home during Remote Learning. It certainly has been challenging maintaining the momentum. We wait in anticipation and hope that the Premiers press conference on Sunday brings promising news for our students returning to school. As soon as I know the next steps I will inform you. At this stage Remote Learning remains in place until the end of this term (Friday 18 September). For those children who are onsite, school will finish at 1pm.

Feedback

An important element of our Remote Learning is regularly gathering feedback and improving our practice.
Thank you for taking the time to complete our recent parent surveys.

We received the following affirmations;
● The teacher check ins and additional google meets (both learning and social) have been beneficial

● The pre-recorded videos work well and support the learning requirements

● The content and setup of remote learning has been of an excellent standard

We have received the following areas for improvement;
● Exploring ways to support students who are disengaged and lack motivation

● Ways to support parents who are managing work commitments along with remote learning

● Ensuring all teachers are available and checking in with all students

School Review

Our staff have done an amazing job gathering all our evidence for our school review which officially takes place next week. Our Catholic Education Melbourne Reviewers Gilbert Keisler and Christine Lynch will work remotely when engaging with staff, parents and students next week.
A comprehensive timetable has been set up which also includes the reviewers attending some learning google meets for various year levels. The most exciting part of the Review process is being provided with feedback on insights, strengths, opportunities and recommendations for the next four year School Improvement Plan. I look forward to sharing this with you all.

Term 4

We have had many questions in relation to whether events planned for Term 4 will go ahead. I am hoping I can respond with more certainty later this term. We are currently exploring options of more outdoor, open air events and smaller group gatherings.

Some of the events that need to be considered include; St Martin’s Feast Day Mass, Prep 2021 Orientation/Transition Program, Prep 2021 Parent Welcome Dinner, Sporting Events, Year 6 Big Day Out, Graduation and Mass, End of Year Whole School Mass, Year 1-6 2021 Transition Day and Christmas Carols.

The following are confirmed School Closure/ Pupil Free Days for Term 4, 2 November and 30 November.

Fathers Day

I would like to wish all the dad’s, grandfathers and carers a special day on Sunday. I’m sure the day will be filled with laughter, celebration and many creative ways of saying “Thank you and I love you!” Please click here to read a 'Father's Day Prayer'.

Show bags

Congratulations to the winners of our Design a Showbag Competition. The lucky winners are: Abigail C - PVL, Poppy D - 1LB, Phoebe W - 2T, Lucia B - 3C, Bethany M - 4C, Natalia B - 5V and Maya D - 6ZW

SMOT Carnival - Sunday 29 November 2020

Unfortunately the decision has been that the Carnival will not go ahead this year due to the uncertainty of the impacts of COVID-19. I would like to thank the committee, Trish Di Pietro, Belinda Pryse, Kathy Bekavac, Anna Hanks, John Lundari, Teresa Michelangeli and Marita Anderson for the hours and hours of work that they have dedicated to our wonderful community.

Once again I encourage you to take the time to read the article 'Help kids to beat COVID induced anxiety' written by Michael Grose, as it provides parents with some useful strategies.

If there is anything we can do to support you or members of your family at this time please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are experiencing financial hardship please reach out or if you just need to talk please know we are here.

Take care
Jacqui Marshall
Principal

       

St Teresa of Calcutta Feast Day - Saturday 5th September       

Who is St Teresa?

● Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born on the 26th of August in 1910 in Skopje.
● She received her First Communion at the age of 5 and was confirmed in 1916.
● As a youth she was involved in the Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart.
● She left home in September 1928 at the age of 18 to pursue missionary work.
● Teresa joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland and received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St Terese of Lisieux.
● In 1929 she arrived in Calcutta where she taught in St Mary’s school for girls.
● Sr Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows in 1937.
● From that time on she was called Mother Teresa.
● In 1944 she became the principal of the school.
● She was known for her charity, unselfishness, courage and her capacity for hard work
● Mother Teresa established a religious community, Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor.
● She began each day with communion and went out to find and serve families with her rosary beads in her hand.
● Over the years to support her mission, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers, Contemplative Sisters, Contemplative Brothers and Missionaries of Charity Fathers and the Lay Missionaries of Charity.
● In 1979 she won the Nobel Peace Prize to honour her work in the name of the poor.
● In spite of increasingly severe health problems towards the end of her life, Mother Teresa continued to govern her Society and respond to the needs of the poor and the Church.
● Mother Teresa died on September 5
● She left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity.
● St. Teresa of Calcutta was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016 in a ceremony that was witnessed by tens of thousands of people, including 1,500 homeless people across Italy.
● A relative of Mother Teresa on his wife Michele’s side of the family, Mr Witchell and his family attended the canonisation and participated in the Mass.
● St. Teresa of Calcutta is the patron saint of World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity and a co-patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, alongside St. Francis Xavier. Her feast day is celebrated on September 5.

Father’s Day Prayer

We especially thank our fathers, grandfathers and special friends of our St Martin’s community who have supported our students with their learning and families with their love during remote learning. You are the best! We wish you all a wonderful Father’s Day on Sunday.

GOD OUR FATHER, WE GIVE YOU THANKS AND PRAISE FOR FATHERS YOUNG AND OLD.

WE PRAY FOR YOUNG FATHERS, NEWLY EMBRACING THEIR VOCATION; MAY THEY FIND COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE TO BALANCE WORK, FAMILY AND FAITH IN JOY AND SACRIFICE.

WE PRAY FOR OUR OWN FATHERS AROUND THE WORLD WHOSE CHILDREN ARE LOST OR SUFFERING; MAY THEY KNOW THAT THE GOD OF COMPASSION WALKS WITH THEM IN THEIR SORROW.

WE PRAY FOR MEN WHO ARE NOT FATHERS BUT STILL MENTOR AND GUIDE US WITH FATHERLY LOVE AND ADVICE.

WE REMEMBER FATHERS, GRANDFATHER, AND GREAT GRANDFATHERS WHO ARE NO LONGER WITH US BUT WHO LIVE FOREVER IN OUR MEMORY AND NOURISH US WITH THEIR LOVE.

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.

Help kids to beat COVID induced anxiety            

Since COVID has entered our lives I’ve had countless conversations with parents and enquiries from schools seeking presentations on how to support kids who with COVID induced anxiety.

It’s wonderful to see how kids’ mental health and wellbeing is being prioritised, and importantly, resourced. However these conversations show we still have some way to go as a community to fully grasp the nature of anxiety.

While the current situation we are all living through is extremely difficult, it does present an opportunity to develop sustained growth and vitality in anxious children and young people.

In Anxious Kids, the book I co-authored with Dr. Jodi Richardson we wrote, “Anxiety doesn’t have to be the shadow that clouds the days of children and young people. Understanding that anxiety is a well understood and manageable condition brings anxious kids such relief.”

We wrote this pre-COVID and nothing since has caused me to change my mind. In fact, experiences of this COVID era have reinforced that the more we know about anxiety the less fearful we are and better equipped to move kids from anxiety to real resilience.

There is no cure for anxiety

Just as there’s no cure for the common cold, and it would appear the coronavirus, there is also no cure for anxiety. We know that anxiety runs in families. Children are born with a predisposition for anxiety. There is every likelihood that an anxious child will have at least one parent who experiences anxiety, maybe not clinically, but one who is familiar with a churn in their stomach, the constant overthinking and the desire to over prepare when they face new or unfamiliar situations.

The impact of anxiety can be minimised

Anxiety may be a constant companion for many children but it’s certainly not their best friend. Often, it’s a demon with which they are locked in a long-running, laborious battle where simple activities such as attending school camp or doing at home learning become something they dread. Alternatively, they can avoid events or situations that make them anxious or bring them discomfort.

It’s better to give an anxious child or young person tools such as mindfulness, checking in and deep breathing with which they can manage their anxiety, rather than allow them to miss out and be miserable, or tackle discomfort full on and be stressed out.

You can build anxiety resistance

While we can’t necessarily tackle anxiety at its source and make the situations that overwhelm a child disappear, we can help them to develop a lifestyle that builds their resistance against the very worst of anxiety. Plenty of sleep, adequate diet, regular exercise and sufficient time in nature are some of the lifestyle factors that builds strength against the psychological ravages of anxiety.

You can help kids reduce their ongoing anxiety

While the world waits and prays that we’ll come up with a coronavirus vaccine, we don’t have to wait to help a child or young person with anxiety. A combination of being nurturing and firm (features of the authoritative parenting style) offers the best protection against ongoing anxiety. A child is best prepared to face difficulties when they have a confident, calm adult in their life who says, “I think you can do this,” encouraging them to face their fears. This approach needs to be supported by an empathetic adult who understands the impact of anxiety and makes sure that kids feel safe and secure.

While parenting an anxious child or young person can feel overwhelming and difficult, I encourage you to think about it differently. We can’t change what is happening right now, and we can’t undo it. Help your anxious child to flourish in this COVID era by building their understanding of anxiety. Give them the tools to help them push anxiety into the background. Promote a lifestyle that will protect them from its affects by ensuring they experience nurturing, firm, brave and hopeful parenting. We hope coronavirus will one day disappear, but your child’s ability to be impacted by difficult events will still be an issue unless you take some preventative action now. The good news is that there is so much you can do to help.

Online Mental Health Resources

● Kids Helpline
● Parenting Anxious Kids online course
● Smiling Mind app
● eheadspace

“Tour De St Martin's”

Over the past 2 weeks, over 150 children from St Martin’s took part in the first ever “Tour De St Martin’s”. This activity was set for their Physical Education lessons and required the children to ride a certain distance while having it timed. The children then sent through their results and the overall winners of each year level were determined. The distances that the children were required to ride were:

Prep – 2 km
Grade 1 and 2 – 4 km
Grade 3 and 4 - 6 km
Grade 5 and 6 - 8 km
Listed below are the winners for each year Level.

SEASON OF CREATION 2020 - free program

Pope John Paul II in 1990 named environmental care as integral to the Catholic faith and named St Francis of Assisi as the patron of ecological conversion. Pope Benedict XVI reinforced this Catholic vocation delivering homilies and speeches asking world leaders to take action. Pope Francis, in his 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’ detailed the call to See, Judge, Act on care for our common home.

Every year, Christians of all denominations join in prayer and action for our common home and celebrate the Season of Creation starting on 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation and ending on 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. See www.columban.org.au for the program.

MASSES AT SMOT THIS WEEK

Weekend Mass can be found on our website www.smot.org.au or on our facebook page @SmotParish

Weekday Masses livestreamed Tuesday (8 Sept) & Thursday (10 Sept) this week at 9.15am on our facebook page and Friday via Zoom (11 Sept)

Join Zoom Meeting:   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2137834081?pwd=RmtMZ0dGRTEvOFVvN3FId2V0MjhLQT09
Use the id and password below if you use Zoom this way
Meeting ID: 213 783 4081
Passcode: 415472

A BLESSING FOR FATHERS

We thank you, God, for the gift of our fathers,
For grandfathers and godfathers and fathers-in-law too.
Send your Holy Spirit upon our fathers,
In whose laps we were cradled, at whose hands we were fed, instructed, at times corrected,
In whose company we learned to work and play and pray, at whose side we hear your word and celebrate your mysteries.
Heal their pains and disappointments.
Forgive all that needs to be forgiven.
Give to them the good that they have given to others.
Welcome into your arms those who have died.
Fill this world, O God, with a father’s love!
We ask this through your Son Jesus Christ, who taught us to Pray to you as “Abba”.
He lives and reigns with your and the Holy Spirit, who is the Father of the poor, one God forever and ever.
Amen.

"A Thousand Stars" Community Art Project Invitation    

Every year in October we recognise Australian children’s’ talents, contribution to society and children’s rights by celebrating Children’s Week across the nation.
This year the Australian Children’s Week theme is ‘Children have the right to choose their own friends and safely connect with others’.

Banyule City Council is encouraging children and the community to make a lantern and help us illuminate these dark times!

The Thousand Stars Project is inspired by the age-old tradition of keeping a candle burning in the window for a visitor.
The lantern in the window signifies that, whilst we may now be isolated, tomorrow we will be together. It is a symbol of resilience and hope.

Make a Star or Jar Lantern at home and hang it in your window!

Visit https://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/1000stars to register your interest and receive your pack. Alternatively, you can create your own star or jar packs from readily available household materials. Photograph your lantern in a window and post on Facebook and Instagram tagging @1000.Star.Project and using #1000StarProject.

Presented by Banyule City Council in partnership with Sanctum Studio.
Connecting community through lock-down.

Dear Parents and Guardians

Thank you for your support as we continue to do the best we can in the most trying of circumstances. We are all experiencing difficulty in some way, shape or form but somehow find the inner strength to be there for one another. I strongly encourage you to take the time to read the article Staying the course in COVID times by Michael Grose. It provides some strategies at these challenging times that include: accepting difficult emotions, encouraging acceptance, taking it one day and one week at a time and being a person of hope.

Over the past two weeks it has been lovely to check in with many families through google meets as part of our Prep 2021 transition process. The younger children were so excited to have their own google meet and talk with me about starting school next year.

Sacraments

We are still awaiting final confirmation from the Archdiocese but it is highly likely that Confirmation, Eucharist and Reconciliation will not be taking place this year. If this is the case both of these Sacraments will take place in 2021 for our current Year 6, Year 3 and Year 4 students.

Learning Packs

The last of the learning packs for this term will be distributed next week to students in the junior school. We have once again organised a special delivery to your homes.

PFA News

How exciting that the Show is coming to SMOT! This week all families would have received information about our Showbag fundraiser and Design a
Showbag competition. All orders and designs are due by the end of next week. I am looking forward to seeing all the creative designs. Please visit the PFA weebly page for more information.

Prep 100 Days

Today I interviewed 3 prep students Mila Z, Rory D and Lewis B to ask them about their 100 day celebrations and all that they have learnt in 2020.
Mila shared that she dressed up as an old Grandma and read to me the book she wrote and illustrated about dogs.
Rory enjoyed making his 100 day crown and now knows how to write more letters and numbers.
Lewis proudly showed me his 100 number chart and how he has been enjoying reading books on his Ipad.
It was just lovely to talk to some of the prep students today.

Staffing

Steve Domini is currently on long service leave for the rest of this term. Maria Mandarano will be taking his classes for Italian. We congratulate Jess Casamento on completing her teaching round with us over the past five weeks. I know the students have learnt a lot from her in this remote space.

Moving forward

Please reach out if you need any support at these challenging times.
As you would be aware at this point remote learning continues whilst we experience Stage 4 restrictions which currently concludes on 13 September.
The term is scheduled to finish on Friday 18 September. I believe it would be highly unlikely that students would be back onsite for the last week of term.
Let’s hope and pray that Term 4 allows for students to be back learning in their classrooms, playing in the playground and connecting back in with their peers.

Take care
Jacqui Marshall
Principal