St Colman's School Mortlake eNewsletter

Our Prayer this Week

The Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body but yours,
no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he
looks compassionately on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands.
Yours are the feet.
Yours are the eyes.
You are his body.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Amen.

From the Principal

Dear St Colman's community,

As we reach the end of another busy term in our school community, I would like to thank everyone at St Colman's school for their hard work and service towards ensuring the children in our care receive every possible opportunity to thrive. To the students for their hard work and commitment to their learning and to the parents who work in partnership with our school to create a nurturing environment for all. And finally, to the staff at St Colman’s, who consistently demonstrate a commitment to making a difference in the lives of all of our students.

Enjoy your holidays, I hope it will provide plenty of opportunities for you all to relax, rejuvenate and spend quality moment with family and friends.

Read on to find out what else is happening in our school community. It is always a good idea to familiarise yourself with the key dates section of the newsletter. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions, concerns or suggestions you may have.

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

Janet

Key dates for the Diary

Term 2

Monday June 19th- Seniors visit to Abberlea

Thursday June 22- Whole school excursion to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Lighthouse Theatre Warrnambool

Friday June 23rd-Little Colman's Playtime 9-10:30am

End of Term 2 @ 2:15pm

Monday July 10th - First day of term 3

- Dental Van at Saint Colman's for two weeks

Friday July 21st- Annual Trivia night and Major Raffle Draw

Meals on Wheels Roster

Week beginning; 21st August and

30th October

School Closure Dates 2023

Term 3: Tuesday 22nd August (Literacy)

Term 4: Friday 10th November (Catholic Social Teaching) NB change of date

Staffing Announcement

As announced last week, we farewell Bridget Van Den Broek as our Senior classroom teacher at the end of this week. We are pleased to advise that Anna Bourke has agreed to take over as the classroom teacher in this room for the remainder of the 2023 school year. We thank Anna for her willingness to increase her hours at St Colman's and therefore ensure a smooth transition with minimal interruptions to learning for the students in that room.

Bridget Van Den Broek has also agreed to take on the role of PE/Health teacher until the end of the year. I am confident both ladies will be great in their new roles at our school.

Covid Information

As we have had quite a few reported cases of Covid 19 within our community, it is timely to remind ourselves of COVID Safe arrangements. We will be encouraging greater vigilance with our hand washing procedures at school.

Although there are no mandated isolation arrangements, the following is strongly recommended:

It is strongly recommended that students:

● Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.

● Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.

● Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should:

● Be collected by their parents/carers.

● Undergo testing for COVID-19.

It is strongly recommended that staff:

● Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days.

● Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic.

● Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

If families require RAT kits, please contact the school office.

COVID-19 reporting requirements.

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household.

Schools no longer have to alert their school community of positive cases, however we will continue to do this informally.

Face masks.

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.

Additionally, the department recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.

Playgroup at St Colman's

We have been delighted by the success of Little Colman's Playtime and we are extremely grateful to Lily Convery-Oborne for her passion and commitment in getting this little initiative up and running. Due to the popularity of this playgroup, we will investigate the possibility of making it a regular, maybe fortnightly, event. However, this will require support from other members of the community. If you are willing to help out by going on a roster to organise Little Colman’s, please contact either the school or Lily. Any other feedback regarding the playgroup would also be gratefully received.

Major Raffle

Our school raffle and ticket sales are off to a great start with 159 tickets sold so far. Last year the raffle raised almost $10,000 for our school and we would love to do the same again this year.

This year all families will be rostered on to sell tickets at community ‘hot spots’ (see attached roster). Clarke’s Café - Fridays 11-2pm

Bate’s Supermarket - Saturdays 10-2pm

WVLX (Saleyards)- 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of most months (15^th June, 6^th & 20^th July) 9am -1pm

We are so grateful to all the families who have already fulfilled their rostered time and sold tickets. This is resulting in tickets selling strongly with approximately 158 tickets being sold so far.

The annual raffle will be drawn at the Trivia night. See details below about this fun night.

Buy Tickets Here

St Colman's Trivia Night

Have you got your table organised yet??? If so, please contact the office to book your spot!

Lunch Orders

A reminder that as of the start of Term 2, LUNCH ORDERS are only available twice a week on Monday and Friday.

St. Colman's Community Garden

We are so grateful to local community member, Marie Varley, who has volunteered to work with our students each week to re-establish our neglected community garden. This week the Seniors and the Junior students will be spending some time getting their hands dirty!

You can help by donating any of the following items needed for this project.

Used soft drink bottle (1.25 or 2 Lt)
Any herb or vegetable seedlings
Old carpet off cuts, door mats or hessian bags
Old plastic pots
White plastic that can be cut up and used as name tags (for example, ice-cram containers).

St. Colman's Enrolments

Changes to eating times Feedback

Thank you to the many parents and students who provided feedback regarding our trial of eating after we play. The feedback was pretty clear, children do not prefer to play first and staff also reported that none of the expected benefits of doing so were obvious amongst our students. Therefore, as of tomorrow, Tuesday June 20^th, we will go back to eating first and then playing. Children are free to eat lunch at the first break or to eat their snack then. On monday and Friday, lunch orders will go back to being delivered at 1pm.

8:55- School bell

10am - Fruit and Brain Break

11am- Bell- All children sit in UCA and eat.

11:10- Bell to go and play

11:25-Music-children go to toilet, drink and line up ready for class.

11:30- Bell- in class and learning

1pm- Bell- All children sit in UCA and eat.

1:10 - Bell to go and play

1:40- Music-children go to toilet, drink and line up ready for class.

1:45- Bell and in class and learning

3:15- School bell

Enrolments at MRC

Are you enrolling your child to attend our sister school, Mercy Regional College in 2024? If so, please note that enrolments are now due.

Mercy Regional College is committed to giving every student a fair chance to receive a Catholic education. The College offers a number of scholarships to support student learning and assist with tuition, fees and levies.

If you would like further information on accessing financial support or any other part of the enrolment procedure, please contact College Registrar Ms Nicole Darcy:
T. 03 5593 2011
E. office@mercy.vic.edu.au

A live link is avaliable on the Mercy website.

Mercy Live Enrolment

Wonder Recycling Rewards for Schools

This year we are participating in this program that will raise reward points that can be cashed in for sporting equipment for our school. Ask all your friends, neighbours and family members to save their bread bags and bring them to school and put them in the big white box at the front door at school. All bread bags (including muffins and wraps) are accepted. These bags are then returned to Wonder to be responsibly recycled.

So let's get recycling!!

Birthday Wishes

We wish Eloise, Rosie and Sienna a very Happy Birthday for their birthdays which they will be celebrating either this week or during the holidays.

Many blessings to you all on your special day and throughout the year.

Footy Tipping

Our Footy Tipping Competition is up and running and we have 35 registered entrants.

The lead is changing weekly and this week sees Stacey Atkins and JohnFlynn29 claiming top spot with 82 points.

Entry fee is $20 adults and $10 school aged children and is due to be paid ASAP

If you haven't already done so, please pop into the office to pay for your entry.

School Advisory Council

We would like to introduce you to our SAC members for 2022-2023. Lily Convery-Oborne (Chair), Jo Wallis, Alison Greig, Michelle Lehmann, Jo Dolling, Zion Palmer, Sophie and Nick Allen, Rachel Baulch, Rosie O’Connor (School rep), Janet Cain (Principal) and Fr. Gary Jones (Parish Rep)

These people are the voice of the parish and parents in the school. If you have any questions or anything that you would like raised please contact one of these people.

The SAC meets twice a term and we thank these people for agreeing to be a part of this group that provides an essential link between the school and its families.

At our SAC meeting last Thursday, we discussed;

Major Raffle and Trivia Night-Tickets selling well. Roster of ticket sellers has been successful, most people have turned up for their rostered time.
Enrolments and promotion, success of open Day and Little Colman's Playtime.
Reviewed the changes to eating trial; feedback is that the children don't like it.
Discussed utilising a $3000 grant from Acciona to help fund a bike track at school.
Discussed teaching of French as our Language Othr than English and looked at other options (maybe Auslan). Janet to send out a Google Survey to determine parent’s thoughts on this.

Weekly Award Winners

Congratulations to all students who received an award at our weekly assembly last Friday. Remember, you are all most welcome to join us at the assembly, starting at 2:50 in the Undercover Area.

St. Colman's School is a Child Safe Community

Child Safety Officers

Janet Cain and Rosie O'Connor are our Child Safety Officers.

Contact them on:

Phone: 55992285 or 0490539167

Email: jcain@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au or roconnor@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au

Standard 4: Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.

In complying with Child Safe Standard 4, St. Colman's must, at a minimum, ensure:

4.1 Families participate in decisions affecting their child.

4.2 The organisation engages and openly communicates with families and the community about its child safe approach and relevant information is accessible.

4.3 Families and communities have a say in the development and review of the organisation’s policies and practices.

4.4 Families, carers and the community are informed about the organisation’s operations and governance.

NCCD

Please read the attached information sheet for parents regarding NCCD.

NCCD Information.pdf

Our Lady of Mercy Parish Bulletin

Out of School Care

A reminder that during 2023 we have access to Out of School Care, supplied by TheirCare, at Mortlake College. Registration is made via the TheirCare website. https://theircare.com.au/

Search for Mortlake College P-12

Term 2 Week 9 Tuesday 19th June 2023