Term 1 Week 6 Monday 4th March 2024

Acknowledgement of Country

From the Principal

Division Swimming Carnival

Important Dates:

TERM 1 2024        

Friday 1^st – Thursday 7^th March- F-6 Swimming Program

Monday 4th March ­– STOMP Dance Class Day 4

Tuesday 5th March ­– STOMP Dance Class Day 5

                                      From 4:30: Open Classrooms, Family Picnic and STOMP Dance presentation

Wednesday 6^th March ­– Foundation Rest Day (FINAL ONE)

Friday 8^th March- St Colman’s and St Thomas’ Athletics Carnival @ Terang Rec Reserve

Monday 11^th March- Labor Day Public Holiday

                                            - Mortlake Market- St Colman's providing the BBQ

Wednesday March 13^th- NAPLAN Testing Period- Writing 

Thursday March 14th- NAPLAN Testing Period- Reading

Friday March 15th- NAPLAN Testing Period- Conventions of Writing

Monday March 18th- NAPLAN Testing Period-Numeracy and Cacth up sessions

Tuesday March 19th- NAPLAN Testing Period- Cacth up sessions

Friday March 15th and Monday 18^th - Parent Support Group Meetings

Tuesday 19^th March- Lions Eye Health Program screening at St Colman’s

Wednesday 20^th March- MRC Open Day

Friday 22^nd March – Regional Swimming Horsham

                                        - MRC Taster Day- 11:30-2:30 (Year 5/6's to attend)

Tuesday 26^th March – District Aths Carnival

Wednesday 27^th March- School Photos

Thursday 28^th March- Term 1 ends at 2:15

Term 2 2024

Monday 15^th April Term 2 commences

2024 School Camps (with St Thomas’ Terang)

Sept 2^nd-3^rd: Year 3/4 Warra Gnan Coastal Camp, Warrnambool

Nov 13^th-15^th: Year 5/6 Dunkeld Adventure Camp

School Closure Days for 2024

Term 2: Friday 26^th April- Wellbeing

Term 3: Monday 15^th July- Religious Education; Re-contextualising the Scriptures.

                Tuesday 16^th July- Structured Literacy

Caritas Project Compassion

During the Lenten Season, we ask all our families to raise money for the Caritas Project Compassion. Each family will bring home a money box today and they are asked to fill the box with coins. These coins are then returned to school and used in the Class Money Line competition held on the last day of this term. The class with the longest coin line will win a hot chip lunch.

All the coins are then forwarded on to the Caritas Australia team, where they will use the money raised to support their charitable works.

For over 60 years, Caritas Australia has worked hand in hand with the most marginalised and remote communities in Australia and overseas to confront the challenges of poverty. 

The theme they have set for Project Compassion this year is: For All Future Generations.

Supporting and educating our students in the work of Project Compassion helps them to understand the plight of many marginalised people in our world. This forms a major part of the Catholic Social Teaching offered at St Colman's, where we address matters of social, economic and ecological justice in the world and help our youngest citizens understand that they can make a difference in the world not just today but For All Future Generations.

Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey

Every five years all Catholic primary schools in our diocese complete the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey. 

The Catholic University in Leuven was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools, based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see itself in the future.

The ECSI Survey is a key element of this process and I write to request your participation. The online survey gathers responses from students in Years 5 and 6, all staff and a representative sample of parents.

You are asked to complete the survey online; it may take up to an hour to do so. Attached is a letter of explanation and a set of instructions. Your child will also bring home a copy of this information today. In order to get an accurate picture of how our school community sees our school, it is essential that as many of you as possible complete the survey. Please find some time in your busy lives to sit and reflect upon our Catholic Identity and complete the survey.

Go to; http://www.ecsi.site/au/user/

Enter the password: Ghj654

Click on NEW USER

Our school Access code is: (case sensitive): mpUWYb

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to do so!

Our Lady of Mercy Parish News

WEEKEND MASS TIMES
ST THOMAS’ TERANG
Saturday 6.00 pm
Sunday 10.30 am
ST COLMAN’S MORTLAKE
Sunday 9.00 am

Our Lady of Mercy Parish Visit from Bishop Paul Bird

As part of our Diocese's 150th Anniversary celebrations, Bishop Paul Bird will be visiting many of the Parishes in the Diocese of Ballarat. Bishop Paul will be celebrating Mass with us on SUNDAY MARCH 17th at 9am at St Colman's Parish Church. It would be lovely to see many of our students there  celebrating Mass with him.

NAPLAN 2024

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.

Our Year 3 and 5 students will be participating in the NAPLAN on the following dates. It is essential that your child attends school on these days. Talk to your teacher  if you have any questions about your child doing the tests. For more information on NAPLAN, visit nap.edu.au.

March 13^th- Writing

Yr. 3 at 9.am

Yr. 5 at 10 am

March 14^th- Reading

Yrs. 3 and 5 both at 9:30 am

March 15^th- Conventions of Writing

Yrs. 3 and 5 both at 9:30 am

March 18^th- Numeracy

Yrs. 3 and 5 both at 9:30 am

Catch Up session at 11:30

March 19^th- Catch Up sessions (if needed)

9:30 and 11:30

Open Classrooms

Everyone is invited to have a peek into a day in your child’s life by visiting their classrooms during our Open Classroom Afternoon on Tuesday March 5^th from 4-30-5:30. Come and see how your child spends their days at school, what they are learning and have a look at some of their completed work.
Research shows that when parents take a keen interest in what their child is learning at school, they can help their child continue and extend that learning through more meaningful conversations, questions and support. We can’t wait to see you all back in the classroom tomorrow.

Specialist Timetable for Term 1

Below is the Specialist timetable for Term 1. All children need to wear their sports uniform and return their library books.

Please note that ther Juniors will be having Library on Tuesday for the remainder of this term, and will need to return their library books each Tuesday.

Swimming Program

Our Swimming Program commenced last Friday March 1st and will run daily until Thursday March 7th.

All parents are invited to come and watch and if you are willing to help with organising our youngest students after their lesson please let Shandell know that you can help.

Lesson times are as follows:

Juniors- 12:30-1pm

Middles- 1:00-1:30

Seniors- 1:30-2pm

MUSIC LESSONS AVAILABLE

We’re off to a good start this year with ten students learning piano or guitar!  However, I have up to three more spots available for students who want to learn a musical instrument this year.  Students in prep-2 have 20 minute lessons while the older students have 30 minutes.  They can choose from piano, guitar, recorder, flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, ukulele and saxophone.  If you’re interested, please text me on 0417559235 and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Melanie Pocknall
Instrumental Music teacher

Shaping Tomorrow Together

You're invited to attend a special conversation focused on shaping the future of our school. This evening will be facilitated by Educational Consultant, Tony Dalton. Tony specialises in creating strong parent engagement and community partnerships with schools.

Please join us to discuss what we do well here at St Colman's and explore strategies to make us even better. The voices of our parents, students and broader community will be vital in shaping a future that reflects the hopes and dreams of the school community as we work together to create an even better learning environment for our students.

When: Tuesday March 12th at 6:30pm

Where: St Colman's PS Library

Finger food provided.

Please RSVP to the office by Friday March 8th.

Athletics Carnival

Our Athletics Carnival is scheduled for Friday March 8^th at the Terang Rec Reserve. Children will be bussed to Terang at 8:55am. You are welcome to take your child directly to the Rec Reserve if you wish.

As with all major school events, they cannot run without the help and support of our wonderful parent community. If you are willing to help out in any small way, please contact the office ASAP. Thank you!!!

Some jobs that require volunteers;

Setting up for the sports from 8am Friday morning

Helping run events (setting up, running the event throughout the day, measuring, time keeping etc)

Packing up after the sports (usually around 1:30pm Friday afternoon)

BBQ at Mortlake Market

We have offered to run the BBQ at the next Mortlake Market due to be held on Monday March 11th. We are seeking volunteers to help with this venture that will promote our presence within the Mortlake community. We will need to start cooking at 8:30 and will be finished by 1pm. I am hoping to have enough volunteers for the day that we can create a roster to share the time needed to be there. The Mortlake Market have some extra kid’s activities planned for the day, so it is hoped that a lot of our families will be there to have a look!!
If you are able to help in any way, please contact the office.

The Easter Raffle is back!

After the huge success of the Easter Raffle last year, it is back! 

All families are asked to donate an Easter gift (egg, book, chocolate etc) and sell raffle tickets for $1 each. All donations will be given away as prizes, so the more donations we receive, the more prizes we will have. Raffle tickets have been sent home with the eldest in each family.

Please drop your donations off at the office ASAP.

The raffle will be drawn at our final school assembly for the term (Thursday March 28th).

Welcome Picnic and Dance

Our first school community event of the year will be held on Tuesday 5th March starting at 5:30pm.

Highly regarded Melbourne-based dance company STOMP Dance Co, will come to our school each day for a week and teach our students four- to-five dance routines. The week of dancing will culminate on Tuesday night with an outdoor concert that will showcase all they have learnt during the week.

We would love all of our families and their friends to join us for a BYO picnic dinner prior to the dance presentation.  BYO a picnic (pizza, fish and chips or whatever) to eat in our school grounds. We will have the BBQ there if you would like to use it. The dance concert will start at 6pm sharp!!

We can't wait to see you all there!

Open Classrooms

We are also extremely proud of how well our students have settled into the new school year, therefore we have decided to hold an open classroom afternoon in conjunction with the Welcome Picnic. Children will have the opportunity to show you through their classroom and to show case all that they have learned so far this year.

Classrooms will be open from 4:30 pm and we invite you all to come and share in the celebration of your child's learning!

School Photos

Scheduled for Wednesday 27th March 2024

Last week your child was given their personalised order form. Use this form to order your photo package. You can either place the money in the envelope or order and pay online. Please write the online order reference number on the envelope. 
Family envelopes are available from the office if you wish to have siblings in a photo together.

School Advisory Council (SAC)

We would like to introduce you to our SAC members for 2024.   

Jo Wallis (Chair), Alison Greig, Michelle Lehmann, Zion Palmer, Sophie Allen, Rachel Baulch, Danielle Kenny, 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. 

Transition into Secondary School

With strong enquiries for enrolment into Year 7, 2025, families of Mercy Regional College’s Catholic feeder schools are encouraged to register their interest and attend several key dates in their transition program.

See images below for further information.

MRC Information Sessions

Playgroup at St Colman's

We look forward to welcoming back our local pre-schoolers every second Friday, with our next session being held on Friday March 15th.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD WITH YOUR FRIENDS WHO HAVE PRE SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!!

The ongoing commitment to this project will require support from other members of the school community. If you are willing to help out by going on a roster to help organise Little Colman’s, please contact either the school or Lily. 

WE WILL NEED TO PURCHASE SOME GAMES AND EQUIPMENT FOR OUR PLAYGROUP. HOWEVER, WE WONDERED IF YOU HAD ANY OLD TOYS AND GAMES THAT YOUR CHILDREN HAVE GROWN OUT OF AND THAT YOU NO LONGER NEED. IF SO, WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE THE DONATION OF ANY PRE-SCHOOL TOYS AND GAMES, INDOOR OR OUTDOOR, THAT ARE IN EXCELLENT USED CONDITION.

SCHOOL NURSE VISIT

Each year our Foundation students have the opportunity to have a FREE health and wellbeing check conducted on them by the visiting School Nurse. If you would like your Foundation child to have this check, please complete either the online questionnaire or request a paper version from Shandell. 

Lions Eye Health Program

Each year, St Colman's is lucky to be part of the Lions Eye Health Program (LEHP). Trained volunteers from the WARRNAMBOOL LIONS CLUB will visit us on March 19th to conduct FREE vision screening tests on our Foundation, Year 3 and Year 6 students. However, they will test other children who have identified as demonstrating vision concerns.

Over 80% of what children learn is processed through their eyes. Untreated eye conditions can affect a child’s development. It is estimated 1 in 5 children in Australia have undetected vision problems. Screening can help identify children who require further examination by an optometrist.

The individual screening takes just a few minutes to perform. There is no physical contact made with the child and no eye drops are administered. Individual reports will be sent to parent/guardians. If a vision problem is detected, this will be written on the child’s result sheet and you will be encouraged to seek a further eye assessment with an eye health professional. 

If you would like your child to participate in this vision screening program, please complete the attached permission slip and return to the office by March 12th 2024.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is: A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students. For the next two weeks at St Colman’s we are working with our students on developing effective learning habits that will set them up for success throughout the year ahead. During that time, all staff will be reinforcing the behaviour expectations as set out in our Behavior Matrix (below).

SchoolTV Wellbeing Platform

This week's feature article is a topic relevant to all parent's trying to mange raising children in a hyperconnected world; Managing Screen Time.

“Parents have an important part to play in role modelling a positive approach to using screens and assisting young people to navigate the content they watch.” Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Many parents have reported excessive screen time as the number one health concern affecting kids, especially now in the hyperconnected world we live in. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should be no screen time at all for children under two, less than an hour a day for children aged from two to five, and less than two hours for five to 17 year olds. However, these guidelines have been disputed by experts and often ignored by families. Parents must play an important role in modelling a positive approach to using screens, and assisting children to navigate the content they access.

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

The Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) are compulsory minimum standards for all Victorian schools to ensure they are well prepared to keep children and young people safe and protect them from abuse.  provides the framework for child safety in schools.

Standard 1: Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued

1.1    A child’s ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported.

1.2    Strategies are embedded within the organisation which equip all members to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal children and young people.

1.3    Measures are adopted by the organisation to ensure racism within the organisation is identified, confronted and not tolerated. Any instances of racism are addressed with appropriate consequences.

1.4    The organisation actively supports and facilitates participation and inclusion within it by Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

1.5    All of the organisation’s policies, procedures, systems and processes together create a culturally safe and inclusive environment and meet the needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

How are we implementing this at St Colman's (SCM)??

• SCM Commitment Statement displayed throughout the school
• All gatherings begin with an Acknowledgment of Country
• NAIDOC Day Celebrations each year 

• Aboriginal Mural displayed in the foyer of the school constructed by a student and a local Indigenous artist
• When promoting SCM we show diversity 
• Links with curriculum through history, geography, ie landmarks, sacred sites 
• Aboriginal story books in the library 
• Indigenous leaders/elders attend the school to share information 
• ASTI Flag is flown outside
• Cultural literature in the school library 
• Behaviour Matrix (expected behaviours of respecting differences) Sharing & celebrating culture in the classroom
• Inclusion in our school as everyone is always included
• Students are generally very inclusive.
• A Commitment statement has been in place since 2023. 

• Staff Child Safety Induction completed 29/1/2024, including Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy & Code of Conduct. 
• Workshop with staff on 29/1/2024 on the Standards 1,3,5. 
• Child Safe Induction provided to SCM SAC on 29/1/2024, including Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy & Code of Conduct. 
• Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) is delivered in classrooms which covers eight topics of Social and Emotional Learning across all levels Emotional Literacy; Personal Strengths; Positive Coping; Problem Solving; Stress Management; Help Seeking; Gender and Identity; and Positive Gender Relationships. 
• All staff signed the Code of Conduct annually and or on appointment. The Code of Conduct is maintained through Passtab.
• The school has zero tolerance of racism and expectation is that staff and volunteers will act on incidents of racism

If you have any questions about our implementation of this Standard, or have a suggestion about how we could be doing this better, please contact  our Child Safety Officers; Janet Cain and Rosie O'Connor.

Our Student Representative Council will be co ordinating our partnership with Cooinda Terang to become a collection point for Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic).

We will be collecting all eligible empty drink containers and then returning them to the CDS collection point at Cooinda. The 10c raised from each return will go back to the SRC. They will nominate various charities to support as well as using 50% of the funds to upgrade school resources.

So please start collecting and sending in your empties. 

Most aluminium, glass, plastic and liquid paperboard (carton) drink containers between 150mL and 3 litres are eligible. You can keep the lids on, we recycle them too. The easiest way to know if your drink container can be returned is to look for the 10c mark on the label, often located near the barcode.

You can help in two ways:

1. The first is by far the simplest. Just return your empty eligible containers to the tubs in the corridors at school.
2. If you have a large amount of containers to deposit, you may wish to take them to a Container Deposit Depot and return them yourself. Please download the CDS Vic West App (instructions below). When you return your containers, nominate St Colman's School Mortlake as the charity you want to donate the money to.

Please note, that as we are in partnership with Cooinda Terang, our preferred deposit depot is their Reverse Vending Machine located at 49 Dow St Terang.

Auskick and Net Set Go are back

Mothers Who Pray for their Children

Mothers Who Pray for Their Children will hold their first Australian conference, in Melbourne, at the Catholic Leadership Centre.

Immerse yourself in a day, beginning with adoration and Holy Mass. Join for enlightening talks from local, interstate, and international speakers. Listen to the uplifting melodies of acclaimed Catholic musicians, and explore stalls showcasing the richness of our Catholic community, all while embracing the conference’s central theme—‘Walking the Path of Holiness.’

Mothers, grandmother‘s, Godmothers and spiritual mother's, come and secure your place for an enriching day of spiritual growth and community connection!

https://www.motherswhoprayfortheirchildren.com/

Toastie Tuesday

Mortlake Community Market

Lunch Orders

LUNCH ORDERS are only available twice a week on Monday and Friday.

Menu and price list below

Birthday Wishes

No birthdays in our school community this week. however, if you or someone you know is celebrating one, we send you many blessings on your special day and throughout the year. 

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

AngliCare Energy Assistance

As part of Anglicare Victoria’s FREE Energy Assistance Program, they provide assistance with energy bills to support Victorians to:

• Talk to their energy retailer and get help with debt
• Access extra financial support
• Check they are receiving eligible concessions on their bill
• Find and move to an affordable energy plan
• Understand bills and fix any possible errors
• Support your child's education with free internet at home

They can provide immediate assistance for clients who are struggling to pay for their gas or electricity bills to prevent disconnection to their property!

The follower two flyers provide further details.

NCCD

Please read the attached information sheet for parents regarding NCCD.