St Colman's School Mortlake eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

St Colman’s acknowledges the Girai wurung people as the traditional owners of the land on which our school stands and we respectfully recognise elders both past and present.

From the Principal

Dear St Colman's community,

Welcome to our final week of the 2024 school year! As a community, we should use this as a time to reflect upon, acknowledge and celebrate our many wonderful achievements throughout this year. I thank each and every member of the St Colman's community for all that you have done to contribute to the success of our school this year. I am extremely grateful to all of our staff, students and their families for their dedication and continued support. Together we have continued to embody our school values of Welcome, Learn, Care and Faith and created an environment where our students have flourished.

I wish to congratulate our Year 6 graduates on their final days at St Colman's. Having this group of students graduating and leaving the school is always bittersweet as whilst we will miss them all, we know they are more than ready to face the big world for themselves. On behalf of all staff, I wish our graduates the best in their future endeavours – may their light always shine brightly.

As well as farewelling our Year 6's, we also say goodbye to some of our families. This year we farewell the Lehmann and McKellar families. We thank them for their contributions to our school community and for entrusting us with the privilege of educating their children.

Also concluding their time with us at the end of the year will be Learning Support Officers Michelle Blain and Brooke Collins. Both Michelle and Brooke showed dedication and compassion during their time here, and the support they have offered has made a significant impact on our students and the entire school community. We wish them all the best with their next ventures!

We will finish our year, with a community celebration tomorrow evening (Tuesday December 17th), starting with celebrating Mass together at St Colman's Parish Church at 5:30pm. This will then be followed by our awards presentations and the Graduation Ceremony for our Year 6 students. We will then return to the school oval to have an end of year BBQ. We will be providing BBQ sausages, bread and salad, however, please feel free to BYO picnic food if you would prefer. I look forward to seeing you all there!

I wish all of our students and their families a very Merry Christmas, I hope you all get to spend time making wonderful memories with those you love.

Whether you’re embarking on a holiday away or staying close to home, I hope you have a relaxing holiday, spent with those who make you happy.

Take care and stay safe until we meet again for another wonderful year of learning.

Kind regards,

Janet

Important Dates:

Term 4

Monday 16th December: PJ and Bed-hair Day; Steph Lee to speak to students about Vietnam.

End of Year dates:

Tuesday 17th December: End of Year Mass, Awards and Picnic

Wednesday 18th December: Final day for students

Thursday 19th December: Student Free Day; Final day for staff (2025 Planning Day)

Friday 20th December: Student Free Day- DOBCEL Approved TIL acquittal day

Start of Year dates:

Monday 27th January: Australia Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 28th January: Staff return to school

Wednesday 29th January: All students in Yrs F-6 return to school.

Catholic Identity

Student Safety: Our New End-of-Day Procedure

We're updating our system to ensure every student gets home safely after school. Here's what parents need to know:

How It Works

When the final bell rings, students will line up in two groups:
1. Bus travellers
2. Students exiting through Dunlop Street door

EVERY student will now be marked on our end-of-day roll
Parents MUST notify the school if their child's usual going-home plan changes
This applies to ALL students, not just bus travellers

How to Notify the School

We prefer you use these methods:

First choice: PAM app (Parent Access Module)
- Easily change bus route
- Select "Dunlop Street Exit" if needed
If app isn't working: Call the school directly

Current Limitations

The app does not have a specific field for detailed collection instructions
We are actively working with our technology provider to improve this feature

Interim Solution

If your child has a unique after-school arrangement, please:

Use the PAM app to mark standard transport changes (like bus routes)
Contact the school directly with specific collection details
Provide information about alternative arrangements

Example Scenario

Samantha Student's situation:

Can be marked off the bus on PAM
Additional notification that she is walking to tennis training needs to be communicated to school

What Happens If No Notification

Your child will follow their usual going-home routine
We'll ensure they're directed to their standard method of transport

We appreciate your patience as we work to enhance our communication systems to make student safety tracking more comprehensive and user-friendly.

Our goal is simple: Get every child home safely, every single day.

Bunnings BBQ

Last Saturday, December 14th, we held our first Bunnings BBQ fundraising event.

A huge thank you to the following people for giving so generously of their time during this very hectic time of year.

Sophie and Nick Allen, Jo Van Den Heuvel, Travis and Alison Greig, Kylie and Phil Addison, Georgie and Ollie Price, Danielle and Charles Kenny, Rachel Baulch, Michelle and Adam Lehmann, Rosie O'Connor, Anna Bourke and Jenny Stapleton.

We successfully raised just over $2,000.

This brings the total money raised by our school community for 2024 to just over $12,000. That is amazing!

A wonderful event during this financially challenging times. Thank you!

Vietnam Presentation - Steph Lee

Today we were very lucky to have Jane's daughter, Steph, speak to the whole school about living and teaching in Vietnam. She showed us a slide show and the children asked many great questions about life in Saigon, Vietnam. Blair finished the session off with a slideshow of flags for Steph to guess. Steph is currently home for Christmas and will return to Saigon in the new year. We thank Steph for giving up her time to visit us at St Colman's.

Instrumental Program at St Colman's

On the 21st November, the ten music students performed a concert for family and friends. Though there were a few nerves, they all performed well! It was the final concert for Remy (5 years on piano) and Mason (2 years on guitar), who are moving on to high school next year.

I have at least one spot available for anyone wanting to start learning a musical instrument next year. If you’re interested, please message me on 0417 559 235 and I’ll get back to you asap.

Melanie Pocknall, Instrumental Music Teacher

Library Books

A final reminder for children to return all library books back to the school by the end of the week.

$ 400 School Saving bonus

The Allan Labor Government’s $400 School Saving Bonus is rolling out this week for 2025. Catholic school students who will be in Prep through to Year 12 in 2025, and who are receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF), are eligible for the School Saving Bonus.

Catholic school students receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) in 2025 are eligible for additional support through the School Saving Bonus (SSB). The $400 bonus will be provided directly to each school and the school will apply it directly to your fee account. The $400 School Saving Bonus is available for each child. That means an eligible family with three school-aged children will receive a total reduction of $1,200 to school fees.

Families who have had their circumstances change (including new healthcare and concession card holders) and who may be eligible for the Camps, Sports and Excursion are encouraged to discuss this with the school. These are real cost-of-living supports.

For more information please contact Janet or Jane.

Second hand Uniforms

We have collected a selection of 'pre-loved' school uniforms that are available to ALL members of our school community. These items are free of charge, but it really is the 'luck of the draw' if the item you want is there or not! You are always welcome to come into the office to have a look at what is available.

Also, if you have any unused uniform items that you no longer need and are in good condition, please consider donating them to the second hand pile. All pre-loved items can be left at the office. Thank you!!

Little Colman's Playgroup

Michael Grose Parenting Toolbox

How to Make your Parenting Habits so Simple that You Can't Fail.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

At St Colman's, we are excited to be using a positive behaviour acknowledgement system, inspired by the School-wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework. This evidence-based approach helps schools improve social, emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes for students from Foundation to Year 12. Our new system will focus on promoting and rewarding specific behaviour expectations within our school community.

Here's how it works:

Staff members will distribute RAFFLE TICKETS to students demonstrating the targeted positive behaviour.
These tickets will be collected in a large jar and counted weekly.
Progress will be tracked on a barometer displayed in our school foyer and pictured above.
School-wide rewards will be offered at various milestones, with a grand prize when we reach 1000 tickets.

To ensure student engagement, our Student Representative Council will help determine the focus behaviours and rewards for our "BEHAVIOUR BLITZ" initiative. At their most recent meeting the Junior SRC decided on the following rewards;

250 tickets= Movie and popcorn afternoon

500 tickets= Hot chip lunch at Tea Tree Lake

750 tickets= Casual clothes and free time afternoon/ rotation games

1000 tickets = Day trip to Lake Pertobe.

Congratulations to our students for reaching their first milestone of 250 tickets. All students enjoyed a movie and some popcorn last Monday. Well done everyone......keep making those POSITIVE CHOICES!

We continue to focus on our new Behaviour Blitz. We will be rewarding students each time we see them 'Make a positive (thumbs up) behaviour choice'.

Out of School Care

A reminder that we continue to have access to Out of School Care in 2024, 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.

NCCD Information.pdf

Term 4 Week 11 Monday 16th December 2024