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Term 1 Week 8 Monday 21st March

Our Prayer This Week

We pray for those driven away from
their homes by violence, persecution or
poverty. May our hearts be open to do
all we can to rebuild the lives of others.
May we be instruments of God’s peace.
Amen.

From the Principal

It was fantastic to see our school recognised in the Herald Sun in regards to NAPLAN growth. This particular score recognises high growth from Grade 3 to Grade 5 in the area of reading. At St Colman's, we are committed to meeting the learner at their point of need and progressing them. NAPLAN is just one of the tools that we use to monitor student growth, but we are mindful that it is just one test that takes place on one day. We are also mindful that it is a community effort that achieves such results, so thank you to everyone for your work and commitment to the students at St Colman's.

I'll be absent on Wednesday and Thursday this week to attend the Victorian Catholic Principals Primary Schools Conference in Lorne.

We wish Jenny Stapleton well as she takes Long Service Leave the last two weeks of term.

Have a great week, Stacey

Head Lice

There has been a case of head lice in the school. Please monitor your children and treat if necessary. This is also a good opportunity to remind those students with shoulder length hair that it should be tied up.

Thanks for your help with this.

Project Compassion

Project Compassion is a fundraising initiative run by Caritas Australia that the students take part in each year. Many of you may have seen the boxes come home at the end of last week. This is for the children to bring in any loose change that can be spared to put into their class boxes, raising money for those less fortunate in third world countries. In class, students have been watching stories and learning about the valuable resources that can be bought with the money that is donated. On April 5th, the students will bring the boxes outside and compete in a 'coin line competition' with the winning class being awarded hot chips for lunch the following day.

Easter Celebration: Save the Date

We're looking forward to our first community gathering for 2022. All welcome!

Award Winners this Week

Congratulations to our award winners this week, Charlotte, William, Leo, Will, Remy, Leo, Sadie, Archie, Hayley, Lacey and Isabella.

Emergency Management Training

Thank you to everyone for supporting our school closure day. On the day staff completed a lot of vital training, including mandatory reporting, asthma and emergency management. We're probably not ready to join the fire brigade, but we definitley have more knowledge on the use of fire extinguishers and fire blankets.

Garden Update

Liam and Alex collected these delicious cherry tomatoes from our school garden last week. Perfect for roasting and making pasta sauce- delicious! The chickens are also laying and there's a few apples on the trees.

From this week, we're all hoping to get into the garden a bit more. Assembly and awards will now be held once a fortnight to allow more opportunities for children to be engaged in the garden on Friday afternoons.

We would really like another volunteer for the chooks. The commitment would be one day a fortnight. Please email principal@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au if you are able to help.

Supporting those in need

Diocese of Lismore 2022 Flood Appeal.

If you're looking for a way to support the schools and parishes of Lismore please consider.

The Diocese of Lismore is sincerely grateful for the extraordinary amounts of offers for support for families and schools impacted by floods and your ongoing prayers. To ensure a coordinated response, it is requested that all donations be channelled through Bishop Greg's Diocese of Lismore 2022 Flood Appeal found here at https://www.lismorediocese.org.

It would be greatly appreciated that all fundraising efforts support this appeal.

BSB: 037-889
Account No: 1061 5829
Account Name: DOL Flood Appeal

While offers of physical resources and equipment are appreciated, unfortunately there is nowhere to store, sort and distribute such forms of generosity.

Caritas Australia Partnership with Caritas Ukraine.

Caritas Australia is one of the few NGOs in Australia with a direct partner on the ground in Ukraine.

Caritas Australia forms a longstanding partnership with Caritas Ukraine, who is currently providing emergency support to internally displaced persons.

The escalating violence in Ukraine is rapidly becoming a dire humanitarian crisis.

Over 2 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine, and there have been at least 1,335 civilian casualties.

The Caritas Ukraine Appeal provides essential support to those in need, including;

Emergency food and water.
Shelter.
Hygiene kits.
Psychological counselling.

If you or your school would like to contribute directly to Ukraine through their fundraising measures, learn more and donate to the Caritas Australia Ukraine Crisis Appeal by visting the webpage at Ukraine | Caritas Australia.

Sacraments 2022

A reminder to contact Stacey or Rosie if your child will be participating in our sacramental program or if you require more information.

satkins@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au

roconnor@scmortlake.catholic.edu.au

Thanks for your support.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Zac Dolling who celebrates his special day on Thursday.

West Street Works

The Council have started works in West St. During this time buses will pick up and drop off in Townsend St. After this, work will move to the front of the school.

We have also had confirmation that our new 'shed' will be constructed during the school holidays. This will provide weather protection over the basketball court and allow more learning opportunities all year round.

Medical Details on PAM

It is important to keep your child's Medical Details up to date in PAM. We use this information to check that we have any medications and instructions needed for your child on a regular basis or in the case of emergency.

If there is any change to your child's medication, you need to update PAM as well as talk to us about any medication we need to have on hand.

It is particularly important to have Asthma plans up to date and if your child no longer needs this, we need to know that too.

Second Hand Uniform

If anyone has any old uniform that is no longer part of the school uniform at home, you are encouraged to bring it in to the school by Friday 25th March. The uniform will be sent to Timor-Leste to be distributed to school children who do not have their own school uniform. Please only send in items that are still in good order.

Any items of the current uniform that are no longer required can be offerred for sale on the school Facebook page. Please ask at the office for details.

Footy Tipping Competition 2022

Footy is off! The school office is very quiet after both the Tiges and Saints were defeated. Luckily there is plenty of time left for them to redeem themselves.

Well done to Pippa Kate and Jenn Finn who have the early lead after tipping 7. Hot on their heels are 12 other tippers who managed 6 in a tricky round.

The average for the competition was only 4.9 so collectively we have some work to do! The first game this week is Thursday so that gives us 3 days to get out the form guide.

Good luck!

Key Dates for the Diary

23rd March- Mercy Regional College Open Day

29th March- School Photos

30th March- Sacrament of Forgiveness, 5.30pm

31st March-PSGs and SAC Meeting

1st April- District Athletics

1st April- Easter BBQ

4th April- Senior class visit to MRC O'Keeffe Campus

6th April- Footy Clinics at school

8th April- Final Day of Term

Term 2

25th April Anzac Day

26th April Term 2 commences

2nd May- School Closure: Parent Engagement with Tony Dalton

23rd May- School Closure: Literacy focus

Term 3

1st August- School Closure: Literacy Pedagogy

8th September- School Closure: Liturgy (Religious Education)

TBC: First Aid closure day to update CPR and other First Aid requirements.

Our Schoolzine calendar is now operational so there's numerous dates available on the app.

COVID Reminders

Please find following, an extensive letter outlining the current COVID arrangements. This will remain here in case you need to refer to anything. Some key points include things we are doing to protect our community:

Mask wearing for all staff and Grade 2-6 students is compulsory. It is highly encouraged for all other children. Students must provide their own masks.
Masks are required for ALL children who travel on a bus.
Visitors must check in via the QR code and be vaccinated.
RATs have been delivered with each member of the community being invited to test themselves twice a week. The school must be notified if there is a positive case. The school will inform the community if there is a positive case. Head to this link for a video on how to conduct a RAT. https://youtu.be/AyrggazYk_0

Please contact me at school if you have any concerns or queries. The new school mobile number is 0409 539 167.

Covid Information

NetSetGo is Back for 2022!

The TMFNC NetSetGo program will run in Term 2 for 45 minutes every Thursday. The first session will be Thursday 28th April.
Please note registrations are through a new program called Netball Connect. You will need to create new login details.
Once your child is registered you will receive an email a few days later with instructions on how to access the netsetgo shop to redeem your child’s participant pack (ball and tshirt). For a few extra dollars your child’s tshirt can be personalised.

Registration Link below....
https://netball-registration.worldsportaction.com/userRegistration?organisationId=ef933da7-9b5a-40b9-b2ef-cb390bb58d24&competitionId=7c192b00-32ba-4317-a3c1-3c2828d5ff98

OR See the details below for Woorndoo Mortlake Football Netball Club.

Woorndoo Mortlake Net Set Go