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 Week 7!

Last Monday, we acknowledged Remembrance Day with a ceremony at school and with our school captains and I attending the community service at the War memorial in the centre of town. Mason, Ivy and Alex represented us beautifully by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on our behalf.

Our Year 5/6 students recently attended camp at Dunkeld from Wednesday to Friday. The experience was truly wonderful, providing numerous opportunities for our students to engage in team-building activities and develop new skills through a variety of outdoor adventures. They took part in exciting activities such as hiking, archery, a ninja ropes course, the giant swing, flying fox, and various group challenges including a scavenger hunt and hut building. The children approached each challenge with remarkable positivity and resilience, making them a joy to accompany on this trip. Additionally, spending time with peers from St Thomas' Terang fostered new friendships that will benefit our students as they transition to secondary school.

This is such a wonderful experience for our students and I am so grateful to our staff who organised the camp and for those staff who attended.

A very busy week culminated in the first of our transition visits for our 2025 Preps! It is always exciting to welcome our newest students into our school community. They were a very settled group, many waving their families goodbye within minutes of arriving! We look forward to seeing them again over the next three Fridays.

The Bunnings BBQ is fast approaching! A huge thank you to all who are offering their help for the day, it is greatly appreciated. There is still time if you haven't! Please see the list of jobs below and consider how you can support us.

Read on to find out what 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.

Kind regards,

Janet

Remembrance Day

End of Day Arrangements

A reminder that if your child's usual end of day arrangements change, for example, if they are not to go home on the bus, it is essential that you inform the school of these changes. Then easiest way to do this is via the PAM app and if that isn't working please ring the school. If we have not received a notification from you, your child will be required to go home via their normal method.

Important Dates:

Term 4

Monday 18th- Friday 22nd November: Meals on Wheels week

Tuesday 19th November: F-2 excursion

Friday November 22nd: 9am- 11am Kinder Transition Session 2

Monday November 25th: St Colman Feast Day Mass @ 9:30am

Wednesday November 27th: School Advisory Council AGM, 6pm @ Macs Hotel

Friday November 29th: 9am- 11am Kinder Transition Session 3

Friday December 6th: 9am- 11am Kinder Transition Session 4

Tuesday December 10th: Whole school Move Up Day/ Orientation Day

Thursday December 12th: Whole school Aberlea Christmas visit

Friday December 13th: Mortlake Community Christmas Carols

Saturday 14th December: Bunnings BBQ

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

As part of their 10-year strategic plan, DOBCEL are prioritising 'deeper collaboration between schools'. To support the implementation of this practical principle, Tom Sexton, Executive Director of Catholic Education Ballarat, is allowing schools two extra student free days in 2025. The letter below was sent to all families last week regarding the impact this will have upon our school community, in particular, the anticipated change to the school holiday break at the end of Term 1 2025.

Catholic Identity

Click here to read the latest "Our Diocesan Community"

Feast Day of St Colman

We will celebrate the Feast Day of our Patron Saint St Colman of Cloyne next Monday, November 25th. We will have a special day of activities here at school and we invite our school community to join us for Mass at St Colman's Church from 11:30am.

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

Teaching and Learning

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC NEWS!

On Friday November 8th, five students sat music exams: Archie and Mason (Preliminary guitar), Milana and
Zoe F (Preparatory piano), and Remy (Grade One piano). All five of our students did very well, with Archie taking top honours this year with 96%; Zoe and Milana were very close behind. Congratulations to all of them!

This years music concert will be held this coming Thursday at 5.15pm in the art room. Non-music students and their families are welcome to attend, especially if you’re interested in your child learning music next year at St Colman's.

I look forward to showcasing the talents of our students for you all this Thursday!

Melanie Pocknall
Instrumental music teacher

As stated above, the Grade 5/6 camp to Dunkeld was a huge success. We were all so incredibly proud of our students and the respect and positivity they displayed while they were away. Great job everyone!

Dunkeld Camp

The 126th Mortlake Rose Show

Thank you to all of the parents who donated flowers for our student's to use when creating their garden on a saucer. The children had a fabulous time working with a buddy to make their saucer looks amazing.

Congratulations to the winners:

1st Prize- Rosie P

2nd Prize- Japnoor and Scarlett

3rd Prize- Steff and Rocky

St Colman's was very well represented at The Rose Show with Lily, Mason, Ivy and Mrs O'Connor operating Kidz Corner. Another wonderful way for our school to support a wonderful community project.

Garden on a Saucer

Saturday December 14th: Bunnings BBQ at Warrnambool. We have been offered a spot in the hotly contested Bunnings BBQ fundraising calendar. This is the first time our school has had the opportunity to run the BBQ at Bunnings and being so close to Christmas it should be an incredibly busy day!

Below is a form to complete to let us know your availability to help out. A hard copy will be sent home or you can register your intent to support your school via the web form link below.

Bunnings BBQ Volunteer Roster

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!!

Playgroup at St Colman's

our highly successful, Little Colman's Playtime will have one more session for the 2024 school year. It will be a Christmas celebration on Friday December 6th from 9am.

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

WELLLBEING

School TV- Youth Anxiety

“Untreated anxiety disorders in children can lead to more serious issues in adulthood. Parents need to educate themselves so they can identify the symptoms early.” Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Click on the link below to learn more about identifying the signs of anxiety and managing them early.

Youth Anxiety

Michael Grose Parenting Toolbox

How To Bring Out The Leader In Your Child: An Expert Guide

Social Media Safety

Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online and on social media. You can help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. You can explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules and boundaries.

Your support and guidance can give your children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and confidence to ask for help when they need it. It is also important to stay informed about online safety.

The Department of Education recognises this important issue and has developed fact sheets about supports to help keep students safe online and what to do if they are involved in an online incident.

The fact sheets contain links to evidence-based information on supporting positive and safe online experiences, signs a child or young person might need support, what to do if something unsafe happens online, and where to reach out to for more support.

To access the fact sheets, refer to the Safe Socials webpage. The fact sheets are available in 19 community languages.

The government is also launching public consultation on age limits for social media.

You and your children can share your experiences to inform proposed changes via an online survey, before 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2024. For more information on the survey and to take part, refer to Proposed changes to social media age limits on the Engage Victoria website.

If you have any queries about this information, you can contact the department by email: bullystoppers@education.vic.gov.au

Parent Fact sheets

Safe on Social

Survey- Proposed changes to social media age limits

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

At St Colman's, we are excited to introduce a new positive behaviour acknowledgement system this term, 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.

Our recent Behaviour Blitz was on "Using a respectful tone". The children have collected 240 tickets so far and are well on track to receive their first reward; Movie and popcorn afternoon. We will have this next Monday as part of our Feast Day celebrations.

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

Thunderstorm Asthma

What is Thunderstorm Asthma?

Thunderstorm asthma is a serious and potentially life-threatening phenomenon that can occur during specific weather conditions. It is common throughout all parts of Victoria, particularly during spring when thunderstorms coincide with high levels of pollen in the air.

This combination can trigger severe asthma symptoms, even in people who have not previously experienced asthma or allergies.

Schools should have staff trained in asthma first aid, and DOBCEL will monitor the VicEmergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings and notify schools, and when appropriate, students should be kept indoors when weather forecasts identify greater risk.

By raising awareness and being prepared, schools can protect their students and staff from the risks associated with thunderstorm asthma, ensuring a safer environment for everyone.

Find out more

Further information regarding thunderstorm asthma can be found at https://asthma.org.au/triggers/thunderstorm-asthma/ and https://www.health.vic.gov.au/environmental-health/epidemic-thunderstorm-asthma-risk-forecast.

Preparing for Thunderstorm Asthma

Stay Informed: Keep track of pollen forecasts and thunderstorm warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology and the VicEmergency app.

Check the epidemic thunderstorm asthma risk forecast: Epidemic thunderstorm asthma risk forecasts in Victoria are available from 1 October to 31 December (the typical grass pollen season).

Download the Vic Emergency app from Google Play or the App Store and set up a 'watch zone' for your school location to make sure you are notified of the risk of an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event occurring. You can also visit the Vic Emergency thunderstorm asthma webpage for updates and information.

Have Asthma Action Plans: Ensure that students with known asthma have an up-to-date asthma action plan, and make sure staff are trained in asthma first aid.
Indoor Safety: On high-risk days, consider holding activities indoors to minimise exposure to allergenic particles.

Asthma Thunderstorm Triggers

Thunderstorm Asthma Forecast

Vic Health Thunderstorm Asthma Information

St. Colman's School is a Child Safe Community

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

Child Safety Officers

The Child Safe Standards

St Colman's has an ongoing commitment to implementing all 11 of the Child Safe Standards.

Standard 9 asks schools to ensure:

Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

Watch the clip below if you would like to see an overview of this standard. If you have any suggestions about how we could better in bed this standard into our school community please let us know.

Child Safe Standard 9- Overview

The 11 Child Safe Standards website

Child Friendly Slides

Community Noticeboard

Free Broadband

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:

The first is by far the simplest. Just return your empty eligible containers to the tubs in the corridors at school.
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.

Toastie Tuesday

Lunch Orders

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

Menu and price list below

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 7 Monday 18th November