St Mary's Primary School Bairnsdale eNewsletter

Dear Families,

Thank you all so much for your hard work supporting your children over the past week while also attending to your own commitments. We recognise as a staff that remote teaching and learning is more taxing on families this time, even though the workload appears to be more manageable. Please remember to look after one another during this difficult period and if you need support or have concerns, remember we are here to help.

Foundation Interviews

Last week I completed all Foundation interviews. The children coped with the remote platform extremely well! We will have three straight classes of Foundation next year. We are hoping and praying that we will be able to have the Information Evening and Foundation Orientation sessions on site next term. We appreciate how difficult it was for those families new to St. Mary’s, making decisions on their child’s education without even having seen the school.

Time Capsule Letters

If you have not had time to write the letter for your child’s time capsule, it would be great if this could be completed by the commencement of next term. Here is an example of the things you might include;

“Dear John,

As we write this letter, we find ourselves thinking back to the day you were born. It was love at first sight when we first laid eyes on you! Each of your ‘firsts’ has brought so much joy and excitement in to our lives – from first smile, to first words and first steps. It was hard to say goodbye on your first day of kinder but you were so brave and ready and for that, we were so proud! Today is yet another ‘first’. Your first day of school! You are such a kind and generous person who will have no trouble making friends. We cannot wait to see all the fabulous things you will learn and do at school. We hope that you will always remain the happy and confident person you are now. We have many hopes and dreams for you – though none more important than always being true to yourself and to be confident to chase your dreams, knowing that no matter what, we love you so much and always will. You will be reading this letter now as a Year 6 graduate who is once again ready to embark on another ‘first’ – secondary school. You will have already started your next journey toward to being a young adult. Always remember, that no matter what challenges lie ahead for you, we will be here. Our love and support is unconditional. Enjoy this special day. We are so proud of you!”
Love Mum and Dad

Child Safety

At St. Mary’s we take the safety of each child very seriously. All children have the right to feel safe and be safe and we are committed to providing a learning environment where this is supported. I encourage you to look at the Child Safe policies on our website.

Thank you for your support!
Best wishes,

Michelle Garbutt,
Principal.

Web Article

On Wednesday night I attended the webinar ‘Lightening the Lockdown Load’, presented by Dr. Justin Coulson, one of Australia’s most trusted parenting specialists and founder of happyfamilies.com . Dr. Justin shared 4 secrets for families to make it through the Victorian COVID-19. He empathised with parents of the challenges of managing the academic, social and emotional wellbeing of children.

In summary, Dr. Justin said: Kids need to be heard, need humour, need to help others and need to have hope.

He recommended a useful resource: https://www.happyfamilies.com.au/freebies/heck/

He also suggested his range of podcasts, available on happyfamilies.com.au . The Happy Families podcasts are for parents who are seeking practical advice and simple tools to confidently navigate parenting at every age and stage. In each short podcast episode Dr. Justin will address a specific topic, offer his expert advice and provide simple strategies that will lead to positive results. Some of his topics include #117 Dealing with changing moods and temperament (definitely worth a listen if you have a teenager in the house), #114 What to do when your child lies and #106 Reducing disrespectful talk.

If you didn’t have a chance to watch the Lightening the Lockdown Load webinar on Wednesday night and would like to, here is the link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/886858y31evw7x9/LighteningTheLockdownLoad_DrJustinCoulson.mp4?dl=0 .

Always remember, your kids are important to us and we are here if you need us!

Lisa Parwata,
Deputy Principal.

Web Article

ST. MARY'S/NAGLE CRICKET CLUB MILO CRICKET

Covid-19 restrictions permitting the Milo Cricket Program will run in Term 4 on a Thursday afternoon from 3.45pm to 4.45pm at the Nagle Cricket Oval. The Milo Coordinator will be Danny Hack and he will meet the children out the front of St. Mary’s and walk them over to the oval. St. Mary’s/Nagle Cricket Club contacts are:

Danny Hack – phone - 0492 833 455, danny.hack01@gmail.com

Paul Capes (President) - phone - 0412 568 530.

Unicorn
White, majestic
Galloping, nuzzling, eating
A trail of magic
Wonder.

By Chancy Patel

Cookie
Chewy, chocolatey.
Mix, pour, bake.
Sharing cookies with everyone.
Biscuit.

By Remy Siribanphithak

Chooks
Feathery, dusty
Pecking, squawking, waddling.
Bathing in soft dirt.
Funny.

By Layla Beveridge

FC	Sophie Williams for demonstrating great determination and resilience in our writing Zooms. You are a wonderful writing star! Well done Sophie.
FL	Zoe Kilby for her enthusiastic attitude towards all learning tasks. We are so lucky to have you in FL, well done Zoe.
FZ	Lani Waterton for the thoughtful and enthusiastic contributions she makes to our virtual guided reading sessions. Well done on making the most of these learning opportunities Lani!
1D	Leo Lanteri for his approach to Remote Learning and positivity. Keep up the great work Leo.
1DH	Stella Kuick for her application during Remote Learning and for the way she responds to the feedback given. Great work Stella.
1W	Luella Emmett for taking on and applying feedback during remote learning tasks to improve the quality and content of her work. Well done Luella.
2K	Jack Johnstone for putting all he’s got into his remote learning at school.
2MB	Meika Brodribb for always striving to do her best. Your enthusiasm to learn is awesome! Keep up the great work.
2N	Nadav Jijo for working really hard during remote learning and always taking care with the work you complete. Keep up the amazing work!
3HK	Ryder McGovern for the cheerful, positive way he approaches his work, for his outstanding writing and his ability to always make the most of every learning opportunity.
3N	Orlando O’Byrne for the commitment he has to completing the tasks set during Remote Learning. He is to be commented on the standard of work submitted. He should be proud of his achievements. Keep up the good work Orlando.
3S	Caleb Morrison for your persistence when trying new and challenging things. You take on feedback positively and can then apply it to develop and improve your learning. Well done Caleb. Keep it up!
4FT	Zac Walker for the amazing effort that you have put into remote learning this week. We are so proud of the way that you have pushed yourself out of your comfort zone and recorded yourself reading on RAZ Kids. Great effort Zac.
4T	Hudson Froud for the outstanding effort that you are putting into all of your learning tasks and for showing independence and resilience during remote learning. I am so proud of you!
5L	Matthew Faithful for stepping up and producing some outstanding work - your persuasive speech was of a very high caliber. You should be very proud of your achievements in Remote Learning so far, keep it up!
5R	Ava Richards for your incredible application to your learning. You have gained so much confidence and new knowledge throughout the term and continued to achieve amazing things in remote learning. Keep challenging yourself Ava.
6M	Liya Joseph for the way you have had a great start to St. Mary’s, even though you have had to go straight into Remote Learning. Your resilience, determination and commitment to your new way of learning is amazing. I am so proud of you!
6R	Elizabeth Gray for your captivating, engaging and well researched Australian History presentation. The emotion and conviction in your voice, along with rhetorical questions and persuasive language made the presentation a delight to listen to. Flawless. Well done Lizzie, I am so proud of you!
PE	Chancy Patel (2MB) for your dedication in giving all P.E tasks a go and sharing your accomplishments online. Well done Chancy, keep up the great work!
PERFORMING ARTS	Xanthee Worcester (4FT) for your positive approach to Well-being Wednesdays. Your enthusiasm to learn is wonderful.
STEM	Bonnie Watts (1W) for her scientific thinking, demonstrated by the questions she asked. Well done Bonnie!
SPIRIT OF ST. MARY'S	Isla Siribanphithak (5L) for working extraordinarily hard this term. Isla has been independent and proactive in asking for some extra, more challenging spelling words. Her persuasive speech was outstanding and she was very responsive to feedback. She has submitted all work requirements to a very high standard.