Newsletter 22nd February 2023

In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land in which we sit, the Wadawurrung people, who have cared for this country for thousands of years.  We would like to pay our respects to the Aboriginal Elders past, present and future for they hold the traditions, memories and wisdom of Mother Earth on which we place our feet upon today.

Upcoming Dates

24thFeb, 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th March:      Swim and Gym 11.45 - 12.30 & 1.00 - 2.00 

27th February:                      Open Morning at St Brendan's Dunnstown

2nd March:                             Open Morning at St Mary's Clarkes Hill

6th-8th March:                    Years 3-5 Camp at Campaspe Downs Adventure Park, Tylden

13th March:                             Labour Day Holiday

20th-24th March:               Harmony Week

27th March:                            St Brendan's open morning

2nd April:                                 St Mary's open morning

5th April:                                 Last day of Term 1 for pupils 

6th April:                                 Last day of Term 1; Pupil-free day; Staff Professional Development

7th April - 23rd April:        School Holidays

24th April:                               1st  day Term 2; Pupil-free day; Staff Professional Development

25th April:                               Anzac Day public holiday

26th April:                              Students back at school

Principal's News

It is difficult to believe that we are already into week 5 of our first term. Then next 6 weeks are looking quite busy with swimming, gym, camp, combined school days, NAPLAN, open mornings and school review starting. It is the business of school life. The staff always work to ensure that our normal teaching schedule contains minimal disruptions so that our children can have as much consistency and routine as possible. Our start to the year has been calm and gentle and the majority of our children have settled back into school life with ease. The Parent Child Teacher conversations provided a time to check in and discuss any immediate concerns and to celebrate the successes that children have already achieved. Thank you to everyone that could attend the allocated time and if you still need to make a appointment, please contact the teachers so that a suitable time can be made.

Enjoy the sunshine and go gently.

Inez

Sacramental Program

If you wish your child to be part of the Bungaree Parish Sacramental program this year, please ring or email St. Mary', Clarkes Hill by Friday the 17th of March and leave your phone number, child's name, age and let us know which sacrament/s they will be preparing for and receiving this year.  Alternatively, contact Aileen and leave your details with her. 

Reconciliation is offered for Year 2 children and older and children from Year 3 upwards are invited to receive the sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation. 

Once we have the numbers and set dates, we will be in contact. 

email - principal@smclarkeshill.catholic.edu.au. Ph 53345280

Bungaree Parish Secretary/ Parish Office (Thursday 9.30am–2.30pm): 

Phone 5334 0450 or 0492 903 409
 email -  bungaree@ballarat.catholic.org.au

Gordon Parish Office (Tuesdays 9.30am–2.30pm): 

5368 9280 or 0492 903 409

Swimming

Our swim and gym program starts this Friday. It will run for 5 consecutive weeks.  The children will all be swimming from 11.45 until 12.30. We will have lunch at the Aquatic centre and then participate in a gym class from 1pm- 2pm.

Children will need to bring or wear their bathers under their sports uniform. Please send along thongs or sandals as they are easier to manage than socks and shoes, and a towel. The children will do the gym lessons in bare feet.  They will also need lunch and a drink bottle.

Parents are welcome to come and see their child swim during 11.45 and 12.30pm any Friday.

Child safety

Last year we adopted four more new child safety standards that need to be addressed in our policies and procedures. The Child Safe Standards provide a framework for creating child safe organisations. They are designed to drive cultural change to create, maintain and improve child safe practices. When organisations apply the Standards, they build a culture where abuse of children is prevented, responded to and reported.

There are now 11 Child Safe Standards:

• Standard 1: Culturally safe environments – Establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.
• Standard 2: Leadership, governance and culture – Ensure that child safety and wellbeing are embedded in school leadership, governance and culture.
• Standard 3: Child and student empowerment – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
• Standard 4: Family engagement – Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
• Standard 5: Diversity and equity – Equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice.
• Standard 6: Suitable staff and volunteers – People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
• Standard 7: Child-focused complaints processes – Ensure that processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.
• Standard 8: Child safety knowledge, skills and awareness – Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
• Standard 9: Physical and online environments – Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
• Standard 10: Review of child safety practices - Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
• Standard 11: Implementation of child safety practices – Policies and procedures that document how schools are safe for children, young people and students.

More information can be found by searching Child Safe Standards.

https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/

Opening Mass / Ash Wednesday

This morning we celebrated our beginning of year Mass. Thank you to Louise and all of the staff for preparing this. It was followed by a morning tea. It was wonderful to have people come together for a cuppa and chat.

The mass also starts our season of Lent.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church’s season of Lent. The marking of the ashes on our foreheads on this day is a public expression of our faith and humility. It is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through prayer, we come closer to God so that we are better able to realise the promises made for us at our baptism, to live justly as Jesus teaches us. Fasting joins us in solidarity with people experiencing poverty who often have no choice but to go without the basic human needs. Sharing what we have, or ‘almsgiving’, is a sign of our commitment to justice and our thanks for all that God has given us.

Lent prepares us for the season of Easter, the most important time in the Church’s calendar. By praying, fasting and giving alms, we are reminded of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus brought the promise of hope to all people so that we may, “have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). As we live into that fullness, may we also be challenged to act with love and hope, now and for all future generations. (Caritas website)

The following is a prayer for Lent taken from today’s Mass-

God of love,
You care for us and all in our global family. You want for us all life in its fullness.
Help us see the challenges faced by so many. Help us look for justice.
Fill our hearts with love.
Turn our compassion to action.
Help us renew the world,
now and for all future generations.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
All: Amen

LFBF

Our Year 6 children joined other Year 6 children from St. Brigid’s Ballan, St. Michael’s Daylesford, St. Pat’s Gordon and St. Augustine’s Creswick, last Tuesday to participate in a ‘getting to know each’ other day. We all came together at Major League were the children were placed in groups to play a number of sports, have lunch together and then join in a quiz. It was amazing to see how quickly renewed friendships from previous years and were willing to chat and make new friends.

The purpose of this initiative is to:

Give our senior students, our young leaders, the opportunity to know themselves, and each other, in community; to create and connect. This initiative aims to engage these students in ways beyond the limitations of geography and any one individual school’s capacity to meet certain needs.  

Fundamentally – as Human and Being, we have a calling and a need to create and connect.

Specifically – To give our young people the opportunity to:

•   grow deeper in self-awareness
•   expand their social and learning networks
•   grow in their leadership capacity
•   effect change in their immediate and broader communities

This initiative will continue to evolve throughout the year with regular opportunities for the students to engage with each other, both face to face and virtually. We see tremendous benefit and opportunity in this initiative for all of our Year 6 students, and look forward to them growing their self awareness, networks, and leadership capacity.

School Review

Every 5 years schools in the Ballarat Diocese go through a review to celebrate our achievements and set direction for the next 5 years. Staff have already spent some time beginning to review what we have done and using data to evidence our successes. Stephen Russell is supporting us and compiling our data report. Parents and students will have an opportunity to share their thoughts as we move along further in the process. The 13^th and 14^th of July are the dates set aside to finalise the process and set new goals that will form our strategic plan for the next 5 years.

Open mornings

Our Open Mornings at each school are being advertised through kinders, on Facebook, by distributing flyers, through the Moorabool newspaper and by word of mouth. St. Brendan’s will be held next Monday and St. Mary’s on Thursday the 2^nd of March. Current families are welcome to come along and if you can, bring a friend. Our enrolments are now open!

All are welcome.

Junior Room

Compound Sentences

Last week we practiced writing simple sentences.  This week we have been learning about compound sentences.  A compound sentence is 2 simple sentences connected with a coordinating conjunction.  We tried to use three of the conjunctions and, because, so.

Lucy 

I went to a birthday party and it was fun. 

I ate chocolate cake because it was Joe’s birthday.

Aiden 

Yesterday me and my cousins went fishing and we swam in the dam.

On Saturday me and Ahlia set up the swags in the backyard and we slept in the swags. 

Rounding Numbers

This week we have been learning how to round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.  The Juniors played a game called Rounding in a Row which was a lot of fun.  They even got to play outside because it was such a nice day to sit at the table under the tree. Aiden and Lucy both won against Clare!  They now know the rule, “If it’s under 5 you go back, 5 and up, go up!” You could ask your child to round some numbers at home.  This is an example of how they should answer, “53 rounds down to 50.  77 rounds up to 80.”

Camp - Juniors Excursion

While the Seniors are at camp the Juniors will be having an excursion on Tuesday 7th March.  More details will follow but for now, here are the details

Monday 6th March - Combined Schools Day at St Mary’s (Seniors will leave from St Mary’s)

Tuesday 7th March - Excursion to Sovereign Hill (details to follow)

Wednesday 8th March - Combined Schools Day at St Brendan’s

Shrove Tuesday

Yesterday Aiden and Lucy made pancakes with Lyndal and Clare.  They made them for everyone!  There was enough for 3 pancakes each and everyone could choose what they put on top.  Our toppings were jam, nutella, honey, maple syrup, butter, banana and strawberries.

Did you know that Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent begins? Lent is the time leading up to Easter.  In the past people were not allowed to eat foods such as eggs during Lent, so to use them before Lent began, people would mix them with other rich foods such as milk, flour and butter to make pancakes. 

The Dunnstopia Times - Senior Room Report

We’ve had a great start to the term in the senior room. Combined school days have been mentioned a number of times as a highlight so far this year and it has been great to see the students interacting with each other both in the school yard and in the classroom. 

So far the students have been putting their brains to the test in maths with a focus on mental strategies to solve problems - they have been working hard on assessments and I am excited to see the results at the closure of the unit. 

Writing has been tremendous this term - combined school days have provided us with a great opportunity to teach narrative writing and for the students to collaborate and share ideas to further enhance their work. 

In R.E we have begun talking about our concept of growth. We have discussed that growth can mean many things and that it could mean physical or emotional growth. 

DID YOU KNOW?

This term the seniors can receive building blocks or decorations to contribute to their skyscraper, but they can also earn raffle tickets! As a bonus, you can help your child earn raffle tickets by interacting on seesaw with their posts - comments and likes will earn your child an entry to the weekly draw so make sure to jump on to seesaw and look through their amazing work! 

Conveyance Claims return to office by 3rd March

The conveyance allowance is a form of financial assistance to help families in rural and regional Victoria with the cost of trans-porting their children to their nearest appropriate school/campus. The conveyance allowance is available to eligible students travelling by public transport, private car and private bus.

Eligibility
Reside 4.8km or more by the shortest practicable route from that school/campus attended
If you would like to apply for Conveyance allowance please download, print and complete the application form below and return to the School Office by Friday  3rd March 2023. 

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) Claim Information return to office by 3rd March

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors.
Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works and sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are part of a healthy curriculum.
CSEF will be provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is:
•• $125 for primary school students
•• $225 for secondary school students.
HOW TO APPLY
Download the CSEF application form via link below
Please complete the CSEF form and return to the office by Friday 3rd  March 20223

School Camp Fees to be paid by 28th Feb.

School camp fees invoices were emailed to parents last week.  The cost is $ 340 per child.  In line with our school fees and school camp policies the fees must be paid prior to camp.  The due date for camp fees payment is the 28th February.  Thank you. 

School fees preferred payment option

Please find attached the school fees preferred payment option for 2023.  Please complete and return this form to the office by 28th February.  Thank you. 

Leadership Team 2023 congratulations