Dear Families,
In the church year, we are in the season of Lent. It is a time when we predominantly see the colour purple. This is the colour of royalty, of kings and queens. Historically this is the time when people were waiting for a new king to come and save them from the Romans and other leaders of the day. Interestingly, their new king was Jesus and he wasn’t the king they were expecting! Instead, Jesus challenged the people of his time to think differently, to change their ways, to be better people. Instead of having power over people, he called for people to care for and love others. So this time of Lent is now a time when we are encouraged to change those things about us, where we might exert power over others, or are ‘mean’ to others, to be compassionate, courageous, hospitable, just, respectful and to serve others. These are our Mercy values and they fit nicely within the Gospel values that Jesus gives us. I invite you to think about how you could be an even better person than you are today. Thank you Mrs Tullio for a great line that you gave us during our staff prayer on Monday:
“Let today be the day you give up who you have been, for the You, you can become.”
This week we welcome a new student: Makenzie in Year 5 and some new staff members: Ebony Dekort (Co-Educator) and Matt McGinty (Leader of Learning - Wellbeing). Matt will be shared with St Thomas More School. We hope your time with us is full of learning, friendships and fun! We look forward to three more students commencing next week!
Earlier this week I met with our student leaders for this year: Zachary, Freya, Luka, Mickaylah, Keira, Caelan, Tilda, Elijah, Aiden, Yonatan, Aurora, Emelia, Hunter, Oliver, Stella, Stella and Cooper. Our first meeting was to set the scene as to how our meetings would operate and to share the ‘ground rules’ around sharing and listening. Each meeting the children bring their meeting book with some “celebrations/positives, questions, ideas and issues”. Our plan is to discuss these items, take action if necessary and feed back to their peers in their classroom. I look forward to working with them. Congratulations for being chosen by your classmates for this important leadership role. We will present your badges at our Assembly on Tuesday at 2:15pm.
This week and next week our students will be undertaking the Classroom Pulse Check In Survey. This is a Catholic Education SA survey that our students undertake each term at this time (Week 5 & 6). We use this survey to gauge how our students are travelling with regards to their wellbeing and endeavour to pick up any trends over a length of time.
This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students undertook the NAPLAN practice test. This test helps to familiarise the students with the NAPLAN testing environment but also helps to check that our school ICT capabilities are sufficient for the actual NAPLAN testing days (commencing 13 March). Each year, for various reasons, some parents withdraw their children from NAPLAN testing. It may be to do with various diagnoses, anxiety, health, personal or other reasons but a ‘withdrawal’ form needs to be completed and signed by the parent. Please see your child’s teacher, Michelle Menadue, or myself, if this is the case.
Our staff are always concerned about safety of all children, especially around the school. Please remember that is you are driving past a school and there are children present, the speed limit is 25kph. We are amazed at how many people travel through our school crossing at higher speeds than this … even with the amber lights flashing. Please note that the speed limit is also 25kph along Harvey Road and Murphy Street if children are present … it is not just where or when the lights are flashing.
We would also like to remind students and families to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached, students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts. Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report any events to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible. SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter an offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.
Please remember that we have the following dates set aside as Pupil Free Days for the staff to undertake professional development, staff reflection, complete hand over activities, etc. There are still two more dates to be set for later in the year. Currently we have set: Fri 8 March (next week), Fri 23 August, Thu 12 December and Fri 13 December. Please mark them in your diary and book in to OSHC if you require this service (spaces are limited).
Our next Assembly is this Tuesday at 2:15pm and will be led by Ms Peterson’s Year 2 class.
Kind regards
Peter Mercer
Head of School
‘Shaping our Future Together’
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