Term 3 Week 2

Welcome back to a new term! The children and staff have all settled in well despite the sudden turn in the weather! Classes that moved for the building and renovation project have all claimed their spaces and made them their own. Hats go off to the teachers for the way they have created a warm and inviting area and to the children for a seamless transition. Unfortunately we are experiencing the first delay of the project with the start date moved to August as we wait for a site manager to be appointed. The upside is we have six empty classrooms to use as gathering spaces and performing spaces.

Be sure to head to the “Learning Matters’ page to view the term overviews for each year level. These overviews are a summary of the focus for each area taught during the term. 

This year St Christopher’s Parish celebrates 60 years as a parish and 50 years of the St Christopher’s church. This is a mighty achievement and we invite you to help us celebrate. All children, families and friends are invited to the 10.30 mass on July 24th (this Sunday) at St Christopher’s church to gather and thank God for all He has done through the ministry at St Christopher’s Parish Airport West. Please come along so we can celebrate together as a parish.

The PA have spent many hours organising a St Augustine’s Trivia Night for Saturday 30th July. We are looking forward to a fun night, organised to reconnect families and to also have a laugh, win some prizes and show your trivia skills! There are tables still available so come along and support the school after a few years where we have been isolated and not had a chance to come together as a community. I hope to see you there! Use the details on the flier to book your place or organise a table. Let’s get as many St Augustine’s family and friends to this event!!

With this sudden cold snap what a perfect time for the PA to run a Pie Drive. Pie Orders will need to be submitted by Thursday 11th August.  Cash and Order form to be returned to the office by then. Pie orders will be delivered to the school for collection on Friday 19th August. Further details and the order form are on the Parents Auxiliary page of this newsletter.

This Saturday 23rd July, our MOSA group, Men Of St Augustine’s have organised their first event. They will be starting their day at Teghan Henderson’s house.  Teghan is the inaugural Chairperson of MOSA. He will be holding a meeting at his home to explain the purpose and focus of the group. MOSA is an inclusive group particularly offering male figures in our children’s lives, the opportunity to connect and come together. The group will operate under the three concepts of:

Friendship – social events where friendships and connections are formed and with the opportunity to meet new people from the school community

Service – offering service to the school through assisting with events eg. Bunnings BBQ, small maintenance jobs or fundraising for the school

Growth – providing the opportunity for self reflection and personal growth through activities such as guest speaker discussing mental health, parenting etc.. I look forward to the ongoing development of the MOSA group. Open the link for further details.

A reminder about the protocols of the Pickup and Drop off area at the front of the school:

• Do not leave your car at any time. This way we can continue a flow of traffic and movement so all cars have a chance to use the area
• Avoid parking over the driveways. If you park over the driveways be sure to stay in your car and only the passengers alight or get in. A parking officer will book any driver getting out of their car when parked over a driveway
• Always move down the que and drive into the next space. Please do not stop in front of the school if there is room to move further down. We need to be aware of all other cars needing to find a space to stop.
• Never motion for a child to come to the car unless you are parked and stationary. Children will not be allowed to get into a car if it is double parked
• Be patient! Arrive at 3.20 and we will still be here watching until the last child is safely picked up!

During the month of July, The Social Justice group have organise a Winter Appeal through St Vincent De Paul Society.  They are asking for the following donations for the Winter Appeal of warm clothing in good condition, blankets, scarves, hats, gloves,etc or even a monetary donation. These items will be donated to  St Vincent de Paul to distribute to those families in need of winter items and any monetary donation will go to women and their children who have fled a domestic violence situation. Donations can be taken to the classroom where the Social Justice Team will collect these. 

A reminder for all children to be wearing their corect winter uniform. We pride ourselves on the smart uniform that is worn as it represents us and who we are at St Augustine’s. Leather brown school shoes must be worn on non sports days, hair longer than collar length must be tied back (including boys), white socks with sports uniform not black, fawn tights not dark brown. Noone have these fawn tights in stock.

Last Monday I sent a letter home detailing the COVID safe protocols we are all abiding by. Please read the letter to remind you of these. It is strongly recommended by the Department of Health that face masks are worn in indoor settings, with face masks mandatory for those aged eight and over who are household contacts and attending school. This is because wearing masks is effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. In practice, this means that the Victorian Government is asking that, through to the end of winter, students aged eight and over and staff wear masks when in class, except where removing a mask is necessary for clear communication or when a particular activity requires the removal of a mask. Masks are not required to be worn outdoors, but can be worn when physical distancing is not possible. This expectation should not constrain student participation in the full range of school activities, including music, sport and performances. I understand that parents and carers will play an important role in supporting this expectation. A short letter is available, signed by each of the three school sectors (Catholic, government and independent), that explains this will be a consistent expectation across all schools in Victoria this winter. I ask that from next week, Monday 25th July, that all students from years 3-6 wear a mask while indoors unless provided with an exemption (email) from their parents. Mask wearing is a simple step we can all take this winter to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and ensure our school remains as safe as possible with staff to carry out their duties

And finally, we welcome Kelly Bertoncello to our staff. Kelly will be working Wed-Fri in the role of Receptionist and Enrolment Officer. 

Cathy