Dear Parents and Carers

This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a special time when we get ready for the coming of Jesus. It is very exciting when we know that someone is coming to visit us. We make sure that we are ready when they come. Teachers are supporting students to think about what it means to be welcoming and how we can get ready to welcome Jesus.

The first candle lit is The prophet’s Candle of Hope. 

As a catholic community, particularly during this time, we pray for all people around the world who are alone or frightened or have had to leave their homes because of fighting. We pray they may be welcomed by others and may see their families again.  We especially keep all children in our thoughts and prayers.

Our fundraising for 2024  this year has supported our way of giving hope to others in need. 

Many thanks for your generous spirit again this year, in unity with your children, as we were able to shine our lights and be Beacons of Hope to others. 

Here is a breakdown of the money raised in 2024.

Mission Fete raised $9478.60 and with $8000 going to World Families and Bulbula in Ethiopia. $1478 will support local familioes via the St Vincent de Paul Christmas  appeal. Our Year 5s will receive families and budget and shop for a Christmas lunch.

Project Compassion and the Easter Raffle raised $3373 and all of this money this year will go to Caritas. Caritas is a Catholic organisation supporting humanitarian aid in Gaza and other parts of the world. Here are the website details if families wish to donate further to Caritas. https://www.caritas.org.au/ There is also a petition to sign on this website for a ceasefire in Gaza for those who wish to do so.

The Opening Doors Foundation event raised $597 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Educational needs.

Story Dogs Program raised approximately $200.

Families Leaving 2023: Over the next few weeks we will be farewelling these amazing families who have their youngest or only child leaving Our Lady Star of the Sea. We thank you deeply for the pleasure and privilege of working in partnership with you and your wonderful children. We extend our warmest wishes as your learning journey continues elsewhere. Please know you are always welcome back for a visit. It is always great as a staff to continue to hear of the successes and joy you experience over the coming years.

Bennett, Bellingham, Butcher, Cardona, Cocks, Cunningham, Dean, Delrayne, Dowling, Garner, Graham, Kerr, Kiddle, Lawry, Leske, Lohmann, McIntrye, Modola, Neicho, Peace-Teague, Pitfield, Purcell, Reddan, Reid, Renkauskas, Ritchie, Salisbury, Sargeant, Scanlon, Shergill, Singh, Smith, Smith, Sottile, Stephenson, Theobald, Turner, Wearmouth, Wilkens, Zarro

MACSSIS/ Annual Action Plan: We present our Annual Action Plan for 2024 and will reshare at the beginning of next year. Please take the time to read and see what our priority is moving forward, mainly in the Mathematics area. We are entering the second year of our 4 year School Improvement Plan and continue to reflect on various data sets to inform our plan.

MACSSIS is one of our perception data sets we implement and reflect on each year. Please see the Level 1 webs and data analysis from each of our surveys- student, families and staff. Naturally, as a staff, we do analyse at a deeper level. This year we had 43 families fill in the survey- thank you to those families. We are hoping more families  will fill in this short 8-10 minute survey when provided again September 2024. We also survey all students in Year 4-6 and all Staff, teaching and non teaching.

2024 Parents and Friends Representatives: Last Monday we had a  small gathering of parents attend our Annual General Meeting. It was wonderful to see a couple of new faces. We  have filled the following positions.

We look forward to more parents/carers joining the group for 2024. Please feel free to reach out and join the PFA messenger group for 2024. This does not mean you need to attend any or all meetings. You may just like to put your hand up and support one event in some small way. If you would like to be part of the group please email Mel Kelsall at kelsallmel@gmail.com and she will add you into the group. 

2024 School Advisory Council: Last week we also held our Annual General Meeting for the School Advisory Council. Here is the Chairperson Peter McKinnon’s 2024 and final report. 2023 Report

We thank Peter for the 5 years of voluntary service he shared on the Council and the last two years as chairperson. Peter was part of so may innovative initiatives including our wonderful Djilla Tjarri hall and Orange Hub and future capital works master planning.  

We also thank Chad Ellis for his contributions over the last 3 years and in particular the bike shelter and Amy Bonacci for her incredible work as secretary over the last 3 years.

We welcome Teneille Pasque to the role of Chairperson for 2024 and Hayley Bennett to the role of secretary.

We also welcome Catherine Cross, Scott Annand and Pearse Fay to the Council and look forward to consulting throughout 2024 with all members on important decisions for the education of our wonderful students, ensuring we provide the best environment for all in our learning community to flourish.

Second Hand Uniform Sale: Tonight 6.30 pm -7.30 pm in the staffroom. Cash only.

Wishing you all a hope filled and reflective fortnight ahead.

Kerryn