Dear Parents,

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the Spring season and the extra warmth and colour it brings to our lives.

As a school community we recognise Mary on September 8, which is the date that is regarded in Church history as her birthday. All students will celebrate this day through prayer. 

"Our Lady Star of the Sea” is another name to describe Mary and is an ancient title for the Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The words Star of the Sea are a translation of the Latin title Stella Maris. The title was used to emphasise Mary's role as a sign of hope and as a guiding star for Christians.

Our Vision Statement places Jesus as our guide and refers to Mary as the one who inspires us. What is it about the story of Mary that we can be inspired by? Is it her acceptance of what God asked of her when the angel Gabriel asked her to be the mother of God? Is it the way she supported and celebrated with her cousin Elizabeth? Is it her care of her son Jesus? Is it the way she prayed at the foot of the cross, at the crucifixion of Jesus? Is it her life which is an expression of hope?

Stage 1 Masterplan: It is with great excitement I share with you the Stage 1 drawings of our building project. This will begin next year in March/ April. On Wednesday night, we had further consultation at School Education Board level and we will be moving forward on the schematic design.

In essence the build will include a 700 square metre multi purpose area and another hub with 4 classrooms.

Please see below plans.

This is a 4.1  million dollar project and  whilst we are grateful to receive the 2 million dollar grant from the state government, it does not cover the full cost. Next year, we will be introducing a capital levy of $180 per family and have endeavoured to keep it as low as possible. The purpose of the new capital levy is to secure loan funding for the building project.   

The Family Fee is used for recurrent expenses including the cost of running and maintaining the school, associated curriculum requirements, infrastructure and capital expenses. 

The fee structure for 2020 will look like this:

 Family Fee:

The Student Levy Payment due date is Friday 14 February 2020.

A letter stating the fee information will also be emailed to families today.

Respectful Relationships: As a lead school in the Respectful relationships initiative please read below our theme for this year “Connecting our community day”. The past two years we have celebrated had themes of “Respect Colours our World “ and “Celebrating Differences- Inclusion Day”. These days are wonderful for our learning community and carry significant messages. I would like to thank the Respectful Relationships team which includes parents Sharon Ashton and Penny Freeman who meet regularly to ensure we are implementing actions ongoing as per our action plan. 

BYOD Jamf: Thakyou to those families that filled out the BYOD survey and shared thoughts on the prospect of a Mobile Management system (Jamf). At this stage, we have decided to trial it with the Year 3 class next year and the school will manage the cost. Tomorrow night at 6.30 pm in the library, we have an information session about this which is particularly aimed at the current Year 2 cohort however anyone is welcome to attend.

CEMSIS survey: A reminder if you haven’t already to complete the CEMSIS survey that was emailed to you. The parent survey takes approximately 16 minutes and all feedback is welcome.

Walktober: A reminder we will be participating in Walktober from the first day of Term 4. As a learning community we promote being healthy and active as an essential part of our policies and practices.

Health Care Cards: If you are a holder of a current Health Care Card and have not registered your details with our school office I encourage you to do so. Our funding from the government is calculated depending on the number of families who have a Health Care Card. The more Health Card Holders a school has the more government funding is available to the school. 

Before and After School Care: Over the past week, we have listened to a couple of conversations around the shortage of spaces in before and after school care. At the beginning of Term 4 the current services will call for those needing a place in 2020. We ask that if you are struggling to obtain a place you let us know by emailing secretary@staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au so we can ascertain what the need may be moving forward.

PFA

A reminder that the Drive In movie night is this Friday. Please read below for more details.

A reminder also that the last day of term is footy colours . Please bring a gold coin donation to support the purchasing of footy socks. The PFA are also in the process of purchasing new Our Lady Star of the Sea sports jumpers and tops for school sporting events. 

Warm wishes for the fortnight ahead.

Kerryn