Prayer of HOPE

Mary, you are hope for the hopeless,

Mary, you are hope for those who cannot see.

Mary, you are hope for all who stumble and struggle.

Mary, you are hope for others, you are hope for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Please continue to keep the Stubs family in your prayers.

Please continue to keep Anne Gallo and her daughter Bec in your prayers.

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

All families have now received their invitation to participate in the Catholic Education Melbourne School Improvement Surveys.  Your invitation was sent via email last Monday 2nd September.  Each email included the survey link and a personalised pin.  

Thank you to the families who have taken the time to provide feedback on what is good about Our Lady Star of the Sea, and how we can make it better.  The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete. 

For those families who haven't completely the survey, you have until 20th September to provide your feedback.

Students from Years 4 to 6 will complete the Student Survey during the next two weeks.

Regards

Paul Anderson

CEMSIS Coordinator

National eSmart Week - National Child Protection Week

eSmart, in conjunction with National Child Protection Week, promotes the smart, safe and responsible use of digital technology. It aims to create awareness, solutions and ideas on issues of cyber safety, bullying and wellbeing online and offline.

At Our Lady Star of the Sea School we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. Our commitment is drawn from and inherent in the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel.

As a school community, like the wider society, the wellbeing of our children is challenged by irresponsible use of digital technologies.  In recent weeks we have worked with some of our students who unfortunately have been thoughtless online and impacted the safety and wellbeing of others. 

At school our students are taught the importance of being responsible cyber citizens and the importance of smart and safe use of digital technologies. To help support families with ideas on how to help their children manage screen time and be responsible online, I have included Screen time for your child – 7 tips, from the eSafety Commissioner. Also attached is the school Email and Internet Policy and the Cyber Safety Policy 

Paul Anderson

Student Wellbeing Leader

2019 Year 3 & 5 NAPLAN is available for collection from the school office.

You will need the Yr 5 Naplan results for your secondary enrolment application.

Term 3 Week 9 - Green Hub News

Term 3 Week 9 - Red Hub News

Term 3 Week 9 - Blue Hub News

Term 3 Week 9 - Purple Hub News

Term 3 Week 9 Yellow Hub News

This year Our Lady Star of the Sea will be holding our annual Respectful Relationships Day as part of Barwon Month of Action against Domestic Violence. This day will be held on Friday 11 October. The focus of the day will be Connecting Our Community, Make A Connection to Someone New!

Parents are invited to attend a cuppa and a chat in the staff room after assembly. This session will focus on making connections across our school community. Come along and meet someone new. 

Students will participate in a Circle Time and consider what they value most about friendship and ways that they can connect with new people to create new relationships. After recess, parents are invited to watch their students participate in our annual Tabloid Sport Respect Games. House points will be awarded to teams who demonstrate the best team spirit, cooperation and inclusiveness. Students will need to wear their sports uniform on this day as they will participate in House colours.

Please check the newsletter in Week 1 Term 4 for the home task which will help to build our Whole School Foyer Display.

Please refer to the timetable below.

9:00am -  Assembly 3LM

9:45am - Parents are invited to attend a cuppa and a chat in the staff room after assembly.

9:45- 10:45am: In class Circle Time for students

11am - 11:30am:  Recess

11:30-1:00pm: Tabloid Sports RESPECT GAMES

1:00 - 2:00pm:Lunch

2:00pm: "Community Pages" activities in Hubs

Wanted : Recipes!!

Your recipes and names will be published in our amazing recipe book – don’t miss out! Thank you to those who have already submitted recipes. Once collated, the book will be available to purchase in time for Christmas (there are already people putting orders in)!

Please submit one favourite recipe per student plus a family favourite and email to: leahcolgee@gmail.com

PFA - Trivia Night Fundraiser 

Thanks everyone 

Recyled Uniforms For Sale near Red Hub 

Thursday 12 September: 3pm - 3:45pm 
Friday 13 September:  8.30am - 9am

This year in October our school is participating in Walktober. We will be promoting travelling to school actively by walking, riding and scooting. Each day we will record how many students have travelled to and from school in an active way. Each class will have their own chart and we compete with other schools in our area for prizes. If it is not practical to travel actively all the way from home, you can still be involved by getting dropped a safe distance from school and walking from there. We hope everyone gets involved!

Thanks, Travelsmart group.

Don't forget to renew! Just a reminder that your WWCC must be current to enable you to be a school registered volunteer. It's easy to renew - do it online through the Vic Dept of Justice. 

Do you recognise these? Do they belong to your child? These bikes have been left at school and are in the shed. If they are not claimed by Friday 13 September they will be donated to the Ocean Grove Men's Shed. 

Term 4 2020

Friday 16 October: Respectful Relationships "Gratitude Day"

Monday 19 October: Book Week Dress Up Day 

Thursday 22 October: Footy colours casual clothes day and Gold Coin donation for Cherished Pets Ocean Grove.

Friday 23 October: AFL Grand Final Public Holiday, school closed 

Sunday 25 October: School working bee 10am - 12pm - Purple Hub TBC

Tuesday 3 November: Melbourne Cup Public Holiday, school Closed 

Friday 6 November: Mission Fete Day 

Monday 9 November: School Photo Day Individual and Class Photos

Tuesday 10 November: School Photo Day Family Portraits

Monday 23 November  - Tuesday 24 November: Year 6 Camp Wyuna

Tuesday 24 November: Prep 2021 Parent Information Session 6 - 7pm TBC

Thursday 26 November: Prep 2021 Parent Information Session 6 - 7pm TBC

Friday 27 November: Staff 2021 Planning Day, student free day 

Monday 30 November: Year 3 Camp Wyuna

Tuesday 1 December: Year 4 Camp Wyuna

Wednesday 2 December: Year 5 Camp Wyuna

Wednesday 2 December: Prep 2021 Orientation Day 9.30am - 11am TBC

Tuesday 8 December: Prep 2021 Orientation Day 9.30am - 11am TBC

Thursday 17 December: End of Term 4

Please note: Please refer to the Parent Calendar for all dates