Dear Parents,

We are looking forward to 2020 being a year of growth and development, new initiatives and continuing to be faithful to our vision. At our beginning of year staff meeting we reflected on the ordinary moments in 2019 and highlighted the extraordinary moments within them. In our profession, we are blessed to so often see extraordinary things happen for our students in their learning and development. We tuned in to think about  how we can continue to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary moments in 2020, striving to give that little bit extra.

2020 Annual Action Plan:  When we considered what our direction is this year in our Annual Action Plan , stemming from our 4 year School Improvement Plan, we really considered what is it we are wishing to improve or get better at.

Our first area of priority is that every student is engaged, challenged and connected. Some actions are to make greater connections in our Learning and Teaching with faith and life,  continue with the Berry Street Professional Learning, develop whole school positive behaviours for learning and create more outdoor learning opportunities.

Our second priority is that every teacher provides high quality learning and teaching and leadership for school improvement. Some actions include Mathematics having a particular focus with the engagement of Peter Sullivan, development of a data plan, shadowing, mentoring and coaching across the school.

Click below to view our 2020 Annual Action Plan

Building Works: 

Good news to share. An update we received today is that our Building and planning Permit Applications have been approved  by the City of Greater Geelong for the building of general purpose learning areas, learning hub and a multi-purpose centre. We will  continue meeting and working on our schematic design and keep you informed of any updates.

Student Leadership: 

The leadership program offered to the students at Our Lady Star of the Sea, particularly to our Year Six Students, focuses on students learning to be respectful and responsible leaders.

We congratulate the students who have willingly taken on responsibilities and wish them success in their roles, developing their vision and goals, and organising and leading others by using their character strengths and given and learnt skills and capabilities.

School Leaders

BUSHFIRE RESPONSE

As you will be aware from our first newsletter, we made contact with Catholic primary schools in Gippsland’s fire affected areas, to see if our students could offer support to their students, at what would be a very emotional and distressing time for young children. Thankyou to Ms Marianne for proactively making contact and reaching out to this community. 

Our reply from St Brendan’s PS in Lakes Entrance, is below. 

Hi Marianne,

Thank you for your email, it was lovely to hear from you.

Sorry for my late reply. Basically, I needed to let a few things settle here and talk to staff about how you could help.

One of the ways your community could help would be to provide vouchers for our students to visit the local mini golf or movie theatre in Lakes Entrance.

Talking to the students, very few have had a holiday because we were being evacuated or having to stay indoors to avoid the smoke. Even today there is no outside play which is getting frustrating.

Also, our local businesses are hurting. There has been a huge loss of income as tourists were evacuated on Dec 29.

Providing vouchers to these facilities would provide entertainment for the kids while putting back into the local economy.

Really, anything you do would be appreciated. We just value that you are thinking of us.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Regards,

Matt 

Matthew Hamer

Principal

St Brendan's Catholic Primary School

We think that providing vouchers to students  is a wonderful way in which we can support the Lakes Entrance community. On Friday 21st February, we will be having a dress up day where students are invited to come dressed as “Someone Who Cares for Others.”  This could be a firefighter, nurse, lifeguard, parent, grandparent, vet, friend etc….or even themselves. We ask that children use their own money to provide a gold coin donation on the day. We will also leave a donation box in the office for anyone who wishes to contribute further. At  the request of Alice in Year 6, whose grandfather lost his home in Mallacoota , a portion of this money will also go to a wildlife organisation.

Shrove Tuesday: Please note, we will not be asking for a gold coin donation for Shrove Tuesday pancakes this year in light of the Bushfire cause. The school will be providing ingredients for the pancakes. The money raised from our Easter Egg raffle which will be advertised in early March, will see Caritas receive 50% of the proceeds.

Commissioning and Welcome Parish Mass, Working Bee and Welcome Barbecue Sunday 23 February: This year, on Sunday 23 February,  we have decided to tie a few events into the one day. At 9 am Mass, we will welcome our new Preps and families, commission school staff, PFA and School Education Board members for 2020. We will then hold our Term 1 Working Bee with a particular focus on welcoming the Preps and new families. This is a great opportunity to  meet others and build relationships and we invite all families from across the school.Following the Working Bee, from 12 noon we will have our Welcome Picnic. Some sausages will be cooked for the working Bee helpers and if you would like to bring a picnic lunch. It would be great to see as many families attend on this day.

Before and After School Care Kelly Club: Listening to feedback from some  families in regards to the lack of before and after school care in the area we have engaged in further discussions with Kelly Club. At this stage we have signed an engagement letter for Kelly Club to apply to run a before and after school care service here. Due to the timeline this will not be able to begin until some stage in Term 2. We will keep you updated as to the process for moving forward in registering your child(ren) and Kelly Club will provide more details as time goes on.

Meet and Greets: 

This week sees our Meet and Greets happening.  This is a great opportunity to begin to build relationships and for you to meet your child’s teacher face to face, sharing what you would like the teacher to know about your child. If you haven't already please make a time to meet with your child’s teacher. 

Best wishes for the fortnight ahead

Kerryn

Behaviour Management through Restorative Practices

‘It is not small people who ask for forgiveness. It is large hearted, magnanimous, courageous people who are ready to say what are some of the most difficult words in any language: “I am sorry”. But once uttered, they open the way to a new opportunity, the possibility of a new beginning, the chance to start again, having learnt a lesson from the past’. Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1998)

Discipline practices at Our Lady Star of the Sea school are based on Restorative Practices. Restorative Practices involve the building of positive relationships and establishing a supportive environment that is fair, consistent and democratic. The underlying principle is that relationships are important, and when a harmful or disruptive incident occurs, the focus is on the harm caused to the relationship and the subsequent repairing of that harm; rather than what rule has been broken and therefore what consequences will be imposed. Restorative Practices gives the school a unified and consistent approach to the management of children's behaviour. The school also aims to develop responsible self-discipline amongst students. The school believes that the school community is responsible for an effective policy, therefore communication and support between staff, students and parents is essential.

Restorative Practices Strategies include Circle Time, Affective Questioning, Restorative Circles and Conflict Resolution. Please take 3 minutes to watch this clip, introducing what Restorative Practices looks like in Catholic communities.

An introduction to Restorative Practices

Paul Anderson

Student Wellbeing Leader

2020 Term 1 Week 3 - Green Hub News

2020 Term 1 Week 3 - Red Hub News

2020 Term 1 Week 3 - Blue Hub News

Blue Hub - Year 3 Information Booklet

2020 Term 1 Week 3 - Purple Hub News

YellowHubNews.pdf

Year 6 Info Booklet 2020

At Our Lady Star of the Sea, we provide and manage a G Suite for Education account for all students. We use G Suite for Education productivity tools from Google including Gmail, Sites, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawing and more used by tens of millions of students and teachers around the world. At Star of the Sea, we have been using G Suite for Education for the last 6 years for students to complete homework, daily learning and teaching tasks, assignments, research, communicate with their teachers and peers, collaborate with students on group tasks, sign into iPads, Laptops, Desktops, Chromebooks and learn 21st century digital citizenship skills. Due to the Child Safe Standards, we are required to share this information with our families. This link Click here provides answers to common questions about what Google can and can’t do with your child’s personal information, including:

• What personal information does Google collect?

• How does Google use this information?

• Will Google disclose my child’s personal information?

• Does Google use student personal information for users in K-12 schools to target advertising?

• Can my child share information with others using the G Suite for Education account?

Please read it carefully and let us know if you have any questions. If you have concerns over the use of G Suite and your child’s Google account, please speak with the office to arrange a meeting with School Principal Kerryn Sells and/or Wellbeing Leader and Deputy Principal Paul Anderson or myself as Technologies Leader.

Thank you, 

Andrew Rayson

Technologies School Leader

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes.

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership.  All are a part of a healthy curriculum.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

 The annual CSEF amount per student is:

• $150 for primary school students

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should Click here for CSEF Application Form  or contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form. 

If you applied for CSEF  last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• new student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools this year.
• changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about CSEF visit:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx

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

Essential to the care of the school grounds, is the commitment from parents to join in with the organised working bees and mowing roster. 

The following dates are the proposed working bee dates for 2022. You are encouraged to committ to one or more of these dates. 

2022 Working Bees 10am - 12pm

Catholic Education Today 2020 Term 1.pdf

Term 1

Tuesday 28 January: Staff Return 

Wednesday 29 January - Friday 27 March

* Easter: Friday 10 April - Monday 13 April 

Term 2 

Tuesday 14 April - Friday 26 June 

Term 3

Monday 13 July - Friday 18 September

Term 4 

Monday 5 October - Thursday 17 December 

Term 1 Kelly Sports - After School Sports Program Prep - Year 4

Chess for Schools Program - Friday Lunchtimes

Term 1 Code Camp - After School Sports Program Year 2 - Year 6

Kardinia Aquatic Centre - Picnic by the pool