Dear Parents and Carers,

Today’s prayer reflects on our recent celebration of Reconciliation Week and National Sorry Day. In light of recent events globally and our current climate, the words in the song by Xavier Rudd, an Old Collegian of St Joseph’s College, remind us that we all stand united as one, in the likeness and image of God, and pray for peace “in times like these.” Please take the time to listen to this beautiful and powerful song as part of our prayer

Sustainability awards:

It was with great excitement and pride we viewed the ResourceSmart Schools Awards (2020) and successfully won the Community Leadership School of the Year Award (Primary) and Curriculum Leadership School of the Year (Primary) for our work in 2019. There are many to acknowledge and thank for this amazing achievement including students, staff and parents. For all of you thank you for your wonderful efforts led by Sue Constable, Kellie Clark and Marianne Caddy as the Learning and Teaching Leader. It has taken many over the years to see us at the point we are in our sustainability practices embedded throughout the curriculum and community and this achievement is shared by many past and present including Rhonda Boyd our previous  Principal of which “Green House Boyd” is named after. Please click here to read the brochure announcing all winners and specifically acknowledging the work completed by Our Lady Star of the Sea to lead to this amazing achievement. When the awards are posted out including the certificates, trophies and $500 to go towards a sustainable action in our school we will present at an assembly. We also look forward to continuing to build on our great work including  through continued student voice with our Green Thumbs and Sustainability student action groups empowering all, through the curriculum Prep-6  and our  Earth Fest planning for 2021.

Year 3-6 return to onsite learning: It was wonderful to have all our Year 3-6 students back onsite today. A reminder that drop off and pick up times remain the same, with the end of the day seeing us sending students in Year 3-6, who are independent and  active travellers, from 3.20 pm with teachers on duty at each gate. We will then bring Year 2, Year 1 and Year Prep students to the gates as we have been doing and all students will be dismissed by 3.30 pm. Those that are still waiting to be collected will be supervised at each gate by staff until you arrive. Many thanks for your continued support with social distancing and supporting your children to enter the school independently while we continue to adhere to regulations.  

Camps and Swimming: There may be questions around what is happening with the camp and swimming program this year. We have been advised to wait and see and are making contact with the organisations to see what options we have. When we know more we will let you know.  If any camp or swimming program does not proceed we will either reimburse those who have paid your fees in full or, at your option, carry the balance over to next year's fees.

Mental Health:

We are acutely aware that some of our families including students who have siblings at secondary schools may be aware of recent, tragic teenage suicides throughout the Geelong region. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the students, staff and wider communities of Bellerine Secondary, St Joseph’s College and Geelong Grammar at this time of great sadness.

We are sharing with you communication from the CEO of headspace, Jason Trethowan, which was sent out to our Geelong secondary school principals, and their counterparts in the government and independent sectors, to share with parent communities. Please find the link in Paul Anderson's wellbeing message.

This letter to parents focuses on the recent suicides of young people in the Geelong community. It seeks to reassure, promote help seeking behaviours and highlight that youth suicide is not specific to any one school community. The letter also documents a range of actions being taken across education, health and government agencies to support the Geelong community.

As a parent of a son in Year 12 at St Josephs and Paul Anderson a parent of two sons in Year 11 and Year 9, we have seen first hand the support and care provided to students as they navigate this very difficult time. We wish to acknowledge the incredible work of St Josephs, Bellarine Secondary School, Geelong Grammar and all school leaders and staff across schools in the region at this difficult time.

The tragic loss of these young lives highlights the crucial role wellbeing plays within our schools. We were asked recently by a parent what we do to support student’s mental health at Our Lady Star of the Sea.  Wellbeing encompasses all dimensions of life within a Catholic school community. At Our Lady Star of the Sea School, Wellbeing is enacted through our school’s vision and mission and fostered through our explicit Social and Emotional Learning and teaching practices.  Wellbeing is brought to life through respectful relationships and a safe, nurturing  and inclusive environment that enables all to thrive. Positive relationships are very important to us as well as providing opportunities for increasing the sense of belonging and connectedness. We have a comprehensive well being strategy which includes Restorative Practices, Kidsmatter strategies (now called Be You)  and the Respectful Curriculum covering topics from Prep-6 such as coping skills, help seeking skills and social and emotional learning competencies. We have also recently undertaken Professional Learning as a whole staff in the Berry Street Education Model, which is purposefully designed to support the sequential development of students' physical, psychological, social and emotional capacities. and are trained in observing changes in behaviour of our students, anxiety or trauma for students and/ or concerning comments made by students whereby we would contact the parents and have a further conversation. Further to this, we have several staff trained in Mental Health First Aid, which teaches how to recognise the symptoms of different illnesses and mental health crises and how to offer and provide initial help. Our students are encouraged to be able to name on one hand 5 people they can talk to.

If you are ever concerned about your child’s wellbeing we ask that you speak with your classroom teacher and we have a referral pathway should they need to access Sarah Fraser a psychologist that works onsite 5 days a week and whose sessions are  medicare bulk billed.

Parish Priest Message for the 2019 Annual Report to the Community:

Fr Darien Sticklen is our wonderful Parish Priest. We are grateful for his faith leadership, his deep spitituality, his wisdom, the way he is always making authentic connections between faith and life, his compassion and actions for social justice and his support of our students and our entire learning community on all levels. Fr Darien has also embraced technology and provides mass online each Sunday along with the weekly bulletin and readings of the day. Please see below under the Religious Dimension tab for Parish News with last week's readings and mass link. We also thank Fr Darien for these beautiful words on our 2019 annual report which will be published early July.

At the centre of our learning community at Our Lady Star of the Sea is the well-being

of each child as a unique individual, but more than that, as a child of the God whom

we call Love.

There is a saying: ‘Work is love made visible,’ and the incredibly hard work that our

teachers and support staff undertake shows the enormous love and care they put

into their work. It’s not just a job, it’s a true calling.

Academic achievement is not the whole picture. This is evident in the ways our

students are taught to care for creation, to respect and care for one another, and to

contribute to the greater community. Through daily prayer and the sacraments, our

children are encouraged to dive below the surface to a deeper part of their being, to

find the power of God’s caring love that can sustain them through life.

Our many wonderful families also make a great contribution through the Parents and

Friends, the School Education Board and other ways.

The Mission Fete and the fantastic progress made this year on the major new

building project are just two of the many successes we can celebrate.

Words cannot express my admiration for Ms Kerryn Sells and her amazing team.

Congratulations on another successful year, and sincere thanks to all.

Wishing you peace for the fortnight ahead and stay well

Kerryn

SchoolTV report on transitioning to onsite learning

SchoolTV has developed another new resource for schools, SPECIAL REPORT: Coronavirus – The Transition Back. The CECV acknowledges the generosity of SchoolTV in enabling distribution of this latest instalment from Dr Michael Carr-Gregg to parent and school communities. 

Mental Health: This may be further helpful information from what Kerryn has mentioned in the Principal Message and of interest for parents supporting their children at this time. Catholic Education Melbourne has shared this out to all schools from Headspace - Letter to Geelong Parents. 

On Friday 13 Reasons Why - Season 4  was launched on Netflix. You may recall from previous series that 13 Reasons Why is a fictional drama series that tackles tough real-life issues, including suicide, experienced by teens and young people.  Due to the global impact and difficult themes, Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation is encournaging young people and their parents to be safe and informed before making decisions about watching the next season of the show. To assist with this, Headspace has created resources to support and equip young people and parents to have constructive conversations about the themes depicted in 13 Reasons Why show. Headspace - Safe and Informative Resources

Term 2 Week 9 2020 - Green Hub News 

Term 2 Week 9 2020 - Red Hub News

You are able to access your child's report on Friday 14 June by 4pm via PAM (Parent Access Module login).

Please click the link here: http://pam.staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au . This will take you to the PAM login page. Your username is the email address you have provided to school. Once logged in, to access your child’s report, click on the ‘Assessment Reports’ tab on the left hand side and download the current report to view. 

For new families please sign up now by clicking the link here: http://pam.staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au  This will take you to the PAM login page. Click on the 'Forgot Password?' link and follow the prompts. You will be asked to enter your email address, then you will need to access the link sent to your email address. You can then create a password and this, along with your email address will be your login to PAM.

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Please find attached our bulletin and prayers for this weekend, plus a brief report from our Parish Pastoral Council which we strongly encourage you to read.

As always, you are welcome to join us for live streaming of our Mass at 11:00am Sunday via this link:

https://www.facebook.com/Holy-Trinity-Queenscliff-105514061120399/  – or you can join in at a later time, if you wish.

We wish you a bless celebration of our Parish feast with Holy Trinity Sunday.

God bless,

Daniella, Deb and Fr Darien

Bellarine Uniforms has re opened its retail store.

Monday - Friday: 10am - 5pm

Sat: 9am - 12pm

Online and email orders also welcome. 

162 Moorabool Street

Ph: 5221 9199

bellarine@noone.com.au 

The continued safety of our staff and customers is of paramount importance and physical distancing measures will be in place.  Our retail staff will be working before and after trading hours to ensure extensive daily cleaning is conducted instore.  Any uniform garments which are unpackaged, tried on and then not taken, will be separated out from stock and not handled for 24 hours as an additional precaution against COVID-19.  We do not have fitting ranges which are used for  ‘try on’ purposes.

As you can appreciate, we are required to limit the total number of people instore which includes staff and customers.   Winter back to school is a busy time and our online uniform service is available at www.noone.com.au,  where customers can choose either home delivery or  ‘click and collect’.  Given the reduced number of customers permitted in the store customers ordering “on line” will assist us in processing more orders efficiently.     

We appreciate your support and thank the school community for their patience during this challenging time.  Our staff continue to be committed in providing the best possible customer service during these extra ordinary times. 

Do you have a Centrelink Health care card (CRN), Centrelink pensioner concession or veterans affairs pensioner (Gold Card)?

The Camp, Sport and Excursion Fund - CSEF is a government funded payment to eligible families to help with school related camp, sport and excursion costs.

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card are eligible to apply. Payments of $125 per child are made directly to the school and are tied to the student.

For further information, eligibility criteria, and to access application forms click here.

Applications are due. A new application is required for 2020.

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

Let’s support school family businesses as we navigate the current COVID-19 situation.

Learey family 

Aus Gates & Fencing

Stephen Learey

0408 314 901

www.ausgatesfencing.com.au

Day family 

Todd Day Painting & Decorating

0405560389

Dreams Spa & Beauty Studio

0410434804

Preston family

Geelong Pest Control 

1300 147 378

www.geelongpest.com.au

Tanner/Brydges family

Beauty Therapy

www.flossystudio.com.au

Singh family

Pinch Salt & Float 

Salt Room and Infrared Sauna

5255 1939  

Kylie Taylor

MindfulMess Decluttering

Facebook.com/MindfulMessAUS/

Tyers/Frisch family

Thermomix 

Ems Thermie Adventure 

0439 012 929

Giblin family

Eco Laundry Room

Market Place Shopping Centre

Ocean Grove

Facebook: Eco laundry room (ocean grove)

Instagram@ecolaundryroomoceangrove

Fraser family

Cheeky Cow Cafe

Ocean Throughway, Ocean Grove

5255 1677

Sally Williams

Iamsali design 

Branding and logo design

www.iamsali.com.au

Instagram @iamsalidesign

Simons family

The Driftwood Cafe

64D The Terrace, Ocean Grove 

thedriftwoodcafe.com.au

5255 1832


Casamento family

Health and fitness by Zoom, Skype, Facebook

0438 834003

Mitchell/Leonard family

Enjoy Bob Evans' music

https://www.bobevans.com.au/store

Laidler family

Ocean Grove & Leopold Osteopathy & Sports Health

OG Clinic: 5255 5040

Leopold Clinic: 4202 0446 

Flowers by M.E.L

Contact: 0410 341 491

Instagram @flowersbymel

Facebook: Flowers by M.E.L

Email: melsie30@hotmail.com

Coronavirus - A Book for Children