Filter Content
Advent Plenery Prayer
Be still,
Be still and know,
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I am your God.
God of this Advent time
As we watch, wait, long and hope,
Awaken our hearts to your presence
Encourage us in our efforts to listen humbly to each other
Inspire in us the words to speak boldy with each other
Create within us a spirit of discernment
Give us hopeful hearts as we continue our journey to the
Plenery Council.
We ask this in the name of Emmanuel-God-with-us.
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
The key word for preparing ourselves for Christmas in the third week of Advent is Joy. This may be difficult at present for many families locally and more broadly. We are asked to stop to remember and look forward to the joy that is to come, when we celebrate the feast of Christmas. We rejoice that God is always with us, a rejoicing that is deeper and more constant than the sometimes fleeting emotion of joy.
In amongst this joy is Hope. We pray for those particularly suffering in any way that they may always have Hope. Celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas time has brought Joy and Hope to many over time.
Here we are in our final school week of 2020. Wow- what a year it has been. This year has been like no other.
Words cannot express enough the gratitude, love and respect I have for our whole learning community. The extra challenges presented this year, further endorsed the strength of our community and how blessed we are, as we all worked together in Faith, Hope and Love. Our students, your children, have been incredible. We are so proud of the enormous resilience and grit they have shown as they continued their learning journey, whether it was onsite or remotely.
As a learning community we have been resilient, flexible and endeavoured to stay connected. It is wonderful that at this stage of 2020 we can feel a greater sense of Hope and Gratitude. I thank you all for the support you have shown, not only for your children this year but also Our Lady Star of the Sea staff and the broader community.
To our Year 6 children who are leaving, we could not be more proud of this class of 2020. You have continued a challenging year with hope, optimism, courage, humour, resilience and grit. We will always remember you with fondness and gratitude. We thank you for the time you have had at Our Lady Star of the Sea and the positive contributions you have made. Each and every one of you have shared your strengths over the years. We thank your parents for the enormous privilege and pleasure of facilitating your learning and allowing us the privilege of being an extension of your family.
Farewell and thank you to the following families: who have been a part of Our Lady Star of the Sea learning community and have their youngest child moving on the Year 7: Bermingham, Berriman, Bibby, Britt, Buttler, Casey, Dawson, Devine, Eales, Edwards, Fleet, Grant, Grogan, Harrington, Holmes, Honner, Howell, Johnstone, Kelly, King, Maier, McCosker, McGuane, Messina, Mills, Mitchell, Morgan, Muir, Paraska, Pitt, Rushton, Short, Standen, Teague, Wallbank, Warren, Whitaker, Wolter, Womersley.
Thank you for your positive contributions to Our Lady Star of the Sea and all the very best for the secondary school years ahead.
Farewell also to the following families who are moving on new locations and to other primary schools in 2021:Quayle, Mobbs, Murphy, Fanning, Jarman.
We wish you all the best in your new adventure.
We have two staff members leaving. Taliah Plumb is going off to have her second child due in February. Mikaylah Thomas, a Year 3 LSO, will be finishing off her teaching degree early next term and graduating. We wish Taliah and Mikaylah all the best with their next chapter.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff. Their passion, commitment and integrity is truly valued. The way they place the student at the centre of all learning is to be commended and the nurturing and care shown is greatly appreciated. I feel so blessed to work with such a wonderful team.
Victorian School Gardens Award : Please read the Sustainability news below with a link to Our Lady Star of the Sea winning 3 more amazing awards. Many thanks to all in our learning community who contribute to our school grounds and allow our students to learn outdoors.
St Vincent De Paul Fundraiser:
Many thanks to you all for your donations on Friday for casual clothes day. $942.70 was raised and will go a long way to brightening a few families Christmas.
As the school year draws to a conclusion, may we all find something to celebrate, to be grateful for, to rejoice in. I warmly wish you and your families a very safe, happy and blessed Christmas and holiday period.
Stay well.
Kerryn
The end of the school year is here and I know it’s become a bit of a cliche, but what a school year it has been. Yes, it has been challenging and most of us have had many of our plans for 2020 cancelled due COVID. Despite the many hardships that this year has delivered, it has also brought about some unique learning for our students.
2020 presented almost every child’s dream - not having to go to school. Like most dreams, the reality turned out to be a little different. For many students, the experience of ‘not going to school’ helped them learn new things about themselves as a learner and in particular how to be responsible and manage their learning. For some this highlighted the support they need to be successful as a learner. Children also learned what it's like to have their parents as their teachers and some discovered that their school teachers are not too bad afterall.
During this time students were challenged to work with other family members to complete physical tasks like chipping golf balls into cups after rebounding off two different surfaces, a collective effort to ride around Australia, reproduce famous works of art with items from around the home and families were asked to identify their “Dis Moments”. Students produced mini movies and clips about Australian animals or many other areas of learning. One student even sang about the days when she would be able to touch a door knob again.
But most importantly, 2020 helped students identify how important the social interactions with teachers and friends are in their schooling experience. Being isolated helped many students to value the simple things in their lives and be more grateful.
The challenge going forward is, how do we continue to help children to reflect more and value the day to day experiences so that students continue to savour these daily precious moments and cultivate the gift of gratitude.
Finally, I have included links to two documents with tips and ideas regarding Mental Health during the school holidays. One document has been written for parents and the other is aimed at students in senior primary school. The Parent guide is definitely worth a read.
FOR PARENTS AND CARERS Wellbeing support for students over school holidays
FOR STUDENTS Wellbeing support over the school holidays
Wishing all families a safe and merry Christmas. Enjoy the special time with your families over the holidays.
Looking forward to 2021!
Regards
Paul Anderson
Student Wellbeing Leader
Archbishop Peter Comensoli has written to our school community with a reflection on the year that has passed, and an introduction to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Ltd (MACS) and its role in governing and operating schools.
Central to the Archbishop’s reflection is our collaboration with parents over the last year and he looks forward to the continuation of this through the School Advisory Councils, which will establish MACS as a truly collaborative organisation.
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Please visit our website: www.holytrinityqueenscliff.
God bless,
Daniella, Helen & Fr Darien
Holy Trinity Catholic Parish
Essential to the care of the school grounds, is the commitment from parents to join in with the organised working bees.
Our first working bee for 2021 is
Monday 25 January 3 - 5pm
All parents are invited to the first Working Bee for 2021. Come along with rakes, wheelbarrows, brooms and enthusiasm.
General maintenance and tidy up of the school grounds will be undertaken in preparation for the beginning of the school year. If you have a pressure washer that you could bring, it could be used to clean paths. Parents with a Working at Heights qualification are needed to check and clean guttering and roof drainage.
Each year parent volunteers take a turn at mowing the school grounds, keeping them looking presentable and ensuring the children have a nice place to play. Engaging volunteers at Our Lady Star of the Sea school is integral to the experience for our students. It provides an important link to the community and the home. As not all parents are able to volunteer during the school day, the Mowing Roster is a way to support the school, meet other parents and build on the home - school connection.
Parents who volunteer are awarded House Points for their childrens' house colour, which are collated to go towards the Citizenship Award, presented at the end of each year to the House with the most points collected through participation in activities such as Working Bees, mowing, community events.
Families will receive a notification from Operoo to request volunteers for the Mowing Roster. Alternatively email secretary@staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au or phone the school office on 5255 4308.
Travis Sampson has been the Mowing Roster Co-ordinator in recent years. He will now move on from this role, hence a new co-ordinator is required. The role includes responsibilities such as creating the roster from the volunteer respondents and emailing it out, text reminders to volunteers, ensuring equipment has fuel, liaising with school office staff to schedule equipment maintenance. If you are interested in volunteering for this role please phone the school office on 52554308 or email secretary@staroceangrove.catholic.edu.au
All equipment is supplied and an induction session and welcome will be held at the beginning of 2021.
Principal: Kerryn Sells
Deputy Principal/Student Wellbeing Leader: Paul Anderson
Administration Staff: Sharon Lane, Kathleen Ingles and Bernadette Giblin
Technologies Leader: Andrew Rayson
Learning Diversity Leader:Kristen Leonard
Physical Education: Bree Zivic / Andrew Gibson
Music and Drama: Helen Stephensen
Music and Drama / Environmental Science/Sustainability: Sue Constable
Prep - Red Hub 1
Michelle Richards, Georgia Cowling, Nicole Maier, Clare Toomey. LST Kylene Gray
Year 1 - Red Hub 1
Alison Healy, Maddy Fenton, Alice McNamara LST Marnie Hallam
Year 2 - Yellow Hub
Jacinta Ryan, Blair Vredenbregt, Christine Lourie, Bonnie Evers. LST Natalie Skahill
Year 3 - Red Hub 3
Michael Coldwell, Melissa Garvey, Lib MacPherson/ Maree Croft. LST Sara De Jong
Year 4 - Blue Hub and then move to Purple Hub
Carly O'Neil, Ashlee Guiffrida, Matt Eales LST Bree Russell
Year 5 - Purple Hub and then one class will move to Orange Hub
Lizzie Conquit, Corey Gallagher, Lisa Grigg, Sharon Chirgwin LST Marianne Caddy/ Rachael Thomas (Fri)
Year 6 - Purple Hub and then move to Orange Hub
Brendan Casey, Trish French/ Andrew Gibson(Fri) , Rebecca Nancarrow
Staff Return: Wednesday 27 January
Term 1 Students return: Thursday 28 January - Thursday 1 April
Easter - Friday 2 April - Monday 5 April
Term 2 Monday 19 April - Friday 25 June
Term 3 Monday 12 July - Friday 17 September
Term 4 Monday 4 October - Thursday 16 December
