Term 3 Week 2 Newsletter 2022

Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students of St Catherine’s,  

It has been a fantastic start to Term 3 and the children have settled quickly into the school routine. A warm welcome to our new Reception children who have joined the Reception OW class and their families. We look forward to getting to know you and helping you become confident and capable learners at our school. Also this term, 18 new children have joined our Bambini program which takes place on Friday mornings for students enrolled to start Reception in 2023 and it was wonderful to meet these children and their parents last Friday.  

Annually, we conduct a survey for students, staff and parents to collect information about how we are progressing as a school in relation to our Living, Leading, Learning framework. This information is then used to support our strategic planning into the coming year. A link to the parent survey was sent via Skoolbag to parents last week and I encourage you to take 5-10 minutes to complete this so that we have a thorough picture of what is valued and what we can work on improving into the future that supports young people to become thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires.

Covid-19 

Mask wearing is an effective way to reduce COVID-19 transmission and it is strongly encouraged for all staff and students (Year 3 and up) and particularly for adult visitors to the school. Please continue to wear a mask, particularly whilst indoors at the school and at events such as school Masses, Liturgies and Assemblies.  

SA Health only requires masks to be worn by students who are over 12 years of age if they are a household contact, however I encourage any students who are a household contact to wear a mask where possible at school. 

As always, please ensure that your child stays away from school and gets tested for COVID-19 if they are experiencing any symptoms, however mild.    

Young Environmental Leaders Program (YELP) & Wednesday Morning Family Gardening Group 

This week we hosted the Young Environmental Leaders Program (YELP) at St Catherine's. Thank you to Krystina Dawe and Jeremy Gramp from Green Adelaide for coordinating the day of learning. It was a great opportunity to share with so many other schools the great environmental work that happens at our school. We also started a Wednesday morning family gardening group focusing on some small gardening jobs around the school - many hands make light work! 

Semester 2 SRC and ECO representatives 

Congratulations to the students who have been nominated as their class representative for SRC and our ECO team. We gathered this week to hand out badges and discuss the semester ahead. Mrs Dawe and I look forward to meeting with these students fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons. 

Class               SRC                                ECO 
ROW            Maeve & Harry              Harriet & Ziggy 
R/1BD          Bodhi & Maddison         Tilly & Indi 
1/2F             Mitchell & Lina               Abel & Chloe 
1/2J              Ollie & Mary                  Arabella & Leo 
3/4KF           Aston & Grace              Charlie & Zara 
3/4LD           Harriet & Tom                Anton & Lachlan 
5K                Ivy & William                 Ruby & Cash 
6CD             Allegra & Lila                Hayley & Hamish 

75th Anniversary Event - St Catherine's Night of Music 

Come and join us on Saturday 17th September for an evening of food and entertainment to celebrate 75 years of Dominican education at St Catherine's school. The food by Indulgence Food Design is sure to get your taste buds tingling and the performing artists I know will get your toes tapping with a variety of music genres from local Hills artists: 

Alain Valodze & Mike Bevan - Fresh from the Adelaide Guitar festival 

Elizabeth Riley & Jamie Cock - Soprano and Year 1 mother sings with one of Adelaide's leading piano accompanists 

Vonda Last - Ngaanyatjarra singer and songwriter 

Shaker - Jazz duo performing Jazz, Modern & Pop 

Tickets are available on Qkr! Don't miss out.  

Enrolment for 2023 and 2024

We are currently accepting enrolments for 2023 and 2024. If you have a child that is due to start school next year or the year after and are yet to enroll them, please contact Cathy Fischle as soon as possible. cfischle@stcaths.catholic.edu.au

Term 3 Calendar

A calendar of events for the term was sent via Skoolbag last week. If for any reason you haven't received this, please contact Cathy Fischle (cfischle@stcaths.catholic.edu.au).  

Building Works 

Book Week  

We are looking forward to celebrating Book Week during Week 5 of this term. The theme for the CBCA 2022 Book Week is Dreaming With Eyes Open.  

Book Week is a time to celebrate and promote the joy that reading brings to the minds of children. 

During Book Week all classes will be involved in fun and engaging activities related to the shortlisted books for 2022. If any parents are interested in running a craft activity during lunch time please see Narelle Brine for more information.  

During Book Week we will hold a Book Swap so students can swap their books from home with their classmates. More information will be sent home in the next few weeks.  

On Friday of Week 5 students are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character. This is always a fun, creative and colourful way to end our week of celebrations!    

Mud Pies 

We have some enthusiastic chefs who are enjoying the mud kitchen at recess and lunch. We would like to replenish our used bits and pieces and are seeking donations of any old metal pots, pans and muffin trays that could be used to make some delicious muddy treats.  

Please drop your donations to Narelle Brine in R/1BD. 

LLL Survey 

You would have received a link to the Living, Learning, Leading survey for parents and caregivers via Skoolbag last week. The survey only takes about 3-5 minutes. The purpose of the survey is to find out the performance of St Catherine's School and gives parents and caregivers an opportunity to let school staff know how things are going for them and their children. St Catherine's values your feedback and will strive to respond to the information we receive. The scores are aggregated so there is complete anonymity, but we value your input.  

Narelle Brine and Corey Lewis 
R-2 & 3-6 Leaders of Learning: Curriculum and Assessment 

Dear Families,  

Welcome back to yet another exciting Term at St Catherine's School. I hope your break was relaxing and a rewarding time of connection as a family. Our students on a whole have certainly come back to school happy, keen to share their holiday experiences and enthusiastic to undertake a new term of learning.  

Action for Happiness Calendar - Altruistic August  

Kindness is the foundation for happiness. Yes, life can be hard and lots of us are struggling. But our small acts of everyday kindness can still make a big difference. 

The August calendar is full of actions to help us spread more happiness.  

To learn more about Altruistic August, you might like to watch the video HERE

I hope you will join me in spreading some happiness and practicing ways to manage our own wellbeing this August ❤   

Mission Australia Family Information Session  

Catholic Education South Australia has teamed up in a collaborative partnership with Mission Australia to provide Family Information Sessions about how Mission Australia could potentially support your family. The aim of the Information Session is to assist students and their families to gain access to and engage with relevant supports and services, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).  

Please see the attached flyer with the information for when Mission Australia will be visiting our school. As the Leader of Inclusive Education at St Catherine's, I will be at this session, along with Sue Willcock from Catholic Education South Australia who is our Education Advisor in Learning Diversity and Equity at St Catherine's School. I highly recommend that parents attend this session if you are curious about what supports might be out there for your child or if you would like to know more about the NDIS and Mission Australia. 

eSafety Parent Webinar 

The eSafety Commissioner is running a free parent webinar in August on three separate occasions. This months webinar is about Popular Apps such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube to help your children stay safe online. Please see the attached flyer and register via their website if you are interested. 

How and why should we improve our sleep?  

Getting enough sleep each night is super important for our young people, and ourselves! We know there are many benefits associated with a good night of sleep such as being able to learn and concentrate better at school, the ability to form and maintain better friendships with others and experience overall happiness. How can we help our children to have a better night's sleep? Here are a couple of little suggestions:  

• Set up a bedtime routine that is relaxing and consistent.  
• Where possible keep sleep and wake up times the same each day (try not to let children sleep in too long in the morning  - this includes the weekends).  
• Turn off electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime. 
• Keep your child's bedroom dark and quiet.  
• Make sure that children do enough physical activity (sports, running, playing, moving) throughout the day.  
• Teach some strategies such as deep breathing or imagining / thinking of nice things to help children off to sleep. It is important that we lie very still to go to sleep and we know this can be challenging for some children and they may need some support.  

Warm Regards,  

Kerry Cornelius 
Leader of Learning (R-6) – Wellbeing and Inclusion  

kcornelius@stcaths.catholic.edu.au