Newsletter - 31st January 2024
Upcoming Dates
7th-9th February: Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 on Camp at Anglesea
7th, 14th, 21st & 28th February: Foundation students rest day
13th February: Shrove Tuesday
14th February: Ash Wednesday & Beginning of the Year Liturgy, 9:00am; Foundation students rest day
20th February: School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development
21st February: Parent-Teacher-Child Conversations
23rd February, 1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd March: Swim & Gym Program at Ballarat Aquatic & Lifestyle Centre
11th March: Labour Day Public Holiday
23rd March: Clarkes Hill Community Fair
28th March: Last Day of Term 1; End of Term Assembly 1:30pm
29th March: Good Friday
31st March: Easter Sunday
15th April: Term 1 starts; School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development
16th April: Students return to commence Term 2
Principal's Message
Welcome to the 2024 school year at St Mary’s Clarkes Hill. I am so excited to be here and looking forward to the year ahead. Welcome back to everyone and a huge welcome to our new students and their families. I think I have met nearly everyone now and I thank you all for making me feel so welcome.
Welcome to our new students and their families:
Genevieve (Foundation);
Skylar (Foundation), Jess, Damien and Billie;
Leah (Year 6) and Lisa;
Emelia (Year 6) and Tracy.
I will be at school every day and will be teaching every Wednesday from 12 noon onwards and every Friday for the whole day. On some occasions, Louise and I will swap the Monday and Friday around as I will be away for Principal meetings in Weeks 4 and 8 each term.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Kind regards,
Clare
CONDOLENCES
Our thoughts and prayers are with Louise, her family and her dad, Noel, at this time. Louise’s mum Pat passed away peacefully last Tuesday. May Louise and her family find strength and comfort in the love and memories they shared with her mother. Louise will be on leave this Thursday and next Monday.
ASH WEDNESDAY / BEGINNING OF YEAR LITURGY
Ash Wednesday and our Beginning of Year Liturgy will be celebrated on Wednesday, 14th February at 9:00am. More details will follow but please keep the time and date free as we would love to have you there. All are welcome!
SCHOOL TIMES
8.30am | Supervision of students begins |
8.50am – 10.50am | Teaching Block |
10.50am -11.20am | Outside Play |
11.20am – 11.30am | Eat First Lunch |
11.30am – 1.30pm | Teaching Block |
1.30pm – 1.40pm | Eat Second Lunch |
1.40pm – 2.20pm | Outside Play |
2.20pm – 3.20pm | Teaching Block |
3.20pm | Hometime |
PARENT/TEACHER/CHILD CONVERSATIONS
Once PAM and SIMON are up and running you will be able to book in a time with your child’s teacher/s. The purpose of the conversations is to discuss how the children have settled into school, any concerns, what we need to know to help your child learn best and to chat about any assessments that may have been completed.
CAMP
Next week our Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students will be attending camp at Araluen, Anglesea. Staff attending camp will be Jenny, Sue and Clare. Once again we will be attending with St Michael’s, Daylesford. Permission forms have gone out on PAM yesterday. Thanks to those who have already filled them in and if you haven’t, could you please do so ASAP.
Here is the link to the Araluen Camp website if you would like to have a look.
https://www.araluencamp.com.au/
SWIM AND GYM
Our Swim and Gym classes will begin on Friday, 23rd February and continue every Friday until the end of term. More details of specific times will be available when the permission forms are sent out.
PLAYGROUP
St Mary’s Playgroup will be recommencing on Tuesday, 13th February. Flyers will be distributed and it will be on our Facebook page soon.
STAFFING
Kelly is currently away on leave. We are lucky enough to have both Sarah Matthews and Lyndal O’Keefe in while Kelly is away. Sue will be attending camp next week in place of Kelly.
Louise will work next Friday, 9th February instead of Clare as Clare will be at camp.
Claire Hay will work full days in the office Monday and Tuesday and until 12 noon every Wednesday. Majella Muller will be in the office on Thursday and Friday as usual.
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY
Tuesday, 20th February will be a school closure day. The St Mary's staff will be working with staff from other schools in the Diocese to learn more about Structured Literacy.
HATS/SUNSCREEN
Just a reminder that hats need to be worn outside every day in Term 1. We encourage children to apply sunscreen at home before school. Sunscreen is also available at school.
SEESAW
Staff will be using the SeeSaw app as a way to share the children’s learning with families. Logon details for families will be distributed soon. These logons can also be shared with the wider family members, e.g. grandparents. This can provide a discussion point between you and your child and we encourage family members to make comments on their children’s work. If a message is sent out we would really appreciate it if you read it in the app (not just on the email) as staff are notified who has seen the message. If you have any questions, or you haven’t used SeeSaw before we can help you.
PHONE LINE
Our phone line is still down. Telstra have been contacted and hopefully this will be fixed soon. In the meantime, if you need to contact the school, please call the mobile 0491 734 779.
Start of School 2024
