Newsletter - 2nd April 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wadawurrung people.  It is a privilege to be standing on Wadawurrung country.  

We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.  We acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous Peoples from the past, present and future who contribute to this country in which we live.  

May Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians continue to work together to educate, unite and live in peace on this land we call home, Australia.

Upcoming Dates

4th April:  End of Term 1

18th April:  Good Friday

20th April:  Easter Sunday

21st April:  Easter Monday Public Holiday

22nd April:  Start of Term 2 - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development

23rd April:  Students return; Inform & Empower Parent Information Session, 7pm at Doug Lindsay Recreation Reserve, Creswick

24th April:  Lunch orders due in; 9am walk to Lone Pine, Clarkes Hill

25th April:  ANZAC Day Public Holiday; Ceremony at 8:00am, Bungaree

28th April:  Lunch orders delivered

Prayer

Messages from the Principal

RECONCILIATION 

Congratulations to William and Adelaide who received the sacrament of Reconciliation last Tuesday at St. Brigid's in Ballan. Thanks to Bryden and Ben for their support in their preparation at home. 

INFORM AND EMPOWER

If you could attend just one parent night this year, PLEASE make it this one! Every child is exposed to digital influences in ways we might not even realise, and being aware of these can make all the difference. With devices becoming an integral part of the daily lives of children, it's essential for us to stay ahead and ensure their safety and well-being.

There is no cost to attend, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Creswick Community Bank. We're urging all parents to join us for this vital event. It's that important! You can even bring a friend if you like.

Please register using this link Register for Inform and Empower Parent Session or scan the QR code below. I really look forward to seeing you there on Wednesday 23rd April.

FAREWELL FR MATT

As you may have heard, Fr Matt will be moving to Warrnambool after Easter.  Fr Matt's fortnightly visits have been greatly appreciated. As Fr Matt moves to Warrnambool, we wish him all the best. I am sure his work will continue to inspire and support the community there.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY PLAQUE?

As part of our ongoing commitment to reconciliation and respect for the Wadawurrung people, the Traditional Owners of our land, our office has recently installed a beautiful Acknowledgement of Country plaque. This plaque is not only a tribute to the rich cultural heritage of our region but also a symbol of our dedication to fostering inclusivity and understanding.

By displaying this plaque, we aim to create a welcoming environment that values diversity and promotes cultural awareness. It encourages us to reflect on our shared history and to work together towards a more inclusive future.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS

Congratulations to Abbey, William, Patrick and Adelaide on their outstanding performance in the recent cross-country event held at Russell Square. We are very proud of each of you for pushing your limits and achieving your goal of running 2km or 3km.

Keep up the fantastic work and we look forward to seeing your future achievements!

ASSEMBLY THIS FRIDAY 1PM

Everyone is invited to our end-of-term assembly this Friday at 1pm. The assembly is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together as a school community and celebrate the learning that has taken place this term.  Student Leaders will be presenting their Leadership Speeches at the assembly and will then be presented with their leadership badges. We look forward to seeing you there!

EARLY FINISH FOR END OF TERM

Just a reminder that school finishes on Friday after the assembly at 1.30pm. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, a very happy Easter and we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 23rd April. 

PARENTS AND FRIENDS EASTER RAFFLE

Thank you to Bryden for organising our Easter raffle and putting together the fantastic prizes. We are very grateful for the support from everyone in donating the prizes and selling tickets. We raised $454! This money will go towards purchasing a new sports shirt for each student.  More information about that next term!

Were you lucky enough to be one of the winners of the Easter Raffle? The raffles winners were:

• Ruby Miles (Prendergast)
• Jean Dodd
• Kath Scanlon
• Pat Prendergast
• Vanessa 
• Kaezia
• Gage Family
• David Ross (Prendergast)
• Vanessa
• Con Powell

SHARE YOUR STORY: WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

As we continue to build a strong and supportive community at our school, we would love to hear from you! We are inviting parents to share their experiences and testimonials about our school. Your stories can inspire others on our social media pages and website and help us celebrate our school.

Why Share Your Testimonial?

• Inspire Others: Your positive experiences can encourage new families to join our community.
• Celebrate Success: Share how our school has helped your child grow academically, socially, or personally.

If you have a story to tell, please email me at principal@smclarkeshill.catholic.edu.au or write it down and send it in to school. We look forward to hearing from you!

TERM 2 DATES

The first week back next term is a little different.

Monday 21st April - Easter Monday Public Holiday

Tuesday 22nd April - Staff Professional Development - no school

Wednesday 23rd April - First day back for students

Thursday 24th April - Second day back for students.  Walk to the Lone Pine on Clarkes Hill.

Friday 25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday.  Ceremony at Bungaree 8am

Friday 30th May - School closure day as staff gather for Professional Development in Literacy. 

WALK TO THE LONE PINE

On Thursday 24th April, staff and students will be continuing the tradition of walking up Clarkes Hill to the Lone Pine.  A permission form was sent out today on PAM.  Parents and community members are also invited to join us for the walk.  We will depart school at 9am and return by 11am.

ANZAC DAY

This year we will again be participating in the ANZAC Day ceremony at Bungaree, starting at 8 AM. This special event is open to everyone, and we encourage all members of our community to attend. Students will be invited to hand out bookmarks which will be made at school and one student will be invited to raise or lower the flag. Please let Clare know if you will be attending the ANZAC Day ceremony.

Dress Code for Students:
Students are kindly requested to wear their school uniforms as a sign of respect and unity during the ceremony.

We look forward to seeing you there!

God bless,

Clare

Happy Birthday!

We had two birthdays to celebrate at St Mary's last week:

A very happy 7th birthday to Genevieve who celebrated her special day on Tuesday, 25th March.  We hope you had a great day Genevieve!

The very next day, Wednesday, 25th March, was Emilia's turn to celebrate her birthday.  Happy birthday Emilia!  We are sure you enjoyed all the special things that come with birthdays.

News from the Banksia Room

Cross Country- Pat:

Last Thursday Abbey, William, Addy and I went to Russell Square to do Cross Country.  Addy raced first and did two laps. Each lap was 1 km. She struggled to do her last lap but she finished it. Then Will and I raced next. We were very excited but we realized  during the race that we should have trained more for it!  Finally Abbey raced and ran 3 laps which was 3km. She did an amazing job and almost got a fifth place ribbon.  We were all pretty tired when we got back to school.

PhOrMeS - Vanessa:

In Phormes we have been learning about the schwa sound. It is the most common sound in the English language. It is when any of the vowels makes an ‘uh’ sound. In the word teacher, the “e r” makes a schwa sound. It say uh not er.

Last week we were learning about ‘ti’ making the ‘sh’ sound like in eruption. The base word is erupt and the suffix is ‘ion’.  Every day we do a daily review, where we go over the learning that we’ve already done and also learn something new.

Fun in the playground - Ellie: 

Last week Kaezia and I used equipment from the shed to set up a home. We have been playing mums and dads. I am the mum in the game. Kaezia is 18 years old and I am 25 years old. We love using all the equipment to make lamps, coffee tables, plates, a couch and other things. Kaezia works as a babysitter and I work at home. Every morning I make her a hot chocolate or a coffee. I like being the mum. We set up a hot chocolate and coffee machine and called it The Ultra Coffee King Liva Machine.

Outdoor Maths Game - Kaezia:

Last week we we found a mat with numbers on it. We used it to play a maths game. We had to throw two bean bags onto numbers on the mat and quickly add up the 2 numbers in our head. Then we threw 3 and then 4 bean bags. It was really fun. We then played it on the snakes and ladders game. Adding the numbers up quickly in our head was a bit hard but still fun.  

Veggie Pods - Will:

Last week Pat, Hugh and I planted some radish, lettuce and bok choy in the veggie pods. We have tried our best to water them every day. We have been looking for worms to make a worm farm. We had to moisten the ground because the worms come out when it is wet.

Thumbs Up to Addy, Gen and Kaezia who took it upon themselves to spend their breaks last Friday cleaning and organising the sports shed. It was wonderful to hear them discussing and planning where things should go, and recognising a job needed doing. Well done girls!

From Our Budding Scientists

Skyler and Vanessa:  Last Friday we did another science experiment involving solids, liquids and gas. We had a bottle of Pepsi Max and added 2 Mentos to the bottle. The Mentos reacted with the gas in the Pepsi and it fizzed up out of the bottle. We then tried it with plain Pepsi.  The Pepsi Max erupted more than the plain Pepsi. We had to  step back so we did not get Pepsi on us. We had so much fun. 

Boston & Will:  It was fun when the Pepsi and Mentos combined and made it explode. It was very awesome. We had to do it on the oval because it made a big mess. After it exploded there was still a reaction going on. It looked like the Pepsi was boiling. Everyone wanted to drink it. Kelly took a video of it.

Ellie & Genevieve:  In week 9 we did STEAM. We had fun.

We all did a Mentos and Pepsi experiment. We tried the experiment with Pepsi Max and Pepsi. It exploded and it was so cool.   It was like a  volcano. We all freaked out.  Kelly was taking a video.                   

Gumnut Room News

Raising Boys

Rebecca Sparrow is an acclaimed writer, speaker, podcaster, and a passionate advocate for prioritising connection and belonging in an increasingly lonely world. Her dream is for every child and adult to feel a true sense of belonging. She recently shared the following on her page rebeccasparrow.com.

How we're raising our boys ...

A few days ago I said I would share what we're doing in our home, so this is it.

First, let me make something very clear. I'm not a parenting expert. I'm not being humble. I'm seriously NOT a parenting expert. Am I a bit of an expert on friendships? YES. But I'm not a parenting expert. I'm just like all of you -- in the trenches trying to raise my kids to be good people, to live a life that feels meaningful to them and to find wonderful friends.

If you're looking for parenting experts try Maggie Dent and Dr Justin Coulson and Dr Billy Garvey and Michelle Mitchell and Dr Vanessa Lapointe. NOT ME!

So keeping that in mind, I thought I'd share what we're doing with our beautiful boys (ages 11 and 13) in our bid to raise them to be great human beings!

What I realised earlier this year is the damage which would be done if my boys only ever heard how AWFUL boys and men are. And that's not a message I want them to be hearing. Brad and I don't want them to grow up feeling ashamed about being male.

So instead we're trying to fill their hearts and minds with amazing men doing great things. Possibly to the point of annoyance, I keep being a cheerleader for those boys and men who are making the world a better place.

 We listen to Hamish and Andy in the car because they are such a GREAT example of how to be funny without punching down. And HUMOUR is everything at their age. It's all about being able to make your mates laugh.

 We sit around watching Mark Rober videos (if you haven't watched his squirrell videos you're missing out)

 We learn to cook by watching Adam Liaw and Nat's What I Reckon (he's very sweary but is hilarious and has a heart of gold. I just tell my boys they can't be dropping f-bombs).

 I talk to them about the incredible work of Lucas and Nic from Orange Sky Laundry.

 We laugh with Sam Pang. We listen to Djo and talk about how nice Joe Keery seems. We're all huge fans of JLP from Survivor!

 If they want to know about making money -- I'm going to point them towards Scott Pape (Barefoot Investor) and Gary Vee.

 If they want to know about handling friendships (and they won't listen to me - eye roll) - I really like Jefferson Fisher (he is BRILLIANT).

 And frankly, you don't need Andrew Tate to show you how to get a date. You can learn all about rizz (is it cringe I said that?) from Tom Holland and Tony Armstrong (not sure they'd appreciate me saying that but they both have bucketloads of charm) and of course, Joel Creasy.

We rise to the levels expected of us and so we want our boys to see that the world is actually full of good guys. THEY are the majority.

️ We also try to connect them with great role models in real life. My boys don't have grandfathers or uncles around them. So aside from my husband (their dad), I help connect my boys with other great men whether that's a sporting coach, a maths tutor, their elder sister's male friends.

They see how these men operate in the world with humour and integrity.

️ We watched Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart series because I want my boys to be emotionally literate so they can name more emotions than sad, glad and mad. Being able to recognise what you're feeling is really important, I think.

️ And finally, they see how my husband moves through the world. He's not perfect (nor am I) but he models to them talking about his feelings, apologising when it's needed, respecting women, working hard and being a great friend to his mates.

️ What else? We watch plenty of tv shows with male AND female lead characters. I talk to them about sexism I've experienced in my life and the unfairness of that. We talk about double standards. And I've made it clear that the internet hates women and that a minority of men are very LOUD online when it comes to trolling women.

️ If we hear or see a sexist or racist or homophobic remark on tv -- we call it out.

️ I'm teaching my boys how to respond to moments when people say inappropriate comments (Dude, that's not funny.) And to "click away" if they come across porn.

️ And we are delaying smartphones and social media until they're probably 16. (And it goes without saying that there are no devices in bedrooms. EVER.)

Brad and I also both listen to Pop Culture Parenting with Dr Billy Garvey and his mate Nick. (I never thought I'd be able to get Brad to listen to a parenting podcast but Billy and Nick have been very clever and they use cool MOVIES like Terminator or Blade Runner or Alien or Thelma and Louise to demonstrate parenting techniques.)

And - last one -- we put a big focus on CHARACTER. That's what we try to celebrate the most in our household -- when any of our kids show leadership or integrity or kindness or empathy. I was particularly struck last week when Daniel Principe said that for every one compliment about their character boys probably hear about 250 insults/roasts from each other. So Brad and I want our boys to feel and hear us noticing them being good people.

Frankly, I feel like the internet is a dam wall I'm trying to plug with bandaids.

My boys are going to make mistakes. I increasingly feel like they're swimming in a swamp of misogyny when it comes to the internet.

So mistakes will be made by them. And us. But we're here to help them course correct.

Hopefully, that's going to be enough.
Rebecca Sparrow.

This month on SchoolTV - Cybersafety

Young people today are growing up in an increasingly connected world where technology is part of their everyday lives –– for learning, socialising, and entertainment. While the digital world offers enormous benefits, it also comes with serious risks. From cyberbullying and online predators to inappropriate content and screen time concerns, navigating the online environment can be challenging for young people and their families.

Cybersafety is not just about blocking access –– it's about empowering young people with the knowledge and skills they need to use technology responsibly and safely. This includes understanding privacy settings, recognising scams, and developing healthy digital habits. At the same time, it's important for parents and caregivers to stay informed, have open and judgement-free conversations with their children, and lead by example through positive online behaviour.

In today's digital age, safeguarding a child's wellbeing must also include protecting their online life. This edition of SchoolTV will help you better understand the digital landscape your child is navigating and offer practical strategies to help them stay safe, confident and in control online.

Here is the link to your Edition: https://smclarkeshill.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/cybersafety-au