Newsletter Number th May 2017

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1 Newsletter Number th May 2017 No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. Mother s Day I hope that all of our mums, grandmas and special women within our community had a lovely day on Sunday. Our celebration for Mother s Day last Friday was beautiful and could not have occurred without the support of our wonderful P & F and Year Three/Four class reps. Thank you to everyone for all of their organisation and preparation for the morning tea and stall. Thank you also to Mary Brooks for preparing such a lovely Mass. St Benedict s Catholic Primary School Burwood 3 9 Central Avenue, Burwood St Benedict's Primary School Burwood stbenedictsburwood School Funding Update Last week, I attended a Principal and Parish Priest briefing with Father Dave where Stephen Elder, the Executive Director of Catholic Education, presented the current changes to the funding to Catholic schools that have been presented in the Federal budget. Information is being released to schools to assist families to understand the changes and also how we can be proactive in changing this decision. The following information has been released by Stephen Elder. Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of information in the media about the Turnbull Government s Quality Schools funding package and its impact on Catholic school fees. The package proposed by the Government is a 10-year funding model, which will see significant changes to how Catholic schools are funded in the future. Like the majority of Catholic schools, our school aims to be open and accessible to all families seeking a Catholic education. That means we aim to be affordable as well. One of the big impacts of the Turnbull Government s funding package is that Catholic school fees will have to rise.

2 This won t happen tomorrow, but over the next 10 years, cuts to school funding will mean fees will gradually increase. Catholic education leaders across Australia have been working hard to make sure the Government and the Opposition understand that our students will be disadvantaged by the funding model. Everything is being done to make sure the Turnbull Government s funding package does not become law. That s where our school community comes in. In coming weeks, please keep an eye out in the school newsletter for information about how you can add your voice to help prevent unreasonable fee increases. We need to step up. Unreasonable fee increases are only a possibility at this stage not a certainty. Parents in nearly 500 other Catholic schools in Victoria have also been asked to get ready and join the campaign. With your help, we can make sure our politicians in Canberra are listening to Catholic schools. Running Club Our Running Club is a runaway success with a large number of children across all year levels participating in these sessions each Tuesday and Friday mornings. Each child is encouraged to drop a coloured counter to match his/her house into a basket after each lap. These counters are counted each week and the current totals are: La Roche House 81 counters Clarke House 83 counters Burke House 65 counters Hall House 81 counters The counters from Tuesday s session will be added to Friday s collection and a running total will be published in next week s newsletter. School Pants We are introducing long pants into our school uniform for Winter. These blue pants would be worn with our yellow shirt or polo shirt and jumper or bomber jacket. Before an order is placed for these pants from our supplier, we would like to ask for expressions of interest. If you would be interested in ordering a pair of these pants for your daughter for $36, please send an to uniform@sbburwood.catholic.edu.au. The pants will be available in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. We will only place an order if a minimum number of expressions of interest are received. Year Three/Four Excursion It was wonderful to hear the excitement and buzz as our Year Three/Four students left on their excursion to Captain Cook s Cottage on Monday. Everyone had a wonderful time and this experience will support the children s inquiry into how and why life has changed and identify aspects of the past that remained the same. Walk to School This Friday, 19th May, is Walk Safely to School Day. All children are encouraged to walk or ride safely to school on Friday. Our Sport Leaders will be tallying the number of children who rode, walked or scooted to school. Each child will also receive a sticker for participating in this day. Voting for our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Posters Our children s posters for our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support acronym are on display in the hallway towards our junior school. Each student will vote with his/her class and teacher for the poster that captures the idea of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Safety and Support at St Benedict s. Parents and families are also invited to vote for their favourite poster before and after school by placing a coloured counter to match the poster paper our selected posters are mounted on. Voting will continue until Wednesday 24th May. Cross Country We wish all of the students who will be representing St Benedict s at the District Cross Country next week all the best. We know that you will be wonderful ambassadors for St Benedict s.

3 School Improvement Our Year Five/Six students have been enjoying creating vector drawings with Maryann Hamilton during Design and Digital Technologies sessions. The children are very skilled at taking a photo or illustration and creating their own version of it through Google Drawings. Our Year Three/Four children have also been learning about photography and how they can manipulate an image with the use of colour and accents. Last week in the newsletter, I mentioned that our school reports will look different to previous years with the inclusion of checklists for Mathematics and Personal and Social Learning. This year, we will also be reporting against the Victorian Curriculum. This curriculum was trialled last year and this year it is an expectation that all schools are using this to guide their teaching and reporting. Due to the change in the curriculum and some changes to the skills required at certain levels, there will be some discrepancies between previous reports and our reports mid year. Please feel free to contact your child s teacher if you have any concerns about any changes to the individual reporting of your child. Orange Sky Laundry Thank you to everyone for their generous donations of toiletries to support the work of Orange Sky Laundry and Showers. I have contacted the charity and invited Nic and Lucas or a representative to join us at an assembly to collect our donations and also to give a short presentation. My has been forwarded to their marketing department and I look forward to hearing from them soon. They are very impressed and thankful that we took this initiative and are willing to make a difference within our community. Meredith Bennett Principal

4 Education in Faith Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A Gospel: John 14:15-21 Gospel Reflection Although this week s gospel passage comes from the Last Supper discourse, it is the perfect reading for this time in the liturgical cycle. In next week s liturgy we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and the following week we celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. This week s reading is the perfect precursor to these coming weeks. Prior to this section of the Last Supper discourse, Jesus has told the disciples that he will be leaving them. He alludes to that fact again in this section but also spells out that he will ask the Father to send to the disciples another advocate (sometimes translated as paraclete or counsellor). By referring to the Spirit as another advocate or paraclete, Jesus names himself as having been an advocate. The Spirit is to continue the work that Jesus has begun in and with the disciples, standing as witness and strength for them to help them when the world turns against them. Jesus says to the disciples that In a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see me, because I live and you will live. Christian people believe that Christ continues to be present in the world even though he is no longer physically present. Jesus reference to the world is a reference to those who do not believe. It is only those who believe who continue to recognise and affirm his ongoing presence in the world. Whilst the Spirit, the advocate or paraclete, will act in the world to bring about the reign of God, it is in the hearts and minds of those who believe where the Spirit will act most strongly. From the perspective of The disciples The words of Jesus in this gospel passage were addressed to the disciples at the Last Supper. They had almost no inclination of what was about to befall them, nor the heart-wrenching loss that they would feel. Yet Jesus tried to prepare them and reassure them that they would not be abandoned by him. In the days after his death, the disciples struggled to remember these words and they were caught up by despair. Even once they had witnessed the Risen Lord, he told them that he would again be leaving them. They must have been so confused and afraid. Living the Gospel Live in love Throughout the gospel of John, we are reminded of the enduring relationship between Jesus and the Father. A number of times, Jesus announces that he and the Father are one. In today s passage, Jesus also says to the disciples that they can share in this relationship of love. When Jesus speaks about anyone who loves him, he speaks about anyone who lives by his message and seeks to be like him. Anyone who does that will share in the love that exists between the Father and the Son. That invitation is open for each of us today as well. Gospel Focus Paraclete The Greek word, parakletos, is translated into a number of different terms in English translations of the gospel. Its technical use was for a lawyer or attorney. However, its use in scripture is like the broader meaning of advocate that we use today: someone who stands up for another; someone who speaks up for another; someone who intercedes on behalf of another. An advocate is one who lends strength and support to someone who is disempowered. That is exactly what Jesus did for many people during his ministry and it is also what the Holy Spirit is sent to do. Greg Sunter Weekday Mass and Adoration Week Day & Date Mass Adoration School Events 6 Wed 24/05 1/2O Friday 26/05 5/6 classes 7 Wed 31/05 5/6SP Friday 2/06 3/4 classes 5/6 Excursion Immigration Museum 8 Wed 7/06 3/4C School Closure Day 9 Wed 14/06 3/4GL Friday 16/06 P/1/2 classes Confirmation Parent and Child Faith night 14/06/17, 7pm Confirmation Reflection Day 16/06, all day Ms Mary Brooks Religious Education Leader

5 Learning and Teaching Year Three/Four We had a wonderful excursion to Cook s Cottage this week. The children learnt a lot about the history of the First Fleet and settlement. They got to walk through the cottage and see the furniture and artefacts from that significant era. Some of the places they explored were the Scarred Tree, Dolphin Fountain, Model Tudor Village, Fairy Tree and Elm Tree Avenues. In Writing, the children will use this information and write journals from the viewpoint of people from the past. Last week the Year Three children participated in the NAPLAN Assessments. The results will be released in September. A special celebration of Mother s Day was enjoyed by everyone at Mass on Friday. Many thanks to the parents who organised the morning tea and the wonderful stall. Our new unit in Religion is titled, The Holy Spirit In Our Lives. The focus of the unit will be the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and we will examine how the Holy Spirit continues to be active in people s lives today. In Mathematics, we are commencing a unit on subtraction. We will be counting backwards from various starting points and will be revisiting the jump, compensation and split strategies taught over the last few weeks. Good luck to the children who have been chosen to represent St Benedict s Primary School in the District Cross Country on Tuesday 23rd of May. Kind regards, Sophie, Grace and Lorraine Year Five/Six Almost half way through the term and the children are working well. What a beautiful Mother s Day Mass last Friday! For those who were able to attend the morning tea we hope you felt very spoilt. A big thanks to the dads who helped in the kitchen and the mums who organised the shopping emporium for such fabulous presents. We hope you enjoyed the beautiful poems that were written with lots of love. With NAPLAN over for another year we can continue our learning. If you are free this Friday morning the children in Five/Six T will be presenting some of their history research at assembly. The permission slip for our trip to the Immigration Museum will be coming home this Friday. Congratulations to the students who applied and then were accepted to be part of the Social Justice Committee for The committee met this afternoon for their second session and are very focussed on exploring the issue of Children in Detention This was a topic that the students chose as an important social justice issue. Children were also invited to apply for the 10 places offered at the Whitehorse City Council Flag raising ceremony on Sorry Day, May 26th. The children have been selected and will be supervised by Sophie Campbell and Jan Gee. Please return the permission slips as soon as possible. The District Cross Country is on Tuesday May 23rd from 9:30am - 12:30pm at Nettleton Park. Congratulations to all the students who will be participating at this level, we hope the weather is fine for running. Please remember to send along the permission slip as the event will take place at Nettleton Park. Stay warm and well Deb, Mandy and Tanya

6 Diary Dates TERM TWO May 19 th Walk to School Day May 23 rd District Cross Country Year Three to Six May 25 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six May 26 th St. Benedict Poker Night 7:00pm in hall May 27th Instalment Four of Fees due June 1 st Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 2nd Year Five & Six Excursion to 8:45 3:15pm Immigration Museum June 7th School Wide Positive 9:00am 3:30pm, Catholic Leadership Centre Behaviour Support Professional Learning June 8 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 9 th Curriculum Day Students to not attend school June 12th Queen s Birthday Holiday June 13 th Footy Clinic Whole school June 14th Confirmation Faith Night 7:00pm 8:30pm, School Hall June 15 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 16th Confirmation Reflection Day 8:45am 3:15pm June 20 th Footy Clinic Whole school June 23rd Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass 9:00am June 25th Confirmation 2:00pm, Parish Church June 27 th Footy Clinic Whole school June 30 th Term Two Concludes 3:15pm TERM THREE July 11 th St Benedict s Day July 17 th Term Three Commences 8:45am July 18 th Hooptime Years Three/Four July 21 st St. Benedict s Day Celebration 9:00am & Mass July 27 th Italian Day August 2 nd First Eucharist Faith Night 7:00pm August 8 th St. Benedict s Athletics Years Three to Six Training August 11 th First Eucharist Reflection Day August 13 th First Eucharist 10:00am August 15 th Feast of the Assumption 9:00am Whole school Mass August 18 th Grandparents Day 9:00 to 11:00 am August 21 st Book Week August 28th Curriculum Day Students do not attend school September 1 st Father s Day Breakfast & Mass September 11 th Italian Poetry Competition September 14 th Art Expo 2:30pm September 15 th Art Expo Open Day 9:00am 3:00pm September 22 nd Term Three Concludes 3:15pm TERM FOUR October 9 th Term 4 Commences 8:45am October 13 th District Athletics October 24th Andrew Chin Concert October 31 st Prep 2018 Storytime 2:15 to 3:15pm November 6 th Report Writing Students do not attend school November 7 th Melbourne Cup Day Students do not attend school November 9 th Prep 2018 Parent Info Dinner 7:30pm to 9:30pm November 11 th Remembrance Day November 14 th St. Benedict s Sports Day November 16 th Prep 2018 Orientation November 23 rd Prep 2018 Orientation November 24 th Staff Planning Day Students do not attend school

7 FRIDAY MORNING ASSEMBLY Week Five May 19 Year 5/6T Week Six May 26 Year 1/2O Week Seven June 2 Year 3/4GL Week Eight June 9 Year 1/2B Week Nine June 16 Year 3/4C Week Ten June 23 Feast Sacred Heart Mass Week Eleven June 30 CHICKEN DUTY 20 th & 21 st May Mallios family 27 th & 28 th May Lyons family New volunteers are always welcome for weekends and school holidays. Please contact Lorraine Walker if you would like to be a volunteer. TUCKSHOP OPEN TOMORROW FRIDAY 19 th MAY Shift One Shift Two C. Lyons, A.Baccini, K.Sutherland, R.Cerveri C.Lyons, A.Baccini, J.Lau, G.Walton, K.Palma Tuckshop bags are available from the school office, $4 per pack. Please send correct money in an envelope marked with your eldest child s name and class. Reminder: Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications still open The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) initiative helps ensure all Victorian students can take part in school trips and sporting activities. CSEF payments to schools commenced at the beginning of March 2017, with further payment runs to occur during term two. Schools are able to accept and process CSEF application forms up until the end of Term 2 on Friday 30 June. If you have not submitted your application form yet there is still time. For more information about the CSEF including forms, payments and eligibility, see: Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) Social Justice Group Report The Social Justice Group have been meeting every fortnight to choose local/global issues they would like to address. The Group decided that children in detention would be the area to raise awareness of and then to take action. Aileen Y, Xavier B, Amina C, Jacinta L, Ai-Lana H, Majella H, Alesia T, Emma, Teagan H, Coco L and Noah C have broken up into teams. They are preparing to present a play at assembly, making posters to be placed in classrooms to raise awareness and writing letters to be sent to our local members of parliament. It is truly a privilege for me to work alongside such aspiring young leaders and I look forward to sharing this year s Social Justice Journey with them. Lorraine Walker National Sorry Day Flag Raising Ceremony Whitehorse City Council has invited eight students from our school to attend the National Sorry Day Flag Raising Ceremony on Friday 26th May from 2pm to 3pm at the Nangnak Garden in Nunawading. Our Year Three to Six students were invited to write a letter of interest to attend this event. Thank you to all the students who took the time to write excellent letters. The following students have been chosen to represent St. Benedict s at the Ceremony: Alannah F, Kelisha J, Coco L, Patrick H, Patrick P, Ai-Lana H, Mietta T and Jacinta L. Sophie Campbell and Jan Gee will accompany the children. We are looking forward to hearing about all their experiences.

8 School App - Change of Name You may have seen the name "FlexiBuzz" and noticed a change in logo when you visit your Tiqbiz app or desktop site. This is the result of the recent purchase of Tiqbiz by InLoop Pty Ltd, an Australian tech company with leading brands including Flexischools. We will be continuing to use the app to communicate with you and FlexiBuzz will retain all of the features that were available with Tiqbiz. To ensure you have the most up-to-date version of the app we would recommend running the app update as soon as possible. If you are using the desktop site, you will now go to web.flexibuzz.com. If you have not yet registered for this free app, download FlexiBuzz from your App or Play Store, search for St Benedict s Primary School, then select the classes (referred to as Boxes) relevant to you. If you have any problems please feel free to contact Maryann Hamilton (mhamilton@sbburwood.catholic.edu.au). Lost Could parents please check their children s items of clothing. We have a missing size 14 bomber jacket that is clearly named. Extend After School Care at St Benedict s School Recap Wow! What an amazing week we had at Extend aftercare. On Tuesday, we had a very special visitor. It was so much fun having our famous Gilbert the Gecko come to aftercare. There were lots of fun games, dances, and a performance with Gilbert that we all got to be a part of. We also got cool tattoos and stickers at the end of the session. Throughout the week we played games outside that we created ourselves, we made up dances and performances, made our own crazy critters out of pipe cleaners. We also made beautiful Mother s Day cards and love- heart chocolates, which most likely got eaten before they made it home to our mothers! Happy Mother s Day to all the Mothers out there! We hope you all got spoilt and had a special day with your loved ones. Thanks Alyssa, Team Leader What s on next week? Monday 22 May: Tuesday 23 May: Wednesday 24 May: Thursday 25 May: Friday 26 May: Science: rockets Craft:clay Cooking: vanilla cupcakes Science: bug watch Craft: blow paintings PARENT PORTAL: extend.com.au

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