ST MARTIN DE PORRES SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

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1 ST MARTIN DE PORRES SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Term 1 Week 7 15th March 2018 COMING EVENTS: Tuesday 20th March School Banking Registrations am Board Meeting 7.00pm Wednesday 21st March Whole School Community Prayer 9.00am hosts 2EC Friday 23rd March Pos Ed Day Wednesday 28th March Sports Day Thursday 29th March 12.30pm finish Friday 30th March Good Friday - Public holiday Monday 2nd April Easter Monday - Public holiday Friday 6th April Assembly 2.40pm - hosts 5DM Friday 13th April School Concludes 3.20pm 1 Berrima Road Sheidow Park SA 5158 Phone: Fax: info@smdps.catholic.edu.au Martin-de-Porres-School-Sheidow- Park/ We acknowledge that St Martin de Porres School is built on the land of the Kaurna People FROM THE PRINCIPAL Dear Parents, I have never done this before. That is.. get political in the lead up to an election. I have received a flyer this week which comes from the Catholic Education Office. It displays the promises of all the Parties. Please read this (also available to view on Skoolbag) in the discernment of your vote. Here are some other facts : South Australian Catholic Schools have had the highest school fees in Australia for the last ten years. Why? The current government refused to honour a 2010 election commitment to provide capital funding for Catholic schools. Every other state government in Australia has. The current government won t let country school buses pick up Catholic school students. The current government has spent millions of dollars of tax payers money on the educational programs in state schools. Catholic schools receive none of these advantages even though it is tax payer s money. Our tax dollars also pay all state school utility payments. Our bill is currently $68, The state government promises every year 10 state school student a laptop. Nothing for Catholic schools. All State school children receive a free week s swimming program. We pay $60 per head. If you are talking to a politician, please seek their commitment to Catholic Education. My personal belief is that it is time for a change because we can t do it any harder. At last week s Marion Council Development meeting, I represented St Martins and we were successful in our building application. We will be going to tender in a couple of weeks and I am hopeful of selecting a builder during the school holidays. Please see the latest walk through of the building on our Website. The term professional development appears a lot in education speak. It refers to what the profession of teaching has as a basic premise - that teachers and school staff will continue to develop themselves across many learning areas. These learning areas will vary from year to year and after yearly reviews of a school s progress.

2 Page 2 FROM THE PRINCIPAL CONTD. The St Martin de Porres School Strategic Plan for 2018 has 4 main priorities : 1. Capital development Yr 5/6 Classrooms and the outside environment. 2. Positive Education. 3. Visible Learning and the Visible Child. 4. SMDPS in the local community. If each of these priorities is to be successful then I need buy in by our community. This happens best when community members are engaged in the learning and with understanding and perspective on the strategic thinking behind the priorities. The process for this often means that school staff are off site or working out of their office and or classroom. This term and in the rest of this year the staff will be involved in the following Professional Development : IT design for the new Year 5/6 classrooms and studio. Visible Learning Two days with the Corwin Institute. Reggio Emilia thinking and learning. Spelling, writing, grammar online courses. Positive Education. Quicksmart Maths Last Friday we completed the first day of a three year learning project called Visible Learning. We participated with three other Catholic schools in our region. This is a strategic project for all schools, Reception to Year 12, in the South West of Adelaide. What this means for your children is the development of a common teaching language that will be used by all teachers in the children s R-12 pathway. The next learning day (Pupil Free Day) for all teachers and leaders in our Region is on Friday 6 th July (last day Term 2). In the last week of this term Ben Catalano and myself will participate in the Positive Education Program conference in Geelong. I will also be on Retreat in week 10. To support our significant investment in Professional Learning and the work of Ben and myself, it is with great pleasure that I announce our school leadership team for 2018 Ms Erin Coppins, Mr Dennis McEvoy, Mrs Sarah Burns, Ms Christine Houareau and Mrs Rosie Beal. They will all be involved in significant curriculum development this year as we strive for academic excellence. I finish this week with a lovely story from a mum who was watching her son play basketball. The yr2/3 Basketball team, showed amazing sportsmanship tonight in their game. Our team was winning so the kids got around the players that are new to the experience of playing basketball. They kept getting the ball down our end so that the 2 kids, that have never scored got a goal, and that took quite a few goes so they could. It was amazing to watch their team spirit and the way they treated the other team was just beautiful. A great story that shows how our children are flourishing. God Bless, Craig PS Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

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9 Page 9 APRIM NEWS: LENTEN REFLECTION Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. John A key focus during Lent is prayer, almsgiving (caring for those in need) and fasting. Lent can be a powerful time of prayerful reflection. St Augustine, described fasting and almsgiving as the two wings of prayer because they are signs of humility and charity. Pope Francis says: Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the style of the Good Samaritan, who bent down to his brother in need and took care of him An Invitation to Prayer What opportunities do I have to draw nearer to God in love as Holy Week and Easter approaches? When and where do I most deeply experience the special bond of God s love for me and for our world? How am I making the needs of others in the world my own needs? PROJECT COMPASSION and POS ED SMDPS This Friday the Year 5 students from 9 Schools of the South-West will be participating in the Project Compassion Fun Run starting from Marymount Campus. It is a great opportunity for the students to come together in a fun way while raising awareness and money for Caritas Australia. Next Friday while the Year 5 s are on camp, we will be holding our first POS ED Day for The day will focus learning on being Positivity Detectives. It is a program written by Dr Lea Waters, the Author of the Strength Switch. Children will be engaged in activities throughout the day that are designed to support them in finding the positives in their lives an active strategy to help build resilience in children. Importantly, the day will start with our school s version of the Project Compassion Fun Run we are asking ALL MONEYBOXES TO BE RETURNED BY EASTER! POSITIVE EDUCATION PARENT WORKSHOP Last night we held our first Parent POS ED Workshop, with over 20 parents attending, the night was a great opportunity for learning, sharing and a few laughs as well. If you weren t able to attend but would like to know more information about Positive Education at SMDPS, please feel free to contact me through the Front Office. EASTER LITURGIES This year, Dylan our Youth Minister is working with students and classroom teachers to create a video of the Holy Week story. Instead of gathering each day during Holy Week, we will gather once on Holy Thursday at 11:30am in the Church for a liturgy that will include watching the video made by our students. After returning from the Easter Long Weekend, we will re-gather in the Church on Tuesday at 11:30am to finish the Easter story with the Resurrection. It would be lovely to have as much family at these liturgies as possible. God Bless Ben Catalano Assistant Principal

10 Page 10 ROAD SAFETY FOR HEALTH NEWS: ITALIAN DAY NEWS: Italian Day MILLE GRAZIE!!! Mamma Mia!! What an amazing day! Last week the Year 2 children were focusing on Road Safety for Health. We were very lucky to have the help of Caroline from Christies Beach Police Station who taught us and gave us lots of helpful resources for our learning. Thank you Caroline! Caroline said you have to wear bright colours so the cars can see you - Nathalie You look right, then left, then right again because the first time you look there might be other cars that weren't there before - Dante You have to wear your seatbelt properly or it won't help to protect you - Milly I would just like to thank the whole school community for once again coming together in such a festive day of fun and learning. An event such as this would not be possible without the help and support of the Parents and Friends Committee and the amazing volunteers giving up their time, the generous and much appreciated donations from families, staff support and organisation, and last but not least by far the enthusiasm and preparations from the SMDPS students. Mille Grazie a tutti! Signora Valente

11 Page 11 UNIFORM SHOP NEWS: UNIFORM SHOP OPENING HOURS FOR WINTER UNIFORM The Uniform Shop will be open to purchase winter uniform from Monday, 19 March until Thursday, 22 March from 3.15pm-4.00pm. If you know your child's size, it is strongly recommended that you place your order through QKR or front office to avoid a long queue at the uniform shop. For those reception students requiring winter uniform it is suggested that for girls you order same size as the summer dress and for boys you order same size as short sleeve shirt, most boys for trousers will be a size 6 unless they are really tiny. Only garments with tags left on them can be returned. For hygienic reasons we cannot exchange socks or tights. QKR and front office orders will be filled twice weekly. Should you require an appointment outside these times please me at lgallagher@smdps.catholic.edu.au to organise a suitable time. CHANGE OVER OF UNIFORM The summer uniform change over period is two week lead in period at the end of Term 1 and beginning of Term 2. From beginning of week 3 Term 2 all students should be in winter uniform. PARISH NEWS: The beginning of 2018 has started well. Some changes have happened in the personnel of the Parish. Clare Thewlis is Pastoral Associate working 4 hours per week and Sue Wigg, parishioner of St Martin s has commenced as a Pastoral Support Worker and Sue is working 8 hours per week. You will see Sue at either the 6pm Mass or 9.15am Mass on the weekends. We felt that this was a better way of pastorally catering for the needs of the parishioners of St Martin de Porres Catholic Community. It was wonderful to see the children at the Ash Wednesday Mass on 14th February, which was the commencement of the season of Lent. If you go into the church you will see that the Cross has purple draped over it. Purples is used for two reasons. Firstly because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates the pain and suffering of the crucifixion an secondly because purple is the colour associated with royalty and celebrates Christ s resurrection and sovereignty. We are in the throes of getting our Sacramental Program started and soon families of children who have received their Reconciliation last year will be able to join the program to receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. These forms were sent to families last week. In the foyer of the church are sheets to be filled in if you are able to help out with any of our Easter ceremonies. It would be lovely to have families present for these wonderful celebrations of our faith. Kind regards Leanne Gallagher UNIFORM SHOP COORDINATOR God Bless Clare Thewlis & Sue Wigg

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13 Page 13 CANTEEN NEWS: COMMUNITY NEWS: Sports Day Wednesday, 28 March We are seeking volunteers for the Sports Day Canteen (the canteen will be situated on the oval). The Lions Club of Hallett Cove have very kindly volunteered to cook the BBQ but we need servers and helpers. Please note that no Police Clearance is required for this event. Please RSVP on Skoolbag eform. Thank you for your help Kylie Reidy Canteen Coordinator Wednesday, 21 March The Book Club orders are due back by Wednesday, 21 March. Please refer to the Skoolbag entry under the library heading for how to order details. Please note that late orders cannot be processed. Thank you Mrs G If your child is missing any items can you please check in the Lost Property tubs located outside the Music suites. Any items not collected by the end of term will be donated or thrown away. Please remember to clearly label all your child s belongings so that lost items can be returned. Thank you