ST PETER S CATHOLIC PARISH PRIMARY SCHOOL 22nd June 2017 Week 10 To the St Peter s community, Being a Christian in this world, means being not only a disciple (a follower) but also an apostle (one sent forth). Jesus messages for the twelve apostles are also words for us. We are called to not fear but to proclaim the love of Christ with our lives. We are called to witness our Christian faith to all people by our acts of love, forgiveness, and self-giving. We are called to acknowledge Jesus before others, witnessing the joy that His love has brought to our lives and His desire to give mercy and love to all. Our walk with Christ can easily be stifled by our fears of what others think, the fear that we may be judged for believing. The real fear, however, is that we separate ourselves from relationship with God. Jesus tells us that we should not let fear control us because God loves us and counts us dear in his eyes. How we cooperate with God s love and grace is our choice. Discipleship and apostleship are not forced; we are given the grace of desire but must choose to live in Christ. We pray: Dear Lord, Thank you for your guidance in my life. Thank you that fear is decreasing and faith is increasing. Help me to remain faithful, Amen Faith in Jesus Christ makes us stronger. The early Christians were faced with many challenges that would certainly have caused anxiety and fear, their faith sustained them and enabled them to continue to live the Good News. The leaders of this early Church also knew the difficulties of following Jesus St Peter, the fisherman, the apostle, the one whose faith is sometimes wanting, the rock and the founder of our Church, was a complex man and very human in his attempts to follow Jesus example, he got so many things wrong but he never stopped trying to do what God wanted of him. Peter is the perfect role model for us as we strive to understand what God is calling us to do and work towards bringing about His kingdom. Next Thursday 29th June is the Feast of St Peter and St Paul, we will be celebrating Mass as a whole school community together at 10 am. I will not be with you when you celebrate our Feast Day next week, I am travelling to Rome to continue my own faith formation through participation in a sponsored study opportunity through Catholic Education Melbourne. This is an incredible opportunity for me personally and professionally and I will carry this community in my head, heart and hands when I experience the learning and experiences that have been planned. I am very much looking forward to our papal audience in St Peter s Square and celebrating Mass in the tomb of St Peter. During my time away, Mrs Julie Percy will fill the role of Acting Principal. Please keep me in your prayers; you will definitely all be in mine! Many of you will have passed our own school s image of St Peter at the entrance to the school office. This image was co-created with members of our community to symbolise the Peter that they understood. You will see many of the themes mentioned above represented in this image. Have a wonderful weekend, Kerry Miller Principal DATES TO REMEMBER Friday 23rd June - Prep Spirit Assembly Thursday 29th June - St Peter s Feast Day Mass @ 10 am Friday 30th June - End of Term 2 @ 3.25pm. Reports go home. Monday 17th July - First day of Term 3 School Closure Day- Friday 28th July Weekend Presentation Masses for students making their Sacraments. See Parish news sheet below for Mass times: 17th & 18th June 24th & 25th June 1st & 2nd July
EDUCATION IN FAITH Prep Sacramental News In Prep we have been learning about how families are a system. We made connections to Jesus' family and discovered that we are part of Jesus' family too. We become part of his family through the Sacrament of Baptism. The children have created pictures of baptism brought in photos of their own, and Eden and some of her friends created this amazing baptismal font in our learning space for us to share. Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Social Teaching (CST) principles are what makes us Catholic, it s what we hang our hats on! CST covers all spheres of life the economic, political, personal and spiritual. Subsidiarity and Participation Subsidiarity and Participation is about How can we contribute to a more just and fair world? All people have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Subsidiarity requires that decisions are made by the people closest and most affected by the issues and concerns of the community. Caritas Australia works with local communities to support, promote and develop their capacity in decision-making so they can better respond to their own needs. Subsidiarity and Participation focuses on the role of people in positions of power that they are to look after the good of all. St Peter s Day Thursday 29th June is St Peter and Paul s Feast Day. As a St Peter s community, we will be celebrating Mass together in the Galilee Space at 10 am, please join us! In order to ensure this Mass is in context and the students understand the purpose; the levels will be engaging in learning based around St Peter. Staff Professional Learning The focus for the staff meeting last night was the third meeting focused on preparing for the Sacramental Season in Term 3. In the level teams staff had really interesting dialogue that will enrich the learning and teaching of faith / life inquiry. Some of the dialogue was centred around: How will we provoke students thinking, spark imagination or curiosity? Which questions are most helpful in beginning to explore this unit with your students? Which perspectives are important to explore in this unit? What is an issue here? Why does this issue affect people? How does this issue appear in the media, youth culture and common sense of people? Sacramental Season Please view last weeks newsletter for all the dates relevant to the Sacramental Season for ALL students in Term 3. Just a reminder about the Presentation Mass: The students will be welcomed by the community and will introduce themselves by using the following script -
Hi I am (name). I am celebrating the Sacrament of (First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, Confirmation). I am feeling (happy, excited, nervous) because/about. (related to their feeling) Please pray for me on my journey. Emily de Kort. Director of Faith and Mission ebaker@stprepp.catholic.edu.au LEARNING & TEACHING Senior School News. Interschool sports results from round 9 against Epping Views team. Soccer Epping Views won 4 goals to our 2. Football won 69 points to 22. Netball A team won 9 goals to 2, netball B lost 0 to 8 goals. Volleyball girls lost 2-0 and the volleyball boys team won 2-0. This week is the last round for the winter interschool sports and is a home game, Netball and Volleyball played at St Peter school, soccer at the Meadowglen Reserve and football at Epping Reserve. Thank you to those parents that have supported the students. There will not be any interschool sport in term 3 but the summer sports will continue in term 4. Next Thursday a group of 16 senior students will be visiting St Monica s for a basketball tournament with St. Francis of Assisi. The children involved will be notified but the permission to walk over is covered by the slip returned at the beginning of the year. The students will be leaving at 9.15am and returning to St Peter s around 2.30pm. They will take their food for the day and a drink bottle and any necessary medication with them. Assessment and Reporting Cycle Key Messages Teachers are assessing student progress using a 5 point continuum of learning. An example of descriptors on this semester s reports... Parents will see at a glance how their child is progressing against the new Victorian Curriculum standards using curriculum descriptors with the where to next step in the learning cycle identified. Evidence of student learning in real time is communicated through the Storypark App and students sharing their learning through Student Led Learning Conversations. STEAM teachers will be using descriptors from their learning areas to report on student progress. There will be a summary page of Victorian Curriculum scores identifying 6 months growth rather than 12 months as in previous years. Therefore the dots will not indicate as much growth as in the past. Latest Update on Reporting and Assessment: Overviews indicating what the focus for learning has been in first semester are included for Religious Education, Inquiry Learning, Personal and Social Learning, and STEAM Learning. Student reports will be sent home on the last day of term- Friday 30 June. Shining Eyes- Learning at St Peter s This Week Our school radio in action! Prep investigations Bluearth skill development Proud of her multiplication strategies!
Julie Percy - Director of Learning & Teaching juliep@stprepp.catholic.edu.au SCHOOL COMMUNITY Year 6 Leaders engaging with the wider community Next week year 6 leadership teams will participate in the following visits to engage with the wider community: Wed 28th June. Spirit Leaders - visit to Future Superstars Early Learning Centre, 33 Cooper Street, Epping Thursday 29th June. Active Citizens - Green Gables Aged Care As these walks will be covered by the 2km walking permission form, no further permissions will be required. St Peter s Education Board meeting On Tuesday night, members of the St Peter s Education Board met for their monthly meeting. Participants explored Learning and Teaching at St Peter s while Frank Fabri shared information on the STEAM program. We then engaged in a community conversation to explore the purpose of homework as we continue to review the current homework policy. Many thanks to those who attended and engaged in the learning. Please feel free to contact Emma Canning if you would like further information on participating in the board. Teacher Feature: Name : Amanda Dean What is your role at St Peter s School? I am a STEAM Team teacher and I work with the Prep and Junior children on a Thursday. How long have you been working at St Peter s? I have been working at St. Peter s for 7 years. What do you love most about working at St Peter s? I love coming to work to see the children I taught in Grade Prep, who are now in Grade 6. I also love seeing the amazing ideas children have and the creations that children are making in the STEAM centre. What are some of your interests or hobbies? I love gardening in my veggie patch and working out in the garden. I enjoy baking cakes and going to pilates and yoga.
Emma Canning - Director of School Community ecanning@stprepp.catholic.edu.au STUDENT WELLBEING Junior School News In the Junior Space, we did a Circle Time activity that was called Doing things you enjoy. We have been asked to think of alternative play options for our lunch times and we came up with the learning intention; I am aware of what I enjoy doing at recess and lunch. We warmed up with a game of Fruit salad and we were all given a fruit (apples, pears, oranges). When the teacher called our fruit, we had to swap seats and when Fruit Salad was called everyone had to change seats. After that, we had a discussion question which was, "How do you know if you re enjoying your time on the yard?" We all had the right to pass and one person spoke at a time. We also followed the expectation of 'No Put Downs'. Once our discussion was over we reflected on what we would prefer to do as an alternative play option. Indoor Play Options As mentioned above and in last weeks newsletter we have been talking to the children about what they would like offered at lunchtimes as an inside option. We received a large array of different options which was fantastic. There were lots of different options that really showcase the different interests in our school. This term at lunchtimes we offered Walking Club, Mighty Muscles, Art Attack, Dance Squad and Green Thumbs. Next term we will be offering the following options. (these names are just to start with and we will get the children to come up with some more creative ones!) It might be an idea to have a conversation with your children if they have a particular interest in any of these areas. MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY Dance Club Active/Sports Club Glee Club Quiet Games Movie Club Week 10 Assembly We look forward to being part of the Prep Assembly on Friday. We can t wait to see and hear about all their learning. Jackie Fleischmann - Director of Student Wellbeing jfleischmann@stprepp.catholic.edu.au