2024 Week 4 Newsletter - Term 1

WEEKLY FOCUS - Busted Halo: Lent in 2 minutes

From the Principal - Some jobs for you this week

Dear Families

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us on Friday night for our P&F Welcome BBQ.  It was such a great opportunity to relax together and have a chat.  It was especially wonderful to see existing families reaching out to those who were new.  

We have a number of opportunities during the year to socialise such as our Morning Teas which take place after Class Assemblies.  Please keep looking out for one another and, if you are feeling lonely or disconnected, please reach out.

I look forward to joining with our school and Parish community tomorrow as we begin the Season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday ceremonies:
10am Prep to Year 3 – Liturgy of the Word
12pm Year 4 to 6 – Ash Wednesday Mass

Please join us if you can in beginning this opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth.

I also encourage you to watch this week's video message which gives a groovy (and quick) explanation of what Lent /Ash Wednesday is all about.

There are two very important jobs that we need your help with this week please.  Both involve you logging into Parent Lounge.

ICT CODE OF CONDUCT

We use a variety of Information and Communications Technologies to enhance the education and achievement of our students at Star of the Sea.

The use of ICT within our school should be safe, responsible, legal, appropriate and for educational purposes and should follow the guidelines outlined in the Code of Practice.  This ICT Code of Practice applies to the use of all school ICT for educational purposes, whether provided by the school or the student.

Our teachers have discussed this ICT Code of Practice with their students and our Year 3 to 6 students have electronically signed their understanding of these terms.

Parents must also read and electronically agree to this ICT Code of Practice after discussions with their child please. This can be achieved by logging onto Parent Lounge, reading the document and electronically indicating your acceptance.

We ask that this be completed by Monday 4th March please to ensure your child be allowed to continue using these school devices.

MEDIA PERMISSION

While you are logged into Parent Lounge we ask you also to review and update your child’s media permissions for each of your children.  We still have almost one quarter of our school who have not completed this task which has severely limited our ability to share our school story in pictures and will also have an impact on our (de-identified) data reporting which will affect our school results in a number of areas.

PARENT SURVEY

A reminder to fill in this super short survey to give us a few tips on how to help you best support your child's learning:  https://forms.gle/BEmdiSuf3ywu6ggy6

Have a wonderful week everyone!
God bless you.

Jennett Mullane
Principal
jennett_omullane@rok.catholic.edu.au

From Our APRE

Our Pancake morning this morning was a huge success.  If you are wondering what this Shrove Tuesday thing is all about – it is a Catholic tradition that dates way back.

The day preceding Ash Wednesday is popularly known as Shrove Tuesday. It is also frequently called Pancake Tuesday or Fat Tuesday.

But it is the name “Shrove” that shows its religious origins. Shrove is the past tense of the English verb “Shrive” which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of confession and by doing penance.

With Shrove Tuesday taking place before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, it was the day when Christians were encouraged to go to confession in preparation for the penitential season that would end 40 days and 40 nights later with Easter Sunday. Dating back to 1000 AD, over the years Shrove Tuesday not only became a day for Confession but a time for Catholics to feast on eggs, sugar and dairy which are traditionally restricted during the Lenten fast.

Not only was Shrove Tuesday a last chance to gorge on such foods but it was also a way to use them up before the fast began.

Taken from the Catholic Weekly

Thank you to our volunteers who helped us this morning with cooking and serving pancakes.  Our Year 6 students raised a total of $472 which will go towards our mission collection for Term One.  We will donate all money collected this term to Caritas – Project Compassion. This wonderful organisation works tirelessly to create a future for people by taking action and raising awareness about the challenges experienced by people living in poverty.

https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/

Reach out to someone you wouldn’t normally reach out to this week.

God Bless

Kellie Richardson

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

kellie_richardson@rok.catholic.edu.au

Ash Wednesday

ASH WEDNESDAY

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the day Catholics begin their Lenten journey.

All are welcome to join our school community for a Prayer celebration at 10am on our school courts area, or Mass in our Church at 12 noon.

In Our Prayers

From the APC

Story Dogs is a comprehensive literacy program built around the appealing idea of children reading to dogs and their volunteer handlers in a quiet area of the school grounds. 

We have been very lucky for quite a few years to have Bonnie bring her beautiful dog Gracie into school to be read to.  Unfortunately Gracie’s life came to an end over the Christmas  holidays.    From the moment Gracie was on our school grounds, she made a difference.   No one could walk past her without giving her a pat or a cuddle.  She used to spread joy everywhere she went.  

Bonnie must miss her terribly and we all will too.  We thank Bonnie for volunteering her time to support the children in our school in such a unique way.

Anthony King

Assistant to the Principal - Curriculum 

anthony_king@rok.catholic.edu.au

Board Information Session

Don’t forget our rescheduled Board Information Session which takes place next Tuesday 20th February at 5:15pm in the Staffroom.  It should only take half an hour and is a great chance to find out about the work of the Board and whether this is a fit for you.   Please also feel free to talk to myself or our Board Chair, Marty Ross, with any queries you may have.

Cross Country 2024

Cross Country this year will be held on site at Star of the Sea. The course will be a mix of terrain, with some gentle inclines to add to the fun. Cross Country will be held in Week 10 on Tuesday 26^th March.

As always, we will be asking for parent help, so if you will be available to help on the morning, please send Mrs Hooley an email (kim_hooley@rok.catholic.edu.au). With the event being held at school, training and walk throughs of the course will occur in PE, so students will be very familiar with the course.

In preparation for the Cross Country, Mrs Hooley has started a fitness club on Tuesday mornings, which commences at 7:50am in the top shed. Students will need to wear comfortable clothing – that isn’t their uniform, and comfortable running shoes (these can be school shoes if they are suitable).  Please remind students to bring their school uniform to change into following training.  This training will be available from students in Year 3 – 6 and will focus on building running stamina.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Hooley at the email above.

2024 Caulfield Team

Caulfield is the long standing, successful annual P&F fundraising event for Star of the Sea that the Caulfield Committee takes pride in organising on behalf of our Parents and Friends Association. There are many different ways that you can come on board - big and small, and we’d love your support of this event! 

If you would like to join the organising committee for 2024 or find out how you could help support the event this year, we will be having our first meeting at Kirkwood McDonalds on Sunday, 3 March 2024 at 3pm. 

Cngratulations Mrs Melrose

Our school is fortunate to have a strong representation in the wider community sporting calendar of events.  This participation in these events is only made possible through the generous volunteering of our school staff who spend many hours planning and preparing paperwork, training, coaching and supervising. 

It was therefore a wonderful treat to be able to present a special award to Mrs Catherine Melrose for her generous support of Capricornia level Swimming in the region.  Congratulations Mrs Melrose.  We are very grateful for all you do!

Notification of council works in Apex Park

IMPORTANT: Please Update Your Media/ Information Sharing Details

Dear Parents

We are asking your assistance in updating media/information sharing consent for your child/ren.  Our system has been updated with more options that give us clarity with the myriad different ways your child's details can possibly be used.  

This is important information that affects our ability to collect data and obtain funding for our students.

This is a very quick task completed through Parent Lounge and below are some instructions to guide you with this task.  You will need to complete this task for each child you have at Star of the Sea please.

We appreciate your help in ensuring we have the correct information for your child/ren.

Position Vacant - Parish Administration Officer

Applications are invited for a part-time (20 hours a week) role providing assistance to the Parish Priest in the administrative tasks of the parish.

A copy of the full position description and instructions for applying can be obtained by contacting the parish office (sosgladstone@rok.catholic.net.au or 49721025).

Applications should be submitted no later than 16^th February 2024.

Student Absentee Line

If your child is not attending school, you can call us, 24/7, to leave a message to report the absence. The  phone number is 4994 8301.  

This designated phone line gives you the opportunity to call the school at a time that is convenient to you.

As always, absences can be reported using Parent Lounge or by emailing your child’s classroom teacher  and                                                                                                                SOSG_Absentee@rok.catholic.edu.au).

St Joseph's Cathedral Appeal

Caulfield 2023 Sponsors