St Matthew’s Primary School


WEEK TEN
Thursday 4 July	Dance Classes School Community Council Fundraising Disco
Friday 5 July	Awards Presentation: this will commence after 8.50am Morning Assembly with Kindergarten singing a song Science Fair - 2.00pm for visitors in the Hall Flexischools Lunch https://user.flexischools.com.au/login?returnUrl=%2Fhome Last day of Term
WEEK ONE TERM THREE	NAIDOC WEEK
Monday 22 July	Staff Professional Development Day CPI Safety Intervention Training
Tuesday 23 July	Students resume Ranger Jamie visit this week
Thursday 25 July	NAIDOC Week Prayer Celebration
Friday 26 July	NAIDOC Week Mass at the Cathedral - Year 6 attending Uniform Shop Open 2.45 pm Flexischools Lunch https://user.flexischools.com.au/login?returnUrl=%2Fhome

Semester Two Staffing

Next Semester, we welcome Louisa Mitchell back to St Matthew's. Louisa will resume her REC position and provide teacher release for Mrs Rachel Powell to fulfil her Curriculum Coordinator role.

At the end of this term, we thank Sophie Murdock for acting as REC. Sophie has worked very hard and done a fantastic job.

I thank Mrs Lisa Donaldson and Mr Sam Crutcher for providing leadership teacher release for Year 5M and Year 5B. Both Sam and Lisa's teaching load will change in Semester Two.

Recent Events

Parent Teacher Conferences

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Semester One Parent-Teacher Conferences on Monday, July 1st, and Tuesday, July 2nd.

These conferences aim to foster open communication between parents and teachers. They provide you with an understanding of your child's academic and personal growth over the semester and allow you to work together to set goals for future development.

Thank you to our teachers for their preparation. Your insights and guidance help create a supportive and enriching environment for our students.

To our parents, thank you for your active participation and collaboration. Your engagement plays a significant role in shaping your children's educational journey.

Together, we are building a strong foundation for our students, empowering them to reach their full potential.

Music Showcase Assembly

I would like to congratulate all the students who participated in the Semester One 'Peace' themed Music Showcase Assembly. I was blown away by the beautiful singing, musical accompaniment and impressive skills of the students.

A special thank you goes to our wonderful music teacher, Mrs Deighton, whose preparation of the students and progressive teaching of musical skills made for a successful concert.

Sacrament of Confirmation

I would like to congratulate some of our Year 6 students who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Tuesday evening.

Thank you to Archbishop Christopher Prowse for Confirming the students and to Fr. Simon for his spiritual guidance and support throughout the program.

Thank you to the parents for participating in the faith formation evening and commitment Masses and working hard with their child at home on the provided learning activities.

A special thank you to our teachers and our Religious Education Coordinator, Miss Murdock, for her hard work and dedication in organising and preparing the Confirmation Reflection Day and the Confirmation Mass.

As our Year 6 students take this important step in their faith journey, we pray they continue to grow in wisdom and grace. May this Confirmation be a foundation for a lifetime of faith, hope, and love.

School Community Council Events

Thank you to our School Community Council, led by event coordinator David Jepson, for hosting an end-of-term disco for our students. The fundraiser will support the school with further Chromebook purchases.

The students danced, waved their glow sticks, and then cooled down with a Zooper Dooper.

Thank you also to all the families who participated in the Chocolate Box fundraiser. Special thanks to Kylie McNamara, who coordinated this event. Please return the money from the sales by tomorrow.

Uniform Matters

If you are buying uniforms over the break, please keep the following regulations in mind: students can only wear navy blue or maroon winter layers, including coats, beanies, gloves and scarves.

Hair accessories must also be in the school colours, and students are only to wear plan studs or sleeper earrings and a religious pendant. If your child requires other jewellery for health or cultural reasons, please let your child's classroom teacher know.

The following image outlines the required footwear for our Summer and Winter Uniform non-sport days.

It is important as a school community that we present ourselves in a tidy and uniform manner.

Thank you for ensuring our students look smart in our school uniform.

2024 Non-government schools census collection notice

The Australian Government Department of Education has advised that it will collect certain information about our school, its staff and student body as part of the 2024 non-government schools census collection.

You are not required to do anything; however, you can read more information about the data collection in the attached information sheet.

2024 Non-government schools census collection notice information

For your Diary - 2025 Tem Dates

For your information, the following dates have been set for the 2025 school year.

Term 1 - Tuesday, 3 February - Thursday, 10 April 2025

Term 2 - Tuesday, 29 April - Thursday, 3 July 2025

Term 3 - Tuesday, 22 July - Thursday, 25 September 2025

Term 4 - Tuesday, 14 October - Thursday, 18 December 2025

It's a wrap!

As we reach the end of Term 2, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our students' wonderful progress and achievements. It has been a busy and productive term filled with learning, growth, and memorable experiences.

We are proud of the student's hard work and perseverance. From mastering new concepts in the classroom to participating in various extracurricular activities, each child has demonstrated tremendous effort and enthusiasm.

Thank you to our parents and guardians for your continued support and involvement in your child's education. Your partnership is vital to their success, and we appreciate your ongoing engagement.

As we move into the break, I encourage you to take this time to relax and enjoy some quality moments with your family. Our students need to rest and recharge, ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities of Term 3.

We look forward to welcoming the students back for another exciting term on TUESDAY, 23 JULY.

Have a wonderful and safe break!

Yours in peace and love,

Mrs Sarah Lowe

In Week 8, during our weekly staff meeting, our staff spent time reviewing all of the Child Safe Standards and making suggestions about ways in which we can improve our culture, our strategies, and our actions to put the interests of our students first, and to keep them safe from harm. Each fortnight, I will present one of the standards in our newsletter and ask you to reflect on how you think we’re addressing the recommendations. We welcome ideas and feedback from our families and community! This week, we look at Standard 5.

Child Safe Standard 5: People working with children are suitable and supported

The aim of this standard is for our school to attract, recruit, supervise and support staff to keep our students safe. This standard is important because it assists our staff to follow policies that reduce the risk of harm to children.

Our aim is to prioritise this standard for child safety in what we say and do:

All staff receive an appropriate induction and are aware of their child safety responsibilities.
All relevant staff have relevant checks, such as Working With Vulnerable People registration.
Catholic Education recruitment process, including advertising, emphasises child safety.
Messages to students about behaviour and safety are consistent.

If we are addressing this standard successfully, we would expect our children to say:

I feel safe with the adults here.
Adults show concern for me.
I trust adults here and can talk to them about things that upset me.
All the adults tell me the same things about how we should behave and how they should behave.

We’re very proud to have a page on our school website dedicated to child safeguarding, and we encourage you to view it.

If you have any questions or feedback about how we are addressing this Standard or about our new Child Safeguarding page, please email me (petra.cole@cg.catholic.edu.au).

Petra Cole

Assistant Principal

NAIDOC Week, 2024

When we return to school in Week 1 of Term 3, we will celebrate NAIDOC Week within our school community. The students will be participating in a variety of different activities that focus on this year’s theme: “Keep The Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud!”

We are excited to invite you to our NAIDOC Week prayer celebration, which will be run by our Year 5 students. This special event will be held in our school hall on Thursday, 25th July at 9:00 am.

NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our prayer celebration will reflect on this week's significance and honour the First Nations peoples' rich heritage and traditions.

We look forward to seeing you there and sharing this meaningful celebration with our school community.

Rachel Powell

Year 5 Teacher

Curriculum Coordinator

Contact Teacher for ATSI Education

rachel.powell@cg.catholic.edu.au

Autism Workshop for Parents and Carers

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who visited the Book Fair this week and last. Your purchases from the Book Fair provide a commission to the school that funds the purchase of new books for the library.

At first guess, we may receive $1000 for new books - WOW!

Author R.A.Spratt

St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal

On Wednesday, Teah from St Vincent de Paul came to St Matthew's to collect all our donations for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. Teah expressed thanks for our fantastic effort and to everyone who contributed to this important appeal.

Together, we have not only provided warm clothing for those in need but also raised $590 from our recent pyjama day.