Term 2 Week 9 2023

Principal's Report

We have come to the end of another busy term. I want to acknowledge all the hard work that has been undertaken by the students and staff at St Monica’s this term. At the start of the term each child names a goal that they wish to achieve in ten weeks. For some students, there was a focus on learning or skills in Maths or English. For others it was improving another skill in areas such as PE, Art, or Music. I congratulate all those who achieved their personal goal and to those who haven’t quite made it yet. You will with persistence, perseverance, and patience. Never give up! Thank you to the staff who have worked tirelessly to make learning meaningful, interesting and fun for their students.

Front of school redevelopment

During the holidays, the start of the redevelopment of the front of school entrance and playground will be commencing. The entry to the school office area is the first stage as there needs to be some significant machinery used and it is safest to do this during school holidays. The second stage will be the playground space and will follow on from Stage 1. Vacation Care will still operate as per usual but if there needs to be any changes, we will inform families via an email and signage at the entry point.

Crossing

I would like to thank families for their patience and support as we have reintroduced our Crossing Monitors this week. I think that they are doing an amazing job and have learnt so much already and improved in their skills and knowledge of their responsibility.

If there is a solid yellow line painted on the road, you must not park or stand there. You can park to allow passengers to alight from a car or get into a car on the yellow dashed line, but the driver must stay in the car and the time limit is two minutes. Please do not give your hard earnt money to the council by parking incorrectly.

Outreach - Vinnies Winter Sleep Out

Last night 14 very brave Year 6 students, along with Ms Morris, Ms Monaghan and Mrs Ridley, spent some time outside trying to “stand in the shoes” of another. The goal of this evening was to experience what it might be like to someone who must live on the streets and only have minimal protection from the very cold temperatures and have limited food choice. I congratulate them on their commitment to stepping out of their comfort zone. Their comments in the debriefing section of the night were very insightful and powerful. Well done and thank you to all those involved.

Transition visits and 2024 enrolments

Today was the last transition visit for our Term 3 Reception students. In this year’s group we have 10 siblings and 5 brand new students to St Monica’s. We are so excited to have these young learners be a part of our community. We will be having a coffee for families on Tuesday 25 July at the back of the school. All are most welcome to stay and have a catch up with each other.

We are finalising our enrolments for 2024 in the next month. If you have any younger siblings who could start in Term 1, 2024, please email Annette for further information.

Semester Reports

End of Semester 1 Reports will be sent home on Wednesday 5 July. Please check your child/ren’s bag so that you can read about how your child’s learning journey is progressing.

Have a wonderful week ahead and a relaxing holiday time together.

Emily Sayer

Vinnies Winter Sleepout

Last night our year 6 class participated in the Vinnies Winter Sleep Out. Please enjoy reading the reflections of students, and the impact the Sleep Out had on them. We are still taking Winter Appeal donations of non-perishable food and blankets until the end of the term.

"I was extremely cold and very lonely, it really made me feel bad for anyone who is homeless. I could barley fall to sleep and had a really rough night." Jacob

"I was bored, lonely, and felt horrible for the people that have to sleep like this every single night always finding a place to sleep. As well as you have nothing to do, except just sit there or lay down and just do absolutely nothing." Gabriel

"I was getting really emotional because homeless people live like this 24/7 and I could barely stand 1 hour so it was really tough, and it was cold." Evan

'It was very cold and we were super lonely, it was just us and our thoughts. “ Aadvick

"I felt tired lonely and sad that these people have to do this every day for eight hours. They must be really strong to put up with that. I felt like I was going crazy, and I couldn't sit still. I feel great sympathy for these people. Hrishi

“When cold and alone you really realise how much you are grateful for.” Ella

“I am grateful that we have a house, a blanket, sleeping bags and a roof over our head, it was really hard for me to sleep.” Shaziya

“Sleeping in the cold and alone is not fun, it's very sad because it is very hard to sleep in the dark, alone when they're most vulnerable, which makes them feel very scared because someone might harm them.” Hanz

"You never know what they go through when they sleep, unless you try it." Megan

“Last night I found it very emotional I started crying but then I remembered that people have to do this every day.” Annabelle Hickson

“For me it was very emotional when we had to sleep by ourselves alone and cold.” ALEXIA

"It was kind of comfortable, probably because I had a gym mat under me. Homeless people wouldn't even have some sort of mattress when they are sleeping rough." Adela

“It was hard. I was cold, I would normally be home and I thought what are the people doing in other houses in a nice warm bed inside, not outside, like so many other Australians are having to live rough.” Xavier.

“It was very cold, I had my oodie and it still wasn't very warm, so I had to put my pillow under my oodie to make me feel more warm. It is just sad because it was still very cold for us even if we had a jumper etc, but for the homeless people, they might only have ripped clothes, some don't even have any jumpers.” Hellen