St Matthew's Catholic Primary School

Parish Priest: Fr Florentino (Boy) Galdo

School Principal: Mr Bob Brown

Deputy Principal: Mrs Carmela D’Amato

RE Leader: Mrs Helen Howden

School Email: principal@smfawknernth.catholic.edu.au

School Phone: 0393595423 

Hello to Students, Parents, Staff and Friends of St Matthew’s,   

Last Friday as you may have already seen on our Skoolbag App, our assembly was an ANZAC DAY ASSEMBLY. Grade 4B and Mr John Kavanagh told us about the Anzac's and the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick and Duffy his donkey (see picture below). This would have been the first time for many of our students and those parents present that they heard this story. If you would like to read it for yourself then simply google “Simpson and his Donkey.”  Also our wonderful choir and Mr Michael Travers led the whole school in singing “The Last Anzac” and “Advance Australia Fair” our National Anthem. It was truly a very moving Assembly.

Please Note: We are now allowing limited parents to attend our fortnightly assemblies. The parents are only those of the Grade that are performing at that specific fortnightly assembly and social distancing is how they are seated.

ENROLMENTS FOR 2022 ARE STILL OPEN

 Yes enrolments are still open for Students in Years Prep to 6 for 2022. If you have a younger child/children who are turning 5 years old before April 30th 2022 then they are eligible to commence at St Matthew’s next year. Please come in and get an enrolment pack. Also if you know of any family members, family friends or neighbours that are interested please let them know that enrolments will be closing by the end of this term and they need to get their enrolment forms in as soon as possible.  If anyone missed any of our guided tours on our Open Days last term then please ring the School Office on 9359 5423 between business hours 8:30am – 4:30pm to arrange a suitable time for a personal guided tour of the school.

MOTHER’S DAY RAFFLE & STALL: 

Just a reminder to return all Mother’s Day Raffle tickets by this Thursday 6th May to the school office and that on Friday our Parents & Friends Association are running their annual Mother’s Day stalls for all levels throughout the day. Prices for Mother’s Day gifts will range from $1 to $12.

4 YEARLY REVIEW – PUPIL FREE DAY: 

 As I stated in last fortnight’s newsletter every 4 years every Catholic Primary School in the Archdiocese of Melbourne undergoes a formal review and it is our turn this year. This will occur over 4 days either side of the Term 3 holidays,

As a Staff we are working on the Review at our weekly staff meetings, but we will also need a whole day on Friday 21st May for the whole staff to work together on our documents.

Friday 21st will be a pupil free day so there will be no school for all students on that day.

The weekend weather was truly magnificent, but Melbourne being Melbourne we are back to our winter woolies again. Stay warm and dry and make the most of this cold and wet weather.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Brown

(Principal)

P.S. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL OUR MUMS WHO ARE PARENTS AND ARE ON OUR STAFF. ENJOY A GREAT DAY LADIES. YOU DESERVE IT!!

 2021 TERM DATES

TERM 2   Monday 19th April           -        Friday 25th June

TERM 3   Monday 12th July           -          Friday 17th September

TERM 4   Monday 4th October       -        Friday 17th December

All events for Term 2 have been added to the calendar on skoolbag app. Unfortunately, you will not receive an alert when an event has been added, please continue checking the events page for updates.

Our artists at St Matthews have begun Term 2 with some very inspiring work. All students across the school from Foundation to Year 6 used up to 6 different mediums including water colour and acrylic paint, cut paper, pencil, oil pastels and marker to create a mixed media art work. Their work was based around a quarter of a poppy to represent Anzac Day. These quarters were then combined within classes to portray collaboration and teamwork to create artwork; signifying the unity and mate ship of the ANZACS. 

Year 5 Excursion to Scienceworks

On Thursday 22nd April, the Year 5 students experienced the wonders of Scienceworks.  This was a great way to tune in to our Inquiry Unit, “What’s the Matter?”  The students were involved in a fun, interactive and informative session focusing on Light.  They learnt about conductors and circuits.  They also learnt where the safest place to be when in a lightning storm.  The students were also free to explore the two general viewing areas.  The first looked at how technology has developed, including eco-friendly technology.  The second focused on Physical Science, sport and movement.  It was a pleasure supervising these students on this excursion.  Their behaviour was exemplary and it was wonderful hearing such positive comments from the staff at Scienceworks.  Well done Year 5s!

Mrs. Pengelly, Mr. Burrafato, Miss DiPasquale & Mrs. Josie.

Student Reflections 

In the morning everyone was so excited to go to Scienceworks.  We rushed to the bus.  Once we got there we went to a pit of rainbow stairs, then we rushed to eat our snack.  Then we went to the technology area.  We saw a futuristic car called the EN-V.  We also got to design our own car on a projector table.  We went in these pods that let us build our future self.

Then we went to the lightning room and there were things that produced lightning and electricity.  They taught us how to be safe during lightning storms.  Then we saw a Tesla coil release 2.7 million volts.  We had to block our ears.  Then we had lunch.  After that we went to the sports area and we got to race Cathy Freeman.  There were so many cool games and we got to test our body talents.  Overall, we had a thrilling day.

                                                                                           Jacob and Nicholas 5B

On Thursday 22nd April the St. Matthew’s grade 5s went to Scienceworks.  First we went to the first area.  There were lots of interactive activities to do like: a game where you would pick futuristic equipment like rocket boots and then you would touch as many gems as you could.  I liked this room because it had lots of hands on activities.

Next we went to the Lightning room.  The lightning room was about learning about electricity like metal is a material that power can travel through.  We also got to see lightning and what is a safe place to be when lightning is around.  I liked the lightning room because I learnt lots of things about electricity.

Finally we went to the last room.  The last room was a sport room.  Some activities were a virtual goalie and a running race.  I like the sports room because it had lots of interesting activities.

                                                                                                Katia 5A

Welcome back everyone,we are happy to invite and encourage families to come to our playgroup every Monday and Thursday from 9am-11am. In the Family Room at st Matthew’s primary school.

Playgroup is an effective program to engage families and children from 0-4 years of age with the school community. There are many many activities that can benefit your children in many different ways.

For further information and bookings, please call Bushra (Playgroup Coordinator) on 0451474773 or call the school office on 0393595423.

Due to current restrictions there will be a limit of a maximum of 10 parents with their children for each of these sessions.  Please be aware that all adults will need to wear a face mask during the time they are at playgroup. We thank you for your understanding regarding this. We are looking forward to meeting you very soon!