ENewsletter

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

Principal's Message

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

How have you been handling the weather? Quite hot one day, pouring rain and quite cold the next. Yes we do choose to live in Melbourne. Hopefully we get some lovely Autumn weather before Winter sets in. It is a busy last three weeks at St Matthew’s, please check all the dates and times below.

OPEN DAYS, SCHOOL TOURS & ENROLMENTS FOR 2022

It is Catholic Education Week this week throughout the Archdiocese of Melbourne and we are conducting our Open day Tours for Enrolments at St Matthew’s for the 2022 year for Prep and all other grade levels.

The first took place at 9:30am and the second was at 7:00pmtoday. There are also two more this Thursday 18th March at 9:30am in the morning and 7:00pm in the evening. Just come to the main entrance and we will greet you, have you sign in, take your temperature and move through to the Family room. Please make sure you are wearing a mask, unless you are exempt.

If you have a younger sibling or family, friends or neighbours that are interested please let them know about these dates and times. We look forward to seeing as many existing and new families as possible at one of the remaining 3 sessions. Please check out the flyer at the end of the newsletter for all these details.

THIS FRIDAY – 2021 RIDE TO SCHOOL DAY

Yes it is that time of the year again when we all the students get to ride their bikes, scooters, skateboards and roller blades to school for the day. It is happening this Friday 19th March. Mr B our PE Teacher has planned the day so that Grade levels will have access to the oval and running track at various times throughout the day, making it a lot safer and smoother for everyone concerned. There will also be separate parking areas for all students Grade levels. We are looking forward to as many students as possible bringing their transport along. Don’t forget to wear your Sports Uniform this Friday.

Normally some schools start to wind down as the last two weeks of term approach, but not at St Matthew’s. Next Monday is Harmony Day where we are celebrating our school and community’s cultural diversity followed by our Program Support Group Meetings, Assemblies including Classroom & Principal Awards, Holy Week celebrations, Easter Egg Raffle and Easter Bonnet Parade. These all happen around our normal teaching and learning days. I think we might need a holiday at the end of all this. Have a great third last week of term everyone!

Yours Sincerely,

Bob Brown

Principal

St Matthew's School Tours

RIDE2SCHOOL

2021 Term Dates

2021 TERM DATES

TERM 1 Friday 29th January - Thursday 1st April

Term 1 Events

Thursday 18th March - Grade 5/6 Aspire Higher

Friday 19th March- Ride To School Day

3A Assembly at 2.40pm. Link will be shared

National Day of Action Against Bullying

Monday 22nd March - Harmony Day (Activities in grades)

Week 9 and 10 - Program Support Meetings

Sunday 28th March - Palm Sunday

Wednesday 31st March - Holy Week liturgy in the Church or Hall (Students Only)

Thursday 1st April - Holy Thursday.

- 9.15am Easter Bonnet Parade (Students and staff only)

- 2.40pm Final Assembly, Principal Awards (Link to be sent)

- 3.15 school concludes for Term 1

Friday 2nd April - Good Friday

Sunday 4th April - Easter Sunday

TERM 2 Monday 19th April - Friday 25th June

TERM 3 Monday 12th July - Friday 17th September

TERM 4 Monday 4th October - Friday 17th December

Easter: 2nd April –5th April 2021 (DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS)

Sacramental Program Dates

Download

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

St Patrick's Day March 17th

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Prep A: Welcome Mass

Seven of our gorgeous preps joined together to celebrate being part of the St Matthews School community last Friday night at a special class mass at 5.30 pm. These seven little wonders along with their prep teacher Miss Piscitelli performed the song. “If I were a Butterfly”. After Mass a sensational picnic was held on the oval and food was shared and lots of fun was had. Father Boy was delighted to see these young people who will be part of the school community for years to come.

This week Prep B will have their turn on Friday night – Looking forward to seeing you there.

Mrs Helen Howden

Religious Education Leader

hhowden@smfawknernth.catholic.edu.au

PREP A WELCOME MASS AND PICNIC

WELLBEING

WELLBEING – TAKE ACTION TOGETHER

As we head towards our National Day of Action against Bullying I thought it was timely that we revisit and acknowledge what is Bullying.

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm.

At St. Matthew’s we have a number of different programs and processes that we use to support the children to understand: what bullying is, to support them to take a stand against bullying and how to seek help if they feel they are being bullied.

As we head towards the National Day of Action against Bullying more learning will be taking place to ensure that all children understand that bullying is not ok and won’t be tolerated at St. Matthew’s.

This year’s slogan is Take Action Together. This is a lovely way of working together to ensure we are all happy, safe and respected when we are at school.

As a school we have revisited our school rules with the children and this is a great way to help the children understand how to be safe when they are at school. Over the coming weeks we will be sharing our learning and knowledge through the newsletter and displays around the school so keep your eyes out.

Mrs Jackie Fleischmann

Wellbeing Leader.

Learning Diversity

PSG’s

The Program Support Group (PSG) is a vital and ongoing component of planning that is provided for students with diverse learning needs.

If your child brought home a PSG letter last Friday please make sure you make your Virtual or Face to Face appointment as soon as possible on www.schoolinterviews.com.au. Check your child’s school bag!

If you haven’t made an appointment our wonderful Office Staff or myself will be calling you to make a time. These meetings are very important and need to be conducted on a regular basis.

Mrs Helen Howden

Learning Diversity Leader

hhowden@smfawknernth.catholic.edu.au

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Tinker and Create Room

Is your child a tinker and a creator? Tinkering is all about hands-on experiences – experimenting with materials and discovering how they can be combined in interesting and creative ways. It’s an opportunity to spend time exploring and being innovative. (Scitech). Beginning Term 2, the students at St Matthew’s will have an opportunity to visit the Tinker and Create room at lunchtimes on specified days. In this room, they can plan, build, design and create to their heart's content. The aim is to eventually have the room set up so that all classes will take part in tinkering and creating throughout the school day.

To help us get started, can you help with donating any of the following:

Small plumbing pipes (PVC)
Icypole sticks (new)
Lego
Wood offcuts, wooden boards and wooden blocks
Old locks and keys, door handles, light switches, remote controls etc.
Pieces of synthetic grass
Cardboard boxes
Pieces of fabric (calico, burlap, poplin or plain coloured pieces)
Plastic cups
Tape measures
Tooth picks (new)
Wooden blocks
Nails
Washers
Old electronics and items to take apart
Robotics kits that you no longer need
Old and broken laptops, computers, sewing machines, video & CD players, phones, fans, clocks, microwaves, toasters and other kitchen appliances, heaters, fans, bikes, push & pull toys, battery operated toys…
Meccano or a variety of nuts & bolts, chains, metal plates & brackets etc

We are looking forward to setting up this exciting new space within our school!

LITERACY

2021 PRIME MINISTER’S SPELLING BEE

Schools are being encouraged to get involved in this year’s Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee to promote literacy in an entertaining and engaging way.

This year the spelling bee, hosted by Kids News, will be conducted through a digital format rather than face to face.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged all schools to get involved and register.

“Literacy is so critical to a young person’s education in Australia. It provides the fundamental base to develop other skills, and the tools to embrace the joy of reading and writing,” the Prime Minister said.

“This is a free competition that is fun and exciting and will help students learning literacy build their confidence.”

Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said the spelling bee would help nurture a love of words in students.

“Spelling bees are not only great fun, they have wider benefits like helping kids develop confidence and discovering new ways to learn,” Minister Tudge said.

“I urge parents, teachers and our young people to get behind the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee and I encourage all schools to take part.”

The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee was due to commence in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The national spelling bee will run in Term 1, 2021 for children in Years 3 to 8. It will be held at school level in March, with finals for each state and territory taking place in April.

If you allow your child to participate, they will be given a permission form to be completed and signed by a parent. The students will sit for the Spelling Bee from March 15 to March 26.

Mrs Rina Carfi

Literacy Leader

Gardening Club

At the end of last year, we created a gardening club after some of the year 6s were talking about the gardens that they had set up during lockdown. This gardening club would meet once a week on a Friday and mainly consisted of year 5 and 6 students. We pulled out all the weeds, and talked about the different things that we could be growing. We also started to grow an avocado plant from a seed. This avocado plant is thriving and we can’t wait to pot it.

This year, the gardening club has expanded, and where once it was a small group of 8 or 9 students, we now have approximately 60 students who joined up last Friday. We have four different groups with our Gardening Club:

Mr Donlon is leading the HERB garden

Miss K is leading the VEGETABLE AND FRUIT garden

Miss Di Pasquale is leading the FLOWERS and ‘FRIENDLY GARDEN BUG HUTS’ area as well as fundraising

Mrs D’Amato is leading the MAINTENANCE of the garden.

Here are some before shots… hopefully we will see a big change to our gardening area throughout the year. We are hoping to grow our own produce to then sell to our families.

Some students will be involved in pulling out weeds this Friday 19th March (Mrs D’Amato’s group). If they would like to bring a pair of pants and a shirt on the day, that would be useful. They can get changed at lunchtime prior to weeding.

Wish us luck!

Mrs D'Amato

Gardening Before Shots!

Avocado growing from the seed

Community News

Play Group

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!

Simonds College

Parade College

Northern Saints FC

Extend outside school hours care

The information provided in the following attachment will assist families with any bookings and services provided by Extend.