Welcome to the Week 9 Newsletter. This week i draw your attention to a number of important updates and information and thank parents for taking the time to read the newsletter. I will begin my mentioning that we are about to launch our enrolment process for Kinder 2024 and want to alert our current community of the importance of this process for all students due to start Kinder in the new year. We lok forward to our open evening schedule in the school hall oat 6pm April 4th. 

Inaugural Empower Day (Cross Country and Tabloids) 

Next Tuesday we will celebrate our Inaugural Empower Day. This day has been derived from the previous Getting Along "Green" day usually celebrated around St Patricks Day. This year we have revised the day and connected it more directly to St Joseph’s Day and our PBL Matrix, specifically the EMPOWER side of that matrix. This year, we are combining it with the Cross-Country event for students in Year 2 - 6. The Cross Country will be in the morning session and the Empower Games will be from the end of lunch onwards. The classes will participate in K-6 cross level groups and complete a number of different tabloid activities around the playground. Parents please note that there is an event on COMPASS  awaiting your permission for all students in 2- 6 who will attend the Cross country event in the first half of the day. As always parents are welcome to both events.  

A forward plan for the Canteen with your Help.

I write on behalf of the P & F and canteen Supervisor, Haley Fenwick to seek parent responses  about the canteen opening a fourth day. There is no reason for a school our size not to build a canteen service for our parents across all 5 days of the week and this first step to 4 days is the beginning of any consideration in doing so. While we have Haley working in the canteen each day that it is open, some days the orders are such that an additional pair of hands (and in some cases, two) would ensure greater efficiency for students awaiting their orders.

At this stage, we hope to open the canteen on Thursdays. However, we need to do so with confidence of at least one volunteer to assist Haley. To that end, we are asking parents to consider if now is a good opportunity to volunteer to help at on the Thursday roster. Perhaps in the past you have worked on the other canteen days so haven’t had the chance to do so or perhaps you are new to the school and thought maybe you would like to try volunteering at the canteen. I can tell you that the kids love to see their parents, grandparents at the school in the canteen. Haley will always be onsite to guide new volunteers to the efficient running of the canteen for the day and generally the "shift" ends with the end of the infants lunch break at 12 midday. 

We are not certain we can proceed with this plan to open the fourth day if we cannot fill the volunteers on Thursday. If you can help at all, I would invite you to email admin at school. admin@edgeworth.catholic.edu.au 

We will also be announcing a new name for the Canteen at next week's Monday Assembly. The name was selected from the entries to the Name the Canteen Competition that was held late last year. The winning entrant will have been notified but the rest of the school will have to wait till Monday. 

Reminder of Important Dates between now and the end of term

 Jules Mulhearn

School Office 

Phone: 4958 1858

Email: admin@edgeworth.catholic.edu.au

Admin/ Finance Officer Suzi Di-Nardo Monday to Friday

Admin Office Bronwyn Lynch Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

School Fee Accounts 

Statements are sent out at the beginning of each month. Your next atatement will be in the last week of Term 1 - First week in April.

Health card and Pension card discounts have now been processed along with any sibling discounts that may apply to your family.

Please arrange for a regular weekly, fortnightly or monthly Bpay, Direct Debit or an annual payment.  If you are paying by instalments we ask that your first instalment is made by 31 March and the debt extinguished by 30 November 2023.  If paying in full please ensure this payment is made by 30 June 2023.

Additional costs may apply throughout the year for representative sport and other extracurricular activities.

Payments can be also be accepted at the administration office between 8.30am-3.00pm Monday to Friday or credit card payments can be taken over the phone. 

Medical Reminder

If your child has a medical condition it is important to keep our school and office up to date on any updates or changes. 

If they have a recent diagnosis please contact our office to conplete the appropriate paper work.

Kinder Enrolments for 2024

We are now taking applications for Kinder 2024. Enroment packs are available from our school office or we can email a copy to you.

A kinder information night will be held on Tuesday April 4th from 6pm.

It will be held in our school hall.

QKR

The canteen is run independently of our school and so has it's own ordering and payment system.

If you wish to place lunch orders, buy raffle tickets or orders for special events please download the app and create an account.

Our Final Weeks of Lent

As we enter the last two weeks of Lent it is a good time to stop and reflect on what changes you have made to come closer to God.

People often don’t look forward to Lent as much as they do Advent and the impending celebration of Christmas. For many, childhood memories of giving up lollies and treats or sitting through weekly Stations of the Cross come immediately to mind. Words like “sacrifice,” “discipline,” and “self-denial” are often used in ways that suggest that Lent is something to be endured rather than a time of grace and spiritual growth.  

Have you ever thought of Lent as a yearly second chance? Each year the Church gives us six weeks to take a long, loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Since most of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s path, Lent becomes that second chance, or do-over, or the reset button to “return to God with our whole heart.” 

We’re highlighting Lenten practices and memories of people who have shared their stories with us. Their experiences range from pious and traditional to creative and out-of-the-ordinary, but all of them represent attempts to make the season of Lent a meaningful time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Invite family members to share their thoughts, hopes, and desires for Lent. Decide to support one another in whatever you choose to do. As you journey through this annual second chance, remember that each step brings you closer to the welcoming arms of our loving God.

Yours in faith

Miss Michelle Collins

Religious Education Co-ordinator

• Planning and presenting whole staff professional learning with a focus on assessment rubrics and Mathematics,  

• modelling high quality teaching within and across the school community.  

• working collaboratively with teachers to develop and refine their teaching practice.

• focussing on a stage/grade with the intention of working with all teachers over time. 

• supporting the facilitation and leading of PLTs (professional learning teams). PLT's occur every 3 weeks and are a never-ending cycle of inquiry. This year our focus is on analysing Mathematics data. Teachers collaborately plan with the end in mind- identifying the outcome from the curriculum expectations that all students will master. Teachers analyse pre-data at the beginning of the 3 weeks and post-data at the end of the 3 weeks to inform and differentiate instruction for each student in their class.

• collaborate with and meet regularly with the school leadership team 

Strong Focus in PBL continues. 

The school has now completed 2 3-week cycles of PBL as we continue to focus on guiding, promoting, and celebrating positive behaviour choices while remaining strong and consistent when responding to poor behaviour choices.
Each cycle has a different focus although all aspects of our PBL matrix are continually referenced. The Term 1 sequence is included for your reference. We are currently on our third cycle.
At the conclusion of each cycle, we look at the data of where the positive affirmations are rating compared to the times when we have had to respond to negative behaviour patterns. It is pleasing data that I share with you now.
Below is the first of two graphs to consider. This graph shows the amount of Bennies awarded across each cycle and within each area of the Matrix (SPEAK, BE, EMPOWER). In total there have been 6582 Bennies awarded across 35 days of school (that's 188 Bennies per day). More importantly, we can see an increase in the Bennies awarded from Cycle 1 to 2. This may not always be the case but when it is, it is worth celebrating.

The next graph indicates the number of minors that have been issued and how many of them did (or better yet how many of them didn’t) translate into majors because the student was able to change their mindset, modify behaviours and return to positive choices. While no one wants to celebrate data about our negative responses, it can be still viewed as positive because the minors, meant to remind students and guide them back, are working. Even the number of minors at 42 in total for the year, is encouraging when compared with the numbers in the Bennies graph above. In fact, it is impossible to put the data sets in the same graph as the minors (and even more so, the majors) would be comparatively tiny. 

This week we had our first recipients of the 50 Bennie Certificate and many more students poised to receive theirs at our final PBL assembly in Week 11. I am so proud of the wonderful way in which the students are responding to PBL in order to make their school the best possible. Congratulations to all. 

Harmony Day

On Wednesday 15th March,  Saint Benedict's celebrated Harmony Day. The ongoing theme of Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs’. And, as Jesus taught us: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Harmony Day gives us the perfect opportunity to live out the Gospel values of love, respect and acceptance in a real and tangible way.

We celebrated inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for all Australians, from the traditional owners of the land to those who have come from many countries around the world.

The day began with a whole school liturgy in the hall, where students from all classes gathered around our sacred space. Children from a variety of cultural backgrounds pronounced 'love they neighbour' in their native langauges. We listened to the Gospel reading of the Good Samaritan which echoed this message.

In conclusion, our amazing Indian and Neplaese dancers perfomered before the whole school 'Parade of Nations'. The rest of the day was spent engaging all students in a multititude of activities from cultures around the world. Some of the activities included collaborative art projects, research based posters and paper chains. We even had a special Sushi lunch speical that the canteen provided!

Special thanks to Mrs Franks for all her hard work, organsiation, care and passion in coordinating and organising such a wonderful day for ALL!   

The Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2023 has now commenced. 

Kindergarten and Year 1 teachers are reading books from the PRC list to their students. 

Year 2 students need to ‘experience’ 30 books from the K-2 PRC list and record these books on their reading logs. Years 3 to 6 are required to read 20 books from their appropriate lists and record them on their reading logs. 

Once the reading logs are completed students should hand them in at the Library for processing. 

The PRC finishes on Friday, 18 August.  

Congratulations to the first group of students who have completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2023. 

All from 3 Black, they are: Henry Bailey, Lyla Bashford and William Irvine. 

Well done, I look forward to receiving many more Reading Logs throughout the 2023 Challenge. 

Mrs Nicolaidis (PRC Co-Ordinator) 

P&F UPDATE 

EASTER SPECIAL 

Easter is just around the corner and the P&F have put together an Easter Special for the last day of term. For $6 each child will receive a Hot Cross Bun (option of Traditional or Choc Chip), an Easter Egg and a Chocolate Milk. All orders for the Easter Special can be placed via QKR. Please note that orders will close on Friday the 31st of March at 12pm. 

EASTER RAFFLE 

Thank you for all of the donations that we have received so far. Donation of Easter eggs and Easter related items can still be delivered to the office. Raffle tickets are on sale via QKR. 

CANTEEN UPDATE 

There will be no changes to the canteen menu during LENT. The current canteen menu has many options available if you are not eating red meat during lent. 

The Canteen is open on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. If you have any spare time from 9am – 12pm on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays and are interested in volunteering in the Canteen please let the office and Canteen Supervisor Haley Fenwick know.  It can also be a one off occasion or a couple of times a year.  This will ensure the Canteen can remain open. 

 

DATES TO REMEMBER 

Friday 31st of March – Last day to order the Easter Special.  

Thursday 6th of April – Easter Special delivered, Easter Raffle Drawn, 2pm at the Easter Hat Parade. 

Monday 1st of May – P&F meeting via Zoom at 7pm. 

 

Congratulations to the students who received 50 Bennies so far this year! Such an amazing achievment in a short period if time. 

Well done to the Spirit of Jesus award recipients for Week 8 also!