Lord, you gave us Pope Francis to remember and help the poor. God of the marginalised and of

the disempowered.God of the prisoner.

God of the poor and of the dispossessed.Together with Pope Francis, help us to beYour Presence today for those in need.

237 SPRING ST, RESERVOIR. 3073 Ph: 9469 3513 Website: www.sgreservoir.catholic.edu.au Email Address:principal@sgreservoir.catholic.edu.au

TERM 1 – Monday March 20th, 2017 Weekly Newsletter No: 1.07

IDate Event Time

Tuesday 21st March Harmony Day

Friday 24th March Interschool Sports

Saturday 25th March Bunnings Sausage

Sizzle

10am

Tuesday 28th March Sacrament of

Reconciliation7.30pm

Friday 31st March Last day of school term

School concludes 1.45pm

Dear Parents, Students and Staff,

It is with great sadness that I begin the newsletter this week. Sadly, Julie Spillane passed away peacefully late on Saturday afternoon. Please keep Eamon and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Eamon expresses his thanks to our community for their prayers, after what has been a difficult time.

I would also like to extend Fr Hoctor’s thoughts and prayers to Eamon and our community during this time. Fr Hoctor has been very supportive to myself and the staff during Eamon’s absence, and I thank him for his support.

On Wednesday 15th March, we opened our doors to new families during our second Open Day. It was a huge success with many new prospective families attending the afternoon and evening session. I received much feedback about our wonderful school and the great learning that is happening at St Gabriel’s.

Thank you to everyone who made our Open Days such a great success - the students and teachers. We have been contacted by a number of families who missed the open days, and so we will look at offering some additional open sessions early next term.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

Friday 24th March 6.45pm

2018 PREP ENROLMENTS ARE NOW OPEN! Application forms can be obtained from the school office. Please complete and return the enrolment application form together with Birth, Baptism, Visa (if born overseas) and Immunisation Certificates as soon as possible. Your child needs to be 5 years old by 30th April 2018 to begin Prep in 2018. Applications close on 1st May 2017.

M M

On Friday we celebrated St Patrick’s day by inviting the children to wear a ‘splash of green’. Our senior leaders participated in the St Patrick’s Day Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral and then engaged in activities at the Treasury Gardens. Our senior students were great ambassadors for St Gabriel’s and made us very proud.

We also marked Ride 2 School day, by encouraging all students to ride or scooter to school. This was also marked with ‘Slinky Green Apples’ for sale. I would like to thank our very generous Parents and Friends Committee and the volunteers who spent the morning making slinky apples. Thank You.

Next Friday evening, we will have our school presentation of ‘The Way of The Cross’. I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs Mel Vearing and the Senior Students who have been putting a lot of time and effort into preparing for this event. I would like to cordially invite all families to join us on Friday 24th March in the hall for “St Gabriel’s Way of The Cross”.

Finally, this week is our Review Week. Meredith Nolte spent the day today meeting with staff, students and parents, to discuss what is great about St Gabriel’s and where would we like the school to be in the future. She will also return on Wednesday to work with a panel made up of staff, our regional principal consultant Mr Craig Carlin, Fr Hoctor and a parent representative to create our School Improvement Plan for the next 4 years.

Enjoy your week.

Congratulations to the Delaney family (Luca - Yr 5) on the safe arrival of a beautiful little boy.

If you are able to help wrap Raffle Prizes for our Easter Raffle on Wednesday 29th March, your help will be much appreciated. Wrapping of raffle prizes to begin from 9.00am. If you are able to help please leave your name at the office.

Signorina Paglianiti was invited to attend 'The Dante Alighieri Celebration of Excellence Awards.' which took place at CO.AS.IT in Rosanna on Sunday afternoon.

University lecturers were there from Melbourne, Monash, Swinburne and La Trobe to present awards to students who achieved academic excellence awards. A number of presidents were there from different committees which contribute to all of the language programs through providing competitions, scholarships etc....

Our own Signorina Paglianiti was presented and acknowledged for her work at both St Gabriel’s and St Augustine’s Yarraville. She especially received recognition for all our winnings in the multimedia competition.

Many delegates present at the award ceremony were very impressed with the movies and technology produced by our students last year.

St Patrick’s day mass highlightS- 17th march 2017I feel very fortunate that I went to St Patrick’s Cathedral for the St Patrick’s Day mass. When I entered the cathedral, the first thing that caught my attention was the altar which was right up the front. To the front and the sides of the altar were all the seats. The altar and the seats were surrounded by the the wonderful stained glass windows. Each of the windows were unique and special - just like us. Archbishop Hart celebrated the Mass and we were joined by the Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews and dozens and dozens of schools from all around Melbourne. I had a spectacular day. -Christina Anu- School Captain

I really going to mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was very special. I also enjoyed all the activities that we played with different schools at the Treasury Gardens afterwards. We played tug of war and glory. This was part of Catholic Education Week. Joshua Dinatale - House Captain

I really enjoyed my experience at St Patrick’s Cathedral. When we arrived, the cathedral was full and we had to sit to the side of the altar. Luckily for us, there were tv screens showing us the whole thing. The responsorial psalm was sung by some students with spectacular voices. After the mass, we were entertained by music and activities in the gardens. This experience was new for me and l enjoyed it. l will DEFINITELY go back and visit St Patrick’s Cathedral again. Vincent Barillaro- School Captain

I had a very memorable day at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday 17th March. The church was full of people from schools all around Melbourne. After mass we went to the beautiful Treasury Gardens and had lunch. At the gardens there were different activities that we took part in. It was a very special day to go to and I was honoured to take part. Ethan Laurence- House Captain

Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance

Please pray for the following students who are currently preparing for the sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance on Tuesday 28th March.

Joel ARULJesse COMMISSOMadelyne DELAHUNTSiena DOWSINGJames LAURENCEShelley LUUFilip LOKAS/GOVICStella MORRISONJaivalee NIEVAAiden POLASTRIMatthew RAGAYJoseph STEWART

DATES: Friday 24th March: Stations of the Cross - 6.45pm for a 7.00pm startTuesday 28th March: Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance- 7.30pm in St Gabriel’s Church

Please join us for a very special dramatisation of The Stations of the Cross

presented by our Senior School students.

Friday, 24th March at 6.45pm for a 7.00pm startin the school hall.

We look forward to your company on the night.

Mel Vearing - Performing Arts Teacher

Mark Miatello - Principaland the Staff at St Gabriel’s

School.

Over the past few weeks during Literacy time at St Gabriel’s, the students have been working on the strategy of “Checking for understanding.” Please read on if you would like to know how to work on this strategy at home with your child.

Even as adult readers, there are times when we are reading a story and we get lost and are not sure what has happened. Fortunately, when this happens, we have strategies we use to help us understand the story. The same thing happens when children read. However, with children they often keep reading and do not realise they have lost comprehension until the end of the story. They are too concerned with reading accurately, and forget to take the time to think about what they are reading.

How can we help them gain comprehension? We can teach them the comprehension strategy: check for understanding because good readers stop frequently to check for understanding or to ask who and what.

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

1. When reading to your child, stop periodically and say, “Let’s see if we remember what I just read. Think about who the story was about and what happened.” Do this 3 or 4 times throughout the story.

2. When reading to your child, stop and have them practise checking for understanding by saying, “I heard you say…”

3. Ask your child the following questions:

• Who did you just read about?• What just happened? • Was your brain talking to you while you read?• Do you understand what was read?• What do you do if you don’t remember?

You can use the check mark bookmark we have included in this week’s newsletter to mark where you are going to stop reading and check for understanding. Good luck and remember to enjoy your reading time with your child. If they have a good IPICK book you should have a special and enjoyable reading time together.

Don’t forget to let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

M K

“Persistence and patience have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams

The ability to persist at a task and see it through to the end is one of the most important success attributes that you can develop in a child. There are numerous times every day when children must persist rather than give in. A young child learning to tie shoelaces must persist. A primary aged student must show determination to finish tasks and a secondary student needs to work through difficulties, particularly those he doesn’t understand or complete right away.

They need to be able to persist when work gets hard or life gets tough. They need the ‘stickability’ to work through difficulties and hang in there when things don’t go their way.

Some children are more naturally predisposed to persist than others. They have a determined, even competitive streak in their temperament that doesn’t allow them to give in. These children and young people can drive themselves very hard to succeed.

The results of the Australian Temperament Project show that persistence is the one temperamental factor that can be improved over time. Parents and teachers can develop persistence in children and also impede its development by making life too easy for children so that they don’t have opportunities to persist or hang in there.

Parents can promote persistence by encouraging their children to keep going and not give in at the slightest hurdle or difficulty. Parents can be a sounding board for children’s gripes but they should show confidence in their ability to cope and get through their difficulties. “You can do it” is far more powerful in terms of promoting an attitude of persistence than “If it is a little too hard then try something else.”

Let children know that there is a correlation between effort and success. In fact, they need to learn that by GIVING EFFORT they will more than likely experience more success. The ability to persist in the face of difficulties maybe an old-fashioned quality but it is one of the best success attributes that children will ever develop.

Here are four practical strategies you can use to promote a sense of persistence in your children: 1. Develop a vocabulary for persistence. Words like “Hang tough”, “Work Hard” and “Hang in there” can become part of their everyday vocabulary. 2. Point out to children when they stick at a task. Most parents know it pays off when they catch their children being good but it also pays off to catch them being persistent. The behaviours you focus on as parents expand so let them know when they have been persistent. Also remind them that persistence generally pays off. 3. Help children to remember times when they experienced success by HANGING IN when they were younger. Let them know that persistence has paid off before and it will again. 4. Talk about HARD WORK with your children. They need to understand that to be successful they need to do things that are NOT fun or easy. While it would be good if all work and learning was fun, in reality, this is not always the case.

Published by Michael Grose Presentations. All rights reserved. For more ideas, support and advice for all your parenting challenges visit: www.parentingideas.com.au

Hi All, Another fortnight of ICT has seen the junior and middle school students improve their touch typing through Dance Mat typing (https://www.dancemattypingguide.com/ ) The junior students have also begun work adding images and typing text for an Easter card.

While the middle and senior students were introduced to databases and user interfaces, doing their best to make music through www.incredibox.com. These students also played mythbusters researching the World Wide Web using a children’s only search engine www.kiddle.co to investigate if common myths were true or false.Thanks for another great fortnight of ICT.

(The cyber safety word clouds from our Grade 5/6 students look fantastic and are on display in the ICT/library.).

PARENTS AND FRIENDS

BUNNINGS Sausage Sizzle and Cake StallSaturday 25th March

10 MORE HELPERS WANTED FOR THIS SATURDAY 25th MARCH

Thank you to the 9 wonderful parents who have offered their time to help at Bunnings on Saturday. We still require at least 10 more helpers for the BBQ during the afternoon and the cake stall from 10am. Parents, friends, staff and senior students are all welcome to assist and you are welcome to bring children/students to sit with you at the cake stall. Please let us know by Wednesday if you can help - fill in the form ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE or email pandf@sgreservoir.catholic.edu.au or let Kim know 0414 843 814.

ANNUAL EASTER RAFFLEEaster Raffle tickets are now on sale. $1 per ticket. Please ensure your name and class is on every ticket. Raffle will be drawn on Friday 31st March.

If you would like to donate to the raffle, please place your item in your class black donation box by 27/3/17. Donations of Easter chocolates, decorations or wrapping are welcome. Thank you for your support

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BUNNINGS CAKE STALL VOLUNTEER FORM (office, P&F tray)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BUNNINGS SAUSAGE SIZZLE VOLUNTEER FORM (office, P&F tray) SUN SMARTREMINDER: Wear school hats at recess

& lunchtime, during sport and excursions.

OPEN DAY WEDNESDAY, 15 MARCH 2017

2:30pm – 6:30pm

Santa Maria College is a Years 7 to 12 Catholic Girls’ College. We are an International Baccalaureate World School delivering an international standard of education through the Middle Years Programme (Years 7 to 10).Discover Our SchoolOpen Day is an annual event held at Santa Maria College. The primary aim of Open Day is to showcase what is on offer at the College for prospective students. Current students at Santa Maria will take you on a tour around the College to discover the amazing array of subjects and opportunities that are available. Students and staff prepare and facilitate activities and displays which provide an insight into life at Santa Maria College and what being a ‘Santa Girl’ is all about. Open Day is not to be missed for any student considering enrolment at Santa Maria College. You will be provided with an opportunity to:

· undertake a guided tour of the College and its facilities· see learning in action· visit the range of learning spaces· meet the Principal and staff· experience the welcome of our students and staff· collect an enrolment pack· enjoy afternoon tea

CAKES WANTED - THIS FRIDAY PLEASE

We are holding a cake stall at Bunnings this Saturday 25th March. We would love it if all parents could contribute a home made cake for the stall. Cakes must not contain cream or require refrigeration. Large cakes, cupcakes, slices etc. are welcome (packaged/manufactured cakes are appreciated but do not sell well, so home made products are preferred).

Please bring any items for the stall to either the north end of the hall or the Community Room this Friday, or please bring your cake directly to the cake stall, pre-wrapped, on Saturday to Bunnings, 11 Dalton Road, Thomastown (we will be in the foyer)

Please provide details of the product on the form that will be provided tomorrow

Contact Name: Phone Number:

Preferred time (please circle): 12.00pm-2.00pm 2.00pm-4.30pm

I would prefer to (please circle): Serve Cook

Contact Name: Phone Number:

Preferred time 10.00am-12.00pm 12.00pm-2.00pm 2.00pm-4.00pm

Class Active Travel

Prep R 50.0%

Prep M 60.0%

Junior D 47.3%

Junior T 47.3%

Middle E 52.2%

Middle M 45.0%

Senior A 61.9%

Senior R 52.6%

SCHOOL 53%

WELL DONE TO OUR ACTIVE TRAVELLERS! We had an amazing 53% of students actively travel to school for National Ride2School Day last Friday. Well done everyone! Congratulations to Mrs Amanda’s class who had 62% of students actively travel to school. National Ride2School Day Results:

Class Active Travel

Prep R 45.3%

Prep M 53.1%

Junior D 33.3%

Junior T 31.1%

Middle E 40.9%

Middle M 30.7%

Senior A 30.2%

Senior R 26.2%

SCHOOL 36.4%

ACTIVE CLASS OF THE MONTHCongratulations to Mrs Mia’s class Prep M who had the highest recorded active travel rate for the 4 week period over February/March. 53.1% - great work! Some certificates and free Zooper Dooper icy poles are coming your way! Active Travel Class of the Month Results: