ST MICHAEL’S SCHOOL bASSEndEAn

V E R I T A S

NEWSLETTER 15

12th June

2015

St Joseph’s Parish,

20 Hamilton Street, Bassendean 6054

Parish Office: 9379 2691

Fr Son Nguyen : 9279 1549

Email: bassendean@perthcatholic.org.au

MERCY

St Michael’s School is a Catholic school founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1914. We aspire to provide a secure, caring learning environment where commitment to

Faith, Truth, and Personal Endeavour are encouraged as a way of life.

St Michael’s School

4 James Street, Bassendean 6054

PO Box 428, Bassendean 6934

Phone: 6278 9888 Absentees: 6278 9802

www.stmichaelsbass .w a.edu.au

Dates for your Diary

Sat 13th Jun ...... First Holy Communion Mass, ................. 6.00pm

Sun 14th Jun ..... First Holy Communion Mass, ................. 9.00am

Mon 15th Jun ..... School Board/P&F Meeting

Tue 16th Jun...... School Camp commences, ................. Yrs 5 & 6

Fri 19th Jun........ Assembly

Fri 19th Jun........ School camp concludes, Yrs 5 & 6

Wed 24th Jun .... Mass, Year 3

Thur 25th Jun .... Interschool Lightning Carnival

Fri 26th Jun........ Assembly

Mon 29th Jun ..... Reports go home

Fri 3rd July ......... Term 2 Finishes

Term 3 commences Wednesday, 22nd July at 8.40am

Dear Parents Next week will see the highlight of the year for our Year 5 and 6 students - camp. For many students, it becomes the highlight of their whole primary school life!! I’m not sure if the teachers think the same, but I know that Mr Caddy and Miss Brescacin have gone to a lot of effort putting the programme together. This year, our students are going to Ern Halliday Camp School in Hillarys. Whilst on camp, the students will participate in lots of teambuilding activities that will be challenging and fun. They will be away from the usual classroom setting and it always is a great chance to get to know each other in a different setting. Along with Mr Caddy and Miss Brescacin, Mr Stein, Mrs Stewart, Mr Palmer and myself will be attending. Please keep all the students and the teachers in your prayers next week. First Holy Communion - Please keep those prayers going for our Year 4 students who will be making their First Holy Communion this weekend. Some students will receive it on Saturday night and some on Sunday morning. We are slowly moving towards the parish based programme where eventually, all students will receive the Sacraments as a part of a normal weekend Mass rather than a fancy ceremony. This is the direction that the bishops want all schools and parishes to go as too often, we get caught up in the ceremony and miss the real meaning of the Sacraments. Also, the bishops want to take some of the pressure off the schools as these ceremonies take weeks to prepare and can interfere with the students’ class time. I would like to thank Mrs Fox, Mrs Harwood and Mrs Panizza in advance for all of their hard work preparing for this special occasion. I would really appreciate it if as many people as possible come along to assist the choir and make it something really special. Board/P&F Meetings - These will be held next Monday 15th June from 6pm (Board) and 7.30pm (P&F). Please note that you can now access the staffroom from the office or the gate by the Kindy.

Laurie Bechelli PRINCIPAL

This Week’s Merit Awards PP ......... Henry M.;

Year 1…Leah V., Mia S.;

Year 2…Samuel D., Xavier G.;

Year 3… Jack W., Kaitlyn G.;

Year 4…Anton K., Charlie S.;

Year 5…Matthew L., Michael G.;

Year 6…Shantana R., Luis G.;

Having a place to go – is a home.

Having someone to love – is a family.

Having both – is a blessing.

(Donna Hedges)

SCHOOL FEES Our ANZ Bank Account details are as follows, for anyone wishing to pay directly into it.

BSB: 016-255 ACC: 4247 69155 Your name must be included in any payments made

through the bank account.

Alternatively, direct debit forms are available from the school office if you wish to set up a regular payment.

If you wish to apply for HCC discount on the tuition fee portion of the account, please come to the office to fill in a HCC form and present a copy of your concession card.

UNIFORM SHOP OPENING HOURS

Monday mornings 8.30 – 9.00am

Thursday afternoons 2.30pm – 3.15pm ABSENTEE LINE: 6278 9802 Please phone the number above if your child is absent from school. We ask that you do not email individual class teachers regarding absence, but use the dedicated phone line instead. You will also need to give a signed note of explanation to the class teacher on your child’s return to school.

TRASH FREE TUESDAY We ask that on every Tuesday you are mindful of the way you package your children’s lunchbox to minimise waste at our school. Ideally we would love to see no wrappers, and all food packaged into containers.

NO PARKING IN KISS AND RIDE! Please don’t park in the Kiss & Ride and leave your vehicle. It badly impedes the flow of traffic and holds up other families who are trying to drop children off. If you need to help your child out of the car or escort them to the classroom, please park your car elsewhere.

SCHOOL IS A NUT FREE ZONE St Michael’s School is an Allergy Friendly School. We have students who can experience a life threatening reaction to tasting, touching or smelling nuts.

Students should not bring ANY items of food where the key ingredient is nuts. This means pastes such as Nutella and Peanut Butter; raw nuts such as almonds, pistachios, cashews and peanuts; or foods with nuts as a main ingredient, such as muesli bars or chocolate

bars containing nuts. We ask that these products not

be brought to school .

LATE ARRIVALS

There are a number of children who are constantly arriving late to school.

Parents are asked to try to ensure that children are in their classroom by

8.40am otherwise they are marked absent.

To avoid being marked absent, all children who arrive at school after 8.40am MUST sign in at the office. We ask for your cooperation in ensuring your child is ready for class to commence promptly at 8.40am.

Straight from the Chair

Who can believe we are mid-way through Term 2, we are finally seeing the temporary structures around the renovations being dismantled and piece by piece we can see the finishing line of the project, just in time for our school community to be protected from the winter rains. Research and discussions continue with respect to the future I.T resources for our school, with a decision to be made before our current lease is finalised later this year. There are some exciting enhancements being considered. Balancing the attraction of new and exciting options with the practicalities of application in the school environment, and all within our financial parameters, is certainly a challenge. We see Naplan finalised for 2015. Well done to the teachers and parents for preparing and supporting our students through this process. We have achieved improved and impressive results in Naplan over the last three years. These results have been achieved by a concerted focus on the structure of education in our early years combined with our teachers continually seeking to improve in all areas throughout the whole year. Naplan is one of many tools used to assess the students and schools academic abilities and I am pleased to see that focus on this test and understanding its importance is balanced within the St Michaels community. Please remember that your school board is elected to represent you and your family, we currently have a versatile cross representation of our families on the board and we are working well together thrashing out the agenda items. If you have questions or suggestions do not hesitate to contact any one of the board members. As we brave the cold mornings for the remainder of this term I hope you and your families are able to stay well and warm and enjoy the final weeks of this term. Kara Collins Board Chairperson

CANTEEN NEWS

NEXT WEEK’S CHOICES

Minestrone Soup Banana Smoothies Any queries, please contact me.

Linda Ford

Canteen Manager 0437 375 079

Assistant Principals’ Update On Wednesday 3rd June, we celebrated a Mass led by the

Year 5 class focusing on Compassion and Kindness. After the Mass we participated in a special project initiated by Archbishop Costelloe – ‘Link Up On LifeLink Day’. Each student made paper links, which were then joined together to form one, large, school circle representing our school community joined together as one. HOLY COMMUNION MASS This weekend we have the First Holy Communion Masses at St Joseph’s Parish. 6:00pm, Saturday, 13th June 2015 and/or 9:00am, Sunday, 14 June 2015 The children are expected to be assembled in the Year 4 classroom 30 minutes prior to the commencement of Mass. The children will be presented with their lapel pin, have a last minute briefing and process into the Church with Father. The School Choir is asked to attend 20 minutes prior to the commencement of the Mass. We thank the choir in advance for the support in attending these Masses. CHANGE OF DATE YR 4 CLASS ASSEMBLY

The Year 4 Assembly has been moved from Week 9, Friday 19 June to Week 10, Friday 26 June. There will be NO ASSEMBLY Week 9 as the Year 5’s & Year 6’s will be on camp. REPORTS The teachers have been busy preparing reports so that they can go home on Monday, 28 June. Parents if you have any concerns about your child’s progress please make an appointment with your child’s class teacher to discuss this further. Jacquie Fox & Jacki Tucker

$CHOOL BANKING Deposit book to be placed in each classroom inside CBA Grey Satchels every Wednesday.

Give your child a head start in money

matters

School Banking – Every Wednesday Deposit Wallets are to be placed in each Classroom inside CBA Grey Satchels each Wednesday for collection and return. Please check your child’s school bag to make sure that the Deposit wallet has been processed and returned. In the event that the Deposit Wallet has not been returned the same day each Wednesday, please check with your respective class Teacher. In the event that your child arrives late at School, and the CBA Grey Satchels have been collected, please come and see us at the Multi-Purpose Room (only up to 9.55am) to drop off your Banking wallets or with money to be banked accordingly as per your instructions if you have forgotten your wallets but still wish to make a deposit.

Congratulations to Students who have Redeemed 10 Tokens Term 2 2015:

Imali.F, Beau.P (PP), Marcella.P , Isla.M (Yr1), Alexander.D, Tani.P, Anabel. E (Yr2), Aida.S, Lauren.H, Amelie.L (Yr3), Renata.P, Millie. P, Henry.S, Michael.D (Yr4), Angus.P (Yr5) Antonia.P (Yr6).

Reminder TO MAKE ONE DEPOSIT PER MONTH:

In order to ensure that your child’s Youthsaver account earns Bonus Interest on top of the standard interest you must make at least one deposit per month.

Calling for School Banking Volunteers!

Please confirm your interest in volunteering for this great program by contacting me on details provided. Regards and Thank you

Jordana Knezovic, School Banking Coordinator

0405829869 or jr@jrgroup.com.au

LIMITED VACATION CARE PLACES

AVAILABLE FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

For all enquiries, contact Rebecca Shaw

St Columba’s OSHC Nominated Supervisor

Phone: 9208 2723

oshc@stcolsbays.wa.edu.au

Opening Hours: 7.00am – 6.00pm

Address: 32 Roberts Street, Bayswater WA 6053

Children and healthy weight Our modern society makes it very easy for children to gain too much weight too quickly. About a quarter of Western Australian children are overweight by the time they start school. Recent research shows that children in WA among the most overweight in Australia. It is so common that it is difficult to tell what is ‘normal’ anymore.

The good news is that simple lifestyle changes for children and families help everyone. Think about changes that could work for your family, such as;

more active play (try stopping at a park on the way

home from school)

walking to school two or three times each week

plan active outings on the weekend

make food portions a little smaller

cut out some food treats

provide fewer soft drinks and fruit juices. It is important to avoid discussing weight with children. Weight loss is not recommended for children, unless under medical supervision. Healthy habits help children to ‘grow into their weight’.

For more information visit www.heartfoundation.org.au Julie-Anne Jones School Community Health Nurse julie-anne.jones@health.wa.gov.au

Western Australian Youth Strings presents the

act - belong - commit mid year concert.

When: Sunday, 21st June at 3:00pm

Where: Concert Hall, Churchlands Senior High

School, Lucca Street, Churchlands

Cost: Adults $20, children $10

Book: www.trybooking.com/HXFF

Join us for a delightful afternoon of beautiful

music. www.wayouthstrings.org.au

ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES

The West Australian and Channel 7 are giving West Australian schools the chance to win a share in $20,000 to help turn our school wishes into reality. We are asking the school community to help our school by collecting the entry forms from The Weekend West on: Saturday 13th June Saturday 20th June Saturday 27th June Please bring your collection of forms and deposit them in the red letter box. Thank you!