Ms Koulouris' Class Newsletter
Newsletter Thursday 23rd March, 2023
We the staff of St Patrick’s acknowledge the traditional owners, the Kulin nations, of the land on which we learn and play.
We pay respects to the Aboriginal Elders, past and present, who are our teachers.
We thank them for taking care of children and country for countless generations.
John 5:31-47
You place your hopes on Moses but Moses will be your accuser
Jesus said to the Jews: ‘Were I to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid; but there is another witness who can speak on my behalf, and I know that his testimony is valid.
You sent messengers to John,and he gave his testimony to the truth:
not that I depend on human testimony; no, it is for your salvation that I speak of this. John was a lamp alight and shining and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave. But my testimony is greater than John’s: the works my Father has given me to carry out, these same works of mine testify that the Father has sent me. Besides, the Father who sent me bears witness to me himself. You have never heard his voice, you have never seen his shape, and his word finds no home in you because you do not believe in the one he has sent.
‘You study the scriptures, believing that in them you have eternal life;
now these same scriptures testify to me, and yet you refuse to come to me for life! As for human approval, this means nothing to me.
Besides, I know you too well: you have no love of God in you. I have come in the name of my Father and you refuse to accept me; if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him. How can you believe,
since you look to one another for approval and are not concerned
with the approval that comes from the one God? Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father: you place your hopes on Moses, and Moses will be your accuser. If you really believed him
you would believe me too, since it was I that he was writing about;
but if you refuse to believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?’
Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,
No supervision before 8.30am
A reminder to all parents, carers and guardians; the school gates do not open until 8.30am.
Children are NOT TO BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED before this time.
The school’s duty of care does not begin until 8.30am. I understand that parents have work etc to go to but we are talking about the safety or our most precious belongings.
I will be contacting parents who continue to drop students off too early and ask that alternative arrangements are made.
Just a reminder…
The school gates will close at 8.55am. It is important to have the students begin their day promptly and without any interruptions.
Please remember the gates open at 8.30am so there is ample time to get your child/ren to school. It is imperative that parents understand that we ensure that learning begins on time and that at St Patrick’s we wish to develop good habits early. Any parents who are still in the school after 8.55am, will need to go through the office out to the carpark if the gates are not manned.
Similarly, if your child/ren are running late and arriving after 8.55am onwards, they will need to come through the school office.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Take care and God Bless
Meg
Ms Koulouris' Class Newsletter:
It’s been a busy but enjoyable few weeks for our Year 2 students. From splashing away at Splashes during weeks 5-6, to attending our St Patrick day Mass, and exploring the creepy crawlies we like to call mini beasts - we’ve had many exciting things happening!
Last week, we were lucky enough to have a visit from Minibeast Wildlife. We not only met Isabella who loves talking about minibeasts; but we met 3 long and spikey leaf insects, 2 giant burrowing cockroaches, 1 scary tarantula, a HUGE but cute huntsman and a cool scorpion. We also saw a long millipede, a venomous centipede and a slimy snail. (We’ve been learning about Adjectives.. can you tell?)
Some of them stayed in their jars, but most of them crawled along our skin. Mrs Bateson, Mrs Orchard and Miss Koulouris were amongst the brave who picked up some of these creepy crawly minibeasts!
We really enjoyed our incursion and learnt a lot of interesting facts about minibeasts. Like, tarantulas can live for up to 25 years or snails have one shell for their entire lives? Here are some of our pictures:
In Maths this week, we’ve been exploring Place Value. We created Place Value robots using MAB blocks and then added it all together. Check them out here:
This week we also had the opportunity to celebrate Harmony Day. Harmony Day is special as it reminds us that even though we all come from different places, we all belong. We filled in a puzzle piece with a picture of our family and a drawing of where we came from. Here is a picture of us with the craft we made.
Thanks for reading about our recent adventures in 2KK.
Understanding Victoria’s Child Safe Standards
The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) commenced in Victoria in January 2016. Since then, we have seen how the Standards have improved safety for children and young people.
Changes in 2022 and 2023 have made our Standards even stronger.
Since 1 July 2022, organisations[1] covered by the Standards have to comply with 11 new Standards.
The 11 Standards set out minimum requirements and outline the actions organisations must take to keep children and young people safe.
Each week, there will be a new standard for you to read about.
The Standards provide more clarity for organisations and are more consistent with Standards in the rest of Australia.
The 11 Standards include specific requirements:
- to involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
- for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
- to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
- in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.
In complying with Child Safe Standard 3 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
3.1 Children and young people are informed about all of their rights, including to safety, information and participation.
3.2 The importance of friendships is recognised and support from peers is encouraged, to help children and young people feel safe and be less isolated.
3.3 Where relevant to the setting or context, children and young people are offered access to sexual abuse prevention programs and to relevant related information in an age-appropriate way.
3.4 Staff and volunteers are attuned to signs of harm and facilitate child-friendly ways for children and young people to express their views, participate in decision-making and raise their concerns.
3.5 Organisations have strategies in place to develop a culture that facilitates participation and is responsive to the input of children and young people.
3.6 Organisations provide opportunities for children and young people to participate and are responsive to their contributions, thereby strengthening confidence and engagement.
School Uniforms
At St Patrick’s, it is important to highlight to students the message around respecting our school uniform. The uniform represents our school and is expected to be worn with pride. Please be aware that I will approach and ask students about their uniform and will follow up with parents if necessary.
Please write a note to your child/ren’s classroom teacher if there is an issue with the inform for a particular period of time.
Some reminders:
- Socks- are to be ankle socks; white for girls and grey for boys
- Students are to wear black shoes and NOT (black) runners. Runners may be brought to school for your child/ren to change into for the playtimes;
- Girls are permitted to wear the school (Summer) dress or the school shirt and grey shorts
- Boys wear the grey shorts in Summer and the long grey pants in Winter (they may choose to continue wearing the shorts.)
- Sports uniform consists of the polo shirt with the school logo and the green track pants or green unisex shorts.
- School sports jacket is optional in the cooler months.