FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
Term 4 2014
Wednesday 19th November
Date Claimers
November 2014
18th & 19th November
Swimming
Dear Parents
Today I heard an amazing statistic, from the Chair of SIBA (Spatial Industries and Business
Association), that of all the world’s date currently in existence, 90% of it was created in
the last two years! Currently our data pile is being added to by 30 terrabytes per second;
that is the equivalent of the amount of data contained in around 3300 full length movies
(per second!). No wonder I feel like information overload!
20th & 21st November
Book Fair
With that in mind, I will be brief!
25th & 26th November
Swimming
We have determined our classroom teachers for next year;
Wednesday 26th November
Year 6 Parliament Visit
Thursday 27th November
Liturgy of the Word
Thursday 27th November
Year 1 Art Gallery
2.00pm—2.30pm
Friday 28th November
Christmas Tableau
Friday 28th November
Last School Banking Day
December 2014
Tuesday 2nd December
P & F Meeting
2nd & 3rd December
Swimming
Thursday 4th December
Year 6 Farewell
Friday 5th December
Last Day Term 4
12.00 finish
January 2015
Wednesday 28th January
First Day Term 1
Prep: Mrs Danielle Reeves and Miss Renata DeMonte
Year One: Miss Kate Campbell and Miss Caroline Coyle
Year 2: Mrs Gina Lyons
Year 3: Mrs Alana Feddema and Mrs Kellie Garske
Year 4: Mr Jake Knowles
Year 5/6: Mrs Cassandra Massey
You will of course be drawn to the fact that we have only one year 2 class next year.
Currently we have only 32 year I children and we have received notice that a number of
other children will be relocating, meaning at present we will be having one class of
approximately 27 students. There will also be school officer support in this class, exactly
as the children have had this year.
We welcome two new teaching staff in 2015;
Miss Renata DeMonte is an experienced prep and year one teacher, most recently from
St Francis Crestmead. Renata has been leading Catholic Education teachers in the
incorporation of technology in the Early Years to enhance engagement and learning, and
we look forward to seeing more of this next year.
Mrs Gina Lyons is an Early Years trained teacher with considerable experience. Gina is an
enthusiastic proponent of ‘hands on authentic learning’, and has a strong background in
HPE which will work very well with this particular group. I have had the privilege of
working with Gina in a previous setting and look forward very much to the contributions I
know she will make to our school.
We are still working through some non-teaching appointments for next year and will
hopefully bring you a full list in the next week.
SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS : 8.00AM – 3.00PM
Tomorrow we celebrate another first for Mother Teresa’s with the commencement of our graduation celebrations for
our year 6 children. Tomorrow they will participate in some leadership challenges, lunch with the principal and class
teacher before camping out on the school oval.
We have many more events coming up in the short time available to us until the end of the year, so please make sure
you have these key dates marked in your diaries. One event that I am very much looking forward to is the Christmas
Tableau which will be held on Friday 28th. This is a terrific representation of the true Christmas story, which I think is so
vital for the children to know and understand.
Please make sure you drop into our school library tomorrow or Friday and check out the Book Fair, Robyne, Kylie and
their loyal band of helpers have done an amazing job in selecting and presenting such a wide variety of books, at terrific
prices.
Finally, another reminder of our final P&F meeting for the year, which will take place on December 2nd. This will be our
IDEAS meeting. We don’t always have to be locked into repeating the same events, and new ideas rejuvenate the
school, and this in turn leads to greater participation. So if you have seen heard or participated in a novel and effective
fundraising activity, no matter how big or small, then please come along and share your suggestions!
Have a great week everyone
APRE News
Christmas Giving Tree
This week we added our Christmas Tree and gift tags to the school office in support of St Patrick’s Parish St Vincent de
Paul Christmas Giving Tree Appeal. Families from our school community are invited to participate by either donating a
gift or a non-perishable food item. In the true spirit of Christmas, this initiative is an opportunity to give to people in
our community who may not have a lot to look forward to over the Christmas Season.
If your family would like to contribute a gift, please take a gift tag from the Christmas tree in the office. Each tag has a
description of someone who will receive your Christmas cheer. Please buy a gift for them, and return the gift with the
tag attached and place it under the Christmas tree in the office.
Alternatively, you may choose to donate a non-perishable food item that will go towards creating Christmas hampers
for those less fortunate than ourselves. At any time over the next few weeks, families can donate hamper items (eg
tinned food, shortbread, juice, salad dressing, serviettes etc) to the box under the Christmas tree.
Gifts and donations need to be brought to school before Friday the 5th of December.
Liturgy of the Word
Our final whole school prayer celebration will be held on Thursday the 27th of November at 9am. We invite all friends
and families of our school community to join us for prayer and to gather in the tuckshop area for a cuppa before/
afterwards.
Morning Drop Off Procedures
A reminder that the school day begins at 8:30am. Supervision is provided in the undercover area from 8:10 each
morning where children are required to sit and wait safely in their class lines. Any children arriving before this time
will need to make arrangements for outside hours school care if their parents are unable to wait with them until
8:10am. Students are dismissed from class at 2:55pm. If your child arrives late or needs to be collected from class
throughout the day, please sign them in/out at the school office before visiting the classroom.
End of Year Dates
Please be aware of these upcoming end of year school events:
Thursday the 20th November: Book Fair
Year 6 Activity Day and Overnight Camp Out
Friday the 21st November:
Book Fair
Thursday the 27th November: End of Year Whole School Liturgy of the Word (9am)
Friday the 28th November:
Christmas Tableau (BYO Family Picnic – 5:30pm)
Wednesday the 3rd December: Last Day for swimming
Thursday the 4th December:
Year 6 Farewell Ceremony (2pm)
St Patrick’s Parish Carols by Candlelight (6pm)
Friday the 5th December:
Last Day of School (Students Dismissed at 12:00pm)
End of Year Assembly (11:30am)
Parish Carols Evening
On Thursday the 4th of December families of our Mother Teresa School Community are invited to join with St Josephs’
School and St Patrick’s Parish for a Christmas Carols evening. A sausage sizzle will be available on the night. Please
email [email protected] if you are attending, providing numbers for catering purposes. Families are also
welcome to bring their own food.
Kathleen Crawford
Finance News
OVERDUE REMINDER
Term 4 School Fees and Levies were due by Friday 31th October. Reminder notices have been issued and
your immediate attention is appreciated. The school aims to provide quality education to all students and to
enable this to be done effectively; we require the account to be paid by the due date to avoid further
implications.
Accounts can be paid by either of the following methods EFTPOS, Debit / Credit Card over the phone, BPay,
Direct Debit, Cheque and Cash (ensuring you have the correct amount, due to NO cash retained on the
premises).
Also thank you to all our families who have been contributing to the voluntary building fund. Families are
encouraged to contribute to the building fund in which a separate tax receipt will be issued to you at the end
of the financial year in which you can then claim this expense with your tax return as its tax deductable. This
is used to help maintain our beautiful new buildings.
For families wishing to continue paying school fees and levies by Direct Debit for 2015, the new DD forms
are now available on our website or from admin.
If you have any questions regarding fees please contact me on the school no. 5549 5000 or by email
[email protected]
Warm regards
Helen Day
Library News
Thursday 20th November
8.00am – 9.00am
2.30pm – 3.30pm
Friday 21st November
8.00am – 9.00am
EFTPOS available
Please ensure that all of your children’s books are returned this week.
A Big Thank You:
I would like to say a big Thank You to Kylie Dodd, who has not only helped me out in the Library over this
year, but also does a wonderful job in the uniform shop, manages the children’s banking and she played an
integral part in organising the Ladies Market Night which was a great success because of her dedication to
Mother Teresa Primary.
Thank You Kylie!
See you all at the Book Fair
Robyne Cooke
Teacher / Librarian
Year 1 News
On Thursday we were lucky enough for Surf Lifesaver Bronwyn to visit us and speak about safety at the
beach. Here are some photos we took of her presentation.
Year 1 White and Year 1 Blue
Class Blogs
PREP
http://www.motherteresaormeau14.blogspot.com.au/
YEAR 1
http://www.motherteresaormeau13.blogspot.com.au/
YEAR 2
http://www.motherteresaormeau12.blogspot.com.au/
YEAR 3
http://www.motherteresaormeau11.blogspot.com.au/
YEAR 4-5-6
http://mtsnavy.weebly.com/blog.html
Specialists
http://mtspecialists.weebly.com/
Mother Teresa School Care Group
Do Small Things With Great Love
We will begin each Friday morning at 9.00am with a brief prayer time to be held in the Prayer Room in the Administration Block
followed by a 'Touch Base' meeting finishing at 9.30 am.
(All visitors to the school are required to sign in at the school office before moving to the Prayer Room)
The Prayer Request tin is situated in reception on the round prayer table.
Requests for assistance need to be arranged through Kathleen Crawford.
Kerry Barham
Care Group Co-ordinator
[email protected]
General Interest
BAZZA’S GARDENING TIPS…
GETTING PLANTS OFF TO A GOOD START
As soon as seeds have been planted water them with a solution of Epsom Salts.
One teaspoon of Epsom Salts dissolved in 5 litres of water.
The magnesium activates the enzymes and opens up the food supply in the
seed giving a faster germination and a healthier seedling.
PLAYGROUP @ MOTHER TERESA
Our schools’ P and F run a very popular and successful playgroup for non-school aged children. It is held every Wednesday
between 8:30 – 10:30am for a gold coin donation. It is not exclusively for Mother Teresa families but is open to the wider
Ormeau community.
Our playgroup utilises the before and after school care room where there is an abundance of age appropriate games and
toys. We also venture out for outside activities (sandpit, playground etc). We have music and dance time which is heaps of
fun and we end with story time.
I look forward to seeing new faces and of course my regulars!
PCYC OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS
If you have any questions or would like enrolment
information regarding PCYC Outside School Hours Care or
Vacation Care please contact:
Carmen on 0417246054 or [email protected]
or come in and see us.
For a quick and easy way to enrol please follow the link
https://beenleighmt.hubworks.com.au/
Uniform Shop News!
Did you know there are only 3 uniform shop days left for this year!
Thursdays from 8.00 am to 8.30 am
Please note change of time for
Thursday 20th November Uniform Shop opened from 9.00am—9.30am
The Uniform Shop is taking pre-orders for 2015.
Order forms can be obtained from the website or collected from the front office.
If you would like to pre-order please ensure you include a collection date.
Collection dates are Wednesday 3rd December and Thursday 4th December from
the administration office (8.00am—3.00pm) or Friday 23rd January 2015 from the
Uniform Shop (9.00am to 1.00pm)
If you are collecting your uniforms in December payment will be processed from the
1st December. January payment will be processed from 19th January 2015.
Uniform pre-orders close Monday 1st December 2014.
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE
A valued member of our Mother Teresa community would like to offer her services as a
Justice of the Peace.
If you require this service please contact the school office and your details will be passed on.
Youth Masses: 6pm Sunday 7th Dec, with practice at 4pm; 9am Sunday 21st Dec, with practice at 8am.
Our Youth are taking part in the combined Parish and School ‘Carols by Candlelight’ on Dec 4th. If you’d like to
join us, please let me know asap!
‘United’ Youth meetings for the remainder of 2014: Friday, Nov 28 th, Dec 12th. We start at 5.30pm; the
younger group finish at 7.30pm, and the older group finish around 9pm. The night includes dinner and is held in
St Joseph’s School Hall.
We’ll soon be starting our preparations for the Christmas Youth Mass – 8pm Christmas Eve. If you’d like to be
involved in ministry for the Mass, or just have some good ideas, please contact me.
If you would like to know more about youth ministry in our Parish, please contact me.
Cathy 0400 494 943
[email protected]
SCHOOL BANKING
Last day for School Banking Friday 28th November
Congratulations to the following for receiving their School Banking Certificates.
Silver – Jackson, Emily
GOLD – Taylah
Term 4 Rewards
Projector Cup – the cup lights up and makes drinking fun
Sea Streamers – these streamers will provide hours of swimming fun
Clam of Fortune Competition for Term 4
The Commonwealth Bank are rewarding regular savers by sharing the Dollarmites latest find, precious prizes from the
ancient Clam of Fortune!
40 GoPro HERO3 White Edition Cameras
150 Slip N’ Slide Double Wave Riders
For every School Banking deposit made during the competition period, the student will receive one entry into the
competition (up to a maximum of 6 entries).
So the more they save, the more chances they have to win a prize. Competition period: 20 October 2014 – 30
November 2014.
For more information, or to view the full competition terms and conditions, visit