Newsletter February 20 – Term 1, Week 4 50 Grossmans Rd, Torquay 3228 Tel:(03) 5261 4246 Fax: (03) 5261 6221 Website www.sttorquay.catholic.edu.au Mass Times in Parish Anglesea: Sat 5.30pm Torquay: Sun 8.45am Grovedale: Sun10.30am Parish Phone Number: 52439891 Dates to Remember Term 1: Hot Dog Day: 26th Feb Sushi Day: 5th March See details in P&F info below. Parent Information Evenings: Yr 1- 6: 7 pm Thursday 20th Feb Reconciliation Presentation Mass: Sunday 2nd Mar St Therese Cross Country: Monday 3rd March 10 am Start/Finish: Torquay Front Beach- (back up day Tuesday 4th) Shrove Tuesday: 4th March, Pancake Day Ash Wednesday Mass: 5th March at St Therese Church 9.30am St Therese Athletics Day: Monday 24th March at Bob Pettit Reserve in Jan Juc Year 6 Urban Camp: Monday March 31st – Wednesday 2nd April An up to date Calendar can be found on our school website. Dear Parents, Thanks to those parent who were able to come to the prep information night last night and to those who will attend the Yr1-6 evening tonight. Summaries of the evening with links will be placed on Year Level Blogs and the school’s website. At the Beginning of School year Mass the Year 6 Leadership group were presented with their badges. Congratulations to all our School leaders. Sports: Xavier Huxtable, Olivia Gross, Tom Powell, Millie Johnson, Noah Gadsby, Jack Farrow, Indi White, Hunter Locke Assembly : Riley Lewis, Mackenzie Ewings Outreach: Lilyanna Keating, Remony Reid Buddy: Will Marshal , Zoe Jones ICT: Henry Van Til , Billy Gibbons All Year 6 students also received their Year 6 jackets, we wish them well in their final year at St Therese and continually look to them for leadership within our school. Bring your own device (BYOD) Year 5/6, 2014: St Therese is expanding its current iPad Program to allow for a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policy to be implemented for students in Years 5/6 by the end of Term 1, 2014. This program allows students to use their own iPads or mini iPads at school as well as at home. They will be wholly responsible for these. We have worked with our IT management provider, Centorrino, to ensure that all students can access their device through our school network and security system, as well as also developing a BYOD school policy. This policy is now available for families and will be sent home tomorrow with Yr 5/ 6 students who are interested in this program. Once User agreements are signed students can bring their device. We will continue to provide school-owned laptops and iPads for all students to use and no student will be disadvantaged if they do not have their own device. Students will not be able to take school- owned iPads home. A careful consideration for Year 6 student families is that most Secondary Schools will require students to purchase or lease a completely new device in Year 7. There is no expectation that your children will need to purchase an iPad or mini iPad. We will continue to offer the availability of school-owned netbook/ laptops and ipads in all classes Students own their own device and are fully responsible if lost, stolen or damaged. Any questions please direct to Darren on [email protected] Cross Country: On Monday the 3rd of March, the school will be holding our first St Therese cross country carnival. The cross country will be held down at Torquay Front Beach starting at 10:00am and finishing around 12:00pm. Starting and finishing line will depend on the tide on the day as we hope to have some of the run on hard sand. Prep, Year 1 and 2 children will be getting a bus there and back to school. Year 3 to 6 will walk. Back up day is Tuesday the 4th. Prep children will run 400 metres. Year 1 children will run 800 metres. Year 2 children will run 1 km. Year 3 children will run 1.5km. Year 4 children will run 2km Year 5 and 6 children will run 3km. A great opportunity for families to train for this event using the distances above as a goal. Any inquires feel free to contact Vaughn McCarthy at school or email [email protected] Cyber safety: On Monday 17th of February Leading Senior Constable Robert Noggler visited the 5/6 learning community to talk to us about cyber safety. He taught us lots of interesting things about the internet and how to be safe using it. Some of the important things we discussed were: cyber bullying, digital footprints, being safe online, bystanders, using social media sites, some safety tips, meta data and using your devices near your parents. The most important of all, is to let someone know if you come across anything that is not appropriate. From the 5 /6 blog Sustainability News Clean Up Australia Day: Students in years 3-6 will be travelling off site on Friday 28th February to take part in Clean Up Australia Day. Years 5/6 will focus on Jan Juc Creek, Jan Juc Beach and Torquay Back Beach. Years 3/4 will focus on the Torquay Front Beach/Fisherman’s Beach area. Some Year 1/2 classes will focus on the nature strips which border our school, such as Grossmans Road and Illawong Drive, as well as our school grounds. All middle and senior classes will participate in these activities between 9:15 and 12:00am PARENTS ARE ENCCOURAGED TO COME AND HELP OUT. From Sari and Charlotte, year 5/6 Sustainability Leaders: On Schools Clean Up Australia Day, 28th February, students should bring gloves from home to participate in picking up rubbish around Torquay. The 5/6 Sustainability Leaders will organize some certificates and spot prizes to give to students who help out on this day. These are the areas the levels will focus on Prep - school grounds 1/2 - school grounds, Grossmans Road and Illawong drive. 3/4- Cosy Corner to Fisherman’s Beach 5/6- Jan Juc Creek and Torquay Surf Beach area. Parents are welcome to attend. Your child will be able to give you the times that they will be cleaning up (these will be in the morning before lunch) You do not need to sign an excursion form as this falls under the local excursion forms you have already signed. St Therese is a 5 Star School: Since 2008 our school has been part of Sustainability Victoria’s, ‘Sustainable Schools Project’. As part of this project we have completed modules in water, waste, biodiversity, energy and community leadership. We have also made great links with local environmental groups, planted thousands of trees and shrubs, started recycling programs, saved our school money and made an impact on student understandings about living sustainably. In December last year we received notification that we have become a 5 Star Sustainable School, which is an outstanding achievement. To put this in context:  There are 1017 Victorian schools in this program.  Only 26 Victorian schools are 5 star schools, of which we are now one.  Port Fairy State School and St Therese are the only 5 star schools in the Barwon South West Region.  We are one of five schools to receive this status in 2013.  The Victorian Minister for the Environment and Climate Change has to approve new 5 Star schools. On behalf of the St Therese staff, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the families who support our environmental initiatives. You can continue to help us on our journey by doing things such as:  Sending rubbish free lunches, not buying food in small packaging (eg shapes)  Travelling sustainably to and from school (walking, riding, part of the way is ok too)  Discussing environmental issues with your child. Thanks for your continued support. RECYCLE YOUR BATTERIES You can now recycle your old batteries at St Therese Primary School. The recycling bin is located in the front office. We will dispose of the batteries at Barwon Waste Management in Geelong North for you. This is another initiative we have started at school to help the local community and our environment. Families are welcome and encouraged to drop off their batteries to our recycling bin. We will take button, AAA, AA, C, and D sized batteries. Batteries recycled in 2013- 21.28 kg. So far we have sent around 1700 batteries to Barwon Waste to be recycled in the correct manner, instead of going to landfill. Parent-Teacher Interviews 2014 Prep families will be given their login name and PIN number this Friday. Parent-Teacher interviews will be held for years Prep to Year 6, interview timeslots are 3.40 to 4.55 - 4.00 to 4.15 or 4.20 to 4.35 every second Wednesday Term 1commencing on February 12. Interviews will be of 15 minutes duration. Using this system you will be able to book the interview times that suit you best from any internet-connected computer. Please access the system as follows: Go to the school’s home page www. www.sttorquay.catholic.edu.au/ Click the PTO Link icon as shown here … Enter your surname and PIN, (this is enclosed in your child’s school fees) if you misplace your Login details, call the office as the school has a copy of your details. If you encounter any problems using PTO please contact the school office by phone on 52 614246, or by email to [email protected] Yoga & Wellness Event for Mums! Saturday March 1st 8.30am – 10am Barwon Heads Hall. Tickets & more information visit www.thehappyparentproject.com Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden: Last year we applied to join the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, to enhance our learning in areas such as living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and encouraging children to establish positive lifelong eating habits. The Program is designed to be fully integrated into the Australian Curriculum as it offers infinite possibilities to reinforce literacy, numeracy, science, cultural studies and all aspects of environmental sustainability. In addition, the Program delivers observable social benefits to all students, including those with special needs. Taking part in this program teaches children important life skills across all areas of the curriculum. Julie Nicholson and I will be attending training for the program over 4 days this year. Our school is already well equipped with plenty of garden spaces set up and a purpose built kitchen that caters for teaching cooking classes. We also have plenty of keen participants in teachers and students! To enable this program to run efficiently, we would love parent and local community involvement. This might mean you have a regular time when you can assist, or you may be able to help just once or twice. If you would like more information please check out the website via this link. http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/ If you wish to be involved, please contact me. 'The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden National Program will educate the next generation of Australian children to enjoy the pleasures of fresh, seasonal food and to develop the skills that lead to lifelong health.' Stephanie Alexander Anne Jordan – [email protected] School Board Nominations: It is that time of year when we seek nominations for the School Board from the parent Body. The School Board is an Advisory Board to the Parish Priest and the Principal and provides a great opportunity for any parent to contribute to the ongoing development of the School. In addition, the Advisory Board is responsible for managing the St Therese Foundation. If you would like to contribute to the School in this way please nominate yourself on the attached form before the March 11 Board meeting. There are currently two positions available and we welcome new members, as we believe it is important to maintain a healthy injection of new faces and ideas to assist the Principal, Pauline Audley and Parish Priest, Fr Linh develop the School and the School Community. The School Board plays a complementary role to the extremely important work done by the Parents and Friends Association. Please feel free to contact me or any other member of the current Board if you would like to discuss nominating and are uncertain about any aspect of being a Board member of St Therese School. The time commitment is not onerous though the value to the School is great and much appreciated. Brendan McKeegan Chair 2014 School Board Nomination Form I hereby wish to Nominate for the St Therese School Board for 2014. Name ________________________________________ Signature ________________________________________ Please note: Current Board Members and Nominees vote on vacant positions. Nomination forms are also available from the office. St Therese parents & friends “Just One Thing” We require volunteers for Pancake Day, sausage sizzle and the family night, Luau/Hawaiian theme. If you can help out at all on these important days please email following people: For Pancake Day Deb on [email protected] School sports sausage sizzle Marisa on [email protected] luau night Alyson on [email protected] Our next P & F meeting will be held Tuesday 4th March at 2pm in school Hall. All new members very welcome. The more the merrier! Next month we will trial a night time meeting as requested by some parents that are unable to make day time meetings. This will be April 2nd at 7.30pm. If you can attend the night time meeting please email Megan on [email protected] for details of venue. HOT DOG AND SUSHI DAYS Hot dogs $ 2.50 Prima drink $1.00 Ice poles 50c If you would like to volunteer and help out on the Hot Dog days, please email Vikki McCoy on [email protected] all that is required is 1.5 hrs on the day, once a term. ORDERS CANNOT BE TAKEN AT THE KITCHEN. Sushi orders are to be written on brown paper bag with child’s name and class and given to class teacher. Vegetarian, chicken and tuna are available. Prices are as follows: Snack pack: $3.50 Lunch pack: $7.00 CLASS PARENT REPRESENTATIVES 2014 Don’t forget if you’re interested to be a class parent social butterfly for your child’s year level, please place your details on the form in the school office. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Leanne O’Brien on 0425 774 035 or email [email protected] for further information. MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON IMPORTANT DATES TERM ONE Feb 19th: Sushi day Feb 26th: Hot dog day March 4th: Pancake day March 4th: P & F meeting 2pm in school hall March 12th: Hot dog day March 24th: School sports sausage sizzle March 29th: Family Luau night 5 -8pm school hall April 2nd: P & F meeting 7.30 pm see newsletter for venue. Our annual Mothers Day luncheon will soon be upon us, and this is an event not to be missed. Mark in your diary now Friday 9th May at Sands Resort. More details will follow in future newsletter. HESSIAN BAGS In 2011 the P & F had as a fundraiser, a great hessian bag which one of our past students created the logo that is on the bags. Peaches in Torquay have been selling these for us and there are only limited numbers left. So please do yourself a favour and head down and purchase one or more of these fabulous bags for $5 each. Come along to our Term One Get together….. Tuesday 18th March 7:30pm Drinks at the Front Beach Café The Esplanade, Torquay All welcome!!!!! Morning Tea for all PREP parents and for any new parents to our school Next Tuesday there will be a morning tea at Moby’s after school drop off for all our Prep parents and also for any new parents to our school. Meet out the back where your preschoolers can play. This will be held on Tuesday 25th February from 9am. It will be a great opportunity to meet new faces in a relaxed environment. We look forward to seeing you there. Extend After School Care at St Therese Primary School: Our recap Over the last three weeks, After School Care had a puppet, circus and Olympics themed week. The children have made some fabulous puppets, put on puppet shows, made some juggling balls, clown face biscuits, pipecleaner acrobats and clown costumes. The creations are truly magical and have been photo documented in the scrap book displayed in the OSHC room. We have had some of the older children take on workshops and leadership roles and it has worked successfully. Next week is Camping week, so get ready for marshmallows, ghost stories and blanket and pillow forts. Also, if you have a spare hat at home, please make sure to put it in your school bag so we can have some outdoor fun in the sun without worrying about misplacing your school hat! Kayla Our Extend Superstar’s are Coby & Charlie. Thank you Coby for volunteering to clean up and thank you Charlie for helping the new Prep students settle in and feel welcome. Next week’s activities: Monday 24 February: Outdoor Scavenger Hunt Tuesday 25 February: Build a Blanket & Pillow Fort Wednesday 26 February: Build a pretend Fire & eat Marshmallows Thursday 27 February: Fishing Memory Game Friday 28 February: Painting pine cones and making pine cone friends ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE: 1300 366 437 From the Crossing Man: A belated welcome back to everyone and a big thank you for your concern and interest in my wellbeing. You looked after me well at Christmas and my birthday. The Preps have been taught the crossing drill – stand behind the bubbles and wait for two blows of the whistle. Mums, if your child pulls you back or says “Mum, stop please” help where you can. It is a good idea for parents with children to use the crossing to help your child in safety education. The double lines between the roundabout and the crossing are the ones it is illegal to turn right or U turn over. The drop off zone on the north side is a three minute stop off. My hours of duty are 8.00am to 9.00am and 2.45pm to 4.00pm. Please keep alert and be aware of where I am. Regards Kirke Community Notices: Open Days: Saint Ingatius College Date: Sunday 23 March 2014 11am - 2pm Information Sessions 11am and 12.15pm “See the College at Work” Wednesday 7 May 2014 9 -11am Address 27 Peninsula Drive Drysdale VIC 3222 Phone (03) 5251 1136 Email [email protected] Web www.ignatius.vic.edu.au Sacred Heart College Date: Tuesday 25 March 2014 Option 1 Tour 1 - 3.45pm Information session 5 - 5.30pm Option 2 Tour 2 - 5.30pm Information session 7 - 7.30pm Address Retreat Road Newtown VIC 3220 Phone (03) 5221 4211 Email [email protected] Web www.shcgeelong.catholic.edu.au Clonard College Date: Friday 21 March 2014 Tours 1pm & 4.30pm “See the College at Work” Monday 24 March 2014 9.15am Go to our website or contact the College for full details. Address 225 Church St Herne Hill VIC 3218 Phone (03) 5278 2155 Email [email protected] Web www.clonard.catholic.edu.au St Joseph’s College Date: Thursday 24 April 2014 Pre-register for our Open Day online at www.sjc.vic.edu.au Address NEWTOWN CAMPUS 135 Aphrasia Street Newtown VIC 3220 WESTCOURT CAMPUS 31 Minerva Road Herne Hill VIC 3218 Phone (03) 5226 8100 Email [email protected] Web www.sjc.vic.edu.au TORQUAY BOARDRIDERS AGGERGATE 1: Torquay junior boardriders are holding their first competition for the year 2014 on the 1st of March at Jan Juc 7.30am weather conditions permitting. We will be running u10 u12 girls and boys, if you want to have some fun in the surf with your friends come along. Make sure you bring a parent. If you have any queries check our web page http://torquayboardriders.com/ or email [email protected] Meagan Burch Music Tuition Music Lessons AT school Piano, keyboard, Guitar, Ukulele, Drum or Singing Lessons Private & Group of 2 Lessons During &/or After School Hours at School Come & try music lessons without committing to the full term. To enrol in, or to obtain more information please contact Meagan:[email protected] Providing Music Lessons in local schools since 1985. Community Football Information Evening: An invitation to be part of an exciting journey for community football As you know Surf Coast FC has been accepted into the new National Premier League competition and as a result there is a requirement to establish a new community-level club for players that do not participant at the NPL level. This information evening will focus solely on the community club with a view to provide insight on current status, our vision and what we need to do over the coming months to ensure our community players are ready to take to the field as the season commences. The journey ahead is exciting and we are keen to ensure that the community and members are part of the journey. Details are as follows: Thursday, 20 February 2014 7:30 – 8:30pm Grant Pavilion Banyul Warri Reserve, Torquay Look forward to seeing you there. Interim Committee Members - Community Level Club.