Dear Parents and Friends,

Week three is upon us and I am pleased to report that we have all settled into school routines and classroom learning is well and truly up and away. I don't know whether it is my age but recently I have been thinking about the pace of life and that our lives seem to be governed by many calendars - the family calendar of birthdays and family events, the school calendar, the sporting calendar and the calendar of the seasons just to name a few. The liturgical calendar - the churches calendar of seasons and celebrations has a great deal of competition and can struggle to stay on the radar in amongst our busy lives.

Like families, schools are extremely busy places with many events and programs running simultaneously at any one time. In common with other businesses, education too needs to be contemporary and in touch with current research to meet the needs of students in the 21st Century. At a national level, schools are also required to meet various benchmarks related to the Curriculum and the general wellbeing of the student body. These requirements and responses are reflected in school improvement strategies and require schools not just to develop one new initiative at a time but to map and establish a clear framework for what changes need to be made and existing successful structures and habits of excellence that need to be maintained, so no child is left behind and every child can meet their full potential.

Thank you to the many parents who took the opportunity last week and this week to come along to the ‘Parent/Teacher Chats' and took part in beginning of year interviews. It was pleasing to see so many parents come along and to show such an interest and allow teachers to meet you. Making contact with your child’s teacher in the first few weeks is extremely important and helps to establish a mutually beneficial relationship for the remainder of the year. If you haven’t touched base with your child’s teacher as yet then I urge you to make contact soon.

On Saturday the Parents and Friend's Association held a beginning of year 'friend-raiser' in the form of an Aloha Family Fun Day on the school oval. Blessed with a sunny and warm afternoon, all those who attended had a great day of fun and games, and it was nice just standing on the oval talking and connecting with friends. Overall it was a most successful event and one that many people said we should do again.

My thanks to the Parents and Friends who organised the Family Fun Day and went to a great deal of effort to ensure we had a wonderful time.

We are very fortunate at Star of the Sea to have a very active and dedicated P&F group. Throughout the year they hold a number of 'fundraising' and 'friend-raising' events with the aim of raising funds for the children. Last week, families would have received an email letter from me calling for P&F support as we are trying to find new parents to keep the Star of the Sea P&F tradition going. We need the support of new parents to help with the many tasks ahead of us this year. Unfortunately we cannot keep relying on the efforts of a few. If you can make it to the next meeting on Monday 2nd March at 7pm in the Staff Room, I would be truly appreciative. A crèche will be available in the Multi-Purpose Room.

For some reason the Annual General Meeting date didn't make it on the Term 1 Calendar. An oversight I am sure went un-noticed as I know AGMs are not up there with Fringe events or an entertaining night out.

However, I would ask you to put Tuesday 31st March on the calendar. We hope to combine the 2019 AGM and committee reports with a tour of the nearly completed school buildings and some hands on STEM activities for parents.

If you would like to be nominated for a position on the School Board, election nomination forms will be included with the next newsletter.

Welcome to all of our new students and parents and welcome back to our existing families.

We have implemented some changes to the QKR app to simplify the selection process and next term even more food options will be available. If you would like to have some input into the evolving menu for the canteen you can contact myself or reception to put forward your suggestion etc. Dtaggert@star.catholic.edu.au 

As the canteen relies heavily on your support to operate, we are urgently recruiting assistants to help out on a more regular basis, if you are interested in assisting for a few hours a day ie. either weekly, fortnightly or monthly this would be greatly appreciated, we ask that all volunteers, volunteer for only one day per week. Many hands make light work. Please contact me on 0419112106 or the office to put your name down. For our existing helpers could you also contact myself to update your details and availability to assist me with rosters.

We are struggling for volunteers on Thursdays, so if you are able to help it would be very welcomed.

Click here for the current roster.

We look forward to seeing yourself and the children in and around the canteen.

Thank you
Dee Taggert Canteen Manager

Congratulations to all students who took part in the Star of the Sea Swimming Carnival.  Students once again did exceptionally well.  Thank you to all Parents who supported the day whether it be with transport, official duties or spectating.  Emails have now gone out to students who have been selected to take part in the SACPSSA and SAPSASA swimming carnivals and team lists are on the Sports office door.  Well done to all students who have been selected.

A reminder to all families that all sporting information will come out through the Skoolbag app, if you do not have this app please feel free to see the office staff for support and all registrations are made through QKR.  If you do not have this app once again the office staff are a great resource.  Once you have registered using QKR please ensure that the registration has gone through by checking the receipts section in the app.  If you do not have a receipt then it hasn’t gone through. 

The cricket, netball and basketball teams have gone out through email.  If you have registered your child and not received an email, please contact me.  Cricket starts this weekend and Netball and Basketball start next weekend. 

• Chess Club has commenced, 8am Thursday’s in the MDC. 
• Girls Cricket - This term we are once again trying to organise a girl’s cricket team for Yr 3 – 6 students.  Information has gone out through the Skoolbag app and registrations are on QKR!  The season starts Monday, if you have any further questions please contact myself through the front office.

Here’s to a smooth sailing 2020

Kristen Victory
Sports Coordinator / Teacher

Term 1
Tuesday 28 January - Thursday 9 April

Term 1 Pupil Free Day
Friday 3 April

Tuesday 31 March
AGM

Sunday 15 February
Year 1 Family Mass at 9.30am

Monday 17 February
Cricket Australia Trophy Tour
School Board Meeting 6.30pm

Wednesday 19 February
Assembly Year 4 Hosting 1.45pm
Home Group Leaders Meeting 7pm in the Staffroom

Tuesday 25 February
Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday 26 February
Ash Wednesday Mass 9.30am

If your child is away, you need to contact the school either by:

·         SMS the number is 0417 038 063 please
          save this number

·         Phone 8115 7400 and press 1

·         Email the school on info@star.catholic.edu.au subject field is absent

You must always let the front office know as well as your teacher.

All late arrivals any time after 8.50am need to be signed in as late at the Front Office.

Thank you for your cooperation.

To view the Canteen roster and price list click on the link below.

To view the  this term's Road Monitors Roster click on the link below.

Hello Friends

It has been fantastic to see that our new families and our Reception students have settled in to the routine and structure of our school. I suspect that all families have worked out the most efficient way of getting to and from classrooms before and after school while our building process enters its final term. 

‘Book a Chat’
It was also fantastic to see families meeting with teachers for the book a chat sessions that have been held over the past couple of weeks. We hope that this has provided an opportunity for teachers to gain an insight about children in their class and for parents to share relevant information about their children.

Swimming Carnival
I also take this opportuniy to congratulate all of our competitors who took part in the start of the school swimming carnival last week. Every single competitor gave their best effort and displayed fantastic sportsperson ship skills. We also say a special thank you to all of our parent volunteers for helping to make the event a fantastic occasion. Your donation of time and skill is greatly appreciated. A sincere thanks also goes to Kristen Victory for her tireless work in this area. Congratulations to our Team Captains on their leadership and spirit and particularly the McCauley Team on taking victory for the event.

Parents are children’s first and most important teachers when it comes to relationships. The ways you relate to your children and the guidance you provide helps develop children’s social skills. You can help children develop and maintain friendships by modelling effective social skills, providing opportunities for children to practise interacting with others, and offering support when they go through difficulties. Taking the role of a coach helps children learn the skills they need for themselves. Here are some guides you can use to help your child to get along and make friends:

• Encourage your child to use kind words
• Teach them to be quick to forgive
• Teach your child how to listen and how to share
• Encourage them to think before acting
• Show them by example how to encourage others
• Give your child opportunities to take turns
• Discourage your child from walking away from conflict but rather to use words and talk it over

Children who have a wide range of interests are more likely to have something in common with others and so find it easier to make friends and get along.

Year One Family Parish Mass is this Sunday 16th February at 9:30am, followed by Morning Tea. Please join us as we place the gift of ourselves on the altar before our Lord on this 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Ash Wednesday Mass is for Years 3 to 6, parents, friends and parishioners on Wednesday 26th February at 9:30am. Please join us for this reverent beginning to Lent and stay for a cuppa and chat afterwards.

SRC
The first meeting was with our SRC Executive, the Year 6 SRCs. We are using a new model of student leadership for the SRC in 2020, a year of new vision.  The Year 6 SRCs will lead a multi-age team of ‘Buddy Classes’, which will further build our community and friendships. This will make three teams and I am sure that this year the SRC initiatives will be fun filled and social-action packed. These students have a strong sense of justice. The SRC look forward to serving our students and welcome any suggestions from their peers.

May God bless you and keep you safe,
Stella Foley

Welcome everybody to a new year. Your Year 6 SRCs have met and have already planned some fun activities for the year ahead. So be prepared for a ‘Wear your Team Colours’ day, stalls and a Casual Clothes Day to support the people and animals affected by the Bushfires. If you have any questions you can speak to Mrs Foley or your class SRC.

Shrove Tuesday is Tuesday 25 February 2020. We have always been blessed with fantastic support from parents with the generous supply of pancake batter.  A tried and true school batter recipe can be found in this newsletter. If you are able to send along one container of mixture per family, it would be greatly appreciated.

Over the last couple of years we have had an over supply of pancake mixture and in the past we have been able to take the remaining batter to The Hutt St Centre and various other charities. However the last couple of years we have found that they cant receive pre made foods due to food safety laws. For this reason we have decided to trial Reception families simply to enjoy the day, please don't bring in any batter. 

Years 1 to Year 5 please supply the pancake mix and Year 6s to supply jam and maple syrup. 

As in previous years we will also need a couple of helpers on the day.

If you can help, please come along Tuesday when you drop off your children.

2 ½ cups of self-raising flour
2 eggs
2 ½ cups milk
(NO low fat milk thanks!)
Mix together  thoroughly and pour into 2ltr milk container.

Please send to school on Tuesday 25 February.

Cricket Australia passing of touch -  Monday 17 February
Airport District SAPSASA Swimming - Wednesday 4 March
SACPSSA Swimming Carnival – Monday 16 March
Metro SAPSASA Swimming Carnival –Thursday 26 March
Star of the Sea School Sports Day - Thursday 2 April

These are the dates that have been set so far so mark them in your diaries!
Please note the Athletics carnivals will be held in Terms 2.

Do you know someone who is a wood turner or enjoys working with wood?  We would like to create a statue of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Stella Maris. This would be a simple design and would then be painted  by an Indigenous artist. Please contact Stella Foley.

Shop Hours:
Tuesday 8.30-10am

Devon clothing uniform shop are pleased to announce that Star of the sea customers can now purchase uniform from:

84 daws Road, Edwardstown Ph: 83731776

Email: dcus@devonclothing.com.au

What does this mean for you?

You can now purchase your uniform Mon – Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-12pm during the school holidays* and school term, as well as during the usual opening times a the School Shop.
Your Online Orders will now be processed as we receive them, at Edwardstown, and you can still opt to have your order put in your child’s classroom box or have it sent to your Business or Home address or you can collect it from the school uniform shop on Tuesdays or anytime during regular trading hours at Edwardstown