Dear, Parents, Guardians, Students and Other Parishioners

Dear, Parents, Guardians, Students and other Parishioners,

Much has been written and spoken lately about Catholic Schools and their funding. Whilst the spending in the next few years sounds good, the long term future does not look so rosy. The funding proposal is described as being fair by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Education in the Federal Government but the Director of Catholic Education in Victoria, Mr Stephen Elder said that under this proposal (Gonski 2.0), Catholic families and others attending Catholic schools will be worse off.

The difficulties lie in the detail. According to our Director the new plan could mean that many schools would have to cut their programs, reduce staff or raise fees to a level that many families could not afford. He went on to say that the Government had overestimated how much our school families could afford to pay in school fees.

Mr James Merlino, the State Minister for Education, was also very disturbed by what he saw as an inequity for Victorian students. According to Christine McGinn writing for the AAP, Mr Merlino said that there was a lack of Federal funding for Victorian students under Gonski 2.0., compared with the original Gonski plan of $630 per student.

No doubt there will be more action on this matter but it was very disturbing to see the Federal Government announce this new plan without consultation with the Catholic sector who are the second largest provider of education in the nation. If this was a fair and equitable plan, why the need for such secrecy?

I will be at a meeting on Thursday for Principals and Parish Priest and I will keep you informed as to what actions we need to take to ensure every child in a Catholic school receives a fair share of our tax dollars.

Celebrations for the Centenary of the Visions at Fatima.

All our families are welcome to be part of the celebration of the Centenary of the apparitions at Fatima. There will be a Rosary in honour of Our Lady at 9:30am in our Church. Come along and pray for peace in our world. We sorely need to have prayers for peace at this time in our human story. Everyone will then share in a Mass which is of course the greatest prayer for community and peace in God’s world.

You may not be aware of the Fatima story but it is a significant place for many. This is a story that inspires many people of faith and if you want to read about it I suggest that you read about Pope Francis’ pilgrimage to Fatima in the National Catholic Reporter (May 9 2017)

Parking

Last week I had a very distressing phone call from a resident of Bakers Rd because one of our parents / grandparents had parked over his driveway when he came to pick up a child or children from the school.

I was very disappointed that one of our community would be so thoughtless but even more concerned when they were rude to our neighbour when he asked them to move.

What a poor message to give to our children walking home and to our neighbours! Please be courteous and park responsibly.

Christine Ash

Principal

Religious Education News

Last week, the Year 3 students in our school attended a commitment Mass where they made their commitment to participate fully and prepare themselves for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of Eucharist. It is an exciting time for these students because finally, they will be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ during Mass!

So for the next few weeks, our school community will be busy preparing and supporting our Year 3 students in their journey.

It is easy for us to forget just how precious the Sacrament of Eucharist is. Some of us, maybe, take it for granted, participating out of habit and duty. But what are we really doing? Do we have the same anticipation and excitement as the Year 3 children who will be making their Eucharist for the first time? Do we understand the magnitude of what Christ has done for us when we take those few steps towards the altar to receive Him in our hands? When we receive communion, we proclaim our belief in the Real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We also proclaim that same Jesus lives within each one of us who are baptized into His Body, the Church.

School Liturgies, Events and Celebrations:

All families are invited and very welcome to come to all liturgies!

Thursday 11 May:Year 3 First Reconciliation 3:30pm & 6:00pm

Friday 12 May: Whole School Prayer and Cupcakes for ‘Special Women in Our Lives’ – 2:45pm

Thursday 18 May: Year 3 First Eucharist Activity Day in PAC - All Day

Friday 19May: International Day of Families – Whole School Mass 9:15am and Grandparents Visit.

Saturday 20 May:Year 3 First Eucharist Liturgy 6:30 pm

Sunday 21 May: Year 3 First Eucharist Liturgy 10:30 am

Saturday 27 May: Year 3 First Eucharist Liturgy 6:30 pm

Sunday 28 May: Year 3 First Eucharist Liturgy 10:30 am

Tuesday 30 May:Year 1 and 2 Blessing Evening 6:30pm

Wednesday 31 May:St Elizabeth’s Feast Day Whole School Mass 9:15am

Sunday 4 June:Year 6 Pentecost Confirmation Commitment Mass 10:30 am

Friday 30 June: Feast of the Sacred Heart-Winter Giving Whole School Mass 9:15am

Sacramental News:

First Reconciliation: Thursday 11 May 3:30pm & 6:00pm

Thank you for your understanding with the change of dates for Reconciliation. The Reconciliation candidates and their families will gather in the church. We will be part of a prayer celebration and reflection before the Reconciliation candidates make their first Reconciliation.

First Eucharist activity day: Thursday 18th May

All year 3’s will take part in this day.

I encourage any parents who are available to help to please make the effort in supporting the day. Without your support the day is not the same! It is a fun day of baking bread and fun activities to help the children understand the connection between the Last Supper, Eucharist in the mass and their lives.

Please respond on CareMonkey or leave a message at the front office if you are able to help for part or whole of the day. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Confirmation Commitment Mass on Pentecost Sunday 4th June.

Year 6 Confirmation candidates need to attend the ‘Confirmation Commitment Mass’ on at Sunday 4th June at 10:30 am to formally commit to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is the first part of the student’s preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please arrive at 10:15 am so the candidates can formally process with Fr Tad.

Thank you to the many families who have taken up the challenge to be regularly participating at the mass here at St Elizabeth’s.

Family Week Mass – International Day of Families Friday 19 May 9:15am

Inviting Grandparents, parents and special people in my life to come to family week mass, spend time in the classrooms playing games and finishing up with a cuppa in the nook.

The students will gather in family groups and will sit together in the church for ‘Family Week’ mass with mums, dads, grandparents, aunts or any special people in their lives. We will give thanks to God for his great love for us and for the kindness and support of those who care for us,our families and communities.

We would like any families who will be coming to mass to meet their youngest child in the classroom. Any older children will also meet in the youngest child’s classroom and to sit with their child or as one family.

• Come to your child’s classroom and walk to mass with us
• Sit with your child and your child’s class
• If you have more than one child, come to the youngest child’s class. The older children will come to you when they come in with their class.

What a wonderful way to celebrate families and communities. Your children will be looking forward to seeing you on Friday 19h May.

Year 1 & 2 ‘Family Blessing Evening’ Tuesday 30 May at 6:30pm

The Year 1 & 2 communities have a ‘Family Blessing Evening’. This beautiful evening is for all our Year 1 and Year 2 children and their families.

This is an opportunity for parents and their children to spend some special time together in prayer and to ask God to continue to bless all of us and give all of us His protection. It is a beautiful evening where we gather in the church, pray together and Father blesses water making it holy. Father will blesses all the children, families and teachers. Then each family can come forward to bless their own children and ask for God’s love and protection for them. It is also an opportunity for some of you to remind yourselves of the promises some of you made for your children at Baptism.

Families from many faiths come to St Elizabeth’s and we are all part of St Elizabeth’s family. All of our Year 1 &2 St. Elizabeth’s families are expected to attend. The whole family is welcome!

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In previous years we have had 2 evenings for Year 1 and Year 2, a ‘Good Shepherd’evening for year 1 and a ‘Family Blessing’ evening for year 2.

This year, in 2017, we have decided, as the children work in communities, that we will hold the ‘Blessing Evening’ for both the Year 1 & 2’s. Next year, in 2018, the Year 1& 2’s will experience the ‘Good Shepherd’ evening.

Matutinao

Here are teachers using the laptops we sent to Matutinao. Technology which is out of date for us is invaluable to our friendship school in the Philippines. When I visited the Philippines, they had a computer room (shed) provided by the government but no infrastructure, not enough electrical wiring and power. As a result, none of the computers worked. I was able to show them how to connect the printer to the one power source and then connect it to a laptop.

New Donations for Matutinao Elementary: STATIONERY!

Please send much needed donations to the school office.

• Pens
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Textas
• Rulers
• Exercise books
• Activity books
• Coloured paper
• Rubbers
• Sharpeners
• Pencil cases

PRAYER AND CUPCAKE AFTERNOON FOR SPECIAL WOMEN IN OUR LIVES Friday 12thMay 2:45pm

All the mothers or special woman in your child’s life are invited to the classroom to share in a prayer celebration and a cupcake. Your children will be looking forward to seeing you.

Maria PopowyczIanthe Lim

Religious Education LeaderReligious Education Leader

Sports News

In early Term Two, Nam L. represented our school at the School Sports Victoria Victorian State Swimming Championships.

It is the highest underage competition in the state and only the very talented and dedicated even get the opportunity to compete at this level. Nam was successful in his discipline, the 12 year Old Boys 50 m Breaststroke at District, then Division and then at Regionals to make it into this elite field. Not happy with just making it, Nam tapped into the hours of hard work and expert coaching to swim a fantastic race. Nam finished second and he is pictured here proudly displaying his Silver medal!

A job well done and we give an extended congratulations to his entire family for the dedication and support they give their boys.

Last Friday our Year 3, 4 5 and 6 students competed in our St. E's Cross Country Carnival. The conditions were perfect and the students looked great in their team colours. Distance running can be quite a gruelling event so much kudos to all of the students that completed the course, regardless of their position.

Thank you to all of the teachers who make these events possible and to all the parents who came down and watched. I would especially like to thank Mary Mazar, Claudia D'assisi and Sue Saliba for their help on the finish line.

The top 9 runners from each race will go on to compete in the Noble Park District event onFriday 2nd June. Training has already commenced for this and it would be good to see all of those competing at school at8:15amon aWednesday.

Yours in Sport

Dean Andrew

Sports Coordinator

Numeracy

At the start of the year, I mentioned that our Foundation teachers would be introducing a new approach to the way we teach and structure our Numeracy sessions.

The GREAT news is that we began the new approach prior to the end of Term One and the Foundation teachers are very pleased with how it’s progressing and can already see the progress children are making. The Foundation children have been grouped according to their individual needs and have begun the first part of our new Numeracy Program called ‘Teaching Number in the Classroom’.

To begin with both children and teachers are focusing on what is called ‘Number Words and Numerals’ for 5 minutes at the start of the Numeracy session. This involves focusing on a number of key areas.

The first is called Forward Number Word Sequence orFNWS which focuses on the children learning number words in the context of a sequence. For example, one, two, three … ten.

The second is called Backward Number Word Sequence or BNWS which is simply the reverse order, that is ten, nine, eight… One.

Learning about number words and number word sequences is a vital component of children’s early number knowledge and is one of the earliest developmental aspects to emerge in children. Knowledge of number words and their sequence is important for the development of ‘early arithmetical strategies’ used in addition and subtraction situations. (R.Wright, et. al (2012) ‘Teaching Number in the Classroom with 4-8 year olds’ p34.

Finally, the children are learning about ‘before’ and ‘after’ any given number. For example, What number word comes right before 6? 5

What number word comes right after 11? 12.

The children are also learning to identify numerals. That is when shown a numeral, the child can say what it is; and recognise numerals when asked to point to a specific numeral. For example, ‘Which number is 12?’

Lyn Dennett

Numeracy Leader/F-4 Number Intervention Leader

St. Elizabeth’s Community

Thank you to the wonderful mums who came along to the Mother’s Day stall. The children had a wonderful time selecting ‘just the right gift’ for their mums (grandmums).

Reminder: The Chocolate Drive money is due tomorrow (Friday 12th May), for those who are running a little late, please get the money in as soon as possible.

Should you wish to have another box of chocolates to sell, please contact Trixie or Lisa at school on 9795 5258.

The St Elizabeth’s Dinner Dance is a great night where we can get together and have fun. You will be amazed at the transformation of our PAC and Level 4 Link!

Details:~

Saturday July 22nd 7pm in the Performing Arts Centre.

Buffet Dinner included. BYO Drinks

Band: Next Generation

Dress code: Smart Casual.

Adults $40.00 Children $20.00.

Tickets are available from Trixie at school.

News from The Nook.

Don’t forget, Tea and Coffee are available for parents, grandparents and carers to enjoy while waiting for the end of the school day bell.

We also welcome parents, grandparents and carers to become members of our library. You are able to borrow a number of books to read to or with your children. This is a free service we encourage you to enjoy.

Trixie Martin

Out Of School Hours Care

Please contact Elarine on 0422 803 709 if you wish to book your child/ren or wish to discuss this further.