Term 4 Week 5

We acknowledge ‘Remembrance day’ with the reverence it deserves, we celebrate achievements on the Sporting field and in the Arts, we look forward to further whole school events, we prepare for the Boarders to open and we continue some important 2022 planning.

REMEMBRANCE DAY:

Today is Remembrance Day – a day where the world acknowledges the atrocities of war and loss of human life. In our Remembrance Day liturgy at 11:00am today, each of our prayers of the faithful began with “God of Peace”. One of our foundational theological Catholic beliefs is that ‘our God’ is a God of peace and love and hope.

It is our job to live our lives in the way God wants us to. God wants us to be people of peace, love and hope. To treat our ‘neighbour’ – the person sitting next to us, standing in front us, living in our country and the rest of our world with compassion and kindness. War has no place in our world.

Our students acknowledged the significance of our ceremony with their behaviour and reverence.

SOME MORE MAJOR EVENTS… AND MORE TO COME…

Our Term 4 of Major events (feeling a bit like Mad March in SA) continued with another super successful Sports Day Friday of Week 3. It was great to welcome so many family and friends to Bowker Street Oval for the day. After a short shower in the morning, the weather was perfect, and I thought the venue was exceptional. I again thank and acknowledge Kym Hill and his work in planning and preparing for the day in such a meticulous manner and ensuring it ran as smoothly as it did.

We congratulate Sontrop (Blue) for their win in the Fr Rob Egar Trophy and Polding (Red) for winning the Good Samaritan Spirit Shield. A big win from the Staff in the Staff vs Students vs Parents relay capped off a perfect day. As always, I’d be pleased to hear from you about the ‘new venue’ and the choice of Bowker Street oval over Santos Stadium as our venue and the general thoughts of the day.

This week, it was a delight to see over 40 students perform in our annual Instrumental Performance night. Last year the number was under 30. It goes without saying that we are building a very strong Performing Arts program and our music talent is really coming to the fore. I thank and acknowledge the leadership of Victoria Traeger in this portfolio and her organisation of the Instrumental performance night. I also thank our very enthusiastic instrumental teacher – Patricia (Piano), Aidan (Voice), Chris (Guitar) and Jenni (Violin) for their great work in supporting our music program.

We don’t stop there however, with further major events upcoming including:

SWIMMING/AQUATICS will occur for all students in R-6. Year R-3 classes will attend the Marion Aquatic Centre for lessons in the pool while our Y4-6 students will head to Brighton Beach for Beach safety lessons in Week 7 of the term. These opportunities are another very valuable experience for your children, they are compulsory, and we would ask that you send in the permission forms as soon as possible if you haven’t already.

COMMUNITY CAROLS NIGHT: We are pleased to let you know about our plans for a Community Carols night to be held on Thursday the 2^nd December. Families are invited to join us from 5:00pm on the 2^nd. Students in Year 6 who are busily working on their ‘Market day Stalls’ will set up some of their stalls for the afternoon and our Carols will begin about 6:00pm. We will have a BBQ sausage sizzle and drinks available for purchase, but families are also invited to bring their own drinks and dinner for the night. Each class has been practicing and preparing for the night and we look forward to finishing the year off in a very positive manner. Please see the flyer in today’s newsletter for more info and further details will be provided again closer to the day. Of course the night will be dependent on current COVID restrictions remaining as they are currently (see message below).

COVID UPDATE:

If you are like me, you would have some ‘nervousness’ and ‘anxiousness’ creeping in about our borders opening up on the 23^rd November. This is of course tinged with excitement at being able to see and visit interstate friends and relatives who we may not have seen in some time!

The question about what ‘might’ happen from a COVID point of view when borders open is one that we can’t answer accurately.

As a parent of 3 children under 12 who have no vaccination available for them, there are even more questions and increased nervousness. Please know that lots of thought and planning is going in to how we plan for the many possibilities which may eventuate if or when COVID enters our state. In the first instance of course, we take advice directly from SA Health and Catholic Education SA. They will determine if there is any need for a ‘school closure’ or otherwise.

Thinking around air purifiers, school or class level closures, how long people need to be away from school if they contract COVID - is all being done as we speak and will be shared with you as soon as we are provided with it.

I leave you with this final message – I really believe that the way we have worked through this chaotic last 2 years of COVID has been very successful. And it has been successful because of the way we have worked together. The way we have provided communication to you and the way you have abided by and listened to this advice. I know the same level of support and partnership will allow us to be successful in our future challenges.

Stay tuned for more information and advice in the coming week or two.

2022 PLANNING:

We are well and truly into our 2022 planning. Our staffing is almost complete and we are planning class placements for next year.

I aim to provide you with a full staff update in Week 7 of this term. Students will find out their classroom teacher for 2022 on Tuesday the 7^th December when we conduct a 'meet the teacher' morning here at school.

I have some very exciting news to share with you as a community about some future plans at Stella Maris and I look forward to doing this in the next week or two as well.

As we have a number of year levels where spaces are at a premium, we have asked families to let us know if they are leaving our school in writing as soon as possible. Our enrolment contract states that a full term of notice is required if you are leaving our school and that if you don’t provided this you may be charged for a term of tuition fees. I am extending this notice to Friday of week 6. If after this date you inform us that you are leaving our school, we will have no choice but to charge you for a term of fees.

REMEMBRANCE DAY LITURGY

On Thursday, the 11th of November, the whole school came together to remember all men and women who served or who are currently serving in the armed forces. The year 5 students from Miss Moroney's Class helped each of us to respectfully pray and remember the sacrafices that these people have made, and continue to make in order that we can live in peace in Australia. 

VINNIES CHRISTMAS APPEAL FOOD AND TOY DRIVE:                                              

This Christmas Stella Maris is again planning to support the ‘Vinnies Christmas Food and Toy Drive’.

Items can be sent to school during weeks; 5, 6, 7 and early week 8, so they can be delivered for sorting into Christmas hampers.

Donations of non-perishable food, and new toys, will be gratefully accepted. Gifts can be placed in baskets in your child’s classroom up until 9am Thursday 2 December. Please do not wrap any of the items as this will be done by Vinnies and allows them to allocate gifts appropriately.

Food Suggestions:

• Special items for Christmas such as puddings, cakes, biscuits or treats
• Baby food and formula
• Pre-packaged food like pasta, rice, noodles
• Tinned ham, tuna, salmon
• Christmas crackers or decorations
• Long-life milk or custard
• Jams, spreads- honey, vegemite
• Tinned vegetables and fruit
• Tea, coffee or milo
• Cordial, long-life juice or fruit boxes
• Preserved fruits
• Supermarket vouchers or gift cards to allow families to purchase fresh meat, fruit & vegetables

Toy Suggestions:

• Building blocks, hand-eye co-ordination toys or crawl and play mats
• Musical toys
• Beach or surf gear
• Puzzles and games
• Gift voucher for a retail outlet
• Microscope or science kit
• Teething toys, bath toys or rattles
• Action figures, dolls or dress-ups
• Toy cars (Hot Wheels or similar) or remote control cars/bikes/trucks with batteries
• Backpacks, handbags or accessories
• Arts and crafts supplies or stationery
• Sporting equipment
• Perfume, aftershave or other toiletries
• Movie tickets
• Story books, novels or diaries

******** All items must be in by 9am Thursday 2 December.

WHY CELEBRATE ADVENT IN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY?

Starting a week early, on Monday 22 November, we will be celebrating the Liturgical Season of Advent. The students and staff will come together after recess to hold a whole school liturgy to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

The Season of Advent offers us each year, an opportunity to seek God in our lives among the noise and activity of the world around us.

Advent is a time where we re-sow the seeds of faith and hope.

The four weeks of Advent allow us time to ponder how Jesus came into this world in such a stunningly humble way. As we contemplate His birth in a bed of straw in a messy stable, perhaps, we see our own life as being a little messy too.
Our life is often distracted, a little self-centred and sometimes leaves us wishing we were better people. If we can slow down and refocus our attention, we might realise that God is there, waiting to love us even though we often have so many unfulfilled good intentions and so many unfulfilled wishes about our own spirituality.

SOUTHERN CROSS

The current edition of the Catholic newspaper put out by the Archdiocese called,’ The Southern Cross,’ is available at; www.thesoutherncross.org.au

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

God has included you in His plans – have you included Him in yours?

God’s Blessings,

Paula Clark

APRIM

Inclusivity is the fourth School Value and final focus in newsletter contributions from me this year. We have considered Compassion, Courage and Respect so far, and looked at how we display these values in our School Community. 

I have seen great examples of Inclusivity this term already; during the successful school concert, the fantastic Sports Day and in the celebration of Dyslexia Awareness Month and World Teachers' Day. It highlights that we are a community, we are stronger together!

Emily Hughes

Pastoral Care Support|ESO

The Commonwealth Bank's school banking programme will cease at the end of term 4 2021.

"Even though the CommBank School Banking program will not be returning to your school after this year, you can continue to make deposits into your child’s Youthsaver account through online transfers or at any CommBank branch. If you need further information please phone 132 221 or visit your local CommBank branch.".

Any bank books that were still at school have been sent home.