Term 4 Week 3 Monday 19th October

Our Prayer This Week

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

With cautious optimism we look forward to the relaxation of more restrictions in the future and the move closer to a normal end to the school year. We are exploring how camps, excursions and concerts can take place in a meaningful, appropriate and enjoyable way in our current climate. Thank you to the parents for your patience as we continue to navigate these uncertain times. 

Public Holidays

With the prolonging of the AFL football season, the Grand Final public holiday now falls outside the school holidays. This means there will be no school for students and staff on Friday the 23rd of October. 

In recent times St Colman's school has chosen to take Sheepvention Monday as our public holiday rather than Melbourne Cup. With the cancellation of Sheepvention this year we will now return to Cup Day on Tuesday the 3rd of November as our designated public holiday. This brings us into line with all our regional schools as Warrnambool schools have moved from race day to Melbourne Cup as well. 

Many schools in our area also use this opportunity to create an extended long weekend for families by taking the Monday the 2nd as a school closure day. We will do the same this year except we will swap the Monday and Tuesday to give staff a long weekend with no school Monday and an opportunity to work on our Numeracy curriculum all day on the Tuesday of Cup Day. 

Meals on Wheels

Last week our school provided volunteers for the Mortlake Meals on Wheels. Thank you very much to the following families for enabling this valuable link between the school and the Mortlake community:

The Carmody Family
The Dolling Family
The Draffen Family
The Herry Family
The Van De Heuvel Family

Hopefully next time our rostered week comes around the Senior students will be able to participate in this program again.

InsightSRC Survey

Thank you to all the parents who took the time to voice their opinion of our school through the InsightSRC survey and to provide us with the opportunity to review our organisation thoroughly in 2021. We appreciate that this can be an onerous task for some but it is for the betterment of our school and for the provision of better opportunities for our students in the future. Thank you.

Book Week

Book Week is traditionally a highlight of each school year. As the planned date for this event was during lockdown, we have decided to reschedule this to the week beginning Monday the 26th of October. We will conduct fun activities throughout the week, culminating in dress-up day on Friday the 30th. (Start planning outfits early to avoid the last minute rush.) The book fair will look very different this year. Students will have the opportunity to view the books during the week and parents are invited to visit the "street stall" setup in front of the school on Friday 30th. As a parent arrives in their car, the students will be sent out to allow them to shop together (weather permitting). Payment by card is preferred. We are, once again, inviting families to donate a short listed book to the library. Families select a book and then contribute the cost of the book to the school. This is then recognised inside the book for future readers to see and recognise. 

Footy Colours Day

With the AFL grand final now in school time rather than in the school holidays, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate this with a footy colours day this Thursday the 22nd of October. The children are welcome to wear any clothing that represents their team on the day. We will also have a sweep where the child who picks the winning team and the margin will receive a block of chocolate. 

5/6 Homework Tasks

The students in Grade 5 and 6 will be receiving regular homework tasks for the remainder of this term to prepare them for the expectations of Secondary school and to allow them to develop good study habits at home. This task will also be offered to the Grade 4 children as an optional activity. Parents are invited to remind their child of the expectation and help with the tasks given if necessary, but the school will deal with the issue of incomplete work.

SAC Meeting

We will hold a SAC meeting this Wednesday evening the 21st of October via video conference beginning 7pm. An invitation will be sent to council members via email prior to the event. 

Co-play

One of the new initiatives during lockdown was Co-play where the children at school would take time to play together without technology and with a focus on cooperative play, fun and friendship. We have continued this concept now that we are all back at school and the children are enjoying this means of settling back into the routine of onsite learning. These girls were very proud of their block tower last Friday. 

Our Award Winners

Lost Property

We have a large number of polo fleece and woollen school jumpers in the lost property box. The majority are smaller sizes so if you are missing a jumper, please come into the passageway while the children are in class and check the collection.

Camperdown Virtual Carols

Mercy Car Raffle

Camperdown Little Athletics

Wellbeing Opportunities

Parish Bulletin