On behalf of everyone in the St Ita’s learning community I would like to thank all our parents for the support and understanding that you have afforded to our teachers through the challenges of Covid-19.

At the beginning of this term our community was thrust into a learning that was totally alien to us and we were unsure of what it would look like and how it would work. Our teachers did an amazing job working collaboratively to prepare remote learning for all our children whilst working with children of essential service workers onsite at St Ita’s.

As we come to the end of term I’ve instructed my staff to make sure they have a break that allows them to tune out of the learning space and totally relax both body and mind.

The beginning of next term will no doubt bring with it new challenges associated with Covid-19 and we will do our best to work through these challenges to make sure everyone in our learning community is safe and well cared for physically, emotionally and mentally.

God bless all in our community and enjoy a safe and restful break.

LAST DAY OF TERM THIS FRIDAY

This Friday, 26th June is the last day of term 2. School buses will operate one hour earlier than normal, departing school at 2.30pm.  School will finish at 2.20 pm on Friday. 

Term 3 commences on Monday 13th July at 8.50am. School pick up and drop off procedures will remain as currently in place, for the beginning of term 3 with 2 car lines operating: A-K from the Victoria St entry and L-Z from the Drouin Rec Reserve Gate. 
Please note the school commencement time is 8.50am. Any students arriving from 9am will need to be signed in late at the office.

TONIGHT - PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Tonight is the last night for Parent-Teacher Phone interviews for those parents that booked an appointment time on-line. Please contact the class teacher by Dojo should you still require to book an appointment for tonight.

Teachers will be onsite tonight, Wednesday 24th June between 3.50pm and 5.30pm to conduct the phone interviews. Phone interviews will be 10 minutes in duration. 

SCHOOL FEE CONCESSION

For any families impacted financially by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and  have concerns about your financial situation regarding school fees, please contact myself on 5623 7222 during the hours of 8.30am-3.30pm Monday to Friday, or via email: principal@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements to enable your child(ren)’s education at our school to continue. 

For any families that have recently received a Government means-tested health care concession card, please forward a copy of your card to the office to check your eligibility, as a fee concession may apply. The card must be in the name of the parent/fee payer for a fee concession to apply.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Since returning to full time school it has been noticed that a number of students have been attending school out of uniform. St Ita’s has a school uniform policy and the expectation is that all students attend school in the correct school uniform. I have asked all class teachers to alert their students of the correct school uniform for the winter terms and the expectations around being at school in correct school uniform.

If you child is out of school uniform, could I please ask that you send a note to your child’s teacher explaining your situation or reason. Attached below is the winter uniform for students to be worn during Term 2 & Term 3.

Please remember to clearly label all clothing and check regularly that the name can be easily read. Teachers cannot identify unmarked clothing, which is often mislaid or wrongly claimed by other children. Please check your child has their own items at the end of each week. Permanent markers wear off, so items must be relabelled regularly or we recommend iron-on labels. 
Where property is marked clearly it will be returned to the owner. Should marking be indistinct or absent, property will be placed in the lost property cupboard, located in the foyer of the Administration Office. We currently have many un-named school jumpers in the lost property cupboard. 

 

SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Please don't forget to subscribe to the school newsletter via our new school website to receive a copy each each week. https://stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/

NEW szAPP COMING SOON

Next term we will be moving to a new school notification App from Schoolzine which works inconjunction with our new school website. This new app called szAPP will replace the Skoolbag app. 

FAMILY MEALS REQUIRED

We are seeking the assistance of generous cooks in our school community to help provide some cooked meals or snacks for our food bank freezer. We do not require gourmet meals, just hearty family meals (ie casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, lasagna, stew, rice dishes, sausage rolls, cake) that children may also enjoy & will freeze well.

These meals are available to all families who may be experiencing temporary family stress and provide a little comfort and convenience when it may be needed. If at any time you are in need or know of someone in need, please call the school office on 5623 7222 & we will do our best to help out. All information is handled sensitively and confidentially.

SCHOOL REPORTS

All schools in the Diocese of Sale have now resumed onsite schooling and Remote Schooling has ceased.

The Victorian State Government has announced a community consultation opportunity regarding Remote Schooling through an online Survey. The Survey is available for completion until 3 July 2020.

Your feedback is sought to understand what lessons were learned during Remote Schooling and the challenges or opportunities to consider for strengthening the future of school education in Victoria.

As a parent / guardian / carer of a student in the Diocese of Sale, you are encouraged to complete this Survey, anonymously if you wish, before 3 July 2020.

by Mrs Cath McKenna

We have returned to regular borrowing in the library and which is great for our students and please note that we are wiping over each book that is returned.

Thank you to the parents who contacted me or assisted their child in returning overdue library books last week. Please continue to find these books if you haven’t done so already. 

Please continue to encourage your child to read over the school holidays. We want them to read for enjoyment so please seek out books at the local library and online books too if you’re running low! All students who have a library bag have also had the opportunity to borrow books for the holidays.

The West Gippsland library service has a wonderful website to reserve books.

The difference in reading ability between a child who reads for pleasure for 30 minutes a day and those who never read was more than a year. And it’s not just one report; this finding has been confirmed in many other pieces of research. 

Thank you to all our families for supporting Issue 4 of Book Club. Bookclub is available for ordering and payment on-line via the Scholastic BookClub Loop.

5/6M - POETRY

Grade 5/6 M were shown a poem on 'Happiness' that was written as though it was actually a person and were asked to write their own poem in the same style but choosing from a feeling of either anger, fear or sadness.  

GRADE 5/6W -  ELECTRICITY

In Grade 5/6 we have been learning about circuits and electricity. Our whole class enjoyed constructing and using their innovative skills and abilities to come up with some fantastic, circuitry designs. This was a fabulous, hands on activity to finish up our Integrated Unit on Electricity. Here are some wonderful creations that were constructed by students in 5/6W.  

by Mr Paul Carroll


Orienteering 

Upon their return to St. Ita’s, the Grade 3 – 6 students have been involved in the sport of Orienteering. Whilst it is an ideal Unit to undertake during the current health situation with the challenges surrounding the use of sporting equipment, these lessons have more importantly supported the cross country running and aerobic fitness that the students are involved in on a daily basis. The sport of Orienteering also helps develop map reading skills and teamwork. In the first lesson, students were provided with a map of the school and had to use the Orientation provided (North, South, East and West) to locate different codes in a particular given order. During the second lesson, students were introduced to Grid References, also known as Coordinates. This time, students had to find the particular coordinate on the school property and answer a question that related to sports. Grade 5-6 students will be introduced to a compass over the coming lessons and taught how to determine orientation and location through the use of this mapping device.  

Photos are of some of the winners from the different Grade 3-6 classes during the first week of Orienteering.

5-minute Running Challenge

Some Individual awards have been presented to students over the past two weeks. Class teachers were asked to nominate students who have shown excellent attitude, resilience, improvement and performance in the daily running challenge. Congratulations to the following recipients who received a soccer training ball (ball connected to a string with a handle, similar to a bungy ball).