NEWSLETTERTerm 3 Issue 4 August 6th 2015 

St. Monica’s Primary School 20 Robinson Street Moonee Ponds 3039  

Phone (03) 9375 1132   www.stmonicasmp.catholic.edu.au 

 

Parish Priest: Rev. Fr. Anthony Feeney Principal: Mr. Peter Moore Parish Office: Phone 9370 5035 Mass Times: Saturday 6:30pm (Vigil), Sunday 8:00am, 9:15am in Italian, 10:30am and 5:30pm OSHP Number 0412 616 491

Faith Hope Love

Dear Children, Parents and Caregivers,

Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop. In 2010 Mary was recognised by the Universal Church as Australia’s first Saint.

Our school has a deep association with the Sisters of Charity. Mary MacKillop started another order of sisters, the Josephite order (Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart). Whilst Mary is buried in Sydney and did lots of her early work in South Australia, she was in fact, born in Melbourne.

St. Mary of the Cross (as she is officially known) was a brave, daring and hard-working woman and she has inspired people all over the world. She is a champion of the poor and she continues to challenge us to follow one of her favourite sayings:

“Never see a need without trying to do something about it.”

Mary MacKillop has been an important part of my life for a very long time. I have included some pictures in today’s newsletter from my ‘scrapbook’. I think it is time we had an artistic representation of St. Mary of the Cross at St. Monica’s so that we will be reminded to emulate her life of hard-work for the poor.

Whole School Mass

Friday 7th August 9:15am

All Welcome

This merry band of visitors popped into my office to let me know that they’re all in the Grand Finals for their respective footy teams. I wish them all well! Maribyrnong Park Under 10 Div 7 vs Strathmore @ Glenroy Aberfeldie U10 Div 5 vs Coburg Districts @ JP Fawkner Reserve Oak Park

Disclaimer: Listening to the boys giving me simultaneous instructions on where their team was playing was like participating in ‘Question Time’ at Parliament House. I did my best to interpret the multiple suggestions and even had to referee a few disagree-ments. I should really launch an inquiry into the accuracy of the above information.

From Fr. Tony

St Monica’s Parish Pastoral Council A Parish Council listens and gathers information about the hopes, ideas, needs, concerns and future of our parish. Here at St Monica’s we are looking to form a faith based, community building pastoral group who will encourage and support the continuing good work of existing groups whilst helping to plan for the future of the Parish. During each mass service on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th August, we will discuss the importance of this group and step you through the process we will undertake to form the group.

Mr. Moore’s Mary MacKillop Memories:

1. Standing at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on the Day of St. Mary of the Cross’ Canonisation.

2. Pope Benedict at the Canonisa-tion - I was very close!

3. The banner of Mary hanging in St. Peter’s Square.

4. Ministers Rudd and Bishop were keen to mingle.

5. I am very lucky to have a relic of St. Mary of the Cross - a piece of her brown woollen habit.

6. The Official Booklet from the Canonisation in Rome.

7. The part of the ceremony where Mary was declared a Saint. The Pope said , ‘Decernimus’ in Latin - that was the actual moment.

Grade

One

Art

Grade Four

Pencil Portraits

Book Week 2015 Our Book Week Dress Up Day will take place on Friday 28th August. The theme of this year’s Book Week is ‘Books Light Up Our World’. This year, the Children’s Book Coun-cil of Australia celebrated 75 years. The children can choose to dress up as a book character, or they can think of something that matches the theme.

In order to keep in the spirit of Book Week, I remind all families that this day is not merely a casual clothes day, so no ‘plain clothes policemen’ or ‘soccer players’ please.

I hope you all have a good week ahead. Regards and best wishes,

Peter Moore Principal

St Monica’s Local Business Directory

Do you own your own business? Are you a:

Real estate Agent Hairdresser

Financial Planner

Plumber

Electrician

Accountant

Florist Dressmaker

Beautician

Just to name a few

Maybe you are a long term business or a new business just starting up that would like to advertise in the new St Monica’s Local Business directory that will be distributed to all school families’ (and possibly online) for their use

for the small fee of $50 per year More detailed information to be supplied in communication folder next week!

Stay Tuned!

Games Club

Student of the Week Certificates will be presented at assembly on Friday 21st August at 3.00pm, Whole School Awards Assembly (Location: Senior Yard) Lachlan Collard FM For showing persistence during his writing and for finishing his poem about happiness. Lucia Condello FM For including first, next and finally in her recount writing. Well done on a fantastic recount on Queens Park! Mia Lewis FR For using descriptive and interesting words in a poem about butterflies. Well done! Jye Raciti FR For explaining and modelling a subtraction story. Excellent effort! Darieth-Drew Bailey FT For reading her recount at assembly in a smooth voice and using lots of expression! Well done Darieth-Drew! Paul Smith FT For his fabulous dancing to 'I Like To Move It, Move It' at our assembly! Impressive moves Paul! Tahlia Nelson 1B For her reading aloud with excellent fluency and expression. Well done, Tahlia! Jaimee Liddell 1C For trying to do her best work all the time. Well done! Mitchell Mason 1S For confidently sharing the strategies he uses to solve subtraction problems and for being a wonderful classroom helper. Congratulations Mitchell! Maya Dye 2A For imaginative and creative ideas she used in writing a narrative. Well done Maya. James Pegus 2D For his detail in all writing and reading activities. Well done. Jed Daley 2M For working to the best of his ability and caring for others in his year level. Samuel Day 3K For recording an excellent tally and bar graph during Maths and for always helping others. Well done Samuel! Bridget Lavery 3L For her excellent work in Reading and Writing. Well done Bridget! Juliet Landa 3M For a well written and heartfelt snapshot piece about her First Reconciliation. Mia Mecca 4C For always using her initiative and growth mindset, particularly during class discussions. Sofia Galea 4D For articulating her thinking during class discussions and for the attention to detail in her work. Charlotte McInnes 4P For her most insightful understanding of the message about ‘friendship’, which the author portrayed in the story of The Velveteen Rabbit. Henry Steinke 5C For the enthusiasm and knowledge he brings to out Science learning about the solar system. Sophie Di Nuzzo 5G For supporting and assisting others when working in groups. Paris Docherty 5M For her thoughtful responses during reading groups. Ella Barrell 6B For her application of sound work habits that enables her to achieve her very best! Well done, Ella! Peter Elasmar 6C For his active participation at the CERES Excursion. Daniel Filandia 6M For posing some thoughtful before, during and after reading questions and sharing these during focus group sessions.

ICAS Mathematics Competition The ICAS Mathematics Competition will be held next Tuesday, 11th August at a time to be decided by the class teachers. This is the last competition to be conducted for the year. Thanks, Janet Dobson

Important Dates August Friday 7th Whole School Mass - Mary MacKillop Year 3 - 6 Assembly 3.00pm - Hosts 5G Tuesday 11th ICAS Mathematics Competition Wednesday 12th Parish Education Board Meeting Thursday 13th Class Mass 1S Friday 14th Year F - 2 Assembly 3.00pm - Hosts 1S Saturday 15th Parents’ Association Bogan Bingo Night Year 3 Students to attend Mass to receive the Our Father Prayer Sunday 16th Year 3 Students to attend Mass to receive the Our Father Prayer Monday 17th School Closure Day Thursday 20th Class Mass FM Friday 21st Whole School Awards Assembly Thursday 27th Feast of St Monica - Whole School Mass Friday 28th Book Week Dress Up Year F - 2 Assembly 3.00pm - Hosts 1C Sunday 30th Foundation Family Mass

September Tuesday 1st Parents’ Association Meeting - 7.30pm

Tuckshop Week Beginning 3rd August Friday 7th Julie Durling-Landa, Michelle Christian, Annmaree Carmichael, Abbey Vandeloo, Di Abdo Week Beginning 10th August Monday Barbara Potocki, Rocchina Conidi, Alison Dye Tuesday Wendy Synan, Julie Farrugia, Julia Rudolph Wednesday Kellie Jeffery, Ann Stevens, Natalie Richards, Lisa Miller Thursday Kylie Stevens, Jess Lothian Friday 14th Jaklina Visalli, Franca Abbenante, Cathy McNeill, Melissa Moran Week Beginning 17th August Monday SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY Tuesday Nikki Liddell, Sue Harding, Kerry Day Wednesday Amanda Barrell, Melissa Khoury, Lisa Saunders, Sarah Goodear Thursday Michelle Wing, Melinda Hogan, Trish Baxter Friday 21st Kim Sansoni, Andrea Pesavento, Skye Page If you are unable to work on your rostered day would you please arrange a swap. Alternatively please contact the office.

Application for Enrolment Year 7 2017 Apply now for Year 7 2017 at St Columba’s College. Visit the College website to request a prospectus and book a tour. Applications can be downloaded from the College website at www.columba.vic.edu.au For all other enrolment enquiries contact the College Registrar on 9331 9128 or email regis-trar@columba.vic.edu.au

Mathematics at Home Dear parents, In the past newsletters we have been discussing the need for us all to encourage children to make connec-tions between what they are learning. An important tool to do this is ‘questioning’. If you were in class-rooms, you might end up hearing the teacher ask more questions than providing answers! This is part of the aim to build a culture of inquiry in our classroom where children investigate their own thinking further by making generalisations and testing them. It is through these strategies that we challenge children to gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Max Stephens is a senior research fellow in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Melbourne and has written about engagement in mathematics. Importantly he discusses the need for mathematics to be put into real life contexts and ask children to think and act like mathematicians. Here is an excerpt from his article “Engagement in mathematics: defining the challenge and promoting good practices.”

Intrinsic rewards are powerful. However in mathematics, recall of basic number facts (such as 12 – 9 = 3) cannot simply be viewed as ends in themselves, since they are the building blocks on which deeper understanding of number and structure depend. The examples that follow are offered to indicate another form of engagement whereby all students are challenged to deepen their understanding of pattern and structure. Here everyone is expected to participate in building mathematical knowledge and everyone’s contribution can be honoured and valued.

To illustrate what this might mean in a mathematics classroom, the teacher might present several different types of challenges to students to show how basic number facts such as 12 – 9 = 3 are important for connecting with other mathematical knowledge:

‘If you know that 12 – 9 = 3, what else does this help you to know?’ [This is an open question. Some teachers express this as ‘If you know this, what else do you know?’] Some possible responses might include: ‘I would know 12 – 3 = 9 or 9 + 3 = 12.’ The teacher can challenge students to think about other connections, by asking, for example, ‘If you know that 12 – 9 = 3, does this help you to know the answer to 13 – 9?’

Another line of questioning might be ‘Is 12 – 9 = 3 part of a pattern? What is your pattern and how do you explain it?’ [The teacher needs to wait for students to describe their own patterns. These will be important to discuss.] To create a further challenge, the teacher might ask, ‘Is there a pattern to the answers to these questions, 12 – 9, 22 – 9, 32 – 9, 42 – 9, and so on? Can you explain the pattern?’

A third line of questioning might be: ‘Can you use 12 – 9 = 3 to find answers using bigger numbers, including numbers in the hundreds and thousands?’[Some possible answers might be 120 – 90 = 30, 1200 – 900 = 300. A different challenge might be to ask students what they notice about the answers to 22 – 19, 32 – 29, 52 – 49, or 112 – 109, and why all the answers are the same.]

The questions in the previous examples are not grade-specific and can be tailored to suit a wide range of abilities. They focus on patterns and relationships-questions that push them to think more deeply. For those students who struggle on their own to make connections, there is always something to take away from listening to what others think. Here everyone is a participant; everyone is a learner. Important as individual engagement is, teachers of mathematics need to value more than that. Collective engagement, on the other hand, is essential for helping all students to notice mathematics relationships and connections, and for making explicit mathematical thinking. Excerpt from:

Stephens, M. (October 2011). Student Engagement in Mathematics: defining the challenge and promoting good practices. Spotlight into practice: Research Monograph #09, 1-8.

 

Caught in the Act

Character matters more than personality Submitted 2 November “It’s not my fault. He made me do it!” Ever had a child say this to you when they’ve done the wrong thing? The default mechanism for many kids is to deflect responsibility away from themselves. ‘I’m not blame’ be-comes a mantra………………………….that stays for life! Adults do it as well. Things go wrong and we often look for something or someone else to blame. We become short-tempered with your kids, and we put it down to the stress of parenting, or blame the hard day at work. That excuses us ………well not entirely. We may get a ticket for speeding and we automatically blame the other cars around you for going at that same speed. So it becomes the fault of ‘others’, not us. There are many ways we deflect responsibility away from our behaviour. And it’s not smart! One of the most powerful notions to get across to kids is that they have a choice about how they think, act and behave! Situations maybe difficult but they are rarely victim of circumstance. Making choices is about taking responsibility. It is the mature thing to do. They don’t have to be adults to show this maturity. Blame or deflection negates choice. Challenge kids when they say ‘I had no choice’. There’s always a choice. It’s just that some choices are harder to make than others. Here are some choices that face many kids: They can choose whether to put on their happy face or their grumpy face each morning. They can choose to fight with a sibling or they can walk away and go to their bedroom. They can choose to do their homework or watch television. Character is developed when kids make hard choices. Resilience is encouraged when kids exercise choice as they show they are in charge of their behaviour. Confidence is boosted as difficult choices take them into new ground and make them feel uncomfortable, but they grow through these choices. Don’t let your kids deflect responsibility or blame others. Remind them constantly that they have a choice about how they respond to others or their circumstances. The exercise of choice is long term strat-egy, but it’s a big one. You can start by making sure you take responsibility for your behaviours. Start today……….even if you feel crappy. There are no excuses. That’s what taking responsibility is about!

For more resources and thoughts on the this and other topics, please see http://www.parentingideas.com.au/Blog.aspx

 

OSHClub News Before School / After School Care Program

Next Week’s Activities…

Program Update

Dear parents and families, This Week at OSHClub we’ve got plans to make lots of awesome things! Test your construction skills with our Recycled Bridge Challenge, be excited about our DIY Harmonicas coming home, and get your tastebuds ready for making Fruit Skewers! -Jyoti ***Important Reminder***: Please remember to book in for Before and/or After School Care if you know in advance. It helps us to ensure we have enough staff rostered on, and also for catering purposes Note: Our menu for the week is displayed in our program room on the whiteboards. Feel free to pop in to see what we’re eating -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YOU CAN GET YOUR KIDS TENNIS LESSONS DONE WHILST THEY ARE AT AFTER-CARE!

ST. Monica’s Tennis Club Contact – Steve Riley – Club Professional 0403 433 750 or steve@rileytennis.com.au

BOOK IN FOR A FREE HOTSHOTS TENNIS LESSON Just inform your OSHClub Co-ordinator about your tennis lesson (day & time) OSHCLUB DROPS OFF AND PICKS UP KIDS FOR THEIR TENNIS LESSONS!!! (Children must be booked into After Care session to be dropped off and picked up.)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

 Before Care Activities

- Jumping Min-ion Craft - Capture the Flag

- Mr Squiggle Friend Challenge - Soccer

- Reflection Journal - Hide and Seek

- Cooking Fruit Skewers - Octopus

- Straw Weaving Scarecrow Tiggy

 After Care Activities

- Cardboard Armour and Shields - Fruit Salad

- DIY Harmoni-ca Making - Knock Out

- Recycled Bridge Chal-lenge - AFL Footy

- Dinosaur Craft - Giants Treas-ure

- Fireworks Painting - GaGa Ball

Parent Information

OSHC program phone: 0412 616 491 Coordinator: Jyoti Assistants: Meredith, Maranda, Jarrah OSHClub Head Office: 03 85649000 All families must be enrolled to attend the program, remember this is Free!! Please create an account online at www.oshclub.com.au all bookings and cancellations can also be managed via your online account. For on the day bookings please contact the Coordinator direct at the program.

Why: St Monica’s V St Vincent’s Annual Dads Football Game 2015 When: TBA Where: TBA

Curtain Raiser: St Monica’s V St Vincent’s Grades 5 and 6 What You Can Do: Commit to play. This event is into its 9th year of tradition. To continue we need new and past Dads. Some of the original dinosaurs are getting on!! Contacts:

Steve Coleman Ph: 0481 348 068 Or Email sco00979@bigpond.net.au

Anthony ‘The Doc’ Docherty Ph: O433 175 852 Or Email anthonydocherty@optusnet.com.au

alternatively fill out the attached registration form and return to the school tote box. Come join in the fun, show your kids and wags you’ve still got it!!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

BATTLE OF THE SAINTS REGISTRATION

NAME………………………………………..

MOBILE……………………………………..

EMAIL………………………………………..

POSITIONS PLAYED……………………..