Welcome to the 2024 school year!  It is great to be back.  On Monday some students welcomed the younger students at the front gate with dancing and singing.  Thank you Maya, Rosie (our lollypop crossing lady), and Sophie.  You brightened our first day.

This year we welcome 16 new Foundation (Prep) students and 6 new students in other grades. We hope you all feel especially welcome in our school and enjoy learning with us.

We also welcome Lachlan Asmussen in Gr 3, Isabella Mencev in Gr 3, Ralph Townsend in Gr 1, Thomas Townsend in Gr 2, Margaret Townsend in Gr 3 and Darcy Yeomans in Gr 4. 

Beginning of the School Year Prayer

At the beginning of this school year,

we thank you God for so many things: 

our school, our classrooms,

our friends and our teachers. 

Help us to be thankful for each day and to use it well. 

We thank you for the gift of this new day,

for the learning and the fun we will have. 

Help us to appreciate everything that is done for us  Amen.

Student Leaders

At our school we are proud of our Student Leadership Program which aims to grow successful student leaders. Pictured here are our first group of Gr 6 leaders: Tahlia Pedemont and Remy Schelfout.  Congratulations and we look forward to your leadership in our school.

In addition, we have elected our Student Representative Council (SRC).  Students who were interested in the leadership roles were invited to prepare a speech on how they would fulfil the role and then present it to the senior students.  Then the senior student body voted and the SRC was formed.  Congratulations to Lorelei Withers who is our RE leader, Jack Varley who is our sport leader, Tahlia Pedemont who is our Arts leader, Kaylem Maynard who is our Learning and  Child Safety leader, Remy Schelfout who is our Environment & Sustainability leader and Scarlett Murto who is our Digital Technologies Leader. Here are our 2024 SRC: (Jack is absent)

We have completed some maintenance work in the school holidays.  We have top dressed our oval with sand and we have installed new drinking fountains.  We are very pleased with them.  The fountains have taps to refill drinking bottles with water and drinking fountains to drink directly from.   Don't they look flash!

Information to parents

Each term class teachers prepare a newsletter that gives information about the learning planned.  It explains the focus in key learning areas like English, Maths and RE (Religious Education).  It also highlights excursions and special events for the term. Be sure to read this information.  The termly class newsletters are released in the first week of each term.

School Fees Schedule

Catholic Schools do not receive as much government funding as Department schools so we need to charge fees to meet our operational costs.  We are a 'not for profit' organisation.  Please see below our fee structure for 2024.  If you are on a Health Care Card this makes a tremendous difference to your school fees, please make sure the office knows that you have a Health Care Card

This year our students in Gr 5/6 will travel to Ballarat to Soverign Hill for our camp on Wednesday March 20th to Friday March 22nd. Information will be distributed to these families about the camp.  Please ensure you read this information carefully and fill in the necessary permission and information forms.

New Staff

We proudly introduce to you our new Gr 5/6 teacher, Mr Jamie Pistrin.  Jamie has been teaching for 10 years and has taught at St Vincent's School Morwell and St Lawrence's School Leongatha.  He has achieved a Masters of Educational Studies and lives in Yinnar.  He enjoys playing and coaching Soccer for the Falcons 2000 Soccer Club in Morwell. We warmly welcome Jamie to our school.

Ash Wednesday and Lent

This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and it starts the church season of LENT.  During Lent we reflect on our lives and try to change the things we need to change in order to lead more meaningful and purposeful lives. This prayer is taken from The Australian Children's Prayer Book and it is simple and meaningful.  You might like to share it with your family.  I find reading a simple, short prayer before a special meal can be really positive. 

LENT PRAYER

Loving God, as we begin this season of Lent

we pray that over these 40 days,

we will open our minds and hearts

to recognise and respond to the needs of others. 

Help us to be kind to those around us,

especially friends and family. 

Through prayer, fasting and giving to those in need,

may we be ready to enter more fully

into the days of Holy Week.  Amen

Athletics Carnival

On Tuesday March 5th we will be running an annual Athletics Carnival at the Joe Carmody track in Newborough.  In Physical Education lessons in class we will be revising the athletic skills for the track and field events.  Taryn will be organising the Athletics Carnival for us and will be asking for volunteers to help run the day soon.  It really is a great day for everyone, so look out for further information to come.

A Few Reminders

Icypoles are sold in terms 1 & 4 for $1 each

What a great start to the school year!

One of the most important things we do in our school is to prepare students for the Sacraments.  There are seven Sacraments in our faith: Baptism, Reconciliation, First Holy Communion (Eucharist), Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annointing of the Sick.  At school we prepare Gr 3 students for Reconciliation, Gr 4 students for Eucharist and Gr 5/6 students for Confirmation.  Tonight is the Parent Information Night for Reconciliation 7pm St Joseph's Church Warragul.  Fr Elio Capra will present the evening, he is an informative and humorous presenter.  I think you will enjoy the evening.

Please see below our school's reporting schedule:

Term 1  Parent Teacher Conversations  Mon 5 & Tues 6 Feb

Term 2  Written School Reports available on PAM (parent porthole)

Term 3  Parent Teacher Interviews Wed Aug 21

Term 4  End of year written reports

Next week we are running our Parent Teacher Conversations.  If you haven't met your child's teacher, this is a great opportunity for this.  The aim of these meetings is for you to tell the classroom teacher all about your child, their likes, dislikes, hobbies, challenges.  It is also a time to share medical issues and history of your child.  Really it is about setting the classroom teacher up for success by giving them all the information they need to do a great job educating your child.  You can have these meetings online or in person.  Parents please go onto PAM (parent porthole) to access interviews and follow the link to book your interview time. 

We meet every Monday afternoon at 3.15 in the Mary Mac room to have our weekly assembly where we sing our National Anthem and give our Birthday Awards.  Additionally, we have two Friday afternoon assemblies  a term, where the students present their learning.  Friday Assemblies start at 3pm.  Please see the table below for the dates for the year.

Parents and Friends would like to welcome all families, both new and returning, back to school for 2024! We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful holiday!

Our AGM will be held on Tuesday the 20th of February at 2:30pm in the Mary MacKillop room.

Parents and Friends is a great way to get involved and be a part of the school community. We work with the school to organise events and activities designed to benefit the school and help create a wonderful environment for our children to learn in. Our activities include Mother’s and Father’s Day Stalls, raffles, comedy/trivia nights, discos and more!
Being a part of Parents and Friends means your ideas and efforts help influence and shape the activities we run and how we use money raised.
We are a friendly group and new families are always welcome.
If you would like to find out more or to be a part of Parents and Friends in 2024, please come along to our AGM. We would love to see you there.

You might like to talk to your child about how to safely use technology at school and at home.

Safer Internet Day is a global event dedicated to creating a safer online world for everyone. 2024 marks the 21st Safer Internet Day with the slogan: Connect. Reflect. Protect.

We know that feeding children with healthy foods helps support their growth and development. But there is a growing body of research showing that what children eat can affect not only their physical health but also their mood, mental health and learning.

The research suggests that eating a healthy and nutritious diet can improve mental health, enhance cognitive skills like concentration and memory‚ and improve academic performance.

Find out more about the latest research from Monash University

Giving your children a healthy lunchbox is a great start to boost their learning, concentration and active play.

Click here to build a healthy lunch box with your children

Prepared by West Gippsland Healthcare Group –
Health Promotion Team 56243500

Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL) articulates a clear Complaints Process as part of our Complaints and Grievances Management Policy. 
DOSCEL recognises that it is in the best interests of students for there to be a trusting and cooperative relationship between parent(s), guardian(s), carers(s) and school. Complaints are an important way for the school community to provide information and feedback to a school. DOSCEL considers that every complaint provides a valuable opportunity for reflection and learning.
DOSCEL recognises a parent(s), guardian(s), and/or carer(s) right to make a complaint and its responsibility to provide a framework within which efforts can be made to resolve complaints.
It is DOSCEL’s belief that parent(s), guardian(s) and/or carer(s) complaints are best handled at the school level in an environment where individuals feel able to speak up about issues concerning the education of their children.
If you would like to make a complaint, then please visit our website www.trafalgar.catholic.edu.au and on the home page go to the 'Our School' tab and you will find the Complaints Form there. Complete the form and hand it in to Lucy Martiniano in the school office. All complaints will be followed up.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy) is a series of annual tests conducted in Australian schools to assess students' academic skills in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. These tests will be administered in week 7 from Wednesday March 13th through to the next week , Tuesday March 19th.  Gr 3 and Gr 5 students sit the NAPLAN tests.  NAPLAN provides an opportunity for your child to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. It is important to remember that while NAPLAN is an important assessment, it is just one measure of your child's progress and should be viewed as part of a broader picture of their education. 

November

Tues 19                       2. Interest Based Learning

Wed 20                        Father's Group Parish Centre 5.30 to 6.30pm

Tues 26                       3. Interest Based Learning

                                  First Orientation Session for Foundation 2025 

Fri 29                          Gr 3/4 full day at Mill Valley Camp

December

Mon 2 to Fri 6              SWIMMING program

Tues 3                         Second Orientation Session for Foundation 2025

Fri 6                            3pm Advent Assembly and sending off Gr 6s

Tues 10                       Third Orientation Session for Foundation 2025

Thurs 12                    End of Year & Graduation Mass 2.15pm

                                 Gr 6 Graduation

Fri 13                         Gr 5 & 6 Fun Day

                                 School Reports go out

Tues 17                      Last day of school 1pm dismissal

Wed 18 to Fri 20         Planning days for 2025

2025

January

Tues 28                     First day of school for teachers

Wed 29 & Thurs 30    Individual Testing Days

Fri 31                        First day of school for all students

February

March

Fri 3                         Student Free day (Staff Professional Learning in RE)