Dear Parents & Guardians,
We are nearly reaching the end of term, which I am sure will be something to which the children will be looking forward too, however, it still leaves me feeling a little anxious, not just because I love my job but also because there is still so much to do before the end of the year.
Please read this bulletin carefully for the dates of important events that are scheduled to take place before the year ends.
Please note that the last day of the school year for students is Friday, December 15.
We will soon be sending home the calendar for 2024 with many important dates for next year (noting that some may change due to circumstances beyond our control). We are advising all parents and guardians that the start of the 2024 school year is as follows:
Tuesday, January 30:
First day of school: Exploration Learning Community (Preps) only: 8.50 am – 12.30 pm.
Testing Day: Discovery, Curiosity and Challenge (Grade 1- 6)
Wednesday, January 31 – Thursday, February 1:
Whole School Testing Days: All Learning Communities (Prep – Grade 6)
Friday, February 2:
First Day: Discovery, Curiosity and Challenge (Grade 1 – 6) only.
Testing Day for Exploration (Preps) Learning Community
Monday, February 5:
First full school day: Exploration (Preps) to Challenge (Grade 6)
All testing sessions are by appointment times only – The school administration team will provide details in due course.
2023 CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT
Natalie Bruzzese and the staff have been busily preparing for our annual Carols by Candlelight celebration on Tuesday, November 28 at 6.00 pm. The children always enjoy this night, and I am sure this will beat last year’s celebrations. This will take place in the courtyard between Stage 1 and 2 with the stage set up in the collaborative space in Stage 2.
We are encouraging all our families to bring a blanket and a picnic and enjoy the celebration with us. Bring nans, grandads, and friends along to enjoy the festivities. The long-term forecast is looking positive so hopefully, this year the weather will be kind to us!
2023 END OF YEAR SCHOOL MASS
We celebrate masses and liturgies in our school throughout the year, however, our beginning and end of year mass will always be celebrated in the parish church of St Anthony of Padua, recognising that our school is part of a bigger, parish community.
Our end-of-year mass at St Anthony of Padua will take place on Friday, December 15 at 10.30 am. I hope that lots of parents, guardians and other members of our community come and give thanks for the year we have had by celebrating mass with us. Having it at St Anthony of Padua also means we can fit in a lot more parents and guardians. Please make time to attend.
2023 GRADE SIX GRADUATION
Our Grade 6 Graduation Dinner will take place on Tuesday, December 12 at 3.30 pm. More details will be sent out to the relevant parents and guardians soon. The 2023 Grade Six Graduation mass will take place at St Anthony of Padua Parish Church on Wednesday, December 13 at 6.00 pm.
2023 RECONCILIATION
On Thursday, November 23, all our Catholic children from Grade 3 to Grade 6 will participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation at our school with Fr Alex and some of his fellow priests. This is an important activity for these children as they begin the preparation for the season of Advent.
On December 8, all the Catholic Grade 3-6 children will be bused to St Anthony of Padua Parish Church to participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation in the parish church.
The 2023 Reconciliation liturgy and sacrament will take place on Thursday, December 7 at St Anthony of Padua Parish Church at 7.00 pm.
2023 SEMESTER TWO REPORTS, THREE-WAY LEARNING CONVERSATIONS
As I often said, the culture of our school has in large part been developed around our commitment to act in a spirit of partnership with our parents and guardians. We want to ensure that every parent and guardian is actively engaged in the learning journey of their child.
With this in mind, our Semester Two three-way learning conversations (parent-teacher meetings also involving the students) have been organised for Monday and Wednesday, December 4 and 6. We have had to make some changes to the previously announced dates to avoid a clash with important dates that are outside of our control.
It is expected that all parents and guardians make an appointment to meet with the classroom teacher to discuss the progress of their child. Please do not be offended, but I will be following up with any parent or guardian who does not attend a meeting. It is a reasonable expectation that every parent or guardian makes time for this meeting.
The Semester Two reports will be sent home the proceeding Friday, (December 1) as these will guide the discussion at the three-way learning conversations and this gives parents and guardians time to review these before meeting with the teacher.
2023 STEP-UP DAY
December 5 is the state-wide Step-Up Day for students. This is the day that the Grade 6 children spend a day in their new High School or College and the Kinder children come to school for their first school visit (except, that in our case we have completed seven Kinder transition sessions already!). We use Step-Up Day as the day that the children will spend part of the day in their new classroom, with their new classmates for 2024.
This might still be a little bit of a challenge in our case as I still am not able to confirm all the teachers for next year and I am still working really hard to resolve this potential dilemma. If this is the case, we will still move these children and they will have their Step-Up session with Caroline, Lorraine or me.
CURIOSITY LEARNING COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY
The Curiosity Learning Community children will lead the school in an assembly on Friday, November 24 at 2.40 pm. We hope to see lots of parents there! (not just the ones with children in Grades 3 and 4).
FINAL SAC MEETING & AGM
The final School Advisory Council (SAC) Meeting takes place next Tuesday, November 21 at 6.00 pm. This is a short meeting which, as the last meeting of the year, is always followed by our Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 6.30 pm. Our AGM is open to any parent or staff member and is usually one of two occasions where we receive nominations from any parent or guardian who is interested in joining our amazing SAC team.
If you are interested in joining the SAC team, you need to send me an email to: principal@slweirviews.catholic.edu.au
SPECIAL PARISH EVENT
There is a special event in our parish of St Anthony of Padua this Saturday, November 18. Archbishop Peter Comensoli will be at the parish to officially install Fr Alex, as the new parish priest of our parish. It would be wonderful to see some of our families there to support Fr Alex as he has already had a big impact on our school community. The parish has arranged a reception after mass at 5.00 pm. If you are interested in attending, you need to add your name to the sheet in the church foyer so the parish can organise numbers.
BOOK CLUB ORDERS
Issue 8 book club is the last for the year (the catlogue was sent home last week). Please note that the orders close on Friday 1,December.
REMEMBERANCE DAY 2023
God bless,
Bill Hill.
PRINCIPAL