Term 3 Week 5 Newsletter August 7

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the traditional owners, the Gunditjmara people, on whose land we learn, work and play. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their elders- past, present and emerging believing that we can walk together for a better future.

Principal's Report

Welcome to our new look newsletter. I hope everyone has enjoyed the extra day of rest and relaxation while the teachers and LSOs do some learning to improve their practice in the classrooms.

Hopefully you will find it very helpful and easy to find the information that you are after. The link to the newsletter and calendar on the new website are now working so families should find all the quick things you need on the home page of our website- newsletter, calendar, PAM and CDFPay.

https://www.asportland.catholic.edu.au/ is where you will find our website.

On Tuesday August 8 we celebrated the feast day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. St Mary of the Cross is a special person in both education and in Portland. St Mary of the Cross was a champion for education for the poor particularly in isolated areas. We will celebrated with a liturgy at 11:30am in the school hall. Miss O'Keefe then organised for everyone who wanted one to have an ice cream.

On Monday our teachers spent the day learning about trauma with Jennifer from the Australian Childhood Foundation and the impact that it can have on families and how it presents differently in different people. It was a very productive day and what we have learnt should prove very helpful in our school environment.

We ask our school community to pray for the children who commenced their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation over the weekend.

I thank our families for the work that you do with your children to support our school as we approach the half way mark of term 3. 

Keep up the great work everyone.

Regards

Jamie  

Prayer

Sacrament of Confirmation

We keep the Year 4 students who began their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation in our thoughtsand prayers as they continue on this journey. Illaria, Althea, Cassie, Giro, Ivy and Payton will continue their preparations with their families and the parish over the next few weeks, preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on the weekend of September 9 and 10.

We wish them all the best.

Book Week August 21-August 25

The theme for Book Week in 2023 is Read, Grow, Inspire. Teachers and students will be participating in a range of activities to celebrate some amazing Australian children's authors and illlustrators.

One of our favourite activities for the week is our All Saints Book Week Dress Up Extravaganza. Children are invited to dress up to match the theme or as a character from a book they like. Our dress up parade will take place on Monday August 21 at 10:30am in the school hall.

Families are invited to join us if you can. Feel free to dress up as well.

United Way Costume Lending Library NOW AVAILABLE

We to invite you and your children to borrow a costume for BookWeek and beyond at the newly established Costume Lending Library at Glenelg Libraries in Portland, Heywood & Casterton. 

A range of 40 costumes have been purchased and are available all year round. From brave knights to magical fairies and superheroes, we have something for every imagination.

No need to buy or store costumes for just one day – borrowing from the library is free!

The costume lending library is open to all families in the community, all you need is to be a Glenelg Libraries member.

To view the costumes go to https://fb.watch/maLhHjBzbA/

Learning and Teaching

Students of the Week

Term 3 Week 4 Assembly

FCL: Arla Hawker & Manny Stephen

FRP: Harley Johnstone & Lucy Crimmins

1/2DW: Lola Ford & Max Lindsey

1/2ID: Tannah Inman, Seth Chapman & Savannah Sutton

1/2MN: Ethan Cornell & Lance Chase

1/2MR: Bentley Johnstone & Bailey Sharam

3/4DL: Penelope Copley & Seth Farrugia

3/4GM: Maya Dodson & Indianna McRae 

3/4JS: Seth Hawthorn & Grace Iddon

5/6AD: Emma Gould & Oscar Smith 

5/6BS: Mak Marra & Lexie Elford

5/6RV: Tanner Dundas & Violet Spiller-Christian

Indonesian: Willow Sutton (1/2 DW) & Jarvis Toohey (FRP)

Science: Maise Thomas (FCL) & Ciarah Logan (1/2MR)

Phys Ed: Oscar Smith (5/6AD) & Easton Cracknell (1/2DW)

Principal Award: Julian Mochales (5/6AD)

We congratulate these students on their amazing achievements. Keep it up everyone.

Physical Education & Sports Report

Hockey

Last Friday our school hockey team travel to Pedrina Park Hamilton this Friday to test their skills at the district championships. The results were outstanding!

While we did not gain entry to the next level of competition, we tested some very strong teams, scored a couple of wins and built on our performances as the competition wore on. This was very evident when we regrouped to beat Good Shepherd College in the rematch.

The team of Amelia Collins, Saxon Stiles, Oscar Smith, Angus Smith, Oliver Copley, Emma Gould, Charles Dainty, Dylan Holt and Liliana Richardson can be very proud of themselves. I am also very happy for the Portland Hockey Club who have picked up some more players. If you are keen to join them – get in contact!

Game 1               All Saints 0 Vs Hamilton College 3

Game 2               All Saints 0 Vs Good Shepherd College 3

Game 3               All Saints 2 Vs Good Shepherd College 0

Game 4               All Saints 3 Vs St Joseph’s PS 0

Basketball 

Building on our Basketball unit Cassandra Brown will be hosting a Basketball Camp Day in Mount Gambier on Sunday September 3 with CB Elite Academy. This is a fantastic opportunity for 10 – 16 year olds. More information to follow.

Not too far away until our senior Basketball teams will be playing in the Portland & Heywood District Schools Basketball Carnival. Senior Girls will be playing August 31^st and Senior Boys September 7^th. Keep your ears to the ground for trial dates coming in the next week.

Upcoming Sports Dates:

Friday August 31                             -             Senior Girls District Basketball Carnival, Portland

Friday September 7                       -             Senior Boys District Basketball Carnival, Portland

Friday October 6                             -             Greater Western Regional Track & Field Finals, Ballarat

Friday October 13                           -             Regional Cricket Finals, Pedrina Park Hamilton

Wednesday October 18                -             Regional Volleyball Finals, Warrnambool

Tuesday October 24                     -             All Stars Regional Basketball Finals (Grade 3/4) – Hamilton

Thursday November 16              -             All Stars Regional Basketball Finals (Grade 5/6) – Hamilton

GO ALL SAINTS!!!!!

Hockey Carnival

School Information

National Day of Action Against Bullying & Violence

On Friday 18th August we will acknowledge the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence by wearing a touch of orange with the uniform we normally wear to school on that day. It might be an orange tshirt or jumper, orange socks or shorts or an orange headband or ribbon in your hair.Orange is the colour associated with the day. The NDA theme for 2023 is 'growing connections'. This theme supports research findings that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and help enable positive, help-seeking behaviours in students. The children will learn more through their classroom work.

Child Safety & Wellbeing

Child Safety

Child Safe Standards (eleven in total) came into effect in July last year and are a vital part of what we do here at All Saints. But, what do these standards look like in practice? Over the coming months we will look at these standards in closer detail.

Standard 1 - Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

At All Saints we can see this standard in action in a variety of ways. We have the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flying each day in our school. As part of our Learning to Learn, children learn about these flags and what they represent. We ensure that our gatherings begin with an Acknowledgement of Country including our whole school assembly. More information about these standards can be found here:

https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/the-11-child-safe-standards/ 

Concussion

The risk of concussion is very much in the news at the moment and rightly so. Any knock to the head is considered a head injury and that is why we always ring families when this occurs at school. It is also very important that we are notified if your child experiences a concussion out of school hours so that we are able to monitor for ongoing symptoms.

The Royal Children’s Hospital has a valuable factsheet that you can access through this link. https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Head_injury_return_to_school_and_sport/

Leadership & Stewardship

Uniform Policy

At our last SAC meeting we worked on the uniform policy and would like to provide our school community with the updated policy.

We have noticed recently that many students are wearing incorrect uniform. Please familiarise yourself with the correct uniform and ensure that your child is wearing the appropriate uniform. Teachers will be keeping an eye on uniform in their classrooms.

Reminder that if your child is out of uniform for any reason we require a note from home to let us know.

Student Mobile Phone Usage Policy

Our hardworking SAC also reviewed the Student Mobile Phone Usage Policy. It was updated to also include reference to smart watches and other devices. 

I encourage you to take the time to read it carefully and make yourself aware of what is included in it especially if your child brings a mobile phone, smart watch or other device to school.

Bayview College Production of Shrek

Congratulations to our students who participated in the Bayview College production of Shrek over the weekend. We have the marvellous opportunity for our Year 5/6 students to join the Bayview musical each year. Congratulations to Dr K and the Bayview staff and students for a wonderful show. Many current Bayview students who attended All Saints in their primary years also played starring roles.

Great job everyone.

Community Engagement

Share the Warmth This Winter

Share the Warmth This Winter donations will continue for all of winter so if you can, families still have the chance to donate this term. It has heartwarming to see the generosity from our All Saints families. There is a donation box in the foyer at school for anyone to drop off any food or donations.

Happy Birthday

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

Isla Logan, Mitchell Jarrett, Robby Rowe, Bridget Akers, Ollie Rethus, Ayla Green, Hailey Schlemmer, Tannah Inman, Indiana Marshall, Adelean Harrison, James Thomas-Ewing, Masie Thomas, Hunter Strom,  Noah Kempton, Luca Wright, Maci Boyce, Peyton Payne, Theo Donovan, Amity-Beth Schmidt, Wensday  Zapanta, Max Lindsey, Jaxon Hann, Tully Denham.

Mrs E, Mrs Murrell, Julie, Miss Dart, Mr White, Mrs Levings, Mr Staples

Praying With Children

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time 13 August 2023 - Year A 

“Command me to come to you over the water.”

Something to Think About
There is a saying, 'You'll never, never know unless you have a go!' This is the basis of trust. Fear
can stop us from even trying to do things. Can you remember a time when fear of failure stopped
you from doing something you really wanted to do. Have there been times you were able to trust
and things worked very well. 

The Story
This story is about trust. The disciples are on a boat in a bad storm. They are very scared, but Jesus
comes walking on the water towards him. Jesus encourages Peter to walk to him, across the water.
Peter starts to walk towards Jesus, but when he notices the wind and waves, he is afraid and starts
sinking. Jesus saves Peter and calms the storm. Jesus says - 'Be not afraid!' This phrase occurs 366
times throughout the Bible. It is a message that Jesus wants us to hear and believe

Community News