All Saints Parish School Portland eNewsletter

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 Message

What a busy few weeks we have had so far this term. We are achieving so much as a school community at the moment and have so much to be proud of. It has been great to hear the chatter in the staffroom about some of the work that is going on in our classes and how well the students are engaging in their learning.

How great were the Olympic Games? To be so successful medal wise was amazing but the thing that shone through the most for me was the message that our athletes shared after their events. Whether they won a medal or not, nearly every Aussie athlete paid tribute to the support team behind them. From their coaches throughout their career to their family and friends to the communities in which they lived. It just goes to show the importance of community and working together to achieve great things, just like here at school. Well done Aussies!

This week we celebrate the arrival of one of five Message Sticks that will be travelling across our Diocese in honour of 150 years. Our message stick will be here for two weeks and will be on display in the foyer.

Also this week we are participating in Bulling No Way: National week of action. The theme for this year's campaign is 'Everyone belongs'.

We are proud to be part of a school that's all about inclusivity! This Bullying No Way week let's reaffirm our commitment to kindness, respect, and making sure everyone feels like they belong.

This week is Bullying No Way: National week of action (12 to 16 August). At All Saints we believe that when #EveryoneBelongs, bullying has no place. What could you do to help someone feel like they belong?

August 12 -16 is Indonesian Week at our school in the lead up to Indonesian Independence Day on Saturday August 17. In specialist classes this week students will be doing Indonesian based activities. On Friday August 16 children are encouraged to dress in red and white, the colours of the Indonesian flag.

Next week August 19-23 we celebrate Book Week with the theme 'Reading is Magic'. We will conclude our week with a dress up day and parade on Friday August 23. Don't forget to organise your costume.

I apologise for the length of this newsletter but we have so much positive information to share with you all.

RESPECT YOURSELF, RESPECT OTHERS & RESPECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT!

Regards

Jamie

Aboriginal Message Stick

Today we celebrate the arrival of one of five Message Sticks that will be travelling across our Diocese in honour of 150 years.

Four of these Message Sticks will be carried from school to school to remind us of the inter-connectedness of all our school communities - from the Murray to the Sea.

In Aboriginal culture, Message Sticks were passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages. They were often used to invite neighbouring groups to corroborees, initiation ceremonies, right of entry to country and invitation to religious rituals.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Ballarat Diocese, five Message Sticks were gifted to carry the message to:

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer

(Romans 12:12).

From the Murray to the Sea the Creator Spirit spoke to the Ancestors thousands of years before Abraham and Moses. The Creator Spirit touched the sacredness of country and all that had been created, gifting the Ancestors with the Law to care for country, the water ways, care for the animals and co-exist with all that has been created.

When a Message Stick is handed to you from another person, you are the custodian of an Aboriginal artefact and it should only be passed to another worthy custodian.

(Vicki Clark OAM)

Certificate of Authenticity Aboriginal Message Stick

Catholic School Culture

God, through the intercession of Mary MacKillop,
We pray that the fire of your compassion will ignite many hearts.
May Mary’s attentiveness to your dream inspire us.
May her energy to overcome injustice empower us.
May we, like her, make manifest your Presence in our troubled world.
We pray that the beacon of her holiness shine
as a blessing for the universal Church and our world.
We make this prayer in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Feast Day

Last Thursday, 8th August was The Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s only canonised saint. Mary began her ministry in education, in what is now The Diocese of Ballarat. She worked at The Portland Catholic Denominational School, which later became All Saints, Portland. This school is proudly the only Australian Catholic school to include a canonised saint among its lay teachers! It was between 1861 and 1863 that Mary MacKillop and her sister Annie were recorded as assistants to the school master at The Catholic Denominational School, Portland.

This position gave Mary the financial independence to reunite her scattered family under a single roof, and she rented Bay View Cottage from Portland pioneer Stephen Henty. The building was also large enough to accommodate additional boarders, and Mary established the Bay View House Seminary for Young Ladies, offering instruction in a range of subjects.

The stables of Bay View House Seminary provided comfortable sleeping quarters for Father Julian Tenison Woods when he visited the MacKillop family during his travels through Victoria's Western District. Mary had confided in Father Woods her desire to devote herself 'to poor children' and his visits to Portland kept that dream alive. Father Woods persuaded her to return to Penola to help him establish a school.

In 1866, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and opened a school to provide free education for the children of Penola, South Australia. From this small beginning, Mary went on to establish Catholic schools and places of refuge for the working class and poor across Australia and New Zealand.

Mary was moved by the lack of education, medical care and social services amongst the poor. She worked tirelessly to make a difference, to uphold the dignity of the most marginalised, dejected and deprived. She lived by her words to never see a need without trying to do something about it. A vision we are called to pursue today.

Adapted from:

https://www.asportland.catholic.edu.au/history
https://www.sosj.org.au/making-a-difference-reflection-mary-mackillop/
https://www.visitmarymackillop.com.au/building-on-a-dream-portland.html

Taken from the Catholic Education Ballarat Newsletter # 23 August 7 2024.

The Sacrament of Confirmation

On Saturday evening children from our parish began their preparations for the Sacrament of Confirmation which will continue over the next 4 weeks.

We ask our community to pray for Sonny, Dolly, Sadie, Celeste, Penelope and Hamish as they prepare to participate in this sacrament and take the next step on their faith journey.

School Information

Assembly Timetable

Assemblies commence at 2:30pm every second Friday afternoon.

Assemblies for Term 3

Week 6 - August 23 - Specialist Classes

Week 8 - September 6 - 5/6DC

Week 10 - September 20 - 5/6AD

School Bus Travel Alteration- Term 3

NOTE: it is important that all students are aware of their end of day travel arrangements.

We will be relying on the PAM bus lists to determine who gets on the bus or not.

Please note that if your child is listed but not getting on the bus, the bus gets held up until we find out where they are and if they have been picked up already. Alternative, if you do not have them set up to take the bus on a certain day and forget to add them, they will miss the bus as they won't be on the list and we can't be sure they are meant to take the bus home.

You can re-enter the Transport Passes section of PAM and see what is listed for the bus for your child. Their transport for the day (or future date if needed) is listed under Actual Transport. Please ignore the 'no transport scheduled/needed' line as this is being removed by the PAM IT team and is confusing.

If you have no busses listed for the current day (or selected future date) you will just have the option to "+Add" a bus for this day. If they are currently listed on the bus and you wish to remove them you simply "-Remove" for the relevant day.

If you wish to make a change to the regular schedule that has been created, please let the office know.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHILD KNOWS IF THEY ARE ON THE BUS OR NOT, AND THAT PAM REFLECTS THIS. If there is a change to the child's expected home routine please call the office and we will let them know. Any changes to PAM after 2pm must come through the office.

Important Dates

TERM 3

Week 5

Monday August 12 - Friday August 16 - Indonesian Week (notes sent home and on DoJo)

Monday August 12 - PSG meetings begin this week

Tuesday August 13 - SAC meeting @ 7:00pm in the library.

Wednesday August 14 & Thursday August 15 - Early Career Teacher's Retreat

Thursday August 15 - Didjeribone Incursion

Friday August 16 - Indonesian dress up day (dress in red and white)

Week 6

Monday August 19 - Friday August 23 - Dental Van @ school

Monday August 19 - Friday August 23 - BOOK WEEK "Reading is Magic"

Monday August 19 - Author visit: Olivia Coates (F-4)

Tuesday August 20 - Student Free Day- Structured Literacy

Wednesday August 21 - Music Festival

Friday August 23 - Book Week Dress Up Costume Parade

Week 7

Monday August 26 - Friday August 30 - Dental Van @ school

Thursday August 29 - 5/6 Girls Basketball tournament

Friday August 30 - Father's Day and Special Person's Breakfast

Sunday September 1 - Father's day

Week 8

Thursday September 5 - 5/6 Boys Basketball tournament

Student Free Day- Tuesday August 20

A reminder that we have a school closure coming up on Tuesday August 20th. Staff will be working off site to continue our Professional Development in the area of Structured Literacy.

No supervision of children is available on this day.

Learning & Teaching

From the Science Room

With the commencement of Term 3, All Saints has begun its science curriculum.

While the Foundation students are learning all about the weather, the rest of the school currently has a biology focus.

The grade 1/2 students are studying dinosaurs, their bones and how they relate to animals today.

The Grade 3/4 Students' focus is on plants. They have begun growing beans while studying how plants grow, spread and interact with their environment.

The Grade 5/6 Students are learning about micro-organisms. They are currently experimenting with yeast but will continue to learn about many different kinds of micro-organisms and where to find them.

The students have been very excited about their science topics. It would definitely be worth asking them to share some of their discoveries with you at home.

Mr. Staples

Science Snapshots

Students of the Week

Term 3 Week 4 Assembly

FCL: Ryan Clark & Sammi Lyszczarz

1/2YW: Lucy Crimmins & Arla Hawker

1/2DW: Georgia Harrison & Harley Johnstone

1/2ID: Winnie Foster & Jaxon Geraldene

1/2MR: Axel O’Dea & Charlie McRae

3/4DL: Nash Neave & Dolly Buchner

3/4MS: Lewis Polkinghorne & Bonnie Shipard

3/4JS: Toby Bowers & Sonny Micallef

3/4MN: Varia Green & Laura Watson

5/6AD: Xianne Dela Cruz & Tanner Dundas

5/6BS: Nadia Beckman & Harry Rogers

5/6RV: Ellie Rethus & Millie Rogers

5/6DC: Cooper Aitken & Braxtyn Moore

Indonesian: Baylee Price & Makai Marra

Physical Education: Noah Kempton & Zion Nuku

Music: Cassie Vecchio & Makai Marra

Science: Lola Ford & Evie Skinner

Principal’s Award: Seth Farrugia

‘Never see a need without doing something about it!’

Congratulations to these students for the wonderful work and effort that you have been applying. Keep inspiring and encouraging those around you.

Mini Olympics

Leadership & Stewardship

Staff - the Right to Disconnect

The Fair Work Act 2009, was recently updated to include provisions that give employees the right to disconnect from communication received outside of their designated working hours. This new rule takes effect from 26 August 2024. For schools, this includes communication from parents, students, colleagues, or others within the school community.

Staff access their work emails normally between 8:00 am – 4.30 pm when possible and will endeavour to respond to emails within 24-48 hours. This applies to other forms of communication such as Class Dojo. Staff are not expected to respond in this time frame during weekends, public holidays, and, for teaching staff during term breaks.

We ask all members of the school community to be aware of this new provision and to restrict communication with school staff to school working hours. If you communicate outside of these hours, please be aware staff may choose to but are not expected to respond outside their work hours.

Insight SRC Surveys

Thank you to those families who completed the parent survey from Insight SRC. Your contribution is greatly appreciated and will be used in the future to celebrate our successes and identify areas where we can improve and grow. Input from all stakeholders; staff, students and families is included as part of this survey.

We will conduct our random draws this week for those families who completed the survey and we will notify our lucky winners.

Staff Professional Learning

Last week our staff gathered in Port Fairy for two days of professional development and learning. Our first day was all about School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS). More information about our work in SWPBS will be shared with the community at a later date. Day two the teachers learned some prayer strategies and activities for the classroom while our LSOs worked on supporting students with Maths challenges. It was a very productive couple of days and we cannot wait to implement what we learned back at school.

Community Engagement

School Advisory Council Vacancies

We have some vacancies on our SAC. If you are a parent who is interested or would like more information please contact me at school via email at principal@asportland.catholic.edu.au

Our Diocesan Community

Click here to read all the news in the latest edition of Our Diocesan Community.

Child Safety & Wellbeing

Webinars for parents and carers

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

Join one of our free webinars for parents and carers.

These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.

On this page:

Download the schedule

2024 parent and carer webinar schedule (PDF, 99.3KB)Download

Download

eSafety Term 3 2024 Parent Carer Webinar Promotional Flyer

Bullying No Way- National Week of Action

This year All Saints Parish School is participating in the Bullying No Way: National week of action, 12 to 16 August 2024.

Bullying No Way Week is a commitment being made by thousands of schools and supporters across the country. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to bullying prevention. It gives us an opportunity to connect with students, staff and school communities to implement workable solutions to prevent bullying.

The new hero colour for the campaign is purple – symbolising peace, strength and empowerment to take a stand against bullying behaviour.

The theme for this year's campaign is Everyone belongs. This theme highlights the importance of creating a sense of belonging and inclusion for students. We recognise bullying often thrives in environments where individuals feel marginalised or excluded, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every student feels valued and respected.

“Positive school climates that value diversity and inclusion can foster a sense of belonging and provide a protective factor against negative peer relationships and reduce bullying.” (Australian Education Research Organisation 2023).

For more information about Bullying No Way Week and bullying prevention, visit the Bullying No Way website.

During the week we will be engaging students in meaningful discussions and activities aimed at promoting empathy, understanding, and respect for diversity. We encourage parents and carers to take this opportunity to have open and honest conversations with their children about the impact of bullying and what they can do if they need support. You can visit the Bullying No Way website for tips around how to have this discussion.

Everyone Belongs

Bullying – important conversations to have with your child

All Saints Parish School is participating in the Bullying No Way: National week of action – 12 to 16 August 2024.

By working collaboratively within our community, we can collectively help reduce bullying.

Parents and carers play an important role in helping your child understand bullying, and know how to respond to it.

If your child tells you about things at school, or you observe something in public that involves conflict or bullying, take the opportunity to talk about what bullying is. You can learn more about what defines bullying at bullyingnoway.gov.au.

Questions you could ask:

What do you think bullying is?
Have you seen it? How did you feel?
Have you ever felt scared at school because of bullying?
As well as me, who are the other adults you would talk to when it comes to things like bullying?
Have you or your friends left other kids out on purpose? Do you think that was bullying? Why or why not?
Have you ever tried to help someone who is being bullied? What happened? What would you do if it happens again?

Remind your child that bullying is never okay and discuss how they can respond safely if they experience or witness it.

Encourage them to seek help from a trusted adult and keep seeking support if needed.

By promoting open communication, we empower children to stand up against bullying and create a safer environment where everyone can feel that they belong.

For more information, visit bullyingnoway.gov.au.

SchoolTV - Wellbeing Platform

All Saints Parish School’s ‘School TV’ can be accessed using the following link: https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me

In this edition of SchoolTV - Bullying

Bullying is an ongoing or repeated misuse of power in relationships, with the intention to cause deliberate psychological harm. Bullying behaviours can be verbal, physical or social. It can happen in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices and it can be obvious or hidden. Bullying in any form or for any reason can have immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders.

Despite the efforts made to reduce bullying behaviours, the research tells us that one in four students still report being bullied every few weeks. However, not all negative behaviour should be considered bullying. The key difference is that bullying does not stop on its own. It’s important young people learn how to identify behaviours that are rude, behaviours that are mean, and behaviours that are related to bullying.

Often the reasons for bullying can be complex. Some young people do it to get approval from others, some do it to regain control, whilst others may do it because it makes them feel safe. Supporting young people as they work through their emotions will help them unpack the motivation and reason behind the behaviour.

In this edition of SchoolTV, caregivers can better understand why some young people engage in bullying behaviours and what to do to support a child experiencing it.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Bullying edition of SchoolTV
https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/bullying

Happy Birthday

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

STUDENTS: Isla L, Robby R, Bridget A, Ollie R, Ayla G, Hailey S, Lachlan W, Tannah I, Indiana M, Adelean H, Masie T, Hunter S, Noah K, Laura W, Theo D, Amity-Beth S, Max L, Jaxon H, Tully D

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

Praying With Children

Praying with Children resources offer an insight into the scripture readings from mass on the weekend. It is a wonderful opportunity for families to discuss the Gospel stories and complete some related activities if they wish.

Praying with Children 18 August

Praying with Children 25 August

COMMUNITY NEWS

Portland Scout Group Leaderbuild invitation

Term 3 Week 5 Newsletter- August 12