Term 2 Week 11 Newsletter- Monday June 30

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.

All Saints Parish School Vision

Principal's Message

The end of the term is near! It is a perfect time to reflect on the wonderful things that have happened in our school so far. We have so much to be grateful for and I would like to thank all parents, families, students and staff for your contributions to All Saints Parish School during the first half of this year. 

Student reports will be released to families today. These reports will be released online only, which is different to previous years- no printed reports. Please take some time to celebrate the wonderful growth and achievements of your child represented in these reports. Parents, carers and students will have the opportunity to discuss these reports at our 3-way conversations early in term 3.

It is great to be able to continue our community connection this week by welcoming Kade, Michael and Xavier from Bayview College. These three students will be undertaking work experience at All Saints and spending some time in all areas of our school.

Just a reminder that Monday July 21 is a Student Free Day as all staff will be participating in some RE and Faith Formation professional learning with Sarah Page from Catholic Education Ballarat. Students will return to school on Tuesday July 22.

Our trivia night was a very successful evening and from all reports lots of fun. Thank you to Miss O'Keefe, Ms. Silva and Mrs. McMahon for your work in organising this event. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to participate and also to all of the local businesses who supported our raffles on the night. Please remember to support these businesses if you get a chance (see picture below).

I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday and that you get to spend it doing something that you love with those who mean the most to you. Have a restful and relaxing break everyone.

We are Respectful! We are Responsible! We are Safe! We are Nurturing!

Regards

Jamie  

New School Video

I encourage you all to take a couple of minutes to watch our new school promotional video. Please feel free to share this with family and friends.

Catholic School Culture

End of Term 2

Friday July 4 @ 2:15pm (buses @ 2:30pm)

Term 3

Term 3 begins for students on Tuesday July 22.

Monday July 21 is a Student Free day as staff will be undertaking some professional learning. Staff will be working with Sarah Page from Catholic Education Ballarat who will be conducting an 'Introduction to Laudato Si' Action Planning'.

We look forward to working with Sarah and our staff on our school's response to Pope Francis' call to the church, Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home.

Assembly Timetable

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

Assemblies for Term 3

Week 2: 5/6DC (August 1)

Week 4: Indonesian & Art (August 15)

Week 6: 3/4KD (August 29)

Week 8: Science & Phys Ed (September 12)

School Reports

Student reports will be available to families from Monday after 4:00pm. Reports will not be printed out and sent home to families but will be available online.

Reports will be available for all families via PAM. We will inform families as soon as reports are released. Then you will need to log into your PAM account, click on the child's photo/name and select 'assessment reports' from the drop down Profile Menu and download your child's report to read. All previous reports are also accessible through PAM. 

PLEASE ENSURE YOU CAN LOG INTO YOUR PAM ACCOUNT.  If anyone has any questions regarding this please contact the office.

School Closure Days

Please add the following dates to your calendars. There will be no school for students on these days.

Term 3

Monday July 21 - Faith Formation & Religious Education: Laudato Si' Action Planning

TBC- Curriculum Day- Maths 

Term 4

Monday October 6 - Structured Literacy

Monday November 3 - Report Writing & Assessments

Please note: We will notify families of the TBC dates as early as possible so that any arrangements for supervision of your children can be arranged.

Important Dates

Term 2 

Week 11

Monday June 30 - Friday July 4 - Bayview students at school for work experience

Friday July 4 - Last Day of Term - 2:15pm finish

Term 3 

Week 1

Monday July 21 - Pupil Free Day: Faith Formation & Religious Education: Laudato Si' Action Planning

Friday July 25 - NAIDOC Week Community Celebration

Friday July 25 - Division Hockey in Hamilton (for selected students)

Week 2

Monday July 28 - 3 Way Conversations (2:00pm-6:00pm)

Tuesday July 29 - 3 Way Conversations (3:45pm-6:00pm)

Week 3

Friday August 8 - Feast of Mary MacKillop

Saturday August 9 - Commitment Weekend for Sacrament of Confirmation

Sunday August 10 - Parish Mass to celebrate 150 years of Loreto

Week 4

Monday August 11 - Friday August 15 - Dental van @ All Saints

Tuesday August 12 - FAMPA: Family Maths Night Yrs 3-6 families- 5:30pm-7:00pm

Saturday August 16 - Confirmation Dismissal @ 6:00pm mass

Learning & Teaching

Reporting - Changes to the Reporting of Numeracy

This year we are reporting on the new Numeracy Curriculum. The staff have been teaching to this in 2025 and will be reporting on this too.

One of the changes to our reporting is that instead of reporting to several strands - Number and Algebra, Measurement, Space etc - we will now report to 'Mathematics' which will include all of the strands. Look out for this when our new look reports are released online later in the term.

Students of the Week

Term 2 Week 10 Assembly

SWPBS- School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports

School Wide Expectations

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is: A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behaviour supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.

Each  newsletter we will share one aspect for each of our school wide expectations. We will focus on these at school and they may present an opportunity for some discussion with your children at home. You may ask them when they demonstrated one of the expectations or a time when someone displayed the expectation towards them.

We are RESPECTFUL! - Use school appropriate language, tone and volume.

We are RESPONSIBLE! - Be accountable, honest and helpful.

We are SAFE! - Report unsafe behaviour to an adult.

We are NURTURING! - Speak positively to others and use kind words.

Leadership & Stewardship

School Uniform Update

As we near the end of term the wearing of school uniform can often become an issue. We have many children wearing incorrect uniform to school. We have had many requests and questions regarding our school uniform in recent times, in particular our sports uniform.

Our current uniform requirements do not include the wearing of leggings and bike shorts as part of the sports uniform. This issue was taken to the School Advisory Council meeting on Thursday night and, after much discussion, it was voted unanimously that leggings and bike shorts are not included as part of our school sports uniform. 

Sometimes children require alterations to the uniform for different reasons, including sensory concerns. If this is the case for you and your child please contact Jamie or Christine at school to discuss.

If for some reason your child cannot be in correct school uniform all we ask is that you send a message or note to the classroom teacher to inform them of the reasons that students are out of uniform. 

We would also like to remind families which days students are allowed to wear their sports uniform:

Foundation- Tuesday & Friday

1/2- Tuesday & Friday 

3/4- Wednesday & Friday 

5/6- Thursday and Friday

Staff will be monitoring the wearing of uniform more closely over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) is available to eligible families to help with the costs of camps, sporting activities and excursions/incursions. If you are a Healthcare Card holder or have a pension card and have not applied for CSEF, and you would like to apply for the funding, please fill in the attached form or collect one from the office.

Applications for 2026 CSEF support closes on June 26

Click on the link below for more information & application form.

NCCD Information Sheet for Parents, Guardians & Carers

2025 SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Our 2025 SAC members are: Bonita Silva, Cam McCallum, Tam Jennings, Shannon Thomas, Stacey Tait, Chris Watson and Alyssa Bicknell.

If you have anything you would like raised at a SAC meeting please contact one of the SAC members or the school office.

Community Engagement

Outside School Hours Care- After School Care

School Holiday Programs in and around Portland

Child Safety & Wellbeing

Winter coughs, colds and illnesses.

There is an increased number of respiratory cases in the community at the moment, including influenza, COVID-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). 

At school, we've been promoting handwashing and respiratory/coughing etiquette to limit the spread of diseases.

We've been advising that students with symptoms should stay home while unwell and we say thank you to everyone; this is helping to minimise the spread and keep us all safe and well.  This is a mandated requirement for COVID-19 and influenza cases in primary schools and children service centres under the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019.

Here are some links below which you may find helpful: 

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) | Better Health Channel

Immunisation and pregnancy | Better Health Channel

Influenza (flu) | Better Health Channel

Influenza (flu) – immunisation | Better Health Channel

COVID-19 vaccination | Better Health Channel

School exclusion table for primary schools and children's services | health.vic.gov.au

Be a Soapy Hero! | Better Health Channel

SchoolTV - Wellbeing Platform

Because parenting doesn’t come with a set of instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting.

This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle.

Below is a URL link to the All Saints SchoolTV 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 - Managing Screen Time

As a result of the global pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the amount of time people spend on screen-based devices. Families are transitioning back to pre-COVID routines but many are still struggling to re-establish the boundaries and rules around screen use. Some continue to deal with digital conflict and tech-tantrums on a daily basis. The latest research found that 77% of teenagers spend more than five hours on screens per day, but it is important to note that not all screen time is considered equal.

Parents play a crucial role in modelling a positive and healthy approach to using screens and assisting children to navigate the content they watch. It is better to model and mentor screen use, rather than monitor it. Children tend to do more of what they see us do, and less of what we tell them to do. However, it is still important to outline the risks and highlight the benefits of screen use to ensure you keep a balanced attitude. Encourage discussions around the issues that people experience in monitoring their screen time and be honest about your own difficulties.

Parents need to remain firm in their approach to managing screen time. Excessive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s overall wellbeing. Ensuring the correct privacy settings are in place is vital to prevent children from being inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content or online predators. Parents need to also be mindful of the potential impact screen time can have on a child’s social, emotional, educational, behavioural, and even physical domains.

In this edition of SchoolTV, care-givers will be provided with a range of guidelines and strategies to help manage screen time at home.

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 Managing Screen Time edition of SchoolTV
https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/managing-screen-time

In this edition of SchoolTV - Happiness & Gratitude

Happiness is a term that captures a huge variety of positive emotions such as humour, serenity, optimism, joy, pride, inspiration, love and hope. Happiness means different things, to different people and is essential to your understanding of emotional literacy. Throughout history, philosophers, religious writers and poets have pondered on the meaning of happiness and how it might be achieved. In the last few decades, scientists and psychologists have researched this further by studying a field of science called positive psychology.

The result of this research suggests there is a strong correlation between gratitude and greater happiness. Practising gratitude helps you shift your focus to positive memories or experiences, noticing the good in your life. Over time, this will re-wire your brain to create new neural pathways, increase your state of happiness and overall wellbeing.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents and care-givers will learn how to achieve happiness and the benefits of practising gratitude.

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 Happiness & Gratitude edition of SchoolTV
https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/happiness-gratitude

Happy Birthday

JULY BIRTHDAYS

STUDENTS:  Payton B, Varia G, Amahlie V, Vossie, Alby J, Annie L, Bella O'Connor-Scott, Zander V,  Austin A, Ryder A, Celeste L, Ava T, Toby B, Leah F, Zaila C, Aleksander L, Finley R, Aubrey K, Lewis P, Alexis H, Millie R, Ruby R, Emilia B, Georgia H, Lucas H, Sterling A, Nadia B, Charlie F, Xavier L, Ashlynn N, Zavier E, Sharlotte G, Penelope C

STAFF:  Miss Marcia, Miss Amelia

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.

Please click on each of the links below to access the activities.

COMMUNITY NEWS