Term 4 Week 5 Newsletter- Monday November 3

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

What a busy few weeks we are experiencing in the Portland community at the moment. We have had a number of events that we have participated in which have been a great way to showcase our school in the wider community. 

At school we have had the art show, grandparents day, our mental health & wellbeing day and Foundation swimming. We still have our school disco, surfing lessons, World Teachers Day, Yr 1 dinner, Yr 2 sleepover and Yr 3 camp to come in the next couple of weeks. In the wider community we have had the local schools art exhibition, interschool cricket and volleyball, Upwelling parade and 3 Bays Marathon, but with still more to come here as well. All of this while still trying to participate in our normal school activities and learning. Any wonder we are all getting a little weary at the end of the week.

As we come closer to the end of the year I would just like to remind families that our expectations at school do not change, including school uniform. I would like to ask families to please support us in making sure that your child is in the correct uniform on the correct day while at school. I would also like to remind families that nose piercings, and other facial piercings, are not part of our school uniform and are not permitted to be worn at school. Any dyed hair should also be of a natural colour according to our uniform policy (see extract below).

• Hair, if long, should be tied back with purple, green, white, black or natural coloured hair ties/ribbon.  
• Jewellery is not to be worn with the exception of a watch, silver or gold studs or sleeper earrings. 
• No bracelets, rings or necklaces.
• No nail polish or make-up. 
• If hair dye is used, colour must be of a natural colour. 

Taken from the All Saints Parish School Uniform Policy

Good luck to our girls Cricket Blast team who are off to Port Fairy on Friday for the division finals. We wish them all the best.

Please check out our important end of year dates listed below and add them to your calendars. We have lots of special events to celebrate as the end of the year draws closer.

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

Regards

Jamie  

Catholic School Culture

All Saints Day November 1

All Saints’ Day commemorates all the saints in heaven. The feast dates back to the early Church, when communities would gather and celebrate the anniversary of the martyr’s death. The first mention of this feast came during the pontificate of Pope Gregory III (731-741). On 1 November, 732, Pope Gregory consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St Peter dedicated to honour all the saints.

All Saints’ Day is a time to consider the example saints offer us and to reflect on how we can imitate their lives. As Pope Benedict XVI said, All Saints’ Day calls us ‘to see the Church… as Christ wanted it, that is, as the communion of saints.’

All Souls’ Day follows All Saints Day on 2 November and is also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed and the Day of the Dead. It is a day of prayer and remembrance for the souls of those who have died. 

The day is dedicated to prayer and remembrance, with requiem Masses held. Many people also visit and sometimes decorate the graves of deceased loved ones on All Souls’ Day and throughout the month of November.

SIMON & PAM remain offline

Last week we informed you that the SIMON service, including access to the Parent Access Module (PAM) were taken offline after some unusual login attempts were detected. These platforms remain offline for the time being. This precaution is being taken to ensure the safety and security of all users while we work to further understand this unusual activity and resolve the situation.

Permissions for excursions that would normally be approved via PAM, will be sent home as a hard copy to sign and return to school until PAM is restored. 

All Saints Parish School and SIMONSchools take cyber security very seriously. External experts have been engaged to help ensure we take all appropriate action in response to this activity. From our investigation to date, we do not have any evidence to suggest that any user information held on the platform has been affected, or that any other systems are involved. Should this position change, we will notify relevant parties as required.

Remember to contact the office each day on 55233654 or email admin@asportland.catholic.edu.au if your child is absent or you need to change travel arrangements etc.

We understand this may cause some inconvenience and appreciate your patience and support as we work to restore full service. We will be in touch with a further update regarding access to PAM as soon as we can.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Assembly Timetable

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

Assemblies for Term 4

Week 6:  1/2MS - Miss Mall (Nov 14th)

Week 8:  3/4MN - Miss Marcia (Nov 28th)

Week 10:  FYW & FCL - Miss Cathie & Mrs Levings (Dec 12th)

Week 11:  FINAL ASSEMBLY - inc. farewell to Yr 6 students  (Thurs 18th Dec)

Congratulations

Alexis Hawker came 3rd in the Year 3/4 category of the Wannon Water: National Water Week poster competition. There were over 650 entries from 16 schools in the region. Well done Alexis.

Another amazing effort over the weekend was from Adele (one of our LSOs) who completed her first ever marathon at the 3 Bays. Congratulations Adele on this awesome achievement.

Well done to our Year 6 team who participated in the English games day at HDSC. Ilaria, Althea, Payton and Seth competed against other schools from the district and came away with the win. Great work.  

2025 School Closure Days

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

Term 4

Thursday December 18 - Final day for students

Friday December 19 - Final day for staff - no students @ school

2026 Term Dates

*** Note that some of the start of term dates may alter depending on School Closure Days during the year.  As yet we are unsure of all the specific dates as they will depend on when the facilitators are available.

KNOWN CLOSURE DATES FOR 2026:
Wednesday 28th January - RRRR staff PD
Friday 6th March - SWPBS staff PD
Monday 20th April - RE staff PD
Monday 2nd November - Report Writing staff PD
Friday 18th December - Staff Planning 2026 PD
**NOTE:  4 staff PD days for Maths and Literacy have yet to be finalised

Important Dates

Term 4 

Week 5

PSGs on this week: communication will be shared regarding times.

Monday November 3 - Student Free Day: Reporting and Assessment- NO SCHOOL for students

Tuesday November 4 - Public Holiday: Melbourne Cup- NO SCHOOL for anyone

Wednesday November 5 - Yr 5/6 surfing begins

Thursday November 6 - Division Cricket @ Port Fairy

Thursday November 6 - State Athletics Finals @ Albert Park

Friday November 7 - School Disco 6:00pm-8:00pm

Week 6

PSGs on this week: communication will be shared regarding times.

Monday November 10 - Friday November 21 - BOOK FAIR in the Library 3:30pm-4:00pm each day

Monday November 10 - 2026 Foundation Transition begins

Monday November 10 - Foundation Swimming continues. FYW 11:00am-11:45am & FCL 11:45am-12:30pm

Tuesday November 11 - Remembrance Day

Thursday November 13 & Friday November 14 - Year 3 Camp in Warrnambool

Week 7

Monday November 17 - 2026 Foundation Transition continues

Wednesday November 19 - Yr 5/6 surfing continues

Monday November 10 - Friday November 21 - BOOK FAIR in the Library 3:30pm-4:00pm each day

Week 8

Monday November 24 - 2026 Foundation Transition continues

Wednesday November 26 - Yr 5/6 surfing continues

Friday November 28 - Mini Fete

Week 9

Monday December 1 - 2026 Foundation Transition continues

Monday December 1 - Family Picnic and Carols Night 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Wednesday December 3 - Yr 6 Adventure Park Fun Day

Week 10

Monday December 8 - Yr 6 Big Day Out @ Heywood and District Secondary College

Monday December 8 - Yr 5 Day @ Portland Secondary College

Tuesday December 9 - Whole School Transition Day

Thursday December 11 - Graduation @ All Saints School 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Friday December 12 - Community Christmas Carols 6:00pm @ Skatepark Stage

Week 11

Monday December 15 - Reports will be released on PAM

Wednesday December 17 - End of Year Mass @ All Saints Church 11:00am - 12:00pm

Thursday December 18 - Final Day for Students- Assembly @ 2:30pm

Friday December 19 - Final Day for Staff

Learning & Teaching

PE / SPORT REPORT

Term Four has been very busy for Sport and PE!!

District Cricket: Congratulations to our boys and girls teams who were fantastic in displaying their skills learnt in Physical Education against Portland District Schools. The camaraderie and sportsmanship was second to none, and to top this off, the girls came away as District Champions and now progress to the Division Finals Friday November 7th at Southcombe Park Port Fairy. 
Those wishing to play cricket locally can take advantage of local opportunities available Monday 10th (8-11 year old) and Wednesday 5th (10-14 year old) through Portland District Cricket Association.

Volleyball: After completing Volleyball units in Grade 3-6 Physical Education, and many training sessions we have now selected a Volleyball Team to participate at the Regional Championships at St Brigid's College Horsham Wednesday October 29. Keep an eye out for Dojo messages related to this team of keen Volleyball players. Hopefully we can bring it together on the day and give it a good crack!!  

Athletics: Our Regional Athletics team participated in various sprinting and jumping events in Ballarat earlier this term. As a PE teacher I could not be any prouder of their efforts. Many practices took place and our kids certainly gave their all, with many performances bettering scores and times. Inga Mewburn now progresses to the State Finals for Hurdles on Thursday November 6 at Lakeside Stadium Melbourne. We are very excited for Inga and wish her all the best!! We will hopefully be watching through the live VSSSA link at school.

Wellbeing Day 2025: Last week all students took their own aerobics/dance class as well as rolling the dice to see which exercise to complete as part of a fitness class. We had heaps of fun doing this promoting physical activity as part of your overall wellbeing.

3 Bays Marathon Relay Team: Over the weekend our 3 Bays team came third in the Primary School Aged relay event. Each competitor had to run 2 legs of around 2.5km each. It was a fantastic achievement on a warm day. Well done Indie, Grace, Peyton, Thomas, Ayden, Tyler, Chaz and Easton.

Go All Saints!!!!

Mr. White

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Students of the Week

No students of the week this newsletter due to no assembly last Friday because of the Art show.

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! - Be sure that all shared areas are left tidy after use

We are RESPONSIBLE! - Take care of equipment and return it when finished playing with it

We are SAFE! - Walk safely wherever you are going

We are NURTURING! - Be willing to help someone in need- students or teachers. ‘See a need and do something about it!’

Leadership & Stewardship

School Fees

It has been noted that there are still a large amount of school fees that haven't been paid or had a payment plan set up.  Just a reminder that it is an expectation that all fees will be paid in full by the end of the year unless a payment plan is set up and ongoing.  Please contact Jo if you have any questions or have any concerns over being able to meet your financial obligations.  Jo is more than happy to help with different options that will work for your families needs.

Bushfire Information: Code Red School Closures

As a school on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR), All Saints Parish School will close on any day declared Code Red. This is to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and families.

Where possible, families will receive up to three days’ notice, but sometimes less notice may be given. Once a closure is confirmed (by 12 noon the day before), the decision will not change, even if the forecast improves.

When the school is closed, no one is permitted on site.

The new Australian Fire Danger Rating System uses four clear levels to help communities understand fire risk and take action.

FIRE DANGER RATING SYSTEM
From 1 September 2022, Australia has a simplified, action-oriented fire danger rating system. Please click on the link to find out more about the Fire Danger Rating System.

https://afdrs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/00_Fire-Danger-Rating-System-A5-factsheet-1.pdf

For more information, please visit the following websites:
– VicEmergency
– Country Fire Authority
– State Emergency Service
– ABC local radio is the emergency broadcaster 

2025 SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Our 2025 SAC members are: Bonita Silva, Cam McCallum, Tam Jennings, Shannon Thomas, Stacey Tait, Chris Watson (Chairperson) 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

Upwelling Festival

Thank you to all of our students and their families who came and walked with us in the Upwelling Parade and participated in the 'Call to the Sea'. It was a beautiful day and we are grateful that we got to celebrate this occasion with other schools and the wider Portland community.

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As part of the Upwelling Festival weekend some of our classes decorated some shop windows around town.

Upwelling Festival Shop Windows

Child Safety & Wellbeing

From The eSafety Commissioner: Social media changes are coming

From 10 December 2025, certain social media platforms won’t be allowed to let Australian children under 16 create or keep an account.

What you need to know:

• The age restrictions are likely to apply to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, among other platforms.
• Online gaming and standalone messaging apps are among the types of services that will not be included.
• Children under 16 will still be able to see publicly available social media content that doesn’t require logging into an account.

Find out more at  eSafety’s social media age restrictions hub. If you can't join our free webinar, we're also developing video guides for parents and carers about the upcoming social media changes for under 16s.

On this page:

• Social media age restrictions explained – a guide for parents and carers
• Understanding AI companions: What parents and carers need to know
• Sexual extortion: What parents and carers need to know
• AI-assisted image-based abuse: Navigating the deepfake threat
• Algorithms and adolescents: The rewards and risks of recommender systems for young people
• The changing face of cyberbullying: Protecting your child in 2025
• Supporting healthy tech use as your child transitions into secondary school
• Understanding and using parental controls to help protect your child online
• Download and share: term 3 webinar topics
• Download and share: term 4 webinar topics

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 - Raising Girls

Raising girls in today’s modern world can be a difficult path for parents and carers to navigate. These days, girls are transitioning to puberty a lot earlier than they used to and the physical, psychological and emotional changes they experience are challenging. As a result, by mid-adolescence, girls are twice as likely to develop mood disorders more so than boys.

Some parents and carers may feel uncertain about how best to support their daughter through the ups and downs of adolescence and how to keep the lines of communication open. With the rise of social media and technology, mental health difficulties in girls are increasing as often they are faced with online images that make it difficult to see themselves as acceptable. Ensuring a daughter’s opinions are heard and her views listened to, will go a long way towards making her feel loved and supported as she tries to establish her own identity.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers will attain a clearer picture of what girls are wanting from their adult carers and how best to support them through adolescence.

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 Raising Girls edition of SchoolTV
https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-girls

In this edition of SchoolTV - Raising Boys

Many parents will attest to the fact that most boys are active, loud, rambunctious and prone to rough play, but this should not affect how a parent acts towards their son. Be careful not to pigeon-hole your son into sex-specific behaviours or gender roles. The male brain is distinctly different in its development. A boy’s physical maturity is often at odds with his mental and brain development.

Societal beliefs about how to raise boys can sometimes influence their adult carers. Although we are not determined by our biology, it is a factor. It is important to support boys in their natural tendencies and nurture their strengths and abilities. Teach them the skills they need for their future and to develop a healthy identity. It is important for boys to have a role model they can connect with and acknowledge who they are. One of the most important determinants for a boy’s development is how secure they feel growing up.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers will gain a better understanding into some of the more complex issues relating to raising boys.

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 Raising Boys edition of SchoolTV
https://asportland.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-boys

Happy Birthday

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS

STUDENTS:  Skye C, Finley H, Iylah H, Archie J, George P, Zimi L,
Andee R, Layla S, Axel O, Zane F, Judd J, Torben K, Indie O, Liam O, Alexia S, Violet J, Grace I, Hamish M, Mia P, Seth H, Hayes M, Elena T, Cassie V

STAFF:  Rochelle, Regien, Shelley 

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.

Our Diocesan Community Magazine

COMMUNITY NEWS