NEWSLETTER

Term 3 - 26 July 2018

St. Monica’s Primary School 20 Robinson Street Moonee Ponds 3039 Phone (03) 9375 1132 www.stmonicasmp.catholic.edu.au

Parish Priest: Rev. Fr. Anthony Feeney Principal: Mr. Peter Moore Parish Office: Phone 9370 5035 Mass Times: Saturday 6:30pm (Vigil), Sunday 8:00am, 9:15am in Italian, 10:30am and 5:30pm OSHP Number 0412 616 491

Faith Hope Love

Dear Parents and Children,

Today our community hosted another magnificent Grandparents & Special People Day. It was a privilege to be a

part of such a welcoming environment for our visitors - many of whom had travelled great distances to be here. I

met so many wonderful people and I could see that many of the current Dads and Mums were a ‘chip off the old

block’ so to speak. I cannot tell you how much of a privilege it is to meet members of your extended family; such

warm and kind people.

This important day in our calendar involves so many members of the community and I would like to thank Fr.

Tony for his enthusiastic and energetic commitment to our Eucharistic Liturgy, to Ms McPherson and Mrs Mifsud

for their coordination of the Mass, to Miss Crowe and visiting seminarian Alex for their music, the Parents

Association for the most wonderful morning tea and to all parents who sent along plates of food. We cannot host

such a successful occasion without all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle coming together.

When I meet Grandparents, I often ask about their children, not the grandchildren. I like to check out how well

behaved our current parents were during their own childhoods. I must say on the whole that your parents are very

loyal. Not many people are prepared to dish some dirt. I have concluded that most of you were saints!

Grandparents &

Special

People

Day

I was delighted to attend the ‘100 Days of Foundation’ Celebration this week. The children dressed up as

their 100 year-old selves. I had quite a chuckle, even though my day started off with a shock! One of the

children got out of the car and it was clear that in the spirit of the day, he had sprayed his hair grey. As he

bounced out of the car, he innocently proclaimed, “You’ve sprayed your hair too Mr Moore.”

On the other side of the Drop Off Zone in Robinson Street is

one of our most problematic areas for illegal parent parking.

The turning circle (marked in red) is NOT A DROP-OFF

ZONE, even if you think you’ll only be a few seconds. It is

not a parking spot either. It is NOT A PICK-UP ZONE. It’s a

turning circle for the local community.

The Crawford Street/Robinson Street Intersection is not a

waiting zone, parking zone or “quick, jump in the car” zone.

It is an intersection.

This week I was given the opportunity to listen to Nick Hulls’ personal reflection on his

SMART Goals. Along with the Year Six cohort, Nick used the SeeSaw App to outline his

personal goals for the term and then used an iPad to record his personal reflection on his work.

I was impressed with Nick’s passionate description of his commitment to these learning goals.

If you have a student in Year 6 I hope you will find their SMART Goal work as inspiring as I

did. Nick’s aim is to improve his

self-motivation and I wish him all

the best for the term ahead. It is the second time I

have been impressed with Nick’s ability to

confidently and articulately express himself.

Before I sign off for the day, I’m happy to

include a photo of Tom and me. You won’t need

to guess why I published the photo.

The photos of today’s

visitors will be next

week’s newsletter.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Moore

Principal

NURSING HOME VISITS

Hearing stories and seeing pictures

of our regular visits to the local

Nursing Home is something I highly

value at St Monica’s.

Here are some recent

photographs of 6K.

FOUNDATION DANCE CLUB

Great initiative! Annabel,

Alexandra and Isla from 4D have

commenced a 5 week Foundation

Dance Club! The girls have

choreographed the dance and

under teacher supervision are

teaching it to the Foundation

students who signed up!

Tournament Of Minds

Our inaugural St Monica’s Tournament

of Minds Team has opened the lid on

their long term tournament challenge.

They have 5 weeks to prepare. Stay

tuned to find out more in the coming

weeks…

Five forgotten skill sets that contribute to student success - by Michael Grose

At a time when we hear a great deal about growth mindsets, good mental health habits and creating digitally savvy

students, we can easily overlook the skill sets that form the building blocks of long-term school success. These are

skill sets that are also easily forgotten when we narrow our focus onto numeracy, literacy, performing arts, STEM

and other academic areas.

While all these other mental skills and academic areas are important, the skills I want to focus on here are ones that

can be taught, or at the very least drawn out, alongside every other skill when we as parents and teachers know

what to look for.

Following are five skill sets that contribute massively to overall student success and contentedness at school.

1. Friendship skills

The ability to get along with others is hugely important for children and teenagers. Those students with a strong set

of friendship skills are easy to like, easy to relate to and easy to play with. The skills they possess include knowing

how to win and lose well, how to approach others to join in a group and how to lead rather than boss.

2. Organisational skills

The ability to organise your time, your space, your items and other aspects of your life is a massive plus for any

student. The best way to help children who are organisationally challenged is to introduce them to systems and

processes to help them organise themselves. These processes include the use of visual reminders, anchoring (i.e.

linking new behaviours to habitual behaviours) and the mapping out of activities.

3. Optimism skills

It may seem strange to see optimism as skill set, but as leading psychologist Professor Martin Seligman discovered

through his research, optimism can be taught. Seligman found that while some children are more inclined by nature

to see a glass as half empty than half full, all children are capable of developing an optimistic explanatory style

through exposure and direct teaching. The skills of optimism include being aware of self-talk, reframing negative

events into positive events and the practice of perspective-taking.

4. Coping skills

Kids will generally face a number of challenges during the course of their school lives including overcoming the

disappointment of not being picked on a team, working their way through difficult learning situations and dealing

with rejection. The impact of these challenges will depend on each kid's own spirit, the support they receive and

their coping skills. The good news is that coping skills can be taught or, at the very least, encouraged if adults know

what to focus on. Coping strategies include parking problems for a while, normalising difficult situations and

accepting and moving on. Some kids will use coping strategies quite naturally, while others need parental and

teacher input to help them cope with even seemingly minor challenges.

5. Relaxation skills

The ability to relax and get away from it all is vital for the maintenance of mental health, which in turn affects a

student's ability to perform. Many of today's kids live with pressure. That pressure needs to be released through

relaxation and play, otherwise it can lead to anxiety and other mental illnesses. The ability to relax and unwind is

paramount to your child's school success. Relaxation techniques include mindfulness and meditation, participating

in hobbies and enjoying creative pursuits.

These skills are part developmental and part environmental. That is, kids will naturally develop many of them as

they mature but the skills also need to be nurtured environmentally. They need to be recognised, encouraged,

taught and modelled by adults who children and teenagers respect and admire. That makes parents and teachers

'Very Important People' in the process of acquiring them.

Let Your Light Shine No-one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in

the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give

glory to God in heaven. Mt. 5:15-16

Aidan would like to share his success over the

holidays. He received prizes in all his solos and

troupes even winning second

place in the tap championship

against 12 year old children.

Treehouse Antics….. 12 months on and our favourite Australian kids author (Andy Griffiths) and

illustrator (Terry Denton) were at it again with the launch of their new book

“The 104-Storey Treehouse”

And once again Marcus Pertile 1L with parents Miriam and Anthony were off

to the Melbourne Town Hall for the launch. This time Marcus wanted to be as

close as possible to the action so Marcus and mum braved the cold and were at

the front of the queue for the long 3 hour wait. They were eventually joined by

another family and Marcus amused himself by running and hiding around the

big pillars while mum was constantly calling out to him to try and keep him in

sight. The other family threw a blanket down on the cold steps of the Town

Hall as the long wait continued for the doors to open, while mum sat on a little

white tissue!

Finally at 4.30pm the doors opened and they were in and after being handed

their signed copies of the book made their way to their seats just 3 rows from

the stage right behind the 2 rows of reserved seats. Dad joined them just after

5.00pm and once again it was a full house. Many children were already delving into the new book keen to

see what whacky and exciting new features had been added in the 13 new levels of the treehouse.

Andy and Terry finally appeared on stage to huge cheers and applause and were soon up to their crazy an-

tics as they cracked gags and sent funny money flying into the crowd from

there new “money machine” much to the excitement of the kids many of whom

soon stormed to the front of the stage! Marcus even tried to climb up on stage

to get close to his heroes but was soon politely but firmly put back on the

ground. They cracked gags and Terry frantically sketched and didn’t miss a

beat of Andy’s demands as the kids (and adults) lapped it up.

A quick photo with Andy and Terry and Marcus asked Andy if he knew Mr Moore ! Whoops, wrong per-

son Marcus but he said he like to meet him!

Until next year…….

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Student of the Week Certificates will be presented at assembly on Friday July 27th at 3.00pm. Whole

School Awards Assembly (Location: Church)

William McKern FE For fantastic effort in reading this week. Well done, William! Lahlia O’Donnell FE For fantastic writing! Well done for stretching out all the sounds! James O’Kane FS For the passion and enthusiasm he shows during each learning session. Well done, James! Benjamin Oquendo FS For being a considerate member of Foundation S and applying himself so well during learning tasks. Marco Venville Castro FT For his fabulous reading during Guided Reading! He remembers to use the picture to help him work out a new word! Well done! Tara Lawther FT For her amazing recount writing. Keep up the great work! Felix Christian 1C For his willingness to contribute to discussions during Reading and the thoughtfulness of his responses. Charlie Trevaskis 1L For working diligently in Maths to self correct and improve. Keep up the great effort, Charlie! Vincent Lachowicz 1S For making such a happy and positive start to Term 3 and for adding detail to his holiday recount. Well done, Vincent. Lucy Zlatkovic 2B For her preparedness to consistently engage in all tasks and activities. Congratulations! Kaylee Cobb 2C For working productively and cooperatively to complete tasks neatly and thoroughly. Ai-Linh Vu 2D For her fantastic Grandparent’s activities. Well done, Ai-Linh! Madeline Smith 3B For a creative, imaginative narrative that demonstrated advanced vocabulary. Tom Fleming 3M For carrying out his role as a member of the SRC so capably during Semester 1. Zoe Jeffery 3O For showing outstanding mathematical thinking when solving worded problems involving multiplication and division. Sean Dent 4D For his thoughtful descriptive writing about his grandfather. Well done, Sean! Lukas Komljenovic 4G For using insightful examples when writing a descriptive piece titled ‘My Grandma’. Mary Holt 4T For ‘Never confuse movement with actions’, Mary has on three occasions in two days stopped her work to support others. A wonderful example of helping others and being selfless. Liam Dowling 5E For his fantastic start to Term Three. Keep it up! Alessia Morello 5M For her spirit of generosity when she sees a need, she initiates action and does something about it. Zac Farfalla 5P For a most enthusiastic attitude towards his learning. Nathaniel Kiprop 6B For being a positive and hard working student in all curriculum areas. Nicholas Padden 6K For displaying a caring and attentive nature at our Nursing Home visit. Daisi Kukuljan 6M For always taking great pride and care in the work she produces.

Key Dates July Friday 27th Whole School Awards Assembly - Semester 2 SRC Presented Sunday 29th Family Mass - Year 5 Monday 30th Year 6 Parent Information Night - 7.00pm Tuesday 31st ICAS English - time to be determined by classroom teacher

August Thursday 2nd Class Mass 9.15am - 2D Friday 3rd Junior Assembly Foundation to Year 2 - hosted by FT Tuesday 7th Parents Association Meeting - 7.30pm Wednesday 8th Parish Education Board Meeting - 7.00pm Thursday 9th Class Mass 9.15am - 3O Friday 10th Ladies Function Senior Assembly Years 3 to 6 - hosted by 4D Tuesday 14th ICAS Mathematics Wednesday15th Whole School Mass - 9.15am Feast of the Assumption Thursday 16th First Eucharist Workshop - 5.30pm or 7.00pm Friday 17th Whole School Awards Assembly Friday 24th Junior Assembly Foundation to Year 2 - hosted by 2B Monday 27th St Monica’s Day Wednesday 29th District Athletics Thursday 30th Class Buddy Mass 9.15am - 1S and 4T Friday 31st Senior Assembly Years 3 to 6 - hosted by 6M Fathers Day BBQ - Senior Yard

September Sunday 2nd Fathers Day Tuesday 4th Divisional Athletics Parents Association Meeting - 7.30pm Thursday 6th Class Buddy Mass 9.15am - 2C and 5M Friday 7th Whole School Awards Assembly Tuesday 11th Parish Education Board Meeting - 7.00pm

Week Beginning Monday July 23 Friday 27th Jodie Mahoney, Michelle Wing, Skye Palmer Week Beginning Monday July 30 Monday 30th Jude Cassidy, Angie Kelly Tuesday 31th Domina Carchedi Wednesday 1st Jodie Kukuljan, Leanne Redl, Laura Biggs Thursday 2nd Alex Bond, Tara Baker Friday 3rd Julie Durling-Landa, Annmaree Carmichael, Michelle Christian Week Beginning Monday August 6 Monday 6th Chloe Colman Tuesday 7th Lynn Garvey Wednesday 8th Belinda Vosti, Linda Connors Thursday 9th Domenic Misale, Trish Baxter, Phoebe DeMaria Friday 10th Serena Smith, Maria Pricone, Terri Thaus, Kerri McBeath

NOTICES

School Fees

The first and second school fee and levies instalment are to be paid immediately as these are now overdue.

Thank-you to those families who have already paid these fees. Families unable to meet their school fee

commitment are to contact Peter Moore or Father Tony.

The third instalment of $1,165 is due 29th August.

All other levies (e.g., swimming) can be paid at any time throughout the year prior to the event occurring.

If you are not receiving your e-mail statement (2 have been issued so far this year) please contact the

school office or e-mail at: accounts@stmonicasmp.catholic.edu.au to confirm/update your e-mail address.

For your convenience our banking details are:

EFT SCHOOL BANKING DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

St. Monica's School General Account

BSB 083 347 Account No.69868 9654

National Bank

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR FAMILY NAME

12th ANNUAL DAD'S GAME - BATTLE OF THE SAINTS

St. Monica's v St. Vincent's

There have been some intriguing battles over the years, but this year the St. Monica's dads are chasing redemption after a close 13 point loss last year.

We are building a new generation of dads to help us carry on the tradition of this annual event. New, old, young, first-timers and even old-timers. Doesn’t matter if you were a gun junior or the last picked in the schoolyard – there is a lot of fun and laughs to be had. It's a great way to meet new dads and get involved in the St. Monica’s Community.

TRAINING: WINDY HILL Sunday 15th August

TIME: 4pm - 5pm

POST TRAINING: Windy Hill Social Rooms

WHO: Dad's, wives and children all welcome.

Training Dates:

• Sunday August 5th

• Sunday August 19th

• Thursday August 30th Any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Ben Hogan 0402 919 523 or Scott Pickett 0412 745 570

NOTICES

ICAS English

ICAS English will be held next Tuesday at a time determined by the classroom teacher.

NOTICES

OSHClub News

Before School / After School Care Program

Program Update

Dear Parents and Families, Welcome back to Term 3!!I hope everyone had an amazing two weeks off. As of this term, we are no longer picking up or dropping off Foundation children for BSC or ASC sessions. We ask that all parents and guardians make sure their child knows they are attending ASC on the days they are booked. Over the past month or two, there has been some changes to the booking system. Accounts are locked out of book-ing within 24 hours of a session. Also in addition to this, no bookings are going though over the weekends for Monday sessions. If you need your child booked in for a session within this period, please send me a text on 0412 616 491 and I will put them on the roll. We still have a large number of items in our OSHClub Lost Property at the present. Feel free to come in and have a look if your child is missing any of their property. Lost Property is located within our OSHClub office, in the white cabinets. Take care, Jess ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YOU CAN GET YOUR KIDS TENNIS LESSONS DONE WHILST THEY ARE AT AFTERCARE! ST. Monica’s Tennis Club Contact – Steve Riley – Club Professional 0403 433 750 or steve@rileytennis.com.au

BOOK IN FOR A FREE HOTSHOTS TENNIS LESSON Just inform your OSHClub Co-ordinator about your tennis lesson (day & time) OSHCLUB DROPS OFF AND PICKS UP KIDS FOR THEIR TENNIS LESSONS!!!

(Children must be booked into After Care session to be dropped off and picked up.)

Next Week’s Activities

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Before Care

Activities

-icy pole stick snakes -Giants treasure

-cup animals -octopus

-bliss ball reci-pes -everybody's it

-solar system -fruit salad

-DIY Unicorns -silent ball

After Care Ac-

tivities

-icy pole stick snakes -connect four -Dance off -AFL

-cup animals -checkers -Adventure playground -Soccer

-bliss balls -uno -skipping -basketball

-solar system -bean bag targets -scavenger hunt

-DIY Unicorns -snap competition -one bounce

Parent Information

OSHC program phone: 0412 616 491 (Operating hours are from 7.15am-9.00am and 3.30pm-6.15pm)(PLEASE LEAVE

TEXT MESSAGE BETWEEN 9:30-3PM) Coordinator: Jess Assistants: Mel, Nairy, Maddie, Andrew & Anthony OSHClub Head Office: 03 85649000 All families must be enrolled to attend the program, remember this is Free!! Please create an account online at www.oshclub.com.au all bookings and cancellations can also be managed via your online account. For on the day bookings

please contact the Coordinator direct at the program.