Dear Parents and Guardians

What a wonderful celebration we had today as we were able to officially bless and open our school buildings. Whilst we were disappointed in not being able to share this occasion with you all, your children were a credit to yourselves and our school community. They showed all the characteristics of the expectations (respectful, safe, persistent, inclusive) we continue to embed in the culture of our school.

I would like to thank the following people and organsisations for their attendance and work in making today possible;

Most Reverend Gregory Bennet, Catholic Bishop of Sale.
Very Reverend Peter Slater, Parish Priest.
Director of Catholic Education and Chief Executive Officer of Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited, Ms Maria Kirkwood.
The Honourable Russell Broadbent MP, Member for Monash.
Searle Brothers Builders.
Crosier Scott Architects.
Kristy Telford and Kelly Bonacci-Parent representatives from the school Advisory Board.

The planning and organisation of today couldn’t go ahead without the hard work and dedication of the staff we have at St Angela’s. They go over and above of what is expected of their roles to make this such a wonderful place to come and learn and work each day.

Tomorrow we welcome our 2022 Foundation students for their first orientation session. They will attend school over the next three Wednesdays to become familiar with our school and their teachers for next year, Ms Missen and Miss Henry.

Many in our school community continue to face financial impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to supporting families experiencing financial challenges through our School Fee Concession programs, and encourage any parent/carer/guardian experiencing difficulties to contact us regarding fee assistance.

Please contact Lauren Soumilas on 5622 9800 or email lsoumilas@stangelawarragul.catholic.edu.au to explore confidential financial support arrangements or to obtain further information.

Please see the updated Vaccination Requirements of Parents, Guardians and Carers and Other Visitors Attending Schools.

Parents, guardians and carers who enter school buildings must be fully vaccinated or have a valid medical exception with the following limited exceptions:

 •  when attending to administer medical treatment to their own child when the treatment cannot be administered by the school
• when attending to collect their child who is unwell and cannot leave the school building unaccompanied by their parent/carer.
• when attending for a momentary period that does not involve any sustained contact with staff or students, for example, to sign in or out your student or dropping something into the office.

All adults, including parents, guardians and carers attending any school event or activity including but not limited to assemblies, tours, graduations, transition days or whole of school events are required to be fully vaccinated and show evidence of vaccination.

Meetings and other discussions (such as Parent Teacher Interviews and Parent Support Group meetings) with parents, guardians and carers who do not meet vaccination requirements should be held virtually.

Parents, guardians and carers attending the school site for drop off and pick up who do not enter school buildings do not need to comply with vaccination requirements.

If you have any further questions relating to the above information please contact the office on (03) 5622 9800.

We are pleased to enclose the information in relation to Extend, our After School Care Program to commence at St Angela of the Cross in 2022.

Please see the attached Welcome Letter which includes the following information:

• Hours of Operation
• Fees
• Booking/Enrolment

Career Opportunity
Extend is seeking enthusiastic and dedicated Educators to join their brand new service at St Angela of the Cross. If you would like further information please see the attached flyer.

Perspective

Science reveals the universe to be about 14 billion years old. Which puts into perspective the few million years of life on our little planet and our own lives. Those of us who were there know just how much life has changed since mid-twentieth century when our milk and bread deliveries arrived by horse and cart, there was no TV and telephones were what the wealthy people down the road had in their homes. Nonetheless, whatever our age, this 21^st century of frenetic electronic pace is “our time.” Change is the only constant; once seemingly invariable aspects of our world have disappeared without trace and others at least while the pandemic rages.

What is there to rely on? Well: Jesus! However long the universe lasts; whatever and whoever passes away, his words will not pass away. (Mark 13:28-31). Pope Benedict reminded us that all those tangible circumstances we might think are reality “are only realities of a secondary order. Who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality” (Synod on the Word of God, October 2008). “The only thing that will stand is the Word of Jesus, the command of Jesus that we love one another as he has loved us.”(Moloney, F. p201). 

“One of the truths that burns at the heart of evolution is our kinship with Creation, with nature, with stars and with planets, with the almost 14 billion years of our infancy.”(O’Leary, D. p240). How do we fit into this reality? How do we love like Jesus? It always comes back to this question and the answer: In loving all creation as the Creator loves us we best fit the reality of Jesus Word.

Deacon Mark Kelly

At St Angela of the Cross Primary School we implement the Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support (WSAPBS) approach in order to create an environment that is predictable, known and safe for our students. Positive Behaviour approaches focus on the development of expectations, values, relationships and skills.

Our School Wide Expectations are:

• Safe
• Respectful
• Inclusive, and
• Persistent

For the past few weeks the students have been focusing on understanding what ‘safe’ looks like, feels like and sounds like in the various learning spaces of our school. They are learning how to recognise, react and respond appropriately to unsafe behaviours and how to encourage safe behaviours at school. 

The students developed positive behaviours expectations around how all school members can be safe at school. These will be referred to in all areas of our school and will be displayed in each classroom. 

The expectations they created are:

On Thursday, students participated in a Remembrance Day service to remember the people who fought and died in war. Students shared their learnings with their peers and re-told stories about family members or prior knowledge they had heard about war. The Social Justice leaders represented our school with pride at the Warragul Cenotaph service. Students created a beautiful piece of artwork that represented soldiers on the battlefield. 

Thank you to our St Angela of the Cross families, for once again, having such generous hearts. So far, through our Social Justice initiatives we have raised $103 to support the children of the Good Shepherd Kindergarten in Thailand and vulnerable children across communities in Australia.

On Friday the 5^th of November we celebrated ‘Funky Sock’ Friday to raise awareness and money for Catholic Mission. It was fantastic to see students and staff dressed up in their most creative ways of wearing socks.

Despite the cold weather, we continued to have many students participate in our ‘Icy Pole Wednesday’ initiative. Icy Poles will continue to be sold every Wednesday during November for $1.