St Matthew’s Primary School

Dear Parents and Carers

Working Bee

A reminder that our Autumn Working Bee will be held this Sunday March 28^th

commencing at 10.00 am. If you are able to assist on this morning, for even part of the time, please indicate your availability by emailing office.stmatts@cg.catholic.edu.au. Your response will help us with our planning and catering, children are most welcome to attend.

The picture, located at the end of the Kindergarten classrooms, is one of the areas we would like to tidy up. Other tasks include pruning back the main entrance area, cleaning up the bike shed courtyard, clearing out the shipping container and completing the Lizard Lounge located near the Front Entrance.

Please bring along your own gardening tools such as rakes, brooms and pruning equipment.

Many hands make light work and this is always a great way to meet other parents.

Colour Run
This week your should have received some correspondence regarding our proposed Colour Run which is scheduled to be held after lunch on the same day as our School Cross Country, Friday April 23rd.

The correspondence invites you to enrol your child so that they can be sponsored for this event. Please only support this initiative to the best of your financial capability. I am well aware that many of our families are still struggling during these challenging times and we are not looking to put any unnecessary pressure on families.

Disco

Our In House School Disco is scheduled for next Tuesday March 30^th. The disco will be held in staggered sessions during the school day. Please dress your child in sun smart disco clothes with appropriate footwear.

Pupil Free Day

Just a reminder that we have been informed by the Catholic Education Office that the first scheduled day back in Term Two, 19^th April has been declared a Pupil Free Day.

Our After Hours Care Providers have indicated that they will be offering care on that day. If you would like to access this service please make contact with OSHCLUB on 0437730454 or online www.oshclub.com.au

May God bless you and your families

Graham Pollard
Principal

Through the Window

Once a week, students at St Matthew’s have the opportunity to participate in Mr Pollard’s Friday Club. If you were to walk past the window, you’d see a large group of loud, boisterous and excited students playing together—and sometimes independently—with a variety of toys and games in the hall. You’d notice some children engaging in pretend play, using their toys as protagonists in imaginative situations. Students sit together in small groups, huddled around a card or board game, calling out instructions to one another to help with the next move. Others engage in a very serious discussion about why someone’s remote controller is directing the movements of another student’s car...and they then try to figure out how to solve the problem. Mr Pollard walks amongst the students and he laughs with them and engages in conversations with them: How can you solve that problem? What are the rules here? Who is hurt and how can you fix it? And the children try to avoid tripping him up as they roll toy cars, fly imaginary unicorns, and flip toys over. It’s noisy. And it seems a little chaotic. What’s going on here?

This type of club has many, many benefits. Play is an essential strategy for learning. Play is meaningful, joyful, actively engaging, socially interactive and iterative. Play and learning are not static. Children play to practise skills, try out possibilities, revise hypotheses and discover new challenges. This leads to deeper learning. Play allows children to communicate ideas, to understand others through social interaction, and paves the way to build deeper understanding and more powerful relationships. Watch children playing, and you will usually see that they become deeply involved, often combining physical, mental and verbal engagement. They are often smiling and laughing. Disagreements during play are a very normal and helpful part of life when you’re in primary school (or part of a large family!). Of course, play may have its frustrations and challenges (Who gets the first turn? What is the rule here and who decided that? Why can’t I make this construction stay up?), but the overall feeling is one of enjoyment, motivation, thrill and pleasure. Children play to make sense of the world around them, and to find meaning in an experience by connecting it to something already known. Through play, children express and expand their understanding of their experiences (UNICEF, 2018).

Yes - you thought you were watching a loud, boisterous group of students playing with their toys, but it really was so much more than that.

Petra Cole
Assistant Principal
Petra.Cole@cg.catholic.edu.au

Vinnies Knock On Effect
Vinnies changes lives every day, but they need our help. During the month of March Vinnies is running the ‘Knock On Effect’ campaign to highlight the knock on effects that donations, fundraising and awareness raising can have. The Knock On Effect appeal will replace the previous Doorknock Appeal to educate people about the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society, recruit more members and volunteers, and raise funds for the society’s good works. Like a ripple effect, one $5 donation may not seem like much, but it can significantly assist in continuing Vinnies’ services and programs. With over 2 million people living below the poverty line in Australia, including over half a million children, your contribution allows the St Vincent de Paul Society to provide more than immediate help, it provides something much more valuable - the opportunity of a better life. Please join us in supporting those who need a hand up in challenging times. For more information head and to donate, head to https://donate.vinnies.org.au/event/knock-on-effect

Holy Week Celebrations
In Week 9, students and staff will be celebrating the events of Holy Week, the most important week in the Catholic Church's calendar.

On Monday, classes will be participating in class or grade liturgy focusing on Palm Sunday.

On Thursday morning classes will join with their buddies to celebrate a Holy Thursday Liturgy and perform a washing of the hands as an act of service for each other.

On Thursday afternoon all classes will be led by their teachers through the Stations of the Cross, Jesus' journey to his crucifixion.

St Joseph
Last Friday 19 March, we celebrated the feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In a new Apostolic Letter entitled Patris corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.

The Letter marks the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has proclaimed a special “Year of St Joseph,” beginning on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2020 and extending to the same feast in 2021.

Prayer to St Joseph

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer;

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

To you God entrusted his only Son;

In you Mary placed her trust;

With you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too

Show yourself as a father

And guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,

And defend us from every evil.

AMEN.

Thank You

I want to thank you for a wonderful start to 2021. As a community we have accomplished many wonderful things in Religious Education during Term One from

prayer inquiry, refreshing our St Matthew’s school vision, to our work in Youth Ministry with our Year Six leaders. Being the Religious Education Coordinator has been a very life-giving role to blessed with and I look forward to returning in 2022 after maternity leave. I wish you and your families a very happy rest of 2021 filled with love, good health, and adventure.

God Bless

Mrs Louisa Mitchell.

Lousie Vance
REC

Need_to_Know_Update.pdf

Need_to_Know_Update _pdf 6.68 MB

We are looking for some wonderful volunteers to help cover our new library books. The books can be taken home to be covered

and we will supply all the necessary materials. If you are able to help out, please contact Miss Judd in the library or email sally.judd@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Sincerely,

Sally Judd

Teacher Librarian

Happy birthday wishes to Charlie O, Dorothy P, Michael L, Charles M, Liam W, Seth G, Myah K, August C, Dan P, Harrison F, Emma Z, Sara V, Samuel M, Elena-Grace O, Amelia-Paige C, who recently celebrated birthdays.