Principal Talk with Mrs Lowe
Welcome to the 2024 school year!
Welcome to the 2024 school year! I hope you had a restful and enjoyable summer break and are ready to embark on an exciting year of learning and growth.
This year, we commence with 325 students. A warm welcome is extended to the new families joining the St Matthew's school community. We wish you all a happy and smooth transition into school life at St Matthew's.
I would like to welcome and introduce the staff:
Kindergarten: Mrs. Sylvia Campbell
Year One Blue: Miss Tamika Norris
Year One Maroon: Miss Kerrie Buckler
Year Two Blue: Mrs Lara Eteuati
Year Two Maroon: Mrs Michelle Johnson
Year Three Blue: Miss Dom Laria
Year Three Maroon: Mr Simon Hargraves
Year Four Blue: Mr Dillon Payne
Year Four Maroon: Miss Jessica Levi
Year Five Blue: Mrs Rachel Powell (Coordinator) and Mr Sam Crutcher (Friday)
Year Five Maroon: Miss Sophie Murdock (Religious Education Coordinator) and Mrs Lisa Donaldson (Friday)
Year Six Blue: Mr Daniel Hunt
Year Six Maroon: Miss Hannah Beissner
Assistant Principal: Mrs Petra Cole
Classroom Support Teachers: Mrs Cathy Talbot, Mrs Mary Quinane and Mrs Petra Cole
Teacher Librarian: Mrs Sally Judd
Music Teacher: Mrs Debbie Deighton
Japanese Language and Culture Teacher: Mr Jacob Burridge
Creative Arts Teacher: Ms Ana Zaja
Executive Release Teacher: Mrs Lisa Donaldson
Classroom Support Assistants: Mrs Megan Hogan, Mrs Donna Fisher, Mr Timothy Powell, Miss Maddie Greenwood (also our Youth Ministry Officer), Mrs Michelle Stuckey, Mrs Birgit Lonergan and Mr Sam Crutcher
I welcome our new staff, Simon Hargraves, Tim Powell and Michelle Stuckey.
It was wonderful to welcome our students back yesterday. They have all had a settled start and have enjoyed getting to know their new teachers and exploring their new learning spaces.
We are excited about the year ahead and confident our students will achieve great things. We look forward to working with you and your child. We firmly believe we can achieve great things by building a strong relationship between teachers, students, and families. We encourage you to stay involved in your child's education and to communicate with your child's teachers regularly.
Kindergarten 2024
Our Kindergarten class arrived at ‘big school’ yesterday looking very smart in their St Matthew's uniform. They had a wonderful day, working well with Mrs Campbell and Mrs Talbot. Seeing them ready to engage in their learning so enthusiastically was lovely. We wish our new Kinder students a fantastic first year of school!
School Hours and Drop-Off and Pick-Up Procedures
Student supervision commences at 8.30am and concludes at 3.20pm. The first-morning bell rings at 8.50am, and the students are dismissed at the end of the school day at 3.00pm.
The options for morning drop-off and afternoon pickup are:
- Bus
- Crossing
- Drive Through
- Parent/Carer Drop Off/Pick Up
- Before or After School Care
The morning and afternoon procedures are similar. If you use the Drive Through Zone, please enter via Chewings Street. This will allow the buses to have an unimpeded route when they arrive at the school via Petterd Street.
Drive-Through requires children to buckle themselves into their seats independently, so if your child finds this problematic, we recommend parking your car in the school car park and walking them to the Kinder/Year 1 playground gate.
If you are collecting your child/ren, please wait outside the Junior Playground gate, and your child/ren will come to you.
Thank you for your assistance in making the morning and afternoon procedures run smoothly.
Swimming Carnival
Our annual school swimming carnival for all students from Years 1 to 6 will be held on Tuesday, 6 February 2024, at The Stromlo Leisure Centre.
Year 1 students will attend the carnival but will only watch the early races, and after this, they will have some free play time in the splash area and small pool. Their teachers and lifeguards will supervise this. This is to familiarise them with the Swimming Carnival to prepare them to compete and enter formal events in Year 2. They will leave the pool at 12.30pm with their classroom teachers.
Students in Years 2-6 are invited to compete in 25m, 50m and 100m races. All students not competing in formal races will participate in novelty events. Races will be announced, and students who wish to participate will be collected by the supervising teacher. Selections for the 2024 Belconnen PSSA swimming carnival squad will be based on times achieved in the 50m and 100m events. More information regarding the 2024 Belconnen PSSA will be sent out at a later date.
Families are welcome to attend, but please be aware that all adults and non-St Matthew’s children will be charged an entry fee. Parents helping with formal jobs at the carnival will have their entry fee covered by St Matthew’s. St Matthew’s will also supply lunch for all helpers.
Students will travel with their teachers by bus to and from the pool. We will leave school at 9.15am and return at approximately 2.40pm. If you intend to collect your child/ren from the pool, please ensure you contact their teacher before doing so.
Students participating in the 200m Individual Medley will need to be at The Stromlo Leisure Centre at 8.15am for an 8.30am start. This event will take place before the remainder of the school arrives.
Although the pool is indoors, students will have access to the outdoor courtyard. Please ensure your child has sunscreen, a school hat, swimmers under their sports uniform and an optional house-coloured t-shirt to protect them from the sun. If they are not wearing a coloured t-shirt, they must wear a school shirt over their swimmers. Students may bring sandals or thongs to wear to the pool and will need a towel and a spare change of underwear. Please label all items.
Students need to bring lots of water, recess and lunch, and they may use the pool canteen throughout the day. Hot and cold food will be available from the cafe.
if you have not done so already, please log into Compass and provide permission for your child/ren to attend the carnival.
Thank you to those parents who volunteered to assist on the day. Please contact Daniel Hunt daniel.hunt@cg.catholic.edu.au if you can help. We need six more volunteers.
Meet the Teacher
Social Media and Student Images
At St Matthew’s, we use Facebook to enable you to stay connected with your child’s/children’s learning. The purpose of this page is to share with you and the community the great things that happen at St Matthew's. You can 'Follow' our Facebook Page by clicking this link: https://www.facebook.com/stMatthewsPrimarySchoolPage/
Sometimes, we would like to post pictures or videos of our students on our Facebook page. For example, we may post pictures of school events such as special guest speakers/visitors, Book Week, sporting events (Athletics Carnival, Swimming Carnival, etc) and other exciting things happening at our wonderful school.
Our school may also be involved in school events throughout the year, where a photographer and potentially other commercial media outlets may attend to capture photos and footage of the event.
Please complete this form if you DO NOT permit photographs and/or video footage of your child/ren taken at school events and activities to be posted on our school Facebook page or other media channels. Families who have already specified that they do not want us to publish their children's images do not need to complete this form.
https://stmattspspage.schoolzineplus.com/survey/5
Student ICT User Agreement
Tomorrow, the students will participate in an eSafety Day, which focuses on how we can be informed digital citizens and safe online. The students will receive an ICT User Agreement at the end of the day. Please read this document with your child, discuss it, and return it to school signed.
Newsletter
Today, you received the first school newsletter for the year. Newsletters will be emailed out each Thursday afternoon and are also available on the website; however, if you prefer a print copy, please contact Brooke in the Office.
On the even weeks, the newsletters will contain news and information from our Religious Education Coordinator, Sports Coordinator, Child Safety Advocate, Classroom Support Teacher, and Specialist Teachers, as required.
We love to share our school community's news and events. Please email the office with photos and updates for inclusion in the newsletter.
Clothing Pool
The clothing pool will be open this Friday from 2.30 pm. We thank Corrina and Bec for volunteering to maintain this valuable service for families.
Security
Unfortunately, some people entered the playground over the holiday period and vandalised some of our school property. We aim to ensure that the staff and students are safe at all times and that St Matthew's Primary School is a well-equipped school. Over this term, we will be taking some measures to ensure that we can maintain a safe and well-presented school environment. The first measures will be a gate on the bottom fence line on the primary playground and replacing the security cameras with dome cameras to ensure they cannot be broken or tampered with.
School Student Broadband Initiative
The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) to provide free home internet for up to 30,000 unconnected families with school-aged students until December 2025.
To be eligible for SSBI, families must:
- Have a child living at home who is enrolled in an Australian school.
- Not have an active nbn® network internet service at home. Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility.
- Live in premises that can access the NBN network via a standard connection.
- Not have had an active nbn connection during the previous 14 days.
To self-nominate or access more information visit:
https://www.nbnco.com.au/campaigns/school-student-broadband-initiative
Save the Date
If you can assist with the Welcome Barbeque, please contact our Community Council Chairperson, Kylie McNamara, at kylieamcnamara@gmail.com.
Contact
Teachers are your first port of call for questions and queries about classroom matters. Appointments can be made with your child's classroom teacher by calling the Office on 6254 2653.
I am also happy to support you in any way I can. Typically, problems that are addressed quickly, in partnership, are the easiest to solve. I will be available on the school phone (6254 2653) for calls between 8.30am - 5.00pm daily or via email within similar hours. The email address to be used to contact any staff member is office.stmatts@cg.catholic.edu.au
Emails sent outside office hours may not be responded to until the following day.
If you wish to make an appointment to see me, please get in touch with Chris or Brooke in the Office.
In truth and love,
Sarah Lowe
Principal