Dear Families, 

Happy Catholic Education Week! A few stats about the Catholic Education system that you chose to educate your child:

• 1 in 5 students in Melbourne attend a Catholic school

• 113,078 students attend 295 MACS-governed Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

• There are 17,000 teacher and non-teaching staff working in those 295 schools

• There are over 500 Primary, Secondary, and Special Catholic schools in Victoria 

As part of the Archdiocese’s Catholic Education Week Celebrations, our school leaders will be attending a special mass and celebration at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday 17th March. This is an annual event celebrated by all Catholic Schools in Melbourne and is an opportunity for the children to celebrate their faith and learning.  I am very proud to have our school leaders represent our school at this very special celebration. 

Today we celebrate St Patrick's Day. We have asked that students wear a touch of green. St Patrick was a missionary who helped bring Christianity to Ireland. 

We have been embedding Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) which is an evidence-based framework that brings together the whole-school community to contribute to developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. As part of PBL it is important to recognise and acknowledge students following the values of STM. At assembly each fortnight 10 names will be drawn from a ticket box to receive one Zooper Dooper voucher from the canteen. Congratulations to our PBL winners last Friday. Thank you for being safe, responsible, respectful and resilient. 

We had out first Prep 2024 School Tour on Tuesday. We have our next School Tour on Tuesday 21 of March at 9:30am and an evening tour at 6:30pm. Enrolments for 2024 will close on Tuesday April 4. Current families need to ensure they have completed an enrolment form by this date. 

The term is flying by with Term 1 ending on Thursday April 6 at 12:00pm.  Our Canteen will be closed. 

Over the next two weeks, learners in Years 3 and 5 are taking part in NAPLAN.

We have had some students bring their smart watches to school. We are asking parents to remind children that wearable devices should be treated the same as mobile phones at school. They are not to be activated during the school day or should be handed in to the front office. 

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in Writing, Reading Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy. NAPLAN is completed online from Wednesday 15 March - Monday 27 March.

NAPLAN is one of many assessments that your child does over the year to tell us more about them and help us identify focus groups and teaching at their point of need. Results of the NAPLAN assessment will be sent home later in the school year.

Have a great weekend,

David Hurn 

Principal 

MARCH

• Tuesday 21st - Open Day - 9:30am & 6:30pm

APRIL

• Sunday 02nd - Daylight Saving Time ends

• Wednesday 5th - Inform and Empower Parent information session @7.00pm - see info below under Wellbeing

• Thursday 06th - Last day Term 1 - 12.00pm finish - Canteen closed

• Friday 07th - Good Friday

• Sunday 09th - Easter Sunday

• Monday 24th - 1st day back Term 2

• Tuesday 25th - Anzac Day - Public Holiday

**'Public Events' are listed on our website under 'News and Events', the link being; https://www.stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au/news-events

On the bottom right hand side there is a blue box with a + symbol. If you have a google account, you can link the 'Public Events' calendar to your own personal Google calendar and keep up to date with the most current events and times.

Please don't hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.

Dear Families 

We are excited about our upcoming Learning Showcase (previously known as Celebrations of Learning). We invite you to discover and celebrate your child's learning. These showcases of learning will occur in your child's classroom, and teachers will email you your inviation.

Below is an outline of dates and times for the showcases in each year level, so you can put them in your diaries. Looking forward to seeing you all at school. 

GRADE 1 - MONDAY 20TH MARCH, 2.30 - 3.00PM

PREP - WEDNESDAY 22ND MARCH, 3.00- 3.20PM 

GRADE 3 - TUESDAY 28TH MARCH, 2.30 - 3.00PM

GRADE 5 - THURSDAY 30TH MARCH,  2.45 - 3.10PM

GRADE 4 - FRIDAY 31ST MARCH, 2.20 - 3.10PM

GRADE 6 -TUESDAY 4TH APRIL, 9.10 - 9.30AM

GRADE 2 -TUESDAY 4TH APRIL, 2.45 - 3.10PM

Rita Totino

Learning and Teaching Leader                     

Dear STM Families,

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, we now have books ready to be contacted for our year 3 - 6 classrooms. The contact has been pre-cut to size and the books will be available for pick up from the office. 

If this is something you can help us with, please email me: jhanna@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au

Thank you

Julie Hanna

Literacy Leader

Sacrament Updates 

The Grade 4 Sacarament of Reconciliation will be celebrated on Friday the 6th October at 10am in our Church during school hours. 

The Grade 4 Sacrament of First Eucharist  will be celebrated on on Sunday 15th October at 11:30am in our Church. 

The Grade 6 Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Thursday 22nd June at 6pm in our Church.

Parent Information sessions for all Sacraments will be presented later this year. A date and time will be organised and communicated with you shortly. More information about all Sacraments will follow closer to the time. 

Caritas Australia 

Lent marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. The theme of Project Compassion 2023 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good we do today extends to impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues. We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through prayer, fasting and almsgiving in support of Project Compassion. Each classroom will receive a Project Compassion box for their donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion 

If you are interested in becoming a Parent Rep for your child's class, joining the STMPA, or volunteering for fundraisers and events throughout the year, please fill out your details in this document, we would love to welcome you!

Regards,
Kate Mackintosh

The 2023 Premiers' Reading Challenge is now open! 

The Challenge is something that St Thomas More participates in every year. It celebrates the importance of reading in a child's life, setting them up for school but also opening their minds to imagine, explore and learn more about the world around them. Since the Challenge first began in 2005, more than 3 million students have read nearly 50 million books.

This is the message from the Premier:

I’m pleased to let you know that the 2023 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge has started.

The Premiers’ Reading Challenge will take you on a journey where you can discover new people, places, and things in every story.

Let your imagination run wild as you pick up each book; you’ll also gain important literacy skills and knowledge.

This year, while you take part in the Challenge, I encourage you to challenge yourself. Read a book you wouldn’t normally read and, you never know, it might be your new favourite.

Once you get started on the Challenge, you’ll be as wild about reading as I am.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about your favourite books too!

The Hon Dan Andrews MP

Premier of Victoria

Anyone who completes the Challenge receives  a Certificate of Achievement from the Victorian Government.  

• For students from Prep to Year 2, the Challenge is to read or experience 30 books. 

• For students in Years 3 to 10, the Challenge is to read 15 books.   

Parents can find useful information about the challenge here 

If your child would like to participate in this wonderful celebration of reading and books then please email Lou - leveston@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au 

We will activate your child in the Premiers' Reading Challenge website and send you further details. 

Lou Eveston

Librarian