St Gerard’s Primary School

NEWSLETTERwww.sgdandenongnth.catholic.edu.au

03 97917553 25 October 2019Term 4, Week 3

Principal - Mr Paul CowanParish Priest - Father Brendan Arthur

principal@sgdandenongnth.catholic.edu.au71 Gladstone Road, Dandenong North 3175

Monday, 28 OctoberItalian Day - come dressed in Italian colours

Tuesday, 29 October● 2nd Prep 2020

Orientation morning

Wednesday, 30 October● Maths Rock Day

11:45 - 1:45● Mission Month Assembly

2:45 pm● Homework Club

Thursday, 31 OctoberP/1/2 Healesville Sanctuary excursion

Friday, 1 NovemberAll Saints Whole School Mass 9:15 am

Italian Day Monday, 28 OctoberCome dressed in the colours of Italy or your a famous Italian

SCHOOL PRAYERGod, our Father, as members of the Parish Community of

St Gerard’s we praise you for your love.

May we grow stronger in faith and hope, and may our love

for each other, become deeper in our daily lives.

Grant this through your Son, and our brother, Jesus

Christ, AMEN

A Prayer for TeachersLord, bless the teachers who give

their hearts to teaching.Thank you for the special gift that you have given them and for giving them a

spirit of grace and compassion.May they have strength and

endurance to perform the many tasks, and may they know and feel the

deep gratitude of those whom they teach.Amen

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

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Dear Families,

It is fair to say that we are in the season of Spring given the range of weather we have experienced this week. The warmer days certainly do provide us with a boost and remind us of the beauty of nature.

On Tuesday we welcomed our 2020 Preps to our school with the first of four Orientation Sessions. It was lovely to see the excitement and wonder on their faces as they met each other for the first time. There are three more orientation sessions which are designed to make this significant milestone a positive experience for the students and their families. The other sessions are on Tuesday mornings from 9.30am – 10.30am on October 29 and November 12 and 19.

Wednesday saw our St Gerard Majella Award winners and Social Justice Leaders represent our school at the Mission Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Visiting St Patrick’s is a reminder that we are part of a large Catholic Community and the Mission Mass a call for us to support our ‘neighbours’.

Yesterday (Thursday) a group of our Year 5/6 students presented their work at the LitStem Exhibit at Nazareth College. The work presented was part of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum. Parts of this display were seen at our Art Show last term and involved re-using clothing.

Today we celebrated World Teachers Day at our school with all our staff being presented with a small gift of appreciation. I mentioned last week that children may want to recognise their teacher(s) in some small way to say thank you for the positive and significant impact they have. Thank you to those families that did, I know that our staff appreciated the thought.

Looking to next week, we have Italian Day on Monday, Maths Rocks on Wednesday and our Prep and Year 1/2 Excursion to Healesville Sanctuary on Thursday. As always, families are more than welcome to be part of activities at our school. Please contact your classroom teacher(s) for more details and information.

God Bless.

Paul Cowan

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

Most Rev. Bishop Mark Edwards celebrated Children's Mission Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral last Wednesday, celebrating Mission Month. Recipients of the St Gerard Majella Award, Social Justice Leaders, Altar Servers and Liturgy Leaders represented our school at this special Mass. Principals, educators, parents and hundreds of students from schools across the Archdiocese were present at this wonderful event.

Whole School Masses:Friday, 1 November: All Saints’ DaySaturday, 2 November: All Souls’ DayFriday, 13 December: End of year Mass at 12:00 Level Masses:Years Prep and 5/6: Thursday, 28 November at 9:15Years 1/2: Thursday, 21 November at 9:15Years 3/4: Thursday, 5 December at 9:15

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS CONT’D

Important Dates for Term 4Wednesday, 23 October: Mission Week Mass at the Cathedral, Celebrant: TBA Winners of the St Gerard

Majella award represent our school. (Mission Month Biennial White Elephant Stall and coin line next year)

Friday, 25 October: Mission Month Assembly (lead by the Social Justice Leadership team)Friday, 1 November: All Saints DaySaturday, 2 November: All Souls Day and Fr. A’s BirthdayMonday, 11 November: Remembrance Day, one minute silenceWednesday, 20 November: Year 6 Reflection DayThursday, 21 November: Whole School Living Rosary, 11:45 (The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin

Mary Feast Day)Friday, 29 November: Advent Assembly at 2:30Tuesday, 10 December: Christmas Carols EveningThursday, 12 December: Choir Christmas Carols ExcursionFriday, 13 December: End of year Mass, 12 noonTuesday, 17 December: Year 6 final assembly, 2pm and Graduation, 7pm

Altar boy trainingAltar boy training is in the Church from 5pm to 6:30 pm every Thursday evening. Please contact Mrs Stack if you are interested in joining our dedicated team of Altar Servers.

ALL SAINTS DAYCELEBRATIONS

It’s that time of year to DRESS UP as your favourite Saint and join us for a fun filled day!!!

WHEN Sunday, 3 November10:30 am Mass

WHERE St Gerard’s Parish Church

A BBQ lunch will follow Mass with fun activities and prizes for the best dressed. The event finishing at 4:00 pm.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

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Whole School Classroom Reward SystemWe now have a whole school class reward system. Students who display the expectations present on the school Matrix will be rewarded with a raffle ticket from their classroom teacher. Once a month the raffle tickets from each class will be collected and drawn during Monday assembly. The raffle tickets were drawn on Monday 28 October and 6 lucky winners will be invited to have hot chips with the Principal.

This week 3/4S enjoyed their Garden to Kitchen lesson. The students practised the skills of weeding, pruning and harvesting in the garden. They then enjoyed preparing and eating delicious carbonara pasta, savoury scones and herb butter! Ask them to make it for you at home. Once again a huge thank you to our amazing, dedicated mums who volunteer their precious time every Friday. Next week 1/2B will participate in their Garden to Kitchen lesson. If you would like to assist during the Garden to Kitchen block please contact Anna Munro or Nicole Fernandez. We would love for you to join in!

WELLBEING NEWS

TERM 4 KITCHEN GARDEN TIMETABLEWeek ClassWeek 4- 1/11 1/2FPWeek 5- 8/11 5/6OWeek 6- 15/11 5/6VTWeek 7- 22/11 Prep C

Week 8- 29/11 Christmas cooking- Grades 3-6 (9:00- 2:00)Class timetable TBCWeek 9- 6/11 Christmas cooking- Grades P-2 (9:00-1:00)Class timetable TBCWeek 10- 13/11 No class due to End of Year Mass

This week in our SEL lesson we revised the “Being Cooperative in the learning areas” expectations from our Give Me 5 matrix.

The Prep to 6’s discussed the importance of being Cooperative in the learning areas by following directions, moving safely, staying on task, sharing with others and helping each other. The students worked collaboratively to determine if a scenario demonstrated students being cooperative or not. The student’s role played different scenarios of how they could be cooperative in the learning areas.

Ride to School Day

A big thankyou to all of the families who participated in the Ride to School day on Friday 25th October. Our current data shows that we did not achieve our active travel goal for this month. I hope we have better luck on the next Ride to School Day.

Well done to: 1st place- 3/4S 2nd place- 3/4L 3rd place- Prep C

WELLBEING NEWS CONT’D

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Walk to School During the month of October St Gerard’s will be participating in Walk to School. Walk to School encourages Victorian primary school kids to walk, ride or scoot to and from school. It’s a great way to help students learn healthy habits and achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity, every day. Active travel options to and from school are also a great opportunity to connect and chat with your kids, plus meet up with other local families along the way. If you can’t walk all the way, your child can still get involved – simply drive part way and walk, ride or scoot the rest! By participating, you could help our school win great regional prizes and you will enjoy the benefits of walking, riding and scooting to and from school!

The environmental leaders and garden club collected fresh produce from the garden and used this produce to run a stall on Tuesday. It was very successful with the students selling fresh silverbeet, parsley, mint, snow peas and eggs straight from the garden. Parents who got in early snapped up a bargain. Our next garden market will be held next Friday, 1 November at 8:20am…get in early to avoid disappointment!

Did You Know?Healthy eating helps children and young people cope more effectively with stress, better manage their emotions and get a good sleep – all of which assist learning.

Most research about nutrition and mental health has focused on adults. We know that good nutrition is associated with better mental health outcomes, whereas a poor diet is associated with a greater risk of depression and anxiety. However, emerging research that focuses on children and young people has also found a relationship between unhealthy diets and poorer mental health outcomes.

Poor nutrition has been associated with:● externalising behaviour (such as hyperactivity, aggression, disobedience)● symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ● poor concentration and tiredness, which interfere with learning● immune system function, which is also linked to mental health● delayed brain development – high-fat, high-sugar diets can affect proteins in the body that are important for brain

development● iron deficiency, which has been linked to cognitive function impairments associated with learning and memory● nutrient deficiencies, which have been associated with mental health conditions including depression and anxiety

(we know that fruits and vegetables, grains, fish, lean red meats and olive oils are rich in important nutrients such as folate, magnesium, vitamins and zinc which all impact on body and brain functions, including mood regulation)

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MATHS ROCKS!

Date: Wednesday 30 October, 2019Time: 11:45-1:45Where: At St Gerard’s PAC at 11:45 amJoin in with your children as they participate in, explore and learn about ALGORITHMIC THINKING!This is an opportunity to observe and participate in how problem solving is taught in a multi-modal and engaging fashion. If you have ever wondered how children apply their maths knowledge and understanding to solve problems and reason using logic, come to our Maths Rocks Day! There will be opportunity to chat with Melinda the School Mathematics Leader.

Thursday afternoon Mrs O’Brien and Mrs Theodore had the pleasure of taking a selection of students to the LitSTEM expo at Nazareth College. The students exhibited their collaborative circular fashion project. There were many schools sharing some fantastic ideas but our students were wonderful. They were all articulate in explaining the purpose of the project. The Year 5 students really stood out and demonstrated exceptional leadership skills. Although we didn’t ‘win’ our project received an Honorable Mention Award. Thank you for the support and donations of clothing.

OTHER SCHOOL NEWS

The students have been having fun playing Beyblades on the new ‘stadium’ Mr Milne has made for them.