Mother's Day
I hope all mothers in the school enjoyed a much deserved and very special Mother’s Day over the weekend. It was wonderful last week to see the Pre Primary and Year 1 mums come into the school and be treated by their child, as part of the Mother’s Day celebration.
Pirate Day
Tomorrow, Friday 13 May, is ‘International Pirate Day’. This day is dedicated to helping the Kids Cancer Project fund vital cancer research, investigating kinder, more effective treatments. Whilst this is not a free dress day at St Damien’s, students are asked to bring in a donation to help support this important initiative.
I thank the P&F for raising the awareness of this worth cause.
Feast Day
On Tuesday we marked the Feast Day for our patron saint, St Damien of Molokai. All students engaged in an online Liturgy and completed some fun activities throughout the day. We thank Mr Hazebroek for organising the festivities of the day and Fr Vincent for celebrating the Liturgy with us.
Year 3 Reconciliation
Tonight, our Year 3 students begin their Sacrament of Reconciliation journey with a Sacramental enrolment Mass being held at 5:00pm. We pray for these students as they prepare for the receiving of this very important Sacrament as another significant step in their life of faith.
School Closure
On Monday’s school closure day, staff spent the day focussing on re-visiting the ‘Vision for Learning’ document. The day was spent investigating and discussing the important aspects of Quality Catholic Education and how that applies to St Damien’s CPS and was facilitated by consultants from CEWA.
The next phase of this process is to sought feedback from students and families in the school, which will be done in the coming weeks, to ensure we are getting a holistic perspective regarding what effective learning looks like at St Damien’s.
COVID-19 Update
As the school has moved to ‘baseline settings’ for COVID-19 safety guidelines, it has been pleasing to see a lot of school activities return to normal. In saying this, the school is inevitably being impacted by the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus.
One considerable issue is the impact it is potentially having on staffing in the school. As staff COVID positive cases rise in the staff, the school will need to make some short-term decisions to ensure the school and classes remain open and the continuity of face-face learning continues. Some of these changes may include shared supervision of students/year groups, specialist classes being forgone to cover classroom teaching supervision requirements, the use of relief teachers throughout the school for substantial periods of time and the repurposing of Leadership and Administration staff to work in classrooms that need covering. Our goal is to remain open and ensure students continue to learn. Given the collaborative nature the year group staff approach the teaching of students, I am confident the learning plans for students will continue to be implemented, no matter who is working with the students.
A provision of RAT kits have been received by the school today provided by the State Government, which will be distributed to families over the next week. More information regarding the collection of these by families will be corresponded shortly.
Each day I have continued to provide a summary update of positive COVID-19 cases in the school (via SEQTA), not only for parents’ information, but also to encourage parents to conduct a COVID test on their child/children if they feel their child/children have come into close contact with a positive case whilst at school.
For this summary to be accurate, I ask that parents continue to report all new positive cases on the school ‘Self Reporting App’, found on the homepage of the school’s website or on the link below:
NAPLAN
The NAPLAN assessments begun this week, with students in Years 3 and 5 beginning them on Tuesday, with a Writing assessment. For most students, the NAPLAN Assessment program will finish this Friday, with some catch up sessions being allocated next week for any students who have been absent during the testing period.
2023 Enrolments
The enrolment period has begun for students beginning in 4 Year Old Kindergarten for 2023. If you have a child who is eligible to begin 4 Year Old Kindergarten next year, please ensure you complete and submit an enrolment form to the school office as soon as possible. No enrolment form is required for students currently in 3 Year Old Kindy.
If you have any questions regarding the enrolment process of the school, please contact the office on 9583 2500.
Wickepin Parade
Yesterday the road surface of Wickepin Parade was laid and sealed, which is great. Hopefully, in the coming not-so-distant future the footpaths will be completed and this part of the street will become fully operational, providing some extra relief for parents parking and collecting their child/children at the end of each day.
Winter Uniform
Over the past fortnight, it has been great to see more students wearing the school winter uniform. Beginning next week, Tuesday 10 May 2022, all students in Years 3 to 6 will be expected to be wearing the full winter uniform.
Please contact the office if you have any questions regarding the purchasing of the School Winter Uniform in readiness for term 2.
2023 Kindy Information Session
An Information Session is scheduled for next Wednesday 18th May for potential new families enrolling in the 4 Year Old Kindergarten classroom for the 2023 school year. This session will give the new families an understanding about St Damien’s School and will get an opportunity to tour the school afterwards. Existing families are not required to attend, but are welcome to join us if you wish.
Playgroup is Back!
After a time of absence, Playgroup has started up again at St Damien’s. Playgroup runs on Thursdays from 9:00 until 10:30am in the Kindy area of the school. Families with children of pre-schooling age are welcome to come along and enjoy the fantastic early years facilities of the school. Please contact the office if you would like more information regarding the Playgroup session in the school.
PSSA Sport
St Damien’s got off to a great start in the PSSA Winter Sports competition, competing against MCC last Friday. From all reports, the St Damien’s teams were successful on the field, but also showed great endeavour and sports-ship in all games played.
This Friday 13 May, we play against Ocean Road. All games will begin at 1:10pm, and all parents are welcome to come along and spectate the Interschool Sports competition being played. We wish all competing students the best of luck and hope they have another enjoyable experience.
Happy Holidays Fr Vincent
Beginning on the weekend, Fr Vincent will be away for 6 weeks, as he travels back to his home in the Philippines. We wish Fr Vincent safe travels as he gets to visit family and friends who he hasn’t seen since the pandemic began.
In the interim, we will be having a stand in priest for Fr Vincent, who will celebrate weekend Masses during Fr Vincent’s period of absence. We wish Fr Vincent a fantastic and well-deserved holiday.
Principal Awards
Over the past week a student has been sent to my office to receive a Principal’s Award for completing some exceptional work. I congratulate Alfie Mannion, from Year 1 Blue, for his fantastic effort in Italian. Well done and keep up the great work!
