Feast Day
Next Wednesday 10 May marks the Feast Day for our patron saint, St Damien of Malakai. We will be having a ‘Feast Day’ Mass at 9:00am, to start the day, to mark this significant event. During the day the students will be engaging in some ‘Buddy Art’ activities, as well as enjoying a free sausage sizzle, icy-pole and some popcorn. All students are permitted to wear their Sports Uniform to school on this day.
The canteen will run, as normal, on this date.
Mothers Day Stall
Next week the P&F will be opening the Mother’s Day stall, for students to purchase a special gift for their mothers in preparation for Mother’s Day. The stall will be open on Tuesday 9 May for all students in Years Kindy to 6 and on Friday 7 May for students in 3yo Kindy. Gift items range from $1 to $7 and students are permitted to bring in up to $10 to spend on gifts.
The Mother’s Day Stall will also be open on Friday for 3-Year-Old Kindy and for the students who missed out on Tuesday.
We thank the P&F for hosting this event and making the gifts available for purchase for all students in the school.
Grandparents Day
Last Friday we held our ‘Grand Parents Day’. This was a fantastic morning and it was amazing to see how many grandparents, parents and special friends took the opportunity to come into the school and be part of the celebrations. The church was the fullest it has ever been to celebrate the Mass and we hope all visitors enjoyed the morning tea provided by the school.
Thank you to all of the staff for opening their classrooms, Fr Chris for celebrating the Mass, Mr Hazebroek for organising the event and to the Administration staff for organising the catering.
We were truly blessed with wonderful weather and we look forward to this event happening again in future years.
P&F Bunnings Day
A huge thank you to the P&F and all of the volunteers who assisted with the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle last Saturday. Your 2 hour shifts were greatly appreciated and made for a very successful day. The volunteers were kept very busy throughout the whole day, at one stage requiring another trip to the supermarket to buy more sausages. A special thank you to Loretta Zoppos for all of her tireless work organising the event and remaining onsite for the entirety of the sausage sizzle on Saturday. Thank you, also to all of the families who were able to come along to purchase a sausage sizzle to support the school.
Indigenous Classroom Names
After seeking feedback from the staff, students and parents in the school, one of our strategic goals over the past year has to increase our awareness and to become more inclusive of our Indigenous culture and history. We have a dedicated Aboriginal Education Team within the school that was worked hard to achieve this goal, and one such action has been to name each classroom with the Indigenous title of some native animals. Whilst it is going to take a little time to get used to the changes, the students have embraced the name changes and are using them on a regular basis.
At this week’s Friday morning House assembly, the class names will be officially launched, and each class will be presented with a mascot that matches their local native animal. Parents are welcome to come and join us for this launch, beginning at 8:45am.
Walk Safely to School Day - 19 May
Friday 19 May is National Walk Safely to School Day, which is a community initiative that aims to raise awareness of the health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits that regular walking (especially to and from school) can provide for the long-term well-being of our children.
To support this event, we are encouraging all families, where possible, to walk to school. For students who live too far from school to walk, we have dedicated 3 locations where students and parents can meet with staff and walk safely to school, which are as follows:
· Florida Beach Carpark (900 metres – 15 minute walk)
· Florida Park (700 metre walk – 10 minutes)
· Dawesville War Memorial (1 km – 20 minute walk)
More information, including a map of the locations, will be shared with families leading up to this event.
Book Fair
The Scholastic ‘Book Fair’ begins next week, where students and families will get the opportunity to purchase some fantastic books to read. Parents can purchase items before and after school in the library from Tuesday 9 May to Wednesday 17 May.
PSSA Sports
PSSA sport begins next week for all students in Years 5 and 6. Next week the students compete against Ocean Road Primary School, to play in either football, soccer, netball, hockey or volleyball. The venue of each sport and start times of the games will be shared with parents next week.
Enrolments
The enrolment period has begun for students beginning in 4-Year-Old Kindergarten for 2024. 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.
Siblings of currently enrolled students need to compete and submit an enrolment form, as well as all 3-Year-Old Kindergarten students wishing to attend St Damien’s CPS next year.
If you have any questions regarding the enrolment process of the school, please contact the office on 9583 2500.
Winter Uniform
Starting back at school this term, it has been great to see students in Years 3 to 6 beginning to wear the school winter uniform. Whilst the first two weeks of the term will be used as a period for students to transition into wearing the full school winter uniform by Monday 8 May 2023.
Please contact the office if you have any questions regarding the purchasing of the School Winter Uniform in readiness for term 2.
Dr Justin Coulson Parent Presentation
This is the last chance for parents to register their attendance to attend the workshop with guest speaker, Dr Justin Coulson, next Wednesday 10 May, beginning at 6:10pm at Mandurah Catholic College. The 90-minute session is titled ‘Parental Guidance – guide to successful parenting’. This is a free event being offered to parents at St Damien’s and neighbouring Catholic Schools.
To book, please click on the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/CGKGA
Peer Pals
This week we launched the ‘Peer Pals’ initiative in the school. ‘Peer Pals’ involves students from years 4 and 5 to help other students deal with minor conflicts and problems in the playground through verbal mediation. This week, they have begun their job by helping students in in the playground and are identifiable by wearing their special ‘Peer Pals’ vests. Thank you to Mrs Bright for introducing this initiative.
Winter Uniform
Next week all students in Years 3 to 6 will be expected to be wearing their correct winter school uniform; this includes long pants for boys. Please contact the office if you have any questions regarding the purchasing of the School Winter Uniform.
Congratulations, Jesse!
Congratulations to Jesse Spencer, from Year 6, who recently competed at the WA Junior State Swimming Championships, held at HBF stadium, during the holidays. Jesse qualified for 8 events over the 4-day program, being the 50m butterfly, 50m, 100m, 200m freestyle, 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke and the 200m Individual Medley. Racing against 50 other competitors in his age group he achieved three 4th places, two 5th, an 8th, a 9th and a 12th in those events. Well done, Jesse for your fantastic work!
School Calendar
Parents are encouraged to visit the school’s term planner on a regular basis to ensure you are informed about upcoming events during the year. The term planner can be accessed by clicking on the following link: School Events Calendar
God Bless,
Daniel Gooch
Principal
