Message from Ms Ash Dear Parents, Guardians, Students and Other Parishioners, Thank you to everyone for managing the change of our office space whilst we make the school safer by restricting access to the school’s central corridor. Lisa and Trixie seem to be quite at home in the Nook and we are finally remembering not to walk to the old office area with messages. The new office area is really starting to take shape. The demolition of the administration area has been completed and the walls for Lisa’s office are in place. The toilets have been removed and 2 sets of unisex toilets are being constructed, one for visitors to the office and one for staff. The very front toilets which we use when we are using the church are also being refurbished and there will be an extra toilet added. This means that strangers who come here for funerals will not need to wait out in the weather as they can access them from the first foyer to the office space without coming into the school. It also means that when we have liturgies and evening meetings like Prayer in PJ’s in the church, families can access the toilets without going outside. This has all been done with hardly any disruption and the students have been very cooperative in keeping out of the building area. The staffroom will also be refurbished and the floor will be levelled. The platform around the sinks area has been a trip hazard for years so we will be much safer when it goes. I have lost count of the visitors who stumble on it with a hot drink in their hand. Finally the whole admin area will be recarpeted in the same carpet as the rest of the school. We will try to do that in the last few days of the term.

Principal Appointment I am sad to say that we still do not have a new Principal for 2019. The third round of advertising has just started and we hope that enough qualified people apply so that the interview process can take place. In the meantime, the staff and I are already planning for next year as it is unlikely that we will have a new Principal appointed before the end of November. We have a great staff at St Elizabeth’s and they are very capable of continuing to do a terrific job even though next year’s leader is not yet appointed. I am taking a short break next week, traveling up north with my family. In the meantime, the school will be in the safe and capable hands of Lorraine Walker, Kristine Koutroumanis and Nan Perazzo. School Education Board Vacancy 2018/2019 We had a vacancy due to an elected parent representative being unable to attend meetings and are delighted that Filomena Sepe is interested and will be joining us for 2019. Thank you. Stem Showcase On Thursday 25th October, Ms Kaetlyn Bevilaqua and Ms Chen and Ms Koutroumanis will be taking 9 students to demonstrate their learning with Robotics and other ICT tools at the STEM Showcase. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. I am sure their presentation will be a terrific example of what our students are learning in Media.

St. Elizabeth’s School Newsletter: 18th October 2018

(Always refer to FlexiBuzz messages for up-to-date information)

School playground is supervised from 8:30am until 8:55am and 3:15pm to 3:30pm

Message from Ms Walker Lord Jesus, You remind us that whenever we gather in your name, You are in our midst. Unite and strengthen us in the important work that we share. Help us to listen – to our students, to their parents, to each other, And to the whispers of your Spirit in our hearts. Teach us to value every member of our community, And to build relationships on genuine respect and affection. We make this prayer, confident in your promise, That you remain always with us.

(Photo by Fischer Twins on Unsplash)

New Office and Administration The building re-construction is going to plan and the office area is now unrecognisable. If you have a chance please see the new playground area on the oval. It is amazing and many thanks to our wonderful parents for giving this great gift to our children. Foundation students 2019 It has been such a pleasure to meet and get to know the students for 2019. We have shared story time, wellbeing thoughts and maths ideas. The children have enjoyed spending time in the classrooms and am very confident that they will have a smooth transition to primary school. Minnie Vinnies We attempted to visit the Regis Aged Care facility last term but cancelled due to the rain. We are looking forward to walking there next Wednesday where we will meet our friends and play board games with them. Interfaith Community Gathering

Next Tuesday 23rd October, our choir consisting of 11 children, will sing at Springvale Town Hall. They will hear many other choirs

from primary schools around the Dandenong area. The choir will sing ‘Rainbow’ by Andrew Chinn and also ‘A Million Dreams’ taken from the movie ‘The Greatest Showman.’ This is such an excellent opportunity for our children to meet the neighbouring schools and share the gift of music. Many thanks to Mrs.

Burke and Mrs. Ladson for leading this great opportunity. (Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash)

Confirmation

Our children are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 18th November. We are very fortunate to have such a great partnership with Nazareth College. On Thursday 1st November, our students will participate in a Reflection day at Lysterfield

where the Nazareth students will guide and lead workshops.

Please keep our Confirmation candidates in your prayers.

(Photo by phil thep on Unsplash)

Message from Ms Koutroumanis Welcome back to the final Term for 2018! We have had an incredible year so far with lots of Teaching and Learning, we had our school review which seems like a lifetime ago now, and finally we are in Term 4.

Following our school review, we began the process last term of unpacking each of our recommendations in the newsletter every fortnight so we could bring our community along the learning journey with us. At our school, we work in partnership with our parents, students and community to work to a common goal and it’s important that we do not lose sight of our goals as a school. This week we are looking at the fifth recommendation from our school review.

Recommendation 5

Continue to build a strong culture of trust between all staff and school leaders and work together to support one another

What the review says

We scored high as there is evidence that the principal and leadership team work together to ensure that we are improving outcomes for all of our students learning

Our school showed that we work on our professional development of teachers by coaching each other and visiting each other’s classroom each term

We also scored high in terms of providing our teachers with opportunities to take on leadership roles outside the classroom

Our progress since the review: Our staff newsletter, is now open to all

staff every week. At the beginning of the week, all staff are now able to contribute. Staff are able to put any issues or feedback in the “Parking lot” section of our weekly news, and all specialists, and learning support officers at our school can celebrate all their wonderful achievements each week

We will also begin our meetings on a Monday morning at 7:50 to give time to staff to feedback to their teams at 8:20 and have more time before beginning assembly. This way we are able to support our staff and give them some more time to make contributions and feedback to members of staff

Message from Ms Martin The temporary fencing has been removed and our children are enjoying the Outdoor Fitness Centre. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in our fundraising efforts;

supporting our raffles, Mother’s and Father’s Day stalls, Chocolate Drives, Market Night’s

being involved in the running and manning of the abovementioned.

The next item that we would like to be able to invest in, is lighting for our pathways, especially the one leading to the PAC. I would like to encourage you to become involved in the Parents and Friends Committee, just by attending a meeting and having an input is appreciated, as is answering the call to volunteer helping on the day/night ie Stalls, Market Nights etc., be it for an hour or more. The next Parents and Friends meeting is Monday 22nd October 7:30pm in the Nook (Library), all are very welcome.

Icy Poles Beginning next week, Zooper Doopers and Icy poles will be on sale Wednesdays this term REMINDER … SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY

Monday 6th November is a school closure day, we use it for report writing. Tuesday 7th November is a school closed (Melbourne Cup Public Holiday).

Please take note that OSHC will not be operating on these days

(Closed Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

Message from Mr Andrew

This Term 4 our Foundation students finished off their skipping program and it was great to see all of our kids trying their hardest to accomplish their mini goals. Next is finishing off our basic motor skills program with two handed striking (t-ball) and one handed striking (balloon volleyball). Then we will go into our mini games in a variety of sports such as soccer, kick ball and netball. This allows us to work with others and learn a bunch of new rules to play by. Our Year 1 and 2 students are also finishing off their basic motor skills with striking drills using t-balls, hockey sticks and hand bats. We will beplaying mini games of sports such as footy, soccer and netball. All of these sports are modified and the focus is on introducing teamwork and learning fair play by playing by the rules. Our older students from Year's 3 to 6 have started a basketball program. It's also a great sport to get involved in out of school. With only 5 players a side, there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get in to the play. In the coming weeks we will be fortunate enough to have a SEDA College class that

specialise in basketball, come out and take our students for two clinics. The focus for our Year 3/4's is to combine basic skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting baskets. They will be starting to develop their strategies within the team environment. Our Year 5/6s will be involved in their own teams, training, coaching and refereeing.

Message from Mrs Bevilacqua Welcome back to Media Arts for Term Four.

This term our work units will be focussing on Catholic Symbols, Advent and Christmas traditions. The children will design and create Catholic symbols with a variety of equipment. We will also explore Advent and Christmas and take a closer look at how our culture celebrates these seasons. The students will be given opportunities to create calendars, wreaths, candles etc., and continue to learn more about how to present their work to an audience and the process of design. We are grateful for the opportunity to have a small selection of our students participate in the CEM Stem Showcase later this month. I hope I can show you all some of the fantastic STEM based creations that our students have been making in the next newsletter.

Message from Ms Dennett ~ Numeracy Intervention The F – 4 Number Intervention Program focuses

on Number, assessing where a student is in

their mathematical development, both in their

number knowledge and the strategies they use

to solve problems and then applying intervention

strategies to build student confidence and help

them attain success in mathematics. This is

achieved through targeted teaching, which is

developmental and based on developing mental

strategies. It is delivered in small groups or one-

to-one. In Semester 2 this program will be

accessible to our Year 2 students.

The program is delivered in three parts, building

on from the student’s Early Number Knowledge.

Part 1 focuses on developing Number Word and

Numeral Sequences from 1 to beyond 1000,

forwards and backwards, and the reading and

writing numerals from 2-digit to beyond 4-digits.

Part 2 focuses on how numbers are structured

and in turn provides the student with strategies

to initially solve addition and subtraction

problems. Part 3 focuses on Place Value.

Alongside our Intervention Program we are now

implementing a similar whole class structure and

activities to our Foundation to Year 4 classes.

Foundation began this in 2016, Years 1 & 2 in

2017 and the teachers were very pleased with

the children’s learning and how the Maths

sessions were structured, as it enabled them to

work with each child daily, giving them a clearer

understanding of where each child was at in

their mathematical journey. Year 3 / 4 classes

have begun to implement the approach this

year.

Message from Ms Ladson Performing Arts During Term 4, students in Foundation will explore the world through Music, Dance and Drama. They will be exposed to the history and meaning behind a variety of songs, dances and stories from different cultures. In the second half of the term students will also develop their skills in movie making. They will work in small groups to rehearse and record a short script using IPads and present their movie to the class.

Students in Year 1/2 will be focusing on Indigenous studies, particularly focusing on the meaning behind Indigenous songs and dances. Students will also be introduced to Dreamtime stories and will work in small groups to retell these stories in their own words by using skills they have learnt throughout the year within Performing Arts.

Students in Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 will be exploring the world of movie making. They will work in small groups to choose a specific movie genre and follow the process of planning, rehearsing, filming and editing, and will present their finished product to their fellow classmates.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars to come along

and enjoy the evening.

Community News

Contact Details ….

111 Bakers Road,

Dandenong North

Ph. 0422 803 709

Before School Care

Permanent: $13.50 /Casual $16.00

7am to 8:55am Monday to Friday during

school term, excluding all Victorian Public

Holidays.

After School Care

Permanent: $14.50 /Casual $17.00

3:15pm to 6:15pm Monday to Friday during

school term, excluding all Victorian Public

Holidays.

Vacation Care / Pupil Free Days

Per Day: $50.00

7am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday

(The School Holiday Programme in January

will be held at St Anthony’s and St. Marys)

Late Pick Up Fees: Per minute: $1.00

For enquires or further information, please

contact Elarine on 0422 803 709 during

session times.

Fortnightly Activities …

Monday 22nd October

to Friday 2nd November

Monday Create Funky Foam Cats

and Photo Frames, Play

Marbles & Board Games

Tuesday Salt Painting, Straw

Painting, Magic Sand,

Bubble Painting

Wednesday Create Book Marks, And

Hama Bead Art, Use

Scraper Effects

Thursday Create Paper Collage,

Giant Wooden Peg

Magnets, Chalk Drawings

Friday Challenge each other on

the Play Station

If you need care, please contact Elarine,

on 0422 803 709

St. Elizabeth’s Out of School Hours Care Program … YOUTH LEADERSHIP VICTORIA PRESENTS – ST ELIZABETH’S OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE

Dear Parents,

Please note that Monday 6th November

and Tuesday 7th November the school will

be closed and OSHC will NOT be

operating.