St Jerome's Newsletter
Week 6 - Term 4 (Thursday 21 November 2019)
Dear Parents and members of our school community
At The End of The Day
Each day is your gift to us Lord,
At the end of the day, perhaps I need to ask:
Did I get it right today?
Did I matter to someone?
Did I turn to God in a moment of weakness
or doubt and ask for his help?
Was I moved by something beautiful or sad?
Did I accept a challenge?
Did I forgive someone?
Should I have lived the day differently?
What would Jesus have said or done in my place?
Did I pray? Did I talk to you Lord?
At the end of each day,
there are two questions that matter to God:
Did you love with all your heart with all your soul
and with all your strength?
And did you love others as you love yourself?
For only then was the day well lived.
Be with us Lord, as we trust our day to you.
Amen
Annual Community Meeting
Thank you to all our staff and parents who attended the Catholic School Parents WA (formerly P&F) and School Board AGM on Tuesday night.
It is always a pleasure to share the many achievements of our school as well as highlighting our plans for 2020. We are certainly blessed to be part of such an engaged and strong school community. An example of the strength of our family ties was the incredible numbers of grandparents who attended Grandparents Day last Friday. This was truly an incredibly happy day for everyone.
I take this opportunity to thank our Board chairperson, Mrs Debra Tolic, for her Board report and Mrs Gabby Del Borrello for the Board Treasurer's report.
Always mindful of the economic challenges facing families, the School Board has again endeavored to keep fee increases to a minimum, setting fees lower than the recommended increase from CEWA.
I thank those parents who put forward nominations for Board positions and I especially thank our outgoing Chair, Deb Tolic for her commitment to our school. Deb has been exceptional in the contributions she has made in the five years on the School Board, the last two as Board chair.
We wish you all the best for the future Deb - your wise counsel and strong leadership will be missed.
Our 2020 School Board members are:
Melanie Freeman (Board Chair)
Natina Morolla (Secretary)
Daniel Papaphotis (Treasurer) (new member)
Mathew Rolfe
Darren Pesich
Helena Foster (Parish Representative)
Rosa Hannaford (CSP Representative)
Gabriella Del Borrello
Sandra De Freitas (new member)
Father Mathew Velliyamkandathil
Helen O'Toole (Principal)
Catholic School Parents WA
I thank Sandra de Freitas for the her President's report and Nikki Dragicevic for the Treasurer's Report. Again the CSPWA Executive and wider parent network have been tireless in their commitment to the school and it is really heartening to see their dedication to not only financial support but more importantly in strengthening our community.
Thank you!
Chairperson's Board Report (Debra Tolic)
President of Catholic School Parents WA - Report (Sandra De Freitas)
2020 Class Placements
This year the students and their families will learn who their 2020 teacher is on Wednesday 11 December. On that day, the children will "move up" to their new classroom and spend around an hour with their teacher. This will give them an opportunity to realize they know many other students and gain a sense of the feel of the classroom.
Many factors are taken into consideration when creating class lists. It is a huge task and is not something that is taken lightly.
Fortunately our St Jerome's staff are truly amazing and parents are assured that no matter who their child's teacher may be - they will be focused on ensuring the best possible outcomes for each and every child in their care. Our staff also work and plan together across year levels and our children have numerous opportunities to work with other other children in their year level.
Each school year is a new start for everyone and a chance to begin afresh. Thank you for assisting in this time of transition by showing your child you trust in their ability to move towards 2020 positively and for helping them to focus on all the wonderful opportunities change offers - this builds resiliency.
The year I was most concerned with my first son's teacher and the make up of his class ended up being his best year ever. I urge you to trust and accept the process.
"Life is a series of natural spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." - Lao Tzu
Jinkx
Welcome to our wellness school dog.
Jinkx is a very special dog as she spends her days bringing love to the children at our school. She loves being read to, running on the oval and giving cuddles. Jinkx has a very important job of soothing students who may be feeling a little anxious, going for walks when they need a bit of fresh air and sometimes just sitting near them during school time.
Next year Jinkx is travelling back to her home state of Victoria to do the training to become a therapy dog. She can then visit other places such as nursing homes, kindergartens, playgroups etc and other people can share in the special joys that Jinkx brings to every day.
Jinkx even has her own Instagram page.
@leaveittojinkx
Please become one of her followers.
I will be on a brief and unexpected break from Friday 22 November until my return on Tuesday 10 December. My husband and I are visiting our two sons who live in Montreal so we're packing lots of winter clothing as it was -5 degrees last week.
Carol Hoare will be acting Principal in my absence.
Principal
Places still available. Enrol now!
Purple Day Wednesday Fundraiser
November 17 was World Prematurity Day that is recognised all over the world.
Every year thousands of families are affected by the birth of a premature baby or babies including families in our school.
$600 was raised by St Jerome's and sent to Life's Little Treasures Foundation.
Thank you to everyone for your support.
St Vincent De Paul Hampers. (Collection week 7 + 8)
There are struggling parents who are going without food so their children can eat.
Many disadvantaged families cannot afford to buy healthy food and often have to choose between paying a bill and putting a meal on the table.
More than four million Australians have experienced food insecurity with one in five children living in a food insecure household.
Vinnies volunteers provide food, clothing, furniture, utility bills and rental assistance as well as emotional support and advocacy to Western Australians who are doing it tough.
Every year at St Jerome’s we help families in the Cockburn area by providing hampers at Christmas to families in need.
This year we are again appealing to all our St Jerome’s families to support this very worthwhile cause so that when they are celebrating Christmas this year we know we have helped to make Christmas Day a little more special for a family in need.
This year we are doing things a little differently and assigning specific items to each class/year level so that we can make up identical hampers. We will be collecting items in class for the next two weeks. Please support us to help families in need in the Spearwood area.
God bless
Carol Hoare
Kindy: Packets of biscuits
Pre-Primary Red: Long life milk
Blue: Long Life juice
Green: Long life Custard
Year 1: Red: Milo + small sugar
Blue: Tea + small sugar
Green: Coffee +small sugar
Year 2: Red: Ring pulled tins of fruit
Blue: Ring pulled tins of bean or vegetables
Green: Ring pulled tins of tuna or soup
Year 3: Red: Jars of honey
Blue: Jars of Jam
Green: Jars of vegemite
Year 4: Red: Pasta Sauce
Blue: Pasta and noodles
Green: Rice and breakfast Cereal
Year 5: Fruit mince pies or Xmas cake
Year 6: Red: Candy canes
Blue: Bonbons
Green: Christmas napkins
Plastic Bread Tags Collection
Wheelchairs for South Africa - Collection of Plastic Bread Tags
We are also excited to announce that we can collect and help recycle plastic bread tags now too. There is a separate collection box in the front office. These tags will be used to provide wheelchairs for people in need in South Africa. The tags are given to the charity Bread Tags for Wheelchairs and then sold to people set up to recycle them and the funds are used to purchase wheelchairs. The recyclers are turning the tags into seedling trays, door knobs and looking into making floor tiles and coasters. That's more plastic not going into rubbish dumps!
Thank you!
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT 2019
Everyone is welcome to join us celebrate Christmas this year at our Carols by Candlelight Concert on the school oval on Friday 6th December. Every child from Pre Primary to Year 6 will be performing this year.
Please come to watch your child perform with their class and enjoy the Nativity play performance from the comfort of your own picnic rug. BYO Picnic or purchase a Sausage Sizzle from 5pm. The concert will begin at 6pm sharp.
Everyone is encouraged to come dressed in their favourite Christmas attire.
A brilliant night for our “NOTABLES”!
Last night, 19 of our Year 6 students shone brightly as they portrayed a notable person from history that resonated with them. The following students answered question from the audience, prepared a speech and created wonderful display tables:
Aleisha - Florence Nightingale, Alex- Elon Musk, Antonia - Margaret Court, Ava - Steve Irwin, Ben - David Attenborough, Bodhi - Brian Cox, Cohen - Steve Jobs, Ella - Fiona Wood, Harrison - Patrick Durack, James- John Dalley, Janae - Frida Kahlo, Julianna - Oprah Winfrey, Kate - Nancy Wake, Kristijan - Michael Crichton, Lachlan - Ricky Ponting, Marco - Winston Churchill, Perth - Max Park, Taylor - Rosa Parks, Vrindha - Dian Fossey
Nat Paatsch
Extension Teacher
GET READY FOR A WHOLE NEW WORLD!
Aladdin the Musical is coming to St Jerome’s!
Next year we will present our first school production – Aladdin JR.
All students in Years 3-6 (2020) are welcome to be a part of the production. We require a large number of students for acting, singing, dancing and acro roles. Rehearsals will begin in WEEK 2, TERM 1.
MONDAY rehearsals for the lead actors. THURSDAY rehearsals for the dancers and ensemble.
Auditions will only be required for students seeking acting roles. There will be 12 character roles in this production that will hopefully be cast before the end of the school year.
Auditions will commence very soon. More information will be given out to students next week!
Book Club – Issue 8
Book club orders must be finalised online
By Monday 25th November
Any orders placed after this date will incur a delivery fee and be delivered to your home.
Please use LOOP on scholastic website.
No cash payments or paper orders taken
Interschool Cricket Carnival - Tuesday 26 November (Santich Park)
Contact Details
Email: admin@stjeromes.wa.edu.au
Website: www.stjeromes.wa.edu.au
Location: 38 Troode Street, Munster WA, Australia
Phone: 08 9499 9500