Term 4 Week 8 of 11
Friday, 29th November 2024
Principal’s Message
Dear parents and carers,
We are getting close to the end of 2024 and much of my time at the moment is spent on getting ready for 2025. In the coming weeks your children will get to meet their 2025 teacher. Below is a list of our 2025 teaching roles. As in all years there are some changes.
I wish to thank the following staff who are leaving our school for their service and hard work over the years.
Matthew Galea our Year 1 teacher and Year 1/2 Level Leader who is leaving us to work at St Catherine of Siena in Melton as a Maths Leader. Thanks for your dedication to our students and your leadership in the Year 1/2 and 5/6 area.
Sophie Duddington who returned from maternity leave to teach Prep this year who is heading to Holy Rosary in Kensington to be a Year 3 teacher. Thanks for your dedication to our students.
Natalie Dovenska who taught Year 4 this year who is heading to Christ the Priest in Caroline Springs as a classroom teacher. Thanks for your work with our students.
Helen Sorokowski who was teaching our tutor learning program in Reading one day a week. This program is no longer sponsored by the government. Thanks for your hard work with our students.
I wish to welcome the following staff to our wonderful school.
Marie D’Orazio is our new Wellbeing/Child Safety Community Leader. I’ve written about Marie in previous newsletters. She is currently the Deputy Principal and Wellbeing Leader of Mother of God in Ardeer. Marie has already been doing some wonderful work in the background and we look forward to her officially beginning next year.
Nathan Koprek has been an LSO this year. Next year Nathan begins his career as the P.E teacher at our school.
Jane Huang who comes back to us after taking leave and teaching overseas in 2024. Welcome back Jane!
Joanne Abos-Padilla Velasquez who has been helping us in a variety of roles who will be our STEM teacher.
Jess Libo-on who we welcome back to be one of our Literacy Intervention teachers.
We are currently searching for a replacement for Matt Galea as Year 1 teacher and Year 1/2 Leader and a Year 3 classroom teacher. Interviews will take place shortly. I will update you about this in the near future.
Deputy Principal: Learning & Organisation
Year 5 Camp Next Week!
Our Year 5 campers are preparing for their camp at Sovereign Hill next week on Wednesday 4th to Friday 6th December. Miss Salloum has posted the packing list and parent information session slides to Seesaw.
Please note that we ask families to arrive at 7:30am for a prompt 8am departure from school.
Mrs Paola will be collecting and signing in medication at the front of the hall at 2:30pm on Friday 29th and at 7:30am on the morning of Wednesday 4th. Please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher for a medication form which must be filled out and signed prior to departing for camp.
Campers will return to school for normal dismissal time on Friday 6th December.
2025 Transition Program
The teachers and executive leadership team have begun to put together the 2025 student lists as well as organising staffing allocations for the upcoming school year.
This is a process which we take slowly to make sure that a lot of time and thought is placed into class lists. Please note that the 2025 Prep to Year 5 Transition sessions are:
Monday 2nd December
Monday 9th December
Planning class lists is a big process that we complete very carefully and with the greatest consideration. We believe that it is important that our families understand the work that occurs behind the scenes to ensure that days that involve change in a child’s life are well planned, organised and communicated. Our efforts are dedicated to doing our best to set our students and teachers up for success.
The following outlines the timetable and the process used to facilitate students transitioning to their new classrooms on Monday 2nd December and Monday 9th December.
Annual Family Christmas Carols
The Resurrection family Christmas Carols will be held on Wednesday 11th of December from 6.00pm.
We are hoping that all students and their families will be able to attend as we come together to celebrate our school, our community and our faith. The timeline for the evening is as follows:
What To Wear
Children are encouraged to wear either a Christmas T-shirt OR a plain red t-shirt OR a plain green t-shirt OR a plain white t-shirt.
Black bottoms (black pants, shorts or skirts) OR navy-blue school pants or shorts
Runners
Accessing Reports Online
Thank you to those families who have responded to the Google form. Again, by having families opt out of a paper copy, we can save a significant amount of paper and ultimately have less of an impact on our environment. A reminder that as of 2025, reports will be made available online only. The transition to digital reports is a conscious and important one and is common practice in most schools. All reports will be made available on Monday 16th December both online or if you opted in for a paper copy, this will be sent home with your child at the end of the day.
Please note that nForma has had a few updates to the products recently. We have attached a ‘How to’ guide that shows you step-by-step how to download the app and have this ready to access your child’s report on Monday 16th December.
Restaurant Pictures 5C
In term 4, grade 5C students have been learning about money and simple financial planning. The students decided that they would like to establish a restaurant, so they created their own menus with pricing. Each student took orders, calculated the cost of each meal and issued a bill to their customers. The diners then paid for their bill at the register where they received their change. It was a great learning experience, encouraging students to apply what they know in a real-life situation. Amazing work 5C.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Incursion
On Thursday the 5th of December, our school will be visited by some members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of the "Jams In Schools" initiative for primary school students to engage with orchestral music and orchestral instruments.
MSO Artist in Residence and leading music education specialist, Karen Kyriakou and six MSO musicians will come to our school and lead fun and interactive workshops exploring a piece of orchestral music, pulling out musical themes and compositional techniques.
The workshops will be held across the day in our school hall with each year level from Prep-6 having the opportunity to take part in a 45-minute session. What a wonderful musical opportunity for our students!
SUNDAY GOSPEL
This Sunday’s reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 21:25-28. 34-36
Your redemption is near at hand
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’
Gospel Reflection
We are, perhaps, used to thinking of the season of Advent as a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas. But this week’s readings, and the readings of the next few weeks, remind us that the notion of preparation extends well beyond the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We are reminded that we are, in fact, living in an ‘in-between time’. From this week’s first reading we are reminded that the expectation of a Messiah was a very long-standing hope for Israel. The coming of the Messiah would usher in a new prosperity and a divine reign of God. The earliest Christians began to see that the ancient prophecies could all be applied to Jesus and they began to regard Jesus as the promised Messiah – the fulfilment of prophecy. However, Jesus also promised that he would come again, and the expectation of the first followers of Jesus was that his return would be in their lifetime. In our second reading from the letter to the Thessalonians, we can see the growing realisation that perhaps Jesus’ return will not occur within the current generation. This realisation had a dramatic effect on the life and faith of the community. Imagine living with the belief that the end of time was going to occur not just in your lifetime but literally any day now. Slowly, they realised that Jesus’ words were not that specific and the time of return had not been identified. What Jesus had called for was a state of readiness, a state of preparedness. This didn’t mean he was coming immediately; what it meant was that there was need to get the house in order because he would be coming at some time. Advent is a time to remember that we still haven’t really got the house in order.
GospelScriptural context
This week’s gospel passage comes from a lengthy passage in the gospel of Luke in which Jesus speaks extensively about the future. It is a very different style of writing from the usual narrative, teaching and parable forms that make up most of the gospel. The style is an echo of the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Compare this passage with this week’s first reading of other passages from the writings of the prophets. The style is always rich in metaphor and symbol. There is a grandness about the style. We know, just from the use of language, that great things are afoot!
Have you thought? - Waiting, waiting, waiting …
I’m not a big fan of waiting! Anticipation is pretty good; getting prepared and getting ready are OK, too. But when is comes down to being all dressed up and ready to go, I’m just hopeless at waiting. If Advent is a time of pointless waiting for Christmas then we’ve somehow missed the message. Rather than just waiting, Advent is a time of preparation and anticipation. But it’s not just about anticipating Christmas. That’s part of it, sure. However, Advent is about reminding ourselves that we have a job to do: preparing for the reign of God – in our lives and in our world.
Different View - We’re doomed!
Fundamentalists love readings like this week’s apocalyptic gospel passage. Full of portent and urgency, it inspires the sort of thinking that says, ‘Repent now, because you could be dead tomorrow!’ It is easy to look at a passage like this and apply it to the conditions of the world today: everything’s going to rack and ruin; it’s just as the Bible foretold; the end of the world is just around the corner. But we have to remember that this was written nearly 2,000 years ago! Yes, there is still urgency! Yes, there is still need for change! But we still have time to get it right.
Anointing Mass
The Anointing of the Sick is for the healing and spiritual strengthening of those who are impaired by sickness or old age.
We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Sick at Resurrection Parish, within a Eucharistic celebration on Saturday 21st December at 10.00am, followed by light refreshments.
For catering purposes please notify the parish office of your attendance.
Job Vacancy in 2025
Parish Administration Coordinator
Sacred Heart & Emmaus Parish, St Albans
There is an opportunity for a Parish Administration Coordinator to undertake office administrative functions at Sacred Heart & Emmaus Parish, St Albans - Sydenham, in a part-time role reporting to the Parish
Priest. This is a fixed-term position for 12 months and is based at the Parish Office in
St Albans. Applications close 6th December 2024. For more information or to apply click here.
Student of the Week Awards
Week 8
Prep A
Sophie Duddington
William L - For being a risk taker in his writing and using his imagination to create a funny narrative about 'The Greatest Gift'.
Prep B
Jacinta Polh
Cynthia N - For being a responsible learner when listening to and following instructions. Keep up the amazing effort, Cynthia!
Prep C
Carla Tirotta
Amelia V - For your wonderful effort in writing a creative Christmas narrative. Keep up the amazing work, Amelia!
One B
Matt Galea
Thangsang T - For consistently completing all his learning to an excellent standard and sharing his knowledge with his peers.
One C
Thomas Pham
Carter DL - For applying your understanding of phonemes to delete sounds in words to create other words during our daily review. Well done Carter!
Two A
Belinda Collins
Angelina L - For including valid reasons to support your opinion when writing the persuasive text ‘Weekends should be three days long’.
Two B
Olivia Duvcevski
Thaih Then - For always demonstrating a positive attitude towards his learning and being a helpful member in 2B. Keep up the good work!
Two C
Dorothy Hall
Christina T - For being a responsible and reflective learner when seeking and implementing teacher feedback in her persuasive writing.
Three A
Ella Nowak
Lenix M - For being an enthusiastic learner during writing when identifying whether a word needed a singular or plural possessive apostrophe. Keep it up Lenix!
Three B
Kurt Cuguin
Noah M - For putting enormous effort into his learning, being resilient and concentrating when writing. Keep it up Noah!
Three C
Joss Coaley
Ruth Z - For your amazing efforts and resilience with your learning. You are doing such a great job in the classroom, keep it up!
Sui Ding TT - For focusing on your learning, showing your best self and working hard to complete all tasks. Well done!
Four A
Lucy L - For being a thinker during numeracy by drawing a range of shapes, demonstrating her knowledge to solve the perimeter and using the correct measurement. Keep up the amazing effort Lucy!
Four B
Evelin L - For always being respectful towards her peers and teachers and for presenting her work neatly and to a high standard. Well done Evelin!
Four C
Andre V - For being a great team player and collaborator during our Inquiry games, demonstrating focus and active listening. Well done
Andre!
Five A
Lavina Stewart
Tony N - For being a caring member of 5A and showing resilience when attempting all learning tasks. Keep it up Tony!
Five B
Malae Suaesi
Martin P - For being a thinker during Maths when estimating and measuring different objects in the classroom. Great learning Martin!
Five C
Rosie Nojdek
Angela Ni Tha Sui - For producing an impressive slideshow about her family’s immigration story from Myanmar to Australia. Bravo Well Done.
Six A
Katherine Salloum
Ashton C - For being an enthusiastic learner in numeracy lessons and extending his knowledge and understanding in all topics. Keep up this enthusiasm as you move onto Year 7!
James N - For being a risk taker by sharing his thoughts and ideas in classroom discussions. It has been wonderful to see you grow throughout Grade 6.
Six B
Lena Aloi
Max R - For showing improvement in his focus when it comes to his schoolwork and encouraging others to do the same. Well done!
Jason L - For being a reflective learner in Maths. Your ability to pick up new skills, such as using formulas in Google Sheets, has been wonderful to see. Well done!
Six C
Jake Moloney
Sophie M - For utilising her plan to create a powerful paragraph for her information report on Poland. Well done Sophie!
Johnathan T - For researching with great fervour, allowing him to showcase a thorough presentation on his migration story. Well done Johnathan!
Japanese:
Yumiko Aiki
Jasper H (6C) - For being an effective thinker when working collaboratively during a Japanese zoom session and making meaningful contributions to his work. Well done Jasper!
Performing Arts:
Jody Banks
Elizabeth H (5A) - For a great start to Performing Arts when rehearsing the songs and choreography for the Christmas Carols concert. Fantastic effort, Elizabeth!
Visual Arts:
Emma Lyons-Pell & Tosh Kaan
Taylor M (4C) - For demonstrating expertise when creating her loom to weave her 'House'. Well done!
S T E M:
Matt Dalton
Jalen L (6C) - For demonstrating incredible technical skills while helping others fly their aircraft. Well done Jalen!
P.E:
Jen Barresi
Mia R (3A) - For displaying respect, resilience and responsible behaviour each week in P.E. Mia, you're an absolute pleasure to teach. Keep it up!
TERM FOUR DATES
Week 9
Monday - 2/12
2025 Student Transition Day 1 (Prep – Grade 5’s)
Exec Team 9.30 – 11.00am
Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Tuesday - 3/12
Saint Francis Xavier
Parent Support Group Meetings
Wednesday - 4/12
Saint John Damascene
Staff Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Grade 5 Camp - Sovereign Hill (Ballarat)
Thursday - 5/12
Parent Support Group Meetings
Grade 5 Camp - Sovereign Hill (Ballarat)
Friday - 6/12
Saint Nicholas
2025 Prep Transition Session 4
Grade 5 Camp - Sovereign Hill (Ballarat)
Reports due to leadership
Saturday - 7/12
Saint Ambrose
Sunday - 8/12
2nd Sunday Of Advent
Week 10
Monday - 9/12
The Immaculate Conception Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
2025 Student Transition Day 2 (Prep – Grade 5s)
Exec Team 9.30 – 11.00am
Whole School Assembly 2.30pm
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30pm
Tuesday - 10/12
Our Lady of Loreto
Wednesday - 11/12
Saint Damasus I
Carols By Candlelight 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Report changes completed
Thursday - 12/12
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Friday - 13/12
Grade 6 Big Day Out
2025 Prep Transition Session 5
Saint Lucy
Saturday - 14/12
Saint John of the Cross
Sunday - 15/12
3rd Sunday of Advent
Week 11
Monday - 16/12
Grade 6 Graduation Liturgy & Presentation Night 6.00pm
Reports sent out
Exec Team 9.30 – 11.00am
Team Leaders Meeting 3.30pm - 4:30 pm
Tuesday - 17/12
Whole School Mass 9.00am
End of Year Award Ceremony
Last Day Of Term (3.15pm Finish)
Wednesday - 18/12
School Closure Day - Handover Day
Thursday - 19/12
School Closure Day - End of Year Staff Lunch
Friday - 20/12
School Closure - Time in Lieu Day
Saturday - 21/12
Sunday - 22/12
4th Sunday of Advent
