St Ita's Primary School Drouin
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50 Victoria Street
Drouin VIC 3818
Subscribe: https://stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/subscribe

Email: admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 03 5623 7222

T4 W9 2022 Newsletter

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T4 W9 2022 Newsletter

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St Ita’s Catholic Primary School acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

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    CHILDREN NEED TO WORK IN TEAMS

    Now that we are consistently back at school, without the fear of shutting down or heading back to remote learning, it has been interesting to see how our little people in Foundation and Grade 1 have handled their year. It is fair to say all of our students have now stepped back into main stream schooling, but our older students have all experienced what I call the “norms of school life.” They have spent time at school learning the basics of being inclusive, sharing and working in teams.

    For our Foundation and Grade 1 classes, it’s been a little different. A lot of children in these grade levels missed or had significantly interrupted kinder years. Children from these grade levels spent significant time at home, in a space that was basically about them and them alone. Working in teams or sharing was not really a do-able option for many.

    One of the first skills children learn in school is the ability to work in groups. Teamwork offers many different advantages to children, especially as they grow older and need to complete schoolwork and eventually find a career that involves working with groups to accomplish a common goal.

    Teamwork requires children to cooperate with each other, and children who learn these skills are also on their way to establishing solid skills in problem-solving, communication, listening, creativity, and self-esteem.

    How parents introduce teamwork

    While children often learn to work in teams and groups at school, they can also learn these skills at home. You can facilitate children learning crucial skills by finding teachable moments.

    Often, children learn skills simply by playing with their peers in an unstructured environment. It is important that children have the opportunity to free play with their friends and siblings.

    Sharing is one of the bases for teamwork. Children often learn to share by playing with siblings, but they can also learn this skill in any social situation. You can model sharing behaviors in front of your child.

    Children can also learn empathy at home. Empathy is a skill that requires your child not only to be kind, but also to listen intently to the needs of others. Modelling these behaviors is helpful, as is discussing your feelings with each other. Many books are also written to help children understand the concept of empathy.

    Conflict resolution skills are also critical for building teamwork. Conflict resolution involves listening to other people's feelings, speaking directly with others, and finding ways to solve problems. Children often learn these skills with friends and siblings, and you can step in to provide a template for resolving these issues too.

    If your child has screen time at home, you might want to focus on sharing movies and TV shows that have a positive message. Many shows are created with promoting ideas like teamwork in mind.

    How Preschool Introduces Teamwork

    Children in preschool will sometimes work in pairs and small groups to finish projects. Projects could include anything from arts and crafts to completing puzzles. You should always discuss your child's school's plan for emphasizing the role of teamwork as a life skill.

    Sports are also helpful for building teamwork skills. Physical activity allows children to exercise their bodies and their minds, building emotional connections. Preschool can emphasize the need for students to learn how to be cooperative, not competitive.

    In very young children, one of the best teamwork activities is to learn how to build groups. For example, teachers might ask their students to act like one of two animals. The children will pretend to be this animal and try to find a partner or group. Games like Follow the Leader also promote the skill of teamwork and team-building.

    Art can also bring groups together. Children learn how to build art projects together. Perhaps one student uses yellow, another uses blue, and another uses red. The goal is to work together to complete one piece of art with each child contributing.

    How to Find a School that Promotes Teamwork

    Many parents think to ask a preschool about the literary and mathematical skills their child will learn, which is smart. Unfortunately, many people forget to ask about citizenship skills. Make a point to discuss the different activities your child will participate in to become a better learner.

    NEW STAFF FOR 2023

    We are pleased to announce that we have several new staff joining the St Ita’s team in 2023.

    Miss Meg Wiedermann is returning to St Ita’s after 12 months working within the education department. Current grade 5-6 teacher, Miss Hannah Collocott will be rejoining our staff again for the 2023 school year. Ms. Ines Moita will be join our Foundation team after several year’s leadership work at St Patrick’s Pakenham. 

    We also welcome back from maternity leave Mrs Monique Kiezenberg, Nicola Ablett and Jess Winterton who are all taking on more class teaching time next year. 

    We welcome all our new and returning staff to our school community.

    SCHOOL SUMMER UNIFORM

    A reminder to all parents that children should now be wearing full summer uniform and the expectation is that students have all black shoes, not runners with white or coloured logos. If your child has grown out of their school shoes could you please send a note to your child’s class teacher and please replace them within a couple of days.

    HEAD LICE AT SCHOOL

    As we have come into the warmer months we have had some cases of headlice within different levels at our school.

    To stop a severe outbreak could all student with shoulder length or longer hair please use a hair tie as outlined in our summer uniform policy, and could we ask all students to refrain from sharing hats.

    WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH TO POSITIVE BEHAVIORS AWARD

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    Commencing from our next assembly, we will be replacing the Student of the Week Award with the Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviours (WSAPB) Award. Children who consistently display Teamwork, Resilience, Respect, Inclusiveness and Compassion in their daily schooling will be nominated by the teachers and peers and the School Executive will select 1-2 students each assembly to be the recipient. 

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    GRADE 6 GRADUATION MASS & SUPPER

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    Our Grade 6 Graduation Mass will be held at St Ita's Catholic Church on Tuesday 6th December from 6pm.  Mass will be followed by a light supper at the Drouin Golf Club.  We look forward to seeing all of our Grade 6 students and their families there.

    SCHOOL 3-6 TRIATHLON

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    Students in 3-6 will be involved in a school Triathlon on Monday 5th December. Students can bring their bikes to school this Friday if its easier for families than Monday and they will be stored in the school hall or sheds. Can families please ensure bikes are road worthy. 

    The event will start at 11.30am on the Drouin Rec Reserve and conclude by 1pm. Students can come dressed in their house colours however please ensure that the attire doesn't interfere with the participation in the events.

    There will be an individual triathlon and group triathlon, where children can choose to do one or two of the legs required in the triathlon. 

    SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CAROLS

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    Students have been practising two songs in each year level that will be presented after lunch on Thursday 8th December. Parent will be invited to come in and enjoy the event with their children. Students can come dressed in their Christmas Carols attire this day. 

    SCHOOL DISCO

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    On Friday 9th December we will be holding a school disco for all our students in the multi- purpose hall. Resident DJ Snoop Dog CB (Cooper Bills) will be on hand to dish out the tunes for a session with Foundation -2, and then 3-6 session. On this day kids can wear their funkiest, loudest disco get up.

    LAST DAY TERM 4

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    A reminder to all families that the last day of Term 4 will be, Wednesday 14th December 2022, school will conclude at 3.20pm to coincide with the local bus services.

    CALENDAR DATES

    We encourage all families to keep checking our school calendar at the bottom of our newsletter for updates. Term 4 will be a busy time for all of our students, especially our Grade 6 students. A few important dates parents should be aware of are;

    5th December  - Triathlon

    6th December - Grade 6 Graduation Mass and Supper @ Drouin Golf Course

    8th December - Christmas Carols 2pm

    12th December - Grade 6 Big Day Out

    13th December -  Drouin SC Orientation

    14th December - Last day Term 4

    ST VINCENT DE PAUL/ST ITA'S PRIMARY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS GIFT APPEAL 2022

    Christmas is quickly approaching with just five weeks left of our school year. In past years, the families of St. Ita’s have helped bring joy and hope with donations of gifts to children in less fortunate situations within the wider community, at Christmas time. This charitable act invites you, as a family, to be involved in a simple, hands-on project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift.

    Last year we were able to support well over 200 children that are under the care of St. Vincent de Paul within our Parish and local areas, and we have been asked if we are able to help a similar number again this year.

    This year, families who wish to support our “Christmas Gift Appeal” will have the options of either purchasing their own gift in their chosen store for a child/children aged between 0 - 13 years, or by visiting the Warragul Toyworld to purchase a gift and leave them there to be collected. Alternately, families can donate an amount of money to an account held at Toyworld and a St. Vinnies’ member will select toys to the value of any financial donations.

    Please do not wrap your gifts as they will need to be sorted and labelled for the appropriate aged child. Our school Mini Vinnies Team will be assisting the St Vincent de Paul team with this, this year. Simply pop your gift into a gift box or a Christmas gift bag and drop it into the school to be placed under the Christmas tree in the foyer.

    It is preferred where possible for you and your children to select gifts, to give children the important life lesson of the joy of giving to others.

    We will require all gifts to be dropped in to the school by Wednesday, 7th December at the latest, for collection by the St Vincent de Paul team.

    Please support the St Vincent de Paul team to continue their work in our Community, the need this year is greater than ever.

    Thank you all for your continued support, and a happy and blessed Christmas to all.

    LOST PROPERTY

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    We currently have a significant amount of lost jumpers, clothing, jackets, and drink bottles in our lost property cupboard.  If you know your child has lost something and have been looking for it, please feel free to come in and take a look.  We will be putting lost items out on a table in front of the Admin Office next week.

    SCHOOL FEES & CONCESSIONS

    A reminder to all families that all outstanding fees must be finalised by the end of Term 4. All school fees should be finalised in the year they are billed, if you are experiencing difficulty, or feel you will not be able to finalising payment please make contact with Beck at the Admin Office as soon as possible either by phone (03) 5623 7222 or via email admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au

    If any families would like to set up a weekly, fortnightly or monthly direct debit schedules for school fees, please complete the Direct Debit Form below and return to the school office.

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    FOUNDATION PARISH MASS

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    LIBRARY NEWS

    Teacher: Mrs Catherine McKenna

    Email: cmckenna@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au

    We are commencing stocktake in the library. It is very important that all students return their overdue books please. Families will be receiving regular overdue notices to encourage students to locate these as soon as possible. If you have any concerns regarding overdue items, please email the library.

    I would like to thank the numerous parents that have helped cover books this year. I really appreciate your assistance and without your help we could not have new books ready as quickly for students to borrow and to use in class.  A massive shout out to Cathy Pedersen, Rachel-Lee Seabrook and Cristina Brown. Also, to Samantha James and Steph French. Amazing help, thank you! If any parents a keen to join in, please get in touch with me.

    LIBRARY BAGS

    If your child has lost their library bag or they just require a new, clean one, they are available at Beleza Uniform Shop in Warragul. Any Library bag is suitable but the school ones are terrific because they are heavy duty. Library bags from Beleza cost $14.

    STORY BOX LIBRARY

    Just a reminder to parents and new families at our school that we have a subscription to Story Box library. There is a link to the website below or you can download the app. The students absolutely love it so definitely check it out.

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    LOCAL LIBRARY

    Here is the link to the Drouin Library. Coming closer to holiday time check out their holiday programs for kids. Often free activities too. Joining the library is free and they have many online subscriptions too.

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    AUDIOBOOKS

    If your child isn’t into reading or if they haven’t found the genre that they love yet, get them listening to audiobooks. Also known as ear- reading, it’s a great way for our children to explore and develop a love of story. I use the app BorrowBox which is free through the local library.

    PARISH NEWS

    God’s Kingdom is Here!

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    We have just started a year of Matthew’s gospel and we look forward to his and Luke’s familiar nativity stories of angels and shepherds etc. It can seem incongruous in this Advent season that we flip to this gospel of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness, “repent” (Matt 3:1-12). But it is not so odd. Actually the Advent season and the birth of Jesus which we eagerly anticipate, themselves signal the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Looking like a “Survivor” contestant, the Baptist, with his camel-hair shirt, wild hair and leather belt, urges us to steady and focus; to get our lives prepared to be swept up in this Kingdom. He is the “gateway to Christmas”.

    Advent is about more than the advertising hype, more than planning family gatherings (wonderful though they are), more even than excitement at the approaching nativity. Advent is an opportunity to go into the wilderness (for a few moments of reflection), to hear the Baptist’s call for repentance and to reflect honestly on our own lives.

    How would we respond to him? Do we really need to listen to John carrying on about repentance? In today’s language he would call us out for our poor relationships, for hurting one another with our words and actions, for ignoring hunger, poverty and injustice in our world, for being too busy to engage fruitfully with our world. Yep, maybe we aren’t the worst of sinners. We mean well to the world but to tell the truth we’re overly comfortable. We need to honestly face up to John’s admonishing, to our deep selves and to Jesus who is coming.

    John’s blunt messages urge us to bring our better selves to the fore. We are loved rather than dismissively condemned. God’s kingdom is upon us and we need to focus on preparing our little part of it.

    Deacon Mark Kelly                          

    CONGRATULATIONS

    We would like to extend our congratulations to the following students who will be participating in the sacrament of First Eucharist over the next two weeks.
    Mejok Akang Ebony Gibbons  Grace Rushbury
    Charlotte Bills Beni Greco Riley Seabrook
    Harley Bordonaro Saffron Staunton Isabelle Thomas
    Nancy Carroll Summer Marchant Lillian Thomas
    Henry Driessen Patrick McMahon Declan Walsh
    Layla Durand Eilish Ni Mhuiregain Heidi Welch
    Hadleigh Elton Nick Garner
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    PARISH SACRAMENT ENQUIRIES

    Sacrament Enquiries:  Mrs Therese Meggetto

    Mobile: 0439 306 642 Email: Warragul.sacraments@cdsale.org.au

    CHRISTMAS MASS TIMETABLE

    SATURDAY 24 DECEMBER 2022

    7.00pm - Marist Sion Hall Warragul (Carols 6.30pm)

    9.00pm - St. Joseph’s Church Warragul (Bell ringing 8.30pm – 8.50pm)

    SUNDAY 25TH DECEMBER 2022

    9.00am - St. Ignatius Church Neerim South

    9.00am - St. Joseph’s Church Warragul

    10.30am - St. Ita’s Church Drouin

    2ND RITE OF RECONCILIATION BEFORE CHRISTMAS

    As well as regular times there is to be a communal service for Reconciliation at St. Ita’s Church on Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 7.30pm.

    All parishioners are welcome.

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    Check out our Catholic Parishes of Warragul & Drouin Facebook presence.

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    CAMP AUSTRALIA

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    PUBLIC NOTICES

    CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT

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    SUMMER HOLIDAY PROGRAM

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    DROUIN CWA

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    BELEZA SCHOOL UNIFORMS

    ATHLONE HALL CENTENARY

    Sunday 27th November 2022

    10 am -3pm

    History of Athlone on display along with some old machinery.

    Free Kids activities.

    BBQ food and drinks available

    Scrumptious afternoon tea.

    For more details phone 0438 876 413 - Leesa Williams

    PIANO & SINGING LESSONS

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    DRUM AND GUITAR LESSONS

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