School Vision
St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning and grow and develop as God intends.
The Office for Social Justice has prepared a prayer to help the Australian Catholic community to mark the Ten Days for Peace in solidarity with the Church in Japan. Based on the peace prayer of St Francis and the words of Pope Francis, it focuses on nuclear disarmament and active peace-building.
A Prayer for Nuclear Disarmament
Lord of all creation, make us instruments of your peace.
Let us learn the lessons of the past, and put an end to nuclear weapons.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love.
May our love for each other and for all of your creation
leave no place for making or owning weapons of mass destruction.
Where there is injury, let us be bearers of your healing and pardon.
May we create paths to dialogue, understanding and reconciliation.
Where there is doubt, let us foster faith in you.
May we let the weapons fall from our hands and know that you are God.
Where there is despair, let us hold up hope.
May our lives reflect your love in the face of violence,
knowing that love is stronger than death.
Where there is darkness, let us be bearers of your light.
May our choices show that peace is possible.
Where there is sadness, let us bring the joy of the Gospel.
Amen.
Dear Parents & Carers,
Thank You!
I was so surprised on Friday when the staff and the P&F Committee presented me with gifts to celebrate Australian Primary Principals’ Day. I was genuinely surprised and truly touched. I feel extremely lucky to work in such a positive and supportive school. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this day so special.
Teacher Leave
Many country schools experience a high turnover of staff each year. Luckily, at St Mathew’s, we have many staff members that call our school home and are committed to teaching within the Catholic Education System. Several staff members have allocated to use their well-earned employment leave over the next two terms:
- Mrs Prideaux will be altering her weekly work roster so that she is able to take Long Service Leave on Thursdays and Fridays from Week 5 until the end of the year. This means Mrs Prideaux will be in Pre-Primary Monday to Wednesday, with Mrs Maartens teaching Pre-Primaries on Thursdays and Fridays.
- Mrs Allington will be taking Long Service Leave for Term 4. We will inform parents who will be replacing her in Year 4 on Thursdays and Fridays by the end of Term 3.
- Mrs Graham will be taking Long Service Leave during Term 4. Mrs Caryn Tenney will be in Kindy during this time.
- Finally, the lovely Mrs Marjoram has experienced many exciting personal events this year. From getting married in March, to sharing her lovely baby news, it has been a year full of firsts. To prepare for the birth of her daughter, Mrs Marjoram will be taking maternity leave for the duration of Term 4. St Matthew’s has advertised on the CEWA website for a replacement teacher.
I know that you all join me in wishing them all the very best during their periods of leave.
Thank you, Ms Hart
On Friday, Tanya Hart, from Cactus Hair, generously donated her time to hold head lice information sessions with the children in Years 2 to 6. The children learnt all about the life cycle of lice and the simple steps each of us can take to reduce the cases of headlice in our school. The Healthy WA website contains information on the treatment and removal of the nasty critters.
Book Week 2020
On Tuesday 25 August, St Matthew’s will be celebrating Book Week by holding a whole school dress-up day. This year’s theme is “Curious Creatures”, however, children may dress as any favourite book character. The parade will be held at 9am in Sr Isabel Hall. Please bring along a copy of the book or a print out of the book cover.
Principal Focus – Eyes & Ears
Over the last few weeks, our school nurse, Mrs Lana Grznic, has commenced conducting the School Entry Health Assessments of our Kindy students. Part of these assessments screen for problems with vision and hearing, which are best addressed if picked up and treated early. However, it is important for all parents and teachers to recognise that children can also develop vision and hearing problems later in life. As raisingchildren.net.au explains:
Children who have vision impairment might have normal-looking eyes. Often, it will be something about a child’s behaviour or the way he uses his eyes that makes you think there might be a problem with the way he sees.
A child might:
- hold things up close to her face
- say she is tired or rub her eyes a lot
- turn or tilt her head or cover one eye when looking at things up close
- get tired after looking at things up close – for example, reading, drawing or playing handheld games
- seem to see better during the day than at night
- seem to have crossed or turned eyes or a squint (lazy eye)
- seem clumsy – for example, she might knock things over or trip often.
Naturally, difficulties with vision and hearing can have a significant impact on a child’s learning. We are very lucky at St Matt’s that we are able to refer our students to the Child Development Team to conduct sight and hearing tests during school time. Please feel free to discuss any concerns you may have with your child’s class teacher.
Take care,
Susan Milton
