School Vision
St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.
Catholics were encouraged to join their prayers with those of Pope Francis on Friday 25 March, when he consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The feast of the Annunciation, when the Church celebrates Mary’s “yes” to the call of God, is a good day for the consecration, a day for the world to say “yes” to the call of peace. At St Matthew’s, we prayed the prayer below as part of our Friday morning assembly.
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you.
As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you.
Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence!
You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.
Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world.
The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace.
We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.
Our Lady of the “Fiat,” on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God.
May you, our “living fountain of hope,” water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion.
You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.
Amen.
Dear Parents & Carers,
Welcome to Week 9. This is the last newsletter for this term, and also the last newsletter I will write for a while. I will be going on Long Service Leave for the duration of Term 2. During my absence, Mark Tenney will be Acting Principal. I know I am leaving the school in very good hands. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the St Matthew’s Staff. They are an incredibly supportive, hardworking and dedicated group of professionals and I feel very blessed to work in such a beautiful environment. I look forward to hearing all of the stories from both staff and students when I return to school in Term 3.
Local Business Thank You
It is obviously very important to our school community that our classrooms and play spaces are kept safe, functional and attractive. We are so lucky at St Matthew’s to have many local businesses ready to jump in whenever we need a hand. Here are some that we especially want to acknowledge:
Melchiorre Plumbing and Gas
Nik’s Electrical & Gas
Narrogin Betta Home Living
Narrogin Carpet Court
Mister Yardman
David Muller – Handyman
Thank you to each of these businesses; we truly appreciate the time and support you continue to provide us.
Happy Harmony Week!
This year for Harmony Week we ask that your family get involved by filming your child saying one, two or all three of the following, in your home language:
· Count in your language from 1 to 10.
· Say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ in your language.
· Say ‘my name is…’ in your language.
We ask that you film and then upload the video to the SEESAW CLASS (not SeeSaw Family). The app: ”SeeSaw Class” allows students to upload completed work from home to an online private journal to be viewed by the teacher. Please see below for more information
We would really appreciate it if all the videos could be uploaded by Friday 1 April. This will then be collated and made into a whole school video.
Remote Schooling – SeeSaw Class
In the event that your child needs to transition to learning from home due to being deemed a symptomatic close contact or testing positive to Covid-19, St Matthew’s School will use the app ‘SeeSaw Class’ to send, mark, and monitor school work. Most families are using the app: ‘SeeSaw Family’ to view their child’s activities at school, but the app: ”SeeSaw Class” allows students to upload completed work from home to an online private journal to be viewed by the teacher and receive feedback.
A sheet came home with your child with an individualised code for SeeSaw Class. Please download the app to your preferred device and scan or enter the code on the sheet in readiness for possible remote learning. Alternatively, you can access SeeSaw class via a web browser through: https://app.seesaw.me/#/login
Please contact Mark Tenney on mark.tenney@cewa.edu.au if you require further assistance.
COVID-19 Very High Caseload Setting
Last week the Premier, Hon Mark McGowan, announced that based on the latest health advice, from 12:01am Thursday 31 March, most Level 2 measures will be eased back to Level 1, with some modifications based on risk, which for schools, means masks are still required indoors for students in Year 3 and above. All other measures pertaining to schools remain the same.
COVID-19 Self-reporting Form
It is vitally important that parents and caregivers inform the school if their child tests positive for COVID-19.
To support our planning for your child’s classroom attendance, please continue to notify the school if your child returns a negative PCR/ RAT result, after:
· being identified as a close contact (Day 1 test to return to school as an asymptomatic close contact), and/or
· being identified as a household close contact (Day 7 test to conclude quarantine).
To help streamline this process a COVID-19 Self-reporting Form for Students and Staff members has been developed by Catholic Education WA (CEWA). Parents and caregivers can now inform the school of their child’s positive or negative COVID result via this LINK. The information will go directly to the Principal, prompting our COVID response.
The link is also available on the St Matthew’s School website.
Please do not underestimate the importance of informing the school of a positive COVID case. Your actions will ensure the risk to others is minimised and that we do our very best to limit the spread of the virus across our community.
Parent Interviews
Thank you to all of our parents who have taken the opportunity to attend parent interviews last week. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we had to conduct the majority of the meetings via the phone. However, if parents or teachers felt that they needed a face-to-face meeting to discuss specific concerns, these were scheduled outside in the school grounds by contacting the classroom teacher via their email. For those families who are yet to attend meetings, and wish to do this via the phone, please book an interview by using the link below:
https://sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=1317
Instructions on how to use the booking system can be found through:
https://sobs.com.au/docs/sobs-pt3-parents.pdf
If you have any issues, please email Mr Tenney (mark.tenney@cewa.edu.au).
WaterFun Friday
At St Matthew’s we are very aware that many students are disappointed that we have been unable to hold the swimming carnivals this term. To help bring back some water happiness, our Year 6 students have prepared a Water Fun Day for their peers on Friday 1st of April (Week 9).
Instead of the normal Friday Sport block, the Year 6’s will lead all of the the separate classes through a number of Water Fun Activities. These will include:
Farmer Sam
Kickball
Dodgeball
Gauntlet run
Students will need to bring a towel, bathers/swimmers, a top/rashi and covered shoes that are ok to get wet.
I am also happy to announce that all of our Factions have earnt enough Ping Pong Points to earn their major reward. This means on Friday 1 April, all students can wear free dress, have 10 min extra play at recess and enjoy 1/2 an icey pole. Congratulations everyone!
This will be a wonderful way to end the term. A big thank you to Miss Procopio, Mr Tenney and the Year 6 class for organising this event.
Annual Community Meeting
A modified P&F and School Advisory Council Annual Community Meeting will be held on 28 March at 7:30pm at the St Matthew’s Parish Centre. All parents are welcome to attend. All COVID-19 restrictions will need to be followed, including wearing a mask.
Uniform Survey
Parents have expressed a desire for a simpler uniform that is flexible enough to be worn all year – not a summer and a winter uniform. This is to help reduce the cost, allow children to dress according to their needs (play style, age and personal preference) and to suit the weather. It is for this reason that we ask our parents to complete this short survey. This will assist us in reviewing our Uniform Dress Code: Girls’ Formal Uniform Survey
Year 6 Easter Hamper Fundraiser – final week
A big thank you to all of our families who have supported the Year 6 end-of-year excursion and Graduation fundraiser. Raffle tickets will be sold each lunchtime for one more week. There are 10 Easter Hampers full of goodies to be won. Tickets are $1 each.
Principal KINDNESS award
On Monday mornings, I present the Principal’s Award for Kindness. Children are able to nominate each other for this award during the week. This week the award went to Oscar (Yr 3) for helping his peers at swimming lessons. Congratulations, Oscar.
Principal Focus – You Belong
Every year, St Matthew’s celebrates Harmony Week to acknowledge how lucky we are to have been able to welcome so many different cultures into our classrooms. There are currently 20 different home languages being spoken by our families. This allows all of our students an opportunity to learn more about our big world and to appreciate the beauty that comes from difference.
Helping all children and young people understand difference encourages them to feel good about who they are, where they fit in the world and appreciate diversity in others. It helps to build strong, inclusive communities where everyone enjoys a sense of being valued and belonging, which supports positive mental health.
When diversity is valued and respected, people are more likely to develop social connections to others and a sense of belonging to their community.
When a child or young person feels their family, cultural background and individual uniqueness are respected and valued, their sense of identity, belonging and self-esteem is strengthened. They’re more likely to participate in social experiences and form strong relationships in their early learning service or school community. This acts as a buffer to stress when they’re experiencing difficulties. (https://beyou.edu.au/fact-sheets/relationships/cultural-diversity-and-mental-health)
Let’s all work together to ensure that each of our students develop their sense of belonging and know that they are truly valued.
Stay just as you are,
Susan Milton
