School Vision

St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.

This prayer is chosen to acknowledge the fourth week of Lent:

Dearest Lord,
I hope to be more observant of your grace.
May you look upon my soul
and may my sins erase.

May I know of sacrifice and cherish all you bless
and act with courage to assist
others who have less.

Prepare my soul for joy to come, and cleanse me of all sin.
I’ll wear my faith and do my best
to nurture it within.

With a humble heart, I hope to be
your faithful servant
for all to see.
Amen

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome to the third newsletter for 2024.

Faction Swimming Carnival

On Tuesday, 12 March, students in Years 3-6 will participate in the St Matthew’s School Swimming Carnival. Students will walk to Narrogin Leisure Centre at 9.00am for a 9.30am commencement time. A big thank you to all of our parents who have volunteered their time to help at the carnival and/or to help make our yummy lunches. We couldn’t do it without you!

Kindy to Year 2 WaterFun

The Teddy Bear Hospital – Pre-Primary & Year 1 Incursion

Pre-Primary and Year 1 students are invited to bring a teddy or soft toy to the Teddy Bear Hospital on Thursday 14 March. The Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) is a community medicine strategy that assists children in becoming more aware and accustomed to hospitals and medical treatment whilst developing the clinical skills of medical treatment. In a TBH visit, children play the role of a parent and bring their teddy bears or favoured toys to a simulated hospital (classroom) for treatment by the Teddy Doctor (medical student). These Teddy Doctors demonstrate the entire process of a medical consultation in a fun, non-threatening environment. The project is supported by the Medical Students’ Association of Notre Dame and will be run by graduate entry medical students in the first year at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle and second year students from Curtin University.

More information will go out via the app on Monday.

Berry Street Education

Over the next two years, St Matthew’s will be training all of our staff members in the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM). This model is designed to equip schools with practical, classroom-based strategies to increase the engagement of all students, including those with complex, unmet learning needs. It enables schools to support students’ self-regulation, relationships and wellbeing to increase student engagement and significantly improve academic achievement.

DOJO Points

This year, St Matthew’s is planning to trial using Class DOJO as part of our Positive Behaviour Management Strategies. Staff members will use Class Dojo to promote positive behaviours in the classroom and in the playground. Each child gets a monster avatar, and teachers can award Dojos for things such as staying on task, meeting a target, being kind or brilliant homework. All staff members will be able to award dojo points to any student, at any time. We will provide more information via the school app shortly.

2024 Project Compassion Appeal

Students have brought home small collection boxes to fill, and then combine into their class boxes at the end of the term. The funds raised by Catholic schools all across Australia directly impact the lives of those in our world in dire need. 

Please give generously “for all future generations”.

Test Books

Student Test Books will be sent home at the end of each term for parents to view. Teachers will add tests from Literacy, Numeracy and/or Religious Education to the Test Book throughout the term. This term the books will come home on March 22. We ask that these are returned to school on March 25.

Parent/Teacher Interviews Week 9

Each year, St Matthew’s School offers parents the opportunity to meet with their student’s class teachers to discuss their academic progress, share learning examples, and celebrate growth. This year, parents will be able to book an interview from 1:30pm until 4:00pm from Monday, March 25 to Thursday March 28. Booking information will come out via the school app later this week.

Lego & Chess Club

This year, we would love to run both a Chess and a Lego Club for Years 1 to 6, as part of our Enrichment program. To achieve this, we are asking if there are members of the community who would be willing to donate their time and expertise. Ideally, the clubs would run one day a week from 12:45 to 1:20pm, or in the mornings, 8:30- 9:00am. If you are interested or know of any community members who may be, please email Susan.milton@cewa.edu.au.

A Message From Miss McCormack

We are doing lots of fun hands-on activities in the garden for STEM. If anyone has manure/soil donations for the school garden beds, that would be very much appreciated. Please email Miss Meka McCormack for more details at: meka.mccormack@cewa.edu.au

We Need Your Help

I am so thankful to the community members who are helping us complete the Kindy/Pre-Primary play area. Thanks to the hard work of Danielle van Rooyen and Annie Viljoen , the new cubby is all stained and ready for play. And thanks to the support of Mitch Wray and Mark Batt, the Narrogin Ag College students are coming next week to put in the partitions in our sensory path.

There are several jobs we still need parent assistance to complete:

• Laying roll-on lawn
• Finishing off the sensory path 

If you are able to assist in completing any of these jobs, please email susan.milton@cewa.edu.au We will happily work around your schedule.

Year 6 Easter Raffle

The Year 6 class are holding an Easter Raffle to raise money for their Year 6 camp (Week 2, Term 2), end-of-year excursion and Graduation dinner. Tickets will be on sale at the Faction Swimming Carnival on Tuesday.

Year 6 families are asked to please donate Easter Eggs or Easter-themed items. 

Parish Busy Bee

St Matthew’s Parish is holding an Easter Busy Bee on Saturday 23 March, commencing at 7:30am. Volunteers are invited to help complete many jobs both inside and outside of our beautiful church. If you are unable to attend on the day, but would like to help, there is a list of jobs at the back of the church that can be completed at any time.

Justin Coulsen Sad, Cranky, Scared, Stressed  – Guiding children through their big emotions

This FREE parenting presentation equips parents with a five-step “emotion coaching” process that brings together the very best in emotional intelligence research to build children’s resilience, increase wellbeing for the whole family, and develop healthier humans.

For all parents, especially of middle primary to early high school children.

Learn more about this FREE parenting presentation

Important Dates

All important dates can be viewed on the St Matthew’s app calendar. Of particular note are:

God bless,

Susan Milton

Principal