Dear Families

I hope everyone managed to survive through the heat of the long weekend.  I am glad that those extreme days were not school days and also that our local communities were not impacted by fires during the extended intense conditions.

Tuesday was a student-free day to allow staff to attend a professional learning day in Melbourne.  A key activity was a visit to the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre in East Melbourne and we were very fortunate to meet with Sr.Margaret who actually worked as teacher here during the 1970s.  It was a pleasure to listen to her speak so fondly of the school and parish, reminding us of our core purpose - the care and education of our children.  On a side note, it was really pleasing to hear of families take advantage of Our Patch who offered care for the full day.  What a terrific resource to have here at St.Vincent's.  Remember to check out their School Holiday Program - I'm tempted to book myself in on some of those days!

OUR PATCH Information

Across this fortnight we have had our Year 3 and Year 5 participate in the NAPLAN Assessments.  These national wide assessments form an important part of our school improvement strategy so while the staff take the process authentically and professionally, our approach with the students is to create a calm and supportive environment for them to effective showcase their strengths and challenges.  The assessments are essentially all online which allows for the information to be distributed to schools, systems and parents earlier than was possible with the paper-based model.

At the start of the year we noted that this term was a rather short nine-week adventure and as such would be crowded and busy.  We have certainly packed in a lot of learning, sport, activity and fun.  The length of the newsletters is a good indicator of happenings around the place.  Please continue to note key events and details especially in these final few weeks.

Enjoy the rest of the week - Go Tigers (please)

Yours,

Dave

Week 7:

Thursday 14^th March              Region Swimming (selected students)

Saturday 16/3 or Sunday 17/3       Eucharist Commitment Masses

Week 8:

Monday 18th March                Harmony Day (Wear a splash of orange)

Monday 18th March                Assembly - Student Leader Badge presentation 

Wednesday 20th March           Easter Raffle Casual Clothes Day (Bring a donation)

Wednesday 20^th March           Eucharist Workshop at 5pm in the Hub

Thursday 21st March              School Photos

Friday 22nd March                 Ride to School Day & Breakfast

Saturday 23/3 or Sunday 24/3       Eucharist Commitment Masses

Week 9:

Monday 25th March                Hot Cross Bun Delivery

Tuesday 26^th March                NET SET GO – Grades 3 & 4

Tuesday 26^th March                SUPERKICK – Grades 5 & 6

Wednesday 27^th March           School Athletics Carnival

Thursday 28^th March              Easter Play:Stations of the Cross (10am)

Thursday 28^th March              Easter Raffle

Thursday 28^th March              Term 1 Ends 12.30pm

On Friday 22nd March St.Vincent's will be participating in National Ride2School Day.

We encourage all families to think about how you might like to active travel to school, not just restricting yourself to riding a bike.  Maybe you might like to organise to walk or scoot with another family.  The Ride2School organisational also use the saying PART WAY IS OKAY, to acknowledge families who live too far away to actively travel to school.  Some Park'n'Ride/Walk points could be Morwell East FC, the Latrobe City Traffic School or the Leisure Centre.

Access to the school yard will be via the Rowell Street gate (Gate 2) from 8.30am.

On the day we will be hosting a simple breakfast (Vegemite/Jam toast and fruit platters) for when the students arrive on-site.  We would love to have some parent helpers on the day with the plan to hopefully make this a more regular event.  Please feel free to come along and help on the day.  Fingers crossed we can organise to have a coffee van visit on the morning too!

Our Annual Hot Cross Bun Drive has gone live via CDFPay.  If you need support to get CDFPay active please drop by the office.

This year's supplier is again Heyfield Bakery.

As we journey through Lent we are called to think about others.  Project Compassion, a social justice fundraiser of Caritas Australia, gives us the opportnity to reach out to support a variety projects across the country and globe.

Take a look at this clip about Memory.

Week 6

	Principal's Award for Positive Behaviour	Class Award
Prep MP	Maisie	Milla
1/2C	Titus	Addy
1/2F	Jordan	Jordy
1/2SJ	Jaxon	Ryan
3/4B	Aithan	Erin
3/4D
3/4E	Walter	Angelyn
5/6BM	Angela	Caitlyn
5/6KM	Milla	Zoe
5/6W	Baylee	Emmy

New emergency care option for the Latrobe Valley

Latrobe Priority Primary Care Centre (PPCC) provides free GP-led care to people who need urgent care, but not an emergency response.

They provide urgent care for injuries and illnesses including:

• mild to moderate infections
• fever
• pain when urinating
• suspected fractures and sprains
• back and muscle pain
• minor cuts, burns, and insect or animal bites
• heartburn, vomiting, nausea
• headaches, migraines and brief fainting
• constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
• allergies and rashes
• light bleeding in the first trimester of pregnancy
• mild to moderate asthma attacks, coughs and other respiratory symptoms

No appointment is needed.

The Latrobe PPCC may prove a better alternative to the hospital emergency department for you and your family if you need urgent – but non-life threatening – care.

The key details are:

• Opening hours: 7 days per week, from 8.00am – 10.00pm
• Address: 42-44 Fowler Street, Moe
• Phone number: 5127 9111
• Billing: Bulk Billed
• Learn more: https://www.lchs.com.au/services/general-health/latrobe-priority-primary-care-centre-ppcc/