Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of All Saints,

Assemblies:
It was wonderful to be able to have Year 5‘s host our first assembly at school since March.  They were delightful to watch and listen to as they talked about their learning over this year.  Thank you to all the Year 5 teachers for their support of the children in their classes. 

This week Reception held their assembly. Year 4 and Year 1 are later in the Term. Parents and families will know that they must all sign in and inform their child’s teacher that they will be attending. Unfortunately, we must continue to restrict the numbers of adults on site so we can ensure social distancing occurs.

Later this term and early next term, there will be assemblies, camps and Sports Day. We continue to monitor each situation and consider the advice we have been given, however understand that we may need to continue with restrictions for some time. We thank you for your support and for keeping the children at home when they are sick.

Wellbeing check in:
The link between student well-being and academic outcomes has been well researched. As educators, we know how important wellbeing is for learning. Evidence shows that when children develop their social and emotional skills for wellbeing, health and safety, there is a direct impact on their learning outcomes.  

This week, as per my letter, all classes conducted a wellbeing check in. The information and results from this check in will be provided to us by Catholic Education SA. One of our key concerns at All Saints is the wellbeing of our children and their families. We know how vital that is to the learning outcomes of each child. This check in will allow us to pinpoint and deal with any concerns that are identified.

2021
In recent months and in response to the financial situation of the impact of COVID -19, Catholic Education SA has undergone some restructuring and made system changes which will allow us and all Catholic primary schools, to decrease school fees from 2021. You may recall Dr Neil McGoran’s announcement of this in a recent video. The exact calculations for this decrease have not yet been finalised and presented to the School Board for consideration. We are excited about this opportunity to be able to provide quality learning at an affordable price for everyone in our community.

With every best wish,

We remind you that Monday, 31 August 2020 is a School Closure Day for both All Saints Catholic Primary School and Little Saints Playgroup.  If you require OSHC on this day, please contact the Seaford Districts Community Children's Centre.

Welcome to 4 Ireland!

We have been very busy doing lots of different things this term! We are lucky to be able to work closely with our Buddies in 1 Budgen again. We have read two books together and helped our Buddies to complete the writing for the Indonesian Premiers Reading Challenge. 

“I found the books and the task rather interesting”- Kobe 
“I loved working with my buddies reading the books”- Ella 

Our Science focus this term is Biological Sciences. We have been looking at livings things and the 7 life processes. MRS GREN is the acronym we use to remember what the 7 life processes are for all living things; Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion and Nutrition. We have also been growing our own bean seeds and documenting the process at each stage of its life cycle.  

“I found the learning challenging but enjoyable”- Isla 

We have enjoyed taking part in Science Week where the theme was The Deep Blue Innovation For Our Future Oceans. We researched and explored about marine life in our oceans. We then created our own under water exhibits demonstrating living and non-living things in our oceans.  

“I really enjoyed the task because we got to be creative and make our own animals”- Jess 

We have enjoyed art this year, being able to create our own self-portraits, one-point perspective paintings and studying different artists. One artist we have looked is Pablo Picasso, the co-creator of cubism.  

“I really enjoyed the self-portrait because we got to draw and be creative with our own faces” - Allegra 

At All Saints we believe in recognising positive behaviour.  Regularly Ms Keogh invites learners who have continually gone over and above, to share a drink and a chat together.

Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity Project
In 2012 and 2017 All Saints engaged with the Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity Project. This involved staff, children and families completing a survey around our school’s Catholic Identity. It is part of my role to use the data from these reports to improve the Catholic Identity of All Saints Catholic Primary School.

When I look at our name there is a very obvious and clear connection to one specific element of Catholicism – Saints. I decided to have a more focused approach towards Saints as part of our Catholic Identity. We have four Saints that we connect to closely – do you know who they are?

If I think about these four amazing people what about them can our children connect to? Can we encourage our children to look at these Saints as role models for who they want to be and how they want to act? I think so.

From this we created our Saint Awards. Any child can receive these for displaying behaviours and attitudes we connect to our four Saints. This is what we look for: 

St Mary Mackillop Award - For courage and bravery in the face of adversity
St Mother Teresa Award - For serving others in need with a kind heart
St Francis of Assisi Award - For care and respect of all God’s creation, including each other
St John Bosco Award - For dedication to learning

This year has been somewhat restricted in how and when we gather so we haven’t given out as many Saint Awards as I would have liked. We are moving to a more casual approach so that it is quick and easy to celebrate how our children are little Saints in our Catholic community. Today, with the sunny weather, we gave out Saint Awards.

Enjoy celebrating our Catholic Saints and our little Saints.

God bless.

Why not share the All Saints experience with your family and friends, by inviting them along to our next Principal's Tour on Saturday, 12 September @ 10am. 

Liz Keogh and Nick Wright will take a walk through our modern facilities and expansive grounds, where we have created learning spaces that invite the children to be actively engaged and focused. Register now by contacting Leisa Macey on 8327 0020 or email info@allsaints.catholic.edu.au.

Last week our teachers spent time with Michael Lincoln from CESA learning more about Restorative practice. ​Restorative practice seeks to repair relationships. At All Saints, we use this strategy in order to repair relationships that have been damaged. Staff support children in bringing about a sense of remorse and restorative action on the part of the offender and forgiveness by the victim.

Restorative practice is used when children have upset another child in order to:

• become remorseful and act restoratively. 
• focus on the unacceptable behaviour of offenders.

The aim is to lead to healthier interpersonal relations among members of the school community and more effective learning.

If you would like further information about Restorative practice, please send me an email at mlovering@allsaints.catholic.edu.au or make an appointment to see me.

Over the past two terms there has been an excessive amount of lost property at school that has remained unclaimed and unnamed.

Please can you ensure that all your children's clothing, hats, bags, lunch boxes and drink bottles are clearly named. This enables us to return your child's misplaced items promptly.

Any items that are not named and remain unclaimed at the end of term will be donated to the SEM Op Shop.