Dear Parents,
Welcome to everyone for the 2021 school year. What an exciting year we have ahead of us! A wonderful warm welcome to all our new families and to the children who are beginning their time here at St Martin de Porres.
First day of school is this Monday, 1 February 2021. Thankyou for your support with having three pupil free days this week. It has allowed us to make sure the learning spaces are all ready for learning.
Last night the Parent Information sessions were held and it was lovely to see the school back to life. The feedback on our new “Piazza” learning area was very positive. Come in and have a look next week. If you weren’t able to attend please contact your children’s teachers to start the year with your children with what you need to know.
Our school is 35 years old this year and we will recognise this with the addition of new and exciting facilities, two new classes and significant additions to our teaching and learning team. We are a school that is proud of the way we help children flourish in their learning and in how we promote happiness and well being for all in our community. We are determined to build a culture around kindness, gratitude, tolerance and compassion and we have the wonderful Dominican and Josephite Catholic traditions to do it with.
This week, Mr Ben Ryan, our leader in catholic identity, lead the staff in prayer and reflection for the year ahead. The theme was Build My Life, Build our School. Ben challenged us to see the connection between what is happening in our school and how God is part of this.
“God, who is the original architect, is in the process of rebuilding each of us.
God is building our hearts to share his LOVE.
God is building us to be people of Peace, Kindness and goodness,
God is building us to be the community he is calling us to be.
And God wants us to participate in this act of creation.”
A song he shared with us you might like to enjoy as well: Song: Build my Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZW4_8_zCBE
The 2021 story so far:
All staff returned on Monday, 18 January to prepare for the year. Two members of staff got married over the break – Joshua Rouse (to Christie) and Rhiannon Walsh (to Wade Champion).
It is with great pleasure that I welcome the following new staff members:
There are also new positions for the following staff members:
A full list of all our staff is available here: https://www.smdps.catholic.edu.au/our-school/our-staff
Staff Professional Development
The following Professional Development Workshops/Sessions were held over the past two weeks:
Building Update
The Piazza learning space has been finished and it is a “pit no more!” Put simply it is fantastic. For Term 1 it will be used by a Reception class (REC), the Year 3, Year 4 classes and OHSC.
Reception Classes
The Reception classes building will be completed at the end of Term 1. This means that:
REC will have located in the open learning space in the new Piazza.
RDS will be located in the Library.
RNB will be located in the first classroom of the Piazza.
Berrima Road upgrade and Spinnaker Circuit Reserve East
The Marion Council have decided to postpone the changing of Berrima Road to one way until later in the year. Spinnaker Reserve will continue as a parking space for Term 1 and Term 2.
Traffic, Parking and Behaviour.
In 2020 we developed a plan for families to be able to safely drop off and pick up their children. If we continue this plan, we will again be very successful. Please see attached file as a reminder of parking options.
OHSC
A significantly successful service in our school program run by Mrs Pam Adams and her staff. This is a CCB Rebated Government Program and therefore has very specific processes for booking and attendance. Please make sure you are up to date with these expectations around attendance. The service operates from 7.00am until 6:20pm.
Canteen
Managed by Mrs Kylie Reidy, the Canteen will again be open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Orders and Payment is by the Qkr! App. There have been some changes to the menu options, this will be shared in more detail by Kylie next week.
Volunteers urgently needed. Please contact Kylie at canteen@smdps.catholic.edu.au.
QR CODE Implementation
SA Health has advised us that there will be a rollout of the COVID Safe Check-in system across all schools. From Monday, 8 February it is a government requirement that QR Codes are to be used for all adults who enter into our school site. There will also be a sign in sheet in the front office for those who choose this. The QR Code Poster will be at each of the gate entry points.
School Site Entry
Adults will be welcome onto our school site for drop off and pick up, meetings with teachers/admin and for classroom/school volunteering support. The Government’s social distancing protocols will need to be followed.
I want to thank you all for your patience with the start of school. We are going to have an exciting 2021 no matter what is happening in the world. Our school community is a great place to work and live in. Please stay tuned in via Skoolbag and Seesaw to make our school start for the children as smooth as possible.
God Bless,
Craig Fosdike