At our Commissioning Mass held on Friday 8th February, the Gospel reading reminded us that, 'whenever you have accepted graciously a small child you have accepted me' (Mark 9:33-37). Our staff, representatives from the School Board and Parents and Friends Committee acknowledged the important role we have through a statement of commitment to work closely with our Parish Catholic School Co-workers and to use our gifts for the wellbeing of the parish and school community. At the conclusion of the Mass it was wonderful to be able to formally welcome our new students to the TWCS community.
I'd like to also welcome Xavier Gomes who has joined Mrs Margush's Reception class and Albert Gomes who has joined Mr Do's Year 2/3 class at the start of last week and I extend a warm welcome to Xavier, Albert and their family on behalf of the TWCS community.
Last week we were blessed with perfect weather for our welcome BBQ held on Friday evening. Thank you to those families that were able to attend and I'd like to especially thank our P&F committee for organising the event and to the volunteers who helped with cooking and selling ice-creams. I hope the event provided you with the opportunity to talk with and get to know some people that perhaps you haven't met before.
P&F
The P&F recently held their first meeting for the year and it was great to see some new faces come along and support this committee. My sincere thanks go to the outgoing executive, Kirsty Miller, Jess Rainsford and Shailee Sharma for their significant contribution as Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer over the past two years. This year marks the end of their tenure in these roles and so nominations were called for the various executive positions. I'd like to acknowledge the following people for taking up these roles along with the parents who have taken on the role as P&F class reps.
Vinny Maresca - Chairperson
Karen Bilney and Bianca Ayres - Co-secretaries
Bozena Rowinska - Treasurer
Tenille White - REN
Stella Chubb - REG
Katherine Wotherspoon - R/1K
Rebecca Jucha - 1/2S
Jess Rainsford - 2/3T
Helen Ricci - 3/4T
Kirsty Miller -5/6P
Student Representative Council (SRC)
This year our SRC comprises students from Year 1 - 6. Each class ran a nomination and election process to select two students to represent their class. SRC meetings will be held fortnightly starting next week. Congratulations to the following students who were presented with their badges at our assembly held on Monday:
R/1K Adam Bowden and Eve Pietris
1/2S Kalani Shen and Sonny Sneath
2/3T Ayesha Gupta and Connor Gillespie
3/4T Matilda Shannon and Xavier Dela Rosa
5/6P Jonathan Basil and Rose Lang
School Board Nominations for 2019
The School Board is broadly responsible for the financial management, pastoral care, maintenance, and development of the school in partnership with the Principal and Staff of the School. The Board represents all sectors of the community.
Each Diocesan School Board has delegated responsibility from the Archbishop/Bishop for the overall well-being of its school, within SACCS’ and diocesan policies and guidelines.
In practice, this means that in a spirit of partnership, Boards act to:
- develop policies that nurture the religious dimension and guide the direction of the school;
- develop the relationship between the school and the local Church;
- promote educational excellence within the school;
- support the administration of the school;
- foster harmonious and positive collaboration within the school community;
- protect children;
- monitor buildings and grounds development and maintenance;
- exercise financial stewardship of the school and ensure compliance with legal obligations.
Potential members of a School Board should:
- possess an enthusiasm for and willingness to promote the mission of Catholic schools;
- bring to the Board their gifts and skills;
- desire to give service to their school community;
- have an ability to work cooperatively and constructively with all Members of the Board; be prepared to undertake formation;
- have an ability and desire to uphold confidentiality in Board matters;
- have sufficient time to devote to Board duties; and
- be a registered school Volunteers with a current police check clearance through the Archdiocesan Police Check Unit.
At the school board meeting held this week, 4 elected positions were declared vacant. Membership of the school Board is for a period of two years. Retiring members may be re-elected provided they have not served for more than six consecutive years in one term of office. If you would like to nominate (or re-nominate) yourself for either one of these two year tenure positions and are able to commit to two meetings per term, then I ask that you complete the online form at the following link:
2019 TWCS School Board Nominations, by no later than 4pm Wednesday 13 March. Should the number of nominations exceed the number of positions available, an election process will take place at the AGM being held on Wednesday 20th March.
AGM
All parents and caregivers are invited to attend our AGM which will take place on Wednesday 20th March at 6pm in the Beehive. Drinks and nibbles provided.
Positive Education
Each of the classes has been learning about Character Strengths and how they can use these strengths to help them with their learning. Over the past few years we have run a parent information workshop about Positive Education to provide an opportunity for parents/ carers to develop their own understanding of what Positive Education is and how it supports the wellbeing of students at school. Our next parent workshop is being held on Tuesday 5th March in the Beehive. Further information is available in the Wellbeing News of this newsletter.
2019 School Closure Days
Each year, an allocation of pupil free and early closure days are established to facilitate a range of professional learning and formation opportunities for staff. This year's dates have been confirmed as follows:
Term 1
Tuesday 29 January - Pupil Free Day
Friday 12 April - Pupil Free Day (Staff Retreat)
Term 2
Friday 5 July - Early Closure Day
Term 3
August 12 - Pupil Free Day
Term 4
Monday 14 October - Pupil Free Day
Friday 13 December - Early Closure Day
Parish Fundraiser
I encourage you to consider supporting the Brooklyn Park/Richmond Parish by attending an afternoon with the famous Australian comedian, Fiona O'Loughlin on 3 March at 2pm at the Performing Arts Centre at St Mary's College, Adelaide. Further information is available on the flyer included with this newsletter.
Kind regards,
John Low
Principal
