Newsletter - 29th October 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wadawurrung people.  It is a privilege to be standing on Wadawurrung country.  

We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.  We acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous Peoples from the past, present and future who contribute to this country in which we live.  

May Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians continue to work together to educate, unite and live in peace on this land we call home, Australia.

Prayer

Upcoming Dates

30th October:  Lunch orders due in.  Delivery - Wednesday, 5th November (not Monday)

31st October:  Foundation 2026 Transition, 8:50am-11:40am

4th November:  Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

Wednesday 5th November:  Lunch orders delivered.

11th November:  Foundation 2026 Transition, 8:50am-11:40am; Remembrance Day

13th November:  Lunch orders due in.

17th November:  Lunch orders delivered.

25th November:  Assembly at 2:45pm.

27th November:  Lunch orders due in.

28th November:  Foundation 2026 Transition, 8:50am-11:40am

1st December:  Lunch orders delivered.

3rd December:  End of Year Mass & Graduation - more details to follow

9th December:  Foundation 2026 Transition, 8:50am-11:40am

11th December:  Lunch orders due in.

15th December:  Lunch orders delivered.

16th December:  Last day of term.

Messages from the Principal

THANK YOU

A huge thank you to our wonderful community for coming along to our Art Show on what was a cold, wet and windy night last Wednesday. It was without a doubt a highlight of the year. Everyone I spoke to was full of praise for our talented young artists. A special thank you also goes to our dedicated staff for going above and beyond, both in the classroom and in setting up the Art Show.

GRANDPARENTS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS MORNING

On Monday we were delighted to welcome many Grandparents and Special Friends for a lovely morning together. Sue prepared a beautiful liturgy, followed by some fun games organised by Louise and an art activity led by Kelly that everyone enjoyed completing together. It wouldn’t have been complete without a delicious morning tea. It was a fabulous morning that truly reflected the strength and spirit of our school community.

STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON MONDAY 

Our staff are very fortunate to be joining the staff of St Alipius on Monday to participate in a literacy professional development session. Shane Pearson, founder of PhOrMeS – Word Reading, Spelling and Learning, will be presenting. School will operate as normal, with replacement staff working on the day.

ENROLMENTS FOR 2026 

Enrolments are still open for 2026 and we would love to continue growing our school community. Please help spread the word about our wonderful school. If you see one of our posts on social media, it would be great if you could like, comment, or even share it on your own page. You never know, someone you know might be looking for an amazing school just like ours!

LUNCH ORDERS DUE IN THIS THURSDAY 

Lunch orders are still due on Thursday, however, they will be delivered next Wednesday, 5th November instead of Monday 3rd November.

PRINCIPAL MEETING IN HORSHAM THIS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

Just letting you all know that I will be in Horsham tomorrow and Friday at a Diocesan Leadership Gathering.  Jenny will be in charge in my absence. Please remember to message the school mobile on 0491 734 779 if needed.

LABELLING JUMPERS 

Could you please ensure your child’s name is clearly written on their jumpers? As the weather warms up, jumpers are often taken off in the playground and having a name on them makes it much easier to return lost items to their owner.

PHONE LINES

The main phone line is down at school since the storm last weekend.  We do have the phone diverted to the school mobile and will let you know once we have it sorted with Telstra. 

PAM OUTAGE

PAM is unavailable at the moment due to a system outage with Simon (more information included below).  We will let you know once PAM is available again.  In the meantime, if your child will be absent, please call or message the school mobile on 0491 734 779.

God bless,

Clare

Banksia Room News

Abbey:  On October 27th we had grandparents and special people come into our school to celebrate Grandparents' day. We had hot chocolate, tea and scones. We all engaged and had lots of fun with everyone. 

Jayden:  On Wednesday we had an Art show at our school and we had free food and drinks. My visitors were Erin and Mason, who are my next door neighbours, and they came to look at everyone's art. It was amazing because  my neighbors were there to see my art.

Emilia:  Last Wednesday I went to the art show at school where we showed how good we all are at art. My Mum and Nana were there to see the art that I had done during the year. They loved it because it was interesting and very colorful. Everyone who came was impressed with all our work.

On Grandparents' Day, my Nana came to school and it was wonderful having Nana around. I was teaching her how to play Go Fish and Snap Pirate edition. We had some scones.

Vanessa:  On Wednesday, the 22nd October, our family and friends came to the Art Show here at school, to look at the art we had done. The parents and friends all had drinks and snacks together. It was really fun. I got to have a picture taken with Bunjil. I had fun with my family .

Mimi:  On Monday, it was Grandparents' Day. My Gigi, Mum, Dad and my younger brother came to celebrate with Rupert, Teddy and me. We had a liturgy, played games, looked at art from the art show and had scones and tea. My favorite part about the liturgy was when we had a song about the hands because I compared my hands to my Gigi’s. Her hands show how hard she has worked.  Having my Gigi there made the day special.

William:  On Monday, it was Grandparents' Day at school so my Nanny and Grandma came to celebrate with Addy and I. It was GREAT that they could be with us. My Pa couldn't come because he had work and Grandad couldn't come because he was sick. We played Through The Ring but it didn't work properly and then we played a maths game and then Knuckles.  It was hard and then we had really good scones and hot chocolate. We also played snap pirate edition.

Update from the Gumnut Room

Teddy & Boston:  Last week during ‘Reading To Learn’ we have been learning all about Geography.  One of the things we have learnt about is The Great Pyramid of Giza which is on one of the built ancient Wonders of the World.  The Great Pyramid of Giza is in Egypt.  Inside the pyramid there is the King's Chamber with the king's coffin, also there are valuable items too. This week we made a paper model of the pyramid and then we created a 3D Lego pyramid too.  We learnt a lot of things that we did not know before. It was fun learning about The Great Pyramid of Giza.

On Monday we celebrated Grandparents' Day. We played games and did art with them. For morning tea we had delicious scones with jam and cream with tea and hot chocolate. It was fun to be with our grandparents. 

Mason:  I liked Poppy here and we played Giant Uno. 

Skyler: I loved Nanna Jell being here because she is funny and we liked playing Table Toss. 

On Wednesday night last week we had the Art Show and it started at 5:30pm. It was fun because we got to show our parents our art work.  We also got to paint some canvases with paint sticks.  The night was so much fun!

Genevieve:  My favourite art piece is the watercolour flowers painting because we got to use watercolour paints.

Woo:  My favourite art piece was the Jackson Pollock canvas because we used lots of colour and It was fun splattering the paint. 

Subject: Update on SIMON Service – SIMONEverywhere and Parent Access Module (PAM) Offline

On Friday 24 October, the SIMON service, including access to the Parent Access Module (PAM) and SIMONEverywhere mobile application were taken offline after some unusual login attempts were detected. This involved the unauthorised use of student and staff user credentials to create fake accounts.

St Mary’s and SIMONSchools take cyber security very seriously. External experts have been engaged to help ensure we take all appropriate action in response to this activity.

From our investigation to date, we do not have any evidence to suggest that any user information held on the platform has been affected, or that any other systems are involved. Should this position change, we will notify relevant parties as required.

Students will be able to access SIMON whilst logged in on-campus, however we will be keeping SIMONEverywhere and the Parent Access Module (PAM) offline until further notice. This precaution is being taken to ensure the safety and security of all users while we work to further understand this unusual activity and resolve the situation.

If you need to log a student absence during this period, update important medical information or provide consent for an excursion, please contact your school directly via principal@smclarkeshill.catholic.edu.au or 5334 5280.

We understand this may cause some inconvenience and appreciate your patience and support as we work to restore full service.

We will be in touch with a further update regarding access to PAM and SIMONEverywhere as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

School TV - Substance Use & Addiction

Substance use and addiction are complex issues that can affect young people in many different ways. While some may experiment out of curiosity or peer influence, others may use substances as a way to manage stress, anxiety or emotional pain. What may begin as occasional use can sometimes become a pattern that impacts mood, motivation and wellbeing. The developing teenage brain is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, vaping and drugs, making early use more likely to lead to harm.

For many families, understanding substance use means looking beyond the behaviour to what might be driving it. Risk-taking is a normal part of adolescence, but for some young people, it can also be a signal that they are struggling to cope. Substances can offer temporary relief, but they can also mask underlying issues such as loneliness, low self-esteem or poor mental health. When left unrecognised or unsupported, substance use can interfere with school performance, relationships and emotional development, leading to more serious challenges later in life.

This edition of SchoolTV guides families to help young people develop resilience, self-awareness and the skills to make healthy, informed choices that protect their wellbeing into adulthood.

Here is the link to your Edition: 

CDF Community Fund