No.29 - 30th March 2012

VOL 29 30th March 2012

Principal’s note:

Term 1, 2012 has passed quickly because it has been a short term in 2012. But it has been

very busy with testing of all students at Years 2-10, writing of Individual Learning Plans for each student, Information Nights for all year levels, as well as the recent Parent/Teacher Interviews for Middle and Secondary parents. The 2012 VCE students have got off to an excellent start with teachers

reporting a serious approach to their studies and students undertaking work on time. VCE students have started to undertake Work Requirements for their VCE assessment, and this will become a larger part of their work in Term 2.

The College staff are also working exceptionally hard at the moment with all of the above as

well as the work that is required by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) who are reviewing the operation of the College in all its aspects from finance to class discipline. I take this opportunity to thank them for their work to date, and for most, the extra work they will need to do

over the holidays to comply with the requests of VRQA.

Our new Bus Manager Geoff Bell has settled in to the College and is progressively going

through the buses in the fleet, excluding the new buses, to ensure all are up to government regulations regarding safety. This will take another month and I ask for your patience as we take these

buses in and out of service to do the testing and work.

Unfortunately the canteen was closed this term and I want to open it early into Term 2. Please see my advertisement for Canteen Manager. We want to ensure the canteen provides nutritious foods, even during fasting. So if you can help as a volunteer, or would like to be

considered for the paid position, please contact Michaela or myself at the College.

Dear Parents Please note that the College will be closed on the following dates during the Term 1 break:

Friday 6th April – Western Good Friday (public holiday)

Monday 9th April – Western Easter Monday (public holiday)

Friday 13th April – Great Friday

Monday 16th April – Coptic Easter Monday

The College will be open during the rest of the holidays, however not all office staff will be here on every day, so if

you need to see the Principal or the Accountant then you need to call first and make an appointment.

The Uniform Shop will be open during the holidays on:

Wednesday 4th April 10-3 pm.

Thursday 12th April 10-3 pm.

We wish all our families a safe and blessed Easter and look forward to welcoming you all back in Term 2.

Warm regards

Michaela

College Secretary

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VCE News

Term Break – “Study Break” Over the next two weeks VCE students will be able to have a break from classes.

This should give them the opportunity to do a number of things:

1. Complete any “holiday homework” which will be set. 2. Catch up on work they may be behind with.

3. Prepare revision notes for their subjects and start to revise these.

One of the secrets to success in VCE is to start preparing study notes early, this means NOW. After they are prepared then regular revision needs to be done.

Weekly Work Planners – Parents HELP

I have asked all VCE students to complete a weekly work/study planner for me. To date I have only received about half. I can only assume that the rest are not

concerned about their performance in their VCE. I will be sending these planners home to parents so that the parents and the students can work together to ensure

that the study planners are being followed. The study planners will highlight when students should be doing their studies at home. I would ask parents to:

1. Put the planners up in a place where everyone can see ie: the refrigerator.

2. Help your son/daughter stick to the planner

Another secret to success in VCE is time management. These weekly study planners will help in this area.

Parent/Teacher interviews

Parent teacher interviews were held at St Mina and St Marina Church at Hallam on Thursday the 22nd March. This evening gives parents the opportunity to discuss

issues with their child’s teachers and look for areas of improvement. The attendance in VCE was around 30%. This was disappointing and I would encourage all parents to attend if they wish to help their children with their

futures.

Embrace Education

The College will be getting an organisation called “Embrace Education” to come and speak to our VCE students about succeeding in VCE. They will cover a range of topics during the rest of the year including:

1. Study Sensei – which looks at study skills and will be the conducted early

next term

2. Time Management – Late next term. 3. Ace Your Exams – Late term three.

Page 3 Volume 29

Career News 1. UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE NEWS –

BACHELOR OF FINE ART - The Uni. of Melbourne plans to introduce two new

specialisations into the Bachelor of Fine Art at the Southbank campus in 2013 – animation and screen writing (subject to accreditation). These will be in

addition to the contemporary music, dance, film and television, music theatre, production, theatre practice and visual art programs already offered.

SCHOLARSHIPS AT MELBOURNE - If you are thinking about studying engineering at Melbourne, you might want to apply for the Paterson Scholarship

of $4,000pa for the length of an appropriate undergraduate degree. Applicants will need to complete an application form and provide copies of their VCE results along with a letter addressing the selection criteria (including financial

need). Browse scholarships at www.services.unimelb.edu.au/scholarships/ugrad. 2. SCHOLARSHIPS AT VICTORIA UNI (VU) – The Faculty of Health,

Engineering and Science awards a number of scholarships up to the value of

$20,000 to students who have achieved an ATAR of 80 or above. See the VU

website along with eligibility criteria and application forms. Get info on 9919

2009, [email protected].

3. VCE CHEMISRY AND BIOLOGY REVISION LECTURES AT MONASH –

These monthly revision lectures will help prepare you for your exams. The

seminars are designed to encourage revision throughout the year, clarifying and

consolidating concepts as they are introduced in the classroom. When: Biology

4-5pm, Chemistry 5.30-6.30pm, 21 Mar, 18 April, 23 May, 6 June, 18 July, 22 Aug

and 19 Sept; Where: Monash Parkville campus, 381 Royal Parade; Register:

(free), but registration essential: www.pharm.monash.edu/events or call 9903

9504. You can attend both Biology and Chemistry if you wish, with afternoon

tea provided.

4. BIG SCIENCE, SMALL SCIENCE (BSSS) - Is RMIT’s new way of delivering

science straight to young minds through Facebook. The page is regularly

updated with scientific articles, quizzes, facts, polls and events. Check it out at

www.facebook.com/rmitscience.

5. A CAREER IN LEGAL SERVICES – Are you aware of the jobs available in the

legal sector apart for becoming a solicitor or barrister? Law clerks, paralegals and legal executives may be employed by law firms, government departments,

legal aid organisations, financial institutions, corporations and court registries. They perform legal work on behalf of clients under the supervision of a

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lawyer and can specialise in areas such as litigation, conveyancing, personal injury

compensation, criminal law, family law, probate or corporate law. More about

courses/careers: www.rmit.edu.au/programs/ad015. NOTE: Undergraduate

law degrees can be studied at Australian Catholic (from 2013), Deakin, La Trobe,

Monash and Victoria universities. Postgraduate studies in law can be taken at

Melbourne and RMIT universities.

6. DO YOU WANT TO BE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER? One question you first

need to ask yourself is, do I know the difference between an interior designer

and an interior decorator? An interior designer designs and supervises the

construction of building interiors, so, among other things, they need an

understanding of building construction. To work in this field you would usually

have at least a diploma such as the Diploma of Interior Decoration and

Design, offered at several TAFE Institutes, however, many interior designers have

a university degree such as Interior Architecture from Monash or Interior

Design from RMIT or Swinburne. Interior decorators, on the other hand,

plan and implement decoration of homes, offices and so on (eg colour schemes,

lighting, furniture) and would often complete the Diploma of Interior

Decoration and Design. Most courses require applicants to attend an

interview and folio presentation as part of the application process at the end

of Year 12 (all except Interior Design at Swinburne Uni which selects on ATAR).

Thus, prospective applicants need to attend Open Days to find out more about

the course for which they are applying, and to help them decide at which

institution they prefer to study. It is also important to be able to explain at the

interview why you prefer a particular institution – very difficult to answer if you

have never been there!

If you have any concerns, issues or ideas then please contact me at college on 9786

3145 or email me at [email protected].

Angelko Juresko VCE Coordinator

OZchild Volunteer Help St Anthonys

This fortnight there are 10 ladies working within the whole school. These ladies, under

the tutelage of Ms Shari Glover, are from OZChild and they are training to be Teacher

and Integration Aids. They will be accompanying the middle school excursion on Friday

and then assisting the classrooms all over the school Wednesday & Friday next week.

These students have already indicated that they would like to be in the school next term

to finish their placement time with additional volunteered hours as well! That will give us

a huge boost to our English Literacy support program!

I would also like to say thanks to all our volunteers for all their assistance so far this

year! We have 15 volunteers on the books and they have all assisted throughout the

term!

Thank you for all your assistance!

Alyssa Gray COLLEGE VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

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What time should my primary age child go to sleep? How much sleep does my child need?

I have been asked this question twice this week. Research tells us that children aged from 5 to 8 years of age need to have between 10 and 11 hours of sleep each night.

If your child needs to catch a 7.30am bus, and they need 30 minutes for preparing and dressing and having breakfast then they must be asleep by 8pm. If they have to

be up earlier then they need to go to sleep earlier. This is the time they FALL TO SLEEP, not go to bed. They need to spend time reading as well as getting ready to

sleep. Too many of children are staying up far too late and are tired when they get to school.

Keep in mind that most children need a lot of sleep – usually more than parents al-

low for. Often, says sleep expert Jodi Mindell, author of Sleeping Through the Night,

if a child has poor sleep habits or refuses to nap or go to bed before 10 at night, his

parents will assume that he just doesn't need much sleep. That's probably not the

case – in fact, it's likely that such a child is actually sleep-deprived, resulting in

hyper, overtired behaviour at bedtime.

If you think your child may be sleep-deprived, ask yourself:

Does my child frequently fall asleep while riding in the car or bus?

Do I have to wake him or her almost every morning? Does he or she seem cranky, irritable, or overtired during the day?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your child may be getting less sleep

than their body needs. To change this pattern, you'll need to help your child develop

good sleep habits, including setting an appropriate bedtime and sticking to it.

A preschooler or young grade-schooler who's outgrown napping needs a solid 11 to

12 hours of sleep a night, an amount that will gradually decrease as he gets older.

Even so, by the time he's a teenager, your child will still need nine to ten hours of

sleep.

Refer to http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-child-

need_64915.bc

Gary Underwood,

Principal.

Page 7 Volume 29

Youth Engagement Worker joins College team

Frankston City Council has provided the College with a Youth Engagement

worker, Anne Linton. She will be helping our students realise their goals. This will involve talking to students about their engagement with school, their future study directions and career aspirations. This may include study habits, homework plans,

healthy eating, fitness and study etc. Ms Linton may also run education/information programs with the students on social issues such as bullying, healthy eating habits,

respectful relationships, impacts of smoking etc.

She is also available to speak with parents and can be contacted via the College phone line.

Ms Linton has an office in the secondary building and students are free to visit her on Tuesday and Fridays.

While we have been piloting the program over the last three weeks of term, she will start with us from May 1st, 2012.

St Anthony’s adopts Zero Tolerance on swearing

After a number of complaints to the College by parents, and numerous

students receiving detentions and even a suspension for swearing and use of inappropriate language for Christian children, I want to inform parents that from the start of Term 2 we will be adopting a Zero Tolerance approach to swearing or

sexual references of any kind.

This means that you WILL be contacted if your child is caught swearing on

the bus, in the yard or in a classroom. Students will be sent to me by staff and I WILL contact you to ask for your support to stamp this behaviour out. In severe cases I WILL ask you to come and remove your child for the day to give him or

her time to talk to you about appropriate language in school and our Christian community. Unfortunately swearing and taking God’s name in vain, as well as

sexual references in spoken or written form, seem to have become part of street and digital language of children today. At St Anthony’s we want to say NO to this, as I am sure you do. So, I ask for your support in this matter.

Talk to your children now and over the holidays about this, be strict about their use of swearing in the home and in the community. Even talk to them

about the inappropriateness of this on social networking sites. The holidays provide a good opportunity to enforce this with students.

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Bullying? What is it and what can you do?

Bullying is when someone or a group of people with

more power repeatedly and intentionally causes hurt or harm to another person or group of people who feel

helpless to respond.

Bullying isn’t:

• single episodes of social rejection or dislike

• single episode acts of nastiness or spite

• random acts of aggression or intimidation • mutual arguments, disagreements or fights.

Types of bullying: The Department of Education and Early Childhood

Development’s Building Respectful and Safe Schools

(2010) identifies four types of bullying. 1. Physical bullying

2. Verbal bullying

3. Covert bullying 4. Cyber bullying

Please read carefully the brochure in this newsletter which is provided in English and Arabic. Students caught bullying in our school will face serious consequences

and usually result in one or more meetings with the Principal and class teacher to implement strategies to prevent this happening in the future.

Gary Underwood,

Principal.

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Page 11 Volume 29

Lazy Town On Wednesday 7th March we had Stephanie and Sporticus from LazyTown visit St

Anthony’s. Students in Prep, Year One and Year Two were very excited and

participated in songs and drama about healthy eating, being active and working

with others. In attendance as well were some families with pre-school children

from a local pre-school. Did you know Sporticus ate sports candy? His favourite is

an apple but any fruit will do.

All the children were given an apple or a banana or both at the end of the

performance. There will be some follow up in

the classrooms and I’m sure you will hear about

sports candy and being active more often.

Please help us to encourage the students to eat

healthy food by making sure they have at least

one piece of fruit in their lunchbox

everyday.

A special thanks to Mr Haber (PE/Camps

Coordinator) for organising this event.

Here are the children, Sporticus and Stephanie doing a very action filled song.

Anthea Christian Head of Primary

Ph: (03) 9786 3145

Fax: (03) 9786 3988

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.stanthonys.vic.edu.au

For General School enquiries, please contact the

College Secretary

Michaela Tokarczyk [email protected]

For enquiries about this Newsletter and Website, please contact the

IT Administrator

Wael Elias [email protected]

15 Alpina Street

Frankston North, Vic

3200 Australia

Canteen Manager Position

The College is currently looking to employ a Canteen Manager to begin working at the

start of Term 2.

The right person will be energetic, capable of putting together a team of volunteers,

able to source appropriate food items for fasting/non-fasting periods and will have

some understanding of managing a small business.

This person must have the appropriate food handling certificates as required by the

local council and other government bodies.

If this person sounds like you and you would like to meet with the Principal to discuss

this new position, then please call the College Secretary to make an appointment on

(03) 9786 3145 or 0421 666 473.