Term Four Week Nine – Commencing Monday 4th December 2023

Advent Prayer

God of Love, Father of all
the darkness that covered the earth
has given way to the bright
dawn of your Word made Flesh.
Make us a people of this light
Make us faithful to your Word.
that we may bring your life to the waiting world.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Dear Families,

Welcome to Week Nine and the final week of the year for the children here at St Emilie’s.

What a fantastic year it has been at St Emilie’s where our children, staff and community continue to Grow in Grace together.

What a fantastic year it has been at St Emilie’s where our children, staff and community continue to Grow in Grace together.

Given the last few years with the interruption of COVID to our lives, 2023 was somewhat of a more normal year for our children and our school where once again the people in our community were able to meet with one another each and every day and enjoy doing the things that we all love doing together.

In our community this year we have welcomed many new faces and wished them all the best as they commenced their journey at St Emilie’s. We have also said farewell to some community members, and we wish them all the best as they go. They will forever be part of our community here at St Emilie’s.

To the families that are moving on from our community at the end of this week, we wish you all the very best. Some of our children in Year Six have been at our school from Kindy and they move on to high school next year carrying the lessons that they have learnt from our school with them as they go. We thank these children for all that they have contributed to our community in their time here.

We also farewell some of our wonderful staff. In alphabetical order, Mrs Linda Dobson, Mrs Rhonda Landers, Mrs Simone Mckenzie (Maternity Leave) and Miss Veronica Williams. We will also miss these dedicated, committed and talented St Emilie’s people. Remember us as you go.

To all of those leaving us at the end of this week, we wish you well with the words of the Irish Blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind be always be at your back.

May the sun shine, warm upon your face,

And may the rain fall soft upon your fields.

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

We officially enter the Liturgical Season of Advent this Sunday 3 December and we are now also in the Nyoongar season of Birak where we can expect hot and dry conditions right up until the end of January.

Before sharing some reminders with you all for the final time, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas. Thank you all that you contribute to our community. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2024.

Graduation Mass & Assembly

Our Graduation celebration will be held on Tuesday 5 December. We look forward to praying with our children and to remember and celebrate their wonderful St Emilie’s journey. Many thanks to those choir members who are joining us and generously sharing their gifts on the night. We ask that families please park in the school car park as there is another Parish Mass immediately after the Graduation Mass. Many thanks to those choir members who are joining us and generously sharing their gifts on the night.

Thanksgiving Mass & Morning Tea

All community members are invited to join together for our final Mass of the year on Friday 8 December. Our Community Thanksgiving Mass will be a good opportunity for us all to slow down and give thanks for all of the blessings we have received this year. On Friday, we will also have an official opportunity to farewell some of our staff who are departing as well as thank those members of our community who continuously go above and beyond.

After Mass, a morning tea will be available and all are invited to stay. We ask that if you would like to contribute an item for morning tea that this is brought to the Small Hall before Mass.

Children must be in full Friday school uniform for the Mass.

Christmas & Edu-Dance Concert

How good was Thursday night! It was great to see a bumper crowd of community members gather on the school oval to support our children in their retelling of the Nativity as well as to watch the Edudance items that had been prepared throughout the term. A huge thank you must go to Miss Fallo, Mrs Green and the committee of staff who worked together to bring the concert alive as well as Mr Dabbs and Mr Cogger for the work with the sound and school grounds respectively. Thank you parents and carers for showing up to support our children.

2024 Transition Day

On Wednesday morning at 9.20am, all classes from Kindy to Year Five will participate in a transition morning. During this time, students will visit their 2024 year level classrooms. Please note that Wednesdays will not necessarily reflect exactly what class and teacher your child will be with in 2024.

Lego League

This Saturday, 13 children from Year Five and Year Six will represent our school for the very first time in the Lego League Competition hosted by Curtin University at Southern River College. The children have been guided by Mr Kubicek and Miss Williams and we wish these children all the very best for the competition.

Wearing Christmas Accessories To School

Coming into Christmas we understand that the excitement levels are high. Some children have asked if they are allowed to wear some Christmas accessories with their school uniform. Next week on Wednesday and Thursday, children may wear some Christmas accessories with their uniform. Children must still dress in full school uniform, however, they may wear a head band, Santa hat, earrings or something similar if they want to share the Christmas joy. Children must be dressed in their full school uniform for Thanksgiving Mass on Friday.

Black shoes for the start of 2024

A reminder that the School Uniform Procedure at St Emilie’s states that children must wear full black shoes only i.e. no logo or other colours. Coming to the end of the year, we understand when shoes start to come apart due to a year’s use or, that children may have outgrown their shoes.

At the commencement of the 2024 school year, we ask that all children have black school shoes in line with the uniform requirements at the school.

Graduating Class Guard of Honour

Please join us on Friday 8 December at 2.40pm So that we can farewell our Year Six children in style with a Guard of Honour.

2024 Staff List

We are pleased to share the 2024 Staff List with you all. To access the staff list for 2024, please click on the link attached.

2024 Class Lists

A reminder that 2024 Class Lists will be shared with the community on Thursday 15 December 2023.

Water Fun Day

Please see below for information on the Water Fun Days next Wednesday and Thursday.

Exchanging of Christmas Cards

As Christmas and the end of the year approaches, we know that some children may wish to bring in Christmas cards for their classmates and peers. Christmas card exchanging is a lovely tradition and gesture, and whilst there is no obligation to do so, the students are of course welcome to.

However, we do ask that they do not come to school with candy canes or chocolates attached. Traditionally, families have been asked not to bring in birthday treats and add treats attached to Christmas cards. You can imagine the amount of ‘extra treats’ that our children are having in every child in every class brings them in. Additionally, we need to consider the dietary and allergy needs of our students and of course, the extra financial burden this can create for some of our families. Simple cards and notes are truly enough, should students wish to send some Christmas cheer.

Parenting Article

This week under the Parent Reading heading, we have included an article titled, ‘Apply Before Scrolling” by Jocelyn Brewer. Moderating yourself online doesn’t just meaning keeping an eye on the clock and being able to regulate your usage. It’s your ability to show restraint when engaging with other people (often from behind a screen or keyboard) in digital spaces. Being able to moderate what you (or your children) say and how you react in situations matters.

Thank you,

Pre-Primary & Kindergarten Water Fun Day is Wednesday 6th of December. Classroom teachers will communicate directly to their families.

Years One to Six Water Fun Day is on Thursday 7th of December.

Years Four to Six

11:10am to 12:10pm

Years One to Three

1:30pm to 2:30pm

Students are to bring bathers and MUST have a rashie or t-shirt to wear over the top, They will need a towel, hat, dry clothes to cahnge into and plastic bag to store wet clothes (if applicable), and thongs in their sports bags, and are to apply sunscreen please.

BACK-TO-BACK CEWA STATE CHAMPIONS!

That’s right! Once again the St Emilie’s Interschool Chess team has won the trophy of ‘Best Performing School’ at the 2023 CEWA Primary Schools International Chess Tournament.

Congratulations to our four players who gave their very best throughout the tournament, completing 30 games of chess over the 3-round tournament with over 80 students competing.

Jayden finished in 4th place with 22.5 points

Thomas finished in 5th place with 21.5 points

Kadmiel finished in 23rd place with 16.5 points

Luke finished in 24th place with 16.5 points

Well done team!

We are now accepting enrolments for Kindy 2025. If you have a child who will be going into Kindy in 2025 (born between 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021), please ensure you submit an Enrolment Form application to the office. An application for enrolment can be collected from the front office or by visiting the School Website.