Week 7 Term 3 2022

Dear Parents and Friends,

It has been a busy few weeks with lots happening. The highlights for me was the Confirmation Ceremony of five of our beautiful students and I congratulate them, their sponsors and their families and wish them well on their faith journey. May you always know the love of God.

Of course, Book Week was also a full of excitement, joy and laughter, with almost all children and staff dressed up for the parade. Last week we honoured and thanked our Education Support Officers at IHM who are just wonderful I’m sure you’ll agree!

I hope you are all having a good week this week and enjoying the touch of spring time and the many entertainment offerings in Adelaide recently (needless to say the children have told me all about the Royal Adelaide Show and I was lucky enough to be gifted a show bag!) Whether it’s at the Show or at the local park or in your backyard, I hope you are enjoying some time with your children. They might not tell you all the time, but I know by the way they speak about you that they love you and appreciate you spending time with them. Our children rely on us to help them grow and learn, to model appropriate behaviours and adults to care for and protect them.

National Child Protection Week

This year’s National Child Protection Week (4 to 10 September 2022), has an overarching theme: “Every Child, in Every Community, Needs a Fair Go” and focuses on children growing up safe and supported. In today’s world this is incredibly important, and the safety and wellbeing of our children, the job of protecting children is everyone’s business.

At IHM we ensure the safety and nurturing of every child through our curriculum, our policies and practices. We adhere to the Safeguarding children policies and practices as legislated and recommended by the National and State Governments as well as additional child protection policies of and the Catholic Education Office.

As such we have specific procedures for reporting of harm of children in place. If you ever have any concerns regarding any child’s safety or risk of harm please notify a teacher, Annette Diassinas or myself immediately so that appropriate procedures can be followed through.

All our staff are up to date with their qualifications and trained in the appropriate protocols to ensure the safety and protection of every child. All teachers are trained in teaching the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum. This is a child safety and respectful relationships curriculum providing age and developmentally appropriate activities for children and young people from age 3 to year 12 (age 17+). Teachers are also trained in cyber safe practices and this too is covered in the curriculum.

Once again I remind parents, grandparents and relatives that if you intend to be a regular volunteer at the school, listening to reading, going on excursions and helping classes in any way, you must have a Working with Children Check and you must have undertaken a Volunteer Induction which includes completing an online course for volunteers ‘Responding to Abuse and Neglect’ (RAN). Please see Julie for any information in relation to volunteering and Police Clearances.

The proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” is attributed to African cultures and is applicable to all communities. It means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. That’s what we all want for our beautiful children at IHM so they can all flourish.

If you have any concerns or questions about any of the information here, please come and speak with me.

Healthy Habits at IHM

Lunches

In line with our Health and Physical Education Curriculum, we are currently reviewing our practices around healthy eating, food options and healthy habits. As a consequence, some parent reps and l have had discussions with Foodworks and we are now reviewing our lunch order options. This will hopefully encourage more frequent healthy choices and less packaging. Stay tuned via the app and newsletter for further updates.

Birthday Treats

A reminder that there is no requirement or obligation for parents to provide food or treats to the class when it is their child’s birthday. If you do feel you need to bring something for the class please consider non-food items such as a pencil, note pad or eraser. If it is food, please try to keep it simple (only 1 thing) and relatively healthy if possible, rather than junk food.

We appreciate your consideration and promotion of healthy eating with our children.

Warmest regards,

Pauline Kinsman
PRINCIPAL

ESO Week

Last week we celebrated ESO Week at IHM.  We are truly blessed to have such an amazing group of educators supporting all our students and bringing their own gifts and talents into our school community . Whether it is the classroom support provided by Rachel, Angela, Felicia, Carmel and Doris, Carmel in the library, the wonderful care given by Julie in the front office, or Kristina our Finance Manager - our ESO’s are an essential part of our IHM community and we can’t thank them enough for all they do. 

Book Week

What a sensational Book Week we had where book characters came alive through our children.  It was so great to see so many of our students dressed up and in such an diverse range of costumes. We were very fortunate that the rain stayed away, and we made the most of the opportunity to parade.  We loved having families journey with us around the streets of Brompton, and we received lots of support for the local residents giving us a wave or toot of the car.    

Sacramental Program

Congratulations to our students Jake, Matthew, Jacob, Alia and Kayleigh who received the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion with the families.  It was wonderful to see the children embrace their Catholic Tradition and make a commitment to their faith.  

Bread Tags

Thank you to all families who brought in their bread tags over the last two terms.  So far we have collected over 5kg’s of  bread tags, which is hundreds of tags that have avoided going to landfill. This week will be sending off any last bread tags collected, so please return them to IHM no later than this Friday 9th September.

House Leader News - IHM Disco

A reminder to families that our IHM Disco will be held on Friday 23^rd September in our school Hall. Thank you to all the children who have returned their disco note and made payment so far.  The children at IHM are so excited to be attending the disco and we are so thankful for the help and support of the P & F.  The raffle prizes for each of the disco are on display in the front office and they look wonderful.  A big thank you to Kate and Nadia for organising this. 

Permission forms to be returned to the Office by FRIDAY 16th SEPTEMBER and payment to made via Qkr. 

Annette Diassinas
APRIM

"Say Cheese" - MSP Photography are on their way!

Tuesday 13th September is school photo day and all students will have their school photo taken by MSP Photography.

Pre-paid envelopes printed with your child’s name were distributed to the students last week.

If you wish to order photographs please return envelopes with payment to the Office before photo day or pay online using the Shootkey on your envelope.

The photographers will return on Thursday 22nd September for a 'mop-up' day for any students absent on photo day.

Please take time to read the relevant information on the envelopes and remember these points:

• On photo day could families please ensure that children are wearing their CORRECT SCHOOL UNIFORM - they will be photographed wearing their short sleeve school polo top. Our Year 6 students should wear their senior tops.
• Family envelopes (for sibling photos) are available from the school office upon request – Please Note that Online Ordering for family photos is not available.
• Please ensure that correct money is enclosed in envelopes – no change can be given at school. You can pay by cash, cheque or money order.

Our Choir will be performing at the Festival Theatre on Wednesday 28th September (7:30 - 9:15pm) and members of the public are able to attend.

Come along to celebrate and support South Australia’s talented youth presented by the Catholic Schools Music Festival. Featured soloists, big bands, a cappella vocal groups and more exhibit an astonishing calibre of musicianship and you will be in awe of the 320-voice choir!   The annual Catholic Schools Music Festival will showcase 2000 extraordinary students from the ages of 10-18 years on the stage of the Festival Theatre. 

How to purchase tickets:

1. Go to the Ticketek website: http://premier.ticketek.com.au
2. Search our event name 
3. Once on the events webpage, use the date dropdown box to select the day you wish to attend PLEASE NOTE** IHM will be performing on Wednesday 28^th September.
4. After you have selected all desired tickets, proceed to payment as usual.

A-reserve $39. B-reserve $33. Children under 3 are free on the knee and do not need to purchase a ticket. There is a Service and Handling Fee of $8.95 per transaction (not per ticket). Enquiries: Adelaide Festival Centre on 131 246.

Kristine Rebeiro
MUSIC TEACHER

Sports Day is being held this Friday 21st October.

• Where - Fitzroy Community Club, Swan Court, Renown Park.
• Time - 3:45 - 6:30pm.
• Early Dismissal - Students finish school at 1:00pm on Friday.
• Uniform - Students wear a top in their house colour, school shorts & hat. If you are unsure what house your child is in, please check with the Office.
• Food & Drinks - The Fitzroy Community Club will be having a Sausage Sizzle and their canteen will also be open for families to purchase drinks, coffee, hot chips, icecream etc.
• OSHC - Camp Australia will be available from 1:00pm until Sports Day commences. Bookings can be made at http://www.campaustralia.com.au

​The children have all been busy practising in readiness for Sports Day and we would love to see as many families as possible come along to see the children taking part in their events and having fun.

Important Reminders for Sports Day

Upon arrival at the Sports Day venue, we ask that the following procedures be followed to keep ALL children safe:

• All parents are asked to drop off their child to their class teacher so that they can be checked in as present.  
• PLEASE DO NOT ASK YOUR CHILD TO FIND THEIR TEACHER THEMSELVES.
• All parents are asked to collect their child from their class teacher when we break for tea.
• We ask that all children stay with their class and teacher during activity times; this includes the time after they have finished their sprints and during the closing ceremony.                      
• If you collect your child before the end of formalities, you will be asked by the class teacher to sign them out.                
• At the end of Sports Day the children will be asked to regroup in their classes. Parents are then asked to collect their child from their teacher so that they can be checked out.

The staff thanks you for your support in meeting these requests and look forward to sharing this special event with you and your children.