School Vision

St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.

This prayer is chosen to acknowledge the beginning of Advent, Sunday 3 December:

During the First Week of Advent, we watch and pray, awaiting the Lord’s coming. As we enter the Church’s new year, the season of Advent reminds us that we can look forward to and prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. It is a season of so many things: of expectation, reflection, hope and trust. We are constantly in a state of expectation, always in advent, so much so that we can miss the present moment where, inevitably, God will be.

Father, it’s that wonderful time of year again.
We are preparing to celebrate your Son’s birthday soon.
We are preparing our home, our gifts and our food.
Help us to remember to prepare our hearts.
Help us in all our busyness to remember it’s your Son
We are getting ready for.
Help us help a friend, keep a promise, or visit someone lonely.
Come Lord Jesus. We need you.
Amen.

Dear Parents & Carers,

It is hard to believe that we will be waving goodbye to the 2023 school year in just a couple of weeks. As we head towards holidays, I would like to once again acknowledge the passion and dedication of the staff of St Matthew’s School and commend them on their continued efforts in ensuring that students are developed as whole Christian persons within an inclusive and welcoming community. I would like to say a special thank you to Sr Sahaya for her wonderful pastoral presence in the school and for the outreach of many of our St Matthew’s families. I would also like to thank our School Advisory Council, P & F, Father Abraham, the Parish, and everyone for their support throughout the year.

Congratulations Phelan

Congratulations Phelan on reaching your minor award. On Wednesday (29/11) all students in Phelan may wear free dress to school. Parents of Phelan students were informed of this last Tuesday via SMS. Well Done, Phelan!!

Staffing 2024

The following table outlines the staffing arrangements for 2024. It is important to note that, although this is correct at the time of printing, changes may still occur over the Christmas break.

Education Assistants

I would also like to acknowledge Mrs Jesse Allington, Mrs Fiona Hastie,  and Mrs Colleen Quartermaine who will be taking extended leave for 2024. Mrs Monique D’Alton will return to us in Semester 2, 2024. It is with sadness that we say farewell to Miss Aimee Grznic, Mrs Claire Graham, Mr Mark Tenney  and Miss Carrie English.

We are currently advertising for a Year 4 teacher and hope to secure a new staff member by the end of the school year. Parents will be introduced to this new teacher via the school app as soon as possible.

Introducing Lyndee Montgomery – Assistant Principal 2024

Lyndee comes to us from St Patrick’s School, Katanning where she has been a Middle and Senior Primary Teacher. Lyndee has particular experience with leading EAL/D and Wellness programmes. Lyndee has also been heavily involved in Literacy and STEM initiatives, and has previously worked with St Matthew’s staff in this area

Introducing Kimberly Williams – Early Years EA 2024

Originally from Taiwan, Kim has worked in the Education sector for many years. This year, Kim has been working with us as a relief Education Assistant. She is also one of our lovely parents with a daughter in Junior Primary. She is involved with Arts Narrogin and recently performed at the Narrogin Hay Bales concert.

Introducing Marlene Smit

Originally from South Africa, Marlene joined St Matthew’s as a parent in 2022. Marlene has been working with us as a relief Education Assistant and has a particular interest in Special Education.

2024 Booklists

This week, children will receive information regarding the items your child will require for the 2024 school year for Pre-Primary to Year 6.

As always, parents are able to source stationery requirements from the provider of their choice. We have provided local business, Narrogin Newspower Newagency, with copies of all St Matthew’s Student Stationary needs for 2024. Alternatively, you may purchase your items from Campion Education.

Please see the stationary note for more information.

Eggs For Sale

Our gorgeous chickens are very happy in their new home. Thanks to David Muller, they now have a larger pen. We have several cartons of eggs that we would like to sell before the end of term – $2.00 per 6 eggs. We would also welcome any empty egg cartons. Eggs can be purchased from the Office during school hours.

Pixie Post

It’s that time of year again!! Our beautiful Pre-Primaries invite all students to post a Christmas card via Pixie Post. It is important to remember that the pixies will only deliver cards that do not contain any lollies or candy canes. All cards must also be clearly labelled with the recipient’s name and year level. The Pixie Post letter box is located outside the Pre-Primary classroom door.

Kindy Concert Monday December 4

The Kindy Christmas Concert is Monday December 4. We would like to have all the Kindy children dropped off at the Kindy by 5.45pm. The children will present their play and then sing a couple of Christmas carols. This will be followed by the presentation of Kindy certificates, work sample books and a gift from the Kindy. We hope you can stay for a picnic or barbecue dinner with your family on the grass area outside the Sr Isabel Hall. It will be a lovely way to celebrate the end of our Kindy year.

St Matthew’s Christmas Tree

Every year, St Matthew’s collects non-perishable foods for those in need. This year we have been informed that there are many families that are in need of our help. The food items can be placed in the tubs under the Christmas Tree in the Undercover Area. I encourage all families to help us spread happiness this Christmas.

Christmas Concert Wednesday 29 November

Our beautiful children have all been practicing very hard to prepare for our biennial Christmas Concert. The entertainment will commence at 6:00pm with all Pre-Primary to Year 6 students performing at least one Christmas item. Children will need to be delivered to their classrooms by 5:45pm. Parents and community members will then be able to take a seat in the Sr Isabel Hall. The concert will be followed by a BYO picnic on the grass. The BBQ will be available for use. Please keep an eye out for information from individual class teachers regarding any costume or prop requirements.

Last Assembly for 2023 Friday December 1

During this last assembly, we will be proud to award the best and most improved reader in each class Year 1 to Year 6. We will also award the student who has achieved the greatest growth and the best overall achievement in Maths in Year 5 and Year 6. Individual parents will be notified if their child will be receiving one of these accolades.

Year 6 Graduation Wednesday 6 December

The Year 6 Graduation ceremony will be held in the Sr Mary Library on Wednesday 6 December at 6pm, and  followed by a dinner in the Sr Isobel Hall at 7pm. This is a lovely way to conclude our Year 6’s Primary School journey. In order to ensure this runs smoothly,  I would like 4 community members to assist with serving, clearing and dishes. Any volunteers are welcome to join us for dinner and wiil be paid a small amount for their time. I suggest that this might suit senior high school students, however, would welcome any help offered.

Class Transition 

On Wednesday 6 December, our students will be visiting their new teachers for 2024. Teachers will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and outline the special features of their year level.

Save The Date ACM & Sundowner 

The Annual Community Meeting for 2023 will be held on 9 February 2024 at 5:30pm in the Sr Mary Library. At this meeting, our P&F and School Board will present their reports, and the academic data for the 2023 school year will be shared. We would like to invite all of our families to not only join us for this important meeting, but also for a BYO everything family picnic/sundowner following the formalities.

Nominations for P&F 

Normally, at this time of year I would ask our parents to consider becoming part of our P&F Executive Commitee for 2024. I am pleased to announce that all of our P&F Executive Committee are happy to complete another year of appointment. As P&F Committee members are appointed to the role for two years,  we will not require any nominations for next year: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Zeta, Kylie, Gayelle, and Alex for their hard work and commitment to our school. I also thank all of our parents who have supported P&F initiatives and fundraising events this year. 

Nominations for School Advisory Council

Parents are  invited to nominate for the School Advisory Council. 

The Advisory Council assists in the planning of present and future strategy of the Catholic  school  and brings  the  voice  of  the  community  into  the  school,  playing an important role in building relationships with key stakeholders across the Catholic school community. Membership of the Advisory Council, where possible, will reflect the diversity of the school community.The inclusion of different voices, experiences and perspectives that support the Catholic ethos of the school will enable all groups found in the school community to be represented on the Advisory Council. We encourage parents with the following skills to nominate:

• Finance
• Administration
• Construction & Building
• Community knowledge
• Multicultural
• Education knowledge
• Pastoral care

It is imperative that members act in line with CEWA’s Code of Conduct, as well as act honestly, diligently, confidentially and carefully in relation to all matters. It is essential that Advisory Council  members  have  the  capacity  to  work  cooperatively  and  constructively  with the principal. 

The nomination form is available from the office or can be emailed to parents upon request.

Should you require any more information, please do not hesitate to contact the school, or any of the current members. 

We Need Your Help

Over the next few weeks, we are hoping to build our chicken run and complete the remodeling of  our Kindy and Pre-Primary play area. Although most of the hard work is organised, there are several jobs we need parent assistance to complete:

• Fencing the garden for the chicken run
• Laying roll-on lawn
• Moving soil and sandpit sand

If you are able to assist in completing any of these jobs, please email susan.milton@cewa.edu.au We will happily work around your schedule.

Uniform Reminders

Many parents purchase new shoes over the holidays. I would like to remind parents that the only shoes that are able to be worn with the formal uniform must be leather or leather-look, entirely black and not contain any advertsing logos. Sports shoes should be conservatively coloured and must not be a skater or high-top style, including basketball “Converse” styles. 

Please click this link to see some gorgeous uniform photos, as well as more uniform information. A big thank you to Mrs Keppel and Mrs Darcy for updating our uniform information and keeping our Uniform Shop well-stocked. 

Semester Two Report

Semester Two Reports will go live on the Seqta Engage website on Tuesday 13 December.
In order to access these reports, you will need to login to Seqta Engage. If you are new to St Matthew’s School, or have never used Seqta Engage before, you will receive an email asking you to set up a user name and password. For all other users, it is important that St Matthew’s has a current email address, and that you remember your Seqta Engage user name and password. It would be appreciated if all parents could login to Seqta Engage prior to 6 December to ensure that everyone is able to access the website. –
https://matthews.coneqt-p.cathednet.wa.edu.au/
Please contact Mark Tenney (mark.tenney@cewa.edu.au) should you require a new password, or if you have any difficulties logging into this site.

Important Dates

All important dates can be viewed on the St Matthew’s app calender. Of particular note are:

• Christmas Concert/ Sundowner/ Disco    29 November  
• Awards Assembly    1 December
• Thanksgiving Mass  6 December  
• Year 6 Graduation     6 December
• Student’s first day back 2024   31 January 2024

Principal Focus – The Cost of Christmas

I know we are all very aware of how much the cost of living has increased this year. And, although Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, many of us feel the pressure when it comes to the financial burden of the holiday season.

Maggie Dent, in her article, Thrifty Christmas Might Be The Magic Pudding,  explains that, although we all want to give our children the world:

it might be helpful to remember that a ‘tighter’ Christmas is also the perfect excuse to keep things simple and less stressful for children during this silly season.

She goes on to share ways that we can capture the Christmas spirit without exhausting our bank accounts and our children’s social batteries:

Christmas is supposed to be a magical time for children, and for adults, but for many it is a time of stress, family conflict and pressure to be all things to all people. It feels more like a marathon than a festival.

I urge parents to think of their kids’ needs above everyone else’s during the Christmas season.

Children get exhausted going from house to house, meeting with different rellies. A good way to overcome this is to get everyone to meet at a park, or at one central house — preferably not yours.

Kids get tired easily when they’re excited and stressed, and more easily upset when they’re out of their familiar environments or surrounded by lots of people in their home. So keeping things as simple as possible – and being relaxed yourself – is the best way to help kids be calmer and happier while the festive flurry goes on around us.

As adults, it’s really crucial for us to remember how magical Christmas can be for a child and to try to foster this spirit for them and for us.

The prospect of the elusive St Nick arriving is actually a wonderful stimulant for children’s imaginations.

While an imaginary character may not seem to have many life lessons to offer, Santa and the Easter Bunny play a critical role in developing children’s imagination. A healthy imagination is essential for flexible thinking and creativity. It actually helps us to be more resilient as adults as we can imagine other solutions to our problems.

The waiting for Santa is also a key ingredient – children need to learn about patience, anticipation and the joy that comes with receiving a reward for this patience.

It is also an excellent opportunity to teach children early in life the joy that comes from giving to others, especially those in need. Involving kids in baking biscuits, preparing pickled onions and even making homemade chocolates is a great way to develop the art of “giving.”

The giving can be the hardest part of Christmas, trying to find the ideal gifts to buy or make within a budget, with the deadline of 25 December looming. Giving and receiving can be a big source of conflict and stress for mum or dad, or a disgruntled sibling.

I prefer to see gift-giving as an opportunity to enhance someone’s life and so ask the following 10 questions when making or purchasing a gift:
Will the gift create conflict through sibling rivalry?
Does the gift meet a special interest in your child’s life?
Is the gift honouring Earth or does it build respect for our natural world?
Does the gift allow for the growth of creativity?
Does the gift stimulate sharing or promote building emotional competencies like patience or learning to lose?
Does the gift numb or stimulate the imagination?
Does the gift encourage laughter and lightness?
Does the gift honour childhood rather than promote getting older quicker?
Does the gift encourage being outside and off the couch, getting physical?
Could the gift encourage personal responsibility and empathy, like a guinea pig, rat of goldfish?
It’s important not to be swayed by advertising and commercial pressures, but rather to give your gift with the intention of helping your child grow a little, and to enjoy a little of the magic that comes but once a year.

Susan Milton