CELEBRATING 200 YEARS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Greetings!

This week, we celebrate National Volunteer Week (NVW). This is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers. From Monday 17th May to Sunday

23rd May 2021, NVW celebrated the significant contribution of Australia’s almost six million volunteers. Each year, these volunteers dedicate over 600 million hours to help others. If you accompany our classes on excursions, listen to students read, support our teams at Sports Day, volunteer in the Canteen or help out with any number of the jobs we have at St. Martin’s for volunteers, you can count yourself in those statistics.

The theme for NVW 2021 is Recognise. Reconnect. Reimagine. which acknowledges that it is time to: 

SAPSASA DISTRICT NETBALL TEAM

Congratulations Juliette (Year 6) who has been selected for the SAPSASA District Netball Team.

Good luck at the upcoming carnival.

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Martin’s Catholic Primary School, we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances, young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering a very successful education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks.    

It is concerning to see so many unnamed uniform items, hats, lunch boxes, water bottles and other miscellaneous items in the lost property bin.

Please ensure ALL items are clearly marked with your child's full name using a permanent marker pen or a secure fabric sticker.

Did you know that St Martin’s is registered with ‘The Athlete’s Foot School Rewards Program’? This means that $5.00 from any student’s school shoe or sneaker purchased, goes back to the school. 

There are also family benefits, including a $30.00 voucher towards your next purchase once you have spent $300.00.

Simply visit any Athlete’s Foot store and be sure to let them know your child attends St. Martin’s, Greenacres to sign up and participate in this great program.

200 Years of Catholic Education National Mass Day Celebrations

On Monday 24 May, the Greenacres Walkerville Parish schools of St Martin’s and St Monica’s came together to mark the occasion of 200 Years of Catholic Education.  It is believed that the students of the two schools have never come together before, making even more history on this day.  In the morning, the two Principals of the schools, Christine Comas and Maria Canala bused 11 student representatives from both schools to a collective Mass at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in the city, joining with over 100 other Catholic school representatives.

School Fee Payments

A reminder that if you elected to pay your school fees in three instalments, the second instalment is due at the end of May.

Payments can be made at the School Office or via BPay.

This term, the Canteen has some gluten-free items for those students who require gluten-free options. Please check out the menu on our school QKR App.

Also the Canteen is selling cored apples this term, which have been a huge hit. Students who need their apple cored can get it done for free by simply taking their apple to the Canteen window. 

St Martin's "Go Green Challenge Team" is participating in the Wonder Recycling Rewards program.  We need your help .. collect your empty bread bags and tags (any brand) and bring them to school.   

Please click here to read more.

WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?

In Australia, only 18%* of plastic packaging is recycled.

That's why we created Wonder Recycling Rewards - a fun and easy program for Aussie schools to recycle bread bags that might otherwise go to landfill, and earn rewards points to redeem on new sports equipment for their efforts. All the collected plastic will be used to create wonderful new things like school play equipment! PLUS all registered schools are in the draw to WIN one of five exercise circuits made from the recycled plastic we collect.

REDUCE PLASTIC BAG WASTE
For more than a decade we have worked diligently to reduce the environmental impacts of our bread bags. We’ve already reduced the amount of plastic in our bread bags by 25% which is 400 tonnes less plastic per year! We continue to investigate more sustainable bread bag solutions, and we’re committed to finding ways to increase the recycled content in our bags. Wonder is also a proud foundation partner of the Redcycle soft plastic recycling scheme. Wonder Recycling Rewards is our newest initiative aimed at making it easier and fun for Aussie families to recycle soft plastics.