Dear Parents and Caregivers,

There are a few people in our community that I need to thank this fortnight.

Many thanks to the Parent Network for their successful (Parents in Education) PIE grant that enabled our Auslan Teacher, Mary Mellon to conduct three Auslan workshops for our parents. 

Feast Day of St Martin De Tours (316 – 397) 11 November  

Born in Pavia, Italy, to pagan parents, Martin became a catechumen in his early teens. At age 15 he joined the Roman army  where once on horseback he encountered a beggar. Having nothing to give but the clothes on his back, he cut his heavy officer's cloak in half, and gave half to the beggar.

With School Community Rewards,
Credit Union SA has created an incredibly
easy way to help improve the future of
your family and our school...please click here for more information

In Week 3 of this term, approximately 45 parents from St Martin’s attended the Auslan Parent Workshops presented by Auslan teacher, Mary Mellon. The workshops were made possible by St Martin’s Parent Network and ‘Parents in Education’ Grant.

Mary Mellon’s passion for Auslan was clearly evident and she provided attendees with an insight into the benefits of learning Auslan.

The following areas were covered:

- alphabet and numbers

- basic conversation and greetings

- people, family and friends

- time (months, days)

- questions

- pronouns.

On behalf of  the St Martin’s Parent Network we thank Mary for providing these workshops and thank all those who were able to attend.

2021 Primary Mathematics Association (PMA) Powerful Learners: Mathematics and Numeracy Challenge

Last term, Reception (RD) worked very hard on their inquiry: If you build it, the zoo animals will come! The Mathematic work the students completed was submitted in the 2021 PMA Powerful Learners: Mathematics and Numeracy Challenge.

I am very pleased to inform the school community that Reception (RD) entry was awarded STATE WINNER in the Reception Class Group – Unit of Work Category. Schools from across the Catholic Education, Department of Education and the Independent Schools entered the competition and this is a great achievement for our students and school.

Due to COVID restrictions, a small group of students and their families will attend the Presentation Night on Friday, 19^th November, at Findon Function Centre to accept the award from the Minister for Education, John Gardner. In Week 8, at our final school assembly, Reception (RD) as a whole class will be formally acknowledged and presented with the trophy and class prize. Congratulations to our youngest mathematicians!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION  WEEK

Physical Education is important every week, but this is the week to celebrate it!

Niina Marni (Hello) everyone!  

On Monday, 25 October, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Vincenzino and eleven excited students set out with our friends from St Monica’s Parish School to celebrate Aboriginal culture. We explored the theme, ‘we are living, learning and playing on Kaurna Land,’ at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre at Warriparinga Wetlands. 

Everyone had a fabulous day learning about Kaurna Culture. We were warmly welcomed with a smoking ceremony and were adorned with some beautiful white ochre on our foreheads and forearms. 

Our first activity was to build a traditional shelter using the resources around us. Together we collected items such as various size branches and clusters of leaves. The students worked together in teams to build shelters called Wodli, meaning house in Kaurna. Everyone had a fun and enjoyable time building our wodlis and then sitting inside them! At the end of this activity, the students learnt the valuable lesson of showing respect for the land and leaving the land as they found it, returning all the resources back to where they found them. 

Our next two activities explored story telling using Aboriginal symbols. In one of these activities the students learnt about ochre and the different types used in Aboriginal art. For this activity, the students used white ochre. We learnt how to prepare it by grinding it between stones before adding water to make a paste for painting. This special paint was then used to paint the stories that the students created using the Aboriginal symbols. In the final activity we listened to traditional Dreaming Stories. The students created and shared their own Dreaming Stories which were drawn on boomerangs and then shared their stories with their friends and new friends from St Aloysius.  

It was wonderful to come together as a community to learn about the Kaurna Culture and connect with nature. A big thank you all the people who welcomed us to the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre. 

Nakutha (Goodbye) 

At the beginning of this year, St Martin’s introduced  a new program for our students, Children’s University. Children’s University is a program designed to encourage students to participate in out-of-school learning opportunities to increase their chances for educational achievement and rewards them for taking responsibility for their own learning.

In what was another year of uncertainty with COVID-19, the response received from our students was truly remarkable as was their enthusiasm to take part in this new initiative and challenge themselves with their learning. Our motto here at St Martin’s is "Loving to learn – Learning to love" and this has been highlighted through Children’s University with students being recognised for their unique talents and desire to expand their knowledge.

Last Thursday night, St Martin’s had an astonishing 39 students graduate from Children’s University at Bonython Hall. All the staff at St Martin’s were in great awe with the resilience, determination and responsibility shown from each student to achieve their learning hours for their passport. Combining all the student  hours of those who participated in Children’s University this year, we have amassed an incredible 1,762 hours in total of out-of-school learning.

As the coordinator, I could not be prouder of all the students who took part this year. A big thank you to all parents and caregivers who helped make it possible for their child to be part of this new initiative at our school. I hope to see many familiar and new faces sign up for what will no doubt be another extremely fun and eventful year of Children’s University for 2022.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Segat