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Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
Today the school was taken over by a group of Elderly citizens. I was very concerned for the sake of our Prep students who were no where to be found. I hope to see their return in the near future. (Congratulations Preps!! On 100 Days of School.)
Indigenous Uniform Top. Yesterday we had Mandi Barton come to speak to the students about her design for our new sport's uniform top. Mandi was able to tell the children about why it has many of the signs and symbols on it. This week families should receive their order pack so we can start to phase out our yellow tops and move towards all the students in our new top. In 2024, the yellow top will no longer be part of the uniform and the new top will be compulsory.
All schools in Australia are expected to be teaching about Indigenous Culture. It is one of the three cross curricula priorities (Indigenous Culture, Studies of Asia and Sustainability.) which schools are expected to focus on across our subjects. Our Indigenous uniform is one way our students are learning about Indigenous Culture but we do it in many different ways. Two of our staff are attending professional Development through Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic schools Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives Three-day immersive professional learning program. This will involve one day at the Catholic Leadership Centre, one day an Indigenous Cultural Walk and one day at the Art Gallery. These staff will then pass what they have learnt to other staff. We also have our staff and parent sessions by Helen Christensen on the 16th of August. The Australian Bishops Conference has also asked all Catholic Schools to engage in conversation about the Voice to Parliament and there are materials for us to work with students with. It is not to tell anyone how to vote, but to let students know what it is, how a referendum is done and what this referendum is about. If anyone would is interested in learning more The website prepared by the National Aboriginal Catholic Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council NACTSICC) https://indigenousvoice.church/ It is one of the resources we are using with the students.
- Australian Maths Competition. Tomorrow we have 50 students competing in the Australian Maths Competition, an annual competition for the Australian Maths Trust. This competition has been around for many years and I am sure many of us remember taking part in it when we were in school. It is a very challenging test designed to challenge even our most talented Maths students.
- Athletics Carnival. Today we had a number of our students representing the school at District Athletics. They did a fantastic job and represented the school proudly. Thank you to Karoline Cooke and Jordan Lovett for all their preparations for this day.
- Instructional Coaching: We continue our work in the school on our School Improvement goal of Instructional Coaching. Trish Gooch, was at the school for a full day last Wednesday and then our Coaching Team spent another day on training with Trish and the other schools involved. Trish also ran our staff meeting on Wednesday doing work with us on Student Voice and feedback. The most important feedback in a school is from the students to the teachers to let them know how they are going with their learning. It is an important message that feedback is not just adult to student and that the student voice is Very important part of student learning. Talk less, listen more.
- Legally Blonde Mount St Joseph's Tomorrow our Year 5 students are going to Mount St Joseph's to see their musical 'Legally Blonde, the pg version." Visiting secondary schools are an important part of Senior Primary as the transition to high school can be quite daunting to students. Visiting high schools, we know, makes that transition a bit easier.
-Emmanuel College visit. Speaking of which, I visited Emmanuel College last week to meet the new Principal. It was an opportunity for local principals to hear about what the future holds for Emmanuel College. The school is in really good hands and has much planned for the future. I thank Emmanuel College for organising this event. The great thing for me was the number of St Mary's students who came up to speak to me and how proud they were of their new school.
Stem Aviation Project: Some of our Grade Six students are involved in a STEM Aviation project. They are currently building planes that will then go in a competition at the Catholic Schools STEM MAD Conference. The Competition has three categories, Fastest Plane (timed over 5 laps) Plane that can carry the most weight and own design. To give you a bit of an idea of what we are doing we have filmed our first test flight with one of our planes. Students are making the planes in groups of two. (Click on the photo) The planes are connected to electricity and fly around a loop and must be able to take off and land.
God Bless
Anthony
St Mary's Families Supporting Each Other
Financially: Did you know that families often financially donate to support other families. This may come in the form of offering to pay for another families school fees, camp fees or other costs. We cannot give money to another family directly, however we can use that money to supplement their school fees, camp fees etc.)To support another family in our school, use our normal bank account with a reference;
ST MARY'S FAMILY SUPPORT DONATION
Bank Account BSB 083 347 Account Number: 658206494
Second Hand Uniform Shop: Many families donate old uniforms to our second hand shop. These second hand uniforms are either resold or donated to families in our school.
Book Exchange: Did you know we have a book exchange near the entry of our school? Many families use this to donate and swap books.
St Mary's Parish School Building fund (Tax Deductable) You may also choose to support the school by making a donation to the St Mary's Parish School Building Fund. All donations to this fund are tax deductable. Funds can only be spent on a set criteria which include building maintenance, repair, replacement or a new building. BSB: 083 347 Account Number: 153900034
St Mary’s Faith News
School and Parish Connections
Gospel – Matthew 13:44-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Way of the West Program
This week the “way of the West’ Program began for its ninth year.
The program runs for the month of August and asks for donations of food and living essentials to support Refugees and those seeking Asylum in the West.
There will be a box in each classroom for families to drop off their donations.
Today the Charism team visited each classroom and spoke to each class encouraging them to support the program. They also set each classroom up with a box to collect the donations.
The Charism team will also talk at each Assembly for the month of August. At the Friday assembly they will let you know what items will be called for the following week, so that if you are doing your groceries on the weekend, you are aware of the items to be donated.
At the Monday assembly they will remind you of the items being collected that week.
Every Friday the Charism team will collect the donations and deliver them to Fr Greg.
Thank you in advance for your support!
This Week - 1st August
Week 1 - Dried food (healthy breakfast cereals, rice, dried fruits, pulses)
Family Mass
On Sunday we celebrated another successful Family Mass. As you can see our numbers are growing. There were also a number of families attending the Mass that were not involved. It was wonderful to see you at Mass.
I would like to say a big thank you to the choir who sang beautifully and the readers, who read so well. I would also like to thank Aila in year 6 who assisted the young readers with the prayers of the faithful.
It is wonderful to see families returning to the church and to see so many of the Charism team stepping up and showing their true leadership skills!
I am so proud of you and so grateful for such a wonderful team supporting me in my role as Faith formation Leader. You all do a brilliant job. Thank you!
Some important dates to Remember for Term 3
Event |
Date |
Time |
Where |
Seniors Mass - Year 6 attending |
Friday 4th August |
11:30 am |
Church |
Year 5 Family Mass |
Sunday 6th August |
10:30 am |
Church |
Mary Mackillop Mass - led by Year 3 |
Tuesday 8th August |
9:15 am |
Church |
Year 6 Family Mass |
Saturday 12th August |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Feast of the Assumption |
Tuesday 15th August |
9:15 am |
Church |
Confirmation - 6D |
Tuesday 22nd Augusst |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Confirmation - 6B |
Wednesday 23rd August |
6:00 pm |
Church |
Children’s Liturgy |
Sunday 27th August |
10:30 am |
Church |
Father’s Day Mass |
Friday 1st Spetember |
9:15 am |
Church |
Seniors Mass |
Friday 1st September |
11:30 am |
Church |
Children’s Liturgy |
Sunday 24th August |
10:30 am |
Church |
Sacramental Program 2023 - Confirmation
All dates and times for the Sacrament Masses are outlined in the table below. Year 6 students will be making their Eucharist and Confirmation as a class this year
Sacrament |
Term |
Date |
Where |
Notes |
Confirmation - 6D |
3 |
Tuesday 22nd August - 6:00pm |
Church |
No booking required |
Confirmation - 6B |
3 |
Wednesday 23rd August - 6:00pm |
Church |
No booking required |
School Disco - Tickets now on sale!
Our School Disco is only a few weeks away - time to get your tickets if you haven’t already!
This event is one of our favourites and is a great opportunity for the kids to come together, have some fun and dance the night away.
The Disco is on Friday 18th August will be held in 2 x sessions.
- Session one is for the Preps, Grade 1 & 2’s and will run from 6.00pm to 7.15pm.
- Session two is for Grade 3, 4, 5 & 6’s and will run from 7.30pm to 9.00pm.
The cost is $10 per child and tickets can be purchased via CDF Pay. Please note this is a student only event and only St Mary’s children are able to attend.
A big thank you to everyone who has also registered to volunteer for the Disco. The Disco planning committee will be in touch with you all soon!
2023 Father’s Day Stall
The Parent Engagement Group will hold a Father’s Day Stall on Friday 25th August.
Like last year, we will have vouchers available to purchase on CDF Pay. Vouchers will be available for $5.
How do I purchase Father’s Day stall vouchers?
You can buy vouchers through your CDF Pay account.
- Access the CDF Pay button through the Schoolzine (SZAPP) app
- Go to parent login (or select ‘new parent account’ to register if you haven’t already done so)
- Select your child’s name, then select Father’s Day Voucher
- If you are purchasing for each sibling, please select a voucher under each of their names before checking out (you can buy multiple vouchers per child)
- Finally review your cart and check out!
Vouchers must be purchased by no later than Sunday 20th August.
Year 7 2025 ENQUIRY AND PARISH NEWSLETTERS – INCLUDE Liverpool FLYER
Places for the Liverpool International Academy, ‘Come and Try Session’ on Saturday 19 August are filling quickly. This is a great opportunity for all genders and all abilities between the ages of 6 and 16, to join in the free 30-minute skills session with LFC Coaches.
Registration is available here: https://lfcacademy.com.au/vic/emmanuels-taster-clinics/
For more information contact Michael Pichner, LFCIA Program Coordinator: mpichner@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
Information Morning
This Saturday, 5 August is Information Morning at both campuses, and we welcome you to come along and hear from our College Principal, Dr Janine Biggin, join us on a campus tour with student leaders and staff and see the fantastic facilities that we have here at Emmanuel. Times for each campus are below and registration is available here: Information Morning and Tour registration
Saturday 5 August 2023
Notre Dame Campus |
Commencing at 9:00am with the Principal’s address followed by tours and ending at 10:30am
|
St Paul’s Campus |
Commencing at 10:30am with the Principal’s address, followed by tours and ending at 12 noon
|
Year 7 2025 Applications
A friendly reminder that if you have a child in Grade 5, applications for Year 7 2025 close on Friday 18 August 2023. Even if your older child is already at the College or joining us in Year 7 2024, it is a requirement for an application to be submitted for Year 7 2025. A Prospectus Pack containing an application form can be obtained by:
- Attending Information Morning on Saturday 5 August
- Following this link to the College website: Request a Prospectus here
- Sending an email to enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
- Calling our College Registrar, Ms Donna Grech on 8325 5119
- Coming into either Campus Office between 8am and 4:15pm on weekdays.
Yours sincerely
Jenny Hendricks
St Mary's School is a Child Safe School and as such complies with all aspects and legal obligations that relate to the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (VIC)