T1, Week 3, 2024

Dear Families,

As we enter into the season of Lent, we are reminded that we really are only on this earth for a limited amount of time and how important it is for us to make the most of that time. Lent is a time for change. We are encouraged and invited to reflect on the things that we do in our lives and in our relationships. Are there things we could do better? Do I treat people the way I should? Do I judge people without really knowing their whole story? Jesus challenges us to be kind, even to those people whom we don’t like very much. On Shrove Tuesday the staff and children were marked with ash on their foreheads with a sign of the cross to remind them that we all come from humble beginnings and that we should all keep in mind the ‘Mercy values’ when we meet other people. We hope the children (and parents) enjoyed the pancakes that we shared!

This week we welcome two new students: David in Reception and Alby in Year 1. We hope your time with us is full of learning, friendships and fun! With these two new students our enrolment has grown to 170 students, just in time for ‘Census’ day today! This is an increase of about 100 students in the past 4 years, which is quite amazing. I want to thank each one of you for entrusting your children to us each day, but also for the positive things you say about our school within the wider community. When I ask families why they have come to our school, nearly all of them say “I have heard good things about this school”. So, if that is you speaking highly of our school, thank you, it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to those parents who were able to come to the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening. We hope you found it informative and useful. We look forward to working closely with you this year, with your child at the centre of all that we do. If you were unable to make it on the evening, I am sure your child’s teacher can make available the notes that they shared with those in attendance.

Congratulations to those students who received Mercy Awards at our assembly on Tuesday. These awards are for students who show particular characteristics or are good models of Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice, Respect or Service’. Each week children are able to earn points for their house Team by showing acts of Mercy within the classroom or out in the yard. These points go towards winning the ‘Mercy’ cup at the end of the school year.

Next week we welcome Canteen who will put on a couple of puppet shows for our students to help provide an understanding of what it is like for families living with cancer. This is a big thing for a number of families within our community and it is great to have the Canteen people back again to share this important information and excellent insights.

Please remember that we have the following dates set aside as Pupil Free Days for the staff to undertake professional development, staff reflection, complete hand over activities, etc. There are still two more dates to be set for later in the year. Currently we have set: Fri 8 March, Fri 23 August, Thu 12 December and Fri 13 December. Please mark them in your diary.

The School Board meets this Tuesday evening at 6:30pm.

Kind regards

Peter Mercer

Head of School

‘Shaping our Future Together’

CATHOLIC IDENTIY

LITURGICAL CALENDAR INFORMATION

A Liturgical Calendar shows the cycle of seasons in the Catholic Church. The Church year consists of six liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time after Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time after Pentecost. In each newsletter we aim to highlight different events in the Liturgical Calendar that we might be focusing on or celebrating in our school.

Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout term 1 and those that come up in our liturgical calendar include:

Week 3

13/2 Shrove Tuesday

14/2 Ash Wednesday

14/2 Feast of St. Valentine

17/2 Random Acts of Kindness Day

Week 6

9/3 Ramadan begins

Week 7

17/3 Feast of St. Patrick

Week 8

19/3 Feast of St. Joseph

21/3 Harmony Day

Week 9

24/3 Palm Sunday

28/3 Holy Thursday

29/3 Good Friday

Week 10

Easter Sunday 31/3

SHROVE TUESDAY

This week staff gathered from across our community to cook and serve pancakes as part of our celebrations in preparation for the beginning of Lent. It was great to see students and their families’ enjoying pancakes in the yard before school. Check out the photos included in this newsletter.

ASH WEDNESDAY

Students and staff gathered to celebrate Ash Wednesday with a liturgy for our Reception to Year 2 students and another for our Year 3-6 classes. Both groups reflected on the song ‘Ashes’ by Drew Lane with words to remind us how we can let the ashes inspire us and remind us to live just like Jesus.

PROJECT COMPASSION 2024

Each year Project Compassion brings together thousands of Australians in schools, parishes, and the community to stand in solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable communities, to help end poverty, promote justice, and uphold dignity. This year, the theme of Project Compassion is ‘For all Future Generations’. It is an expression of hope and reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues.

Keep an eye out in upcoming newsletters for our Project Compassion fundraising initiatives.

ELIZABETH CATHOLIC PARISH SACRAMENT PROGRAM

The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist form the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. If your child is 7 years of age (or older) and would like to be involved in the program for 2024 and you were unable to make the parent session, please contact Melissa Musolino for more information.

Phone: 82556144

Email: mmusolino@smm.catholic.edu.au

Welcome to 4/5 AR

It has been an excited first 3 weeks of school with our focus being on getting to know each other and developing strong routines and expectations for our year ahead. Students have discussed and explored their feelings through the 5 point scale, developed a class promise for the year and learned bout our elastic brains and how to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

We introduced Turtley Awesome who gets to spend the day with a student who has met the Class Promise and shown Mercy Values throughout the day. Each person who has been awarded Turtley Awesome chooses the next recipient. 

Students in 4/5 AR have also gotten creative with developing quizzes about themselves, drawing self portraits and creating unique backgrounds to display them on.

We look forward to an excellent year of growth and learning in 2024.

We are very happy to formally introduce Kathy Keough to our St Mary Magdalene's online community. Kathy began working at our school in Term 4 last year as part of our ESO team.

Kathy has a Diploma in Early Childhood Education, and a deep passion for working alongside children to support their learning. Sharing the belief that it 'takes a village to raise a child', Kathy is looking forward to being an active member of the St Mary Magdalene’s 'village', supporting children and their families.

Kathy’s academic journey continues beyond her Diploma, having also completed extended courses in working with children with Trauma, and has recently begun to learn Auslan.

In addition to her extensive knowledge and experience, her infectious and warm demeaner is a wonderful asset to our school community. We encourage you to say hello when you see Kathy around the school.