Term 1, Week 9, 2022

Dear Families, In the last newsletter I spoke about our school (Mercy) values of Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice, Respect and Service and how these are still a focus in our school today. In particular, I spoke about the value of Compassion. Today I would like to share my thoughts about the value of Service.

 Service is where one person does something for another. Often we might pay someone for a service, such as to mow our lawn, repair our car or to deliver a parcel. Sometimes this might be above and beyond what one might normally expect from another person and may not require money at all. Parents, from day one, need to provide for and serve their children, with clothing, food and a safe place to live. In the bible we are all challenged, in many passages, to serve one another. Even Jesus (in Mark’s Gospel) came ‘not to be served but to serve and to give life’. Traditionally, it has been women who have done most of the serving. Today however, gender has nothing to do with service. We are all, in fact, called to serve others. Our leaders, in particular, must be at the service of the community in which they reside or operate. Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy have been and continue to be a great example of service to the poor and vulnerable in society. How do you serve others? How can we be good role models for our children and help them to understand the importance of ‘Service’?

“the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves” – Luke 22:26

A real life example of Service is shown by our Sports Captains and Vice Captains who were announced to the students last Thursday at a short assembly. Our Captains for 2022 are:

House/Team                                       Captain                                   Vice Captain

McAuley                                              Mitchell McCafferty                Rahwa Habtesilasie

Coolock                                               Eugenio Bria                          Taeylor Feast

Fitzpatrick                                            Chelsey Pix                           Aguer Majok

I would like to congratulate each of these captains who were chosen by their peers to lead their teams throughout the year. Each of them nominated and gave a speech, explaining why they would be a good choice to lead their teams. We have high expectations for each of them to lead by example and ‘serve’ their team and their school in a positive way. Thank you to the other students who nominated but were unsuccessful. Each one of them still has an important role to play in being of service to their team.

Our other important leaders are our Student Leaders who are ‘of service’ to all children in our school. This is an important group of two children from each class who meet with me once a fortnight to discuss Positives/Celebrations, Ideas, Questions and Issues relating to the school. We held our first meeting on Tuesday of this week with Hallie, Elias, Stella, Jakob, Charlotte, Jayden, Tina, Maike, Tayla and Hassan. Congratulations to each of these children for being chosen by their peers and for taking on this role of service to others.

Next term we will be holding Parent Teacher Learning Conversations. These will take place in Week 2, from 9 to 11 May. Depending on the Covid situation these may be face to face or by telephone. A decision around this will be made closer to the time. You should have received a letter with information about booking a time(s). Please return this as soon as possible. You will receive notification of your conversation time in the last week of this term.

 Last week our Year 3 and Year 5 students undertook the NAPLAN Practice Test. We wish them well for the actual test which will take place in Week 2 next term. NAPLAN provides us with a snapshot of information about how students are travelling with their learning.

At St Mary Magdalene’s School we take child protection seriously. We do all that we can to ensure your children are safe. There are a number of policies, procedures and guidelines that we utilise to support us in this important task. For your information I offer you links to some of these important documents.

• Reporting Harm of Children and Young People Procedure

 • Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy (Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide)

 • Responding to Online Safety incidents in South Australian schools: Guidelines for staff working in education settings

 • Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum information for educators (Department for Education SA)

With this Newsletter I have included two letters, one about the importance of vaccinations for children and one about two Pupil Free Days – one on the last day of this term (Thursday 14 April) and one on the first day of next term (Monday 2 July). I encourage you to read them as a matter of urgency. In the last week of this term, we are giving away a whole lot of school jackets that have been ‘lost’ and not collected. This highlights the importance of writing the family name somewhere inside their clothing and to rewrite the name on the labels on a regular basis! Please keep an eye out for these freebies. Remember that Daylight Saving ends this Sunday morning. You will need to move your clock back by one hour if you want to enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

Working in Partnership

Peter Mercer

Acting Deputy Principal

Head of Campus

The Season of Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving

Project Compassion – 20c Challenge’

‘Alms’ are what we give to people in need. Project Compassion is a great way of doing this. We thank you for the coins that you are continually adding to the Project Compassion boxes on the prayer space in your child’s class. In week 10 we will gather as a school community to see if we can outline the word ‘give’ with our coins in preparation for sending our proceeds to CARITAS Australia.

The story below is an example of those who are supported by the donations so generously provided through Project Compassion.

Anatercia 12, was struggling to cope with adult responsibilities after her father died. Then she participated in Caritas Australia- supported training and gained access to psychosocial supports.

Now, Anatercia can easily access clean drinking water, community members are able to grow healthy crops all year round, and there is enough nutritious food to eat. Anatercia feels better supported by her community, has more time to study and do her homework, and hopes to fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse.

Please donate to Project Compassion 2022 to help young people succeed in the future and bring stability to vulnerable youth like Anatercia.

Holy Week

You will notice the beginnings of our Holy Week display under the flag pole, as you enter through the school gates. Holy Week is during week 11 of this term and follows the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, gathering with his disciples at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and his dying and rising with Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

As we celebrate these events during week 11, we will gather for prayer and class sharing via Microsoft Teams with staff and students from St. Thomas More School and St. Mary Magdalene’s School.

Sacramental Program 2022

If you would like your child to be involved in the 2022 Sacramental Program, please see Melissa Musolino. Due to Covid we are currently looking at the possibility of offering an online version of this program.