Term 2, Week 1 2023

Welcome to the beginning of Term 2. I hope children enjoyed their break and are feeling refreshed and re-energised. I have been impressed by the way children have settled back into school life for what promises to be an exciting term full of learning and extra-curricular activities.

Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week will be celebrated in South Australia from May 15-21, 2023 (Week 3, Term 2). Catholic Education Week is about education – celebrating quality teaching and learning across Catholic Education SA.

Catholic Education Week is an opportunity to:

• celebrate the excellent teaching and learning that happens in our Catholic schools every day
• reflect on and highlight what makes our Catholic schools so special
• increase awareness of the Mid-Year Reception Intake
• celebrate with the recipients of the Catholic Education Awards.

In 2023, we have a particular focus on highlighting what students and staff love about their Catholic schools.

During Catholic Education Week, schools will engage in prayer and social justice actions that build on welcoming others into their school communities, and that reflect the virtues of compassion and kindness.

This week is an opportunity to reflect on and share all the things that we love about St Mary  Magdalene's School and what makes our community special.

Join us on social media during Catholic Education week in sharing Facebook post about the reasons you love our school and being a part of our community, using the hashtag #LoveMyCatholicSchool.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Tuesday 16 May in the Administration building at 7.00 pm

Each year we have an Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the School Board and School reports on the progress and achievements of the previous year are presented, discussed and celebrated. I extend an invitation to families of the St Mary Magdalene's School community to attend.

School Board Nominations

We are currently calling for nominations for St Mary Magdalene’s School Board for 2023. Here is an outline of the Board's responsibility.

The responsibility of the School Board is:

• To work in a spirit of partnership for the development of policies that nurture the Religious and Community dimensions of the school
• Further develop the relationship between the school and the local Church
• Financial stewardship
• Support the administration of the school
• Pastoral care of the school community
• Promote community development and involvement within the School

The School Board meets on a Wednesday evening, 2 meetings per school term.

If you would like more information feel free to contact the Front Office.

It is now widely recognised through research done on schools where students are happy and doing well, that the partnership that exists between teachers and families is crucial in bringing about the ‘excellence in schooling’ that is our goal. Please continue to be involved in your child’s schooling and let your child’s teacher know about the positive ways that your child is learning and also if there are any concerns. We want your child to be happy coming to school so that they can learn to the best of their ability. Please keep in mind that we are partners – we can do this better by working together!

Please consider being an ‘active’ member of the St Mary Magdalene’s School community by nominating to be on the School Board, canteen or volunteering to assist in anyway.

A hard copy of the Nomination Slip will be sent home Monday, next week. 

Medical Care Plans

If your child has a medical plan can you please ensure that the Front Office staff have a copy of this. It is also important that the medical plans we have are current and up to date. Thank you for your support with this important health matter.

Term 3 Reception Intake

This is a reminder that we have a Term 3 Reception intake each year. The criteria for starting Reception on the first day of school in Term 3 is that the children will have turned 5 on or before 31 October of that particular year (i.e. 2023 this year). If you have a child who is eligible for this intake, please make a time for an enrolment interview with a member of the Leadership Team. If you are aware of another family who has a child who is eligible to begin in Term 3, and is considering St Mary Magdalene’s School, please feel free to encourage them to make an enrolment interview time.

2023 Reception Enrolments

Places are available. If you have or if you know of anyone who has a child turning 5 before May 1, 2023, please complete and lodge an enrolment form at the Front Office.

Hi, my name is Luke Ferguson and I am Acting Head of Campus for Term 2 whilst Peter is on Long Service Leave. Thank you so much for welcoming me into your community this term. I’ve met the students over the course of this week, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many parents in the mornings and afternoons as well.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful family. My wife, Christine, is a teacher and we have three wonderful children. Charlie, Thea and Spencer (9, 7 and 4 respectively). Our house is a busy place with three kids but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I come from a family of teachers. My mum, dad, and numerous aunties and uncles are all teachers. I am passionate about education and the opportunities that a quality, wholistic, Catholic education can provide students. My teaching passions are Music and Maths. My most recent role was working in the Catholic Education Office as a System Coach, specifically in the area of Numeracy.

Music has always been a passion of mine. I play a number of different instruments and have played in bands since I was a teenager. I’m hoping that I can bring some music to St Mary Magdalene’s. The whole school mass in week 4 is on my radar and I’ll be on the lookout for musicians and singers within our school community.

I am a Fremantle Dockers supporter so am extremely pleased with the colours around the school. Seeing everyone embracing the purple and white fills me with pride even though this year isn’t shaping up to be one of Freo’s finest. I will live in hope that our season might turn around.

It’s exciting to see that work in the garden along Fairfield Road has commenced. I love gardening and have a backyard full of fruit trees and vegies. My chicken’s take care of the weeds for me and my kids help me grow the vegies. My favourite things to grow are tomatoes, jalapeño chillies and pumpkins.

It’s very exciting to be a part of the St Mary Magdalene’s community this term. It has been an amazing start and I wish everyone a happy Term 2.

Welcome Back! I hope you have enjoyed a restful break and are ready for an exciting term ahead! 😊 

We welcome Fr. Santosh to our school community this term and look forward to working in partnership with him and the wider parish community. The following information introduces Fr. Santosh and was taken from the most recent Elizabeth Catholic Parish bulletin. If you would like to read more about his journey, please see the link below. 

‘I landed in Adelaide on 11th July 2019. After serving St Francis Xavier Cathedral parish for 7 months, I was appointed to Salisbury Catholic Parish as the assistant priest from 14th February 2020. The time in Salisbury Parish was one of learning and growing. I was very much loved, accepted, and appreciated by the parishioners. I could also make use of the God-given gifts for the growth of the community. It was totally a memorable time, and I was very happy as an assistant priest. It’s then the call comes to move to another beautiful place Elizabeth Catholic Parish. I have begun my ministry as the Parish Priest here on the 16th of April 2023. I have not come here with many plans, but I always trust in the providence of God. As God leads me so I will follow, in consultation with the right people and committees, we journey together. Currently, I am the youngest Parish Priest in the Archdiocese of Adelaide. But I have enough experience in both being a pastor and administrator. My pastoral experience comes from my very being a priest and all the more the experience as the assistant priest in various above-mentioned parishes. My administrative experience comes mostly from being Provincial Secretary of a province having about 250 priests and over a hundred seminarians, working in about 10 countries. My working style is being available, exceptionally pastoral, and gentle but firm. I am humorous too because I basically believe in ‘Be Happy and Make Happy’. Santosh means Happy! Looking forward to a great journey together. God Bless. Live Jesus. Fr Santosh Pereira MSFS.’ 

https://elizabethcatholicparish.com.au/ 

Liturgical Calendar Information 

Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout term 2 and those that come up in our liturgical calendar include: 

May 14 -  Mother’s Day 

May 15 - 21 Catholic Education Week 

May 15 -  International Day of Families 

May 28 -  Feast of Pentecost 

May 27 - June 3 Reconciliation Week 

June 4 -Feast of the Trinity 

June 5 - World Environment Day 

June 20 - World Refugee Day 

June 20 - Feast of St. Thomas More 

July 2 – 9 NAIDOC Week  

Classroom Learning 

Our overarching theme for classroom learning in Religion during term 2 is Connection. Our big question is: How do we experience connection? As we focus on connection throughout the term, we will focus on our mercy values of respect and compassion in our everyday words and actions, with each other, with our students and with our selves.  

We have a few staff members completing their Graduate Certificate in Education. This requires extra study and assignments on top of their normal workload. I invite you to keep Jade Shapcott, Tara Haylock and Sameera Sekhon in your prayers as they complete their study. 

Amiee Tullio will begin involvement in a CESA led Collaborative Inquiry Project about Assessment & Moderation in Religious Education. Amiee will work with our staff in this area later in the term as we explore assessment and moderation practices in Religious Education. 

Classroom teachers will focus on leading Christian Meditation at least once a week beginning this term. The World Community for Christian Meditation says Christian Meditation is a universal spiritual wisdom and a practice found at the core of all the great religious traditions, leading from the mind to the heart. It is a way of simplicity, silence and stillness. It can be practised by anyone, wherever you are on your life’s journey. Practising Christian Meditation is a way to deepen our personal relationship with God.  

Elizabeth Catholic Parish Sacramental Program 

For those families whose child / ren are involved in the 2023 Sacramental Program, please be aware of the following dates for Term 2. 

Reconciliation Session for Parents and Candidates 

Term 2 Week 3 Saturday May 20 9.00am – 11.00am St. Thomas More Church 

Celebration of Reconciliation 

Term 2 Week 4 Friday May 26 5.00pm – 6.00pm OR Sunday May 28 11.30am – 12.30pm OR Term 2 Week 5 Saturday June 3 11.30am – 12.30pm 

Eucharist Session for Parents and Candidates 

Term 2 Week 9 Saturday July 1 9.00am – 11.00am St. Thomas More Church 

A very big congratulations to Jasmine in year 3/4 who celebrated the sacrament of Baptism during the holidays. We look forward to chatting with you to hear more about your special celebration. Jasmine will continue her learning through the Sacrament Program and celebrate the sacraments of initiation later this year.

This week we talked about a very special lady in Jesus’ life.

It was Mary – his mum.

The angel told her that she was going to have a baby. Even though she was scared, she trusted God and soon her baby boy was born.

We talked about some of the special things that Mary would have done when Jesus was a baby and a little boy.

We think that Mary would have

• Fed baby Jesus
• Rocked him to sleep
• Taught him how to walk
• Cuddled him
• Helped him when he was hurt
• Loved him
• Cooked his dinner
• Helped him get dressed and then when he was older – taught him to get dressed al by himself
• Looked after him when he was sick

We then did our very first step by step drawing and created a picture of Mary holding Baby Jesus.

Here are some of our beautiful pictures

At St Mary Magdalene’s School we are committed to providing a diverse range of sporting opportunities for our students from Reception to Year 6 to complement the current Physical Education program. Below is an overview of sports that students will have the opportunity to participate in this Term 2 (depending on their grade level).

These include events such as SAPSASA district events, SACPSSA district events and SACPSSA Northern Area events.

In term 2 we have the following opportunities.

• SACPSSA Northern Area Soccer and Netball Carnival Years 4 to 6- Thursday 25^th of May (Week 4)
•  SACPSSA Northern Area Basketball Carnival Years 5-6 Monday 5^th of June (Week 6)
• SACPSSA Northern Area Football Carnival Years 4-6 Thursday 29^th of June (Week 9)
• SAPSASA Winter Carnival Friday 26^th of May 2023

Thanks, Mr. Morgado (PE Teacher)

Dental for Schools visited us this week and they were delighted with our School Community.  They said "the students at your school are beautiful and very helpful'.

Welcome back for Term 2, we have lots going on this Term in OSHC.

We would like welcome Doris to our team, she will be working both mornings and afternoons in our OSHC space and we are so excited to have her with us.

I have a few quick reminders to all parents about our OSHC hours.

OSHC is available from 6:45am – 8:30am each morning. During this time children are offered breakfast and play activities. It is expected that parents drop their children off into the OSHC room and NOT at the gate. If you child is dropped at school before 8:30am they will be sent to OSHC. This is for the safety of all.

Our afternoon session runs from 3:00pm – 6:00pm. During this time children are offered afternoon tea and play activities. It is expected that parent pick up their children from the OSHC room and sign them out each evening.

If you are interested in enrolling, you child/children into OSHC please see Lisa in the office or Jenn for more information.

This Term in OSHC we will be using the Seesaw platform to share with our families what we have been doing and learning in our OSHC space. This platform is also used by Teachers to share classroom activities so it should be familiar to all, these posts will only be visible to those enrolled in OSHC.

Please contact Jenn if you have any issues regarding Seesaw or wish to opt out of this.

Thanks!