Term 2, Week 7, 2023

I hope everyone had a restful long weekend. It was great to see the children come back on Tuesday looking refreshed and ready to learn.

Reception Transition

We had our first reception transition session on Wednesday this week. We have nine new learners enrolled to start next term. Our new reception teacher, Cloe Bowman, is eager to start working with our new children and families. The children were able to join our existing receptions for this first session and they received a warm St Mary Magdalene’s welcome from Mrs Drewett’s class. We have two more transition sessions Wednesday’s the 21^st and 28^th of June.

School Photos

School Photo Day is the 29^th of June. Please return your forms back to your child's class teacher or complete the online order as soon as possible. Please note, there is a clash with the Soccer and Netball Carnival. These students will have their school photos taken on the 4^th of July instead.

Soccer and Netball Carnival

The Catholic School Northern Area’s Soccer and Netball Carnival has been rescheduled to Thursday the 29^th of June. The venue for the carnival is Argana Park, Elizabeth Downs. Students from Years 4-6 have chosen to play either soccer or netball and will be competing against other Catholic Schools in the Northern area. A permission slip will be sent home soon and must be returned by Wednesday 28^th of June.

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: 

June 20 – World Refugee Day 

June 20 – Feast of St. Thomas More 

July 2 – 9 – NAIDOC Week  

St Vincent de Paul 

As the weather gets colder, we invite you to think about those in our wider community who may need our help this winter. St Vincent de Paul provide clothing, shelter, and food to those who need it most. We will be supporting the work of St Vincent de Paul over the remainder of the term by collecting donations of clothing (especially any winter items you may have grown out of) and blankets. You can place these items in the bins located on our school grounds from Week 9 onwards. 

Community Prayer 

This week our combined school prayer (via Microsoft Teams) with classes from St Mary Magdalene's and St Thomas More, focused on meditation. Miss Jessop from St Thomas More School led 398 (students and staff) in a 2-minute prayer meditation to start our day.  

Whole School Mass 

We invite you to join us to celebrate our first whole school Mass in Week 10, Tuesday July 4 at 12pm in the Yarning Place. 

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. 

Eucharist Session for Parents and Candidates 

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

Northern Areas Network Basketball Carnival

On Monday 5th of June, a group of our students from Saint Thomas More and St Mary Magdalane’s schools travelled to The Lights Community and Sports Centre to participate in the Northern Areas Network basketball carnival. Each team performed their very best and achieved well, with the boy’s team placing 2^nd in the grand-final. A huge thank you to Ms Tullio who was able to supervise on the day and Cheryl Bielby for scoring both our teams. Well done everyone!

St Mary Magdalene’s is a very special school, and I love working here.

In my time at the school, I have had many special moments. One that will always stick with me, was my very first day of teaching. I had 12 students in my mid-year intake of Reception and thought to myself “WOW! This is my first day, and theirs!”. I was so excited to get the opportunity to teach them again last year as Year 1’s and see how much they had grown.

The biggest motivator for me is definitely seeing the children’s happy faces when they learn something new and can use what they’ve learnt in their everyday life. Being a part of their learning journey is very special to me.

I love the welcoming community spirit of the school. In my three years here, I have been lucky to have such supportive staff members, understanding parents and friendly students.