Term 2, Week 7, 2024

Dear Families,

Congratulations to Rylan and Greycen and their family on the birth of their baby sister Caelen last Friday! On Wednesday of this week we had the first of three transition meetings for students commencing in Reception next term. The children spent some time in Miss Drewett’s class, learning about school and making some new friends. The parents met with Mr Platten and I to learn a bit more about Catholic Education and what it means to join St Mary Magdalene’s School. We spoke with them about how important every child is, from the most senior student to the youngest and right down to the newest in the community, just like Caelen. Families entrust their precious child(ren) to our school community each day and together we work hard to help that child to grow and develop into a fully participating and thriving person, not just within our school, but also within the wider community. 

With children, I like to break school down to four identifiable but important components. Firstly, we are a school, so ‘learning’ is at the top of the list for the things we do in a school. Secondly, Jesus was on about relationships - how we care for each other and how we care for the earth, so second on my list is ‘friends’. We want all of our children to develop strong friendships and to be able to respect and relate to other people. Thirdly, school has to be ‘fun’. Children (and staff and parents) need to have a sense of fun in all that they do! Finally, being a Catholic school, our faith is important to us and so we will do lots of ‘catholic’ things, such as prayer, singing songs, celebrating and sharing our Mercy values. My hope is that our Mercy values of Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice, Respect and Service are values that align strongly with your family values. Developing an understanding of these values will hold your children in good stead in life.

You may have noticed this week that work has commenced on our shade structure in the Nelson Grove (courtyard) area. As previously mentioned we will be turning the ‘tepee’ area into a sandpit which I’m sure will be more utilised that what it is currently. There are other works that we will undertake in the next few weeks also including, new carpets and vinyl in some rooms and relocation of the Community Hub and other spaces to allow for our additional class of Reception students.  

We would like to remind students and families to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached, students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts. Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report any events to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible. SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter an offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.

Each year we remind parents of some of the policies that apply in schools across our Catholic education system. Please feel free to check out the following policy around keeping children safe:

• 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) 

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. Our remaining set dates are: Friday 5 July, Friday 23 August, Monday 14 October, Thursday 12 December and Friday 13 December. Please mark them in your diary and book in to OSHC if you require this service (spaces are limited).

Kind regards

Peter Mercer

Head of School

‘Shaping our Future Together’

CATHOLIC IDENTITY

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.

This term we celebrate many feast days that occur in our liturgical calendar. A feast day is a day when we remember and celebrate something or someone important to our faith.

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:

Week 8

20/6 World Refugee Day

22/6 Feast of St. Thomas More

Week 10

7/7 NAIDOC Week

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

On World Refugee Day we remember the millions of displaced people – refugees and asylum seekers around the world. We see the great courage and perseverance of many of these people who have lost everything. Often facing injustice, misunderstanding and prejudice, these people show us how to stay strong and hopeful even when everything seems to go wrong. This year, World Refugee Day focuses on solidarity with refugees – for a world where refugees are welcomed. Refugees need our solidarity now more than ever. Solidarity means keeping our doors open, celebrating their strengths and achievements, and reflecting on the challenges they face. Solidarity with people forced to flee also means finding solutions to their plight – ending conflicts so they can return home in safety, ensuring they have opportunities to thrive in the communities that have welcomed them, and providing countries with the resources they need to include and support refugees. 

This year we will celebrate Refugee Day by sharing a range of picture books in our classes as we reflect on a world where everyone feels welcome.

ELIZABETH CATHOLIC PARISH SACRAMENT PROGRAM

Students in the Sacrament Program have been engaging in a variety of activities in their sessions to deepen their understanding of the Sacraments of Confirmation, First Eucharist, and Reconciliation.

In their recent session about the Sacrament of Confirmation, students had the opportunity to share information about their chosen saint’s name. As part of the Confirmation celebration, students are asked to choose the name of a saint as their Confirmation name. Choosing a Confirmation name is an opportunity to choose a name that has special meaning to the student, a name that will help them in their journey of faith.

Chiagoziem in Year 2 Peterson has chosen St. Clare.

Alexis, in Year 4/5 Rose has chosen Saint Michael.

Tilda in Year 2 Peterson has chosen St. Hildegard.

Sebastine in Year 3 Haylock has chosen St. Alexis.

Amanda in Year 1 Shapcott has chosen St Emmanuel.

I wonder what saint you would choose.

For those families who have enrolled in the program, please be aware of the following dates:

Reconciliation Workshop Session

Saturday June 15

9am – 11am

St. Thomas More Church – 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North.

Reconciliation Celebration (TERM 3)

Friday August 2^nd

6pm

St. Thomas More Church – 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North.

Practice for Confirmation and First Eucharist (TERM 3)

Saturday September 7

9.30am – 11am

St. Ann’s Church – Midway Rd, Elizabeth East

Please contact Melissa Musolino for more information.

Phone: 82556144

Email: mmusolino@smm.catholic.edu.au

OR

Phone: 7285 1500

Email: mmusolino@sttmore.catholic.edu.au

Dear Parents/Caregivers 

Overdue Library books

Thank you to the students and parents who return their library books each week, unfortunately the school still has many library books that are overdue. 

A reminder letter was sent home to the families recently requesting the students with overdue books return them immediately, so other children can enjoy borrowing and reading them.

Students can return any overdue books to the library basket at any time.

The last day to borrow books this Term will be Week 8 Friday 21st June 2024 and all library books must be returned by Friday 28th June 2024.  

Families with outstanding books after this date will be charged $10.00 for each book, to cover the cost of a new replacement book for the school library.

As from Term 3 the cost for overdue books will increase to $15.00 each.

Thank you,

Denise