Term 3, Week 1, 2023

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to Term 3. I trust that you and your children had a good holiday break and that you were able to spend some quality time together. I am pleased to be back from my Long Service Leave and look forward to working with you throughout Term 3. A big thank you to Luke Ferguson who was Acting Head of Campus in my absence.

This week we welcome our new Reception children: Aarez, Aria, Dylan, Eric (EJ), Gabriella, Grace, Greycen, Keena, Lucas, Mabior, Moana, Nathaniel, and Zachary. Welcome to their teacher Cloe Bowman who will care for these children for the remainder of 2023. We also welcome students in other Year levels: Grace (Year 3), Raylan (Year 3) and Sophia (Year 4). I pray that your time with us be full of Learning, Friendships and Fun!

During my leave I spent 10 weeks travelling through western New South Wales up to the Gulf of Carpentaria, across to Cooktown and down the east coast. It was a great holiday with a variety of experiences, including swimming with giant sea turtles, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, exploring the Dinosaur Trail near Longreach/Winton, kayaking and bike riding. It was great to visit and stay in a number of smaller towns and communities and help support their local community. Thank you to those who have asked about my trip.

This weekend we had the second of our football showdowns and it was great to see children dressed in their team colours on Friday. Thank you to our parents and caregivers for supporting their children in this way.

This Friday (4th August) is ‘Primary Principal’s Day’. I acknowledge the great work that Chris Platten does as the Principal of both St Mary Magdalene’s School but also St Thomas More School at Elizabeth Park. I wish him well for this day and thank him for the contribution that he makes to our school each day.

The following Friday (11th August) we welcome Andrew Chinn to our school community. Andrew is a singer songwriter who was to join us last year but couldn’t due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Andrew will work with children from different year levels through the morning and then bring the whole school together for a concert at 2pm. Parents are most welcome to join us for this celebration in the Yarning Place. If you have younger children I’m sure they will enjoy it just as I’m sure our students will. I sometimes refer to Andrew as ‘The Christian Wiggle’. 

Good luck to Charlotte, Farhad, Harrison and Mrs Gosling who will represent our school at a STEM Showcase at Lot 14 in the city on Thursday of this week.

Our next School Board Meeting is on Wednesday 16 August. Our next Assembly is Tuesday 8th August at 2:15pm to be led by our Year 3s.

On Friday morning we celebrated the Feast of St Mary Magdalene with a whole school liturgy. Mary Magdalene is one of the most important saints in our church history and hence the naming of our school after her. She was a close companion of Jesus and travelled with him, along with the apostles. She was there when he was crucified and the first one to see that he had risen from the dead. In our liturgy we had the words: “St Mary Magdalene is a shining light for us in our school community and we can follow in her footsteps of courage and service, friendship and love”. We were asked a question: “My light shines when I…”. I invite you to think about that. When does your light shine?

Each year Catholic Education SA (CESA) invites parents, students and staff to undertake a survey regarding the Living Learning Leading Framework that is used throughout our schools. These are quite short surveys but provide CEASA with some really valuable information. Can I invite you to ‘let your light shine’ and complete the online survey in the next week or so? It should only take you 5 or 10 minutes. I have attached a flier with this newsletter showing the link and the access code (SMMSLLLP) specific to our school. Please note this is completely anonymous.

Kind regards

Peter Mercer

Head of Campus

Liturgical Calendar Information 

Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout term 3 and those that come up in our liturgical calendar include: 

22/7 Feast of St. Mary Magdalene 

30/7 International Day of Friendship 

6/8 Feast of the Transfiguration 

8/8 Feast of St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop 

15/8 Feast of the Assumption 

21/8 Catholic Schools Open Week 

1/9 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 

3/9 Father’s Day 

5/9 Feast of Mother Teresa 

4/9 Child Protection Week 

21/9 International Day of Peace 

27/9 St. Vincent De Paul 

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene 

This week we celebrate the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. St. Mary Magdalene is a shining light for us in our school community and we can follow in her footsteps of courage and service. What do we know about St. Mary Magdalene? She was a friend of Jesus and she travelled with him and the other disciples, listening and learning about what it means to bring God’s promise to the world. She was one of the people who had the courage to stay with Jesus at the foot of the cross at the crucifixion. She was the first witness to the resurrection and was given the role of telling the apostles that Jesus had risen.  

St Vincent de Paul Society 

A very big thank you to those families who were able to donate clothing items for the St. Vincent De Paul Society. Your donations were much appreciated. 

Whole School Mass 

We invite you to join us to celebrate our Term 3 whole school Mass in Week 3, Tuesday August 8 at 12pm in the Yarning Place. 

 Andrew Chinn Concert 

On Friday August 11, Australian religious songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to share his songs with our children. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Rainbow”, “An African Blessing” and “Rise Up!” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Canada. The concert will take place in the Yarning Place, at 2.00pm. We would love you to join us for this event. 

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 3. 

Confirmation Session for Parents and Candidates 

Term 3 Week 3 Saturday August 12 - 9.00am – 11.00am St. at Thomas More Church 

Celebration of Confirmation 

Term 3 Week 6 Saturday September 2 - 9.00am – 11.00am at St. Thomas More Church 

Celebration of First Eucharist 

Term 3 Week 7 Saturday September 16 - 6.00pm – 7.00pm at St. Thomas More Church 

OR 

Term 3 Week 8 Sunday September 17 - 10.00am – 11.00am at St. Thomas More Church 

The Year 1 class is lucky enough to have a Pre-Service teacher in our classroom. Miss D is here for 4 weeks and is in her final year of teaching.  

This week she has become to know our class. The Year 1 students created their own shirt that highlighted their name, age and favourite things. Miss D is teaching the students about measurement and natural, managed and constructed places in our world.  

We are so excited to have Miss D in our classroom and be part of her teaching journey.   

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