Dear Families,
Please remember that this Friday is a Pupil Free Day with the staff sharing in a ‘Staff Reflection Day’ with the staff from St Thomas More School and Catherine McAuley School. Our three ‘Mercy’ schools come together every two or three years to reflect on what it means to be a ‘Mercy’ school. This year we have involvement from a number of Sisters of Mercy, a couple of former Principals and former staff to lead us on our journey and in our reflection. It is important that we, as a staff and community, have a good understanding of the foundations the Sisters of Mercy have given our schools so that we can fully maintain the Mercy charism that is central or core to our history.
On Wednesday of this week we had a visit from Dr Neil McGoran, Executive Director of Catholic Education SA and Mr John Neate, the Chairperson of the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools. In our catholic schools only the Archbishop ranks above them! It was great to show them around the school, introduce them to staff and students and generally chat about all the good things happening at St Mary Magdalene’s School. It was a great opportunity for us to share with them our dreams of building new classrooms to cater for our significant increase in enrolments. Mr Platten showed them our current Masterplan and they could understand our excitement and see the great need for continued support for our school community into the future.
In our last newsletter I mentioned that we are changing our phones over to a Voice Over the Internet Protocol (VOIP). Hopefully this will happen in the next few weeks. In doing this we have been given a new school number replacing our old one. Our new number is 8287 7900 and it is now active. The old number will still work for the next 6 months or so to give people time to start using the new number. Please change your contact details or address book to reflect the new school phone number: 8287 7900.
Next Monday we are fortunate to have a visit from Helen Connolly the Commissioner for Children and Young People. The Commissioner for Children and Young People is an independent statutory authority established by the South Australian government to promote and advocate for the rights, development and wellbeing of all children and young people living in South Australia. The Commissioner is committed to seeking opportunities for the involvement of children and young people in informing government and influencing decision-making that affects them, with particular consideration to the needs of vulnerable and at-risk children and young people. Each year Helen invites students to write her a postcard outlining things that matter to them. She then collates this information into a yearly report. Our senior students have been involved in this initiative for the past few years and will continue again this year. We look forward to Helen speaking with Mrs Tullio’s class on Monday.
It was great to have the Mayor, Glenn Docherty, to officially open our brand new Toy Library as a part of our Community Hub. This toy library is open to the community and enables families to borrow toys for a set time, return them and borrow some more. Thank you to Community Hubs Australia, Kerryn Chambers our Coordinator and our volunteers who will run the toy library for this great initiative.
During Week 5 and Week 6 of each term, our students undertake the CESA Classroom Pulse Check In Survey. This is a survey for all students from Reception to Year 13 in our Catholic schools to gather information about their mental health and well being. The teachers then use this information to ensure our children are travelling okay and performing at an optimum level. Thank you to our staff for the way that they embrace this survey for the benefit of each of the students in their care.
Please remember if your child is late to school, or is picked up early, they should be signed in and out through the front office.
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.
Next Friday, 30 August, we will be celebrating Book Week with some activities and a Book Week Parade. Children, staff and parents are encouraged to dress up for the occasion using the Book Week theme “Reading is Magic”. The parade will take place in the Yarning Place at 9:15am and parents are most welcome to join us. Even in this day of technology and devices, books still have an important role to play in helping young people to develop into fluent and eager readers. As parents you should be encouraging your children to read every day … even before they begin school!
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 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’
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