Term 4, Week 5, 2023

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Last week we welcomed a new student to our school: Emilio in Year 2, and next week we welcome Mason, joining us in Year 4. We also welcomed Denise Sawyer to our staff this week. Denise is a co-educator who will be working to support teachers and students across our school. I would like to welcome both of you and your families to our school community and hope that your time with us is full of learning, friendships and fun! On a sad note, today we farewelled Kylie West, one of our administration staff. Kylie has worked across both St Mary Magdalene’s and St Thomas More schools in a HR role. While many of you have not had the opportunity to meet Kylie because she works behind the scenes, our staff are extremely grateful for the tremendous contribution she has made to our school community. Kylie will being on Monday working at the Catholic Education Office. While we will miss you Kylie, we do wish you well for your future role.

This week we finally had our new sound system set up in the Yarning Place which hopefully will provide a better experience for our students, parents and staff for assemblies, liturgies and other events. It may take a little while for our staff to learn how to operate it so please be patient if you are in the audience at any time.

You would be well aware that there has been an increase again in the number of Covid cases throughout South Australia. This doesn’t change anything dramatically for our schools. The rule remains that if your child is experiencing symptoms like coughing, sneezing, fever, etc, then they should not come to school. They should remain at home until the symptoms disappear. Then it would be prudent for them to wear a mask until they are up to day 10 (day 0 is when they test positive). Thank you for our support and understanding with this requirement.

The department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts offers free Broadband to families who may not be able to afford it normally. I shared this information last year. Their School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) webpage has been updated recently. The Minister for Communications has announced that the initiative has been extended until 2025.

• The period in which a family can nominate to receive a free service has been extended to 31 December 2024.
• The duration of free services will continue until 31 December 2025 for all existing and new families.

Please visit their website for further information:  www.infrastructure.gov.au/ssbi

We are already past the middle point of our school term, with only four weeks remaining in the year. This means that teachers have been busy writing reports, allocating children to classes for next year, organising transition visits and organising end of year activities. Please check on the school website for dates of events that you might want to join us for. Some of the key ones are:

• Tuesday 21 November            Year 1 Assembly 2:15pm 
•  Friday 1 December                 St Mary Magdalene’s Got Talent
•  Friday 8 December                 Sports Day
•  Monday 11 December            Christmas Carols 2pm
•  Tuesday 12 December           Year 6 Graduation 2pm
•  Wednesday 13 December      Last Day of Term
•  Thursday 14 December          Pupil Free Day (OSHC bookings required)
•  Friday 15 December               Pupil Free Day (OSHC bookings required)

This coming Monday is Universal Children’s Day. The theme this year is “#Every Child, Every Right”. Children are at the heart of everything we do in our schools and St Mary Magdalene’s is no different. Our staff do their utmost each day to keep our children safe, to let them know that they are special and important and to help them learn, not just academically, but also around our Mercy values of Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice, Respect and Service. On Monday especially we pray for all children, throughout the world, that they are safe and able to access food, clothing, housing and education. 

Kind regards

Peter Mercer

Head of School

‘Shaping our future together’

Liturgical Calendar Information

Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout term 4 and those that come up in our liturgical calendar include:

13/11 - World Kindness Day

20/11 - Universal Children’s Day

26/11 -  Feast of Christ the King

3/12 -  1^st Sunday of Advent

10/12 -  2^nd Sunday of Advent

Catherine McAuley

Last week we celebrated Catherine McAuley Day. Staff member Cloe Bowman who teaches our reception students at St. Mary Magdalene’s School, reminded us during our combined schools Microsoft Teams community prayer, that Catherine McAuley’s faith led her to dedicate herself to serving the poor, sick and uneducated. Throughout her life she was deeply aware of the human suffering caused by social, economic, and religious injustice.

Hospitality was a fundamental part of Catherine’s sense of service. The story is told that even as she laid on her death bed with sisters travelling from far and near to pay their last respects to her, her first concern was their comfort. “Be sure to give them a cup of tea” was her instruction which has become a symbol of Mercy hospitality and servant leadership.

Last week Catherine McAuley staff and students celebrated the life of Catherine McAuley. This week we will gift them a hamper on behalf of staff at St. Mary Magdalene’s and St. Thomas More Schools to enjoy as part of their celebrations.

Remembrance Day

Year 3 Haylock and Year 4/5 Sekhon led our Remembrance Day service for us on Monday November 13. Students shared a variety of prayers to focus our hearts and minds on those soldiers who fought in battles past and those who continue to serve today. Students shared:

We thank you for keeping us safe from war.

We pray for all the people living in war torn countries.

We pray that one day the children get to play safely.

We pray that parents stop worrying and we pray for peace in the world.

We pray for the soldiers that have served for our country.

May we never forget those soldiers, nurses, pilots, and other people who served in the war.

World Kindness Day

This week we celebrated World Kindness Day. World Kindness Day is an annual event that encourages individuals to practice kindness in their daily lives. It is a day that focuses on encouraging and shaping a kinder and more compassionate world.

Universal Children’s Day

Next week we focus on Universal Children’s Day. The theme for 2023 is: For every child, every right! World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare.

End of Year Thanksgiving Mass

Please join us to celebrate our end of year Mass and blessing of our Year 6 students on December 12, at 12 noon in the Yarning Space.

Elizabeth Catholic Parish News

Please see below for the link to weekly parish bulletin.

https://elizabethcatholicparish.com.au/bulletin/

Sacramental Program

We have now come to the end of our Sacramental Program for 2023. If your child would like to be involved in the Sacramental Program for 2024 or you would like to find out more about the program, please see Melissa Musolino.

I am so excited to share with you that our Community Hub has been successful in winning the 1st Toy Well - Toy Library for the Playford area! This is amazing news for our community.

Currently there are only 2 other Toy Well Library locations operating in South Australia, so we are all very excited!  

You may be thinking what is a toy library? It works exactly like a traditional library but with toys instead of books. We will be stocking toys for our littlest community members (children aged 0-5 years and we are so excited that our families will soon be able to borrow high quality toys for FREE!  

For now, we are busy ordering cupboards, toys, and setting up the space ready to open early next year! If you would like to help in any way, you are welcome to come and see me anytime.  

We will keep you posted on the opening and can’t wait to start sharing toys with our families! 

Kerryn

Community Hub