Our school community is often likened to a family. Just like the members of a family, it is only by sharing the ordinariness of our lives that we really get to know one another. Living closely together we become familiar with each other's thoughts and feelings, how we react and respond in various situations and circumstances. 

One of the very first concepts we are taught about our faith is that God loves us.

The biblical idea of love is different from our Western understanding. In the West, we use emotive elements to define the word love. In the Middle East the motivating aspect of love is attachment. To love means to remain attached to another. In the Middle East to love means to stay connected to others. When we know that God loves us, we also know that God wants to be connected to us. This is how religion is supposed to work. The word religion is constructed by the prefix 're' (as in repeat) and then 'ligeo' (the root of the word ligament). Ligaments are the connective tissues that hold the bones together.

In a theological context then, religion 're-connects' us to God. That is the goal of love, to stay connected to God and to one another.

The theme of connection perfectly aligns to our school celebration of Harmony Day, which we officially celebrated on Monday March 21, but are continuing to explore throughout the week. Harmony Day provides an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Australians come from all over the world, but that ‘Everyone Belongs’. Today there are over 21 million people living in Australia who all contribute different ideas, religions, languages and customs to our country. The diversity of people who live in Australia make it such an interesting and special place to live. The annual celebration of Harmony Day is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone and it recognises the truly multicultural nature of our society. Harmony Day is an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Australians come from all over the world. Our Australian story is so diverse, and this is very much reflected in our own school community, which is blessed by the mix of so many different cultures. This is especially important considering the cultural diversity of students at Mary Immaculate. Almost 65% of our students are from a language background other than English (LBOTE). Harmony Day is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home – from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world. By participating in Harmony Day activities, we can learn and understand how all Australians from diverse backgrounds equally belong to this nation and enrich it. 

Although we may come from many countries from around the world, each of us contributes to making up the pages of the bigger Australian story that we all share together. We thank Mrs. Grados for her leadership in providing resources for this special event and the staff for deepening the student’s appreciation for the importance of this day through coverage in classrooms during the week. 

Wishing you a Lenten week ahead that is filled with many opportunities to reconnect to God who often appears to us through our interactions with others. 

Tina Murray

Principal 

 ANZAC DAY MARCH - 25 APRIL 2022

We are pleased to inform our community that we will once again have the opportunity to participate in the Campbelltown RSL commemoration of ANZAC Day March and Service at Mawson Park. Students are invited to join in the ANZAC Day celebrations and march with the Mary Immaculate group. Students are to wear Full Summer Uniform including hat and meet at the corner of Queen and Dumaresq Streets at 8:20 am and then proceed to Mawson Park for the commemorative service. Students will be accompanied during the march by Mrs Murray. Parents are most welcome to join our school group. Participating students will need to be collected at the conclusion of the commemorative service at approximately 9:45 am at Mawson Park.

Parents are invited to register attendance via the Compass event that will be shared shortly.

Congratulations to Kinder Blue for earning their second Gold Star last week, well done!!  Keep up the good work. Let’s see if we can get some more Gold Stars on our chart – 2 Gold is aiming for three in a row!

Library this week:

Thursday – Year 3

Friday – Year 2

 

NEXT WEEK: 

Tuesday – Year 4

Wednesday – Year 1

Thursday – Kinder

Premiers' Reading Challenge

The PRC is now open for students to login and register their books. If students remember their login from last year it is still valid so they can login when ready. Parents of students in Kinder and Year 1 are still welcome to register their children – just send a letter in to me with your child’s name and class. Don’t forget to look at the PRC website to make sure the books chosen by the students are on the correct list – if you have too many not on the list they will not be accepted, nor will any more than 3 books from the same series.  Years  3 - 6 must read 15 from the lists and may read 5 personal choice; Kinder – Year 2 must read 25 from the lists and may also read 5 personal choice. Have a look at the Premiers' Reading Challenge website: https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html

Our Oliver Library catalogue will let you know what books from the lists are available in our Library. Go to oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev and type ‘premier’ in the search box. Then select the level required and the search results will indicate  available titles. Campbelltown and Eagle Vale Libraries have the relevant books marked appropriately too, to make them easy to find. 

Overdrive and Sora 

We can also access eBooks and Audiobooks through Overdrive and Sora. The links are on our Oliver Library home page – oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev , or you can click on the following links:

Visit the Overdrive Support site for the latest information :

http://overdrivedow.weebly.com/

Or click here to find out how to get started with the Sora App:

http://overdrivedow.weebly.com/getting-started.html

The students will need to know their school Google login, CEnet credentials, which is their surname, intitial, 01  (or allocated number), and their password, which is usually Miev and four numbers. For example – Sam Smith could be SmithS01:

password Miev1234

 

Daily Reading

Remember how important it is for your children to see you reading too – they always love to imitate their parents. Try to find the time to sit with them even for ten minutes a day. 

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."

Maya Angelou, Poet

Happy reading!

Mrs Sue Bryant

Teacher-Librarian

The Mini Vinnies Team would like to thank the Mary Immaculate Community for their immense generosity throughout the start of our Project Compassion Campaign. 

As a School Community in just over 2 Weeks we have raised $1,029.20, which is an outstanding effort.  This means that we are only $247.00 away from supplying a community in the Solomon Islands with a 5,000L water tank.

One event that has positively impacted the total raised was the Project Compassion Fundraising Stall held on Harmony Day, Monday 21 March. This stall was only made possible from the kind donations of new and near new items from Mini Vinnies Representatives and their families. Students were able to purchase these items for a gold coin donation raising a wonderful $432.00. 

On Monday of Week 11 we will be running another Project Compassion Fundraising Stall where students will have the opportunity to buy some more items. 

Again, we thank all students and families for their almsgiving in this Lenten time. We can’t wait to see the impact we can make by the end of Week 11.

Keep Donating!!!

Mini Vinnies Team.