Last week we celebrated the great Solemnity of All Saints' Day. It was wonderful to again gather in our beautiful church for a liturgy that was so beautifully led by our Year 3 students and teachers.

All Saints is when the Church honours all saints, known and unknown, called the communion of saints.

 We celebrate not only the extraordinary saints we know well but also the extraordinary in the everyday human women and men throughout history, who in the image and likeness of God, were role models of greatness...

... ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves." (Sr Joan Chittister) 

We all have the potential to be the face of God for others as we strive and stumble to imitate Jesus Christ in our lives. Sometimes we do it better than at other times. Nelson Mandela put it nicely when he said, 

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” 

Our children’s lives are full of idols and stars brought to them by popular culture. Many of them do wonderful things for others and some do not. This can be confusing for children and can present them with values that conflict with the ones you hope they will grasp through a Catholic education at Mary Immaculate.  

Joan Chittister says, 

“We could use a saint or two, perhaps, to raise our sights again to the heights of human possibility and the depths of human soul. It might not even hurt to pass one or two of them on to children who are otherwise left with little to choose from as personal idols than what Hollywood, TV, and the music industry have already given them. 

I invite you to talk to your children about a saint and also a friend or family member they know who often speaks and acts in a saintly way, a person who makes God visible because of who they are, even if they stumble at times.  

What a great dinner table conversation this would be! 

Wishing you a week ahead filled with moments of grace.

Tina Murray

Principal

 STUDENTS NOT RETURNING TO MARY IMMACULATE IN 2023

Students from Kindergarten to Year 5 (excluding Year 6 students) who will not be returning to Mary Immaculate in 2023 are requested to complete the attached form and return to the school office as soon as possible.

Pic_1.jpg.png

Pic_1 _jpg _png 438.01 KB

As discussed at the P & F General Meeting last week the following staff changes will take place in 2023.

Miss Maryanne Bulfon will be joining the staff at St Francis College Edmondson Park.

Mrs Hollie Wulf will be taking a year’s leave to join her husband interstate for the duration of 2023.

After over 40 years of dedicated service to Catholic Education, Mrs Sue Bryant will be retiring at the end of the year to commence the next chapter, retirement.

We wish each of our valued staff members the very best as they commence new adventures in 2023 and thank them for their contributions to our school community.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AT MARY IMMACULATE

A revised leadership model was presented at the P&F General Meeting last week and has also been presented to students. The rationale for the evolution of this model is based on our belief that all students should have a ‘voice.’ This model will support opportunities to focus on leadership behaviours in action and for students to provide input, opinions, concerns, and suggestions for consideration in all aspects of school life that might affect them. We believe that all students have the capacity to lead, to be a positive influence among their peers and make a contribution to the school and the broader community.

The revised student leadership model undertaken from 2023 is based on being able to live out the School Vision - “Walking with Christ, inspiring life-long learning, respect for others and service to all.”

 Each of our Mission Teams will work to bring this vision to life throughout the school.

MARY IMMACULATE STUDENT LEADERSHIP MODEL

 Mary Immaculate has four house groups that each student belongs to. These house groups are used for a variety of events and situations, such as sport events and ways in building a sense of community. Each house is named after significant Australians who have made a significant contribution to the local area or country. 

• Therry (Red)

Named after John Therry, the first Catholic priest in Australia. 

• Mitchell (Gold)

Named after Dame Roma Mitchell, Australia’s first female judge and state governor

• Farmer (Blue) - 

Named after Pat Farmer - Olympian, marathon runner and Member of Parliament

• Gibbs (Green)

Named after May Gibbs, well-known Australian Author 

Participation in House groups will continue in 2023 and all Year 6 students of each house will assist with the coordination of and support of events that are conducted in house groups. 

We keep in our prayers all our Year 5 students who will commence their preparation to take on formal leadership roles in 2023 this week.

The safety of your child and all students in our schools as well as the safety of the school staff and support personnel is very important to us. To maintain a safe environment for our students to study and learn, it is a necessary compliance requirement that we practice our emergency and crisis response plans by having drills designed to exercise our procedures. 

In response to parent feedback, we are providing the following information to help parents understand the importance of these practices as well as to understand each type of drill.

The students and staff of our school are required to practice the following emergency drills each year. Each type of drill is explained below.

EVACUATION DRILLS

The school is required to conduct a 'evacuation drill on an annual basis.  

During an 'Evacuation Drill, students will be safely escorted along a designated evacuation route to our pre-determined evacuation site.  The grass area in front of the hall  and church has become our new evacuation site due to the current building project.  

At the conclusion of the drill, all students will be escorted back to their classrooms. We want each student to understand and be aware of the importance of this drill and not be afraid when the alarm is sounded.  By practising they will know what to do and how to do it in the event of an actual emergency.

LOCKDOWN DRILLS

The school must conduct at least one 'Lockdown Drill' throughout each school year. This type of drill will secure the school building and safely shelter all students, staff and visitors inside the building.  The purpose of this drill is to keep the students safe from any danger outside or inside the building.  During a 'lockdown drill' all the perimeter doors to the school building will be locked and will remain locked until the danger or issue outside or inside the building is removed.  To enable everyone to remain safe, no one will be allowed to enter the building or leave the building until the drill is completed.  

In the event of an actual emergency, to maintain the safety of everyone involved and to maintain order, we respectfully ask that you abide by the following:

Do not come to the school site
• Do not call the school offices (as we will be busy with the drill or actual emergency)
• Do not contact students or staff members via mobile phone or social media (as they will be busy with the drill or actual emergency)
• Avoid social media posts. Correct information will be disseminated through the Compass system as soon as possible. 
• Please make sure that your contact information is current at all times so that you can be reached without delay in the event of an emergency.
• In the event of an actual emergency, you will receive notification about where to pick up your child as soon as practicable.

Please remember that these safety practice drills are done to help maintain our schools as a safe place to learn and work.

Please discuss these procedures with your child. Our final drill for 2022 will be a lockdown drill and is scheduled to take place next week.