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Dear Parents and Carers of Mary Immaculate,
What a great start to the 2023 School Year we have had! Yesterday, we welcomed our newest members to our community - our Kindergarten students. They are an absolute delight to watch as they navigate the school environment under the guidance of our Mary Immaculate staff.
One of my greatest pleasures each day is watching the children engage with each other. The morning duty each day gives me a perfect opportunity to greet the children but also allows me to observe the great friendships that are forming. I came across a quote recently that made me think of the children I see each day:
Friendship is contingent on love—real love: compassion, empathy, reaching out, going beyond what we imagine is possible. That is the command: love. And if we reach out in love, friendship is the result, even friendship with God. (Diana Butler Bass)
Last week, one of our senior students expressed to me how excited she was to be back at school. I asked her what she was excited about - her response was ‘School! I just love being at school!’ This is how friendship is expressed by our children. Their excitement to see each other, their care and concern for each other and their genuine empathy for each other.
Kindergarten’s start to the year is looking very successful as they engage with each other and their teachers during these first few days of school. We all look forward to watching these students grow and learn and to the contributions that will be made by the many new families during their time at Mary Immaculate.
Enjoy the week ahead, as we journey together and strive to make Christ Our Way and Life.
Tina Murray
Principal
making sure that the children have come back to
school with their full school uniform and equipped
with all their school supplies. The students have looked
wonderful each day, reflecting the pride they have in themselves
and their school.
P & F Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Notice is given that the P & F AGM will be held via Zoom on Wednesday 1 March at 7:00 pm.
The primary purpose of the P & F is to provide an opportunity for parents to be involved in the school through community building activities, fundraising and support for school initiatives.
At the meeting all executive positions will be declared vacant, and an election will take place.
Information about the responsibilities of each position will be provided to all parents via a separate Compass notification.
Any parent who wishes to nominate themselves or someone else for any of the positions are asked to complete the nomination form, or add general business items via the link that will be shared.
Parents must be present at the meeting to accept the nomination.
We very much look forward to welcoming many new and existing parents at this first meeting for 2023.
Congratulations to the students who are our inaugural Class Leaders for Term 1.
The following students will be acknowledged at a special ceremony tomorrow morning where they will be presented with their Class Leader Badge.
As already communicated via Compass, we will be holding parent information sessions for each grade next week.
During these meetings the teachers will attempt to provide parents with a ‘window’ into the classrooms, provide an overview of classroom procedures and expectations and will outline the learning for the term.
It is expected that each grade meeting will last approximately 40-50 minutes and will be followed by the opportunity to visit individual classrooms. Kindergarten parents will have a similar opportunity at a slightly later date once classes have been allocated.
To celebrate Shrove Tuesday the P & F Committee will be selling pre-ordered pancakes at Lunch 1 and 2 on Tuesday 21 February 2023.
A hard copy note will be sent home today with the students and an additional copy will be made available via Compass. Extra hard copies will be available in the Office foyer.
The P&F is seeking the assistance of parent/family volunteers who may be able to assist for either the whole day or part of the day. Please complete the Google form available via the link if you can assist.
POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS FOR LEARNING (PB4L)
The positive behaviour approach to enhance learning used at Mary Immaculate is called Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L). This framework helps create vibrant and positive learning environments in which all students are supported to reach their full potential.
The PB4L framework is an integral component of the CEDoW Student Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Policy, which articulates the need for schools to ‘play an active role in building a positive learning environment where the whole school community feels included, connected, safe and respected'.
All staff at our school work together to explicitly teach, affirm and correct agreed behaviour expectations across school-wide, classroom and non-classroom settings, based on our school rules that underpin who we are and what we do at Mary Immaculate.
Students at Mary Immaculate follow explicit behaviour expectations based on the following school rules:
- Be Safe
- Be Respectful
- Be Responsible
As part of PB4L, all students are monitored on the playground and in the classroom. Positive behaviour is acknowledged through Mission Points.
Read more about our Positive Behaviours 4 Learning (PB4L) Framework.
Each fortnight the school chooses a focus which is explicitly taught and revised with the students during this time. This week we will be focusing on Playground Expectations and Classroom Bins.
Class teachers will explain the PB4L framework during the Parent Information evenings next week. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to your child’s classroom teacher.
Mrs Lillian Del Giudice
Assistant Principal
Opening School Mass
We would like to warmly invite you to join Year 1 - 6 for our Opening School Mass.
During this very special mass, we will be officially inducting our Year 6 School
Leaders for 2023.
When: Friday 17 February 2023
Time: 11:00 am
Where: Mary Immaculate Church
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Our Ash Wednesday Liturgy will be held on Wednesday 22 February at 11:00 am. Parents and carers are invited to attend and join us for the start of the upcoming Lenten season.
Kindergarten Welcome Liturgy
SAVE THE DATE: We would like to invite our Kindergarten families to join us in a very special Kindergarten Welcome Liturgy in our church on Friday 3 March at 1.45 pm. More details to come.
This year, one of our school improvement goals is centred around continuing to improve writing at Mary Immaculate. For the past week our students have been engaged in a school wide writing stimulus focused on ‘Unlocked Worlds’.
Here at Mary Immaculate, we have provided an immersion experience to spark the imagination and interest of our students, as well as build their vocabulary and content knowledge.
Students have been engaged in a mini teaching and learning cycle where they have been immersed in quality literature that not only focuses on our theme of Unlocked Worlds, but demonstrates what authors do when they write an imaginative text. Last week each class had the opportunity to follow a set of clues that led to three different doors hidden throughout the school. This interactive experience allowed students to explore, plan and discuss an imaginative story that was prompted by their imagination and ideas of what kind of world they thought would come to life behind the doorway.
There were lots of things to imagine and write about. Some of the things students were wondering were; Where did the doors come from? What is behind the door? Can you open the door? Where does the door lead to? What kind of imaginative world can be found beyond the door? They then used these wonderings to write their imaginative text. It has been wonderful to see the interest and enthusiasm this writing stimulus has sparked and the fantastic writing produced by the students.
Doorways to ‘Unlocked Worlds’
