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Dear Parents and Carers,
Last weekend was a special celebration for our school and our parish as many of our students took the next step in their Catholic initiation. The reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the very first time for these younger parishioners brings many blessings to our entire community. It is also a sign of great hope that our 2000+year faith continues to be handed down from one generation to the next. It is a great privilege to witness daily, the love and support parents provide to their children in the day-to-day interactions visible within the life of our school. During the weekend, this was reinforced as parents proudly presented their children for the sacrament of Holy Communion. At Baptism many of the children would have been babies and would have been carried to the sacrament by their parents. Now a few years later these children can step up independently to take the next step of their sacramental journey and confidently profess their own faith.
As parents, each time our child takes another step in their faith journey we are certainly proud, but we should also be challenged to remember the enormous responsibility of our role as the first educators of the faith. Fr Leo reminded us that First Communion is certainly a special day, but it is not the culmination of our faith journey. We may not be able to define God, but we are able to know what God is like and this was revealed in the divinity and humanity of His Son Jesus. The mysteries and beliefs of our faith are illuminated when we remember Jesus in the breaking of bread in the context of a faith community, but also through the daily encounters when Christ is revealed to us through the words and actions of others. We too can reveal the face of Christ to others in our daily decisions to choose kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Choosing Christ is a daily call to discipleship, a call enhanced by the openness of our minds and hearts and the commitment of our free will to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this was what Jesus was referring to when he asked his disciples at his final breaking of bread with them to “Do this in memory of me.” What are the implications of the word this? What are we are called to do and to be in our families, our school, our community, and our world?
Our community thanks all who made the celebration of First Eucharist over the weekend so successful. Please continue to pray for these children and all children that they might have the opportunity to continue to grow in their faith supported by their families, parish, and school community. May we continue to strive to make Christ our Way and Life.
Tina Murray
Principal
Sadly, we will be farewelling Mrs Soliette Markovic (Creative Arts PPT) at the end of Term 2 as she and her family relocate to Lithgow. I’m sure you will join me in passing on best wishes and gratitude for her contributions during her short time at MIEV. We wish her abundant blessings as she begins a new chapter.
STUDENT PHOTOS
Often at school events parents take photos of their children. It is important to respect the fact that not all parents are comfortable with their child being photographed by other people. As such, all parents are asked to ensure that wherever possible, photos are only taken of their own child/ren. Parents should never post photographs of students, other than their own child, without the expressed permission of each parent on any web based social media site including Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Unfortunately, the lost property situation in our school is becoming unmanageable. Most items in lost property have no labels and cannot be returned or identified by students. It is often the case that students take unlabelled items from lost property that may not be theirs. We encourage all parents to check that all items are labelled with both your child’s name and class.
Although the P & F will not be operational for the remainder of 2023, an undertaking that annual events such as Father’s Day gift creation will proceed with the support of parent volunteers.
We are currently seeking expressions of interest from parents / family members who may be able assist with this initiative during the first 5 weeks of Term 3. Please complete the google form via the following link if you are able to support this initiative.
https://forms.gle/bUL7SUXLPrK8JwRR7
As always, the safety and security of our students is our main concern, particularly at arrival and dismissal. We are extremely grateful to our parents who have approached the inconveniences of the changed arrangements resulting from the building works with grace and patience.
At Mary Immaculate we are fortunate to have access to Jim and Sue, our School Crossing Supervisors. Recently there have been a couple of near misses involving students not using the crossings, walking ahead of their parents, and moving onto the road without being aware of nearby traffic. Parents are requested to take the extra time to use the crossing and refrain from crossing in the middle of the road or between cars, especially on Emerald Drive, which has a very active and potentially dangerous Bus and Kiss and Ride zone. It is vitally important that our students establish safe habits at a very early age. These may be lifesaving habits that hold them in good stead later when they are independent road users. The following video is a great resource regarding the use of the children’s crossing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih0rXAqxSZg
NSW K-2 English and Mathematics Syllabuses
As mentioned in previous newsletters, all schools in NSW are implementing the reformed NSW English and Mathematics K-2 syllabuses. These syllabuses highlight foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Please find below suggestions about what you can do as a parent or carer to support your child in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 in the area of Measurement and Space in Mathematics.
Helping your Early Stage 1 child at home with Mathematics
Measurement and space
Non-spatial measures
Non-spatial measures focuses on:
- describing and comparing the masses of objects.
- sequencing events and reading the hour time on clocks.
You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:
- comparing masses of objects around the house by hefting one in each hand (hefting means to hold or lift something to estimate its weight).
- naming the days of the week and months of the year. Contextualise times of the year using special celebrations such as birthdays or cultural events
- looking at the phases of the moon and the position of the sun.
- involving them with weekly routines for school and home life. For example, Library day at school is Thursday, it’s PE uniform day on Monday and our family goes to Nanna’s house for lunch every Sunday.
- referring to an analog wall clock in your house for hour time events. For example: The long hand is on the 12 and the short hand is on the 5. It must be five o’clock: time to watch our favourite show on TV.
Helping your Stage 1 child at home with Mathematics
Measurement and space
Non-spatial measures
Non-spatial measures focuses on:
- measuring recording, comparing and estimating the masses of objects.
- describing, comparing and ordering durations of events, and reading half- and quarter-hour time.
You can help your Year 1 and Year 2 child at home by:
- using hefting (holding 2 items in each hand and lifting to test the weight) to order a variety of household items from lightest to heaviest. For example, a mug, a book, a metal spoon and an apple. Check this order by using kitchen arm balance scales.
- discussing important family dates by using a standard calendar to illustrate when these events will occur. Calculate how long until these events happen, for example, It’s 5 days until your sister’s birthday, It’s 2 weeks and 3 days until school holidays or It’s 4 months and 2 days to Christmas.
- using both analog and digital clocks around the house to understand how to read half past the hour, quarter past the hour and quarter to the hour time using the time measures of hour, minute and second in everyday life. For example, It’s 1 hour before bedtime, The food will go into the microwave for 30 seconds or Brush your teeth for 2 minutes – that means counting to 60 twice.
Mrs Lillian Del Giudice
Assistant Principal
Year 6 Mass with the Bishop
Year 6 will be attending a very special mass with Bishop Brian at St Justin’s Oran Park on Tuesday, 13 June 2023.
All of the Diocesan schools in our local area will be attending.
Please remember to sign the permission slip on COMPASS if you have not already done so.
Students will be expected to wear their full school uniform and have a packed lunch for the day.
We are sure that our students will reflect our school vision of:
‘Walking with Christ, showing service and being respectful of themselves and others’ at this special event.
NAIDOC Week Mass
We would like to invite our school community to celebrate NAIDOC Week with us!
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
Our school community will be celebrating NAIDOC week by attending a special mass next week based on this year’s theme ‘For Our Elders’.
This will be held on:
Date: Friday, 16 June 2023
Time: 11:00 am
Place: Mary Immaculate Church
Sacred Heart Award
For many years now, we have been celebrating a very special award in our school - The Sacred Heart Award.
Any student in our school may be nominated by a teacher for displaying the school values and living out our vision of:
- Faith (Walking with Christ)
- Respect
- Service
- Lifelong learning
The teachers then vote and ONE child in our entire school is chosen and presented with this prestigious award.
This year, we will be holding this liturgy on:
Date: Friday, 23 June 2023
Time: 10 am
Place: Mary Immaculate Church
All members of our school and parish community are warmly invited to attend and share this celebration with us.
Mrs Kirsty Simpson
REC