Last Sunday’s Gospel…

Jesus was talking with His disciples when He asked them who people thought He was. What are people saying about Him? Peter was the only one to recognise and who had the courage to say that Jesus was the Christ, the one that had been promised throughout the Old Testament. Jesus, recognising Peter’s faith and insight then said Peter would be the one to build the Church. No doubt at the time Peter wasn’t quite sure what that would mean but he certainly did build a church with the other disciples that has lasted for 2000 years. Sometimes, we don’t quite know what we are supposed to do to add to the building of the Church. We too have to have faith, listen and work with each other to bear Christ to all.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

We thought we’d write a joint newsletter item today to introduce ourselves to you as well as let you know about a few things that are happening in the school. We are both learning very quickly, helped by a very welcoming and professional staff, how Mary Immaculate works. Some of the these we are immediately attending to are the building project - which is running ahead of schedule, staffing for 2024 - as you know there are significant shortages so we need to get onto that as soon as possible, Kindergarten 2024 transition, not to mention learning all the processes and procedures and of course the most important of all, getting to know the students. We also want you to get to know us!

Mr Burns…has been Assistant Principal at St Peter and Paul, Kiama for 7 years.

I live in Dapto with my wife, 2 sons and daughter.  I am closely connected with my parish at St John’s, Dapto where I serve most weeks as Eucharistic minister and reader. I am excited to support the Principal and school to improve the learning experience for our young people.

Mrs Rolfe… has been Principal of two other schools, OLHC Rosemeadow and Holy Family Ingleburn.

I live in Appin with my husband and three sons who are young adults now. You may get to meet them because they often come to help with various school community activities. I am closely connected to my parish at Rosemeadow. I love to work with families to create the best learning environment for our students. Please give us feedback because it is only together we can make the school the best it can be for our students. 

We are very conscious that this can be an uncertain time for everyone with a new Principal and Assistant Principal and we don’t know how long we will be staying. We are working to support everyone wherever we can and set up for a successful 2024.

Mrs Michelle Rolfe           Mr Lindsay Burns

Acting Principal               Acting Assistant Principal

SEASON OF CREATION

The Season of Creation is the Annual Christian Celebration to pray and respond together to the cry of Creation. it is an opportunity for our community to reflect on ways we can care for each other and the world. 

Each class will celebrate the start of this season with a special prayer.

FATHERS' DAY PRAYER

We would like to warmly invite you to celebrate Fathers' Day with us on:

• K - 2: Year 1 will be leading this prayer

Thursday 31 August at 1.30 pm

• 3 - 6 Year 4 will be leading this prayer

Friday 1 September at 1.30 pm

Where: School Hall

Ms Kirsty Simpson

Religious Education Co-Ordinator

BOOK WEEK 2023

‘Read, Grow, Inspire’

During Week Five, we celebrated Book Week over two days. On Thursday, author Deborah Abela, visited our school and spoke with all grades about what it is like to be an author, how she writes her stories and what inspires her. This was a valuable experience for the students and it was fantastic to see first hand how she takes ideas from her Writer’s Notebook and composes novels and picture books. 

On Friday, we celebrated a love of literature as the students participated in the Book Character Parade. It was wonderful to see the creativity and effort put into these costumes, as students excitedly paraded around and shared the books that inspired their costumes. This was followed by a series of exciting activities, as students engaged in rotational activities related to the CBCA nominated books for the year. 

Book Week certainly was an exciting week and we appreciate all of the time people put into making it so successful. 

Rebecca Sidorenko

Students from the Year Six Learning Team concluded the week by reflecting on their final Book Week at Mary Immaculate. 

BOOK WEEK 

In Week 5, we had our Book Week Parade and our author visit from Deborah Abela. 

We are very thankful to Deborah Abela who took time out of her day to visit our school last Thursday. She spoke to each grade and taught us about how she became an author. Students from all over the school drew special pictures to make a display to welcome her. We all enjoyed her talk and loved learning about her job as an author. 

We’re also very grateful to our parents, friends and community members who also gave up their time to attend our Book Week parade. Our theme for this year was “Read, Grow, Inspire”. We’ve seen many great costumes ranging from Harry Potter characters, Disney princesses and even Bananas! We loved everyone's costumes. This book week was the last for Year 6, Mrs Murray and the first Book Week for Kindergarten and Mr Burns, our acting assistant principal.

Our thanks extend towards all the teachers, staff, and students who helped to set this special day up. We thank the students from the Learning Team and Mrs Sidorenko who gave up several lunches to make this special day happen. 

Have a blessed day and let Christ be our way and life.

Jailan Villanueva

Elijah Key

Andrea Albuquerque

Learning Team Members 

Indigenous Literacy Day - Thursday 7 September

THE GREAT BOOK SWAP

Literacy provides a fundamental step of building context, comprehension and understanding, whether it is written, visual or auditory. For kids who miss that foundational step in their literacy journey, it has a lifelong impact. 

This year the teachers and students at Mary Immaculate will be taking part in the Indigenous Literacy Day Book Swap. The Great Book Swap is a fantastic way to celebrate reading locally and learn more about Indigenous languages and culture. Schools, libraries, universities, book clubs and individuals can host a Great Book Swap. 

Students will need to bring in a gold coin donation and a book (in good condition) from home, that they no longer want or read. It does not need to be a brand new book. They will exchange / swap it with another book with their grade peers. 

This day will also be a MUFTI Day. 

We thank you in advance for your support for this day.

Mrs Danielle Grados

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Coordinator

Year 3 Teacher

A few weeks ago, the Kindergarten students and teachers were hardly able to be recognised when they lined up. There were walking sticks, grey hair, curlers and spectacles where five and six year olds usually dressed in school uniforms and black shoes would normally be.

The students had the best day making crowns, threading 100 fruit loops, smiling for photos and spending time with their Year 5 buddies, eating fairy bread and receiving a handball as a special gift. Being 100 days smarter is certainly hard work.

Kindergarten Teachers