Dear Parents,

This coming weekend we celebrate Trinity Sunday. This feast is celebrated each year on the Sunday after Pentecost. The concept of three persons in one God is something that many of our faith, especially children, find difficult to comprehend. However, it is especially important to have some understanding of the Trinity because it is central to our faith. “Trinity is the Christian name for God.” Karl Barth.  The understanding of the Trinity stresses that The Creator or Father has come near to us in human form in Jesus and lives in us in the Holy Spirit.

God is not removed from the pain and suffering of our world and has shown profound love and compassion for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and in the continuing indwelling of the Holy Spirit with its gifts for sustaining us. St Paul tells us that, “Long ago in many ways at many times, God’s prophets spoke His message to our ancestors. But now at last God sent His Son to bring His message to us.” Hebrews 1:1. St Paul had a great insight into the Trinity, when he gave this blessing to the people of Corinth, May the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

The message through Jesus is that, in God’s eyes, all people are of equal importance and we are to love ourselves and others, as God loves us. We are to do this because, “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us.” Ron. 5 : 5.

There is an important prayer based on the Trinity that we use every day. We are often a little blasé  when saying this prayer. Next time you make the sign of the cross I ask you to pray reverently to the Trinity.

 In the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

GOOD LUCK  - I take this opportunity to wish Mia B (4 Gold) all the best when she competes in the MacKillop Cross Country Carnival on Friday. I am sure Mia will do herself, our school and our Diocese proud.

SABBATH WEEK  - This week, Week 7, Mary Immaculate students and staff observe Sabbath Week. During Sabbath Week we endeavour to observe a period of rest in many different ways – no scheduled appointments, no homework, no staff meetings. Instead, we encourage staff and students to take time to focus on ourselves, and our relationship with God. I understand that it is easier said than dine, however, I encourage parents to also take a breather for a few minutes sometime during the week and spend time in prayer and reflection.

SEMESTER ONE PARENT / TEACHER INTERVIEWS - Parent / Teacher interviews for Semester 1 will be held from Monday 1 July to Thursday 4 July. Now that our school is using the COMPASS office system, we will be introducing an on-line booking procedure. A note explaining the procedure will be sent home to families next Monday.  

Have a great week and let Christ be our way and life.

Don Spencer

Principal

PUPIL SUPERVISION

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY - PUPIL FREE DAY TERM 2

A reminder that the Term 2 Staff Development Day for the staff at Mary Immaculate will be held on this Friday 14 June 2019. The focus of the day will be related to the teaching of STEM. Children are not required to attend school on this day.

 STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY - PUPIL FREE DAY TERM 3

The staff of May Immaculate will be attending an overnight retreat in Mittagong from Thursday evening 25 July until Friday afternoon 26 July 2019. The children will not be required to attend school on Friday 26 July (Friday Week 1 Term 3)

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

At Mary Immaculate the staff has an ongoing commitment to professional learning. The staff benefit from attending inservices, in curriculum areas, that assists them in providing quality learning opportunities for the students in their class. The following staff have or will attend professional learning and hence will be away from school.

Happy Birthday to the following children who will be celebrating a birthday this week:

Monica W, Jarrod B, Alek M, Charbel T, Ivah F, Jasmine F, Adriel F, Piper H, Jeanelle S and Adam C.

Congratulations to the only class who earned a Gold Star last week – 2 Green, well done, an awesome effort!!! Some of the other classes again came close…. we just need to remember to bring our Library bags on the day of the lesson, and return our overdue books! Still waiting for ONE class to get its first Gold Star for the year – almost there this week!

Damaged Books: If a book is damaged or torn while at home, please do not attempt to repair it. While we appreciate your efforts, we have the correct materials at school and it is easier for us, and better for the book, if we repair it here. Using sticky tape to attach torn or loose pages is not ideal. Please just ask your child to let us know, and we can fix it. The students do not get into trouble if a book is accidentally damaged, we would rather know about it so we can do something about it! If a book is damaged beyond repair, then we do ask that it either be paid for or replaced by something similar. Please try to keep the books away from younger siblings – we have had a number of books lately which have had to be thrown out because they have been scribbled in and torn, or water-damaged. Thank you for your support in this matter. 

Scholastic Book Club: The brochures went home last week, ordering is available online as indicated on the brochures. No orders or money are able to be accepted at school. If you have any problems, please don’t hesitate to contact us in the Library before or after school. Orders close for this issue, Issue Four, on Monday 17 June. Thank you for your support of this program, it is a great way to buy books for your children. 

Premiers' Reading Challenge: We now have quite a few students who have already completed the challenge, and many more who have logged in and registered their books read so far. If you have not yet registered any do not worry, there is plenty of time. Year 3 students will be logging in during Library lessons over the next few weeks to register their books too. Don’t forget if you are having difficulties logging in to register the books the students can just come in to the Library at Lunch 2 and see me.

https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html

You can also go to our Oliver home page at oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev and click on the link to take you to the website. Remember Kinder – Year 2 must read 30 books, and Years 3 - 6 must read 20, with only 5 Personal Choice books allowed.

"Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read." 

Marilyn Jager Adams, Child Development Expert

Happy reading!

Mrs Sue Bryant, Teacher Librarian

Congratulations to the following children who have won a Morning Tea with the Principal:

Isaac O K Green, Maddison T 1 Gold and Ben C 3 Green

This winter, thousands of people face crisis and are forced to do whatever they can to make it through the cold, (and often lonely), months of winter. To assist such people, the St Vincent de Paul Society is holding their Annual Winter Appeal.

 To support this worthy cause, the Mini Vinnies Team has decided that they would like to hold a ‘Sweet Treats Stall’. The stall will be held at Lunch One on Thursday 13 June. The Mini Vinnies children will be providing delicious treats. All proceeds from the stall will go towards The Winter Appeal.

Treats will cost between 50c and $2.

 Thank you for your support!

 Jasmine, Emma and William (Mini Vinnies Team)

ON MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 FROM 8:30 A.M. TILL 9:30 A.M. AND 2:00 P.M. TILL 3:00 P.M

ALL UNIFORM IN THE 2ND HAND UNIFORM ROOM WILL BE 50% OFF

THE SALE WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE SCHOOL HALL

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Its not always easy for kids to understand the value of money especially in our increasingly ditigal world.  To help your chlid to develop their saving skills and learn to be more resonsible with money, you can choose for them to be part of School Banking.

On Monday 24 June 2019 at Morning Assembly Natalie from the Commonwealth Bank will be here to talk about the benefits of School Banking and to answer any questions you may have.