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From the Principal and Assistant Principal’s
Last Sunday’s Gospel…
In last week's Gospel, we encounter the parable about a farmer who plants seeds and can do nothing about the growth until harvest time. This story shows that once the seed of the word of God is sown, only time will show how a person's faith will grow and develop. We are reminded that our Catholic faith is something that grows in time, and just like the seed we need to nurture it. Such actions as reading scripture, opening ourselves to prayer, attending Mass and engaging in faith dialogue enable us to nurture our own faith.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Bookings for Parent / Teacher meetings are now open via the Compass portal. Parent/Teacher interviews are a great opportunity to engage in discussion about the progress, and next steps for your child’s faith, academic and social development. Due to staff planned leave, Parent/Teacher interviews for students in Mr Marshall (2 Gold) and Ms Voda (4 Gold) will occur in Week 2 of Term 3 (commencing 29 July). Book your interviews now!
I hope you enjoy the next video newsletter which includes the following…
Reports
The new report format, used by all Diocesan schools, has some minor improvements which will ensure the report is easier to read, and also to ensure the report reflects the new English and Mathematics syllabus which has been implemented over the last few years. Kindergarten will have a 3 - point scale with the terms thorough, sound and basic to show the initial achievement in learning while Years 1 - 6 will have a 5 -point scale - extensive, thorough, sound, basic and elementary. You will notice the absence of the A - E grades, which are no longer used. It is expected that on average, most students in each cohort will achieve sound progress.
Canberra Excursion
On June 6 our Year 6 students had the wonderful opportunity to attend an overnight excursion to our nation’s capital, Canberra. Our students had many enriched learning experiences at venues including the Museum of Australian Democracy, Geoscience Australia, Australian Institute of Sport, Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial. We thank our amazing teachers Mrs Smith, Mrs Boehm, Mrs Beckman and Mrs Alford for their organization and time in attending this special excursion.
University Prac Students
You may see some new, youthful looking faces around our school at the moment. This term, our school is supporting the Australian Catholic University and The University of Tasmania in mentoring and shaping the future careers of university students. These practicum experiences are a great opportunity not only for our prac students in developing their confidence and skills in teaching, but also for our school in learning new trends and methods in teaching.
Last Day of Term
The last day for students for Term 2 is Friday 5 July. Term 3 commences on Monday 22 July.
Is it worth the risk?
In recent weeks, residents, teachers and parents from Mary Immaculate have expressed safety concerns about drivers and the potential for an unsafe incident. Afternoon dismissal is a particularly busy time. There are a number of issues specifically related to the afternoon Kiss and Drive line including;
- Parents arriving well before school dismissal, parking their car and entering the school for student collection
- Parents lining up, stopping across resident driveways
- Parents not sticking to the left hand side of the road and therefore double parked restricting traffic flow and not enabling buses access
Kiss and Drive is meant to be a moving line. This service does not start until 2:38pm. Ideally, parents should be staggering their arrival and often by 2:45pm there are very few cars arriving. I have been advised that any vehicle that is stationary in the designated Kiss and Drive area for longer than approximately 2 minutes may be fined. These rules are enforced by NSW Police and Campbeltown Council Rangers. The enforcement of rules has nothing to do with the school, we can simply remind our community of the rules.
Attached are explanations of the signage around the school. All drivers are expected to know and follow the rules.
Please ensure that you are doing you part in remaining patient, safe and responsible in and around school zones.
We wish all our community a wonderful week ahead.
God Bless,
Lindsay Burns and Emilia Ahern, Acting Assistant Principals
Upcoming RE Events: Save the Date…
Induction of Mini Vinnies Member
We are extremely excited to induct our Mini Vinnies members this Friday at the school assembly. Our Mini Vinnies members will undertake their first social justice initiative early next term by holding a ‘Winter Sleep Out’.
You are all warmly invited to celebrate this special assembly with us at 1.45 pm at the school shelter.
Let’s welcome our new assistant priest!
Early next month, we will be welcoming our new assistant priest to Mary Immaculate Parish Father Didier Indibi Lutondo.
Father Didier has joined us from The Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. We look forward to him joining our faith community!
Our first Australian Saint: St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
A woman of courage and compassion…
This year the whole school will be celebrating the Feast of St Mary MacKillop with a liturgy on the 8 August at the Church.
We will be taking the time to honour our first and only Australian saint, and take time to reflect on Mary’s life and the impact her devotion and calling has had on Catholic education in our country.
We are extremely grateful to have had religious woman and men like Mary who were dedicated to building Catholic education in Australia over the past 200 years. Without women like her, we would not have the wonderful schools like Mary Immaculate that exist today!
Holy Day of Obligation: Feast of the Assumption
Did you know?
Aside from every Sunday of the year, in Australia, there are two very special ‘Holy Days of Obligation’. These are days, where, as a community of worshippers, we all attend mass. These two days are Christmas Day and the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated annually on 15 August and the entire school will be attending Mass.
You are warmly invited to join us for Mass on this day, so please make sure this date is added to your calendar!
Upcoming Events: Year 6 Bishop’s Mass
On Tuesday 13 August Year 6 students from the Catholic Schools in our local area will be participating in a very special Mass with Bishop Brian at ‘Our Lady Help of Christians’ Catholic School, Rosemeadow.
This is an annual event where our students are extremely blessed to gather with other Year 6 students from our Diocese, participate in Mass, gather for lunch and finally enjoy a special concert that will be held on the day. Parents will receive further information towards the end of this term.
Students from Year 6 attended an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia's history, culture, heritage and democracy.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding to our school in the amount of $30.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards these costs.
Doctors, paediatricians, speech therapists or other allied health professionals may sometimes request that your child’s classroom teacher write a letter or complete a questionnaire. This is something our teachers are more than happy to support you with. However, we kindly ask that you give your child’s teacher two weeks' notice at a minimum before your child’s appointment. The more time we have to prepare, the better. There are processes we need to follow as a school and we want to ensure the letter arrives in time for the appointment. Please note that our school policy is to send any correspondence directly to the health professional. We do not provide a copy of the letter to families.
Elizabeth Chapman
Diverse Learning Teacher