Last Sunday we heard the well know story of the feeding of five thousand people. Jesus, as was often the case, was preaching and thousands of people had come out to the shores of Lake Galilee to see and hear him. There being no ‘pop up’ food stores at the time, he blessed five loaves and two fish one of the apostles – Andrew, had found belonging to a boy who was willing to share them.  Jesus asked the disciples to share them among the people. There was more than enough with plenty to spare. When we share what we have, there is always enough to go around. And when the Body of Christ is shared, it doesn’t become less. The miracle is in the infinite Grace God bestows on us.

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Athletics Carnival

We had a successful day for the most part on Friday at the Athletics carnival. The students had a great day and I thank Ms Beckman, Mr Holmes and all the staff for the time and effort they put into the planning and preparation of the day. We did have a problem with the transport with students not travelling in the way that had been nominated – some went straight to the field that had nominated the bus, and many came to school to go on the bus that hadn’t nominated that option or only did so the afternoon before. This created challenges around supervision and the schedule of the whole day. We will be reviewing this process for 2025. Please forward us any feedback about this or any other aspect of the day. I also thank the large number of parent helpers we had. We could not have run the day without you and we will provide nourishment for you in future!

Behaviour Focus

I mentioned last term that we were having a focus on using kind words at school. I am very pleased to report that a follow up survey of our Year 5 and 6 students had shown a 50% reduction in the instances from their point of view. While we still want this to be better it is important to note that the students are making an effort to show self-discipline in managing their emotions, and such a significant change in a short period of time is a celebration. I am very proud of them. We have also managed to identify students who may say something carelessly as a one off as opposed to students where it has become a habit. You can appreciate that different strategies are required to rectify this and we have put various teaching procedures into place. I am looking forward optimistically to when we can say that using kind words at Mary Immaculate is part of our culture – just what we do every day.

TTFM

We have the raw data from the Tell Them From Me surveys back. We are working on collating the comments part so we can share them with you all – your comments, as well as the student and staff ones. I deeply appreciate your insights. Together we create the best possible school for our students.

We are constantly working on different aspects of communication for you. We have aligned the parent calendar to the staff calendar so you will have plenty of notice of upcoming dates. If you look at the newsletter on a computer it will appear on the left hand side at the top. And at any time on your phone, if you go into the app, you will see the calendar icon and can tap on that to see the calendar. Of course details like times for excursions will still come out separately. We are continually refining it so if you think we have overlooked something, be sure to tell us.

Pilgrimage Leave

My pilgrimage was a very fulfilling experience. There is something very special about walking where those of us who have gone before us walked. I knew Pope St John Paul II came from Poland, but only in climbing the mountains he did and seeing the country that produced such a saint did I come to know the significance of his papacy on the people of Poland and the world. Likewise St Stephen in bringing Catholicism to Hungary. The ripple effect of decisions leaders (including me) make can be staggering; for good and unfortunately for bad. Actually being in Auschwitz and Birkenau, seeing suburbs where 200,000 people lived but only 2,000 do now because they just didn’t come home when the war ended was haunting. The students seemed to like the Infant of Prague cards I brought them back. I think they relate to Jesus very well realising he was a small boy too – a child just like them. I am grateful to be in a position to have these experiences and to be able to talk about them at work. Ms Ahern, Mr Burns and the rest of the staff made it all possible looking after the school while I was away. Thank you all for supporting them in that too.

Assembly

I hope to see many of you at assembly this Friday. We are starting a little early because we have the very important presentation of badges to our Student Leaders for this semester. It is the beginning of our modified system so we will be watching closely to see how it goes.

Attendance and Punctuality

We are also giving out certificates for Excellent Attendance and Punctuality in Terms 1 and 2. We don’t expect students to come to school when they are sick of course but just missing 10% of school, or having a 90% attendance rate, means that over the 13 years of compulsory schooling, students will have missed nearly a year and a half of school! So we are aiming for a minimum 97% attendance and punctuality, which is a week every year so 13 weeks across 13 years but still much better! I hope it reduces some of the arguments you needs to have at home when your children ask, “Do I have to go to school?”

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal

 

Last Friday, Mary Immaculate held our annual Athletics Carnival at the Campbelltown Sports Complex. Despite some early rain, we were fortunate to have beautiful sunshine as students participated in a variety of track and field events. Congratulations to all students for your outstanding display of sportsmanship and enthusiasm throughout the entire day- it was extremely heartening to watch you all in action. 

I would like to once again extend our heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful parent volunteers who contributed to the day's success. Your support is invaluable in making events like this possible — thank you! 

A big congratulations to our Age Champions for 2024. Well done on your outstanding achievements. We look forward to celebrating your success at our next school assembly. 

AGE CHAMPIONS 2024

NAME	AGE
Sonny-Jake Reihana	8	Male
Amelia Mair	8	Female
Kauri Twentyman	9	Male
Bronte Turner  Charlotte Janes	9	Female
Abel Fonofehi	10	Male
Aaliyah Moore	10	Female
Jax Walden	11	Male
Maia Twentyman	11	Female
Samuel Bastoli	12	Male
Annabelle Bligh	12	Female

Mr Joshua Holmes