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Dear Parents and Caregivers,
It has become a regular practice when I prepare to write the newsletter for the week, to wait for some form of inspiration. Each week I am on the lookout for something to inspire the theme, but I have to admit I have struggled greatly this week. Perhaps this is because our normal school life has been so greatly disrupted and the special events that have become such a regular feature of my experience of School Masses / Liturgies, Excursions, Assemblies, Carnivals, special Open Days are no longer available. In some ways these ‘special events’ seem to make more obvious the distinctiveness and value of our community. Recent circumstances have forced me to ponder exactly what happens when we don’t have access to these 'special’ events? Could this mean that our experience of our community is less meaningful?
During the last few weeks the gospel passages have attempted to describe what the Kingdom of God is like. In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus told three very short parables in an effort to describe the Kingdom of God. The first tells us about the hidden or buried treasure in the field, the second is the pearl of great price. The third is the parable of the net filled with all sorts of fish. In the first two stories individuals were willing to give all they had in order to own the valuable item. In the last parable the fisherman pulls up a full net, but he is forced to sort the haul in order to find what is valuable and what needs to be discarded. Ultimately, the message that was communicated through these parables was that the Kingdom of God is already ours. The treasure is already available to us and requires us to view all experiences in order to ascertain how they add or subtract value. More significantly, Jesus tells us that, "the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17.20). The Kingdom of God is in each of us; all we have to do is look within our daily lives and activities to find and experience it. Although special events help to reinforce just how special our community can be, the true value of our community lies in the moments of grace we experience on a daily basis.
Like the mustard seed, the Kingdom of God is sown within us. It is a buried and hidden treasure. It is up to us, with God’s help to find and nourish it. During these difficult and challenging times, we are being invited to look for and dig up this treasure and bring it out into the light of our own lives and the lives of others. This is certainly a challenge for all of us because once we find it we are called to share it with others, not keep it to ourselves. As we share our treasure with others, it doesn’t diminish or become smaller in any way; it grows and becomes even bigger to really bring about the Kingdom of God.
This coming week, may we each look for the signs of God’s Kingdom within ourselves and in those around you – it is there, just waiting to be discovered.
Tina Murray
Principal
LIBRARY STAIRS - We are so excited that the painting of our Library stairs has been completed. The beautiful artwork has been a great addition to our school environment and has stimulated many positive comments from the students.
SPECIALIST LESSONS - Each week students have access to specialist lessons delivered by Mrs Bryant (Library / English), Creative Arts-Drama (Mrs Potter), PE (Mr Simons) while their class teachers access Professional Planning Time (PPT). In order to support access to these strands during Semester 2 the time allocation has been changed from 40 minutes to 1 hour. This means that students will access the three specialist lessons on a rotational roster and will not be accessing each lesson each week.
Students are required to wear their Sport Uniform on the following days.
We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of our P&F Association. Due to the restrictions and challenges presented by COVID-19, the decision made by the Executive Committee to focus on community building initiatives instead of fundraising is a positive reminder of the need to prioritise what is most important, in order to respond to current circumstances appropriately.
SCHOOL BANKING - Due to the current COVID-19 situation, student banking will not be available to students in Term 3 2020.
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER CHILDREN’S DAY – Tuesday 4 August
To mark this special national event, we are planning to gather as a school community for a short assembly at the commencement of the day. This will take place on the Infants Grass Playground.
At this assembly we will raise the flags on our new school flagpoles for the very first time.
Due to COVID restrictions parents will not be able to be present but may wish to watch from along the Aquamarine Drive fence.
To celebrate this day our students are invited to wear mufti clothing reflecting the colours of the Australian, Aboriginal or Torres Strait flags on Tuesday 4 August. Please ensure appropriate, closed footwear is worn, especially if this is a nominated sport day.
We are very grateful to Mrs Grados for her leadership of this school celebration and for co-ordinating the classroom activities students will be accessing on the day.
Over the last two weeks all classes have visited the Life Education Van. The children were all very excited about participating in this incursion. I thank all students for their wonderful behaviour and thoughtful contributions to these sessions. I have included some comments and photos from each grade below.
YEAR 6
- Ask ‘what would you do if…?’
- Create a list of solutions. Ask ‘What else might someone do?’
- Play with pros and cons for each solution
- Discuss how they’d feel after making each decision and why
- Choose the best decision and role play them
It's a bit sad because this was the last time going to see Healthy Harold and Life Education was an amazing experience for us and we learnt a lot of fun facts and we really enjoyed the session.
Isaac C
YEAR 5
Mia B
YEAR 4
At Life Education, Year 4 learnt that it is not good for your body if you have too much medicine or not enough medicine. We learnt that there are two types of drugs, legal and illegal. We also learnt that it is important to be confident when trying to make friends and not to be too passive or aggressive.
Chloe K, Hayden B, Indiana C and Mayen A
YEAR 3
At Life Education we learnt how to be Cyberwise.
To be Cyberwise we need to:
- Report
- Block
- Ignore
- Tell a trusted adult
- Take a screenshot.
3 Blue
YEAR 2
Year 2 learnt about being safe and what to do in an emergency. E also talked about people who can help us.
2 Green
YEAR 1
We learnt that we have to eat healthy foods like fruit and vegetables. We also learnt how important it is to never give up, to have an ‘I can do this’ attitude.
Addison T and Ruby C
KINDERGARTEN
We loved meeting Harold and learning about different signs that can give us information and keep us safe.
K Green
Mrs Lillian Del Giudice
Assistant Principal
Happy Birthday to the following children who will be celebrating their birthday this week:
Congratulations again to the students who have returned overdue books – we are slowly getting there, a great start to the Term, well done! However we still need quite a few students to check for books at home please, and remember to bring in Library Bags on the following days:
- Tuesday – Year 3, Kindergarten, 5 Gold
- Wednesday – Year 4, Year 1, 5 Green
- Thursday – Year 6, Year 2
Borrowing has started again, but we need to have our Library bags to be able to borrow.
Premiers' Reading Challenge: Counting down - only just over FOUR (4) weeks left now to complete the challenge, so it is important to ensure that any books read are registered . Go to https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html
If they have only a few books to go, the students can come to the Library at Lunch 2 on Thursdays, we have a selection of books ready at each level to help them finish the required number. Remember that any student who is having trouble registering the books is urged to come to the Library so we can help them register those last few titles!
Scholastic Book Club: Don’t forget to order your books ONLINE if you are interested in any of the current selection. A reminder that we do NOT accept orders and money at school, all orders must be done ONLINE. Issue 5 closes next Thursday 6 August. Thank you for your support.
“The importance of reading to children can’t be disputed. By utilising literacy resources for children, incorporating books as part of your child’s everyday routine, and looking for creative ways to promote reading, you’ll be giving your youngster a head start toward academic success and a rich, vivid imagination.”
https://www.earlymoments.com/Promoting-Literacy-and-a-Love-of-Reading/
Happy reading!
Mrs Sue Bryant
Teacher-Librarian
The Year 6 Ecology Team and Sports Captains are working together to raise money to purchase Nude Food Lunch Boxes for the 2021 Kindergarten Students. The reason we want to purchase these lunch boxes is to promote environmental issues here at our school. Currently we have A LOT of PLASTIC rubbish produced by the students at Mary Immaculate. We want to help to reduce the amount of plastic rubbish brought to school by our students.
At Mary Immaculate, we have Return and Earn buckets on our playgrounds. Students are encouraged to put their RETURN and EARN ITEMS into their house coloured Return and Earn bucket. At the end of each Term, a WINNER is announced based on the number of return and earn items in each house colour bucket.
To purchase the Nude Food Lunch Boxes, we need to raise $750! We really need your help to raise this money. You can help us by sending in any of your 10 cent return and earn items, to be donated to your students house colour bucket. We ask that only plastic or cardboard items be sent in - no glass please.
For more information on Nude Food Lunch Boxes click on this link https://www.nudefoodmovers.com.au/.
For more information on the Return and Earn Program click on this link https://returnandearn.org.au/.
Thank you for supporting this fundraising initiative!
Year 6 Ecology Team
Year 6 Sport Captains
Mrs Kylie Alford - Teacher
There has been one reported case of Chicken Pox at Mary Immaculate Primary School.
If you would like more information on Chicken Pox please click on the link below: