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Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Each week I try hard to communicate a positive message in the newsletter.
Unfortunately, this week’s newsletter is written with a heavy heart. On Monday I spoke to all primary students about the increasing frequency of incidents of disrespect within our school environment and the heavy toll these are having on school finances. Many of the incidents have happened in the school toilet blocks and include graffiti, toilet bowls filled with so much toilet paper they cannot be flushed, wads of toilet paper thrown on the toilet ceilings, lunches being thrown into the toilet bowl. I have included photos to help illustrate these examples. We have had several visits from the plumber to fix issues and each visit costs approximately $125. Our newly painted Library stairs have been deliberately scratched and will require retouching.
During what has already been an extremely difficult year, we have maintained our focus as a school community on supporting and providing the best possible resources and opportunities for the most important people in our school our students. Today new games are being painted on our concrete playgrounds to support activity during breaktimes. These additions have been generously funded by the P&F and will cost approximately $14,000. As I explained to the students I am worried about the level of disrespect we are beginning to see at Mary Immaculate. I am also concerned about the cost of repairs that could be better spent on resources for learning. Our very first rule at Mary Immaculate is about being respectful. This respect encompasses respect for self, for each other but also for our common home our school environment.
I would be very grateful if every parent could take some time to discuss this matter with their children. A discussion about caring for the property of others and of school may need some guidance so I have provided a possible outline as a suggestion. Please review with your child about what they can do if they lose their own property at school. During this discussion it may be helpful to also explore what it feels like when their property is lost or damaged. Consider asking them what they would expect to happen if another student damaged their property. On the other hand, an exploration about damaging property that is not theirs would provide an opening to consider the need to replace or compensate for the damage. These discussions could be extended to include how school property also needs to be treated with respect so it can be enjoyed by other students. Unfortunately, students who are found engaging in behaviour that damages school property will need to be held accountable and required to compensate the school in some way for the damage or necessary repairs.
I thank you in advance for your support in this area and fervently hope we can work together to ensure these issues are resolved in our community. Let us work together to make Christ our Way and Life a daily reality in our School Community.
Tina Murray
Principal
PARENT WEBINAR
A survey of parents earlier in the year identified gaining a greater understanding of safe online usage as a key area of interest to parents. Information made available by the E-safety Commissioner identified the following areas as possible risks associated with children’s online usage. These risks have significantly increased as children engage in greater online access due to COVID restrictions.
As a School Community we have found the greatest risks result from conflicts that originate outside of the school being brought into the school as a result of students engaging inappropriately via social media applications. Generally, issues occur via messaging and group chat apps. However, on other occasions, difficulties arise due to students accessing apps that are intended for users who are much older.
To support parent knowledge in this area we have included a flyer advertising a free parent zoom webinar that will explore the impact of technology on mental health, gaming addictions and will provide strategies to manage screen time in the home.
MATHS KITS - In an effort to support the numeracy development of all students throughout the school, we are creating 315 Maths Kits to be used in the classroom. These kits will contain a variety of concrete materials to support the students and teachers during Maths learning, including a variety of dice, playing cards, numeral cards, counters, a bead string, measuring tape and hundreds chart.
We would like to thank Mark and Bell from Bunnings at Bonnyrigg for their assistance with the purchase of these containers at a reduced price and their generous donation of 50 containers to house these materials.
We would also like to thank Kerry and Pete Watson for their time and assistance in making some of the resources for these Kits.
We are sure that this resource will assist both class teachers and students in improving the learning outcomes in Mathematics.
CLASSROOM GAMES - The P&F Association have donated $1000 to assist the school in purchasing board games and card games for Years 2 to 6 to be used in the classroom during wet weather and to support classroom learning.
PLAYGROUND GAMES - We would also like to thank the P&F Association for the funding of the thermoplastic playground games which are being completed over the next two days. We are sure that they will be a colourful and much used addition to both the Infants Concrete area and COLA.
As a School Community we are very lucky to have such generous support to enhance the learning, teaching and school life for our students.
MRS LILLIAN DEL GIUDICE
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Happy Birthday to the following children who will be celebrating their birthday this week:Today, Year 5 was lucky enough to have a talk with Fr. Slawek and Mrs Murray about the Christmas stories and scriptures.
We saw pictures of Mrs Murray’s trip to the Holy Land. We looked deeper into the pictures to find a better understanding of the Christmas story and how it is a big part of our Liturgical Season. We saw buildings that were built on the site of the historical events that took place more than 2,000 years ago. The places looked very different to what we had in our minds, especially the river Jordan. The pictures inspired us with different ideas, with the landscape and their meanings. We saw how the historical life in Holy Land was 2,000 years ago, and how their life was compared to our modern lives now. The houses were made of stone and clay with holes in the thick walls for windows (some houses were even built into the rocky mountains). We were surprised to see how they made everything by hand. We learnt about the Jerusalem Cross and how the four small crosses represent Matthew, Luke, Mark, John and the big cross represents us and our lives.
After our Principal Mrs Murray, visited us, Fr. Slawek came to chat with Year 5 about the scriptures we may use for our Christmas art. We discussed the visit of the Three Magi. It taught us how there is always someone there for us no matter what, like the star was there for the Three Magi. Something we found very fascinating was that the Christmas tree has a true meaning… All of the ornaments represent each and every quality we have. It also represents the first sin that was caused by Adam and Eve and how they had a lack of trust for God.This was because of the serpent and its cunningness, about how it convinced them to eat the forbidden fruit from the apple tree. Because of that Jesus had to die on the cross for all of our sins. We learnt a lot and we are very grateful for our chat with Fr. Slawek and Mrs Murray.
By Leila and Monica (Year 5)
Congratulations to the two classes who came close to earning Gold Stars last week – wonderful effort! We would like to see lots more Gold Stars on the chart, let’s hope we all start remembering our Library bags.
Library Times: Please try to help your children remember their Library Bags for the lessons. They have the opportunity to select books of their choice for reading for pleasure at home. The library Bag protects the books in transit.
- Tuesday – Year 3, Kindergarten, 5 Gold
- Wednesday – Year 1, Year 4, 5 Green
- Thursday – Year 6, Year 2
This term in Library lessons some classes will be exploring the wonders of Poetry – take a look at our Oliver home page and investigate some of the many links to interesting poetry sites - oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev
Premiers' Reading Challenge: We now have over 80 students who have already completed the challenge, and another 230 who are almost there. There is only just over TWO weeks left now to complete the challenge, so it is important to ensure that any books read are registered. The last day for registering your books read is actually Friday 28 August so do it now!
Go to https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html
Remember, any student who is having trouble registering the books at home is urged to come to the Library at Lunch 2 for assistance. If you only have a few books to read, we have put aside a collection of picture books and non-fiction books at each level which you can read during lunch and add to your lists!
"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot
on Treasure Island."
Walt Disney
Happy reading!
Mrs Sue Bryant
Teacher-Librarian
On Friday 7 August, Kindergarten celebrated their 100th day of School. They dressed for the occasion as though they were 100 years old! The children looked fantastic and had a wonderful day!
The children participated in many activities, including collaging the number 100, writing what they would like 100 of and making a ‘100 days’ crown representing that they are 100 days smarter!
Thank you to the Kindergarten parents for your support and imagination with the costumes!
Kindergarten Teachers
Kinder Green: Rhiannon B, Jack A, Lourdes P, Annabelle S
Kinder Gold: Daniel M and Ava R
Kinder Blue: Rachael M and Maison P
School Photos will be taken on Friday 21 August 2020 for students in Kindergarten to Year 6.
Each student has been given an envelope detailing Package Price and Description. You do not need to return this envelope to school if you have already paid on line as the photographers have a record of all children who have ordered on line.
The preferred Method of Payment is Online. (DUE TO COVID NO CASH OR CHEQUES WILL BE ACCEPTED)
DO NOT PANIC IF YOU DO NOT ORDER YOUR PHOTOS PRIOR TO PHOTO DAY THEY CAN BE ORDERED AFTERWARDS. EVERY CHILD HAS A PHOTO TAKEN IN CASE OF LATE ORDERS.
Full Winter Uniform (not sport) is to be worn on the day. Please ensure that your child has a normal school hair style according to School Policy –
‘Hair must be tidy. Exaggerated fashion hair cuts are not acceptable. Boys hair should not touch their collar. Girls with long hair MUST HAVE ALL HAIR PULLED BACK IN PLAITS, PONY-TAIL etc).’
Thanking you
TINA MURRAY
PRINCIPAL