This week is Book Week! Each year since 1945 the Children's Book Council of Australia has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week and in 2020, it seems Book Week has survived COVID, especially here at Mary Immaculate. The theme for Book Week 2020 is Curious Creatures, Wild Minds.

Schools play an important role in Book Week by celebrating books and promoting Australian Authors and Illustrators. Mrs Bryant has organised a wonderful display of books in our Library and despite restrictions, we were able to have amazing class Book Week parades yesterday.

Yes, the parades and Book Week activities are important, but the main message of Book Week is to highlight the importance of READING. Reading is important because it develops our thoughts and has the potential to give us endless knowledge while keeping our minds active. Books can hold and keep all kinds of information, stories, thoughts and feelings alive. They provide a window into lives we can never live and places we may never be able to visit. The importance of a book to help us learn and understand things cannot be underestimated.

Benefits of reading books include: -

• Increased vocabulary and knowledge
• Supporting better spelling
• Learning to focus and improve memory
• Improving writing
• Enhancing imagination
• Releasing stress
• Helping to broaden your mind and social / emotional learning

We encourage all our students to pick up a book or even better, sit with their parents or family members and enjoy a book together. The statistics around reading are certainly amazing.

Enjoy the week ahead with Christ as your way and life.

Tina Murray

Principal

WORLD TEACHERS DAY - This Friday we acknowledge the wonderful work of our Teachers on World Teachers’ Day. It is a day to celebrate with your fantastic Class Teachers. Our Teachers with the support of parents and School Support Officers have ensured education continued across the country this year, despite major challenges. World Teachers’ Day reinforces the significant role teachers play in the lives of children and students, their families and communities.

On Friday 30 October,  I encourage you to take an opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to our wonderful Teachers. The following link will provide templates that you may wish to use with your children to commemorate this very special day.  Please never underestimate the power that simple words of gratitude can have on the life and work of a teacher.  

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL APPRAISAL - Mrs Del is currently finalising documentation for her Assistant Principal’s Appraisal that is scheduled to take place in Week 4 this term.

Parents are invited to provide input by participating via a short survey. Please click or type this link to access the survey. Surveys need to be completed before Friday 23 October 2020.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Appraisal2020ParentDel-Giudice

PARENT SURVEY - Each year we seek parent, staff and student input in order to prepare aspects of the Annual School Report. This year all parents have the opportunity, via an anonymous online survey, to provide input into areas affecting the education of their children and the general functioning of the school. In 2020 we have faced many challenges and disruptions to our normal operations and in many ways we have been unable to operate as we normally would have. In the midst of our current circumstances we are keen to gauge parent input in regard to our future directions but also what we have learned from the experience of COVID.

All feedback is greatly valued and will assist in contributing not only to the preparation of the Annual School Report but also to future directions and in planning for school improvement.

The survey can be accessed by pasting the URL listed below into your web browser.

https://forms.gle/P2SA8KWTKEhrH1PL7

If you would prefer to complete this survey as a hard copy these will be available through the Office. This survey will be available for input for the next 4 weeks.

                       SCHOOL BANKING

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School Banking Day

Wednesday 28 October 2020.

Congratulations to 3 Green and 6 Gold for earning a Gold Star last week – well done! Sadly we still have quite a number of outstanding loans from the end of last term, but we look forward to getting them all back as soon as possible. Well done to all the students who returned their books and remembered their Library Bags. 

Book Week 2020 - 'Curious Creatures, Wild Minds!!' What a wonderful day we had yesterday with so many ‘Curious Creatures’ and interesting book characters at school! A huge thank you to all the parents who ensured your children were able to dress as their favourite character or curious creature, as well as having their book information. It made for a fun day. Thank you too to all our staff members, who always enter into the spirit of the day. Special thanks to Miss Price and the Year 6 IT Team, who put together a video of the day so that even though we were unable to have our usual parade, we were still able to see the variety of characters throughout the school. 

Chess Tournament - Our Chess Tournament has started, but we have had so many entries this year we are unable to do it all at once. Year 6 has started this week, Year 5 will start next week. All participants might like  to get in some extra practice on their moves and strategies! 

Scholastic Book Club - Catalogues for Issue 7 went home last week. Orders for Book Club ONLINE will close next Friday 30 October. Book Club can only be ordered ON LINE, please do not send orders and money to School. There are some great books available at good prices. Thank you for your support. 

Remember to encourage your children to read every day, even for just ten minutes, and if possible, read with them. That valuable time spent with them will be what they remember! 

"The more that you read, 

the more things you will know. 

The more that you learn, 

the more places you'll go."

Dr Seuss