Catholic Education Week - Pilgrims of Hope

What a joyous few days we have had as a community celebrating Catholic Education Week for 2025. Last Sunday morning at 9am Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians, Narre Warren, seven of our Year 6 Student Leaders, participated directly in the Mass and some highlighted what being in a Catholic school means to them. A very big thank you to their families who supported them in attending Mass.

On Tuesday families exited the school promptly (thank you!) so that staff could attend a Catholic Education Week prayer service with our two other Parish schools - Don Bosco and Trinity. We participated in a Lectio Divina - a scripture reading is read several times and between each reading of the Scripture, the listener is invited to reflect on particular words or phrases that have meaning for them. 

Yesterday, all of our Year 6 students as well as their teachers, myself and Lize Privitera travelled by bus to St Francis Xavier Beaconsfield. We celebrated Mass along with many other schools from the Sale Diocese. Bishop Greg spoke about his recent trip to Rome to attend the installation of Pope Leo the fourteenth. He also spoke to the students about being filled with hope and going out into the world as hope filled people. Our Year 6 students conducted themselves beautifully and listened attentively throughout the Mass.

Our Mary MacKillop Catholic Education Week Mass occurred this morning - another opportunity for us to stop and reflect on what it means to be part of Mary MacKillop primary school.

It has been wonderful listening to students in the Middle and Senior School collaborate together over the last few weeks to organise a stall for our Fundraising Stall activity today. They have listened to each other, collaborated with ideas for their stall, made products to sell and also asked their parents for support. They have given up their own time to organise this and used their gifts and talents to raise money for others. This is Catholic Social Teaching in action - well done everyone. I would like to thank Mrs Lize Privitera for all the work that has gone on behind the scenes to support the students with their stalls as well as classroom teachers and parents/carers.

Students with PAM permission are bringing home a cookie today to celebrate Catholic Education Week.

Cross Country - Go Mary MacKillop!

Well done to all the students who participated in Cross Country this week. We have 13 students going through to Division next Wednesday. Good Luck!

Review

Next week, from Tuesday to Friday our School Review will occur. We will have Ms Lisa Harkin (Principal - Marist Secondary College), Mr Nick Hall (School Leadership Consultant - DOSCEL) and Mr Brett Morris (St Mary’s primary school Sale) on site each day speaking with students, parents and staff. 

Uniform Policy

All students are now required to be in full winter uniform. A reminder that we have free second hand uniform clothing available for all families if you need to stock up. Conversely, if you find your child has outgrown uniform pieces, please bring in any good quality, clean clothing you are happy to donate.

Parental support in adhering to our Uniform Policy would be greatly appreciated:

Jewellery

• Only the following jewellery can be worn as part of the school uniform:
• Plain stud earrings or sleepers worn in earlobes only
• Watches
• Necklace that displays religious symbols eg: crucifix, Mary, Jesus, Saints.

Hair

• Hair colour must be of natural colouring.
• Hair of shoulder, or longer, length must be tied back with hair accessories in school colours.
• Decorative hair accessories must not be worn.  

Items not permitted

• Nail polish must be removed before attending school.
• Temporary tattoos must be removed before attending school.

Shoes

• Black school shoes.
• School shoes cannot be skate shoes or slips due to OH&S concerns.
• Sports shoes must be non-slip and non-marking.
• Shoes with high heels are not acceptable.

Road Safety

A very big thank you to all those cars who are using the drop off and pick up lane correctly. If your child requires extra hugs or takes a long time to get out of the car please consider parking and walking your child to the gate so that others are not held up in the line.

Additionally, if you know you are blocking the flow of traffic on Ernst Wanke Road, due to our school entrance being full please consider driving on and parking at Lowry Gate (there is lots of parking on this side) and walking in and collecting your children. Ernst Wanke road is very busy and we can only accommodate so many cars on site each afternoon. The Lowry Gate area is a great alternative.