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This year our School Improvement Agenda for 2025 is
- Student Voice and Agency
- Planning for Improved Student Learning - key focus on Mathematics and Reading
Welcome Foundation Students for 2026
It was with much joy that we welcomed our Foundation 2026 students to Mary MacKillop this week. They attended Story Time with our current Year five students buddying up with them to share a story and draw some pictures. I’m not sure who was more excited - the Foundation students for 2026, their parents/carers, teachers, year five buddies or Mrs Privetera and myself! We look forward to seeing them all again for their Orientation sessions on Thursday 13 November and Wed 19 November.
Thursday 30 October - Welcome all Grandparents/Special Friends!
Just a reminder we are looking forward to seeing many grandparents/special friends on Thursday 30 October from 1.15pm. We are looking for Parent Helpers to assist with the serving of tea/coffee. We need your help from 12.45pm - 2.15pm. If you can help please complete the below google form or let us know in person at the office - we need approximately 10-20 parents.
Parent Helpers Wanted - Google Form Link
World (Teachers) Staff Day Friday 31 October
Next week we acknowledge and thank all educators and staff in schools. On Friday 31 October it is World Teacher’s Day, however, at Mary MacKillop we name this day World Staff Day as there are many staff in our school with different roles who contribute to the life of our wonderful school. Staff will enjoy a small treat on Monday for morning tea as a gesture to say thank you for all their hard work and commitment to education.
Icy Pole Wednesdays
Reminder: Throughout Term four, every Wednesday at recess, icy poles are available for sale from the Canteen for $1. All proceeds contribute to fundraising. If you can help please let the Office know - help is needed from 10.30am - 11.15am.
Class Lists for 2026
Class lists for 2026 have been drafted by staff. Much thought and consideration goes into this with efforts made to:
- Balance boys and girls
- Consider wellbeing and social emotional needs, including friendships
- Consider a balance of academic needs and students who require additional support
The next step in this process is to then match the class list with the teachers - again, much thought is put into this.
The list of teaching staff for 2026 will be published around Week 8 of this term (week beginning 24 November).
Important Dates for Term 4
- Friday 24 October Regional Athletics (for students who succeeded in getting through Division - please note the date change)
- Thursday 30 October Grandparents/Special Friends Afternoon tea from 1.15pm (please note this is an afternoon time slot this year)
- Monday 3 November School Closure Day
- Tuesday 9 December Year 6 Graduation from 5pm
- Thursday 11 December End of Year Mass 9am
- Friday 12 December Christmas Concert (during school time)
- Monday 15 December Meet and Greet 2026 (students)
- Tuesday 16 December Last Student day
2026
- The first student day for 2026 will be Thursday 29 January
30th Anniversary Aerial Photograph
As part of our 30th Anniversary celebrations, our entire school community came together for a special aerial photograph to mark this milestone year. Students and staff gathered together in Term three on the small oval to form a giant “30” – a wonderful symbol of our shared history and community spirit.
Each classroom has received a printed copy of the photograph to display and enjoy. Advanced Life photographers have also produced a large photo board version that will be proudly showcased within the school.
Please note that the PDF version attached to this newsletter is for viewing only and must not be reproduced or shared in any way.
What a wonderful way to celebrate 30 years of learning, growing, and achieving together!
October – Month of the Holy Rosary
Rosary Prayer Gathering
Families, parents, and friends are warmly invited to join us for a special Rosary prayer led by Fr Ajin on Wednesday, October 29th at 9.00am in the Allen Hall. All classes will gather to pray the Rosary as a school community. This is a wonderful opportunity to pause in prayer and reflection during the month of the Rosary. An invitation has been sent home with students. We look forward to sharing this special time of faith and community with you. Students and families are welcome to bring their rosary beads to use during the prayer celebration.
Grandparents and Special Friends Celebration - Information
We warmly invite all families to join us for a special Afternoon Tea to celebrate our wonderful grandparents and special carers who play such an important role in our lives.
- Following afternoon tea, we will gather for a Prayer Service to thank God for the gift of grandparents and all those who share their love, wisdom, and care with our children.
- It will be a beautiful opportunity for our school community to come together in gratitude and celebration. We look forward to seeing many of our grandparents and special friends on the day!
- Invitations have been sent out to families.
- A special PowerPoint presentation is being prepared to celebrate grandparents and carers at the upcoming liturgy.
- Families are invited to send in photos of grandparents with grandchildren or families by Monday 27th October 2025 for inclusion in the celebration.
- Please email your photo to lprivitera@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au
- Please note the the Lowry Court gates and neighbouring carpark area will be open from 1.00pm.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus tells the parable of the proud Pharisee who prayed from his self-importance and the tax collector who prayed humbly.
In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable about how to pray. One person is proud. The other is humble. In the Gospel of Luke (18:9–14), Jesus shares an important lesson about humility. Humility means not thinking of oneself as better than others. Every talent, act of kindness, and good choice comes as a gift from God. Through humility, a heart stays open to learning and growing, always relying on God’s guidance. God’s grace makes every good action possible. Who are some examples of people who show true humility—people who act with kindness, gentleness, and gratitude?
Fundraising
Father's Day Breakfast
Thank you to everyone who supported our Father’s Day Breakfast. Through your generosity, we raised $380.70 for the Trinity Families Diocese of Sale Appeal. Your contributions help support families in need within our diocesan community.
Rememberance Day
Remembrance Day poppies and related items are now available for purchase on behalf of the Berwick Sub-Branch RSL. The Remembrance Day Appeal raises vital funds to support current and former members of the Australian Defence Force and their families in times of need.
Students can purchase items ranging from $1–$5 from the Student Reception area, managed by our Year 6 students. Parents can also purchase Poppy Appeal merchandise using the QR code provided.
All proceeds will support the RSL Appeal. Merchandise is available until 17 November 2025.
Fantastic work 4-AB with our class fundraiser! It was such a fun day watching you become teachers and plan such thoughtful and creative lessons that included learning intentions and success criteria. You should all be very proud of yourselves!
Thank you Year fives for the way you contributed to the class mission day. Students got into the spirit by wearing their PJs or free dress and either participated or supported a Charity Crab Soccer match. In your reflection, you shared how you are in a fortunate position to be able to support and help others.
Great work to the Year five boys who play soccer, you were so responsible when your ball when out of bounds to seek a teacher. Great work!!
Great job to the Foundation and Year six students on their successful buddy masses these past teo weeks. Well done to the year sixes’s on supporting their buddies and being great role models. Well done to the Foundies for showing courage in having a go with their readings.
Well done to all the Year two students for their participation in our Mission Month fundraiser. It was great to see everyone get involved.
Well done to the Year three students for their enthusiasm towards their Inquiry unit for Dance. It was great to see some students going outside their comfort zone to perform dance routines. We can’t wait to see the final product!!
Fantastic work Year one students for always listening attentively during prayer time and sharing your thoughts and reflections after!
Congratulations, Year three students. On Wednesday afternoon, you were having a wonderful time rolling down the hill. When your teacher explained that you needed to stop because you were getting wet, you listened straight away and chose a different activity. Well done for showing great responsibility!
School Athletics Day
Last Wednesday our whole school participated in our annual School Athletics Day at Casey Fields Athletics Track. We were blessed with beautiful weather and had many families come to support the students. Thankyou to all our wonderful parent volunteers who assisted on the day. Without you events like this are not possible!
All students did a fantastic job, showing their skill and participating to the best of their ability in the various track and field disciplines.
Results were as follows:
- 1st - Portland
- 2nd - Eden
- 3rd - Fitzroy
- 4th - Penola
This brings our overall school tally after 20 years of athletics day to:
- Penola - 7
- Fitzroy - 6
- Portland -4
- Eden - 3
Girls division cricket finals
Our girls cricket team qualified and competed in the Division finals last Friday. The girls were undefeated on the day; showing great skill, teamwork, game sense and a positive attitude. They have now qualified for the Victorian Southern Metropolitan Regional finals on November 19 for the second year in a row which is an outstanding achievement. We wish the following Year 6 girls the best of luck: Alex, Tilly, Rachel, Aaliyah , Lattika, Awur, Fleur, Chloe Cecille, Emily.
Regional Athletics
This event will take place at Casy fields athletics track on Friday. We wish the following students the best of luck: Cecille - Hurdles and Shotput, Fletcher - 200m, Ethan E - High Jump, Thomas P - 1500m.
Coming soon - Annual OLHC Parish Schools Cup
This annual event will take place at MMPS on November 7 for our year five and six students. This will involve a round robin sports day with our parish schools Trinity and Don Bosco. If any of our senior school parents are available to assist with your child’s team, please contact me via email ctimothy@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au.
This Term in Visual Arts we have lots of exciting projects happening, including clay works, Grandparents day artworks, painting and Christmas!
Students in Foundation through to Year 4 have been super engaged in working with air dry clay. There has been lots of experimenting in the creation of different objects and we have been quickly realising what works well and what could be improved.
- Students in Foundation created very hungry caterpillars by rolling many balls of clay to make the body and adding their little caterpillars to leaves.
- Students in Year 1 and 2 have been enjoying getting creative to make monsters!
- Year 3 and 4 students have been rolling clay into long snakes to create coils to form pots.
Students in year 5 and 6 have been taking inspiration from Indigenous artists to create their own message sticks!
We have enjoyed creating a special collaborative artwork for Grandparents day next week and we are really looking forward to what we will be doing in the next few weeks, especially starting our Christmas creations!
Submitted by: Claire Giles & Kimberley Lardner
We are a Happy Families School!
Our school is subscribed to the Happy Families School Membership! Owned and run by Dr Justin Coulson, one of Australia’s leading parenting experts, the membership offers a wealth of parenting education and resources.
Parent Session - Entitled: Raising Responsible, Respectful Kids
Wednesday 5 November, 7pm AEST / 8pm AEDT
On-demand gratification has become the modern-day norm, and our children have never known anything different. As a result, parents are noticing a clear pattern of declining levels of resilience and frustration tolerance. We naturally want them to be happy and successful, but we also recognise that a sense of entitlement can hinder their journey. While our hearts yearn to give them the world, we know it’s equally important to nurture gratitude, responsibility, and respect within their hearts.
Our children are growing up in a world defined by instant gratification. They’ve never known a time when things weren’t immediately accessible, which has contributed to declining resilience and frustration tolerance. As parents, we yearn to give them the world and shield them from disappointment, but we also know that fostering gratitude, responsibility, and respect is essential for their true happiness and success.
Entitled with Dr Justin Coulson will dive deep into the issue of entitlement. We’ll explore its root causes, its impact on our children’s development, and most importantly, we’ll equip you with practical strategies to turn things around. You’ll learn how to shift your child’s mindset from “gimme” to “thank you”, and how to foster a sense of appreciation even in an age of abundance.
In this presentation, we will navigate the challenges of parenting in today’s world and discover how to raise children who are not just responsible and respectful, but empowered, resilient, and ready to make a positive contribution to the world.
We will regularly share resources available through our membership with you, including Insight Articles and Live Webinars.
This week’s Insights Articles are attached
- Trusting Your Child's Natural Development (EL)
- Supporting Autonomy Without Losing Authority (P & S)
Building Independence
Building independence helps children grow in confidence, resilience, and a sense of responsibility — all vital skills for lifelong learning and wellbeing.
Research shows that when children are given age-appropriate opportunities to make decisions and take ownership of tasks, they develop stronger problem-solving skills, higher self-esteem, and greater motivation to learn (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2022).
How Families Can Help
At home, you can encourage independence by:
- Involving children in daily routines – Let them pack their own bag, make their snack, or help with chores. Consistency builds responsibility.
- Encouraging problem-solving – Before stepping in, ask: “What do you think you could try?” This helps them think through solutions and build confidence.
- Allowing small, safe mistakes – Forgetting a hat or lunchbox once can be a great learning opportunity. Reflect together: “What might you do differently next time?”
- Praising effort, not just outcome – Say things like “You worked hard on that!” or “You figured it out yourself!” to build a growth mindset (Dweck, 2015).
Extra Tips for Families
- Create predictable routines – Children feel more confident when they know what’s expected.
- Offer simple choices – Two or three options help develop decision-making skills.
- Model independence – Let children see you organising your own tasks and managing challenges calmly.
- Be patient – Independence takes time; celebrate small steps and progress.
Independence at Every Age
These skills are important for all students, from our Foundation learners just starting their school journey to our Year six students preparing for secondary school.
For our older students, independence helps them take responsibility for their learning, manage time and organisation, and approach new challenges with confidence, key skills for a smooth and successful transition into high school.
Submitted by Lize/Caitlin
Child Safe Standards
Our school is safe, student centred and animated by our school values.
We aim to Inspire Hearts and Minds.
"Children are the future of the human family: all of us are expected to promote their growth, health and tranquillity." Pope Francis 2021
MMPS Child Safe Standards - CODE OF CONDUCT
Victorian Catholic School Statement of Commitment to Child Safety (VCEA)
The updated VCEA Statement of Commitment to Child Safety - A safe, nurturing and empowering culture for all children and young people in Catholic schools, is attached to this newsletter. This statement has been updated in light of the revised Child Safe Standards coming into effect from 1 July 2022 and the supporting Ministerial Order No. 1359.
Child Safe Policies
Child friendly version of Child Safe Policy (updated April 2025)
Congratulations to our Year 6 Student Leaders on their creation of the student friendly version of the Child Safe Policy. This policy has been uploaded to our website Child Safe page and can be found in the following link https://www.marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au/child-safety-standards
Child Safe Standards and Parent use of Mobile Phones, Privacy Laws
We ask all parents to be mindful of their mobile phone usage, child safety and privacy laws when visiting our school. During such times as morning Prayer time, Mass, Assemblies and school events/gatherings, we ask parents to turn off or put away their mobile phones and to respect the privacy of all students. Photographs and video footage cannot be taken of students without parental permission. Reminders of safe mobile phone usage will be shared with the school community at morning prayer times and assemblies. On special occasions such as student awards at assemblies or student graduations, space will be made available for parents to photograph their child in a child safe way. We thank you for working in partnership with us to respect the privacy of all our students.
Child Safe Resources to support Students, Parents/Carers
- eSafety Commissioner.
- Webinars for parents and carers
- Join one of the free webinars for parents and carers.
These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
Distressing content - Online spaces should be safe for everyone, but you may sometimes come across content that is distressing – especially if it shows extreme violence or acts of terrorism.
The e-Safety Commissioner has key topics about what to do and how to get support and Resources for parents and carers.
- Parental controls
- The hard to have conversations
- Online safety basics
- FOR FAMILIES https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/parent-resources/online-safety-for-every-family
- CCYP - Commission for Children and Young People https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/
- School TV https://marymacnarre.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news
- Multilingual videos now available on SchoolTV!
- Because wellbeing shouldn’t get lost in translation, SchoolTV has introduced a powerful new feature — multilingual videos.
- Until now, families could access written content in more than 60 languages. Now, expert-led videos are also available in Chinese, Hindi and Arabic, with more languages to be added next year.
- This new feature ensures every family can access trusted, practical guidance in a way that feels familiar, inclusive, and easy to understand.
- Explore this feature for yourself by clicking the link below to view SchoolTV content in your preferred language.
- http://marymacnarre.catholic.schooltv.me/stv-multilingual-feature
Student Collection and Early Dismissal Reminder
In the interest of student safety and wellbeing, we remind families that if a parent or guardian is collecting a student other than their own, the Office must be informed prior to sign-out.
If you have arranged for someone not listed as an emergency contact on your child’s PAM profile to collect them, please contact the Office in advance to confirm the arrangement.
These procedures are in place to ensure we meet our Child Safety obligations and maintain accurate records of student collection at all times.
Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping all students safe.
Scholastic Book Club
ORDERS DUE - Monday 27th October 2025
Please note: Cash orders no longer accepted. Online orders only via LOOP.
