Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Celebrations of Learning

This week, our Junior Students and Japanese specialist lessons have shared their learning in the Administration foyer.  On display are our Junior students reflection of our school values - respect, responsibility, courage, compassion and problem solving.  When we act out our school values, we model our words and actions on the life and work of St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop.  Throughout her life, Mary MacKillop lived out the Gospel messages, to educate and provide opportunities for students to learn.  As part of our focus on Learning to Learn, it is great to see the Junior students making connections to our school values and sharing ways they demonstrate our values in their daily interactions with each other.

Car Park Safety

We are very fortunate at Mary MacKillop to have two entries to our school - at Lowry Court Gate and Ernst Wanke Road front entrance, as well as substantial car parking facilities.  Car park safety and courtesies are essential for the smooth, safe flow of traffic at peak times in the morning and afternoon.  We ask all members of our school community who use our car park facilities to display our school values to ensure our students are safe at all times. 

Our students are entitled to expect that:

• They have a safe environment to get to and from school
• Injury risk is minimised on the road environment
• Parking of vehicles are in accordance with Victorian road traffic rules
• Parents and carers will act in a safe manner and display traffic courtesies to others using the car park facility.

Our parents are entitled to expect that:

• Their child/ren will arrive/depart school in a safe environment
• The drop off and pick up of their child/ren is done in a friendly, courteous manner
• Other road users will adhere to the car park rules and signage.

Please ensure that your car remains in a parking bay until the bell rings at 3.15pm.  By doing this, it allows for a smoother flow of traffic. We thank you for working in partnership with us to ensure the safety of our students and the safe flow of traffic at peak times.

Student Learning Conversations (Parent Teacher Interviews)

Our Student Learning Conversations, which were scheduled to be held in Week 5 will now be held in March with the hope that restrictions are eased and we can meet face to face.  The new dates for the Student Learning Conversations are:

Wednesday 16 March, 2022 from 3.40 to 6.20 pm

Thursday 17 March, 2022 from 3.40 to 6.20 pm

Information on how to book your Student Learning Conversation will be sent home to families via PAM at the beginning of March.

COVID-19 Restrictions - change of dates

An updated list of dates for Term 1 is attached to this newsletter.  Events in Term 1 were reviewed in light of current restrictions and re-scheduled, where possible.  The new Student Learning Conversation dates are listed above and School Photos have been moved to Friday 1 April.  We apologise for any inconvenience, but hope the rescheduling of dates will ensure our students get to fully experience the events we had planned.

SAC (School Advisory Committee) Meeting

Our first SAC Meeting for the 2022 school year will be held on Tuesday 29 March, 2022 at 7.00 pm.  Our SAC Membership includes:

• Danielle Davis (Secretary and Parent Representative)
• Julie Gubbels (Parent Representative)
• Marina Valladares (Parent Representative)
• Stephanie Miller (Parent Representative)
• Lize Privitera (Deputy Principal and Religious Education Leader)
• Helen Fourna (Staff Representative)
• Liz Jones (Principal and Chairperson)

At our SAC meetings our agenda covers the following areas:

• Welcome and Prayer
• Attendance and Apologies
• Child Safety
• OH&S
• Friends of Mary MacKillop (Fundraising Committee) Report
• Principal Report
• Religion and Wellbeing Report / Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour (WSAPBS)
• Staff Report
• Financial Report
• General / Questions
• Date of next meeting

RECENT LEARNING AWARDS

First Reconciliation celebration bookings on the schoolinterview.com.au website will be open on Friday 18th February at 10am, closing on Thursday 22ND February at 3.30pm.

Shrove Tuesday (1st March 2022) is the day before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. Dating back to 1000 AD, over the years Shrove Tuesday not only became a day for Confession but a time for Catholics to feast on eggs, sugar and dairy which are traditionally restricted during the Lenten fast.

This year the students will be offered pre-prepared pikelets in their classrooms with a choice of various toppings. Please complete your child/s permission form that was sent out today via PAM.  Permissions must be completed by Thursday 24th February at the latest.  Children must have PAM permission to participate. Students with allergies to any of the listed ingredients or require special dietary requirements are asked to provide their own pre-prepared pancakes and toppings.

We look forward to celebrating Shrove Tuesday.

Synod 2021-2023 Walking Together As the Diocesan Consultation period for the Synod 2021-2023 continues until the end of this month, you are invited to join in one or more virtual gatherings organised by the Diocesan Gaudium et Spes Diocesan Plenary team.

Three conversations, one for each of the Synod themes of Communion, Participation and Mission.

The details are in the attached flyer:

• Conversation on Communion - Tuesday 8th February at 7.30 pm [completed]
• Conversation on Participation - Thursday 17th February at 1.30 pm [completed]
• Conversation on Mission - Wednesday 23rd February at 7.30 pm

Please register at https://www.trybooking.com/BXFJB  

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Sunday, February 20, 2022

In next Sunday’s Gospel, we continue to hear Jesus' Sermon on the Plain. Jesus teaches us how we are to treat others.

Jesus calls us to treat others in the way we want to be treated. We follow Jesus’ command when we love and forgive all people, even when it’s hard. This Gospel tells us that God gives us unlimited chances to act in loving ways toward others. We know that God shows mercy to us by forgiving us and by giving us another chance to choose to follow his ways. God wants us to be merciful just as he is merciful. This means that God expects us to give each other unlimited chances.

Parent Education

Building strong working relationships with teachers

A healthy parent-teacher relationship contributes greatly to student success.  View the attached article:

OLHC Parish

Our Lady Help of Christians Parish Information

Mary MacKillop Primary School is one of the three Parish Primary Schools belonging to the Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Narre Warren within the Diocese of Sale. Fr Brendan Hogan is our Parish Priest and Fr Ajin is our new Assistant Priest. We are grateful for their ongoing prayers, involvement and support of the students, families and staff of Mary MacKillop School. 

PARISH BULLETIN - Click on the link below to download the weekly newsletter:

Parish-Bulletin

In the Middle Level we have been building up our learning environment and promoting positive learning behaviours. Students have been finding out about eSafety, themselves and others, team building and making prayer a focus of our day. Here are some of our thoughts: - 

Religious Education - Setting up our prayer routine began with classes deciding on their Mary MacKillop quote to be added to their prayer cloth. This will be used for prayer each day. 

“What I have really liked is how we have been planning and creating our prayer mat together and learning about different types of prayer.” - David (3RJ) 

Esafety - Tuesday 8th of February was Safer Internet Day. The students in the middle level have been learning about how to be safe online. Here are some of the things that the students in 3BE have learnt: 

Toby - “Don’t tell anyone your passwords.”

Gurgeet - “Don’t message people you do not know.”

Tyler - “You can only tell people online things you like but not your private information.”

Aaria - “Don’t tell anyone your address.”

Wuri - “The safety hand tells us the people we trust and who can help us.”

Learning to Learn - Students are discovering how they learn and what good learning behaviours look like in the classroom. They are discovering and sharing information about themselves with others including strengths and challenges.

Alyra from 4CM said:

"What we all did was a T-shirt with a self portrait of ourselves and we had to draw our favourite subject, food, pets, colour and drink. I liked doing it because it was fun and we could learn about our classmates and learn what they liked. Our classmates learned about our family and we learned about their pets and family. It helped because we could get to know everyone and find out what they liked if we didn’t already know".

Emily from 4CM said:

"What I liked about it was drawing the pictures and colouring it in. It helped my classmates to learn about me and making connections with each other. I did a selfie of me and I drew some pictures of what I liked. I drew my favourite animal, video game, book, hobbies, colour and food. What I loved most doing is drawing my selfie and favourite food.”

Middle Level Sport - Each Friday the middle level participates in team building activities with each other. With Mr Tim and classroom teachers, they set up equipment and support each other in being fair, supportive and acknowledging the contribution of others. Here are some of the reflections from 4HF: 

“It's not about winning” Immy 

“Having other people in the team help you” Chloe

“Knowing the rules of the game mean we all can play” Tyler

“Letting others join in is important at our school” Peppi

こんいちは、

This week, Grade 2’s had Japanese club. We had great fun making とら (tora) masks for Japanese New Year. とら  is the word for tiger in Japanese.