Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Celebrating Student Learning and Achievements

Our warmest congratulations to Scarlett, Telina, Douie and Annabelle in braving the cold weather and competing in Regional Cross Country yesterday in Hastings.  We are so proud of our students to get to this level of competition and for their efforts in participating in very cold, wet weather.  We are so very fortunate at Mary MacKillop to showcase our students’ dedication, tenacity, talent and sportspersonship on display in these events.  A big thank you to Mr Tim for planning, preparing and providing the opportunities for students to participate in Cross Country events.

Staff Updates

Mrs Giles (FCG) will be commencing maternity leave from the beginning of Term 3 - Monday 11 July, 2022.  Ms Gabriella DiBiase will be working in FCG for the remainder of the 2022 school year.  We warmly welcome Gabriella to our school community.  Gabriella and Sally Lane (FSL) will work collaboratively together to plan the learning program for our students.  We wish Claire and her husband all the very best as they plan to welcome their little bundle of joy into their family.

SIMON Student Semester One Reports

The Semester One Reports will be uploaded into PAM next Tuesday 21 June, 2022.  Parents will therefore be able to access their child’s digital report via PAM with the option to download and print or to view as a pdf document.  We have again attached a copy of the PAM instructions, for your reference.  Please see page 7 for instructions on viewing school reports.

Your child’s Term 2 Student Learning Portfolio will be distributed in the first week of Term 3 on Wednesday 13 July.  We ask parents to bring the Student Learning Portfolio to their child’s Student Learning Conversation on either Tuesday 19 July or Wednesday 20 July.  Information on how to book your child’s Student Learning Conversation will be sent home to parents next week.  Student Learning Conversations will be held face to face in the Allen Hall.  We hope you find the Semester One Report and Student Learning Portfolio valuable documents to highlight and celebrate your child’s learning journey.

Wet Weather

Sections of the playground are closed as a result of the recent wet and wild weather experienced over the past two weeks.  We are most impressed with our students for staying away from the mud and puddles on the playgrounds and oval areas.

Mobile phones and Privacy laws

Just a reminder to parents using their mobile phones to photograph or videotape their child at assemblies or other school events.  We ask parents to respect the privacy of all students.  Photographs and video footage cannot be taken without parental permission.  We thank you for working in partnership with us to respect the privacy of all our students.

Important Dates and events

• Tuesday 21 June - Student Semester One Reports uploaded into PAM
• Thursday 23 June - last day of Term 2 for students - school finishes @ 3.15pm
• Friday 24 June - Student free day (Staff Planning Day)
• Monday 11 July - Term 3 begins at 8.45 am
• Wednesday 13 July - Term 2 Student Learning Portfolios shared with parents
• Tuesday 19 July - Student Learning Conversations (Parent Teacher Interviews)
• Wednesday 20 July - Student Learning Conversations (Parent Teacher Interviews)

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Cycle C

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Luke 9:11b-17

They all ate and were satisfied.

Today, the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate a second solemnity, which marks our return to Ordinary Time. Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. At one time, this day was called Corpus Christi, Latin for “the Body of Christ.” In the most recent revision of the liturgy, the name for this day is expanded to be a more complete reflection of our Eucharistic theology. Next Sunday’s Gospel tells us about a meal that Jesus gave to a large crowd. Jesus blessed the food, and there was enough to feed all the hungry people. There was even some left over. Jesus teaches us about God’s love. God’s love for us never ends. We can always be filled with his love. We are so blessed to be loved that much. On this feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus, we give thanks for the meal of the Eucharist.

Sacrament of Confirmation - Save the Date

The final enrolment and Parent only workshop for Confirmation 2022 will be held on Thursday 23rd June, please arrive by 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Parents have to attend only one of these information nights. Attendance is compulsory if your child is preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this year. Children should be baptised in the Catholic Church and should have received the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist prior to 2022.

A prepayment of $50.00 must be made via olhc.cdfpay.org.au and this will open on Wednesday, 8th June at 10am.

Term 3 Class Mass and Class Reconciliation Celebrations

Parents and friends are most welcome to join classes in celebrating the Eucharist and/or Reconciliation. The schedule for Term 3 is published below.

As the school or classes celebrate Mass could we please ask visitors in the sacred spaces to switch off mobile phones and refrain from taking photographs or videos during the celebrations. Your assistance in these matters is appreciated.

Save the Date – school family mass celebration at OLHC on Saturday 6th August, 6.00pm Parish Mass.

All families are invited to attend Mass and join together celebrating the Feast of Mary MacKillop. Further details to follow.

Parent Education

Building and maintaining school belonging

Though there have been a few positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of traditional school routines has not been one of them. Studies have shown a positive sense of school belonging among adolescents can increase life satisfaction, self-confidence.  See the article below for more information:

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 Albarnas is our 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

A few weeks ago the Seniors began their Science inquiry unit. Here is what they have discovered so far:

• I learnt that Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the inner rocky planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the gas giant planets. Pluto is a dwarf planet - Jonathan (5-AB) 
• I learnt that the sun is a star and that all the planets in the solar system orbit around the sun. For Mercury it takes 88 days to orbit around the sun and Neptune takes 60, 190 days - Marco (5-AB)
• When learning about geological changes, droughts affect our earth’s surface with the soil drying up, which impacts on farmers who grow crops and the challenges they face - Lily (5-AB)
• When learning about the solar system, I discovered that Mercury is the smallest planet and Jupituer is the biggest. When we did our class scale model of planets, Mercury was smaller than 5 cents - Mia (5-AB)
• We have been learning about space. We learnt the order of the planets, the different sizes of the planets and how far away they are from each other - Katelyn (5-SD) 
• I learnt about the sizes of the planets and the distances between the planets. The universe is much bigger than we think and it is hard to show on a model - Ruben (5-SD) 
• We learnt about how sudden changes to the Earth’s surface can affect living and non-living things. For example, a fire would burn the trees and impact animals and how they survive - Marielle (5-SD) 
• I have discovered the difference between chemical and physical changes. When it is a chemical change there will always be a new substance formed - Alanna (6-MV)
• I discovered that when you mix Berocca tablets with water in a plastic bottle and put a balloon over the top, the balloon starts to inflate and expand. This is because the Berocca tablets mixed with water created some sort of vapour or gas inside the bottles to inflate the balloon - Rakaan (6-MV)
• We discovered that when you add heat to a substance like bread, the change is chemical because it can’t be reversed - Natalie K (6-MV)   

Last week the Middles began their Science Inquiry unit. Here is what they have discovered so far:

• “I have learnt that living things can grow, reproduce, eat/drink and move.” - Amir 
• “Scientists do experiments to answer their questions. We’re going to be scientists and do some experiments.” - Tilly
• “Scientists are people who invent stuff and experiment with stuff. They don’t always get it right straight away, so sometimes they have to improve.” - Fleur 
• “Scientists study a bunch of different things. There are some who invent things, there are some who do research on things.” - Aaliyah 
• “Science has been very interesting. I really like it and I really want to do more. My favourite part was to build my science project which was a boat that would have to float with a tennis ball on it.” - David

CROSS COUNTRY

After finishing in the top 10 at District Cross Country, the following students competed in the Casey North Division Cross Country a fortnight ago - Scarlett , Douie, Annabelle, Telina , Zac P, Sienna M, Phoebe, Archer, Katelyn M.

They all did an amazing job with Douie (8th), Scarlett (1st) Annabelle (8th) and Telina (5th) all progressing through to the Southern Metro Regional Carnival yesterday. All four students ran extremely well given the tough conditions and the very high level of competition and we are extremely proud of their effort and dedication,along with all the other students who were part of the Cross Country team this year.

SOCCER CLINICS

This week and next, classes have, or will be taking part in soccer clinics facilitated  by Absolute Soccer. The Year 1’s , foundies, Year 5’s and Year 4’s have already had one session and they were AMAZING! It was heartwarming to hear the coach Marty say what an absolute privilege it was to come to our school and coach children from those grades because of how focussed, well behaved and skillful they were!  Enjoy the photos!

SENIOR WINTER LIGHTNING PREMIERSHIP

District schools are working hard to reschedule this event for early Term 3 . Stay tuned!

こんにちは、

This week in Japanese, Senior students wrote letters to the sister school. They wrote a simple self introduction and then illustrated their letter with symbols of Japan and Australia. We will be sending these letters to Japan in Term 3. 

Fantastic work Senior students!