Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Celebrating our school community

Thank you to everyone who attended our Father’s Day Breakfast, Prayer time and Assembly this morning.  We had over 400 dads, grandpas, pops and students attending this very special event.  It is a time where our community gives thanks for the love, support and guidance provided by the male figures in our lives.  A very special thank you to Mary MacKillop Staff for assisting with the planning, preparation, cooking and serving.  To all our dads, grandads, uncles etc in our school community, we wish you all a very happy Father’s Day on Sunday.  We hope you enjoy time with your family and loved ones.

Happy Father’s Day!

Planning for 2023 School Year

2023 Class Placements

Teachers will begin planning for our 2023 classes at the end of Term 3.  We respect and value parent input and ask that you email me – ejones@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au, or put in writing, if you have information about your child that could impact on their placement for 2023.  Please ensure your request is sent by Friday 9 September, 2022.  Parents please be mindful of the following:

• Requests should be based on individual student needs. 
• Requests are forwarded onto staff when placing students into their 2022 classes. 
• Staff use a range of information to ensure an effective balance within classes across the level and to provide an optimal learning environment for all students. 
• Please be aware that your letters of request are not a guarantee, they provide an opportunity for your input and assist us in the process of class placements. 
• Please note that requests made in previous years are not necessarily considered in the process, so previous information provided by parents regarding their child’s placement will need to be re-submitted if the concerns expressed in previous years are still relevant for consideration in 2023.

School Advisory Committee - Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 18 October, 7.00 pm in the Staffroom.

The Annual General Meeting of the SAC is fast approaching.  A nomination form for parent representative positions on the School Advisory Committee 2022-2023 is attached below.  Hard copies are also available from the Administration Office.  

The responsibilities of the SAC are to:

• promote the Catholic ethos of the school
• provide feedback on and review of school policies
• plan for the future of the school and its ability to accommodate future enrolments
• provide advice on budget planning and finance-related matters
• contribute to the selection process for the school principal (when the position is advertised)
• provide advice on the appropriate provision of faith development and Religious Education programs
• promote child safety in the school

Our current 2021-2022 School Advisory Committee comprises of the following members:

• Chairperson - Liz Jones
• Parish Priest - Fr. Brendan Hogan
• Parent Representative - Danielle Davis (Secretary)
• Parent Representative - Julie Gubbels
• Parent Representative - Stephanie Miller
• Parent Representative - Marina Valladares
• Staff Representative - Helen Fourna
• Staff/Parish Representative - Lize Privitera

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

First Eucharist Celebrations

Congratulations to all the children who received their First Holy Communion last weekend. We pray for these children and their families that Jesus will continue to bless and nurture them in their faith through this Blessed Sacrament.

• Tylane Brown  
• Addison Buehler 
• Imogen Davis  
• Ashlee Juric 
• Mason Leak  
• Keira Louise Jensen
• Valentina Maruzza

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Luke 14:25–33.

In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, his followers, what our most important priority in life should be. Jesus tells us our number-one priority is to follow him. Jesus wants us to know that by following him, we will find happiness. At the same time, he wants us to know that following him is not always easy. We're lucky that Jesus is so honest with us about what it takes to follow him. What are some ways that we can show that God is our number-one priority?

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 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  https://www.olhc.org.au/parish-bulletin/

FATHER’S DAY PRAYER

God, our Father,

We give you thanks and praise

for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers,

newly embracing their vocation:

may they find courage and perseverance

to balance work, family and faith

in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for fathers around the world

Whose children are lost or suffering:

may they know that the God of compassion

walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers

but still mentor and guide us with

fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, grandfathers

Last Thursday on the 25th August, the Write a Book in a Day group spent 12 hours planning, writing, illustrating, editing and publishing an exciting narrative called ‘Coco’s Curse’ which was submitted to the Kids Cancer Project - Write a Book in a Day organisation. 

The book will go into a competition to be judged in the primary school category as well as distributed in the hospitals for kids with cancer to read and enjoy.  

The team of Summer, Jasmine, Natalie K, Alanna, Emma, Apaar, Douie, Ava, Jazz and Sienna spent the day collaboratively brainstorming, planning, illustrating, editing and publishing a story that required them to work within parameters that included certain characters, a setting, a problem and the addition of some random words.  

The group worked very well together and enjoyed their experience even though it was a long day. Pizza for dinner definitely helped to keep their creative juices flowing after such a long day. 

Part of this event was raising funds for the Kids with Cancer Project and we are immensely grateful to the Mary MacKillop community for their support in the Lucky Dip which was conducted earlier in that week.

We raised a grand total of $815.80 and we sincerely thank all the parents, teachers and students who were involved in the fund raiser. We know this money is going to a worthy cause!

Congratulations to the Write a Book in a Day students and the Mary MacKillop Community! 

It has been a very exciting and busy term as we have been learning several different musical skills such as aural (listening and repeating clapping and singing patterns), composing, singing and playing. 

Foundation students have learnt to sing and play two songs, Cows in the Kitchen and Frère Jacques using a variety of untuned percussion instruments including, tambourines, triangles and rhythm sticks. In recent weeks they have been introduced to chime bars, which are tuned instruments. Each week we have been focusing on a different musical concepts such as sound & silence, soft & loud, beat and pitch. Using this knowledge, students have begun to create and compose simple music sequences, sharing them with their peers. 

The two songs Year 1 students have learnt are Kye Kye Kule and Haru Ga Kita. Students have sung and used untuned and tuned percussion instruments including triangles, shakers and chime bars rotating between each part to perform as a class. Students have begun to compose music as they created ideas using different musical instruments to represent four different animals, and recorded them in their own way. They used these ideas to create a musical story using two or more animal themes with some students performing them to the class.

Learning music is a new experience for a lot of students and the Year 2’s - 6’s have done a wonderful job of settling into the program and learning and participating in a range of new things. 

The Year 2’s - 6’s learn a variety of things from four main components. These are Aural, Singing and Playing, Composing and Connecting. The Aural component is all about listening to patterns and beats used by clapping, singing and clicking fingers. The Singing and Playing involves students learning a new song and playing untuned and tuned instruments to it, following beats and rhythms. Untuned instruments include triangles, tambourines, egg shakers and others that don’t have notes and can be played by shaking, tapping and hitting. 

The Composing section of the program involves students making their own music with instruments and following a beat and number of bars. The Connecting part of the program has students listen to different styles of music from classical and jazz music to pop and reggae. They analyse the music they hear, names different instruments in an orchestra or Big Band and classify different groups of instruments. 

All students are thoroughly enjoying the program and we are looking forward to learning more wonderful things about music in our world.

National Child Safety Week

National Child Protection Week (4-10 September 2022) is an annual event starting on the first Sunday of September. This year’s theme ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go’ aims to spread the message that to treat all of Australia’s children fairly, we need to make sure every family and community has what kids need to grow up safe and supported. We are very proud of our students who were awarded winning designs for the DOSCEL Child Safety Competition. You can find the entries on the DOSCEL website and our School website. A great resource to share with your children.

Braveheart’s Day Friday 9th September - Wear the colour purple! All students are invited to wear the colour purple with their school uniform on Bravehearts Day Friday 9th September. Teachers will utilise the Bravehearts resources developed to teach young children personal safety skills. Bravehearts is an Australian child protection not for profit organisation, solely dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. Bravehearts Day is our key awareness day. Join in the fun and wear a splash of purple- socks, ribbons, tshirts, hair ties, beanies, caps, …. Students in Years 5 & 6 due to Lightning Prem event on Friday 9/8 will participate in Bravehearts Day on Thursday 8th September.

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation is producing two editions of Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson, suitable for children aged 4 to 12. It will teach children key personal safety concepts in a fun and interactive way. Two brand new video resources will be livestreamed, bringing children together to learn important safety messages in National Child Protection Week. Please refer to the email sent out via PAM email to families outlining this event, its content and the invitation for parents to visit classrooms during the livestream.

To highlight National Child Protection Week, we also draw your attention to this edition of SchoolTV – CYBERBULLYING. With the advent of the internet, smart phones and tablets, there is now a whole new digital dimension added to traditional schoolyard bullying. There was once a time when bullying victims were given some respite outside of school hours, but sadly these days, online bullying can occur 24/7.

In today’s world, teaching your child about online and cyber safety, is as important as learning to swim or cross the road! In this edition of SchoolTV, parents are provided with useful guidelines and advice on how to minimise the risks. Children have the right to feel safe, regardless of whether it is in the schoolyard or online. Here is the link to the Cyberbullying edition of SchoolTV

https://marymacnarre.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/cyber-bullying

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

Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV)

The updated CECV 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 June 2022)

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 https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents.
  • FOR FAMILIES https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/parent-resources/online-safety-for-every-family
    • NEW online safety for every family                                                  The ‘Online safety for every family’ resources will give parents and carers the confidence to talk with their children about online safety. The resources also have important links and information to help if something bad does happen online. 
    • The videos and advice sheets cover:
      • Helping your family stay safe online
      • Getting started with social media 
      • Safer online gaming 
      • Getting help when your child is being bullied online
• CCYP - Commission for Children and Young People https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/
• School TV https://marymacnarre.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news
• Bravehearts https://bravehearts.org.au/
• Parenting Ideas
  • Why dads matter - Father’s Day can be a tricky occasion for some families, especially for those who don’t have a father who is present in their life because of family breakdown, or a…

During the upcoming September school holidays, Symal and Road Projects Victoria will be carrying out road works installing underground drainage along Ernst Wanke Road.  During this time there will be a temporary lane closure on Ernst Wanke Road where traffic will only be able to travel one direction at a time.  The works will be completed in two sections, meaning entry to the school is through the driveway that is open at the time.  Traffic controllers will safely guide motorists for drop off and pick up at the YLV Holiday Care program.

A photo of the areas outside the front of the school impacted by the road works is attached to the newsletter.  The road works will take place from 7am to 6pm between Saturday 17 September and Sunday 2 October.