Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Welcome Back to Term 4

We warmly welcome you back to Term 4.  Term 4 provides learning opportunities in Religious Education, English, Maths, The Arts – Dance and Drama, The Humanities Economics and Business (Years 5 & 6), the Capabilities and our Specialist Subject Learning Areas – Japanese, PE, Digital Technologies and Music. 

Celebrating student learning

Year 5 Camp

Our Year 5 students are attending an adventure camp in Toolangi from Wednesday 5 October to tomorrow - Friday 7 October.  It is great to see our students enjoying all the activities camp has to offer and to be able to share this special time with their classmates in an outdoor environment.  A very big thank you to all staff who are attending camp - Ms De Koning, Ms Brent, Mr Timothy, Ms Cahill, Ms Camilleri and Mrs Oldfield.

Year 6 Camp

Year 6 students will attend camp Monday 10 October to Wednesday 12 October next week.  A very big thank you to our Senior Teachers on their planning, preparation and organisation of these camps.  

After two years of COVID-19, it is exciting to be able to offer our students the camp experience.  Parents, please note, COVID-19 Safety measures continue to be in place while students are on camp and we ask that you do not send your child on camp if they are in any way unwell or displaying symptoms of COVID-19.  We also ask students to undertake a RAT test on the morning of camp before leaving home to ensure they are clear to attend.  Thank you for working in partnership with us to ensure enriching camp experiences for our Year 6 students.

Term 3 Student Learning Portfolios

Term 3 Student Learning Portfolios were sent home on Monday 3 October. The Term 3 Student Learning Portfolios includes the Parent Feedback sheet.  We respectfully ask parents to take the time to complete the Feedback sheet with their child after going through the portfolio samples of student learning. We are very proud of our students efforts to document their learning journey and hope families take up this opportunity to acknowledge their child’s efforts.  Term 3 Student Learning Portfolios are due back next week - week beginning Monday 10 October for students in Foundation to Year 4 and Monday 17 October for our Year 5 and Year 6 students. 

Student Safety - Morning Supervision

A reminder to families that our school gates - Lowry Court and front of the school open at 8.20 am.  Students arriving to school before 8.20 am are to go to Youth Leadership Victoria - Before and After School Care, located in the Lomas Gym.  Thank you to parents for working in partnership with us to ensure our students’ safety in the morning.

Student Safety - 40 kms p/h speed limit outside school & 15 kms p/h in the school grounds

We ask parents to be mindful of the 40 km speed limit in Ernst Wanke Road outside the front of the school.  Ernst Wanke Road has Council manned school crossing section that is safe for students to cross.  However, reports from our Crossing Supervisor have indicated school parents and community members are travelling a speeds well in excess of 40 km.  The 40 km speed limit is to ensure our school and community safety - please ensure you abide by these road rules. Inside the school grounds, the speed limit at all times is 15kmph. 

Maintenance Work

Maintenance work over the holidays includes:

• The erection of a shade sail in the Brunswick Courtyard.  The shade sail will provide a sheltered and sunsmart outdoor space for our students to enjoy all year round.  The shade sail poles were cemented in yesterday and the shade sail is due in a couple of weeks.  We look forward to utilising this space for indoor/outdoor learning and are most appreciative of the Government Grant that enabled us to purchase the shade sail.
• The top up of softfall/mulch in the student playground area was delivered and installed ready for students to play on the play equipment in Term 4.

School Advisory Committee - Annual General Meeting Tuesday 18 October, 7.00 pm in the Staffroom

The Annual General Meeting of the SAC is fast approaching.  Nomination forms for parent representative positions on the School Advisory Committee 2022-2023 are available from the Administration Office.  Alternatively you can request a nomination from via email frontdesk@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au.

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

PLEASE NOTE: Next week’s Assembly on Friday 14th October will be in the morning commencing at 9.00am due to Japanese Cultural Day (see notice further on)

Term 4 Mass and Reconciliation celebrations

Grandparents Day

Grandparents and elderly are invited to attend a special whole school mass celebration followed by morning tea on Thursday 20th October beginning with 9.30am Mass in the MMPS Allen Hall. Please see invitation attached.

 October is Mission Month

This year, our collective fundraising efforts will support vulnerable children in Ethiopia who are experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition. One example of what we are supporting is the Deberety Farm project in Emdibir, four hours from the capital, which aims to address these issues, primarily by raising goats that produce life-giving milk for infants who are most at risk. 

As a school, we can contribute in a special way, family and friends are invited to sponsor the 5 goals your child/ren kick.

The Socktober Event will kick off on Grandparents Day, where the students will begin making their own special Sockball to be used during the Socktober Shootout held during the following week. Please come and join us if you are able on Grandparents Day. 

More news next week!

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Luke 17:11–19.

Sometimes we get busy and focused on what we want. We forget to slow down and notice all the wonderful gifts God has given us. Next Sunday’s Gospel tells us about a wonderful gift that Jesus gave a Samaritan man who was ill. Jesus told the man that by thanking God, his faith had saved him.

Take a moment to sit quietly with a grateful heart and thank God for the many wonderful gifts he has given you.

OLHC Parish

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:

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

Junior students have been exploring ways to present data creatively. They created monster glyphs (a pictorial representation of data) to tell a data story about them. They also learnt how to insert and manipulate shapes using Google Draw.

Dear Parents and Carers,

As a celebration of our Japanese program, we will be having a whole school Japanese Cultural day on Friday the 14th of October. Students will be participating in a range of Japanese language and cultural activities throughout the day.

 We warmly invite our school community to attend our Japanese Day Assembly at 9:00 on the day. 

Students are encouraged to dress up in Japanese and Japanese inspired clothing.

Simple ideas for dress up include:

• A white shirt and red circle for the Japanese flag.
• Black T-shirt and pants (ninja).
• Pokémon, Nintendo or Anime themed shirts or jumpers.
• Karate uniforms.
• Kimono style dressing gowns. 

** We kindly ask you do not send your child with props such as swords or ninja stars!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sensei Stapledon (cstapledon@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au)