Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Celebrating Student Learning

On Tuesday we celebrated our Foundation students 100 days of learning!  It was fantastic to see so many excited and engaged centenarians enjoying this milestone in their first year of school.  A big thank you to Mrs Lane, Mrs Fonti and Miss Di Biase for their preparation to make this day a special celebration.  

Last Friday the Year 3 level had an amazing excursion to Melbourne IMAX Museum, today our Year 5 students visited Coal Creek and our Year 2  are waiting in excitement and anticipation for their upcoming excursion to Como House.  Throughout Term 3 students are engaged in a wide variety of learning activities / events including Feast Day celebrations, AMC and Write a Book in a Day Competition, Book Week, Child Safety Week, Sacrament of Confirmation and Footy Day at the end of Term.  With the World Cup Soccer on at the moment, our Footy Day this year is sure to be extra special - Go Matildas!

Planning for 2024 School Year

2024 Class Placements

Teachers will begin planning for our 2024 classes in the coming weeks.  We respect and value parent input and ask that you email me – ejones@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au, or put in writing and leave at the Administration Office, if you have information about your child that could impact on their placement for 2024.  Please ensure your request is received by Friday 25 August, 2023.  

Parents please be mindful of the following:

• Staff use their professional judgement and a range of information when placing students into classes.  This information includes student learning progress, learning strengths, learning needs, NCCD Data, gender balance within classes and across the level to provide an optimal learning environment for ALL students. 
• Parent requests are forwarded onto staff when placing students into their 2024 classes. Please note, the 2023 class teacher places students from their 2023 grade into the 2024 class groupings.
• Please be aware that your letters of request are not a guarantee of your child’s placement. 
• Please note that requests made in previous years are not necessarily considered in the process.  Historical 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 2024.

Requests received after the cut off date of Friday 25 August are very difficult to take into consideration.  We ask parents to be mindful of our teachers’ preparation and time that goes into student/class placements which is not an easy task taking into account all the areas mentioned above.

Today, we have also sent out a form via PAM for all Foundation to Year 5 students regarding their intention to return in 2024.  Please ensure that you complete the eform by Thursday 17 August.

2024 Foundation students

We are in the process of planning for our 2024 Foundation students transition to Primary School.  2024 Foundation families have been sent information regarding their welcome interviews which will be scheduled in the coming weeks.  At the welcome interview, 2024 Foundation Students and their family are provided with a Welcome Pack which includes information on our transition process, google meets, transition days, activities, and the Parent Information night (scheduled in November).  A very big thank you to Mrs Glass and our Foundation teachers - Mrs Lane, Mrs Fonti and Miss Di Biase for all their work in preparing the Welcome Packs and transition to Primary School. We are very much looking forward to the upcoming welcome interviews and our 2024 Foundation students transition to school.

Father’s Day Celebrations 

Father’s Day Stall - Tuesday 29 August / Father’s Day Breakfast - Wednesday 30 August

(An email was sent to all families yesterday via PAM with full details egarding the Father’s Day Stall and Breakfast)

Our school community will celebrate our Father’s Day Breakfast on Wednesday 30 August.  Information regarding the breakfast was sent to families yesterday via PAM.  We ask all families attending the breakfast to RSVP by Monday 21 August, so we can adequately cater for everyone attending.  The timetable for the morning of the breakfast is as follows on Wednesday 30 August:

• Father’s Day Breakfast - serving bacon and egg rolls from 8.00 am - 8.45 am (please note new starting time)
• Time in classrooms with your child - prayer, Father’s Day activity from 8.45 am - 9.15 am
• Father’s Day Special Assembly - in the Allen Hall from (including Father’s Day School Community Raffle) 9.15 am - 10.00 am approximately 
• Year 6 students will leave for camp - The Ranch, Cape Schanck at approximately 10.30 am

Helpers needed!  If any mums are available to assist with serving at the breakfast (8am-8.45am), please leave your contact details at the office.

We look forward to celebrating this very special time with our dads.

School Advisory Committee [SAC] Meeting - Annual General Meeting - Tuesday 17 October, 2023 at 7.00 pm

The Annual General Meeting of the SAC will be held on Tuesday 17 October - 7.00 pm in the Staffroom.  Nomination forms for parent representative positions on the School Advisory Committee 2023-2024 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 2022-2023 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 don’t hesitate to email or make contact with the office OR a member of the School Advisory Committee if you have any questions.

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

This appeal ends tomorrow. Representatives from St Vinnies Narre Warren Conference will attend our School Assembly tomorrow to collect donations.  Final-minute donations can be put in the classroom boxes early in the morning. We truly appreciate your support of hot drinks like milo, hot chocolate, several types of tea, and coffee that help the less fortunate stay warm.

The Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Next Saturday’s Vigil liturgy on Saturday 5th August, 6.00pm invites you to celebrate a School Family Mass to be held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church.

Upcoming Events

Please refer to the hard copy letter sent home via the eldest childearlier in the term outlining activities in celebration of the Feast of St Mary MacKillop. 

• Saturday 5th August 6.00pm School Family Mass at OLHC Church
• Tuesday 8th August KABOOM SPORTS EVENT & SUBWAY LUNCH FUNDRAISER
• Thursday 10th August School Mass 9.00am, dress up day & a special treat to take home

Confirmation - Parent & Child Workshops

Parent/s and their child must attend one of these workshops. Attendance at one of these workshops is a mandatory requirement as part of the preparation to receive the Sacrament. Please bring the Confirmation booklet, and your pencil case to the workshop. Online bookings are required for Wednesday 9th August 2023 5.00pm or 7.00pm or Thursday 10th August 2023 5.00pm or 7.00pm

The Transfiguration of the Lord, Cycle A

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Matthew 17:1–9
Jesus is transfigured on the mountain in the presence of Peter, James, and John.

In next Sunday’s Gospel, the passage tells us of when Jesus was with his friends on a high mountain when suddenly his clothes began to glow and two great men appeared with him—Moses and Elijah. We learn about this important affirmation experience in the life of Jesus, witnessed by three of his disciples. It is called the Transfiguration. This was a special moment for Jesus’ friends because they saw that Jesus was the Son of God. Peter wanted to save this memory by putting up three tents on the mountain—one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Jesus’ friends were probably anxious to tell their friends what had happened on the mountain. But Jesus asked them to wait until after his death, when he could prove to everyone that he was the Son of God by coming back to life.

Today our Year 3, Year 4 and Year 6 completed the Australian Maths Competition. It was great to see the positive learning skills being demonstrated during the time allocation for this task. Whilst we shared with students that specific conditions had to be adhered too, we also had a quick debrief afterwards about how they felt during this competition, what was easy and what was hard. 

Parents you should be proud of your child’s efforts in this and the resilience they demonstrated throughout. 

A reminder that Year 5s will complete this tomorrow. 

If you have any questions please contact your child’s teacher or email me at  hfourna@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au

This term, the Year 1’s Inquiry focus is on the topic ‘History’. We have been exploring our Personal History by learning about families,  who is in our family, how all families are different and our cultural background. We have incorporated our Share Time topics into our classroom learning, by working together with our families at home to investigate the people that make up our families. The Year 1’s did a wonderful job at using their student voice to share this with their teachers and peers! We are now using this information gathered from home to create and design a family tree and they are looking fantastic! Parents will see this wonderful work that they supported their child with in their Term 3 Portfolios. 

As part of our Inquiry focus, the Year 1’s also interviewed a grandparent/older person to learn more about members of their family and what life was like for them growing up. We would like to thank all the grandparents/older special family members who supported the Year 1’s in gathering this information. We really enjoyed listening to the responses. 

The Year 1’s are thoroughly enjoying this Inquiry topic and we are very proud of their enthusiasm and how special our families are to us. 

This year Mary MacKillop Primary School and the Year 6’s have again taken on the challenge to write a book in a day - from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. This will occur during Book Week on Thursday 24th August. Our wonderful team of writers and illustrators are:   

David, Katelyn D, Ethan, James, Daria, Annabelle, Aria, Rahul, Abigail and Taylor

Write a Book in a Day is a fun, creative and collaborative competition for students in years 5 to 12 and adult writing groups. Teams of up to ten have just twelve hours to write and illustrate a book from start to finish. To make it even more fun, unique parameters must be included in the story. Digital editions of the completed stories are made available on the Online Library and shared with hospitals across Australia.

Funds raised through sponsorship go to The Kids’ Cancer Project, a national charity supporting childhood cancer research.  We need to raise at least $240 so our book can be in the running for a state or national award.  This year we are raising money through the sale of badges which students can design and draw themselves either in class or at home. When completed, a badge will be made with their design. 

If students wish to buy one of these badges they will need to bring $3.00.  The Write a Book in a Day team will go around the school collecting the money and handing out the template to draw their design in Week 5 and 6 (Monday August 7th - Wednesday August 16th). The badges will be ready in Book Week. 

We hope you can support this wonderful cause and help the ‘Write the Book in a Day’ team raise as much money as possible.  

Thank you 

The Write a Book in a Day Team

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

At Mary MacKillop Primary School, we believe that ensuring the safety of the students in our care is an integral part of who we are as a Catholic faith community. We adhere to Victorian Child Safe Standards and Ministerial Order No. 1359.  We embed a culture of child safety and the matter is taken very seriously.

MMPS Child Safe Standards

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