Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for improved student learning

Excellence Awards

Our Explicit Improvement Agenda - Student Voice and Agency & Planning for Improved Student Learning, ensures our teachers have a laser light focus, amongst other things, on our student’s data, growth and achievements.  Mrs Helen Fourna undertakes the role of Curriculum & Data Learning Leader in conjunction with teaching in the Year 4 level.  Our student data is constantly being reviewed throughout the year to inform teachers’ planning and especially at this time of year to ascertain student growth and achievements. 

We are very proud of our students and their efforts and have decided to acknowledge this through our Academic Achievement and Most Improved - Excellence Awards at this week’s assembly.  Students who performed in the top of their cohort in Mathematics and English (Reading) will receive an Academic Excellence Award and students who made the most growth in the past year will receive a Most Improved Award.  We look forward to the Awards being part of our yearly calendar of events in Term 4 to celebrate and highlight our student’s growth, talents and achievements in the learning areas of English and Mathematics.

2023 End of Year Planning

Student Chromebooks Years 4 to 6 

Please return all student chromebooks and chargers are to be returned by Monday 11 December for stocktake over the Summer holiday period.  For student safety, students do not have access to their student email accounts during holiday breaks. 

Library books 

Please return all student library books by Friday 1 December.

Specialist Classes

Specialist classes will conclude on Friday 1 December.  There are no specialist lessons in the last two weeks of Term 4.

2024 Class teachers / specialist lessons (published next week)

2024 dates & student free days (included in this week’s newsletter)

REMINDER THAT THE CANTEEN IS CLOSED TOMORROW 24 NOVEMBER

- THERE ARE NO LUNCH ORDERS

Subway Lunch - Friday 24th November

For those children who returned their order envelope,  lunch will be delivered at around 12.15pm

2024 Explicit Improvement Agenda

Our Explicit Improvement Agenda for 2024 will continue to focus on building Student Voice and Agency & Planning for Improved Student Learning - key focus in Mathematics.  The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority - VCAA has released updates the Mathematics Curriculum and therefore our improvement agenda includes a specific focus in this area.  Full implementation of the new Mathematics Curriculum V2 is expected by 2025.

Wednesday 13 December - Year 6 Graduation

• 5.00 pm - Year 6 student only dinner
• 5.45 pm - Year 6 Graduation Mass and Presentation

Thursday 14 December - Mass & Christmas Concert

(changes to recess and lunch break times)

• 9.00am - Whole School End of Year Mass (including leadership handover)
• 10.00am to 10.30am - Recess
• 10.30 to 12.30pm - Rehearsal
• 12.30 - 1.00pm - Lunch
• 1.00pm - Christmas Concert with special guests from Bupa Aged Care (parents to sign in via the welcome gate - parents please join in the fun and wear  something Christmassy)

Friday 15 December

(recess and Lunch breaks as usual)

• 1.45pm - Advent Liturgy, Foundation and Year 6 powerpoint
• 2.50pm - Year 6 Community Farewell on the Small Oval
• 3.05pm - 2024 Student leaders blessing to Year 6s and Countdown to the end of the school year

Parish Schools Cup - Inaugural Event 

Congratulations to Logan A in 6MV for being awarded the Best Sportsperson trophy and to our Senior students on their participation in last week’s inaugural Parish Schools Cup.  It was a great morning where our three Parish schools - Mary MacKillop, Don Bosco and Trinity met in the spirit of sport and Parish connections.  A big THANK YOU to Mr Tim for initiating this very special event as well as the Physical Education Teachers from Don Bosco and Trinity.  Thank you also to the 65 parents who came from the three schools to join in the fun! 

2024 Foundation Students - Orientation Session 2

Our 2024 Foundation Students had their 2nd Orientation Session on-site at school on Wednesday.  It is a great time of year to welcome our newest students to our school.  We especially thank the Year 5 students who assisted the Foundation teachers and ESO support staff.

2024 Student Leader Positions - Year 5 students

Year 5 students who nominated for school leadership positions will present their speeches next week.  We are very much looking forward to hearing our Year 5 students speeches, highlighting the important role our senior students play in our school. 

COVID-19 Increased Cases

In line with recent media reporting, there is an increase in COVID-19 cases within our community.  Please follow the recommendations below if your child tests positive to COVID-19, either through a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) or PCR test.

It is strongly recommended that students who test positive: 

• Stay at home and isolate for five (5) days
• Should not attend school after five (5) days if still symptomatic.

Students who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school until their symptoms resolve.  We ask parents to advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result. For more information, please see the follow the Checklist for COVID cases in the link here

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-cases

2023 School Dates and events to the end of the 2023 school year

The 2023 school year is fast winding to a close with so many activities and events on for our students.  It is going to be a jam packed last few weeks of term.  Please ensure you take the time to look through the dates, times etc so you are able to join in the events going on.  

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King (Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Cycle A

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus teaches that when the Son of Man comes in glory, he will judge the nations, separating the sheep from the goats.

This Sunday, the Church Liturgical calendar celebrate the feast of Christ the King. The feast of Christ the King teaches us that Jesus rules with a very different kind of power. Jesus tells us the story of the final judgment to show us what kind of a king he is. He is not a king interested in power and glory but in serving the needs of others. The Church calls the actions that Jesus described in Sunday’s Gospel the Corporal Works of Mercy. These works are to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to bury the dead, to shelter the homeless, to visit the sick and imprisoned, and to give alms to the poor. In these actions we show God’s compassion and mercy to those in need. As a family think of examples of how your family might do these actions in the community.

Parish Schools Parent Prayer Group

Parents and families are invited to attend our next Parent Prayer Group. This week Mary MacKillop hosts the prayer group and we invite all families from across the three Parish schools to join us. Many thanks to those parents who attended at the previous gathering. The time shared was a faithful opportunity to share our trust in God. If you have 15 minutes after class morning prayer please join us in the Chapel.

Below is the remaining dates and locations for Term 4. The facilitation of the sessions will be shared among the clergy from the Parish, Fr Brendan, Fr Ajin, and the Schools RELs - Emily, Tahlia & Lize. The chapel will be open from 9am for all those interested in attending with sign in sheets available. Don Bosco Library will be open from 8:50am. We are looking forward to seeing you at the prayer groups, there are only a few weeks left to take up this opportunity. 

Class and Whole School Mass schedule – please note the upcoming buddy mass and whole school mass schedule during the remaining weeks of Term 4. Parents and friends are welcome to attend.

INAUGURAL OLHC PARISH SCHOOLS CUP

Last Friday all senior students from MMPS, Trinity and Don Bosco Primary schools participated in the first OLHC Parish Schools Cup, hosted at our school. Thanks to all students, staff and parent community who attended and made this day a huge success. It was fantastic to see the school and community spirit on display from all. It was also a treat for the students to receive a visit from Father Brendan to present the pennants to the winning teams.

This will now become an annual event. The results were as follows

VOLLEYSTARS 

• 1st - MMPS Blue
• 2nd- MMPS Red
• 3rd - MMPS Green 

TEEBALL

• 1st MMPS
• 2nd - Don Bosco
• 3rd - Trinity 

TENNIS 

• 1st - DON BOSCO
• 2nd- TRINITY 
• 3RD- MMPS 

5 A SIDE SOCCER 

• 1st - Don Bosco Black
• 2nd - Trinity Grey
• 3rd - Trinity Black

BASKETBALL 

• 1st - TRINITY ORANGE
• 2nd- TRINITY GOLD
• 3rd MMPS  / DON BOSCO

The shield for most overall points went to Don Bosco: 

• DON BOSCO - 110
• MMPS- 100
• TRINITY -100

Special congratulations to Logan from year 6 for receiving the school champion award for MMPS for outstanding effort, performance, school spirit , sportsmanship and fair play.

Life Saving Victoria Incursion 

On Monday the 20th of November, the two Year Five classes learned the importance of safety around water from two lifeguards. During the session, we learned what all the types of flags were and  what they meant, different signs and what their significance was, what to do when caught up in a rip current or any current at all. Later on in the session, we played some games involving trying to guess the actions that people were making, pretending to act out what to do in an emergency, and how to use different objects to create floatation devices, how to put on life jackets, and more. Overall, it was really entertaining for the majority of the two grades, and most learned a lot.  

By Raffael    

Foundies Orientation Day 

On the 10th of November the Foundation students starting in 2024 had their very first Orientation Day. They arrived at school at around 9:00 am as the Year 5 students welcomed them. They were led to the Allen Hall where they would find out their Foundation classes. They then left their parents to go to their new classrooms. They did all sorts of activities like reading a book, playing on the playground, drawing and colouring. They learnt what would happen in Foundation as well. The Year 5 students showed heaps of leadership, helping them, teaching them how to act, these Year 5 students were always there for them. As the time ended, they were brought back to their parents and had a special treat. An icy pole! As there were some left over the Year 5 helpers were able to have one. 

By Dior

Parish Cup 

The Parish Cup was extremely fun. Organized by Mr Tim, the three schools competed in different sports trying their best for a win. Mary Mackillop, Trinity and Don Bosco were the schools of the intense Parish Cup. Well rounded competition was played by the schools, all of them showing sportsmanship and playing not just for the win, but for a good and fair game. We did very well by showing leadership and making friends. This was the first time we have ever hosted a Parish Cup, this was only the first year, and we are all looking forward to next year.

By Tyler and Raffael

Three Good Things 

At Mary MacKillop Primary School we celebrate the Good Things that happen throughout our week.

The Parish Cup - All Year 5s and 6s from Mary MacKillop, Don Bosco and Trinity competed in various sports. We got to meet people from Don Bosco and Trinity and some of us made friends with them (Jayden)

Leadership process - It is an opportunity to be a leader and show the younger kids how to act (Kairos)

Farewell page for Father Brendan  - Everyone got a chance to decide on the design of the page (Emily)

Mary MacKillop Kids - Some students got the chance to help organise the Christmas Appeal so we can collect toys for the people in need (Dylan) 

Assessments 

During the last two weeks students have completed tests in English and Mathematics. English and Mathematics tests on Essential Assessment are administered at the beginning, middle and end of the year to track student progress throughout the year.

I like completing the assessments and seeing the progress I have made (Andrew)

I can see my improvement from previous assessments. Your growth pops up on the screen (Alannah X)

It has a screen that shows you the skills you can now do that you may not have been able to do before (Alannah H)

It is great to see what you know and don’t know (Leo)

Year Six Student Leadership

This week Year Five students will be writing their Leadership speeches at school instead of at home so it is a fair process for everyone (Xavier)

We have been learning how to write dot points on cue cards when presenting our Leadership speeches to teachers and students (Jayden)

We had the opportunity to practice making good eye contact and using appropriate body gestures to engage our audience when we were doing Debating. This will help us when presenting our Leadership speeches (Imogen and Lauren)

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