Our Explicit Improvement Agenda

Student Voice and Agency

Planning for Improved Student Learning - key focus in Mathematics

Celebrations of Learning and Student Feedback

In this week’s newsletter we have information on Home Study to support our students’ learning in the classroom as well as the Year 5s sharing their prayer cloths.  We also celebrate and publish our student feedback in the feedback section of the newsletter - it is great to celebrate and make visual the many achievements of our students each week.  

ECSI - Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity Project Survey

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale aim for continuous school improvement.  An essential element of this improvement is understanding how students perceive the Catholic identity of our school and what they might like Catholic identity at our school to look like in the years ahead. Students have an important voice in our planning and over the coming weeks, students from Years 5 & 6, parents and staff will be invited to participate in the Enhancing Catholic School Identity survey. These surveys will assist us in better understanding how our Catholic Identity is expressed. The results will contribute to a reliable picture of our school’s Catholic Identity, which we will use to inform our School Improvement Plan for the next four Years.  A flyer explaining ECSI is attached to the newsletter.

Online NAPLAN testing for students in Years 3 and 5 will begin on Wednesday 13 March - NAPLAN Writing, Friday 15 March - NAPLAN Reading, Monday 18 March - NAPLAN Language Conventions and Wednesday 20 March - NAPLAN Numeracy.  The 2024 NAPLAN Information for Parents brochure is attached to this newsletter for parents of students in Years 3 and 5.

The beginning of the year Student Learning Conversations will be held on:

• Wednesday 6 March, 2023 from 3.40 pm - 6.20 pm
• Thursday 7 March, 2023 from 3.40 pm - 6.20 pm

The purpose of this time is to acquaint yourself with your child’s teacher and for your child to share their learning data, goals and strategies for the Term.  As a school we value the opportunity for students to be active in their learning, to meet with parents and to establish a positive working partnership for the 2024 school year.  Bookings for Student Learning Conversations are now open and are made via your child's PAM profile. 

Whole School Photos

Easter Raffle

A huge thank you to those families who have already donated to the raffle - we are still accepting all donations of eggs/chocolate at the office up until 13 March. 

Project Compassion -  Third Sunday of Lent

Not having access to a reliable source of clean water was very difficult for Leaia and her family. But with the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their health and living conditions.

Please donate to Project Compassion.Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.  You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes in each classroom, by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion or by calling 1800 024 413. Thank you!

Altar Servers

Students in Grades 4-6 and who have received First Communion may wish to enrol in Altar Serving training sessions conducted by Fr Ajin. Parents are asked to email Mrs Privitera with an expression of interest for their child to join. Boys and girls are encouraged to join this special ministry to serve in the sanctuary in areas pertaining to the altar and lectern during whole school and class masses held at Mary MacKillop School. Email – lprivitera@marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au

Harmony Day & Footsteps Dance Company

Save the Date - Friday 22nd March All students are encouraged to support Harmony Day by dressing in their families’ traditional or cultural clothes or by wearing the colour orange. Following a shared liturgy in the afternoon, a school-wide FOOTSTEPS dance performance will take place. Details in the newsletter for next week.

Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Sunday, March 3, 2024

John 2:13-25
Jesus drives out the moneychangers from the Temple and says that he will destroy the temple and raise it up again.

In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus goes to the Temple, a place where Jesus and other Jewish people worshiped God. He sees some things that do not belong there, and he calls the Temple someone’s house. Jesus cleared the animals and the people making money out of the Temple. They were making his Father’s house look like a marketplace, not a place to worship God. A church is a holy place. Jesus is always present with us, but we are especially aware of his presence at church.

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. We welcome Fr Michael Willensen our new Parish Priest and Fr Ajin Albarnas continues be the Assistant Priest. We are grateful for their ongoing prayers, involvement and support of the students, families and staff of Mary MacKillop School. 

PARISH SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2024 

FIRST RECONCILIATION

Online booking for the Parent & Child Workshop and Celebration has closed. If you have any questions, please contact Vea, Sacrament Coordinator, by phone (03) 9704 7935 or  email sacraments@olhc.org.au  

RECONCILIATION PARENT AND CHILD WORKSHOPS

Parent/s and their child are invited to attend one of the workshops as part of the preparation to receive the Sacrament. Final sessions are tonight Thursday 29th February 2024  5:00PM  OR   7:00PM  Click on the link to access a copy of the 2024 Sacrament Program Booklet https://www.olhc.org.au/parish-sacrament-program/

PARISH BULLETIN

Click on the link  to download the weekly newsletter https://www.olhc.org.au/parish-bulletin/

In just a few short weeks, the students in Year Five have:

• Explored, and established and agreed upon our class expectations.
• Investigated how qualities such as confidence, independence, adaptability, and persistence support their learning.
• Revisited the ICT Agreement.
• Set learning goals.
• Investigated digital safety.
• Created our class prayer cloth.
• Participated in the Whole School Beginning of the Year Mass, Shrove Tuesday activities and the Whole School Ash Wednesday Mass.
• Initiated the Resilience Project.
• Crafted narratives.
• Explored the 12 reading strategies.
• Investigated factors, multiples and fractions.
• Explored physical health through the guide to healthy eating.
• Engaged in rotational sports activities including tennis, cricket, teeball, and basketball.

Learning to learn

I learnt that resilience means that you can recover and bounce back quickly when something goes wrong. Shake it off! (Kyden)

It’s good to be adaptable because you get along better if there are changes in the environment, like moving houses, school or classes. (Fleur)

The Resilience Project 

This week we have been getting in touch with our emotions by building our emotional vocabulary and connecting emotions to different situations in our life.

We have learnt that there are lots of emotions that you can feel like, embarrassed, relaxed, frustrated and there is lots more. (Katya)

Prayer Cloth

Everyone put their best effort into our class prayer cloth. We all voted on ‘So great is the strength we possess in our unity’. (Thomas)

Every square we made is connected to our Mary MacKillop quote. (Noah A)

Child Safety

Don’t add strangers you don’t know. (Tilly)

If something happens online where you don’t feel safe you can block them, report them, tell your parents or maybe talk to kids helpline. (David)

Interschool Sport

I love doing different kinds of sports and interacting with others. (Casiana)

I have been practicing goal shooting for basketball. (John)

Thank you Mr Tim for improving our skills in sports and getting us ready for Lightning Premiership (Ashton).

It's been a productive and engaging start to the term for our Year Five students!

Jacqui Butler and Claire Knight

Year Five teachers

5CK Prayer Cloth

In 5CK, we chose the Mary MacKillop quote, "So great is the strength we possess in our unity." (Mary MacKillop).

As a class, we decided that unity is what makes us a team. In 5CK we have agreed to help each other and fix our problems collectively both as a class and as a school community. Working respectfully together for us means that no one is left behind and that we are all important. We discussed how Mary MacKillop worked in unity, encouraging a sense of strength among communities she was involved in or held an impact upon and how many scripture passages from The Bible explore various communities of people and the strength they possess.

When making our class prayer cloth, each student had the opportunity to design their own square with symbols that held significance to them. This was then intertwined with our Indigenous material, signifying the connections we all have with one another and the respect we hold for those that were present on our land before us.

As we say in 5CK, ‘Team work makes the dream work’.

5JB Prayer Cloth

In 5JB, we chose the Mary MacKillop quote, "Trust in the goodness of God." (Mary MacKillop, 1873)

As a class, we interpreted "Trust" as the ability to rely on a person. This led us to ponder what it means to trust in God and His ways.

We selected the following symbols to illustrate our understanding of the quote:

• Cross: Symbolising our trust in God's love.
• Praying Hands: Signifying our belief that we can always turn to God in prayer, assured that He listens to us.
• Dove: Representing the trust that, despite our mistakes, we can seek forgiveness and start anew.
• Mirror: Reflecting our understanding that each of us is unique and valued, as we are all created in God's image.
• Rainbow: Symbolic of our trust in God's gift of a beautiful world, which we are entrusted to care for.

In honoring Indigenous Australians for their stewardship of the land, we incorporated indigenous material into our prayer cloth. The pattern throughout the cloth symbolizes the indigenous people's extensive journey across Australia.

Over the past few weeks you would have noticed our Homestudy books and supporting documentation coming home.  We are committed to working with you to support your child with opportunities to consolidate skills and understandings and further develop effective study habits and time management skills.

Value of Home Study – What does the research say?

The current evidence and research shows that the quality of Home Study assigned is likely to be more important than the quantity.  Home Study effectiveness has been challenged by educators, parents and students (Kohn, 2006) however, continues to be an important educational supplement used by most teachers to enhance the learning experience of their students (Patall, Cooper & Wynn, 2010).  According to Hattie (2009, 2012) the effectiveness of Home Study on student learning varies considerably depending on the student’s year level, the subject area and learning task.  Although Hattie (2009, 2012) suggests consideration must be given to the nature of the Home Study task, the amount of time a student spends on Home Study with short frequent Home Study tasks monitored by teachers as a preference.  It is important to be mindful that inappropriate Home Study tasks can reinforce what students don’t know and cannot learn by themselves.

In our Homestudy Policy it clearly outlines the role of the parent, student and teacher. This is discussed with students before they take their homestudy book home.The implementation of home study relies on the student, the parent and the teacher working together to ultimately create learning experiences that are meaningful, rewarding and enjoyable. 

Effective Home Study tasks help students by:

• Consolidating and reinforcing classroom learning.
• Fostering good lifelong learning and study habits.
• Providing an opportunity for students to become responsible for their own learning.
• Developing self-regulation processes such as goal setting, self-efficacy, self-reflection and time management.

Families are embracing this and the evidence is witnessed in the work students are bringing back to school, the signatures of parents showing support and the student voice and agency in the choices students make in completing their work and recording this. The following images provide a snapshot of the great work we are doing together to promote and support the learning of the students in our care and the work that is happening at home - Thank You!

FEE ACCOUNTS - Term 1 fees are due and payable by Monday 4th March, unless a direct debit arrangement is in place. If you have outstanding fees we ask that you settle these as a matter of importance. Families experiencing financial hardship and are unable to meet their fee commitment are asked to contact the office to discuss options for fee relief and support.

DIRECT DEBIT ARRANGEMENTS - If you have a direct debit arrangement with the school, please ensure you have enough funds in your nominated account to cover your payments. If a payment was not honoured it is important you advise the school and make this payment up as soon as possible.  

CSEF APPLICATIONS - If you have a Health Care Card and have not completed a CSEF Application for 2024 we encourage you to do so ASAP to access a rebate from the government of $150.00 per student which goes towards their camps, sport and excursion costs. CSEF forms and Concession Rebate Applications can be found on our website and return it completed to the Office with a copy of your health care card. Applications are closing soon. Families eligible for Concession Fee Rebates will have their school fees reduced to $520.00.

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