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Bishop's Advent Message 2024
Celebrating Learning
Our Explicit Improvement Agenda—Student Voice and Agency & Planning for Improved Student Learning—makes sure that our teachers are laser-focused on our students' data, progress, and achievements. Alongside teaching at the Year 4 level, Mrs. Helen Fourna is additionally the Curriculum & Data Learning Leader. Throughout the year, our student data is continuously evaluated to help teachers prepare, and particularly during this time of year, to determine the development and successes of our students. At next week's assembly, we will continue to recognize our students' efforts and academic achievement with the Academic Achievement and Most Improved-Excellence Awards. We intend that the Awards will remain a part of our annual schedule of events in Term 4 to honour and showcase our students' growth, competencies, and achievements in the subjects of mathematics and English.
Families are welcome to come to Allen Hall on Wednesday, 11 December at 9:00 am and join us as we celebrate during a whole school assembly. Please continue reading the further details that Mrs. Fourna has provided.
Student feedback
An integral part of our cycle of teaching and learning is student feedback. Every week, staff record and acknowledge feedback to students and this is shared with them in class and via the school newsletter, at Assembly and in MMPS News on Wednesday mornings. Read on for this week’s feedback to students.
Week 9 Student Feedback
To all Year 1 students......Girls and boys, what a wonderful News presentation you created for MMPS News. I would just like to say the presenters and reporters did a fantastic job to share your learning. It looks like you had fun as well. Thankyou for your wonderful enthusiasm and participation. You all did an amazing job. Mrs Privitera really enjoyed your work!
To the Year 6 students who volunteered their play time to help take down and sort student artwork in the gallery - your help was very much appreciated! Thank you!
Well done to all Year 2 students for the teamwork you continue to show through your Reader’s Theatre plays. We cannot wait to watch you perform. You have also done a wonderful job at showing us your understanding in Maths.
SCHOOL FUN RUN FUNDRAISER
A HUGE THANK YOU once again to all, for such a wonderful event on the day. Not only the wonderful amount raised but more the great atmosphere and participation enjoyed by many. Last week in the newsletter we announced that the children had raised an amazing $30,413.98. This money will be used for improvements to the playground in the upcoming year. There are prizes to be distributed which is amazing for the students. Prizes are on their way! As soon as the student prizes have been delivered to the school, these will be distributed to the students. We are expecting the delivery any minute now!.
Once again, you would agree for the families who joined us, that the course looked outstanding! Special thanks to the staff who started the day very early and kept going all day. Just to put it in perspective Marita and Jacqui from Admin clocked together close to 50,000 steps! Also, many thanks to staff members who were brave enough to be sprayed with the powder! There were heartwarming stories of how some students expressed their appreciation to their friends and family for supporting them and donating. Really lovely to hear our students showing their gratitude in their own special ways. Many thanks to you all for your support and commitment to our beautiful school and community. We sincerely hope the students take pleasure in using their prizes.
Christmas Appeal
This year's Annual Christmas Gift Appeal in support of St. Vincent de Paul is organised by the Mary MacKillop Kids group. This is a wonderful chance for the school community to help those in our neighbourhood who need assistance over the Christmas season. The MacKillop Kids group gathers to uphold the values of Catholic Social Teaching and are committed to support this social justice initiative. Your donations are greatly appreciated. Christmas gift toy donations (new only) for children aged between 5-12 years would be appreciated. Gift donations must be placed in classroom collection boxes by December 10, 2024.
End of Term 4 dates
Please note the end of year activities-
- Student Chromebooks Years 4 to 6 - chromebooks and chargers are to be returned by Monday 9 December
- Year 6 Graduation Mass & Presentation Tuesday 10 December
- Foundation and Year 6 Presentations & Excellence Awards presented during an Assembly at 9.00am Wednesday 11 December
- Year 4 Swimming Program 9 - 12 December
- Whole School Mass Celebration Thursday 12 December
- Christmas Concert Friday 13 December
- Meet & Greet Monday 16 December
- Year 4 final swim lesson Tuesday 17 December
- Portfolios & TRP Journals distributed on last day of the term Tuesday 17 December
- School Community farewell to Year 6 students on the small oval Tuesday 17 December
Next Thursday, December 12, at 9:00 a.m., we will celebrate our year-end school mass in Allen Hall. We invite all parents, young children, and family members to join us in celebrating mass. We will welcome the incoming 2025 student leadership group and bid farewell to the existing Year 6 school leaders during this mass. Invitations to our special end-of-year events have been given to you by students.
Additionally, we invite you to our Christmas concert in Allen Hall on Friday, December 13th, starting at 1:15 p.m. Remember to dress in outfits with a Christmas theme.
Catholic Missions
Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle C
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Luke 3:1-6
John preaches repentance and baptizes in the region of the Jordan.
This week and next, our Gospel readings invite us to consider John the Baptist and his relationship to Jesus. John the Baptist appears in the tradition of the great prophets, preaching repentance and reform to the people of Israel. To affirm this, Luke quotes at length from the prophet Isaiah. John baptizes for repentance and for forgiveness of sins, preparing the way for God's salvation. During Advent, we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth. We do this by making good choices. When we make a poor choice, we can choose to turn back to God and ask for forgiveness. Listen to next Sunday’s Gospel as we will hear about John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord.
BASKETBALL CLINICS
Last week, Year 1, 2 and 3 students participated in Basketball Clinics run by Casey Basketball Association.
The Visual Arts team has been using the theme of Family and Festivals to explore a range of art techniques in Term 4. Each year level viewed and responded to art from all over the globe, culminating in art as a response to Advent and Christmas.
The Year 5 and 6 students explored air dry clay, experimenting with techniques such as imprinting and scratching to create texture, pinch pottery and bulking using foil, icecream sticks and skewers to support them in forming shape. They learned how the Jesse Tree is used as a way of preparing for Advent through journeying through the stories on Jesus’ family tree and used this as inspiration to create their own. The Year 5 students used traditional ornaments to decorate their Jesse Tree, while Year 6s created ornaments representing each year of their Primary School life. Although the students encountered many difficulties in this task, it was wonderful to see the determination and resilience in completing their finished pieces. Our last lesson for the year was a ‘Free Play Clay’ class, where students were given the opportunity to create whatever they wanted - the creativity flowed and their final products were amazing - sculptures of basketball players, video games, best friend charms, Graduation and Family Name plaques, christmas ornaments. We hope you enjoy seeing all of their artwork as they bring them home to you over the next few weeks!
The Foundation to Year 4 students have criss crossed the globe to look at artists and traditional art from Germany to Lebanon, Czechia to Switzerland, Australia to the Americas. Highlights have been Foundation students creating a sparkling Land of Sweets inspired by “The Nutcracker” by Russian composer Tchaikovsky, Year 1 students weaving baskets like many Indigenous Australians, Year 2 students created the most delightful puppets inspired by the Christmas markets in Europe, Year 3 designing a family heirloom quilt like the famous African-American quilts, and Year 4 delved into the world of pattern and shape with inspiration from Swiss artist Paul Klee… and there was even more amazing art on display in the the Art Gallery this week. Our 3D art focused on developing skills using textiles and clay, while our 2D art developed skills in understanding the use of colour and line.
Thank you to those families who were able to drop in and support the students artists endeavours. Soon students will be bringing home their art pieces and it is a good idea to send a plastic bag to school to help your child bring it home in one piece!
This week we have celebrated our students for their achievements in the Australian Mathematics Competition. Official certificates have arrived and will be included in the students portfolio in the coming week. On the reverse of this certificate you can see a breakdown of how your child performed in each question.
A special congratulations to Jocelyne (4FW) and Remy (4FW) who received a special certificate for Best Score in the School. This is given by the organisers of the competition and based on the numerical value of their score.
Congratulations and well done to all students who participated.
At MMPS we continually look for ways to celebrate the achievements of our students. For this reasons, in 2023 we introduced our MMPS Certificates of Excellence in recognition of the work our students are doing in English and Mathematics. These awards are based on the annual assessments our students compete through Australian Council for Education Research - PAT (Progressive Achievement Tests) in English and Mathematics.
PAT is an integrated approach to improving learning. Each assessment measures a student’s knowledge, skills and understanding in a subject and helps pinpoint where they are in their learning journey – and what they need to progress. Progressive Achievement is the idea that all learners can be supported to demonstrate progress, regardless of starting point.
When introducing this, we decided on two categories. The first category identifying the students across the school who achieved the highest scores in their assessments - regardless of year level - in English and Mathematics.The second category recognises the students who have made the highest growth (comparing their PATdata from 2023/2024), again in English and Mathematics in each class.
We hope you can join us in celebrating the students for their achievements in this area of assessment. Families of those students who will be receiving this recognition will be notified of arrangements to present the certificates at assembly before the end of the term.
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
Child Safe Policy
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
Parental Use of Mobile Phones (Privacy Laws)
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 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
- eSafety statement on social media age to be set at 16
- What does it mean for your family?
- eSafety welcomes the introduction of the Australian Government’s Social Media Minimum Age Bill setting a minimum age of 16 for access to certain age-restricted social media platforms. While the contents and passage of the legislation remains a matter for the Parliament, eSafety looks forward to working closely with government, industry and the Australian community to ensure the implementation of any future legislation is effective, enforceable and fair.
- Parents are encouraged to read the material in the links for further information supplied by the eSafety Commissioner website
- Downloadable resources to help you start the chat about online safety issues and strategies with your child
CCYP - Commission for Children and Young People https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/
BRAVEHEARTS - https://bravehearts.org.au
We are a Happy Families School!
Our school is subscribed to the Happy Families School Membership! Owned and run by Dr Justin Coulson, one of Australia’s leading parenting experts, the membership offers a wealth of parenting education and resources. We will regularly share resources available through our membership with you, including Insight Articles and Webinars. You can also access your resources at any time using the below URL (unique to our school) and password.
Unique URL - https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/mmnwn
Password - happymmnwn
We recommend bookmarking this link. You should only need to put the password in once and the site will remember you. The latest weekly Insight Article: The BEST way to spend the hiliays
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