Thank you

A very big thank you to our students, parents and teachers for the beginning of the year Student Learning Conversations held on Monday and Tuesday this week.  Our students are to be commended on the way they shared their data, learning goals and strategies for the Term.  As a school we value the opportunity for our students to be active in their learning, to meet with parents and to establish a positive working partnership for the 2021 school year. 

Foundation Students

We were very excited to see our Foundation students enjoying their picture story book gift as a welcome to our school community.  The Foundation books were selected from the Childrens’ Book Council shortlisted books and are a sign of our commitment to promoting a love of reading.   We look forward to continuing to work together to offer our students the best possible learning outcomes.

A reminder that Foundation students will commence FULL weeks at school from next week.  Students will need to bring their library bags to school each Wednesday as this is their library borrowing day.

2021 Review

From Wednesday 3rd to Friday 5th March we will be engaged in School Review with DOSCEL Staff.  The aim of school review is to understand our impact of our school improvement strategies and to identify where we are in our improvement journey. 

As a result of the feedback we receive we will evaluate and plan our next steps forward and capture these goals in our 4 year Strategic Improvement Plan and Annual Improvement Plan.

Year 4 Camp – Waratah Bay

We are very excited to announce that we have DOSCEL approval for our Year 4 students to attend Waratah Bay Beach camp on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 March, 2021 (last week of Term 1).  This will be our students’ first camp since the COVID-19 pandemic began over a year ago.  It signifies a sign of hope that we are beginning to return to a new COVID safe normal. 

Camp information and permission letters will be shared with parents over the coming weeks via Operoo.  Significant additional hours go into the planning of camp, risk assessments and COVID Safety planning to ensure our students meet Victorian Curriculum learning outcomes and to ensure their safety while on camp.  I would like to sincerely thank Lize Privitera, Elaine Flanigan, Helen Fourna and Peter Fearnley-Sander for their time and commitment in completing the documentation so the Year 4 camp met all DOSCEL and COVID Safety requirements for approval to be granted. 

We wish all our Year 4 students the very best as they count down the weeks and days to camp.

 FOMM – Friends of Mary MacKillop Parent Fundraising Group – Tuesday 2 March, 9.00 am

We warmly welcome all parents who would like to join us for our first FOMM meeting for the 2021 school year.  FOMM is a group of parents who come together to fundraise for our school to raise money for resources our students can use to support their learning / facilities at school. 

Our first FOMM meeting will be held on Tuesday 2 March at 9.00 am in the Board Room.  We look forward to welcoming you and sharing in fundraising ideas.

Headlice

We have had reported cases of headlice at school recently.  A reminder that all children with hair of shoulder length, or longer, must be tied back.  Plaits are strongly recommend for children with very long hair. 

Please see the attachment for further information regarding the treatment of headlice and be diligent in checking your children's hair on a regular basis.

Religious Education

First Week of Lent  

We begin our annual Lenten Project Compassion journey by learning about the story of Jamila and her family. Jamila, 22, is a Rohingya woman, living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. A single mother, she fled armed conflict in Myanmar to save herself, her elderly mother and eight-month-old baby. With the support of Caritas Australia, through Caritas Bangladesh, Jamila was able to access emergency food and shelter. She also received counselling, emotional support and learnt sewing skills, to help her earn an income.  Jamila now feels less alone, with a sense of community around her. She is able to ‘Be More’ to her little family.  

• 860,494 people remain in the densely populated camps, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, especially due to COVID-19. (UNHCR)  
•  “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

Project Compassion Boxes are placed in each classroom. Please consider participating

Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Sunday’s Gospel Reading                   Mark 9:2-10 Jesus is transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John.

On the second Sunday of Lent in each Lectionary cycle, the Gospel reading proclaims the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration. This event is reported in each of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This year, in Lectionary Cycle B, we hear Mark’s report of this event.

In the Gospel next Sunday, Jesus was with his friends on top of a high mountain when suddenly his clothes began to glow and two great men appeared with him— Moses and Elijah, who had died long before Jesus was born. Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and gave them the Ten Commandments. Elijah was a great prophet who taught the people to be faithful to God. This was a special moment for Jesus' friends because they saw that Jesus is God. Peter wanted to preserve this memory by making three houses on the mountain—one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Jesus' friends were probably anxious to tell everyone at home what had happened on the mountain. But Jesus asked them to wait until after his death when he could prove to everyone that he is God by coming back to life.  After Jesus died and rose, his friends shared this special memory. It was written in the Bible so that we too could know for sure that Jesus is God.

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. Fr Brendan Hogan is our Parish Priest and Fr Isuru Weliwatte is our Assistant Priest. We are grateful for their ongoing prayers, involvement and support of the students, families and staff of Mary MacKillop School. Click on the link for Mass times and to download the weekly newsletter Parish-Bulletin

こんいちは、

We have been creating lots of different cultural craft in Japanese club this term.

Seniors made Big Mouth Ushi (Cow) for Lunar New year.

Juniors made Ushi armbands. They traced the kanji character for Ushi (Cow) - 牛.

Foundation Extracurricular Experience

On Thursday 4th March, all Foundation students will be participating in an exciting Team Building experience with Supreme Incursions. Students will have the opportunity to rotate through fun team building games and activities at their level, utilising a variety of equipment, such as a parachute, balance boards, large bounce balls and skipping ropes. These activities promote teamwork, cooperation, leadership, initiative and problem-solving and will help develop student beginning of year bonding.  

Students are required to wear their sports uniform on the day in order to comfortably participate in the expected activities. 

As this event is taking place in the school grounds (Lomas Gym), there is no need for parental permission. 

We look forward to this exciting time!

Miss Trewin & Mrs Lane

Junior STEM Club - Mrs Fonti

Junior students had lots of fun this week during their lunchtime STEM club. They used teamwork to create Jenga towers and dominoes, design an interactive machine with gears and build mini projects with Lego. All while listening to meditation music, it was a great atmosphere for all.