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Year 4 Camp – Waratah Bay
We wish our Year 4 students all the very best as they attend Waratah Bay Beach camp next Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 March, 2021. Students will gather at 8.30 am on Monday morning in the Lomas Gym to get ready to depart school at 9.00 am SHARP.
Students will return on Tuesday afternoon at approximately 3.45 pm and we will notify parents via the SZ App of the arrival time. If you have any questions, please contact Helen Fourna or Chris McAleer our Year 4 teachers. We are very much looking forward to our first school camp since the COVID pandemic began.
Unwell Students
In order to keep our school community safe and well we request students who are unwell must not attend school. This includes those students showing even mild symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). Students who have any of the symptoms of COVID-19, however mild, should seek medical advice and get tested. The symptoms to watch out for include:
- Fever
- chills or sweats
- Cough
- sore throat
- shortness of breath
- runny nose
- loss of sense of smell
In certain circumstances headache, muscle soreness, stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may also be considered. We thank you for working in partnership with us to ensure our community safety.
FOMM - EASTER Chocolate Raffle
Guess how many Easter eggs are in the bucket?
It is exciting to have our first FOMM fundraiser for the 2021 school year. For $1 students have the chance to guess how many Easter eggs are in the bucket? Our hardworking FOMM Team has created guessing buckets for each year level. Thank you to our MacKillop Kids for visiting classrooms over the last few days to give students the opportunity to have a guess. See below for a sneak peek – happy guessing . . .
Emergency Management Plan – Practice Drill - LOCKDOWN
As part of our EMP a practice LOCKDOWN drill was enacted on Tuesday 23 March in the afternoon. Congratulations to our students on the way they followed the procedures listed in the LOCKDOWN Social Story, listened to their teacher and practiced how to act and be safe during this type of emergency. Each term we will practice various drill scenarios including EVACUATION (on-site) scheduled for Term 2 and EVACUATION (off-site) scheduled for Term 3. Parents will be notified via the SZApp after each practice session.
Parent Support Group [PSG] Meetings
Thank you to the students, parents and teachers who participated in our PSG Meetings over the past two weeks. The PSG Meetings are held each term to review students’ Personalised Learning Plans [PLPs] and to give students an opportunity to share and celebrate their work and to set learning goals for the next term. It is always an honour and privilege to be witness to this learning journey and to work in partnership with parents to support our students’ learning needs.
NAPLAN online Practice Session
Year 3 and Year 5 students had the opportunity today to practice the NAPLAN online test format. Students were able to log in to the NAPLAN test platform using their Chromebooks and complete a sample Writing and Omnibus test. NAPLAN will be held in May over a two week period as indicated in the following timetable.
Narre Warren North Road Upgrade – input invited from the community
Casey Council has advised our school of the Narre Warren North Road upgrade due to begin in the next few months. The aim of the upgrade is to:
- add a lane in each direction between Fox Road and Belgrave-Hallam Road
- upgrade the road at the Ernst Wanke intersection, adding an extra through lane and extending the right and left turn lanes
- upgrade the Heatherton Road intersection, providing a dedicated right turn lane from Heatherton Road to Narre Warren North Road northbound
- upgrade the intersection at Memorial Drive, installing traffic lights and adding dedicated turning lanes
- simplify the Crawley Road intersection to be left-in and left-out only
- simplify the Brundrett Road intersection to left in and out and right in only
- improve walking and cycling connectivity by upgrading existing and building new footpaths and shared walking and cycling paths.
If you would like contribute your thoughts/opinion to be considered before final stages of planning for the upgrade, please visit the following website to have your say. https://engage.vic.gov.au/narre-warren-north-road-upgrade
Dates for Term 1 and beginning of Term 2
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Caritas Project Compassion
Halima is raising her two children in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, while caring for her mother who has a disability. Widowed at 21, Halima fled violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, arriving at the camp with nothing.
Caritas Australia, through Caritas Bangladesh, helped Halima with shelter, cooking equipment, hygiene and sanitation training. She took on the role of community trainer herself, organising the cleaning of washrooms, wells and toilets.
Halima aspired to “Be More” and is proud that she is able to earn a small income, while maintaining the health of her family and the cleanliness of the camp community.
In the Cox’s Bazar district, women and children make up 78% of the total refugee population where 52% of children are aged 0-17
Each class has a Project Compassion Box. Your donations are greatly appreciated during this final week of Lent.
Celebrating 200 Years
Faith in the Future of Catholic Education in Australia
Catholic Education is celebrating 200 years in Australia, marking the bicentenary of the first Catholic school established in Parramatta in October 1820.
First Catholic school
The first Catholic school in Australia was founded in October 1820 by Irish Catholic priest Fr John Therry and run by convict and lay person George Marley. The school, which Catholic historians believe was in Hunter Street, Parramatta, taught 31 students. By 1833, there were 10 Catholic schools in the colony.
About the logo
The Christian cross is the central element of the logo and represents the faith dimension of Catholic schools and our mission of service in Christ. The Southern Cross and outline of Australia represents the Great South Land of Australia. Dots are used as a key design element connecting to the traditional custodians of the land – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The colours – burnt red and yellow – represent the desert in the heart of the Australian outback, contrasting with the deep blue representing the Southern sky and ocean surrounding our continent.
About the banner
It is with pride that our School and student representatives are featured on the main promotional banner celebrating 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia.
To find more about Catholic Education in Australia visit https://200years.catholic.edu.au/about/
Earlier this week each family received a copy of the 200-Years-National-Prayer card. A copy is attached below:
First Eucharist Enrolment and Parent only workshop will be held on Wednesday 28th April and Thursday 6th May at 7.00pm in the Church. Parents are required to attend only one enrolment workshop. Attendance is mandatory if you wish to prepare your child for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we request only one parent attend the workshop. This is a parent only workshop and children are not required to attend. If for any reason you miss the enrolment night, or cannot make it to any other meeting/workshop, we request you to wait until the following year, as the parish is unable to offer any catch up workshops for those who are unable to attend. An enrolment levy of $50 is payable via CDFPay www.olhc.cdfpay.org.au which will be available from 18th April 2021. Please bring your receipt number to the enrolment night. For more information please refer to the Sacrament Program Booklet 2021 on the parish website www.olhc.org.au.
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Mark 14:1—15:47
Jesus is sentenced to death and crucified. The centurion who witnessed his death declared, “This man was the Son of God.”
This Sunday, called Palm or Passion Sunday, is the first day of Holy Week. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday are called the Triduum—three days that are the highlight of the Church year. There are two Gospels proclaimed at today’s Mass. The first Gospel, proclaimed before the procession with palms, tells of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Riding on a borrowed colt, Jesus was hailed by the crowds as they blessed God and shouted “Hosanna!” This event is reported in each of the four Gospels.
Next week is called Holy Week. At the end of next week, we will remember Jesus’ Last Supper, his death on the cross, and his Resurrection. When Jesus died on the cross, they put a sign above him that said “King of the Jews.” Most of the people misunderstood who Jesus was, but the soldier who watched him die said that Jesus was the Son of God. Because Jesus is the Son of God, he can forgive our sins.
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
WELLBEING
Webinar: Parenting Ideas
24 March 2021 8:00pm AEDT
Maggie Dent presents: Communicating with teenage boys
Adolescence has a way of transforming children’s brains that can make communication challenging, especially with teenage boys who often start articulating in monosyllabic grunts. These brain changes also make them more sensitive, volatile and critical of themselves, making the tween/teen years a high-risk window. In this webinar, Maggie Dent shows how using compassionate, empowering communication with teenage boys can better guide them across the bridge to healthy manhood to a place where they feel worthwhile and engaged in respectful relationships.
Key learning and discussion points include:
- communicating effectively
- giving feedback
- avoiding arguments
- helping teenage boys to problem solve
- letting our sons know we really hear them, and that they matter
Please see attached information handout to access webinar
Congratulations to the following children who have received Learning Awards during Term One.
Japanese club has been exploring modern Japanese pop-culture. Pokémon is very popular all over the world and was invented in Japan! The word Pokémon means pocket-monster.
Last week, Grade 3 and 4 students made Pokémon chatterboxes and learnt a lot about different Pokémon.
Grade 1 and 2 students created Pokémon headbands and learnt a new Japanese dance.
SWIMMING
Unfortunately our swim team trials and District carnival were cancelled this year due to the statewide snap lockdown in February. Students who were going to participate were given the opportunity to submit times to qualify for the Division carnival . Thank You to Madeline H,
Sahayla M, Jake F (year 4) and Zach P (Year 6) who submitted times. Jake F was successful in qualifying for the carnival and competed on the day in the 10 year old boys freestyle coming third. Fantastic effort Jake!
SENIOR LIGHTNING PREMIERSHIP
Last Wednesday, all our senior students participated in the Berwick District lightning premiership day. The children were exemplary in their skills, attitude and behaviour.
Results:
Basketball - Girls - 2nd , Boys - 3rd
Tennis - Girls - 3rd , Boys - 3rd
Teeball - Girls 3rd, Boys - 4th
Touch Rugby - No finals played in this sport, but won nearly all games