R U OK?

The story behind R U OK is one filled with tragedy, hope and enduring love.  In 2009 Gavin Larkin set about on his mission, in honour of his father, to ask a simple, yet powerful question – “are you OK?”  With the firm held belief that a ‘conversation can change a life’, Gavin and his team set about raising awareness to take the time to have a conversation and to check in on those in our community who are struggling https://www.ruok.org.au/our-story

While the easing of restrictions in regional Victoria will take effect at 11.59 pm, metropolitan Melbourne continues to remain in lockdown. As we continue to endure Lockdown 6, it is now more important than ever, to stop and take the time to ask a family member, colleague, friend or neighbour - RUOK?  4 simple actions is all it takes to begin a conversation and to show you care . . 

NAPCAN - Child Protection Week

This week students and teachers have been participating in Child Safety Webinars as part of NAPCAN and Child Protection Week.   The webinars and activities throughout this week have focused on the importance of our students’ safety.  We all have a responsibility to ensure our students are aware of their right to be safe, to feel safe and to take actions to protect themselves.  This week we have had a particular focus on highlighting Child Safety, however Child Safety is for always – every week, every day, every minute. . . .

Term 3 Dates & Events – Footy Day and Japanese Cultural Day

We will finish off Term 3 next week with some very special events.  Virtual Footy Day will be celebrated on Tuesday 14 September from 12.00 pm onwards – remember to wear your favourite footy team colours.  We will end the Term on Friday 16 September with our Japanese Cultural Day.  Sensei Marshall has put together an amazing array of virtual Japanese activities for our students to immerse themselves in Japanese Culture and language.  A very big THANK YOU to Mr. Tim and Sensei Marshall for organising these fun days to celebrate in our school community – a great way to finish off the term!

• Tuesday 14 September – virtual Footy Day
• Friday 16 September – Japanese Cultural Day

 

It’s Child Safety Week!       R U OK?

"Every child, in every community, needs a fair go"

During this week the students engaged in a number of Nation-wide events provided by the e-Safety Commissioner, Daniel Morecombe Foundation and the R U OK? charity in Australia. Students identified consent and permission in a variety of online settings, defined and practised setting personal online safety boundaries, developed help seeking strategies, focused on the importance of having conversations with others and

•       RECOGNISED  safe and unsafe situations and body clues.
•       REACT  to keep ourselves safe and
•       REPORT  unsafe situations.

Safeguarding Sunday September 12 2021

Child Protection Sunday on 12 Sunday concludes Child Protection Week. The day invites us to ensure that the relationships within our Church express respect for children.

This weekend, the Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday, on which we pray for those who have been abused, their families and supporters. The Parish of Narre Warren and the Diocese of Sale are committed to the care, wellbeing and protection of children, young people and people at risk in our community. May our message be that child protection and the dignity of every person is the responsibility of every adult.

You can find out more about the Church’s work in this area at: www.catholic.org.au/safeguardingsunday

Bishop Greg's video message

Bishop Greg Bennet has released a video for Child Safety Week - it's available to view on YouTube.

The Diocesan website offers valuable resources and information Talking to your child about personal safety - a resource for parents

Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Ltd (DOSCEL) has provided each child with a special promotional bookmark celebrating National Child Protection Week.  Keep your eye on your letter box during the next week or two (dependant on mail deliveries in your area).

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK!

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus teaches that those who would follow him must take up his or her cross. (Mark 8:27-35)

The readings for Safeguarding Sunday do not have anything specific to say about the policies, guidelines and practices involved in protecting children. They focus rather on the depth and the cost of following Jesus in his way of love and respect.

In next Sunday’s Gospel, Peter recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah, or Saviour. Peter knew that this meant God the Father had sent Jesus to save us. He had expectations about what this would mean. He knew it was good news, but he didn’t understand what would happen. Jesus set an example for all his disciples to follow. Jesus also wants us to offer our lives in service to others.

Fan the Flame

Towards Plenary Assembly One October 2021

‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.’   Mark 8:27-35

There can be no shortcuts, no bypassing the cross or the tomb, to encounter the resurrection. For new life and new hope to emerge, we need to acknowledge that we are a broken, hurt and traumatised Church… by standing in solidarity and compassion with each other, particularly the wounded, the poor and the traumatised.

((Humble, Healing and Merciful – Discernment Paper pp. 12 and 18) 

www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/fantheflame/

WELLBEING

Webinar for Parents tomorrow

COVID-19 has impacted our children and young people's mental health - what can we do to help?

Fri, Sep 10, 2021 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM AEST

Speakers:

• Tracy Adams, your town (Kids Helpline)
• Ali Fogarty, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
• Elizabeth Seeley-Wait, Clinical Psychologist and Director Children’s Psychology Clinic
• For more information, visit the https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4952166703574891534 

Everyday resilience lessons for kids

It’s the small, everyday behaviours we encourage in kids that have the greatest impact on their behaviour, wellbeing, and resilience.

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. 

PARISH BULLETIN

Click on the link below to download the weekly newsletter.

Parish-Bulletin

From Year One - Class News

Home Challenges 

Over the last few weeks Year 1 students have been participating in a variety of Home Challenges  throughout remote learning to develop and build resilience in unfamiliar situations. Students have been creative, innovative and adaptable, especially when making their funny hats! We have seen a shift in students’ motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully. Some of the different activities Year 1 students have enjoyed are: 

• making funny hats
• scavenger hunts around their neighbourhoods
• creating mazes 

• chalk drawing to promote special and important messages such as “ R U OK?” day. 

Some concepts we have been learning in Year 1:

In Geography, Year 1 students have been learning all about “Melbourne, Our City”. Students were provided with a criteria to create a project on a chosen Melbourne icon. It was amazing to see the effort, dedication and support from our Year 1 students in producing some creative projects whilst following a set criteria. We hope students begin to make connections when we are out of lockdown and can visit some of these places to support the knowledge they developed whilst researching and investigating their chosen Melbourne icon! 

As we have been learning to write persuasively, we hope our students have learnt to be a little more convincing and persuasive of their needs and wants by using examples and facts to support their opinion. We heard lots of comments about wanting pet rabbits, pigs and fish - we hope their letters were super successful! 

We would like to say a big thank you to our Year 1 parents, carers and families for their support this term and  in sharing the students’ learning from home by sending in photos when requested through the daily schedules. Our students' skills in checking their emails, clicking on links and reading their daily schedule have really excelled this term and we would like to take a positive moment to recognise their development in this area of technology.

From Year Two - Class News

Staying Connected

During Lockdown 6.0, Year 2 students have been participating in daily chat groups. Students chose a particular group to join and were able to engage/connect with their friends in a social way. Below are some of the students' feedback about the chats and what they like about them. 

• “I think the chats are really good because I can talk to my friends on-line, because I don’t get to see them in real life.” Wuri 2EM
• “I feel happy with the chats because I don’t get to see my friends at school.” Matilda 2EM
• “We can share things we make at home.” Casiana 2JB
• “Sometimes you get bored at home so you can chat with your friends.” Dennish 2JB
• “You can chat with the people you like to play with at school.” Gurgeet 2JB
• “You can finally see your friends once a day. You can talk about games. You can get to know each other a bit more.” Noah 2JB 

Geography:

Students have been exploring the natural, managed and constructed features of their favourite place in Victoria, as well as that of their parents. They located these places on a map of Victoria and used their knowledge of compass directions to describe its location in relation to Melbourne. Students are currently in the process of creating 3D models of their favourite places, highlighting its natural, managed and constructed features. 

Did you know that Year 2 students have been learning about erosion and how it changes the natural features of an area?  They have looked specifically at the Twelve Apostles and the impact erosion has had.

Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson

On Tuesday, students participated in a live stream of Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson, organised by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Following the session, students created their own Safety Hand, listing the people they trust to go to if they do not feel safe.

• “The Safety Lesson was pretty good. It helped me to recognise those feelings.” Bailey 2EM
• “We got to learn about our bodies and how they give us signals.” David 2EM
  
  

Father's Day Pictures from 3-AS

Congratulations to the following children on their Learning Awards

こんにちは、

This week in Japanese, Foundation students described shapes using ookii (big) and chiisai (small).  Junior students wrote sentences using the grammar pattern ‘this is a _____’ to describe animals. 

Footy Day - Tuesday 14 September

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our onsite Footy Roadshow incursion for Tuesday 14 September due to the government lockdown.

However we are still going to have FOOTY COLOURS DAY on this day. We encourage all children to dress in their favourite AFL team colours for google meets at home and onsite learning. Part of their day will involve footy themed activities. Classroom teachers will inform students of google meet times and activities.