Welcome to the 2022 School Year

We warmly welcome you to the beginning of the school year.  It is fantastic to have our students at school, ready to begin another year of learning and growing.  We especially welcome our Foundation students and congratulate them on the way they have settled into school life and routines.  They have been amazing in being able to find their way around and getting ready to start their day of learning. 

Our focus in 2022:

• Student voice and agency
• Planning for improved student learning

We are very much looking forward to the year ahead, celebrating our students’ learning, growth and achievements.

RAT kit and Vaccination Clinic for students aged 5 - 11 years

RAT kits were sent home with all students on Monday 31 January.  It is recommended that parents conduct two RATs throughout the school week.  If your child shows a positive RAT result, please inform the school office and keep your child home from school.

Children aged 5-11 years are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Getting vaccinated is the best way you can protect yourself, your family and our school community from further outbreaks and the spread of COVID-19. 

Vaccination for children aged 5 - 11, is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged, except where your medical practitioner advises you otherwise. 

To help keep our school community safe, Mary MacKillop Primary School will be hosting a mini COVID-19 vaccination clinic at our school for all students aged 5-11 years.

When and where:

Dose 1

Date:            Saturday 12 February, 2022

Time:           1.00 pm to 7.00 pm

Location:     Allen Hall

(parents can park in the car park near the Allen Hall and enter the school grounds via the gate closest to the Allen Hall.

Dose 2

Date:           Saturday 9 April, 2022 (first Saturday of Term 1 school holidays)

Time:           1.00 to 7.00 pm

Location:     Allen Hall

Parent/guardian consent:

All students aged 5-11-years-old require the consent of their parent or guardian to be vaccinated. A parent or guardian must attend the mini vaccination clinic with their child to provide consent and support your child.

How to book an appointment:

Further information will be sent home via SZapp as soon as possible on how to make a booking. You can also attend without an appointment if you’re not able to book.

What to bring:

On the day you should bring the following:

• a face mask
• a Medicare number, or Individual Healthcare Identifier number for your child if they have one.

Please note, appointments and vaccinations through the school based mini-vaccination clinic are at no cost to your or your family.  Please speak to your doctor if you have any questions about vaccination for your child.  

Year 6 Student Leaders

The 2022 Student Leaders will be presented with their badges this Friday during a School Google Meet Assembly.  Currently, all school events and gatherings must be suspended until further notice.  We are very keen that our Year 6 Student Leaders receive their leadership badges and begin their leadership journey.  When restrictions have eased, we warmly welcome parents and families to join our School Assemblies and school events. 

Our warmest congratulations to our 2022 Year 6 Student Leaders:

School Leaders               Scarlett and Summer

Faith Leaders                  Alanna and Natalie

Learning Leaders            Sharbel and Jasmine

Environmental Leaders    Indi and Ayda

House Leader - Eden        Phoebe

House Leader - Portland   Jaden

House Leader - Fitzroy     Natalie

House Leader - Penola     Cruz

Student Learning Conversations (Parent Teacher Interviews)

At this stage we are planning to hold our Student Learning Conversations on:

Wednesday 23 February 3.40 - approximately 6.20 pm

Thursday 24 February 3.40 - approximately 6.20 pm

More information on the Student Learning Conversations will be provided in the coming weeks.  

Road Duplication Works

At the end of January, safety barriers will be installed which will mean that the slip and turning lane onto Heatherton Road will be closed. Vehicles travelling Eastbound on Heatherton Road will need to follow the detour.  The detour will be in place for all of February and March. During this time, a dedicated right hand turn lane from Heatherton Road onto Belgrave-Hallam Road, Northbound, will be built. The existing traffic island and asphalt will be removed and new traffic signals, lighting and complete line marking will be installed.  Two new bus stops on Belgrave-Hallam Road, just north of the intersection will be erected.  The detour map is attached to the newsletter for your reference.

There will also be a short-term footpath closure between Ernst Wanke intersection and the BUPA aged care facility. This closure will be from the 1st of Feb and reopened on the 5th which is the first week back of school term. During the closure, pedestrians will need to follow the below detour. 

Newsletter - SZapp - PAM

The Newsletter is distributed weekly on a Thursday afternoon.   We strongly encourage you to subscribe to the Mary MacKillop SchoolZine app to receive the newsletter, school information, updates on school events, alerts and emergency information.

SchoolZine – SZapp https://www.marymacnarre.catholic.edu.au/szapp

P.A.M. The new Parent Access Module known as 'PAM' is up and running!  Operoo is no longer being used by the school for excursion permission forms/letters etc and all students should now have their PAM account set up.   Please see the attached PDF for a copy of the instructions if you are having any difficulty setting up your child's account:

We look forward to an exciting year of learning and working in partnership with you.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Parents are invited to book their child for the Sacrament of Reconciliation for 2022. Your child should have received the Sacrament of Baptism before enrolling for their First Reconciliation. The Parent only Enrolment Night is on Thursday 10th and Wednesday 16th February at 7pm. You are required to only attend one of these enrolment nights. (No Bookings required). A pre-payment before the enrolment is required. This can be made via https://olhc.cdfpay.org.au. Bookings for payment are open and will close on Thursday, 17th February at 3.30pm 2022. For more information visit https://www.olhc.org.au/ parish-sacrament-program/

Synod 2021-2023 Walking Together

Diocesan Conversations for Clergy, Parishioners, Plenary teams, School staff and Catholic agencies

Join the Diocesan Gaudium et Spes Plenary Team as we have a conversation on some of the questions posed by the Synod. We want hear from you – so take this opportunity to share your experiences and your thoughts on how we can be more like the Church that Jesus calls us to be. Further details can be found on the attached flyer.

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Sunday, February 6, 2022

In next Sunday’s Gospel, tells us what happened when Jesus called Simon Peter to be his disciple. Simon Peter was a fisherman. Simon Peter hadn't caught any fish. But he trusted Jesus. He followed Jesus’ command to lower the nets into the water. Jesus told Simon Peter he would be a different type of fisherman. Jesus was calling Simon Peter to help him bring people to God.  Jesus calls us to follow him too. One way that we follow Jesus is by telling others about him.

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. 870.  We embed a culture of child safety and the matter is taken very seriously.

“Children are the future of the human family: all of us are expected to promote their growth, health and tranquillity,” Pope Francis 2021

Resources to support parents and carers

 Parent Education Helping kids settle back into school

Settling into school after a long break is a challenge for some students. Fortunately, there are many ways parents can make the transition easier in the first weeks of school.

We are calling on everyone to play it safe and fair online.

To help celebrate getting back to school and Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 8 February, eSafety website has produced new resources to provide schools and families with fun and engaging ways to work online safety into the curriculum and family life. Ask your child about how we can all help create a safe online environment.

Parent webinar

Book in for eSafety’s free webinar for parents and carers These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support children to have safe online experiences. Please take a look at the schedule attached.

Safe Around Schools

City of Casey are very proud and excited to release their first Safe Around Schools education animation for the beginning of the new school term 2022.  The first animation is focussed on School Crossings.With 93 Schools and over 200 school crossings in the City of Casey, these animations will promote good road safety behaviour and outline the rules around creating a safer school precinct.This animation will support schools and also the School Crossing Supervisors around our precinct.  We hope to see improved behaviour around the school crossings from pedestrians and drivers. 

Families can view the video and know the expectations around schools and keeping children and families safe.  The video can be translated and there are also subtitles.

Please find link attached to watch and share:     https://youtu.be/wJqlvv3NlPI

OLHC Parish

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 Ajin Albarnas 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

Foundation First Day of School

The 2022 Foundation students showed a few nerves on their first day of school, however settled in quickly and displayed they were very keen and ready for school life. It was fantastic to see brand new friendships forming immediately and the confidence levels growing throughout the day. Students were very excited to meet their Year 6 Buddies and enjoyed a craft activity with them in the afternoon. The Foundies embraced many new experiences curiously and with an open mind. We are very excited to watch the Foundation students grow and develop this year, and are looking forward to meeting and getting to know all families as soon as possible. Congratulations to all students for an outstanding start to the school year.