Newsletter Term 4, Week 8
SCHOOL CLOSURE
Friday 3rd December
Dear Parents,
Dear Parents,
This Sunday is the first week of Advent. Advent means 'Coming' in Latin. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. As Catholics, we use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas. As part of our ritual we use an advent wreath with candles to represent each of the weeks. At the beginning of each week, one of the four candles is lit. The lighting of these candles symbolises the light of Jesus, slowly but surely, overcoming the darkness. This week, the first candle that we light is the candle of HOPE.
As the count down to the end of the year begins, I would like to inform the community of the staffing arrangements for 2022. As you are aware, Ms. Laurie will be going on Parental leave at the beginning of next year. Replacing Ms. Laurie as Deputy Principal/Learning & Teaching Leader will be Mr. Simon Devlin. I would like to thank Ms. Laurie for all the work that she does for our school and children. Every decision and action is for the children and to make our school a better place. We wish her all the very best with the impending birth of Baby Laurie 2.0 and look forward to meeting the little one in 2022.
Congratulations also to Mr. Devlin. I look forward to working with him as DP/Learning and Teaching Leader.
Also leaving at the end of the year is:
Ms Ash Cahir (Senior B classroom teacher) who is taking up a classroom teaching position at Our Lady of Nativity in Aberfeldie.
Ms Chloe Lawlor (Senior A classroom teacher/now on Parental leave) who is returning to Ireland early in 2022.
Ms. Roisin Gleich (Specialist Science) who is on Parental leave.
Mrs Donna Condon (Learning Enhancement Teacher - Seniors) who will be ‘hopefully’ travelling the world.
Mrs Emily Shields (School Counsellor) who has finished her Graduate year and be seeking employment in her chosen field.
On behalf of the St. Margaret Mary’s community I thank these teachers for all they have contributed to our community and for the teaching and nurturing of our children particular over the past two years. We wish them all the very best for whatever the future may bring.
Joining our staff in 2022 will be two new classroom teachers, Ms. Laura Barbalaco going into the Middles and Ms. Jessica Steele who will be teaching Seniors. Also joining the staff will be two new Learning Enhancement Teachers, Mrs Anne Ablinger and Mrs. Daniela Caruana. We will also have another school counsellor from Monash University to support the children and Ms. Cath Morrissy (Speech Therapist) will be working with our school and children one day a fortnight. On behalf of the SMM community, we welcome our new staff to our school and we look forward to getting to know them more in the coming year.
Regards,
Andrea Richards
Principal
PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT DATES THIS TERM
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Each week, students who embody our values, apply the school mindsets to learning, work hard to improve or persevere to deliver on learning objectives are awarded a class award. The students who earned an award in the past weeks are:
Term 4, Week 5
Term 4, Week 6
This year for Christmas, we are raising money for St Vincent De Paul. We are encouraging everyone to get into the Christmas Spirit by wearing Christmas clothes or decorations next Wednesday the 1st. Please bring a gold coin donation for those in need this Christmas. Ms Brown and The Mini Vinnies.
Parents of Year 2 students please read the information about the BYO iPad program for 2022.
We are very proud of our Year 11 & 12s who have now completed their exams. What a challenging couple of years for this cohort. The Year 11s have commenced their Headstart program for Year 12, gaining some valuable insights into VCE life and subjects and commencing work.
We are currently filming our Celebration of Excellence event that will be widely shared. This is a wonderful acknowledgement of students achieving personal bests in a wide range of school endeavours; from academia, to sport, music and community service just to name a few.
The Year 12 Graduation is fast approaching and as we say farewell to one group, we get set to welcome a new one. We are very excited to be hosting our Year 7, 2022 Orientation Day on 30 November at each campus.
Also, just a reminder that no further tours of the College will run this year, we are very much looking forward to these recommencing at the beginning of 2022. Keep an eye on the College website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au for the new dates due to go up by mid-December.
We look forward to seeing people back on site in 2022.
Dear Parents of our 2021 Year 6s
We are looking forward to having the Graduation Celebrations on the 10th of December. The Graduation Mass and celebration will be held outside to limit any COVID risks.
Please understand that this event is only open to vaccinated persons (any parents and siblings over 12 need to be vaccinated), you will need to show your vaccine certificate prior to entering. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding. Regards, the Year 6 Graduation Committee.
Email Reminder
If you have changed address, phone numbers, emails or any of your family details need updating, please send an email using the button below through to the office account so this can be changed on our system for you.
SMM Family Statements
We would like to thank every family who has paid off their 2021 Family Statement or started making payment and those who have contacted the office or Andrea Richards regarding an agreement for these payments.
This is a reminder that these accounts are now overdue.
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