Newsletter Term 4, Week 3 2022
Wednesday 19th - Friday 21st – Senior Camp
Monday 31 October – School closure
Dear Parents,
Last Sunday the 16th October was the Feast of St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque our namesake. On Tuesday this week, as a whole school, we celebrated the feast. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun, who devoted her life to the mission, qualities, spiritual maxims and teachings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Margaret Mary's devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was one to admire. Her visions were called delusions, she was seen as an impostor and other nuns were openly hostile to her. Yet her mission to bring Christ's message of his love for mankind, continued through her.
Living a simplistic life of prayer and devotion, Margaret Mary died aged 43 saying, "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus. On this St. Margaret Mary's Feast day - St. Margaret Mary, pray for us, Sacred Heart of Jesus, be with us.
Please see the lovely portraits of St. Margaret Mary completed by Middle A to celebrate our feast day.
On Monday I sent out a SeeSaw informing the community that after eight and half years of leading St. Margaret Mary’s PS, I will be finishing my tenure as principal at the end of the 2022 school year.
In 2023 I will be taking up the role of Principal at St. James the Apostle PS in Hoppers Crossing. Over the coming weeks the position of Principal at St. Margaret Mary’s will be advertised. When a decision is made for 2023, I will let the school community know.
Also leaving at the end of the school year are Myanna Goetze and Lisa Paton. Myanna has taken the a position at St. Joseph’s in Northcote and Lisa will be returning to running her own business. On behalf of the school community, I thank both Myanna and Lisa for all that they have done at St. Margaret Mary’s and wish them both all the best for the future.
Last week the new requirements for COVID came into effect. Although the rules have changed, it is still strongly recommended that students and staff:
who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for 5 days
should not attend after 5 days if still symptomatic
who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.
Please note: Where students become symptomatic at school we will ring parents to come and collect their child for testing.
Over the coming weeks, we will be looking at the structure and formation of classes for 2023. Due to the funding model for staffing and to make sure the children get the best support in all aspects of their education we will be considering a different structure to what we currently have. Further information of any changes will be communicated promptly. Please stay tuned.
Currently our Grade 5/6 children are away on Camp at Phillip Island. Word from the camp is that they are having a wonderful time and enjoying all of the activities that are a part of camp. We look forward to hearing all about it on their return.
Finally, just a quick reminder about term 4 and what school uniform the children are required to wear. There have been some variations in the uniform of late so I would ask you to please make sure your child’s in the correct uniform.
According to the school’s uniform policy in term 4 children are required to wear the following items of uniform.
Girls:
SMM Summer Dress
SMM Skort / Whie shirt
White socks
Black School Shoes
Boys:
SMM Navy Blue Shorts
SMM Blue Striped Short Sleeve shirt
Navy Blue Socks
Black School Shoes
Please also remind your child to wear their school hat at recess and lunch. The rule is ‘No Hat, No play’ which is being enforced.
I appreciate your support.
Regards,
Andrea Richards
Principal
Reminder
The parking on Arras Street is the for school pick up and drop off zone, please refrain from parking for longer than 2 minutes. Also please do not park over driveways.
Western Metropolitan Region Primary Track and Field Finals 2022
Congratulations to Noah Fegan for competing in Western Metropolitan Region Primary Track and Field Finals on Tuesday the 18th of October at the Keilor Park Athletics Track. Noah competed in the 11 year old boys long jump and 200m. Noah came 5th overall in long jump and 9th in the 200m preliminaries, missing out on the finals by the smallest margin. We are very proud of Noah’s results and we congratulate him on his achievements.
Kristine Messig
Follow our socials for the latest learning posts from the classroom
St Margaret Mary’s students are independent life-long learners inspired by Gospel values and empowered with a sense of purpose and responsibility. They confidently engage with others and are equipped with skills to adapt to an ever changing world.
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 2
Term 4, Week 3
Middle A’s Saint Margaret Mary Art Pieces
Middles Design Challenge
As a part of the Middles Faith Life lessons, students have been working on a series of design challenges. In this challenge, students had to get the ping pong ball from one end of the ruler to the other without touching it. Some of the solutions were very ingenious!
Juniors Science
In Science, the Juniors are exploring gravity and the push of water using different sized balls and heavy objects like bottles.
FSG Update
The teachers were lucky enough to explore some books provided by Lamont Books to purchase for our library.
There are so many new graphic novels available and our students will be able to bring them home in the near future.
It is through the work of the FSG and our generous families that this is made possible.
Thanking you,
The FSG Team.
Call for new members!
Can you spare some time to help out with the FSG? We are currently looking for new members. Contact Stacey to express your interest and find out more about how you can help out.
It is a very exciting time for the young people of the College with the Year 12 Graduation mass being held at St Patrick’s Cathedral last Friday evening, followed by a dinner at the Sofitel. It was terrific to see young people about to embark on the next stage of their lives being celebrated together. Now those celebrations are over, the Year 12s are knuckling down to the last week or so of school, revision and study as they head into their exams.
Graduations, Year 12 final day, Year 9 Camps next week and Year 7 2023 Parent Information Night this week, it really never stops in a vibrant school like Emmanuel. Last week it was very exciting to welcome more than 100 families and students from Years 9 & 10 at each campus along to the Information Night for the 2023 NASA Space Camp trip. The trip looks like a fantastic adventure, full of once in a lifetime experiences and connecting students and STEM through real-life experiences.
Please note that offers for students to commence in Year 7, 2024 will be distributed via email this coming Friday – 21 October. If you are expecting or hoping for an offer, please ensure you check your junk folders as well as sometimes filters send the emails straight there.
The next College experience for families to enjoy is the annual Twilight Talk & Tour to be held at St Paul’s Campus, registration for this event is essential and can be made by clicking on the Tours and Events tab on the right-hand side of the homepage on the College’s website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au Details of the events are as follows;
Notre Dame Campus - Tuesday 8 November, 2023 - Commencing at 6.00 pm
St Paul’s Campus - Tuesday 15 November, 2023 - Commencing at 6.00 pm
We hope to see you at an event soon.
Key enrolment dates for Year 5 students in 2023 starting Year 7 in 2025 at a Catholic School.
For those parents of students who will be beginning Year 7 in 2025 at a Catholic school, please be aware of the following critical dates.
27 January 2023 – Applications will open for Year 5 students commencing Year 7 in 2024.
18 August 2023 – Applications will close.
20 October 2023 – Offers to be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.
10 November 2023 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.
School Fees
As you would be aware it is school policy for school fee payments to be finalised by the end of term 3 unless otherwise discussed with the school. Thankyou to all the families who have made payments towards their family school fees and levy accounts. Without this support from you, our school would not be able to run.
Currently there are $91,000 in outstanding school fees. As we are coming to the end of the year, we as a school are required to pay outstanding accounts and therefore need families to pay their fees.
If you have not started to make payments towards your account can we suggest you set up via your bank account, weekly, fortnightly or monthly direct debit payments. They are a great way to work towards settlement of your account.
We accept EFTPOS over the phone, or in person at the school office and you can make direct payments into our account. Please use your family name as the reference so we are able to allocate the payment correctly.
Our bank details are:
Account Name: St Margaret Mary’s School
BSB: 083-347
ACCOUNT: 463870010
Please speak to Andrea Richards if you are experiencing financial hardship.
Important Dates
Trying to find an important date? Check out our updated Term Dates page.
We welcome your feedback so if you have anything to contribute to the newsletter, questions about content or general feedback, please let us know.