Newsletter Term 4, Week 5 2022
Monday 5th December- School Closure
Dear Parents,
I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and maybe backed a winner in the Melbourne Cup?
Today our Grade 3/4 students are off to camp at Anglesea. A very excited group of children got onto the bus this morning looking forward to the activities that they will take part in over the next two days.
For some of our students this may be their first time away from home, so it makes it all the more exciting. The camp program is a valued part of the St. Margaret Mary’s curriculum and provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to practice self care and independence.
Thank you to Ms. Barbalaco, Ms. Brown and Ms. Ablinger who are going to camp with the students and giving of their time. We look forward to sharing some photos of the camp in the next newsletter.
In this week’s newsletter we have a communication from our Parish Pastoral Council.
Katherine Wong, the Chairperson of Parish Pastoral Council has written to our school community (which is one of the two schools in the Parish of St. Joseph Newport and Spotswood). Katherine wishes to get our feedback about the Draft Constitution, which can be seen below.
Feedback is welcomed about any areas of focus you believe are important going into the new year and this will assist in strategic planning.
Coming home tonight with your child is a hard copy of the feedback form (as pictured) for you to give your feedback. Your feedback and suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated.
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.
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 4
Term 4, Week 5
Seniors Camp!
On Wednesday the 19th of October the Yr 5/6s went to Phillip Island for camp. The bus was packed with excitement and we could hardly keep still. When we arrived at camp, we all went into groups and did activities. The activities were The Pinnacle, Flying Fox, Mechanical Wall and Pedal Racing. They were all heaps of fun! Before dinner we did some activities that we needed to work as a team to do. After we ate dinner, we did Ms Steele’s amazing camp quiz!
When we woke up the next day we were up and ready. After breakfast we did the rest of the activities before having morning tea. After some rest we went on an amazing walk to the beach and had the chance to go in the water a little. When we came back we all relaxed and got ready for the cleanest cabin competition. Before bed, we watched a movie and then went to sleep. In the morning we were very busy. We did a scavenger hunt and went on the circuitron. We then had afternoon tea and hopped onto the bus. We stopped at San Remo and ate our lunch and then went back on the bus to go back to school. When we arrived at school we were exhausted but we had a wonderful time.
We would like to thank Ms Steele for all of her organizing and Mrs Telford, Mr Devlin and Mr Tasca for giving up their time to make the camp happen!
By Serena Saliba
FSG Update
It was great to see so many families down at the RSL for the social event. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there were no photos, but from all reports a good time (maybe too good?) was had by all. We hope to run more of these events in the future.
We were also able to use some of the FSG funds to purchase some graphic novels and other books for our school library. These are in the process of being put onto the library system and a call for volunteers to contact these books will be put out soon.
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.
We would like to wish all Year 12 students the best of luck in their exams commencing this week. This is an important part on the pathways that come next for students and as the adults in their life we should all be encouraging them to strive for personal bests. People cannot be asked for more than delivering the best they can and we will be proud of all students and their achievements no matter the outcome.
As one group are coming to the end of their time at the College, there is another group who are planning for their start here. We had a great Parent Information Night last week, with many excited young people coming along and preparing for life at Emmanuel. The next transition event for students is the Orientation Morning on Tuesday 29 November. Keep a look out for emails about that event.
Last Friday, we distributed offers of enrolment for students due to commence in Year 7, 2024. A reminder that the closing date for acceptance of these offers is Friday 11 November, 2022. We have a substantial waiting list at each campus and will make second round offers in the event that a family don’t take up their offer.
Our next College experience opportunity is the Twilight Talk & Tour event being held at St Paul’s Campus. Registrations are essential for this event and can be made via the Tours and Events tab on the right-hand side of the homepage of the College website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
Details are as follows:
St Paul’s Campus - Tuesday 15 November - Commencing at 6.00 pm
We look forward to seeing you at our school 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 $75,000 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.
The Parish Of St. Joseph Newport and Spotswood - News
Dear Families and Friends,
I am writing to you today as the chair of your inaugural St Joseph Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) as we are seeking feedback from your school community. The first task given to us was to develop a constitution for the PPC that reflects the aspirations and expectations of the members of our Parish community, in all its diversity. We now have this in draft form, and we really want to hear from our school families about what you think about it, and any suggestions you might have for improving it, ahead of it being finalised at a Parish Forum on the 10th of December. Below you will find Part One of the draft constitution which outlines the guiding principles and main functions. A full copy, which includes the structure and rules outlined in Part Two, is attached as a pdf and is also available from the school office. The second task given to the PPC was to draft a strategic plan for our Parish. Once again, we are keen to hear from our school families about what you think are the issues we should be thinking about as we enter the planning process early in the new year. A form on which you can provide your feedback on both issues is available in hard copy from the school office or via email if you contact arichards@smmspotswood.catholic.edu.au We really look forward to engaging with you and hearing your thoughts. Thank you for your time.
Katherine Wong,
St Joseph’s Parish Pastoral Council.
We welcome your feedback so if you have anything to contribute to the newsletter, questions about content or general feedback, please let us know.