Newsletter Term 4, Week 7 2022
Monday 5th December- School Closure
Dear Parents,
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. This feast heralds the last Sunday in the liturgical calendar and signifies the coming of Advent and that we will soon be preparing for the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
This Saturday, Deacon An Le who has been part of the St. Joseph’s Parish and our school for the last few months, is to be ordained at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On Sunday, at Sacred Heart Church at 10.00am, he will be celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving.
On behalf of the St. Margaret Mary’s community, we will Deacon An all the very best for Saturday and we look forward to celebrating this special occasion with him at the Mass of Thanksgiving.
During this term, some of our children have been assisting our Parish Pastoral Council (St. Joseph’s Newport and Spotswood) with artwork to help explain 5 of the 10 guiding principles for the Council to abide by.
They have done an amazing job and produced exceptional artwork. Congratulations to Lily T, Marko D, Cruz V, Jean H, Oliver M and Tuppence R on the wonderful artwork and insight into the guiding principles.
Act with Openness: Lily T & Marko D
Act with Transparency - Cruz V
Act in a Spirit of Accountability - Tuppence R
Act with Integrity - Oliver M
Act with appreciation of the need to continually develop leadership - Jean H
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 6
Term 4, Week 7
Middles Camp!
What a way to spend a couple of days! The weather was a bit of a worry earlier in the week but it turned out to be perfect conditions for camp. The students got to visit the beach, rock climb, play games and get to know each other a little better over their time at Anglesea. Teachers on camp duty said the students were great representatives for our school and demonstrated our SMM values throughout.
Remembrance Day
It was a special occasion this Remembrance Day as our school leaders were invited to the Spotswood Kingsville RSL. Our school captains Luke and Ruby, joined wellbeing Captains Lily and Lily to present a wreath of poppies created by our Senior classes. Other school captains were in charge of the ceremonies held at our school. The Last Post was played and a minute silence held to mark the significance of this special event. Lest We Forget.
Call for new members!
Can you spare some time to help out with the FSG? We are currently looking for new members. Email Stacey to express your interest and find out more about how you can help out.
The lively nature of being a part of the College continues this week. The Year 12 students are very well entrenched in their exams with about a week or so to go, then it will be the turn of the Year 11s. While all of this has been going on, the Year 9s from both campuses went off on camp last week. The Outdoor Ed students headed to Anglesea and braved the rain for a great camp and the remainder of students went to camp at Kyneton. Camp remains a wonderful opportunity for growth and the Year 9s certainly made the most of opportunities that were presented to them.
Just a reminder that offers for Year 7, 2024 have been distributed and need to have been accepted by this coming Friday – 11 November. If you are having trouble meeting this deadline, it is essential that you contact Ms Jenny Hendricks via enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au as a matter of urgency.
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 $57,000 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.
BYO iPad Information for our current Year 2 parents
Big Summer Read
The BIG Summer Read is about to kick off, and Hobsons Bay Libraries are running a campaign to get kids joined up to the challenge.
Congratulations Deacon An Le!
We wish Deacon An Le a very special day when he completes his ordination this Saturday at St Patrick’s Cathedral. An has been training with Father Binh in our parish since last term and is finally ready to complete his final step to becoming a priest, the Holy Orders. We celebrated with An at a morning tea last Thursday and we wish him every success in the road ahead.
Final Call for Feedback
The Parish Of St. Joseph Newport and Spotswood
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.