Newsletter Term 1, Week 2 2023
Meet’n’Greets school finishes 1pm Feb 14th
Dear Parents,
Welcome Back!
As we begin a new school year, I would like to formally welcome you all back and, in particular, our new Foundation families and new families placed throughout the school.
We have enjoyed a positive start to our new school year at St. Margaret Mary’s (SMM). I am delighted to be part of this amazing learning community and am thrilled to have been greeted by a warm welcome and positive energy.
A significant crowd of parents, grandparents and carers came along to our welcome back to school photo opportunities, coffee van, and a special thank you to Joan Laurie who baked the special treats. I am so blessed to be the new principal of this vibrant community and I look forward to learning, praying and celebrating with our wonderful SMM children and our exceptional staff, parents and carers.
Staff Professional Development
Friday 27th January, saw both St. Margaret Mary and Sacred Heart staff celebrate mass together, with Fr. Binh. Together we participated in professional development led by MACS consultant Rose Thomas.
The key focus was to enhance our learning communities by reconnecting and strengthening the bonds between both schools. Rose guided us through a number of engaging learning experiences to deepen our understanding of the charism of St. Joseph.
Annual School Picnic
Our Annual school picnic yesterday evening was a booming success. The weather was sunny, the music was great and the community turned out in large numbers to welcome our new families and reconnect with each other.
For me, I was so impressed with everyone’s inclusive friendliness, the “older” parents connecting with new parents and the children playing and dancing. There is significant evidence to support that strong positive connections across members of a learning community helps to build positive academic and wellbeing outcomes for the students.
I wish to publicly acknowledge and thank our dedicated staff who turned up and joined in the fun! I couldn’t ask for a better staff!
Thank you and welcome
Each year brings a time to acknowledge the positive work of those that have come before us and have invested in building our successful faith and learning community. Past families, students and staff have contributed to the thriving school that is St. Margaret Mary’s.
In particular, I wish to thank our exiting Principal, Mrs Andrea Richards who has worked throughout the school holidays to assist me in a smooth transition of leadership. We wish Andrea every best wish as she launches into 2023 at her new school.
I am pleased to introduce our new staff. We are delighted to welcome Chelsea Graham, our new Foundation (prep) teacher who comes to us from Newcastle England. Chelsea has extensive teaching experience in China, Ireland and Qatar. Chelsea has many talents and one of these is her semiprofessional soccer career playing for England under 21s.
We are fortunate to have Glenn Dalton join us as our middle senior Learning Enhancement Teacher. All Learning Enhancement Teachers are additional highly trained teachers who actively assist in the planning for and delivery of teaching and learning for children of all capabilities and talents.
Glenn brings a solid curriculum and wellbeing skill set and a differentiated approach to meeting children’s academic and social emotional needs.
We are also fortunate to welcome Mrs Fiona Kilpatrick to our school, with her extensive experience in adult and student educational settings alongside her business management and office administration skills.
Mrs Kilpatrick will be in our office Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as our front of house, administration officer. Fiona has also been engaged to work as a student support officer in Foundation, Thursday and Friday.
When you come to our administration, you will also notice we have Joanne Buysen stepping in as Bursar while Marie Paton is on leave. Joanne has worked in previous ICON schools and is a highly skilled addition to our welcoming and busy front office.
I have had the pleasure of visiting the classrooms across the school and ask children about their learning. All classes are very settled and focused, and it is wonderful to see the high levels of engagement.
The children and I have begun using the thumbs up, sideways and thumbs down sign to silently communicate how they are going. It is important for all children to know they are seen, they have a voice, and they are in a safe place to learn, play and thrive.
Thank you everyone for the positive start to the year.
Take Care,
Colleen McCambridge
Principal
Upcoming events and reminders
Beginning of Year Mass and Student Leader Badges
Our beginning of the year school mass will take place February 14th at 9.15am in St Margaret Mary’s Church. Please note that our 2023 student leaders and SRC will be presented with their badges at the conclusion of the mass.
Family School Meet and Greet Meetings
Please remember to register for these:
Event Code: upjv2
The purpose of this conversation is for the teachers to find out more about your child from you and it is an opportunity to build a positive home – school partnership which we know sets up our children for success. It is an expectation for all children to have a parent or carer make a time to meet their class teacher please.
Staff and School Mass 5.30 Saturday 18th February
Our staff will be attending St Margaret Mary’s parish mass at 5.30 Saturday 18th February to give witness to their dedication to our parish school and to receive the blessings of God and our community. I call out to all members of our school to join us for mass on this day if you possibly can.
Communication
Please keep an eye out for the Seesaw QR code that will be sent home next week. Seesaw is a wonderful way to engage with your child’s learning and also to receive messages from the school.
School Photos
We will have school photos on 14th March. See Parent Information section for instructions for ordering. We also have envelopes in the office if you’d rather not order online.
School Closure Day
We have a School Closure Day planned for the first day back of Term 2, Monday 24th April. Please mark this date in the calendar.
Food Allergy Awareness
Due to a number of children at St. Margaret Mary’s with an allergy to nuts, we ask that you avoid sending nut products to school in your child’s lunchbox.
Foundation 2024
We have already received a number of expressions of interest from the community for Foundation (Prep) 2024. We have already arranged tours for prospective families. We have also set aside Morning Tours and information sharing for Tuesday 7th March at 9.30am and Wednesday 22nd March at 9.30 am. Please spread the word to any new families who have a child starting school next year. Current families don’t need to attend but be sure to come up to the office from March 7th to pick up and enrolment pack.
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 1, Week 2
Term 1, Week 1
Off to a Great Start
The children have hit the ground running in 2023. We’ve had some kids already showcasing our values of Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence in our first week back. We we’re excited to give out values awards for so many different actions, such as showing respect to classmates by listening attentively, showing excellence in their classwork and being brave in Prep by walking into class independently. We look forward to giving out many more values awards throughout the year!
Monday Morning Values Award Assembly
First Day of School 2023
A welcome to and a welcome back for our students and families for 2023.
Beginning of Year Picnic
It was lovely to share an evening with our community and come together to celebrate the start of the year.
School Photos 14th March
Camp Australia
AFL Footy Tipping 2023
Footy tipping is back again this year with all money raised going towards the FSG.
A few changes this year include:
The return of the Joker round
Away sides for non tippers
Bonus point for tipping 8
$25 to join and prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd to be announced soon.
Payments made via school FSG bank account. Please have entry payments made by round 3, using your footy tipping alias as a reference.
Account SMM FSG
BSB: 083 347
Acc: 365426557
You can also send in $25 in an envelope, labelled with your alias and titled "2023 footy tipping"
Join the competition below: https://www.footytips.com.au/comps/SMM_2023_AFL_Footy_Tipping_Competition?p=stmm3015
Pancake Breakfast
On Tuesday the 21st of February we would like to have a pancake breakfast for families to celebrate Shrove Tuesday between 8.15 and 8.45am.
We need your help please
We will need some assistance with mixing up the pancakes on Monday after school and cooking the pancakes on Tuesday morning from 7.30am.
If you are able to assist at either of these times please complete the attached form and we will contact you.
https://forms.gle/jWcGHszWYtEGHng7A
Thank you in advance for your support.
Important Dates
Trying to find an important date? Check out our updated Term Dates page.
Safer Internet Day
The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is Australia’s independent regulator for online safety, at the forefront of the fight against online risks and harms faced by adults as well as children. A fast-growing team of educators, investigators, lawyers, policy analysts, technology experts, digital specialists & other professionals who share one goal – a safer & more positive online experience for all Australians.
PARENT RESOURCES-https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/resources to help you start the chat about online safety issues & strategies with your child
FREE webinars for parents & carers to learn the latest strategies for helping to keep children safe online
Short videos & advice sheets to help you talk to your children about online safety
The eSafety Guide
Want to know about the latest apps, games & social media that your child is using? The eSafety Guide includes important advice about their safety features, including how to use the settings to report online abuse and protect personal information.
Parental advice on many topics including; cyberbullying, screen time, gaming, determining the right age for children to access different technologies, dealing with high-risk behaviours & technology, parental controls, privacy, family tech agreements ...and much more!
Emmanuel College News
It has been very exciting over the last week to welcome our students back to the College as well as making welcome our Year 7 students and a number of others commencing in Years 8-12.
Watching their smiling faces light up as they connected with old friends and new was very rewarding.
School events are already rolling with our Opening College Mass occurring at the Notre Dame Campus this coming Friday. As a way of continuing to build connections between the families and school, on Monday night the College held Parent Pastoral nights at each campus, where families were introduced to life at the College, met staff as well as hearing about what lies ahead for their children for the semester.
The Year 7 camps will be held in coming weeks and they continue to be amazing ways for students to make new friends and meet teachers.
Our next College experience opportunity will be the Meet the Principal event. This is a great chance to meet our new College Principal, Dr Janine Biggin as well as enjoy a tour of the College hosted by our students. Details are as follows;
St Paul’s Campus - Thursday 2 March - Commencing at 9.15 am
Notre Dame Campus - Thursday 9 March - Commencing at 9.15 am
Registrations are essential for this event and can be made by clicking on the Tours and Events tab on the right-hand side of the homepage of the College website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
We look forward to seeing you at the College soon.
Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College
OPEN EVENTS
VISITING MOUNT ST. JOSEPH GIRLS’ COLLEGE IS A GREAT WAY TO EXPLORE OUR DYNAMIC LEARNING SPACES AND EXPERIENCE LEARNING IN ACTION.
We invite you to join us at our Open Events in 2023 on the following dates:
OPEN DAY 10:00am – 2:00pm Sunday 7 May
OPEN MORNINGS 9:15am – 10:30am
23 February (Coming soon, register now!)
24 March
8 June
20 July
3 August
7 September
You will meet our College Principal, students and staff and see why Mount St. Joseph Girls College is the best choice for your child. Tours of the College are led by our student
ambassadors. This gives visiting families the unique opportunity to ask questions and gain an honest insight into our programs and what it is like to be a student at Mount St. Joseph Girls College.
To register your interest in attending, please visit our website on the VISIT US page
ACADEMIC NEWS
Congratulations to all our graduates of the Class of 2022. There were many stories of students achieving personal success and we are proud of the achievements of all our VCE and VCAL students.
We are pleased to share this snapshot of our results. We wish the Class of 2022 continued success in their future tertiary studies and career pathways.
College VCE DUX: Tanvi Arora (98.95)
College VCAL DUX: Lauren Agosta
Top Study Score: Zoe Nasser (Year 11), Psychology (50)
Median Study Score: 30
Scores above 40: 42 (Top 9% of the state)
Students with an ATAR above 80: 26%
Students with an ATAR above 90: 9%
ENROLMENT DATES
YEAR 7 in 2025
Applications for Year 7 at Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College should be made during Year 5 of your child’s primary school education.
Parents/Carers should complete an online application form with the required documentation and payment of a non-refundable $50 application fee. Applications for Year 7 in 2025 close 18 August 2023.
Upcoming School Masses
Beginning of Year Mass February 14th 9.15 am in St Margaret Mary’s Church (2023 Student Leaders will be presented with their badges)
Family Mass Feast of St Joseph March 19 March 10 am at Sacred Heart Church
We welcome your feedback so if you have anything to contribute to the newsletter, questions about content or general feedback, please let us know.