Newsletter Term 1, Week 4 2023
The FSG need your help!! If you can assist with fundraising and helping at events please see information below.
Dear Parents,
Welcome to our second newsletter for this year. Families, children and teachers have participated in another fortnight of positive experiences that have enhanced the strong connections across all facets of our Catholic learning community.
The “meet and greets” gave families and teachers an opportunity to share how the year has started and to help the teachers find out even more about the children in their care.
We know that when families, teachers and students come together, we are all empowered to create an environment that supports social, emotional and academic growth at school and at home.
Our staff attended St Margaret Mary’s parish mass at 5.30 last Saturday. It was a beautiful mass and it was wonderful to be joined by the staff of Sacred Heart Newport. Thank you to the children and families that came along and thank you to those who provided the music and beautiful singing.
I am hopeful, especially during this season of Lent, that we can see even more families attend mass on Saturdays at St. Margaret Mary’s or Sundays at Sacred Heart Newport.
Last Tuesday our pancake morning was a fabulous success. Thank you to our Religious Education Leader Kerry Brown for organising volunteers to mix the batter and then come in to cook the pancakes.
The children were early to school and once again there was a significant turn out of parents, extended family and carers.
I also want to acknowledge our hard working staff who once again have given “over and above” through their acts of service to the children and community of St Margaret Mary’s. Thank you staff for coming to the parish of SMM for your mass last weekend, thank you for coming in early to set up, cook and serve the pancakes and for your attendance at two after school professional learning meetings. We are so blessed to have you!
Ash Wednesday is the first day in the season of Lent. Lent can be observed by all Christians, and it is a beautiful way to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and prepare us for the Easter season. During Lent, we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the devil. We do extra prayers, fasting, and almsgiving during this season of Lent. Ash Wednesday has many traditions for Catholic families and ways to observe this day, and also, anything you are doing for the length of Lent will start on this day.
As part of your Lenten promises, I encourage families to donate to Caritas Australia through the “Project Compassion” boxes in the classrooms and in your homes. Project Compassion 2023 reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come.
Exciting things ahead!
Year 3 / 4 Assembly Monday 6th March, in the hall at 2.45. All community members are welcome!
Life Education Van Incursion F-6
On the 6th and 7th of March, all children from Foundation to Year 6 will attend lessons and activities whilst the Life Education van visits our school. The lessons are to support our faith and life unit that investigates our Identity and one of the key wonderings, “How can I be the healthiest me?”
Fundraising and Social Group
All parents and carers are very welcome and encouraged to attend our first FSG meeting for 2023. Especially parents from the junior school who may not yet have had the opportunity to engage fully in the life of our wonderful school due to COVID.
This group collaborates to decide on the fundraising and social activities for our school. The organisation of these events is then shared out and so many hands make light work. You will not be left to organise events on your own ☺ As a school we are in need of funds for many projects to enhance our teaching and learning environment for our students.
Please come along to the SPOTSWOOD HOTEL, 7pm Monday 6th March.
Communication
When you catch a moment, please ensure you have the Operoo app. and that your children’s medical details are up to date. We are using Operoo for messaging the community in between newsletters. Thank you.
Another reminder to please ensure you are on Seesaw as the teachers will be posting student work and learning each week. Seesaw is a wonderful way to engage with your child’s learning and also to receive messages from the school.
We will have school photos on 14th March. See below for instructions for ordering. We also have envelopes in the office if you’d rather not order online.
Take Care,
Colleen McCambridge
Principal
Upcoming events and reminders
If you know of anyone looking for a school for their Prep student for 2024, please let them know about our open mornings and Prep 2024 Information Evening.
Open Morning for potential 2024 Preps:
Tuesday March the 7th from 9.30- 11am
Wednesday March 22nd from 9.30- 11am
Prep 2024 Information Evening:
Wednesday March 29th 7pm
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 4
Term 1, Week 3
We’re Cooking with Literacy 🥞🥞🥞
The Prep teachers used Shrove Tuesday as way to reinforce literacy skills with their students. The students focussed on rhyming words in the Pancake Poem, as well as saying and recognising initial sounds. It was d d d d delicious learning!!
Pancake Tuesday
It was great to have everyone at school Tuesday morning for Shrove Tuesday. Our students and families were treated to yummy pancakes cooked by parent and teacher volunteers. We even had one Grandparent driving 2 hrs from home in Birregurra to come and enjoy pancakes with her Grandson. Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was the last chance for a bit of indulgence before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the 40 days leading up to Easter. Christians would use up their leftover ingredients such as eggs, butter and milk, by turning them into pancakes to be eaten on the day.
Special thanks to Kerry Brown for organising the event and for our volunteer parents and staff that came to mix up batter, cook or clean up afterwards, these events can’t happen without volunteers making it possible!!
Easter Egg Raffle
Upcoming School Masses
Family Mass: Feast of St. Joseph
Sunday, March 19⋅10:00 – 11:00am at Sacred Heart Church
School Photos 14th March
Camp Australia
We need your help
The FSG really need help with running fundraising and events. In the past, the FSG has worked hard to provide our kids with resources such as our new playground, new books, landscaping etc. Unfortunately, these items are often out of the school budget reach and we rely on fundraising from parents to purchase them. If you have some time to volunteer helping the FSG we would be extremely appreciative.
The FSG is meeting at the Spotty Pub on Monday the 6th of March from 7-8pm. Please sign up and come along if you can make it.
https://forms.gle/HhiXDfS3xB3GdHGy9
Thank you in advance for your support.
Important Dates
Trying to find an important date? Check out our updated Term Dates page.
Special thanks to Janis (a former parent) from Super Movement who came in to do a Pilates lesson for our 3-6s as part of their Healthy Me unit.
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!
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
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.
We welcome your feedback so if you have anything to contribute to the newsletter, questions about content or general feedback, please let us know.
