Newsletter Term 4, Week 4 2024
Monday 4 November- School Closure
Tuesday 5 November- Melbourne Cup Holiday School Closure
Dear SMM Families,
Welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter as we head further into Term 4. There’s plenty to share about recent activities, upcoming events, and some important information for next year.
Administration Update
Our administration area’s partial rebuild and refurbishment is on track, and we expect to move back into the new space later this month. While exact dates are not yet confirmed, we’ll keep you updated on any changes. I’d like to thank parents and guardians for supporting this essential OH&S-driven project through the Capital Levy. I also want to acknowledge our staff’s resilience and teamwork throughout the process. Special thanks to Ruth and Jo-ann for managing operations from the hall foyer, Simon and Paul for sharing the small hall office space with myself, Fiona Parnell for setting up the Year 5/6 classroom in the library, and to all teachers for adapting to frequent staffroom disruptions. We’re grateful for the support from MACS Infrastructure, HAW Architects, and Exemplo.
Student Reports
Our teachers are currently preparing end-of-term reports and analysing recent student data. I want to recognise the dedication they bring to creating a clear picture of each child’s progress. Many hours of work go into these reports, with staff collaborating over student work samples to ensure accurate assessments. This term, we’ll have an optional opportunity to discuss reports at year-end, and some teachers may meet with parents earlier to review data. Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you’d like a check-in, noting that professional development sessions run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 pm.
First Reconciliation
Congratulations to our Year 3 students who made their First Reconciliation last Wednesday. It was a meaningful occasion, celebrating God’s forgiveness and the joy of experiencing unconditional love. We shared the service with our sister school, Sacred Heart, and reflected together on the importance of self-reflection and forgiveness. Thank you to Fr. Samuel, the co-celebrating priests, and to Simon Devlin and Catherine for organising this beautiful service.
Foundation 2025
Our 2025 Foundation parents, carers, and children enjoyed their first session last Tuesday. While children spent time in class, parents connected over a cuppa, listened to informative slides, and shared in a welcoming atmosphere. The morning ended with happy smiles all around as children rejoined their parents, eager to share the activities included in their fun morning.
FSG Trivia Night
We encourage everyone to join us for a fun-filled night at the FSG Trivia event, supporting our school. The FSG is currently seeking donations to make this event a success. Please see details below for more information on how to contribute and to join everyone on the night.
New Staffing Arrangements for 2025
With our growing enrolments, we’re thrilled to welcome an additional classroom teacher, Brooke Hutchins, as we expand to eight classes in 2025. We’re also pleased to announce that Cecilia Phan, our new speech pathologist, will be onsite fortnightly next year. Lucy McCarthy joins us as Literacy Leader, and our partnership with Catholic Care will continue to provide students with access to a provisional psychologist. These new team members strengthen our commitment to high-quality, individualised education that supports the whole child’s growth and development.
Start of 2025 Information
Our school office and staff will return on Tuesday, 28th January, for Professional Development, with administration open for enquiries.
To support effective teaching and learning, it’s essential that we have current data on each student’s literacy and numeracy levels. This allows teachers to plan effectively for each child’s individual progress. All students will participate in assessment interviews on 29th, 30th, or 31st January. Parents are asked to book an appointment on one of these days for each child, during which they’ll meet their 2025 teacher and complete assessments. Please note that all F–6 children will attend with their full class starting Monday, 3rd February.
School Fees now overdue
Edstart's impressive 98% collection rate has been invaluable in supporting St Margaret Mary's financial foundation, helping our school thrive. For families who have chosen to opt out of Edstart, please note that your fees are now overdue. We kindly ask that you reach out to the office to finalise your payment for the year. Thank you for your continued support in helping our school succeed.
As we near the end of another year, let’s pause with our children to reflect on this season’s message of hope and renewal as we prepare for coming season of Advent. Daily prayer is a meaningful way to connect with our children which can be as simple as making the sign of the cross together to bless ourselves, those we love and those people we are grateful for. The conversations that can emerge from this opportunity are invaluable.
Finally, please remember that this coming Monday and Tuesday public holiday are student free days. We wish you all a lovely long weekend.
Take care,
Colleen McCambridge
Principal
St Margaret Mary's Primary School
Schoolyard Stars to SMM Allstars
Our own SMM Allstars Futsal team, made up of Grade 5s Noah, Xavier, Dylan, Joel, Kayden, Chris, Oliver, and Grade 6s Cruz and Pia, kicked off their season in style with a thrilling 9-4 win! This team, representing the best of St Margaret Mary’s community spirit, will be competing well into next year. Here’s to many more victories as they take their schoolyard skills to the competitive stage. Go Allstars!
Hats are back!
In line with the Sun Smart recommendations, students are now required to wear hats during yard time. To help avoid misplaced items, please ensure your child's hat is clearly labeled with their name.
Trivia Night - Sat Nov 16
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:
Week 3
Week 4
Around the School
City Adventure: Year 3 & 4’s Interactive Monopoly Experience!
Last week, our Year 3 and 4 students took an exciting train ride into the city to dive into the world of interactive Monopoly. From dodging lasers and catching cash to spending a little time in ‘jail,’ they explored a variety of thrilling technologies. We can’t wait to see how this adventure sparks their creativity and supports their learning in design and innovation!
Auslan
Our AUSLAN classes have been a wonderful success this year, promoting inclusion and helping students embrace new ways to communicate. One of the highlights has been learning to sign the national anthem, which brings our school community together in a unique and meaningful way. Check out the video to see our students in action!
Bebras Maths Challenge
Each year, the Australian Maths Trust (AMT) runs competitions to inspire, extend, and recognize mathematical understanding for hundreds of thousands of primary and secondary students in Australia and around the world. This week some of our students participated in the competition. They persisted, collaborated, listened to each other, struggled and were challenged by the questions.
Well done. We look forward to seeing their results soon.
Lunchtime Art Club
The Lunchtime Art Club has been a wonderful success, giving students a valuable opportunity to explore personal projects and finish their creative pieces. A heartfelt thank you to Mrs. McGuirk for her dedication and generosity in sharing her time—the students truly appreciate it.
Junior Design Projects
Yesterday, our Grade 1 and 2 students enjoyed an exciting Design Day as part of our Faith Life unit. They explored the design process by creating and refining their bridge designs. Linking literacy with hands-on learning, the students took on the fun challenge of building a bridge to help the Three Billy Goats cross the river, inspired by their recent study of fairytales and narratives. It was a fantastic day of creativity and problem-solving!
Maths Puzzles
The answers are down below!
Answers down below.
Answers down below
Student Wellbeing & Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) at SMM
Student Wellbeing & Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) at SMM.
Last term I attended a well-being conference for student wellbeing staff in Catholic (primary and secondary) schools. One keynote speaker spoke about the current “national school attendance crisis”. She presented the latest research on school attendance and student absence and the significant economic and social costs to society, individual students and their families.
The Parliament of Australia Research Paper on School Refusal (19 April 2023) notes that
“Chronic absenteeism occurs when students miss too much school. A common cut-off point in international literature for chronic absenteeism is 10%; that is, students with attendance rates below 90% for any reason are considered as chronically absent. In Australia, this equates to approximately 20 or more days absent in a year.”
The impacts of school attendance problems were highlighted, including:
Missing out on learning/education (and continuity of learning/chances to revise and practise)
Difficulties with the transition from school to post-school education and training
Exiting school early
Difficulties with friendships/peer relationships (relationships can be built with predictable, stable attendance)
Mental health difficulties
Increased risk of poor general health
Problems attaining and maintaining employment
Reliance on government assistance
Conflict and strained relationships within the family
Decreased income in the family (due to the need to teach or supervise the child)
Increased risk of family violence
In addition, she shared that research indicating that students with disability, additional learning needs or specific learning disabilities:
are more likely to be absent,
that older students with Autism or ADHD show higher absence rates,
that about 50% of students who are school-refusing have an anxiety and/or depressive disorder and
that school refusal is the most frequent reason for non-attendance in Autistic students.
Attending a General Practitioner (GP), referral to a paediatrician, school assessments, referral for external assessments, and gaining an accurate diagnosis can often help everyone (sometimes the student too) to understand the root cause of behaviours. Following up with allied health professionals such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists or psychologists also helps. They can provide reports to school staff, work with children and families and school staff to provide targeted interventions, goals and strategies that can help to alleviate some of the reasons for chronic school absence. At SMM we have developed an excellent pathway to support many students in this way. This can provide a strong foundation for flourishing social-emotionally and academically as children are supported by many professionals to work towards building their capacity to, for example, manage and help themselves, use coping strategies and build interpersonal and collaborative skills to support learning. Children who are not managing socially and emotionally often have limited capacity to focus on academic achievement until their social and emotional needs are met.
Long before the pandemic, reports such as Student Attendance and Educational Outcomes: Every Day Counts emphasised the importance of attendance. The report highlighted the negative effects of “absence accumulating over time” and that “absence from school was related to (the level of) academic achievement in numeracy, reading and writing not only in the current year, but in future years as well.” It recommended that “parents be made aware of these relationships, and understand that when their child misses school it can have an ongoing impact on their learning.”
Chapter 2 of “School Refusal in Australia” (Parliament of Australia) points to examples of risk factors and groups these into the following four domains:
Individual factors – including psychological problems, developmental disorders, physical health, substance abuse, and learning disabilities;
Family factors – including family structure, functioning and parenting style, socio-economic disadvantage, parental physical or mental health problems, low parental involvement in schooling, and overprotective parenting style;
School factors – including school transitions, changes in pedagogical practices (such as going from a single primary teacher to subject-specific teaching); poor classroom management, and failure to prevent or manage bullying, social isolation and unpredictability at schools; and
Community factors – including pressure on students to achieve academically, perceptions of threats, and neighbourhood characteristics and structural barriers such as poverty, lack of transport infrastructure and remoteness.
As seen, reasons for absence and poor achievement can be complicated and are often caused by a variety of co-occurring reasons. The current research also supports previous research in that chronic student absence needs to be managed through shared responsibility involving students, parents, schools, allied health professionals, external support services and a range of government agencies.
A child’s attendance pattern throughout their school life is largely established in the first years of school. The earlier report recommends “setting high expectations about attendance in the first years of school, along with monitoring and intervention, as likely to benefit long-term educational and life outcomes”.
If your child is experiencing difficulty with attendance at school, it is important to let the school staff know the correct reason for the absence and to seek support via the school and your GP. Early intervention and targeted support are key to long term mental health and achievement.
Further Information and References
School refusal: How to help your child overcome it -Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health/Monash University. These recommendations are based on the consensus of international experts who have supported many families facing the issue of school refusal. The full list of recommendations can be found in the publication “Responding to School Reluctance or Refusal: Strategies for Parents” (A set of evidence-based parenting guidelines to support parents of primary and secondary school-aged children who are struggling with school attendance)
School Attendance, Truancy and Chronic Absenteeism: What Parents Need to Know (healthychildren.org). This article spells out the harm that absence from school can cause and provides 10 tips to help get your child to school on time, every day
Hancock, K. J., Shepherd, C. C. J., Lawrence, D., & Zubrick, S. R. (2013). Student attendance and educational outcomes: Every day counts. Report for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra.
Thanks for working in partnership with us to support your children
Kath (Student Wellbeing Leader)
SMM Trivia Night- Donations urgently needed!
Thank you to all the families who have donated so far—your support is making a difference! We’re getting closer to our goal but still need a bit more help. Please check the flyer below to see how you can get involved.
Tickets on Sale Now
We need your help!
The FSG is currently looking at organising a delivery of tan bark for the garden and the play ground. If you are able to help put it onto the garden for a day, please contact Simon at sdevlin@smmspotswood.catholic.edu.au
Chromebook Information
Below is important information for our Year 2 families regarding the Chromebook program, which will begin next year as the students move into Year 3..
Foundation Transition Dates
We had a wonderful first session for our 2025 Foundation transition! If you have a child starting in 2025, the upcoming sessions are essential for helping them settle in and get a strong start in their primary school journey. We can’t wait to see you at the next one!
Zooper Doopers are back!
If you are able to donate a packet of Zooper Doopers, all money raised goes to the FSG and student initiatives.
Year 3 Reconciliation
Wednesday night was a meaningful milestone for our Year 3 students as they celebrated the sacrament of First Reconciliation, a sacrament of healing and renewal. With 66 students in attendance, it was the largest Reconciliation ceremony we’ve hosted in quite a few years. Our heartfelt thanks go to Father Sam and the visiting priests for their guidance, as well as to Mrs. Falcone and Mrs. Wilson for their dedication in preparing the students for this special step in their faith journey.
End of Year Mass and Christmas Concert
Save the Date! Our End-of-Year Mass and Christmas Concert will be held on Wednesday, December 11th, starting at 6:00 pm. Join us for our final Mass of the year, followed by a festive picnic on the grass with each class performing Christmas songs. It’s a special evening to celebrate together—don’t miss it!
2025 Confirmation at St Patrick’s Cathedral
Next year, the Church celebrates a Jubilee year, marking a special occasion for our faith community. In honor of this, the Confirmation Mass for our Year 6 students will take place at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Bishop Martin Ashe will preside over this meaningful event, promising a memorable experience for all. The Mass is scheduled for May 9th at 6:30 pm. Please save the date and join us for this special celebration.
Emmanuel College News
It’s clay time again
Students are once again enjoying the creative process with clay in Year 8 Art classes. They’ve been experimenting with hand-building techniques and using the pottery wheel. Their artwork is proudly displayed on campus and, at times, at external venues. Recently, twenty-three student artworks were exhibited at the Hobsons Bay My Canvas Art Exhibition.
Students were invited to create a canvas of their own design for the exhibition, with many working on their pieces at home or during Art Club at NDC. The display, located in the front foyer of the Civic Centre on Civic Parade in Altona, is free to visit and was open until October 22nd. We’re thrilled to announce that Emmanuel College received a Merit Certificate and secured 2nd Prize. Congratulations to all students involved, and special thanks to Mrs. Tania King, Art Teacher at NDC.
Liverpool Football Club International Academy Australia
Join the Skill Development Clinics in partnership with Liverpool FC International Academy Australia! Open to ages 6-14 and all genders, these clinics will take place in Altona and Point Cook during Term 4. Learn and play the "Liverpool way!" Spots are filling up fast, so register soon using the links below:
Altona: LFC IA Australia | Emmanuel College Altona Skill Development Clinics
Point Cook: LFC IA Australia | Emmanuel College Point Cook Skill Development Clinics
Year 7, 2026
Offers and waiting list letters for Year 7, 2026, were emailed out on Friday, October 18th. If you didn’t receive an email, please check your spam/junk folder or contact enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny Hendricks
Community Engagement Officer
