Dear Parents and Carers

The Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) was celebrated yesterday and all our students and teachers, in two groups, celebrated her feast day with a liturgy in the church. This learning also ties in well with the history unit we are doing across the school and further uses our catholic identity lens. 

Mary MacKillop was born in 1842 in (Fitzroy) Melbourne (Australia). On 8 August 1909 she died, having suffered a disabling stroke in 1902. Inspired by a meeting with Fr. Julian Tenison-Woods, Mary MacKillop at the age of 25 took her vows and the religious name, “Mary of the Cross”. In doing so, she founded the congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph. Soon after taking her religious vows, Mary MacKillop began schools. Within 5 years of taking her vows and founding the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Mary had established over 30 schools, in South Australia and over 100 women had joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Mary MacKillop was very conscious of the plight of the poor and needy. She worked with families that lived in isolated areas of Australia. As a result, Mary MacKillop pioneered a new form of religious life in Australia and commenced a “system” of “Josephite" schools that would provide education, especially for the children of the poor. In 1873, Pope Pius IX gave Papal approval for the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Even today, many Australians can say that they too have felt the impact of the enormous work started by St. Mary of the Cross (MacKillop), having been educated or cared for, by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She was noted for her trust in the providence of God and miracles of healing have been attributed to her. She was declared a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI on the 17th October 2010.

We take inspiration from Mary Mackillop as educators and members of a Catholic Community to make a difference in our world and as she famously always said, ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’  Very apt also for this week which is National Homelessness Week. As a staff, we are currently taking action by donating blankets and bed linen to children in our local area who are disadvantaged and are in need of these items.

Tree Planting Day:

We welcomed Fernando Garcia from Barwon Water and planted 150 trees last Friday. Special mention to Sue Constable, Kellie Clark and the Year 6 and Year Prep teachers and students for helping to further beautify our yard and create natural spaces for our children to play.

Indonesian Day

Terima Kasih to our wonderful Indonesian leaders Bu Bree, Bu Novy and our Indonesian leaders Elisa MacPherson and Memphis Allen for coordinating a fun day of Indonesian Activities. 

The students thought the day was "Bagus" and it certainly was.

100 days of Prep: 

Congratulations to all our Preps who celebrated 100 days. It was a day full of fun and the extra mile our teachers go to ensure our students celebrate these special events and ensure their learning is engaging is greatly appreciated. Well done to all.

40 Year Celebration: As you know we will be celebtrating 40 Years as a school on Friday 9 September. This flyer lists some of the wonderful activities. More details to follow including a timetable in our next newsletter. 

Technology Devices Update 2023 and beyond: Some of you may be aware that beginning next year we are moving our BYOD Program to a school 3 year leasing arrangement for Year 3 2023. Our current Year 2 families moving into Year 3  will pay a technology levy of $150 a year and will be able to take the IPAD between school and home. This positive change will see the school manage the IPAD, a reduction in cost and also further support for families with students knowing it is a school device. 

Further to this 3 year leasing arrangement we will be providing Prep-2 children with new IPADS at a ratio of 1:2. These IPADS will not go home but will add value to our technology learning and accessibility for students which is currently a challenge with only one set in each hub. This will add a technology device levy to the Prep -2 families of $75 a year.

We are working on a new leasing policy and will share this when complete.

Vision Renewal Day: A reminder that this Friday sees us as a whole staff engage in a professional learning day where we are Renewing our Vision. Our wonderful vision statement was written in 2011 and we now have a staff that has grown in size with more than 50% new staff since 2011. It will be invaluable for us all to reflect on our vision statement and have a voice in what it means to us personally. We will reflect on how we can all be empowered to be faithful to our Vision, embrace our Catholic identity, place our students at the centre of the vision and further build on our shared expectations and positive culture through dialogue and a sense of agency. We are very fortunate to have Paul Spence who led our staff in the formation of our Vision in 2011, lead us again on this day. 

Wishing you many blessings for a healthy fortnight ahead.

Kerryn