Term 4, Week 5 Friday 15th November 2024

It is getting to be a very busy time of the year with many events planned.  Please keep up to date by accessing your child/ren’s SeeSaw regularly.  SeeSaw is our main means of communication with families, including important notices and sharing of learning from classes.

Thank you to all our families who assisted with donations for last week’s Multicultural Festival.  It was a great day, and we loved that so many could share culture through dress, food, traditions and dance.  Thank you to the staff for organising the event and Yashoda and Veena for sharing their Diwali celebrations with our community.  There are some great photos of the day on our recent FaceBook post.

Throughout the year, students learn and engage with a lot of different genres of writing.  Recently, our 4/5 classes have been learning about poetry and have been writing their own poems.  Cooper in 4/5JM has shown a real talent and passion for writing and I’m pleased to share his writing with you.

Leave the World Behind
I sit in the sand watching the beautiful sunset.​
My friends tell me to come with them but the beauty is not over yet.​
The moon is coming up and the sun going down.​
I'm covered in the feeling of its beauty, some much I could drown.​
Every night I come to feel myself leaving the outside world behind.​
The sunset and I feel intertwined.​
I feel the sun leave us, it’s so sad.​
It will come back tomorrow so it’s not that bad.​
Let yourself free in the beauty of the end of the day.​
The sand is where I am, it is where I lay.​
It is stunning, I'm captivated in its beauty.​
I am compelled to come; it is like my duty.​
For the rest of the night, I am in sorrow.​
The sun is down but it will be back tomorrow.​
Cooper, Year 5

I am looking forward to being a part of the children’s University Graduation ceremony on Monday.  Congratulations to the 27 students from St Margaret Mary’s who will be graduating.  A special mention to Edmund and Aria who will receive the National Silver Certificate for 165 hours!  Well done.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kelly Campbell
Principal

Dear Families

I hope that you are keeping well and enjoying the lovely Spring weather.

Multicultural Festival
The multicultural festival was a wonderful celebration of the cultural diversity of our school community. Our celebration included children speaking and reading prayers in English, Vietnamese, Hindi, Tagalog, French, Italian, Greek, Malayalam, Tigrinya and Mandarin Chinese. Well done to the children who read in these languages – Your ability to read in two languages is such a valuable gift. Keep embracing both languages because they each bring something special to your understanding of the world.

We saw performances of Vietnamese dances such as the Lion Dance, Fan Dance and Yellow Butterfly Dance along with dances from different states of India which celebrate Diwali.

We are thankful to all of the families who donated money and food to the festival. Special thanks also to the staff and parents who gave up their time to help the children with the performances, especially Veena and Yashoda.

If you are interested in supporting our Multicultural Festival in 2025 by teaching children a dance or activity from another culture, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Angela in the front office.

End of Year Community Event – Family Picnic
Our next whole school gathering is the End of Year Community Event – Thursday 5 December. All students from Preschool to Year 6 are expected to attend and families are encouraged to join us on their special evening. The students are looking forward to sharing the songs/dance/performance from their Arts lessons with their families. We thank our Performing Arts Teacher Mrs Selina Roper for all of her efforts in preparing the students for this special event. Following on from our Multicultural Festival our theme this year is ‘Christmas Around the World’. We will be in contact with you about what your child needs to wear. Some props and decorations are made by the children at school.

This year the Community Event will be a Family Picnic. Families are invited to bring along their own food and drinks (alcohol free), a picnic rug or chairs. There will not be a BBQ, or soft drinks stall this year but water will be available. Gates will open at approximately 5:15pm and the event will start at around 5:45pm. More information will be shared with families in the coming weeks.

All the best for the week ahead.

Belinda

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Over the past two weeks, our Student Leadership Team (SLT) representatives have been responsible for setting up the Vinnies Christmas Appeal ‘Giving Tree’ and collection baskets in the entry area. We held a Primary Years SLT Meeting and an Early Years SLT Meeting to raise awareness about this year’s Appeal. This year, as part of our SLT commitment, we have focused on the school value of ‘Responsibility.’ As such, each of our SLT representatives have coordinated times to meet with each class and talk to the students about how families in our school can help support Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

Vinnies Donations
Thank you for your generous support already, of the Vinnie's Christmas Appeal. Your support truly does assist Vinnies ‘good works,’ to promote a just and compassionate experience for families during the cost-of-living crisis. It has been wonderful to see the donations of food, gifts and toys that are already filling the collection baskets around our ‘Giving Tree’ in the main entrance area.

Vinnies Christmas Appeal Collection
The baskets will remain in the entrance area, until Thursday 5 December (Week 8). On Thursday 5 December, the ‘Giving Tree’ will also be on display by the Parish Hall at our community event. On the night, any families who may still wish to place a donation in the baskets, can do so as they arrive. On Friday 6 December, the baskets will be delivered to parish, ready to be distributed into hampers for families in our community.

2025 Sacramental Program
On Wednesday 6 November, Croydon Park Parish held a Parent Information Meeting outlining the 2025 Parish Sacramental Program. If you were unable to attend the meeting, but would like your child /children to be a part of the 2025 Parish Sacramental Program please contact the parish office on 8346 0944 or email matthew.harrison@smms.catholic.edu.au

Have a good weekend everyone.
Matthew Harrison

How wonderful to see so many students choosing to participate in yoga & mindfulness. Today was our largest group to date. Our yoga poses are starting to flow beautifully and we continue to focus on our breathing. 

Gina Armiento 

The year 3s have been learning about 3D shapes and their corresponding nets. With great excitement, the students investigated the nets of cubes, triangular based prisms, cylinders and rectangular prisms. By doing so, they were able to then create a 3D shape of their choosing using a net and then successfully identified the faces, edges and vertices of their chosen shape. Once they were finished, they were able to explore different shapes to help continue their investigation and help further their understanding. Here are some examples of our 3D shapes that we made.

RCIA Introduction Meeting 
Tuesday December 3^rd 7pm in the Parish Office for people who are interested in becoming Catholic.
Weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 7pm from January to March, then receive the sacraments during the Easter Vigil April 19^th 2025.

Enrolments open for the 2025 Sacramental Programme
Children need to be baptised, and in Year 3 or above in 2025.
Enrolment forms available through the School or Parish.

For more information, please contact the Parish Office on 8346 0944 or hello@croydonparkparish.com.au

Calling all campers! SPIN kids camp is a four-day, three-night Christian camp for years 4-6. Join us for a week of fun, games and faith at Camp Kedron, Barmera (private bus transport available from Adelaide). 

The camp runs from 14-18^th January 2025. First-time campers cost only $50!

To register your child for camp, either use the QR code in the flyer, or click on this link: https://www.blueprintministries.org.au/camps/spin/