Term 1, Week 1 Friday 2nd February 2024

Setting up for Success

Welcome back to 2024, we are really looking forward to a fantastic year of learning and connecting with our community.  It has been lovely to meet all our new families this week and reconnect with returning families.

At St Margaret Mary’s School, we are guided by our school values, integrity, perseverance, responsibility, justice and compassion.  This year we are focussing specifically on our value of responsibility.  This week, all our classes have been working on setting the year up for success, developing goals, exploring our values, growth mindset, code of conducts and working with their buddies. 

Starting school can be an exciting time and it can also bring some nervousness and anxiety. We are all here to support your child so if you have any concerns, please see your child’s classroom teacher. We are fortunate to have a school counsellor (Solina Merlino) and a school chaplain (Matthew Harrison). If you think your child would benefit from some extra support, just speak with your child’s teacher, Solina or Matthew. This website has some excellent tips for parents/caregivers about supporting your child as they start school or begin a new school year. https://parenting.sa.gov.au/easy-guides/starting-school-parent-easy-guide

Welcome new staff

We welcome the following new staff to our education team this term.

Julia Vassallo will be working in Year 4/5 whilst Julie McGrane is on leave.

Ben Smedley will be sharing a year 1 class with Ms Braidwood, as well as teaching STEM to all year levels on Monday and Tuesday.

Charlotte Harms joins us as a Year 6 teacher.

Nick Rylander will be co-teaching Year 4/5 with Patricia Monti.

We look forward to seeing all families at our Welcome Evening on Monday 5^th February.  Come along between 5.30-6.30pm to meet your child’s 2024 teacher and see their learning spaces.  There will be a free sausage and veggie burger sizzle.  There will be a brief information session for Reception parents at 6pm.

Student Free Day

Advance notice – we have a student free day on Friday 8^th March.  On this day our staff will be engaging in professional learning in mathematics and neurodiversity.

OSHC will be available, bookings through Camp Australia www.campaustralia.com.au

Thank you for your continued support,

Kelly Campbell

Welcome back to the 2024 school year! We are so excited to see everyone back again, ready to start a new year of learning. Special welcome to our new Preschoolers, Receptions and new children in other year levels, and their families. I hope the year will be filled with new learnings, fun and happiness.

Welcome Night – Meet the teachers and visit the classrooms.
Families from Preschool to Year 6 are welcome to come along on Monday 5 February 5:30-6:30pm for our Welcome Night. There will be a free BBQ (veggie burgers and sausages) (please note there will be no drinks available). Parents/Caregivers and children are invited to come along to meet the teachers and visit the classrooms/preschool.

The Reception teachers will be running an information session for all ROV and RML families from 6pm in the Reception classrooms. All other year levels will be able to visit the classrooms anytime between 5:30-6:15pm with the classrooms closing at 6:30pm.

We look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Morning Supervision
The school gates open at 8.30am, and there is supervision in the yard from that time. If your child needs to be at school before then, please book them into Before School Care. Before and After School Care is provided by Camp Australia. Registration to Camp Australia is free, you will only be charged when your child uses the service.

Healthy Eating
At St Margaret Mary’s School and Preschool we encourage healthy eating. All year levels have a healthy snack in the morning, which should include fresh fruits and/or vegetables. All classes eat their ‘lunch’ at 11.20-11.30am. We encourage children to eat a healthy lunch which may include a sandwich, rice, noodles (etc). Children then have another snack after their second play.

As a nut-aware school, children should not be having Nutella, nuts or nut bars. We also strongly discourage children having sweets or chocolates. We also ask that children drink water only at school. Your support is much appreciated.

Wishing you all the best for the term ahead. I’ll look forward to seeing you soon.

Belinda

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back, it has been wonderful to see the children growing in confidence each day as they become more and more familiar with their new learning environments.

2024 Sacramental Program

Each year a parish led, family centred and school supported Sacramental Program is offered to all Baptised children from Year 3 upwards. Initial information and registrations have been posted via ‘Seesaw’ and additional hardcopies are available from the front office if families still wish to register for the 2024 parish program.

The 2024 Sacramental Program will commence with a Parent Information and Meeting next Wednesday 7 February at 7.00pm at Whitefriars School (45 Beaufort Street, Woodville Park) in the Mary MacKillop Hall.

We request that the child/ren receiving the sacraments attend the information evening with one or both of their parents. Please be advised that you will be required to sign in on arrival to confirm your attendance.

Beginning of Year Liturgy of the Word

On Friday 9 February, our Reception to Year 6 classes will gather for a Beginning of Year Liturgy of the Word in St Margaret Mary’s Church from 9:00am. As part of the liturgy, we will also officially welcome our Reception and new students with a certificate and small gift. Families are warmly welcome to join us for this celebration and you are most welcome to take a photo of your child as they receive their certificate. Please note the Tungara Avenue gate will be locked at 8:50am.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is on the 13 February. Traditionally, Christians used up their fresh foods like milk and eggs in preparation for fasting during Lent. Therefore, on Shrove Tuesday the students will have the option to enjoy one plain pikelet (small pancake). No donation is needed. The pikelets will include dairy, egg and wheat.

If your child has special dietary requirements and you do not want them to have a pikelet please let their teacher know. Families considering specific dietary requirements, may alternatively prepare a pancake in the lunchbox for their child to enjoy at this time.

Ash Wednesday

The Season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on the 14 February. As part of Ash Wednesday all students are invited to receive ashes. The ashes come from the palms that were used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday Eucharistic celebration. Receiving ashes, helps us to reflect that from ashes springs new life. To our students this means being ‘the best version of themselves.’

On Ash Wednesday, the Year 3-6 classes will attend a 9:15am Parish Mass in St Margaret Mary’s Church. Reception to Year 2 classes will attend a 11:45am Liturgy in St Margaret Mary’s Church. All families are welcome to attend an Ash Wednesday gathering, and if you wish, receive a cross of ashes on your forehead with the children.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Matthew Harrison

Ciao a tutti ! Hello everyone !

Welcome back to school! I’m so excited to be teaching Italian 3 days a week this year in our community.

A big “grazie” thank you, to Rachel in Yr4/5 MR for coming up with the new name for the Italian section of our newsletter! Each fortnight Italian learning will be showcased here. We look forward to sharing our Italian learning with you.

Gina Armiento
Italian Teacher 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Hope you are settling in to the 2024 school year.

If you have a Health Care Card or Pension Card you may be eligible for lower income fees.   Please bring your current card with you as you will need to fill in the School Card Application form for 2024 or it can be accessed online at 

https://online.forms.sa.edu.au/.../application-for-school...

This form needs to be filled out every year and we need to send these completed forms to the School Card Department of the State Government next week.  School Card is a State Government Scheme and therefore approval is not done at a school level.  Because of this we do not send out school fee accounts at the School Card rate until we receive formal approval from the State Government which is usually April or May.   

As usual we will invoice the 2024 school and preschool fees in full at the beginning of the year.   These will be posted home in the next couple of weeks.  If a payment plan is not in place these fees can be paid – as in previous years – over three terms.   Please do not delay making payment because your School Card reduction has not yet been approved.  The due dates for these fees are: 

Friday 1st  March 2024          Friday 31st  May  2024             Friday 23rd August 2024

If you have previously had a payment plan and would like to renew it – please come and see me.  I cannot automatically roll it over.

Please come and see me if you have any questions or would like to set up a new payment plan.

Jane Victory
Finance Officer
On behalf of St Margaret Mary’s School Board