Term 1, Week 11 Friday 12th April 2024

Dear Families

It’s hard to believe that it’s the last day of Term 1! The last 11 weeks have been a busy and rewarding time and we have much to celebrate as a school community. I am amazed everyday by the learning that our students demonstrate, and we look forward to continuing to see their growth as learners in Term 2.

Easter Raffle
I hope you enjoyed a lovely Easter long weekend with your families. There were some very lucky children and families who won the amazing prizes from the Easter Raffle. Congratulations! Many thanks to our families for their generous support of the raffle with proceeds being donated to Caritas Australia.

Sports Day
Sports Day was such a fantastic day! We were blessed with beautiful sunshine and the day was filled with fun, events, teamwork, and team spirit. Well done to all of our students on their participation in Sports Day, they tried their best in all events and supported each other too. Congratulations to our Year 6 House Captains and leaders on the way they supported the students with the Team Chants, Health Hustle, and Caritas Walk.

This year the Spirit Cup was awarded to MacKillop (Green) and the Athletic Cup was won by Grady (Red). Congratulations to House Captains Mai Ly & Joshua and Kira & John who accepted these cups on behalf of their teams.

Many thanks to the family members who were able to join us on the day and to the parents who volunteered to assist with events. Special thanks to Tristan Griffin and The Fruit Box for the generous donation of oranges for the children to enjoy. Our thanks also to the parents who cut up all the oranges too! Special mention to Mr Greig Graham and Mrs Celeste Brown for their organisation and coordination of the day. We are thankful for their time and efforts, along with all of our staff, in making Sports Day an enjoyable and successful day for all of the children from Preschool to Year 6.

Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to the students who participated in the SACPSSA swimming carnival last Tuesday. On all accounts the students did very well in their events and really pushed themselves to achieve their very best. Special mention to our Year 6 swimmers who took out the Age Champions Award. St Margaret Mary’s placed 4^th overall. Well done to everyone involved, and thank you to Mrs Celeste Brown and Mr Matt Harrison for their support and organisation of the swimming team.

Lunch Clubs
During Term 1 we have introduced Lunch Clubs for students to access during our yard play times. The lunch clubs give students the opportunity to engage in new learning and interest-based activities during their break times. This term students have enjoyed learning about the game of Chess with Mr Parker, creating a variety of art and craft projects with Mrs McCullough, and enjoying the calming peace and quiet of meditation and yoga with Signora Armiento. We are thankful to Mr Parker, Mrs McCullough and Mrs Armiento for offering such fantastic activities for our students.  The lunch clubs have been very popular, and we will be offering more clubs for our students in Term 2.

Staffing News
We would like to thank Miss Julia Vassallo for teaching 4/5JM this term. Julia has done a wonderful job of teaching the class while Julie McGrane has been on Long Service Leave. Julie McGrane will return next term, but we are thrilled that Julia will remain on staff in Term 3 and 4 as one of our Foundation teachers, along with Ms Ann Lang.

Special thanks also to Mr Nick Rylander who has been teaching full-time in 4/5MR while Mrs Patricia Monti has been on leave. Patricia will return to teaching 4/5MR on Monday to Thursday next term, with Nick teaching the class on Fridays.

Mrs Anna Verbi has made the decision to move to teaching 4 days a week and will now teach 1AV from Monday to Thursday. We are pleased that Mrs Gina Armiento will increase her teaching time and will now teach 1AV on Fridays.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday break. We will see you back at school on Monday 29 April.

Thank you for your on-going support.

Belinda Elliott

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter long weekend with family and friends. The liturgical colour for Easter is white. Easter is a time where Jesus shares new life with us and we celebrate, filled with new hope and joy. The Season of Easter continues for fifty days and concludes with Pentecost on Sunday 19 May.

Easter Community Prayer
On Wednesday 3 April, we gathered for Community Prayer to celebrate the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. Thank you to our Year 6 prayer leaders and Roger, Emma and Anyiel for leading us so beautifully in our reflection of Mark’s Gospel.

Each of our students received a chocolate Easter egg as a symbol of new life.

Caritas Australia 
At Sports Day, Thursday 4 April, we held our Term 1 Caritas fundraiser event – ‘House Walk.’ A special thank you to all our Year 6 leaders (the entire cohort), for leading the walk. To both Year 6 classes, for helping to raise our community awareness with their ‘creative posters and simple messages of solidarity and compassion.’ This event truly was led in the spirit of Project Compassion! Thank you to all our families who join in the walk, those who were able to contribute a gold coin donation and for those who returned Project Compassion Boxes containing donations. Thank you to all for helping to make our Sports Day such a memorable event and for supporting our St Margaret Mary’s School spirit of ‘solidarity’ and ‘compassion’ for all our sisters and brothers throughout the world.

Sports Day Cup Winner
Congratulations to MacKillop House. MacKillop House is named after Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1842. Mary cared about the equality of all people. Mary opened her first school in Penola, offering education to all. Mary moved to Adelaide and inspired like-minded women. With the help of these women, Mary founded the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary and her Sisters opened many schools throughout Adelaide including St Margaret Mary’s School. Schools like ours are called Josephite schools. Mary is Australia's first Saint, and we celebrate the MacKillop House on Thursday 8 August.

Spirit Cup Winner
Congratulations to Grady House. Grady House is named after Sister Jude Grady. Sister Jude Grady was born in Coolabah, New South Wales in 1896. Jude joined Mary and the Sisters of St Joseph because she cared about the needs of the community. Jude was the first principal when St Margaret Mary’s School opened in 1929. Each morning, Jude would travel from Hindmarsh to our Parish Hall (our original school). Every week, Jude would help transform the school space into the Croydon Park Church and once a month the local dance hall. Jude and the Sisters held many community events to raise money which helped with the purchase of surrounding properties so the school could grow. We celebrate the Grady House on Tuesday 23 July.

Have a good break everyone.

Matthew Harrison