Term 1, Week 11 Friday 15th April 2022

This week we have met every morning as a whole school community for prayer.  We have heard the stories of Holy Week, leading up to Easter Sunday.  In the busyness of Easter, it is often easy to overlook the significance of Easter for Christians.  At Easter we remember Jesus’ death for the whole world and the resurrection that fills us with hope, renewed life and peace.

Draw us forth, God of all creation. Draw us forward and away from limited certainty into the immense world of your love. Give us the capacity to even for a moment taste the richness of the feast you give us. Give us the peace to live with uncertainty, with questions, with doubts. Help us to experience the resurrection anew with open wonder and an increasing ability to see you in the people of Easter. Amen.

All the staff at St Margaret Mary’s School wish our families a most blessed and safe Easter.  We look forward to seeing all students back on Tuesday 3^rd May.

Thank you to our amazing community for Term 1.  It was a difficult term for many families, dealing with uncertainty, illness and isolation.  Many of our staff were affected and this meant last minute changes to some staffing arrangements and events.  I’d like to thank our staff for their resilience, flexibility and willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ so our students could still experience quality learning and continuity at school. 

This term, all our Reception, Year 1 and 2 students have been learning their literacy through InitiaLit. Teachers have recently completed their end of term assessments for the students.  We have been very impressed with the growth in learning that is evidenced through these assessments. If you haven’t had a chance to look at what InitiaLit is all about, please spend some time watching our parent session (via YouTube as we couldn’t meet face-to-face in Term 1).  Parents are a vital part of early literacy, please continue to assist with your child’s reading each night, and keep up some reading in the holidays!

Reception information:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzo6MWsnkRk

Year 1/2 information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PQ_qv3eYDU

Before we start next term, I will post a video on SeeSaw outlining some plans we have put in place just in case disruption to schools (due to COVID-19) continues into term 2.  Staff are preparing contingency materials for learning, and these will be distributed on our first day back in Term 2.

I hope you have a wonderful rest over the break and can spend some quieter time with your families.

Thank you for your continued support,

Kelly Campbell

Term 1 has gone so quickly! It has been a wonderful term, the children have been so calm and ready to learn. The new Reception children have settled well, and we continue to welcome new children in other years.

Playgroup.

Playgroup has resumed this term. It is run by Mrs Vicky Manalo. We invite all young children and their parent/carer to come a join Mrs Manalo for some play, songs and stories. Please contact Angela if you would like more information.

Playgroup is every Friday morning during school term, from 9.15am to 10.45am in the Preschool.

Occasional Care.

Occasional Care began again early this term. This is for children from the age of 3 years. It is a perfect opportunity for children who are beginning Preschool soon, as they begin to learn the routines and fun of the Preschool learning space.

Occasional Care is on Wednesday mornings during the school term from 8.45am to 12pm. Please register with Angela, spaces are limited.

Transition to Foundation.

We are very pleased to announce that our Foundation teacher for children beginning school in Term 3 will be Miss Kylie Rivera. Miss Rivera is a very familiar face in our school, as she does regular relief teaching and short contracts. She is very excited to meet all the children next term!

Our Transition Program for children who are about to start Foundation in Term 3 will begin in Term 2. Children have been invited to attend a Transition Program on Wednesday mornings. We are excited to welcome all these children to their new classroom and begin a new learning journey together.

Easter Raffle.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Easter Raffle this year. We were able to use the donations to make 10 prizes. A big thank you to Carla, who put together the baskets, ready for the raffle.

Congratulations to all the winners! We know that some of our families will be having lots of chocolate this Easter!

Facebook.

Do you follow us on Facebook? It is another way to make sure that you know what is happening at school, and we love to share all the different things that the children are doing. Make sure you like us on Facebook!

Please make sure that you are reading the Newsletter for all the dates next term. We have many different things happening so please stay in touch!

Finally, I wish everyone a happy Easter and a very restful holiday!

See you on Tuesday May 3^rd for another exciting term!

Looking back on Term 1, we congratulate our 15 First Reconciliation recipients and the elected Student Leadership Team representatives from each class.  We also thank our Year 6 students for leading the community prayers each week and the sacramental students who will present the Stations of the Cross for parishioners on Good Friday. As learners, we focused on Crossways units, Lenten Intentions, Project Compassion stories and as a community we held a casual day fundraiser for Caritas Australia and celebrated in the excitement of our Easter raffle.

Holy Week

This week, we have focused on Holy Week, the final week of Lent. Holy Week began on Palm Sunday and will continue through to this Holy Saturday. It is a time when Catholics reflect more deeply on the Passion of Jesus Christ. The Passion was the final period of Christ’s life; His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death and burial.  Jesus’ crucifixion reminds us that we too must find it within ourselves to show God’s love and forgiveness when others have wronged us.

Easter

Then on Sunday, the Church celebrates Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday marks the beginning of the Easter Season. A season which continues for the next seven weeks leading up to Pentecost. Easter Sunday is a time when Catholics reflect on the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Resurrection marks the triumph of Jesus over sin and death. It reminds us that we too can turn to God for the strength to overcome adversity, trusting that with God’s help anything is possible.

Holy Week and Easter Services

Croydon Park Parish is offering Holy Week and Easter services including; prayer, Stations of the Cross, masses, vigils, adoration, and confession at St Margaret Mary’s, Mater Dei and St Patrick's Church. All are welcome. For further details please click on the link below to the Croydon Park Parish website https://croydonparkparish.com.au/mass-times/

Sacramental News

Next term, the children will be preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Communications regarding Confirmation and First Communion will be emailed by the Parish Sacramental Coordinator Eleni Vailas. If you have any questions relating to the sacramental program, please contact Eleni directly on 8346 0944.

Gold Coin Fundraiser

On Friday 8 April, we held a casual day to raise money for Project Compassion in support of Caritas Australia. It was wonderful to see so many children wearing purple.  I am pleased to announce that we raised over $380.00.

The money raised will be sent to Caritas Australia and the generosity we have shown as a community will be combined with the fundraising efforts of schools, parishes and communities all over Australia. Together, we ensure that Caritas Australia can continue to provide solutions that address poverty, promote justice and uphold the dignity of whole communities, today and for all future generations.

Wishing everyone a joyous Easter and a wonderful holiday.

God bless,

In RRB, we have been reading ‘Bogtrotter’, written by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Judith Russell for the past 2 weeks. It may seem a long time to spend on one book, but it allows us to really deepen our understanding about new and exciting words. Our 3 words this fortnight were GLOOMY, HOPEFUL and STARED. To remember new words we SAY THE WORD, USE THE WORD and ACT THE WORD. To celebrate our books, we finish with an art activity. This time we made flowers that we have used as a display around our learning space.

Our Carnevale assembly was a wonderful sea of colours with all the beautiful masks decorated by the students! 1/2 AF lead us in prayer, Year 4/5 CM shared some Carnevale facts, traditions & customs and our Reception students concluded our assembly  with  a song called Buongiorno/ Goodmorning. It was a wonderful atmosphere.  A big  “Grazie / thank you"  to Natalie, Betty and Aaliyah from Year 6LO for hosting the assembly . 

Gina Armiento
Italian 

Congratulations to Wynter Vo and the SA dragonboats junior team the Dragonmites for their efforts at the National Dragonboat Championships last week. 

On Friday the team cmpeted against teams from other states and medalled in all 3 events.  Gold for mixed 20s 500m, Siver girls 10s 500m and Silver in girls 10s team pursuit 1km.