Term 1, Week 3 Friday 17th February 2023

Over the past weeks our primary students have been discussing leadership and how they can be an authentic leader at St Margaret Mary’s School.  Our upper primary Student Leadership Team met for the first time this week, and the list of these leaders are outlined in Mr Harrison’s report later in the newsletter.  Congratulations to all students involved.

We have also elected our Sports Captains for the year and these students have an important role in organising and leading our sports day later this term.

Congratulations to:

Gia and Markus (Blue)

Celeste and Deng (Green)

Yalda and Jett (Red)

Justina and Henry (Yellow)

 Our School Board met for the final time of our 2022 reporting year and are planning for our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 22^nd March.  We require at least 3 more parent nominations.  Being a member of the school board is a great way to contribute to our community and help shape our continual improvement.

The term is moving very quickly and we have already had many events happen within the school. Such events provide an opportunity for us to come together as a community, meet parents and carers and get to know the different families within the school.

A big thank you to all families who were able to attend the Parent Welcome and Information Evening. The children are always excited to come along to school after hours and to bring their families in to show them around. It is wonderful to see the children so proud and excited to be at the school!

We have had our first Whole School Mass, which is a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together to give thanks for the new school year and to welcome new staff and students. This was then followed by a Commissioning Mass as part of the Parish’s Sunday Mass.

Later this term we will also be having our Parent Teacher Learning Conversations (Week 8) and Sports Day (March 31). We look forward to these events as it provides a range of different opportunities for families to come into the school and participate actively in their child/ren’s schooling.

Healthy Eating at School
It has been pleasing to walk around the school and seeing the wide variety of healthy food choices that students have in their lunchboxes.  As we have been having some warmer days, you may like to put an icepack in the lunchbox, or to add ice to water bottles, however all school bags are stored inside and are not exposed to the hot outdoor temperatures.

Please read through the article that I wrote in Week 1 regarding 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 main ‘lunch’ at around 11.20-11.30am, when the orders are delivered. We encourage children to eat a healthy and substantial meal which may include sandwiches, rice, noodles or last night’s leftovers! 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. Your child may be asked to take home chocolate bars etc as these are not appropriate for school or preschool.

We also ask that children only drink water at school. There are taps both inside and outside that allow children to drink cool water or refill their water bottles throughout the day.

Volunteering At School
Many of the events offered by the school require the support of volunteers to make them successful. These include Sports Day and Swimming Lessons (Term 2 Week 4 (R-2) and Week 6 (3-5)), as well as excursions and community events such as the Mid-Autumn Festival.  If you or anyone in your family would like to become a registered volunteer at the school, please contact Angela for further details. There is a process that Angela is able support volunteers with.

It is difficult to become a volunteer at short notice and we strongly encourage you to become a volunteer at the beginning of the school year, so that you are ready and available when you would like to support your child in this way.

Occasional Care and Playgroup
Occasional Care and Playgroup have started for 2023. These provide an opportunity for children to visit and become familiar with the Preschool learning space prior to beginning Preschool.

Occasional Care is available on Wednesday mornings. Children must be registered prior to attending Occasional Care. Please contact Angela if you would like to enquire about your younger children beginning Occasional Care.

Playgroup is available on Friday mornings. Vicky Manalo runs Playgroup. She provides a welcoming program that encourages young children and their parent/carers to explore, play, sing and learn together.

Please feel free to talk to your friends or family members about the early years experiences that are offered at St Margaret Mary’s School.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you at school soon.

Alicia

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Thursday 9 February, we gathered for our Beginning of Year Mass celebration. Following the Mass we presented Welcome Certificates to the students in our two new Reception classes and new students across the school.

Continuing with the new year, school staff also received a Commissioning Blessing on Sunday 12 February as part of the 10:30am Family Mass. It has been wonderful to share both celebrations with our Parish Priest Fr Charles Lukati, our families and parishioners.

Sacramental Program
We currently have 10 students enrolled in the 2023 Sacramental Program and most of the families were able to join us on Wednesday 8 February for a Parent Information and Reconciliation Meeting.

On Sunday 19 February, the sacramental candidates will be presented to the parish at either St Patrick’s 8:30am Mass or St Margaret Mary’s 10:30am Mass. If you would like to enrol your Baptised child in the program, there is still time. Forms can be collected from the school front office. 

Student Leadership Team
On Monday 20 February, we will have a Year 5/6LO 2:20pm assembly. As part of the assembly, we will officially acknowledge our new Semester 1 Student Representatives. As such, our Student Representatives are asked to wear their badges to the assembly on Monday.

Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is on the 21 February. Christians traditionally used up their fresh foods like milk and eggs in preparation for a time of fasting in Lent. Therefore, on Tuesday the students will have the option to enjoy one plain "Golden" 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
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on the 22 February. As part of Ash Wednesday our students are invited to receive ashes. The ashes come from the palms used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday Eucharistic celebration. Receiving the ashes helps us to reflect that from ashes springs new life. To our students this means being ‘the best version of themselves.’

The Year 3-6 classes will attend a 9:15am Mass at St Margaret Mary’s Church and Preschool to Year 2 classes will attend a 11:30am Liturgy at St Margaret Mary’s Church. All families are welcome to attend our 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

We are excited that we can offer some specialist STEM learning for students this year.  Our Year 3-6 students have already started their learning with Will Dacombe-Bird…

I would like to formally introduce myself as the new STEM teacher at St Margaret Mary's School. I believe that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) is such an important multi-disciplined way of learning and I'm very excited to introduce it to the school as a specialist subject. Students will be afforded opportunities to learn about and investigate all 4 of the subject areas in an integrated manner, making the most of the 1 to 1 digital technology provided to the years 3 - 6 students. In semester 1, I will be working closely with the year 3/4 & 5/6 teachers to deliver an authentic and comprehensive STEM program, with focuses on earth & space science for the 3/4 classes, and physical science with the year 5/6s. I also look forward to terms 3 and 4 where I will have the opportunity to work with the junior primary classrooms to deliver a similar STEM curriculum.

Looking forward to meeting you all!
Will Dacombe-Bird (Mr DB)

My name is Greg Parker and my role this year at SMMS is to support the school in identifying students who would most benefit from a program aimed to enrich and extend their thinking skills. Once we have selected individuals and formed groups, we shall commence our programs aimed at challenging and supporting those who demonstrate high intellectual, social and emotional intelligence (these students are referred to as Gifted and Talented children). I am very excited about this initiative as whilst provision for our Gifted and Talented is a Catholic Education S.A. priority, St. Margaret Mary’s School is very much an early adopter and innovator in this space.

A little bit about me. I developed a passion for Gifted and Talented Education undertaking my undergraduate studies and my first teaching position was Teacher of Gifted and Talented in Sydney. I also ran camps for children from a range of schools, offering out of school enrichment programs. I became particularly focused on Mathematics enrichment and continued this when I moved to Adelaide in the 1990’s. Here I took up classroom teaching, then a Mathematics Consultant for seven years with CESA, a Deputy Principal, then Principal of St. Monica’s and St. Pius X schools. I retired as Principal in 2021 but jumped at the opportunity to complete the full circle and give back to Gifted and Talented education in my final career years. My belief is that Gifted and Talented children have complex needs like other children and if not harnessed, these needs can lead to unrealized potential and often poor educational outcomes, particularly in later years of school. There is a misconception that these ‘bright’ children will always be successful in their schooling. Our Gifted Students need support and challenge.

Our plan is to run a range of enrichment and extension programs, initially from Year 2-6, with Year 1’s joining later in the year. Children will come in and out of the program depending on their strengths and interests. We will commence with Thinking Skills, Philosophy for Children and later introduce Mathematical Challenges and Problem Solving.

Over the past two weeks I have been undertaking a process to help identify children who will benefit from the program. This has included extensive surveys of 2022 teachers, exploring assessment data of each child, interviewing leadership, surveying all Year 2-6 students and finally Parent/ Caregiver surveys that were sent out this week. (Please let your child’s teacher know if you have not received this survey.)

Other initiatives will include a lunchtime Chess club for interested students. The ‘Tournament of Minds’ and Children’s University will also be a component of the Gifted and Talented program at St. Margaret Mary’s School.

To help assist parents of the children in the first cohort, I will be holding a Parent Information Session in coming weeks. If your child is not selected in the first round, children with other strengths will be identified and may be included in the program as the year progresses. 

I am looking forward to working with the community at St Margaret Mary’s School.

Thank you, Greg Parker