Term 2, Week 9 Friday 30th June 2023

Student Reports

Next week, students will receive their Semester 1 Reports.  You will notice that these reports look different to ones that your child/ren have received in previous years.  This year, all CESA (Catholic Education South Australia) schools are using the Student Learning Management System, SEQTA, for reporting.  Although they look different, they contain very similar information to our previous reports.

The 2013 Australian Education Act and Regulations, requires all school in Australia and system authorities (CESA), to fully implement a curriculum by teaching, assessing and reporting on student achievement using the content and Achievement Standards in the relevant curriculum (The Australian Curriculum).

To demonstrate compliance with the 2013 Education Act and Education Regulations the appropriate Common (A-E) Grade Scale (or an equivalent 5-point scale) shown below must be used to report student achievement in Years 1-10 in all South Australian Catholic Schools.

There is no requirement for schools to assign A-E grades or word equivalents in reporting on student achievement in the Reception /Foundation year.

A three-point descriptive wording scale will be used to report student progress against the Achievement Standards of the Foundation Year in the Australian Curriculum.

For students with diverse needs, we also can assess and report on your child’s achievement using the following options:

• Year level achievement standards with adjustments to the curriculum (reasonable adjustments are not indicated on a child’s report but are documented in the PPL).
• Accelerated Year Level (AYL)
• Alternative Achievement Standard (AAS)
• Highly Personalised Curriculum (HPC)

If your child’s report includes any of the above options, these will have been discussed with you prior to receiving the report.

I thank all our teachers for the work they have put into preparing the assessment and reporting of all students.  The change in reporting format has been led particularly by Michelle Leonardi and, more recently, Belinda Elliott.  Matthew Harrison, Kellie Byrne and Nicky Watson have also assisted in their role as SEQTA experts. Thank you to these people for leading the professional learning and change.

Assessment continues throughout the year and our next major opportunity for reporting to parents will be during our Parent/Teacher learning conversations next term.  We look forward to meeting with you.  Please come and have a chat if you have any questions about our new reports.

Beanies
Please remember that only school beanies are to be worn at school.  They are available from the uniform shop ($15).  Uniform Shop hours are Tuesday 2.30-3.30 and Friday 8.30-10.00.  Thank you.

Kind regards,

Kelly Campbell

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Friday 30 June, our community prayer celebrated the Apostles Peter and Paul. Our prayer focused on Jesus’ calling of Peter and Paul. Although both had made mistakes, they opened their hearts to God’s forgiveness and the calling to share Jesus’ message with the world. The beginnings of the Christian community.

Liturgies and Masses
Over the past few weeks our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 students have gathered to celebrate their respective Masses  with Fr Charles and the parishioners in St Margaret Mary’s Church.  Based on the Liturgical calendar during Ordinary Time the Year 3/4 classes prepared a Memorial Mass for Saints John Fisher and Thomas More and the Year 5/6 classes prepared a Solemnity Mass for Apostles Peter and Paul. Both celebrations were connected to the learning in the classroom and were lead by our students. Fr Charles was really impressed by the knowledge of the readings and their active participation which involved reading from the lectern, singing songs and responses and supporting Fr Charles as altar servers. We look forward to these opportunities to share our learnings and to play an active part in these parish celebrations. We appreciate and are thankful for the support from our families and teachers for helping to prepare the students for these celebrations.

Staff Formation
On Monday 24 July, the first day of Term 3, is a pupil free day. This will be a Staff Formation Day and in preparation, Ms Braidwood, Ms Verbi, Ms Rivera and I have been meeting each week to plan for this experience. The purpose of a formation day, is to provide space for reflective and formational experiences with a particular focus on our school values and how we intentionally live out our school values at St Margaret Mary’s School.

The entire staff is invited to attend and will be offsite for the day. Please contact or register your child(ren) with Camp Australia if your family requires this care and support.  We look forward to sharing this experience with our community in the Term 3, Week 1 Newsletter.

Sacramental Program
When we return for Term 3, there will be a First Holy Communion Parent Information Night on Wednesday 2 August from 7:00pm in the Mary MacKillop Centre at Whitefriars School. Then on Friday 4 August all our SMMS candidates preparing for Confirmation and First Holy Communion will travel by bus to St Patricks School for a student workshop from 9:15 – 2:45pm.

If you have any questions please send an email  matthew.harrison@smms.catholic.edu.au or contact the parish office on 8346 0944 if you have any further questions.

Have a good weekend everyone.
Matthew Harrison

It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through 2023 and Term 2 is coming to an end. It’s been a fantastic term of learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. It was a pleasure to read the student reports and hear about all of the ways students in our school have engaged in their learning across our 9 curriculum areas. The student reports clearly indicate areas of success and opportunities for growth. Congratulations to everyone on a successful first semester.

Our yard is almost complete, with the oval being covered with turf this week. The students have navigated this time without the full play space very well, and the playground and sandpit have been very popular amongst our students from Foundation through to Year 6. It’s been a time of learning, adjusting, turn taking, waiting in line, digging, swinging, strength building, climbing, sand sculpture and lots of fun!

From time to time some students need reminders about safe play and kind words. We encourage students to use kind and helpful words and not their hands/bodies to resolve challenges and instead seek the assistance of a teacher or staff member when they need help with resolving an issue. This is reinforced in the classroom by our staff, and your support with reinforcing this at home is always appreciated. I often remind students to THINK before they speak….is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.

Wishing you all the best for Week 10, the final week of Term 2. Then, I hope the school holidays are a restful and rejuvenating time for our students, and parents/caregivers if you are having some time off work.

We will see you ready for the start of Term 3 on Tuesday 25 July – Pupil Free Day Monday 24 July.

Thank you for your on-going support.

Belinda

We are seeking 10 volunteers/families to assist with seedling planting for St Margaret Mary’s School “Adopt-a-Verge” Project funded by Green Adelaide.

When:  Saturday 29^th July, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Where: Corner Tungara Ave and Liberton Ave, Croydon Park

Volunteers MUST REGISTER to participate (children must be school age or older please).

Register by email or phone by 7^th July (please give full name of participant/s) to: Sharyn & Ody Gromitsaris (Lily’s parents), thegroms14@gmail.com , 0432 490 350.