Term 4, Week 9 Friday 15th December 2023

Year 6 Graduation

This week we farewelled our Year 6 Graduating Class.  At our Graduation ceremony on Tuesday evening, we recognised their efforts and contributions to our school community over many years. 

This year, we have introduced some additional awards for our Year 6 students in recognition of outstanding achievement and leadership.

Congratulations to the following students:

Leadership in Sport                 Gia Fratamico             Henry Nguyen

6JF Academic Excellence        Ky Nguyen                  

6GG Academic Excellence      Nam Nguyen

6LC Academic Excellence       Yalda Sakihzada

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Award

                                                Celeste Chew              Ky Nguyen

Good luck to all our graduating students, we know you will be amazing in your new phase of education at high school.

Staffing

Best wishes to William Dacombe-Bird, who has been teaching STEM across the school this year and moves on to a fulltime teaching role at St Joseph’s, Norwood in 2024.

We are excited that Ben Smedley will be teaching STEM next year, and team-teaching with Rebecca Braidwood in Year 1.

Ann Lang will also be on leave for Semester 1 and return to teach our Foundation class in Semester 2.

Julie McGrane will be on leave in Term 1 and Julia Vassallo will be teaching 4/5 during this time.

We also warmly welcome Charlotte Harms who will be teaching Year 6 in 2024.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone for your support throughout the year.  We know that children thrive when they are in a supportive environment and when school and families work in partnership.  I have always appreciated parents/carers willingness to come in and discuss children’s progress, achievements and challenges.

Thank you to all of our wonderful staff – both teaching and support staff.  Their efforts in supporting every child’s learning and wellbeing are very much appreciated.  I feel very privileged to be in our community where the child and family is at the centre of everything we do.

Best wishes of joy and peace  to everyone over the Christmas break.  I hope you are able to spend some quiet time with your families.

We look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 29^th January 2024.

Thank you for your continuing support,

Kelly Campbell

End of Year Community Event – Thank You

The End of Year Community Event was such a fantastic night! We were happy that the weather cooled down just in time for the performances and it was great to see the students enjoying their time on stage. It was fabulous to see so many families join us for the BBQ and performances. Thank you – we hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.

Special thanks to Selina Roper for teaching the students the songs and movements and for her organisation of the performances. Many thanks also to the staff for their efforts and support leading up to the event and on the night too, especially Jane Victory. And to Matt Harrison for cooking 250 veggie burgers!

I would also like to thank the parent volunteers who helped us. A huge ‘thank you’ to Adam and Yared for cooking 800 sausages…..a massive undertaking, of which we are very thankful! Many thanks also to Niki, Grace, Trinh, Truc, Lal, Sandeep and Sharyn for helping with food or drinks. Your help is also much appreciated!

Merry Christmas

Thank you for all of the ways you have welcomed me into the SMMS school community over the past 7 months. I am very much looking forward to seeing what 2024 will bring.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you get to enjoy some time off in December/January to rest and reset for 2024.

I’ll look forward to seeing you on the 29th January when the 2024 school year starts.

Stay safe and enjoy!

Belinda

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Our 2023 school year comes to completion in the second week in Advent. This week, we light another purple candle, representing ‘Peace,’ a peace that the birth of Jesus offers each of us.

End of Year Mass
On Friday 8 December, we celebrated the Immaculate Conception of Mary and our End of Year Mass. In his homily, Fr Charles spoke to the children about being thankful for the many blessings we have received this year. To be grateful for the experiences shared and the people who care for us. It was wonderful to see so many families join us in thanksgiving.

Ceremony of Light
Towards the end of our whole school Mass, we held our annual Ceremony of Light. We acknowledged the many ways our Year 6 leaders, have drawn on the light of Christ through their service. In the Ceremony, this light was symbolically passed on to the Year 5 students, our leaders in 2024.

Vinnies Christmas Appeal
On behalf of Sr Catherine and St Vincent de Paul, I would like to thank everyone for their enormous generosity over the last few weeks. We were blown away by the volume of donations placed under our Vinnies ‘Giving Tree.’ This week, Vinnies volunteers have been creating baskets to deliver to families across Adelaide in their mission to show that ‘a little bit of love can change someone’s Christmas.’

Parish News
Information regarding the 2024 Parish Sacramental Program is now available.  Copies of the sacramental program letter and registration form are available electronically or from the front office in 2024. If you have any questions, please contact the parish office on 8346 0944 or email matthew.harrison@smms.catholic.edu.au

Christmas Eve Vigils

• English Family Mass: Saturday, 24 December at 6.30pm in St Margaret Mary’s Church (Carols from 6.00pm)
• Vietnamese Mass: Saturday, 24 December at 7.00pm in Mater Dei Church (Carols from 6.00pm)
• English Night Mass: Saturday, 24 December at 10.00pm in Mater Dei Church (Carols from 9.30pm)

Christmas Day Masses

• English Mass: Sunday, December 25th at 8.30am in St Patrick’s Church
• Polish Mass: Sunday, December 25th at 8.30am in St Margaret Mary’s Church
• English Mass: Sunday, December 25th at 10.30am in St Margaret Mary’s Church

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, time shared with friends and loved ones and a safe and happy start to the new year.