Term 1, Week 7 Friday 18th March 2022

NAPLAN recognition

We were pleased that St Margaret Mary’s School was recognised in The Advertiser (16/3/22) as one of 6 Catholic Schools in South Australia that recorded high growth in NAPLAN last year, especially in writing.  NAPLAN is just one indication of a student’s academic achievement, and our teachers continue to work with all students in developing important literacy and numeracy skills across all year levels. 

At St Margaret Mary’s School, we believe every child is a writer and author!

The CESA article can be found here - https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/news/latest-news

Enrolments

We are currently finalising our Term 3 Preschool and Reception enrolments.  If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining St Margaret Mary’s School, please contact Angela in the front office.  We do have limited spaces available in other year levels as well.

Term 3 Preschool enrolment – for children who turn 4 between 1^st May and 31^st October 2022.

Term 3 Reception (Foundation class) enrolment – for children who turn 5 between 1^st May and 31^st October 2022.

Art Show

We have our fingers crossed that we can still hold our Art Show on Wednesday March 30^th. We do need to wait for the latest updates around school events, but we are still planning to go ahead at this stage.

To keep us COVID safe, we will need to monitor the number of people inside the building, and you may need to wait outside so we can keep below density requirements.  All adults will be required to wear a mask.

All the students are looking forward to sharing some of their amazing artwork with you.

There will be an opportunity to purchase your child’s artwork (there is no obligation to!) and profits will go towards our new playground.

School Board

Given our disrupted start to this year, we are still taking nominations for the school board.  Our next meeting is Wednesday 23^rd March (via ZOOM).  We meet twice a term on Wednesday evenings. If you are interested in joining this important parent group, please email info@smms.catholic.edu.au

We are always looking for new parents with varied experiences to join.  You do not need any particular experience, just an interest in continuous improvement at St Margaret Mary’s School and Preschool.  Please feel free to contact me for a chat.

More information about school boards can be found here: https://schoolboards.cesa.catholic.edu.au/

Thank you for your continued support,
Kelly Campbell

Please enter our school via the front office doors to see Pennie, Jane & Angela at the office between 8.30am and 3.45pm.

Preschool entrance is via the gates as per usual, but our school entrance is now the new double doors (where there is no fence).

Please note that it is illegal and dangerous to U Turn on Eldon Street in front of the school.  The solid white line down the middle of the road should not be crossed.

Thank you for keeping our students safe. 

The end of Term 1 will be very busy! Please make sure that you are reading the Newsletter and checking SeeSaw regularly so that you know what is happening in our community.

 Parent Teacher Learning Conversations
‘Parent Techer Learning Conversations’ are April 4^th to April 8^th.  This is an important opportunity for parents, children and teachers to talk about your child’s learning. It helps us to ensure that families and the school are working together to support the needs of every learner.

Please make sure you book in for a talk with your child’s teacher during this time. Information has gone home to families about this. If you did not receive information about ‘Parent Teacher Leaning Conversations’, please let us know and we will re-send the information to you.

 Easter Raffle
We will be hosting an Easter Raffle again this year, to be drawn on Thursday 14th April. We are looking for donations of Easter goodies, chocolates, Easter activities, sweets etc to make up hampers to give away as prizes.  Please bring any donations to the Front Office.

We will also need volunteers next week to staple together the raffle books to send home to families and to make up the hampers once we have collected the donations. The stapling together of raffle books can be done at home (in front of the TV, if you prefer); we can send them home if you let us know! If you are able to help with either of these activities, please let Angela know.

We thank you for your generosity!

 Safety Around the School
We continue to remind parents and carers about safety on the streets around the school.

Please

• Cross at the designated crossings
• Wait behind the solid white line at the pedestrian crossings
• Do not park across the crossings
• Do not perform U-turns on the streets around the school
• Do not use our neighbours driveways to turn around
• Be aware of pedestrians, especially those with children
• Be courteous to other road users

Your safety and the safety of others in and around the school is our concern!

Alicia Boylan
Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Over the past three Friday mornings, we have been able to gather outside for community prayer. When the children hear the morning music, they respectfully make their way over to the new building and gather quietly in front of our Year 6 students who lead us in prayer.

Feast of Saint Joseph

This week we join our fellow Josephite communities in celebrating the Feast of Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph became the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. He is also known as the patron saint of families and workers. This year however, the 19 March falls on a Saturday so we acknowledged Saint Joseph in our community prayer on Friday 18 March.

Harmony Week

Next Week, is Harmony Week and the theme is ‘Everyone Belongs.’ Harmony Week is a celebration of diversity and inclusion.  The week begins with Harmony Day on Monday 21 March and continues right through to Sunday 27 March. During assemblies and prayers, we will acknowledge the First Australians, share our own cultural stories and express our gratitude to God for our diverse cultural backgrounds and the ways in which we include and look after each other at school.

Reconciliation Workshop

On Monday 21 March, our St Margaret Mary’s Reconciliation candidates will join me for a Reconciliation workshop at school.  Please note this workshop is not for parents. The children will stay in their respective classes until I am able to come and collect them for the workshop. We ask for families to remind candidates to bring their Reconciliation booklets with them to the workshop.

Project Compassion

Thank you for the generous Project Compassion Box donations that have already been returned to the front office. Project Compassion Box donations can be returned to the office anytime throughout Term 1.

Gold Coin Fundraiser

On Friday 8 April, we will also be inviting the children to wear casual clothing with active footwear for a gold coin donation.   In connection with our focus on giving during Lent, students may like to consider wearing a purple accessory, or a purple clothing item, or a clothing item with a bit of purple in it. The gold coin donations will be collected by the classroom teachers once the students are in class. If your child does not already own any purple items, they are welcome to wear other colours. Please do not purchase any purple accessories or clothing solely for this occasion.

Our hope as a community, is that such acts of solidarity help us to raise awareness and contribute to the funds needed to support our sisters and brothers and the mission of Caritas Australia throughout the world.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

God bless,

Matt Harrison
Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission.

Term 1 has started!

The students are learning so much…learning all of the new procedures and routines of a classroom, building new friendships and enjoying our beautiful new space.

Through our learning in the classroom we are learning to work with others, share and listen to instructions.

In the Our Literacy focus through the InitiaLit program has been learning all about letters and sounds and how they make words.

In Maths we have been learning what it means to be a mathematician.

In these photos the students were sorting images that they see in their world: symbols, numerals and letters. They did an amazing job!