Mary Immaculate Primary Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

As the end of the school year approaches, we are packing a whole lot of fun and learning into the weeks ahead. You will see this by the calendar items below!

This year we have included a community day culminating in a whole school Christmas concert on the evening of December 9. Lock that one in as all students will be involved in some way. Andrew Chinn from Butterfly Music (http://www.butterflymusic.com.au/) will join us for the day performing with our students that evening. I have been associated with Andrew for many years and his concert days are always a highlight for the students and the whole community.

Since before I began at Mary Immaculate, the Parents and Friends had been discussing doing something more comprehensive around fundraising for all the projects they want to support at the school. The school had a history of working bees, fetes and other events in which the parents participated. However, the reality for most families currently is that they are just so time poor. They find it impossible to attend things like meetings and working bees. Parents have consistently told us that they are keen to support the school in providing great experiences and a wonderful environment. They are not keen on the old practice of taking chocolates and walkathon/skipathon/spellathon cards to work, to family gatherings and then basically just providing the fundraising money themselves!

For years, they have wanted to introduce a fundraising levy or fee of some kind so each family contributes a reasonable amount. In listening to the time-pressures that families are facing, your desire to support the Parents and Friends goals for the school and our shared vision to provide the best environment and opportunities for our students, I am convinced that such a contribution will need to be introduced in 2020. I am mindful as well of individual family needs and I welcome the opportunity of discussing individual family situations. We have been able to put to great use the contributions already made by parents allowing us to further provide a rich environment for our students. The Parents and Friends will then be able to concentrate their efforts on building our school community and being of practical support to each other instead of extolling so much of their time and energy so generously on fundraising. I deeply appreciate everything our parents do to support the school. We have a fabulous learning community that is a tremendous example to what we can achieve together!

With appreciation of your ongoing support,

Stephen Dowd, Principal

Our Staff Development Day this term is on this Friday (week 7). The agenda for this Staff Development Day will be on Religious Education - Learning and Formation. We have progressed significantly over recent years in the implementation of our Inquiry Learning platform. This day will be integral in the culmination of this work and our preparations for 2020 and beyond. Please mark this date in your diaries as this is a pupil free day, there will be no classes. COSHC will be open for the Pupil Free Day on Friday, 29th November from 6:30am - 6:30pm. Forms are available at COSHC, please feel free to contact Courtney on 0417 203 333.

Last Friday, in conjunction with Quakers Hill Tigers Soccer Club, Mary Immaculate held a hamper drive to be able to support the country NSW town of Binnaway. Our students and their families donated a huge range of non-perishable goods that were made into hampers by our Year 6 Mini Vinnie Leaders, ready to be delivered to the town in the first week of December. Thank you all so much for your generosity and being a part of our faith in ACTION to make a difference in the lives of others. A very big thank you to Mrs Kirsten Cooper for coordinating this event.

This week, Kindergarten and Year One teachers will be completing Early Years Testing with the students. During this time, your child’s reading and writing will be assessed. The Literacy and Numeracy assessment tools offer an opportunity for teachers to understand a child’s beliefs, attitudes, strengths, thinking process and skills.

Over the next two weeks (Weeks 7 and 8) time will be dedicated to this testing and your child’s teacher will be conducting the assessments. All efforts have been made to provide consistency for the students with the teachers that shall be covering their classes.

Thank you!

Mrs Ruys and Mrs Behrens

During Week 7 and 8, Year 6 will be participating in High School Week. This is an exciting time for our students as they experience a range of different lessons in preparation for High School next year.  A huge focus for the students during High School Week will be around organisation, time management and study skills. 

We believe this experience will be invaluable for our students as they prepare for their transition into High School!

Mrs Behrens, Mrs Fenech, Mrs Moore and Mrs Crooks

Overdue Books

As we are now already over half way through term 4 I would like to remind students to please have a look at home for any library books or readers that have not been returned. As you search please remember it doesn’t matter from how far back the book was borrowed. Sometimes library books get mixed up with our home library so please if you think you might have one at home that was overlooked it’s not too late to return it.

There are home reader packs with one or two books missing as well as books missing off our library shelves so please let’s work together and see if we can return as many as possible.

I would also like to remind year 6 students that all overdue books on your account will automatically carry over to the high school that you go to so it is possible that you may not be able to borrow until that book comes off your name.

I will be sending home overdue notices over the next 2 weeks but if you are not sure if you have any at home please don’t hesitate to come and ask.

Mrs Belcastro

MIPS Library

All school fees for 2019 should have been finalised by Wednesday, 20th November 2019 unless you are on an extended payment plan. If you are not on a payment plan, please make payment ASAP to avoid escalation to CEDP.

If you have any queries please contact Liz Padlan in the school office on 02 9933 7800 or via email: imac-qkhlfees@parra.catholic.edu.au.

Payments can be made via the internet using your BPay reference code or over the phone.

Thank you to all the families who have finalised their accounts.

PLEASE NOTE: Any outstanding amount in school fee accounts will not receive the Bpay or Direct Debit plans for 2020 fees.

Last day of trading for Term 4 will be Friday, 13th December 2019, 8:30am to 10:00am.

First day of trading for Term 1 will be Friday, 31st January 2020, 8:30am to 10:00am. 

Wednesday, 8th January 2020, 3:00pm to 4:30pm

Saturday, 18th January 2020, 12:00pm to 1:30pm

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 11th December 2019. An invitation is extended to all of the MIPS Parent Community to join the P&F Association and partake in this important meeting for the planning of 2020.

Clause 8.5.3: At each Annual General Meeting all positions shall be declared vacant. The members of the Association shall elect an Executive Committee as required by 5.1. The positions available will be:

The Parish Priest, the Principal or the Assistant Principal shall conduct each election and declare the result.

Regards, Maria Petridou - P&F Association President

Catherine McAuley Westmead is now accepting enrolments for Year 7 2021. The closing date for Year 7 2021 applications 1st round offers is Friday, 27th March 2020.

Parents and their daughters have the opportunity to tour the school campus at one of our upcoming school tours specifically for Year 7 2021 applicants, but open to any year group. 

Tuesday 12th November and Thursday 5th December 2019, 9:15am – 11:00am

These mornings will provide parents and students with the opportunity to tour our school on a normal school day. You will be able to view our school grounds and facilities, go into classrooms and meet our students and teachers. Enrolment packs will be available on the day.

Contact our School Reception on 9849 9100 to book a place on a school tour.

Please note that following these tours there will be no other school tours held until our Open Afternoon in early March 2020 (date still to be confirmed).

We are very lucky to have a playgroup right here at Mary Immaculate Primary School! Our playgroup caters for children from 0-6 years of age.

Playgroup is a FUN way for you and your children to meet others, share and learn through play in an ideal environment through spontaneous unstructured play.

Playgroup NSW Community Playgroups are run by families for families, which means that they reflect the needs of the families in the community hence there are no paid workers, allowing the Playgroups to represent the needs and philosophies of the attending families.

Spontaneous unstructured play is a very important part of a child’s development. It allows them to increase their problem solving skills, develop their language and social skills by modelling other children and adults, develop an understanding of size, shape and texture, develop their imagination which is very important for healthy brain development, and master skills that will help develop self-confidence and the ability to recover quickly from setbacks.

If you would like to come for a visit please see our contact details below. 

Information about Mary Immaculate Playgroup