Mary Immaculate Primary Newsletter

Recently, I have been discussing with colleagues “Catholic identity”. This has been discussed widely across Australia. Much of the discussion is informed by the wisdom of Pope Francis and Bishop Vincent. Catholic identity is of course visible to others in our actions and beliefs - the things that show how we live out our Christian faith. 

I am bringing this to your attention because of the coming weeks you will see something change in our school. The pews! For years we have had the pews around our school presumably when the seating changed in our church. It’s time for them to have a new lease on life. Karen and Peter have begun painting them for us. Our pews hold quite a history in our community. Think of all the masses, prayers, celebrations and other liturgical gatherings they have been present for. What stories they would tell if they could talk!

So we are giving them a new lease on life so they can - talk. We are painting them up to begin with. And then we are going to paint images, symbols and words that tell the story of our Catholic identity, what we value and what we are called to. We want to involve the students and their families directly in that as well. We hope to have a special day(s) where students and parents can actually help with this whole process. The pews then will be a visible proclamation of our school and its culture. More news will follow as the term progresses!

With appreciation of your ongoing support,

Stephen Dowd

Principal

Last Thursday we welcomed the Kindergarten students for 2020. The children enjoyed completing various tasks with the teachers. They were all so excited to be at ‘big school.’ Whilst the children were busy within the learning spaces we were also able to welcome their parents to the Mary Immaculate family. Mr Dowd and I spoke about the wonderful learning that takes place in the classrooms. It is always such an honour to share the fantastic stories about the way our children embrace their learning and how they work tirelessly to achieve their goals. 

Over the next few weeks we will be able to demonstrate how best practice is followed resulting in the children being self directed learners. We will explain  and demonstrate the three levels of learning, ‘Surface, Deep and Transfer’ that we so often speak about, enabling our learners to access the curriculum at their level and to extend their understanding through various activities. 

John Hattie (Visible Learning) explains the three levels as -

Surface Knowledge - surface learning is a time when students initially are exposed to concepts, skills, and strategies. It is critical because it provides a foundation on which to build as students are asked to think more deeply.

Deep Knowledge - when students consolidate their understanding and apply and extend some surface learning knowledge to support deeper conceptual understanding.

Transfer Knowledge - the point at which students take their consolidated knowledge and skills and apply what they know to new scenarios and different contexts. It is also a time when students are able to think metacognitively, reflecting on their own learning and understanding.

This week we will demonstrate this learning in Numeracy with our Kindergarten 2020 parents where we will practice the types of tasks our students do within the number component of every Maths lesson. The parents will be given the opportunity to participate in various Maths games. These activities will be presented at the three levels of learning, demonstrating the transition between each.

Sharon Mizzi

Assistant Principal

A huge thank you to our MIPS community for our FUNDRAISING effort for Catholic Mission 2019. We wore our crazy socks to ADVOCATE and raise awareness for the children of Northern Ghana. The students participated in many activities such as removing their shoes and crazy socks to bare their feet and their hearts as a simple gesture to show solidarity for those hundreds of thousands of children who go barefoot to school every day. Miss Dann created a "sock" ball and played soccer - “the world’s game” - with Year 2 to highlight sport’s service to humanity. Year 3 and Year 6 got creative with their donations - Year 6 creating the Ghana flag. In the afternoon we came together as a school to PRAY and celebrate our efforts of raising over $1200! Thank you for making Christ’s Mission come alive in our community to make a real difference to those in need.

Last week the Commonwealth Bank ran Start Smart Primary workshops for each class from years 1-6. Guided by Captain Cash, he excited the students in the infants’ grades to become superheroes with their money. They were challenged to ‘Speed to Their Needs’ and ‘Wait for Their Wants’.

Topics covered included; 

• understanding Australian notes and coins

• keeping money safe

• the difference between needs and wants

• using money in exchange for goods and services

• exploring the connection between addition and subtraction

In the primary grades students were inspired to become ‘cashletes’, who develop their money muscles through making savvy spending decisions. They explored factors that influence spending including;

• credit cards and keycards

• earning money

• spending habits

• comparative shopping

• maximising savings

The overarching theme for the students and a reminder for us all….. ‘Spend some on you and save some too!!'

All school fees for 2019 should now be complete unless you are on an extended payment plan. If you are unsure of your balance or have an enquiry, 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.

A few students are coming to the canteen asking for food. Please make sure your child has the food necessary for their daily requirements. The canteen sends home notification of any monies owing. Parents are reminded that purchases from the canteen must be repaid directly to the canteen.

Some families have asked if their Kinder children can attend the Infants Disco. The last Infants disco saw lots of Kinder children quite overwhelmed so we looked to provide them with an alternative. The alternative will be a ‘Disco’ just for Kinders to be held during Dance last thing on a Monday afternoon. We will still hold this for all Kinder students to have some fun without those relevant becoming quite so overwhelmed. But if Kinder students also want to come to the Infants Disco they are most welcome!

The $2 sent in already by some Kinder families can either be refunded or go towards the charge for the Infants Disco. A new note for Kinders will go out this week.

School travel application endorsements

It is not uncommon for applicants completing the online form to make mistakes, particularly entering their name or date of birth instead of the students. This may be due to an auto-fill function on a device or just human error. We ask that school administrators pay special attention to the information supplied by applicants which come through in the school portal. If the information supplied does not match your records or the student is not yet enrolled, please do not endorse the application. By selecting ‘no’ the application will be referred back to the applicant to correct and resubmit.

In the event that school administrators endorse in error, it would be appreciated if you could advise our SSTS team as soon as possible so the application can be intercepted before an Opal card or travel pass is issued.

To contact us about an endorsement error, please go to: https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select feedback about: ‘school student transport scheme’ and then select ‘application updates’.

If school administrators require access to the school portal to endorse student applications, please request an account at https://appln.transport.nsw.gov.au/portal/requests/account/school

If you have staff that have left the school recently and had access to the school portal, please let us know at https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select ‘school/operator portal’ and then ‘remove existing user access’ so their access can be removed.

Sydney Light Rail update

Enrolment applications are now open for Year 7 2021.

Enrolment applications must be submitted in person to the College office on weekdays between 9am and 3pm no later than Friday, 15th November 2019.

Prior to completing an enrolment application families should first read the enrolment instructions.

Please be aware that submitting an application and attending an interview does not guarantee placement.

An invitation is extended to our Year 7 2021 College Tour on Wednesday, 6th November 2019. Please click here to confirm your attendance.

If you have any questions please contact the school office on 02 9852 0500.

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