7 June 2021 (Term 2, Week 8)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Parents and Carers,
A wonderful Celebration of Learning Day was held for Secondary students last Friday, and I look forward to the Primary day this coming Friday. The family picnics were very successful and a unique way to experience student life on the playground. It was also wonderful to see so many parents and carers at the Principals’ Assembly. I spoke to many parents who expressed delight at being back in the school, and ironically I met some parents for the first time because of the crazy COVID-19 impacted year we have lived through.
I also understand how disappointed parents, carers and students are that the Country Fair will not be going ahead. As I indicated in my previous correspondence, the logistics of the event are just too problematic. Other events that are held indoors with restricted numbers are easier to manage, and we will be doing our utmost best to enable all the other school events to take place this year. We all wait with a degree of trepidation as to how the COVID-19 situation evolves.
The Parents and Friends Association Meeting will be held tonight at 7.00pm in the school hall. All parents and carers are welcome, and I look forward to greeting any newcomers. I have to say that the Parents and Friends Association, though small in number, are very enthusiastic and generous with their time, and it is a pleasure working with them. I am sure that tonight we will be discussing creative ways of bringing our community together in this COVID-19 environment, and beginning to plan for a bigger and better Country Fair in 2022 when we will hopefully be freer to deliver a wonderful community event worthy of its long history and reputation.
Kind regards
Mark Raue
CEO/PRINICPAL
GENERAL
PBIS FORTNIGHTLY FOCUS
This fortnight, staff and students are looking at specific playground areas and how we can be safe. The PBIS Committee has created lessons to teach students how to correctly use equipment on the playground and how to correctly interact with the various activities that the playground offers.
AWARD WINNERS
Congratulations to the following students who received an award at the Secondary Principal's Assembly.
Ryan O - 11/12 M
Charbel C - 7/8B
SWIMMING POOL GUIDELINES
Please be reminded that ALL students are required to wear boardshorts and a rash shirt in the Mater Dei swimming pool. Students who are wearing boyleg swimmer bottoms must also wear boardshorts over the top.
SCHOOL DOCUMENTATION
Just a reminder that Compass now has a range of forms and Compass support documents for parents to access. These are available through the Community Icon (2 heads) then by clicking on School Documentation. This will be updated with additional information over time. Forms currently include:
- 2021 Parent Handbook
- Update of Personal Details
- Consent to Obtain/Release Information
- Application for Leave/Exemption
- 2021 Changes to Afternoon Arrangements
- Photography/Video Permission
- Health Care Plan examples
- Parent Form - Medication Management
COMPASS CALENDAR TO YOUR PHONE
Any parents or carers wishing to sync the School Compass Calendar to their iPhone will need to set up a Google account and then following the below steps:
You can sync Google Calendar with the Calendar app that comes on your iPhone or iPad.
- On your iPhone or iPad, open your device settings.
- Scroll and tap Passwords & Accounts.
- Tap Add account Google.
- Enter your email address Next.
- Enter your password. If you don't have the latest operating system and you use 2-Step Verification, enter an app password instead of your regular password.
- Tap Next.
- Emails, contacts, and calendar events will now sync directly with your Google Account. To sync only your calendar, turn off the other services.
- Open the Calendar app on your iPhone to find your Google Calendar events.
To sync with an existing account, tap the account and turn on Calendars.
MAP MY SCHOOL COMPETITION
7/8 Gregory have entered in a ‘Map My School’ competition through Team She Maps. The aim of the competition is to use an online software program called ScribbleMaps to create a digital map of the school playgrounds, showing the percentage of natural shade. The learning goal was to be able to calculate the area of different spaces and compare them using percentages. The students were excited to find out ‘how cool is our school’, 35%. Now we wait to find out the results of the competition.
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOMS
Our students have had a fantastic time exploring some of our new digital technology resources recently! 5/6 Gibbons have been learning about pollination in their Agricultural Engineering unit and have been using the Engineering Design Process to guide the design and creation of hand pollinators. They then used the Lego Education WeDo kits to further investigate pollination by working together to create a model with a bee that could be programmed to fly through a flower. Students had to problem solve and adjust the size of the flower to make sure the bee was able to collect pollen. The class had a great time exploring the block coding to adjust the speed of the bee and to add sound effects while the bee was flying. Students in 3/4 Polding have been using BeeBots to support their learning in Mathematics. After solving addition and subtraction problems, they have been practising coding the BeeBot to move to their answer on the number mat. This has been an exciting and engaging way to build skills in Maths!
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Just a reminder that the last day of Term 2 is Friday, 18 June 2021 (Week 9). We would like to wish all our students and their families a safe and relaxing holiday break. School resumes on Monday, 12 July 2021 and we look forward to hearing all the exciting adventures our students have been on during their school holidays.
PAST EVENTS
RECONCILIATION WEEK
The students and staff continued last week to embrace ‘Reconciliation, More than a Word’ by completing many activities throughout the week. A beautiful display of footprints has graced our stairwells and walls expressing words and phrases that embrace the word Reconciliation.
JOHN THERRY RECONCILIATION WEEK VISIT
We were very fortunate to have students and staff from John Therry Catholic College visit Mater Dei on Wednesday, 2 June during Reconciliation Week. The students who visited were part of the John Therry Aboriginal Dance Group and they shared their knowledge and experiences around Aboriginal culture with us. The John Therry students led groups in Aboriginal dancing, didgeridoo playing and weaving. Students from both schools also worked together to create a beautiful artwork which was presented to the school at the conclusion of the day and will be displayed outside the school hall.
ENVIRONMENTORS
EnvironMentors visited K-6 Mater Dei students on Thursday 3 June to present an engaging presentation about recycling. The students joined in to learn a song and sort waste into their appropriate bins. The focus was on making sure we put the right rubbish into the right bins - yellow bins for paper, glass and cans; green bins for garden waste and red bins for meat waste. By the way did you know a worm has five hearts? Thank you to EnvironMentors for creating a fun way of learning about how we can all do our little bit for our environment.
SECONDARY CELEBRATION OF LEARNING AND PRINCIPAL'S ASSEMBLY
Thank you to all of the families and friends who attended our Celebration of Learning last Friday. The weather was kind and the students loved showing you all around their playground during the picnic. We hope you enjoyed being in the classrooms and look forward to welcoming you all back into our school next term.
9/10 McCabe impressed families and students at the Assembly with their heartfelt prayer, acknowledgment of country and showcase of their learning.
UPCOMING EVENTS
P&F MEETING TONIGHT - 7 JUNE 2021
Parents and Friends are welcome to attend our P & F Meeting which will be in our School Hall tonight, Monday 7 June from 7pm.
CANTEEN
A reminder of the upcoming Canteen dates:
- Friday, 11 June (Term 2, Week 8)
- Friday, 16 July (Term 3, Week 1)
- Friday, 23 July (Term 3, Week 2)
PRIMARY ASSEMBLY CELEBRATION OF LEARNING
Our Primary Celebration of Learning Day is coming up on Friday, 11 June (Term 2, Week 8). The Insights survey has closed however, if you have not indicated that you are coming via the survey but wish to do so, please contact Jake Elvin as soon as possible. Families will receive confirmation of the time they can attend via the diary prior to the event.
3/4 McCabe will be showcasing their learning at the Assembly to be held at 2pm.
See below the list of Assembly dates for the remainder of the year.
WOOLWORTHS CRICKET BLAST GALA DAY
On Wednesday, 16 June (Week 9), Years 5 to 8 will be heading to Raby Sports Oval to participate in an all-abilities Cricket Gala Day. Please remember to give your child permission to attend the day by providing your consent via the event on Compass.
PUBLIC HOLIDAY REMINDER
A reminder that Monday, 14 June (Week 9) is a public holiday and school will be closed on that day.
MCDONALD'S CHARITY FUN NIGHT
The McDonald’s Charity Fun Night is back! Wednesday 16 June (Week 9), in food courts between 3pm – 5pm and at participating restaurants between 5pm – 7pm.
Mark in your calendars to have dinner at one of the participating stores, with 10% of all proceeds from eat-in and drive-thru orders being donated to Mater Dei.
This year, due to COVID regulations there won’t be any volunteers or Mater Dei presence at the stores, however McDonald’s in Macarthur have donated $2,000 to kick start the campaign.
We look forward to your support of the Charity Fun Night and don’t forget to tag us on your socials and use the hashtag #Maccas4MD
G'DAY MASS AND ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
The end of the Term is fast approaching and we are excited to welcome you to join us for GDay and Athletics' Carnival on Friday 18th June (Week 9). Parents are invited to join us in Mass at 9.30am to acknowledge all the great people in our lives, including our grandparents and godparents. Parents are also welcomed to stay to cheer on our athletes for the Athletics Carnival.
An Insight Survey will come out via Compass shortly for your to indicate your attendance.
SEMESTER ONE REPORTS
K-12 Semester One Reports, Personalised Plans, Swimming Reports (participating students only) and In-Class Therapy Reports (participating students only) will be issued via Compass on Friday, 18 June (Term 2 – Week 9). A Compass post will be sent to advise when they are available with instructions on how to access them.
ST BENEDICT'S FEAST DAY
St Benedict’s Feast Day will be held on Friday, 30 July (Term 3, Week 3). Parents are invited to join us for Mass beginning at 9.30am. We look forward to welcoming Bishop Brian Mascord to celebrate the Mass with us.
101 DAYS OF LEARNING
On Monday, 2 August (Term 3, Week 4), students in Kindergarten will be celebrating 101 days of learning. More information to come on this in Term 3.