Term 1, Week 8 (22 March 2022)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS
Dear Parents and Carers,
In the school hall there are a number of Honour Boards that recognise various student and community members for their contribution to Mater Dei. It is a significant collection of names, and each name will be there in perpetuity for helping make Mater Dei the place it is. Each name has contributed to a rich history of a wonderful organisation.
One of the Honour Boards lists all of the Mater Dei Principals, and there is one name I want to draw your attention to today. Before Mater Dei appointed Sue Dixon as its first lay Principal in 1991, the last Sister of the Good Samaritan to lead our school was Sr Joan Nolan. Sr Joan was Principal here in 1989 and 1990 after several decades leading higher education and teacher training institutes. She was appointed the Head of the Good Samaritan Teachers College in 1959 at the tender age of 31, and held that position for twenty years. This teacher training institute eventually became integrated into the Catholic College of Education, which then became part of the Australian Catholic University. I did much of my early teacher training in these very same academies, so Sr Joan has had an indirect influence on my own career in Catholic schools.
Sr Joan died recently and it is fitting to acknowledge her wonderful life of dedicated service to educating children and young adults. The Sisters of the Good Samaritan are, indeed, a magnificent group of women who, though declining in number, still have significant influence over life and culture in Australia and many other parts of the world. They have educated thousands of people who have then gone on to educate many thousands of others. Mater Dei continues to be a proud member of Good Samaritan Education which has ten schools and colleges across Australia. Sr Joan has been a major part of that education legacy and I am grateful for her contribution to Mater Dei and to Catholic Education.
Kind regards,
MARK RAUE
CEO/PRINCIPAL
FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S DESK
It has been an exciting couple of weeks at Mater Dei. We welcomed back Parents/Carers to our Primary and Secondary Assemblies. Parents and Friends joined us for the our P&F Annual General Meeting. Yesterday, we welcomed some special visitors to help launch the brand new Mater Dei Fresh Food!
Such an amazing initiative thanks to Woolworths, Fujitsu and some hardworking staff at Mater Dei who worked behind the scenes to bring the project to life, including Kylee Laugesen, Catherine Smith, Sarah Ryan and Brad Moller. Stay tuned for how Mater Dei Fresh Food evolves.
I am looking forward to cheering our Years 3-12 students on at our Swimming Carnival this Friday.
Go gently,
Eryn Lonergan
Deputy Principal
MATER DEI FRESH FOOD
Introducing Mater Dei Fresh Food
Yesterday, with the help of School and NextPath, Mater Dei officially launched Mater Dei Fresh Food – a mini Woolworths store for students and young adults onsite at Mater Dei School. This is a significant initiative built with the support of Woolworths and Fujitsu.
The mini store has been established to mimic the operations of an actual Woolworths supermarket, with baskets for fresh food, shelving for groceries, ticketing, signage, fully operational Registers and Woolworths branded uniforms the students and young adults can wear to create a fully immersive experience.
Mater Dei Fresh Food will provide a broad range of educational and development opportunities for students and young adults for many years to come.
Thank you to all staff, students and young adults for making the launch such a success. Follow us on social media and our website (materdei.org.au) for more photos of the big day!
COVID-SMART MEASURES
COVID-Smart Measures remain in place for the remainder of Term 1. Please see the attached Positive COVID Case – Actions and Close Contact – Action An important reminder below in relation to ensuring students remain home if they are unwell:
Staying home if unwell - Any student or staff member who is unwell and/or displays symptoms of COVID-19 (even mild) will be asked to go home and complete a RAHT or PCR test.
- If a positive result - See Positive Covid Cases for actions required.
- If a negative result - Student must still not come to school until well and symptom free.
If symptoms are prolonged and another condition is diagnosed, such as hayfever, Student can return to school with a medical clearance noting the condition.
SCHOOL NEWS
STAFF SHORTAGES
The second half of this term has been a tricky time in relation to staff absences due to COVID processes and other viral infections in the community. These impacts have been seen state wide in the education sector.
We continue to prioritise consistency and the best interests of our students by ensuring staff coverage. At times, this has been difficult and changes have needed to be made including staff allocation changes, cancellation of programs or events and the movement of students.
We continue to support our students through any change and they have dealt with these changes with such willingness and resilience.
PBIS FOCUS
The PBIS Focus for this Term is Emotional Wellbeing. Primary have been looking at how to identify positive and negative ways to express emotions. They will be looking at how to expressing feelings and looking at calming techniques.
Secondary have been working on discovering a personal, natural, mindful talisman or totem to help with emotional regulation.
WELLBEING
During recess and lunch students have the opportunity to earn wristbands for ‘Being Kind’ and ‘Being Safe’. These wrist bands are collected by the teacher and put into a jar. The class with the most wrist bands receives a PBIS Trophy at Assembly, one for Primary and one for Secondary. Our Student Leadership Team has been assisting staff on the playground distribute the wrist bands whilst wearing their Student Leadership Bands. This provides students the opportunity to follow our school rules on the playground.
A LENTEN PRAYER
Almighty and Everlasting God,
You have given the human race
Jesus Christ our Saviour as a model of humility.
He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man
And giving His life on the Cross.
Help us to bear witness to You
By following His example of suffering
And make us worthy to share in His Resurrection.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen
SACRAMENTAL MASS
The Mass will be on Saturday 13th August at 11:00am in the beautiful Mater Dei Chapel. Bishop Brian will be in attendance.
A Compass Insight will be posted out next Tuesday for those families interested.
PROJECT COMPASSION
Our second and final Gold Coins donation for this very worthy charity will be held this Wednesday, 23rd March.
Thank for your donations from Week 6. I am sure Week 8’s collection can surpass it!
POST SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT
Last Wednesday 16th March we held our Post School Information night which was well attended by families. Representatives from NDIS and NextPath presented post school information. Mater Dei also presented information to assist with decision making and exploring new opportunities for life after Mater Dei. Thank you to the Mater Dei staff that attended the evening.
Families can find more information and uselful links in the flyer posted on Compass.
PEDAGOGY NEWS
Pedagogy is most commonly understood as the approach to teaching. Pedagogical skills are a teacher’s ability to instruct students and manage their classrooms. One evidence-based practice used within our classrooms at Mater Dei is task analysis. Task analysis is used to break down a task into smaller steps, for students to know what is going to happen and when and to know when a task is finished. A task analysis can be marked off as each step is completed as the lesson progresses. Various methods can be used such as ticks with markers, Velcro images, digital applications.
SPORTS
Last Friday, 18th March 2022 eight students represented Mater Dei at the Wollongong Diocese Representative Swimming Championships at Corrimal. All students swam well.
Maya B, Leishiya A and Jacob C were selected to represent the Wollongong Diocese at the Combined Catholic Championships at Homebush on the 6th April 2002 - WELL DONE!
The students who represented Mater Dei were: Jacob C, Jack C, Justin B, Zac L, Maya B, Leishiya A, Charbel C & Aidan H.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
YEAR 6 POLO SHIRTS
Polo Shirt money collection has closed, please allow some time while the company creates the shirts.
A compass notification will be sent when the shirts arrive at school for distribution.
STUDENT BIRTHDAYS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
A reminder to families, we are currently not able to share any food at school including birthday cakes. If your child is celebrating a special event, we kindly ask families not to send in homemade treats or birthday cakes.
We understand these are important milestones and are more than happy to distribute individually wrapped, pre-packaged items such as lollipops, freddo frogs and cake bars.
EVENTS
PAST EVENTS:
STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Recently our Teachers’ engaged in a Professional Development workshop focusing on using Prompting Hierarchy in their classrooms. They revised the purpose and levels of prompting by working in small groups to classify definitions as well as discussion around real classroom examples.
SECONDARY ASSEMBLY
CONGRATULATIONS to our Award recipients:
Oliver G Gold 1
Phillip T Gold 1
Jordan A Silver 2
Jack C Silver 3
FUTURE EVENTS:
SWIMMING CARNIVAL & INFANTS WATER FUN DAY
This Friday 25 March 2022 is Mater Dei’s annual swimming carnival for students in Years 3 to 12. Students will be transported from Mater Dei to Mount Annan Leisure Centre where they will be given the opportunity to participate in both freestyle and backstroke.
The carnival starts at 10am and will conclude by 2pm. One parent per student is able to attend and students are encouraged to wear their house colour.
Also on Friday, students in Kindergarten to Year 2 will participate in an Infants Water Funday, on-site at Mater Dei.
YEAR 7 & 8 SPORT
7/8 Gregory were excited to attend Bujutsu last week for sport. They joined Magdalene Catholic College students in martial arts routines including using pads and gloves for kicking and punching.
7/8 Benedict are still waiting patiently to attend Camden Sports Club for Lawn Bowls as the venue was severely affected by the recent flooding.
WORLD MATHS DAY
Wednesday 23rd March 2022 is World Maths Day!
To celebrate this event Mater Dei will be hosting an incursion at school on Tuesday 22nd March 2022 for our Kindergarten to Year 10 students.
MATER DEI CHARITY GOLF DAY - POSTPONED
Unfortunately due to adverse weather conditions, the 2022 Mater Dei Charity Golf Day has been postponed.
A new date in 2022 will be confirmed as soon as possible
HELPFUL REMINDERS
PARENT FORMS AND SCHOOL DOCUMENTATION
Just a reminder that Compass now has a range of forms and Compass support documents for parents to access. Parent Forms are now located on Compass using the following steps:
(Steps 1-3 are for App users only)
- Click on the student
- Click on the 3 lines in top left corner
- Click Open in Browser
- Click on Community Icon (2 heads)
- Click on School Documentation
- Click Parent Forms
ATTENDANCE EXEMPTION FORMS
Any families who wish to apply for attendance exemptions to attend therapy services in 2022, please download the Application for Leave Exemption form on Compass, complete and return to schooladmin@materdei.org.au
AFTERNOON ARRANGEMENTS 2022
In the event of either of the following:
- Student to be collected by a different family member or family friend over 18 years of age
- Student to be collected INSTEAD of usual taxi arrangement for specified day
Parent/Guardian is required to advise the school of the change, and MUST include the full name of person collecting, PRIOR to 2:30pm on the day of the change. This may be done via one of the following options:
- Noting change in student diary
- Phoning School Reception on ph. 4655 7481
- Emailing schooladmin@materdei.org.au
If your child needs to be collected by a service provider, a Parent/Guardian is required to complete a Collection by a Service Provider form (available on Compass) and email it to schooladmin@materdei.org.au
This form must be received PRIOR to 3pm on the day before the new arrangement is to take place.
If unable to provide the full name of the staff member collecting, the Parent/ Guardian is required to arrange the Service Provider to notify the school via schooladmin@materdei.org.au email by 2:30pm on the day the student is to be collected.
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.
SECOND HAND UNIFORMS FACEBOOK PAGE
Mater Dei School also has a Buy Swap Sell Second-hand Uniform Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/uniformsmaterdei/. Parents and carers are encouraged to submit and respond to their own listings if they wish to sell, buy or give away pre-loved uniforms.
JOIN US ON OUR SOCIALS
IMPORTANT DATES
