Term 2, Week 2 (2 May 2022)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 2. I wonder what this term will give us? More rain? Floods? Covid-19 outbreaks? Maybe, but we have become used to dealing with those interruptions to daily life. I prefer to focus my mind on all the positive things that this term will bring. Laughing, happy children being taught by dedicated and hard—working staff. Great celebrations like this week’s Ladies Lipstick Luncheon. Parents coming in larger number to our assemblies and various meetings. Routines coming back to replace all the disruptions we have experienced. Sometimes we have to experience the downside of life to better appreciate all the good things that we may have taken for granted.
Let’s pray that this term will be so good it will remind us of what a great experience it is to be part of the Mater Dei community.
Kind Regards,
MARK RAUE
CEO/PRINCIPAL
FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Welcome to Term 2. I hope all of our families enjoyed a restful break and found time to reflect and renew as part of the Easter season.
WELCOME
Welcome to the following staff:
- Mrs Belinda Keepence (Teacher) – Mrs Keepence is coming to the school from Mater Dei Early Childhood Education, beginning Week 3 of this term. Mrs Keepence has excellent experience in early childhood and disability, including intellectual (mild-profound).
- Anneleise Hough (Teachers Assistant) – Anneleise is also coming to the school from Mater Dei Early Childhood Education, where she has worked as an Educator for a number of years.
- Cassie Nguyen (Teachers Assistant) – Cassie has an abundance of experience in support, coordinator and manager roles for disability service providers.
- Riley Keane (Teachers Assistant) – Riley has several years experience working in both specialist settings and support classes in mainstream settings, as a Student Learning Support Officer
FAREWELL
We farewell the following staff with our best wishes and gratitude for their service:
- Mr Jake Elvin (Middle Leader – Wellbeing) Mr Elvin has accepted a position as a Behaviour Therapist at a behaviour support service. Mr Elvin has dedicated a number of years to our school. He arrived with an open mind, willing and ready for a challenge and he leaves us with the same wonderful qualities as well as an abundance of professional knowledge and experience. His eagerness and professionalism has seen him succeed in various promotional positions. His heart has always remained with our students. This is evident in the bond he establishes with each and every one of them. Mr Elvin has always had a keen interest in student wellbeing and behaviour and it has been a pleasure to watch him develop his skillset in this area. He now wishes to explore this field further and he leaves us with all our best wishes and gratitude. He will certainly be missed particularly his witty sense of humour, which always created smiles and laughter and turned a tough day into an enjoyable one. Mr Elvin’s last day will be Tuesday 24th May.
- Mr Aleks Todorovic (Classroom Teacher) - Has accepted a teaching position at a local public school in their support unit. Mr T began his teaching career at Mater Dei. Aleks has developed a strong skillset in the classroom, dedicating himself to improving outcomes for his students. In the last couple of years, Mr T has spread his wings to take on Coordinator responsibilities and utilise his particular talents in IT. We wish Mr T every success as he continues to develop his career including experiencing a new school, new system, new structure and new students. I hope Mr Ts’ experiences continue to shape his path into a successful future and we wish him all the very best. Mr T’s last day will be Friday 20th May.
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S UPDATE
Dear Families,
Welcome back to Term Two. We hope everyone had a restful break and enjoyed some quality time with loved ones. We are very excited to be able to return to events at Mater Dei and this week our students will perform at our Lipstick Luncheon. A big thank you to Mrs Cane and Mrs Musso for preparing the students for our choir, and to Mrs Robinson who has been coordinating our dance throupe. Staff and students have done an amazing job preparing in such a short time frame.
This term, our swimming program has moved now to Monday to Wednesday as Mr Mark Sheddon, one of our swim instructors, has taken leave until the end of 2022. Jodie Dobinson continues to run our swim program with the assistance of Tanya Madsen, who is a qualified AusSwim instructor and has been our back up instructor for a very long time. Tanya will continue to work in classrooms on Thursday and Friday.
Thank you to the parents who attended our ANZAC Assemblies last week, especially to our K-6 families after the assembly time had changed to support COVID safe practises.
We look forward to welcoming more of our school community back onsite over the coming weeks, and are extremely excited for some of our classes heading back out to the local community for excursions and Community Based Instruction. Please continue to check Compass to provide permission for you child when events are announced.
Kind Regards,
Kylee Laugesen
Assistant Principal
COVID-SMART MEASURES
Please see the attached updated letter regarding COVID measures for Term 2, 2022.
The following updated advice was received:
Staff and students who have had confirmed COVID-19 themselves within the previous 12 weeks from the date of a new household case, do not have to isolate (as per disability settings). They are not required to self-isolate or test unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms.
SCHOOL NEWS
WORKPLACE LEARNING (WPL)
This term WPL continues for students in Year 10-12. Catherine Smith, our WPL Coordinator, continues to work with our NextPath program to support WPL.
As our program has adapted to accommodate both School and NextPath during the pandemic we endeavour to ensure the following placements for students in 2022:
- Year 12 students in two semester long placements
- Year 11 students in one semester long placement
- Year 10 students participating in one term placement.
This is done with the hope that by the time our students leave Mater Dei, they will have four different WPL experiences across a range of different working environments. While we hope all students will be able to access placements offsite, some of these placements may occur within the School or other Mater Dei Programs and Services.
Our WPL team continue to work closely to develop relationships with host employers and provide ongoing support. As these workplaces are learning environments for students and young adults, we kindly ask families to not make contact directly with employers during your child’s workplace learning block, including when your child is on site at work.
We understand you may like to support these local businesses, but request and encourage our school community to do this outside of WPL times.
PBIS FOCUS
The PBIS Focus for Term 2 is ‘Teamwork’. Students in Kindergarten to Year 12 will be participating in various activities that involve working as a team and discovering how teamwork can aid all participants.
WELLBEING
Term 2 has the Wellbeing theme of ‘Teamwork’, throughout the Term all school staff and students will be discovering how they can add to the team that is Mater Dei. We are encouraging families to become a member of the Mater Dei team and to work with staff to build positive relationships.
CURRICULUM UPDATE
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Digital Technologies are electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data. At Mater Dei we have a number of digital technologies that are embedded into our Science and Technology Scope and Sequences to ensure students are accessing a variety of different digital technologies and building on skills progressively each year. After the successful implementation of our Lego Education WeDo sets, we have purchased a set of Spheros! Spheros are small spherical robots that can be used in the classroom to play games, create programs and complete challenges. We look forward to using these new robots and sharing some of the exciting learning experiences with you in the future!
Schools now have access to these syllabuses on an exciting new digital platform to begin planning for their implementation in 2023. Throughout the year, teachers will be engaging in professional development and collaborative planning sessions to ensure we are ready for the implementation of these new syllabuses next year.
NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association. Every year, a picture book that has been written and illustrated by Australian authors and illustrators is read simultaneously in education settings across Australia. This year, NSS will be held on Wednesday 25 May and the book being read is Family Tree by Josh Pyke. Students in Kindergarten to Year Two will be participating in NSS this year by sharing the story and engaging in a number of learning experiences related to the story.
PEDAGOGY
Visual Supports is an Evidence-Based Practice that utilises a visual display that supports the learner engaging in a desired behaviour or skills independent of additional prompts. At Mater Dei our teachers use visual supports within lessons to enable students more independence with a task. For example, a diagram of a pencil indicates for a student to write, a diagram of eyes indicates for a student to look. Visual supports are often included on response worksheets to enhance student engagement in the specific task.
CLASS 9 POLDING
9 Polding and Mrs Andersen started reading their class novel, Matilda, in Term 1. They are now up to Chapter 15 of reading their adapted text. Mrs Andersen has been planning follow up lessons that focus on letters and sounds, focus words and their meanings, sentence writing using punctuation and comprehension. The students have been highly engaged in this explicit teaching and have strengthened their reading strategies through the use of decoding unknown works using phonological awareness of what sounds letters make. Through visual prompts and modelled examples the students are now reconstructing and writing their own sentences including capital letters and full stops. Keep up the great teaching and learning 9 Polding. and Mrs Andersen started reading their class novel, Matilda, in Term 1. They are now up to Chapter 15 of reading their adapted text. Mrs Andersen has been planning follow up lessons that focus on letters and sounds, focus words and their meanings, sentence writing using punctuation and comprehension. The students have been highly engaged in this explicit teaching and have strengthened their reading strategies through the use of decoding unknown works using phonological awareness of what sounds letters make. Through visual prompts and modelled examples the students are now reconstructing and writing their own sentences including capital letters and full stops. Keep up the great teaching and learning 9 Polding.
ENGINEERING
Class 5/6 Gibbons will be continuing their Science and Technology unit of work this term about Chemical Engineering. Last week the students revisited their understanding about what Scientists and Engineers do for work by reading an information text big book.
One of the most important jobs they do is to observe. 5/6 Gibbons engaged in a task called, Technology in a Bag, where they observe the technology with a partner by using their senses of sight and touch. The students were prompted with visual supports to investigate what their technology looks like, what purpose and problems it solves and what materials it is made from. They had some interesting examples of technology to observe including a peg, paintbrush, buttons, screw and a plastic spoon. 5/6Gibbons also made sure they were scientists and engineers by communicating their findings with their partner back to the whole class. What use is knowledge if it is not shared!
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Year 6 Polo Shirts
Polo shirts have arrived!
Students in Year 6 can wear their shirts on Sports uniform days.
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:
At the end of last term our teachers engaged in a Professional Development session about Successful Reading Strategies.
They focused on the five essential components of reading. These components include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension. Teachers reviewed their understanding of the five essential components of reading then explored how they align with the reviewed NSW English K-2 Syllabus structure.
The session concluded with teachers designing lesson tasks that will incorporate the five essential components of reading.
Term 2’s focus for staff professional development is on Curriculum.
Staff will be engaging in professional development regarding all facets of the delivery of curriculum including:
- New Primary Curriculum – English and Mathematics K-2
- Planning learning and assessment with a Universal Design for Learning framework
Age and Stage Aligned Programming (ASAP) 7-12
ANZAC DAY
On a mild autumn’s day, a small but keen group of students represented Mater Dei School during the ANZAC Day March, held in Camden.
Ella (School Captain), Charlotte and Zac proudly walked along with staff members and students from a number of other schools to the sounds of a marching band.
Ella and Zac laid the wreath and did so with respect and reverence.
The ceremony concluded and people dispersed before the clouds opened up, again.
YEAR 7 & 8 SPORT
7/8 Benedict were so excited to finally attend Lawn Bowls for their first visit in Week 10 of last term. They met up with Bruce and Guy from Camden Sports Club who ran through the rules and tips for how to play lawn bowls. Mater Dei students and Magdalene students spent the lovely sunny afternoon playing lawn bowls together.
FUTURE EVENTS:
MOTHERS DAY STALL - TOMORROW, 3 MAY
SACRAMENTAL MASS
Students will begin their lessons this term. The Mass will be held on August 13 at 11:00am in the Mater Dei Chapel with Bishop Brian in attendance.
RECONCILIATION WEEK
Reconciliation Week is a week that brings all cultures and traditions together. This year we are lucky enough to have Troy Allen from School Performance Tours visiting us to take us on an exploration through Aboriginal Culture.
STUDENT MUFTI DAY - Friday 13 May
McDONALD'S CHARITY FUN NIGHT
LIFE EDUCATION
Week 6 – Students in Years Kindergarten to Year 8 will be participating in lessons with an onsite visit from the team from Life Education.
K/1 Classes - My Body Matters
2G-Growing - Good Friends
3/4 Classes - Mind your Medicine
5/6 Classes - Relate, Respect, Connect
7/8 Classes - Relate, Respect, Connect
MATER DEI'S CHARITY GOLF DAY
P&F KRISPY KREME FUNDRAISER
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.
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IMPORTANT DATES
