Term 2, Week 8 (15 June 2022)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS
Frederick Collins says that there are two types of people: those who come into a room and say, “well, here I am!” and those who come in and say, “ah, there you are.” It is human nature to be concerned about self, and we absolutely know the value of self-esteem and self-respect. It is an entirely other matter, though, to be so consumed with self that we think the world revolves around us. We all know how challenging it is to be around someone who only talks about themselves.
The Good Samaritan Benedictine tradition that Mater Dei is founded on always places the emphasis on the other person. Love of neighbor and concern for others is a fundamental philosophy and guiding principle.
One of the wonderful elements of working at Mater Dei is the embodiment of this love of neighbor principle. Staff very quickly know that life here is all about the students. Our individual needs matter, and we need to be assertive about what we need to flourish in life, but never at the expense of another person. This respect for others and understanding of the common good is reinforced with our students every day. It builds a beautiful atmosphere of humility and generosity of spirit, not an atmosphere of selfishness and individualism. This does not diminish the value of self-care, but reinforces the need to put other people before ourselves as the default response to a situation; and it is wonderful to work in an environment when compassion and care are prized values.
As we move towards the end of this school term, I wish to advise, Kylee Laugesen (Assistant Principal) will be taking leave for Terms 3 and 4. There will be some changes in regards to School Executive responsibilities to temporarily cover this role. I do hope that you find time to focus on self –care, because doing that helps fill our wells so that we can all continue being there for other people, which is what we are ultimately all called to be.
Kind Regards,
MARK RAUE
CEO/PRINCIPAL
FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Mrs Josie Bozic is expecting her first baby later this year! A very exciting time for Mrs Bozic and her husband.
Next term, we welcome Christy Smith to Mater Dei, as Middle Leader - Wellbeing. Mrs Smith is coming to us from St Benedict’s Catholic College, where she is currently working in the specialist classes, teaching across Key Learning Areas. Christy is also a technologies teacher, having taught a spectrum of secondary technology subjects, both in mainstream and life skills. Christy has extensive experience in various promotional positions during her tenures at St Benedict’s, Emmaus Catholic College and St Charbel’s College, including Year Coordinator, leading KLA positions, eLearning and her current role in Positive Education, which she is implementing into the specialist classes. Positive Education focuses on implementing the science of wellbeing and Positive Psychology into education, to enable all students to succeed.
IN-CLASS THERAPY (ICT) K-8
Please see the attached information document regarding In Class Therapy (ICT). This information document was created to provide a snapshot of the program and detail the planning, collaboration, implementation and reporting processes that occur for participating students.
COVID-SMART MEASURES
SCHOOL NEWS
PBIS FOCUS
Teamwork continues to be the focus for PBIS this term. How does teamwork look in the playground; in the classroom; at Assembly or walking in the stairwells? Students are exploring how teamwork looks like in many different situations; not just on the football field!
SHARED LEARNING WITH ST GREGORY'S COLLEGE
5/6 Gibbons and 5/6 MacKillop hosted another group of Year 5 students from St Gregory’s College Junior School, as part of a shared learning experience. All students were excited to meet new friends and to learn their names whilst they engaged in a variety of Mathematics activities together. They focussed on learning about money through games, Bee Bots and ‘active maths’ with an obstacle course. There were many smiles and cheering when the games were completed. Students from both schools encouraged and guided each other. We look forward to hosting the final class of St Greg’s students in another fortnight, during Week 9!
REPRESENTATIVE CROSS COUNTRY
On Tuesday 7th June, Jack C, Zac L and Cooper C represented the Wollongong Diocese at the Combined Catholic College Cross Country Championships at Eastern Creek. All three boys ran extremely well, improving on their previous times. Jack finished in first place in the 17-19 year old boys multi-class event, Zac finished in fifth place in the same event. Cooper finished second in the 12-14 year old boys multi-class event. Cooper and Jack have been selected to represent CCC at the All Schools Cross Country Championships in July.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
PERSONAL DETAILS 2022 FORMS
Thank you to the families that have returned their Personal Details forms.
A reminder to please complete this form and return it via your student diary as soon as possible. Thank you!
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:
Teachers have been engaging in online learning modules, created by NESA, related to the reformed NSW English K-2 Syllabus and the NSW Mathematics K-2 Syllabus. Through this professional development, teachers explored the new syllabus documents including the rationale and evidence behind them, the organisation of content and how they support the diverse learning needs of students. Throughout the professional development, teachers were given opportunities to reflect and provide feedback on the syllabus documents as well as participating in activities to assist with familiarisation and understanding.
MATER DEI'S McDONALD'S CHARITY FUN NIGHT
What an incredible result for Mater Dei’s McDonald’s Charity Fun Night! Together you have helped raise over $5,575.
THANK YOU to McDonald’s in Macarthur for their extraordinarily generous support – without them this would not have been possible
We appreciate everyone who dropped by one of the stores or grabbed some dinner in the drive thru, it all contributed to a fantastic amount raised for Mater Dei.
SECONDARY CELEBRATION OF LEARNING
Families and friends attended Mater Dei Secondary Celebration of Learning on Friday 3rd June.
Parents/Carers visited students in their classrooms; participated in a picnic and outdoors activities and finished the day off with the Secondary Assembly. Thank you to 9 Polding and 10 McCabe for your engaging Acknowledgement of Country and for showcasing the amazing work you are learning in your classes. During the Assembly, Mrs Musso also reflected on Reconciliation Week at Mater Dei. Student Awards were presented to Eli S, Breeana B, Michael S and Thomas A. Congratulations to these hard-working students!
The weather may have been grey but the joy could not be dampened at Mater Dei!
PRIMARY CELEBRATION OF LEARNING
What a wonderful day everyone had during the Primary Celebration of Learning on Friday 10th June! Families and friends joined us in classrooms and engaged in some creative and fun learning experiences, just like our students do each and every day. Although the weather was a little bit cold and windy, the picnic lunch was enjoyed by all and it was lovely to see so many families connecting with each other and enjoying our beautiful playgrounds. The day ended with an assembly where some of the amazing learning that has happened in 3/4 Polding was showcased and the hard work of our K-6 students was recognised with some Bronze and Silver award recipients. Congratulations to Dylan, Jack and Katelyn. A big thank you to Chloe fo
RECONCILIATION WEEK
As part of Mater Dei’s Reconciliation Week celebrations, we welcomed Troy Allen to our school. Troy engrossed our students in traditional dance and song; explaining the meaning and significance of the connection between the land, animals and people. Troy thoroughly engaged the students with Wadjiny (his animal spirit, the Platypus).
Troy combined dance, storytelling and music. Everyone mimicked the kangaroo, emu and other Australian animals, using their newly learnt moves. Thanks Troy for visiting Mater Dei!
LIFE EDUCATION
Mater Dei Kindergarten to Year 8 students had the opportunity to visit Harold in his Life Education van last week. Life Education is Australia's largest preventive health organisation empowering children to make safer and healthier choices so they can live happier lives. Belinda from Life Education lead our students through innovative and holistic teaching and learning programs including; how nutrition and physical activity contribute to a healthy lifestyle, resilience, self-awareness, self-management and social awareness and ways to keep safe at home, school and in the community. One of the highlights is definitely meeting Harold the giraffe.
FUTURE EVENTS:
G DAY MASS
G Day Mass will be celebrated at 9:30am on Friday 24th June in the Carmela Ritchie Hall. Everyone is welcome, especially all the Grandparents, Godparents and all the Great people in our students’ lives!
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
On Friday 24th June, we will be holding our annual athletics carnival as part of our G-Day celebrations. Students are asked to wear their sports uniform with a t-shirt in their house colour.
The athletics carnival will follow our G-Day mass in the morning.
9.30am G-Day Mass in the hall
10.30am Morning Tea
11.30am Carnival begins
2.00pm Carnival concludes
- Students will have the opportunity to participate in a range of athletics based activities including, sprints, hurdles, shot put, discus and high jump.
- Families are invited to join us on the playground and cheer on your children as they do their best.
The Mater Dei P&F will be running a small canteen throughout the day selling cheese toasties, tea, coffee, soft drinks, water and a small selection of prepackaged sweets.
Pre-ordered Krispy Kreme donuts will be available for pick up after 10.30am. There will be no additional donuts available for sale on the day.
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 24th June (Term 2 – Week 9). A Compass post will be sent to advise when they are available with instructions on how to access them.
SACRAMENTAL MASS
Students will be meeting with Mrs Gorey to continue their Sacramental Program preparation. Students will be engaged in group discussions this term and begin their booklets next term. Mrs Musso is also assisting the students with their preparation to receive the Holy Sacraments. This will be with Bishop Brian on Saturday, August 13 at 11:00am in the beautiful Mater Dei Chapel.
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
