Term 3, Week 4 (8 August 2022)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week we finally get to celebrate St Benedict’s Day. The last time we were able to celebrate this day was in 2019, back when nobody had ever heard of COVID-19. I have come to understand that it has always been a wonderful occasion for our school community, but so far I have not had the experience myself.
So, why do we celebrate St Benedict’s Day? Mater Dei owes its existence to the Sisters of the Good Samaritan who come from the Benedictine tradition. This means that they base their life and mission on the teachings of St Benedict who lived in the 5th century after Christ. Benedict formed communities who worked and prayed together in monasteries and his influence was so significant that he is considered the patron saint of Europe. His rule has survived the test of time and emphasizes prayer, peace, welcome to the stranger, hospitality, tolerance of each other’s different personalities and compassion. His first principle is that we should listen to each other with the ears of our heart, a rule that still makes great sense today.
It is the responsibility of all the staff who work at Mater Dei to embody Benedictine spirituality in their work, and we are expected to be a thriving Benedictine community. I look forward to seeing a great number of parents and carers this Friday as we celebrate what it means to be Benedictine, especially as we have the privilege of Bishop Brian being our celebrant at our St Benedict’s Day Mass. I know it will be a wonderful day.
Kind Regards,
MARK RAUE
CEO/PRINCIPAL
FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Farewell
Alana Cooper – School Administration and IT Support Officer has resigned and will be finishing up at Mater Dei on Friday 12 August.
Alana has been a delight since the very first time she walked through the front door at Mater Dei! She has been a wonderful contribution to the School Administration Team, dedicating herself to the cumbersome and detailed administrative tasks for compliance and also to support the complex needs of our students.
Alana’s work, skills and fun personality will certainly be missed and we wish her all the very best in her new role.
Staff Shortage
Mater Dei school continues to manage critical staffing shortages that education is currently experiencing nationwide. We have been significantly impacted by winter illness, COVID and close contact isolation periods with a small casual teacher pool.
Unfortunately these impacts have meant change for our students including split classes when all other options have been exhausted. We continue to prioritise the safety and needs of our students at all times. All decisions are made with significant consideration of each student.
I remain so grateful to our Teachers who try their very best to ensure minimal disruption to students, who put their hand up to help even when sacrificing planning time and do this with grace and a smile. I’m blessed to be able to work with these individuals.
Stage Leaders advise, via the Compass Class dashboard, when a Classroom Teacher is away. The student diary is utilised to communicate If a student has been split into another class for the day.
COVID-SMART MEASURES
SCHOOL NEWS
PBIS FOCUS
Developing the right mindset early on is crucial for a successful, happy life. When students learn putting forth effort and using the right strategies can help them get better at things, they feel empowered, and try harder. When they know their brains are capable of growing, they are more confident, resilient, and not afraid to fail!
3/4 McCabe has been practising having a ‘growth mindset’. On Friday they read the book 'I can do hard things’ and discussed things that they are good at or find easy and things that they don't like or find hard. Students then developed artworks that identified their strengths and talents, which are now hanging above their board in the classroom for them to look at every day to remind them they are all capable of doing hard things.
GOOD SAMARITAN EDUCATION STUDENTS
Again this term, we are fortunate to have three St Patrick’s students come to Mater Dei on Tuesday afternoons, to learn about our school and enjoy getting to know our students.
We look forward to seeing Tara, Meghan and Vienne each week at Mater Dei!
RECONCILIATION
On Thursday, 4th August, Fr Victor from St Paul’s Parish, attended Mater Dei to give our Sacramental students the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The students were most respectful and waited patiently for their turn with Fr Victor.
It was wonderful to see the parents and carers who were able to make the time, attend too.
The students only have a week to go before their big day on Saturday 13th August at 11:00, at the Mater Dei Chapel.
WRITING IN K/1 SAMARITAN
Students in K/1 Samaritan have been busy engaging in lots of Learning Experiences to build their reading and writing skills this year. Ms Crawford has been reading a variety of high quality picture books with the class as part of the PreLit program, including We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, How to Catch a Star and Ella Kazoo Will Not Brush Her Hair. After reading each story, students ‘Read it, trace it, write it, cut and paste it’. This is an activity where students practise reading and tracing a sentence from the story, writing it to practise correct letter formation and sentence structure as well as cutting and pasting it which provides further opportunity to correctly structure and read the sentence. Recently, Ms Crawford has explicitly taught students how to use a writing checklist as a form of self-assessment when they complete their writing activities. This has students check their own work for specific features including the use of capital letters, finger spaces between words and the use of simple punctuation. Great work K/1 Samaritan!
SPORTS NEWS
Secondary Representative Athletics:
On Friday 29th July, Justin B, Jack C, Zachery L, Breeana B, Cooper C, Aidan H, Leishiya A and Maya B represented Mater Dei at the Wollongong Diocese Secondary Athletics Championships. The students represented Mater Dei with pride and produced amazing results. A number of the students have now been selected to represent the Wollongong Diocese at the Combined Catholic College Championships in Homebush next month.
Primary Representative Athletics:
On Friday 5th August, Ian H, Maria I, Marco I, Matthew I, Corrado I, Joshua M, Jayden F, Nate F and Austin D, represented Mater Dei at the Wollongong Diocese Primary Athletics Championships at Campbelltown. This was the first representative carnival for all these students and they did extremely well, walking away with amazing results. A number of the students have now been selected to represent the Wollongong Diocese at the Mackillop CHampionships in Homebush next month.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
FOUNDATION DINNER - STUDENT PERFORMANCES
A Compass event was published to participating students. RSVPs were due last week. Further, detailed information regarding the night will be published via Compass in the next fortnight.
CHANGE OF DATE - TERM 3 ASSEMBLY
Please note that there has been a change to the dates of the Term 3 Primary and Secondary Assemblies to align with our Celebration of Learning events.
The Secondary Assembly will now take place on Friday, 23rd Sept (previously 19th August) and the Primary Assembly will now take place on Friday, 16th September (previously 26th August). Compass Parent Calendar has been updated to reflect the new dates.
FATHER'S DAY STALL
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:
Friday 5th August involved professional development for all school staff. Michelle O’Brien from AIS Association of Independent Schools facilitated a presentation on Positive Practices for Classroom Management: Small Changes, Big Impact.
How behaviours are addressed in classrooms is shifting from reactive approaches to more proactive and positive oriented approaches. Establishing and maintaining productive learning environments, maximising instructional time, and promoting student engagement can be achieved through the consistent use of a range of key fundamental practices and strategies. The professional development described each practice, detailed the steps for implementation and provided opportunities for self-assessment and reflection.
FUTURE EVENTS:
ST BENEDICT'S FEAST DAY
Mater Dei will celebrate St Benedict’s Feast Day on Friday, August 12.
The day will start with Mass being celebrated by Bishop Brian Mascord at 9:30am. Families are welcome to attend the Mass. Parents, you will be notified if your child is participating in the Mass.
Following the Mass, morning tea will be served for families and guests before the departure of families. After morning tea, students will participate in student-only activities on the playground. Students will receive both morning tea and lunch. Students are to wear their full winter school uniform.
More information will be made available via a Compass event for this day.
NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
The school theme for National Science Week in 2022 is Glass: More than meets the eye. It is based on the UN International Year of Glass. It will celebrate the many roles that glass plays in our lives – from phone screens to optical fibre to glassware in labs – plus investigating glass as a part of our sustainable future.
Mater Dei students will be attending a session in the hall with Mrs Twine during Week 5 where they will learn and explore concepts about glass.
100 DAYS OF LEARNING
On Friday, August 19th, our K/1 classes will be celebrating 100 Days of Learning!
The teachers are busy planning some exciting activities to celebrate this milestone and more information will be provided on class news feeds for the students involved.
BOOK WEEK
Get excited - Book Week is coming! Every year The Children’s Book Council of Australia brings children and books together across Australia during Book Week. This year, Book Week will be celebrated during the week of August 20-26 with the theme Dreaming with Eyes Open. Keep an eye out for more information about the K-6 Book Week activities and start thinking about costumes for the Book Week Parade!
MATER DEI FOUNDATION DINNER - INVITATION
This week is the LAST CHANCE to purchase your tickets to the Mater Dei Annual Foundation Dinner.
All bookings are to be confirmed by Monday, 15 August 2022.
Seats are limited so get in quick!
Any questions contact Alison McManus - alisonmc@materdei.org.au
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
