27 July 2020 (Term Three, Week 2)

CEO/Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Term Three is upon us and we are over half-way through 2020 – one of the most challenging years we have had to endure. I am sure you are like myself and have a degree of anxiety and unrest at not knowing how the future will unfold with the COVID-19 situation. It seems that every day there is an update from authorities regarding changing protocols and rules. Not an easy time to be in government or be a health official I would think.

In the midst of all of this turmoil, I have observed a number of things at Mater Dei that lift my spirit. The first is that the children remain as enthusiastic and full of life as ever. Whenever I have a tough moment I head out to the playground or the classrooms and I am immediately transformed and given perspective. It reminds me of the reason we are all here. The smiling faces as the children returned after the school holiday break confirmed that they love being here.

The second observation is that our parents and carers have been incredibly understanding of what the school has been trying to manage. The compliments and words of encouragement do not go unnoticed, and the staff really appreciate the overall sense that we are in this together and all navigating new territory with the best of intentions.

Finally, I am so proud of our staff. This has been a really tough few months and they remain resilient and as committed to supporting the children as ever. I think the wonderful Sisters of the Good Samaritan who founded Mater Dei many years ago would be very pleased with how the staff are carrying on their legacy in being of service to the world.

These are tough times but there is a great deal to be grateful for.

Kind regards

Mark Raue
CEO/Principal

St Benedict's Feast Day

During the school holidays on 11 July, the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the sixth-century Abbot who gave Christian monasticism its lasting foundation in Western Europe.

Benedictine Spirituality

Good Samaritan Education (GSE) draws its inspiration from the Rule of St Benedict, a spiritual treasure dating from the sixth century. Benedict’s Rule continues to speak over centuries and across continents to the spiritual yearning of countless women and men.

The text of the Rule is remarkably brief, but it is refreshingly realistic in its understanding of who people are, and who they can become.

We become our true selves and best selves when we remember, says Benedict, to love God and neighbour – both the neighbour beyond the community and the often more demanding neighbour at home.

Though written for a group of monks, there are lessons for all contemporary people; lessons about mercy and humility, about hospitality and caring and welcome.

The Rule is intended for those who seek peace. It speaks about acceptance, compassion, and a commitment to prayer and work. It offers insightful advice to those who want to restore balance to fractured lives.

The Rule draws its language and imagery from the Bible, particularly from the Gospel, that Good News of Jesus which Benedict called “the truest of guides for human life”.

As a GSE school, Mater Dei’s classes focus on the following Benedictine Values, as displayed in our hall:

Love of Christ and Neighbour - Bishop McCabe
Prayer  - Mother Scholastica Gibbons
Discipline  -  Saint Benedict
Stewardship – Bishop Polding
Hospitality  - Sister Mary Gregory
Community -  The Good Samaritan
Justice and Peace  - Saint Mary MacKillop

Mrs Jacqueline Gorey
Leader of Mission and Vision

NCCD

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines.

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

Compass Help

Having any issues with Compass, please email compass@materdei.org.au and someone will respond as soon as possible.

Medical and Health Care Plans

We are currently reviewing our First Aid and Health Care procedures for all students.  It is important that plans for Anaphylaxis & Allergies, Asthma, and Epilepsy are reviewed annually by a medical professional. This will include any medication held on site by first aid. When your child’s plan is up for review you will receive a letter home in your child’s diary approximately a month before.  Could you please attend to this as soon as possible and send the updated plan to the school via the diary.

P&F Meeting

Please note that the next P&F meeting will be held on Monday, 3 August (week 3) at 7.00pm.  The meeting will not be face-to-face but will take place remotely.  More details to come.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

This Semester's Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Tuesday, 18 and Wednesday, 19 August from 3:30-6:30pm via phone interviews, with Bookings made via Compass which will open on Thursday, 30 July.  A Compass post will be sent to advise they are open with instructions on how to book and complete the online survey to confirm contact details for the interview.  Collaboration with the Classroom Teacher and Parents/Carers is a requirement under the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD).  Please ensure you are able to logon to Compass prior to this date, as the booking system will be first come, first served.

100 Days of Kindergarten

On Tuesday, 4 August (Week Three, Term Three) we will be celebrating our 100^th day of school!  This is a huge achievement for our Kindergarten students at Mater Dei and we would like to celebrate it with a day filled with some fun activities based around the number 100.  

To commemorate this day, and make it even more memorable, K Samaritan students are going to dress up like superheros! Not many students can say they survived the first 100 days of schooling in a worldwide pandemic!  If your child would like to participate, it’s easy!  There's no need to purchase a full costume, but instead your child may have a superhero costume at home, a superhero shirt, or wear colourful clothing with a cape or mask.  For safety reasons please wear enclosed shoes.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write in the diary.

Principal's Assembly

Our next Principal’s Assembly will be held on Friday, 7 August. As per previous communications, due to COVID guidelines, this will be a student-only event. No visitors. The assembly will be limited to 15 minutes and there will be no class presentation for prayer and learning. Photos of award recipients will be published to the school Facebook page.

Term 3 Pupil Free Days

There are two Pupil Free Days this Term. Students are not required at school on either of these two days:

• Friday, 14 August (Week 4) – Staff participating in Professional Development on strategic planning, policy/procedure updates and 2021 planning
  
  
• Friday, 4 September (Week 7) – Staff are participating in CPR training update, hosted by Wave Learning

Semester One Reports

Semester One Reports, Personalised Plans, Swimming Reports (participating students only) & In-Class Therapy Reports (participating students only) will be issued via Compass on Friday, 14 August (Term 3 - Week 4). A Compass post will be sent to advise when they are available with instructions on how to access them. 

Second Hand Uniform - FB Buy Swap Sell Page

We have recently made a change to our second-hand uniform noticeboard. Any parents or guardians wishing to buy or sell second-hand uniforms can do so through the MD School Second Hand Uniforms group on Facebook. This is a private group. Any parent or guardian wishing to sell a uniform item is encouraged to join the group and post a listing for other group members to see. All existing uniform listings have been transferred to this new platform. You can find the group by using this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/uniformsmaterdei/ or searching MD School Second Hand Uniforms on Facebook. We thank you for being on board with this new way of exchanging second-hand uniforms.

School Calendar Access

If reading the Newsletter on your device, you can access the School Calendar by clicking on the Hamburger button on the top left of the screen, underneath the School banner.  You can also sync the calendar with your own calendar by clicking on the "sync calendar" button.

Flyer - Term Three Canteen Update

Flyer - NDCO

Flyer - NDCO

Flyer - The Black Dog Institute

Flyer - WSVSN Employment Life Skills and Leisure Post School Expo

Flyer - WSVSN Life Skills expo 2020 Visitor Save the Date