Term 2, Week 2 (2 May 2023)
CEO/PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS
Dear Parents/Carers, Grandparents and Friends of Mater Dei,
Each year the past couple of weeks on our calendar present us with a time of and for reflection, and some important opportunities for us to think about ourselves as being part of God’s creation, and as part of humanity, as a group, community and as individuals. During these times we are confronted with the story of Holy Week with an outline of the betrayal, humiliation, torture and crucifixion of our Saviour Jesus, and then the glorious story of his resurrection, which avail us of our access to eternal life. At this time of each year in Australia we also commemorate the landing at Gallipoli, where a group of our young countrymen and neighbours from New Zealand faced war and conflict for the first time.
In commemorating these events and focusing on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, and war, we are faced with the worst of the behaviour of humanity and human persons. However, on the other side of the coin, we gain an understanding of the love, compassion, forgiveness of our God and the sacrifices, courage and lengths that other human beings will go to for their neighbours. While these past weeks have been times for reflection on the negatives, there is also a great sense of hope and joy and an opportunity to deepen our strength to face the future not just for ourselves but for all the world and humanity.
These thoughts were with me when I attended my local Anzac Day dawn service. I was touched by the presence and behaviours of those around me. There were families and extended families with parents and their young children and elderly family members together, many of them wearing medals. There were groups of young adults who had come together to attend the service. There was a deep sense of reflection, reverence, silence when required, and appreciation and respect. People left that service with a positiveness, and a sense of gratitude and appreciation. We have begun Term 2 with a continuation of the Easter season and message, which is a message of hope. I pray that these past weeks have given you a deeper sense of hope and a positive outlook on life, and a deeper understanding what great gifts we have in the gifts of life, family and community.
Regards,
PAUL McCANN
INTERIM CEO/PRINCIPAL
FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Welcome back all to Term 2 which looks to be another busy and exciting Term filled with great learning and teaching opportunities and several school and community events to look forward to. On Monday, our Staff Professional Learning Day focussed on “Acknowledging Our Collective Purpose & Identifying Our Strengths” at Mater Dei. We started the day reflecting on the Benedictine Values of Peace, Prayer, Service, Hospitality, Stewardship and Community, and how these values form and influence our work and actions and the decisions that we make. I look forward to continuing this conversation with our staff and extending this to students, parents and carers.
We are very pleased to welcome Miss Sharnelle Ram to Mater Dei. Sharnelle comes to us with teaching experience in the Parramatta Diocese and is the class teacher for our 5/7 Samaritan Class.
We finished our first week back with an ANZAC Service hosted by our Stage 6 classes. It was a reflective service with an opportunity for student representatives from each class to bring forward a wreath that they had made. Mrs Jen Twine and Mrs Rebecca Hanrahan accompanied our school captains Breanna and Jack to the Camden ANZAC Day March and Service earlier in the week.
We currently have a few staff recovering from injury and surgery and as we keep them in our collective prayers, we look forward to seeing them back at school in the near future.
JENNIFER FOLDES
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL
SCHOOL NEWS
MISSION & VISION
During the two Easter weeks, I (Mrs Jacqueline Gorey - Leader of Mission & Vision) travelled on a Pilgrimage with twenty-five other Leadership Staff/Board Members from the ten Good Samaritan Education Colleges (GSE). The Pilgrimage was to deepen and strengthen our knowledge of our founding Saint, St Benedict. The Pilgrimage started in beautiful Yorkshire, England, where we spent time at Ampleforth Abbey, School and Monastery. We also visited Stanbrook and Doui Abbeys. The detail of these Abbeys is amazing and at times overwhelming. The Monks and Nuns of these Benedictine Monasteries were very disciplined people and solely devoted to the Rule of St Benedict written by St Benedict between 500-540 A.D. There was also plenty of talk about the similarities to the Harry Potter movies! After a week in England, we travelled to Rome and based ourselves in this ancient and dynamic city for the week. We immersed ourselves in where St Benedict and his twin sister, Saint Scholastica were born, lived and buried. We travelled to Norcia (birthplace), many different areas of Rome (growing up), Subiaco (the cave St Benedict lived in for three years) and established his Monasteries and then onto Monte Cassino, where St Benedict wrote most of the ‘Rule of St Benedict’. This is where he passed away and was laid to rest with his twin sister. St Benedict and his sister St Scholastica were born 480 AD and both died 547 AD. Amazing history and landmarks wherever we turned.
WELLBEING
Life Education New South Wales is a community-based, independent organisation at the front line of positive and preventative childhood health education. Empowering young people to make informed decisions about their health and safety is at the heart of the program, which is driven by the popular mascot – Healthy Harold.
During Term 2, the Life Education Van will be making its yearly visit to our school. Each class from Kindergarten to Year 8 will attend a life education lesson that a specially trained educator delivers. These lessons will involve information presentations, videos, hands-on activities and open discussions about important health matters.
The following is a brief overview of what the different year levels will be learning:
KINDERGARTEN: HAROLD'S FRIEND SHIP
Harold’s Friend Ship tells the story of Harold blasting into space – with some good friends by his side. It’s a fun interactive learning experience where children learn to recognise the importance of relationships and gain skills to seek help in a variety of situations. They also have opportunities to practice strategies to manage their feelings and emotions.
YEAR 1 AND 2: READY STEADY GO!
Ready Steady Go! Is centred around Harold’s race at the school Sports Carnival. It’s a fun and interactive learning experience where students learn the importance of physical activity and healthy choices, as well as how to identify body clues and manage emotions that arise in new or challenging situations.
YEAR 3 AND 4: THE INSIDE STORY
This fun interactive lesson is set in a kid’s TV news program. A team of young scientists shrink Harold and place him in a tiny capsule so he can travel inside the body and report back on what he sees.
YEAR 5 AND 6: FRIENDS AND FEELINGS
Presented in engaging comic book-style, the lesson revolves around friends, feelings, social and emotional literacy and wellbeing. It is centred around a problem between old friends, Boots and Red. When Red runs off upset, Boots starts to feel sick in her stomach. With help from their friendship group, they sort things out.
YEAR 7 AND 8: DECISIONS
In this module, students investigate a range of alcohol and other drugs, the laws around these drugs and the different ways they impact the body and brain. Students explore the decision-making process and develop their own decision-making skills by looking at their choices, the consequences, their responsibilities, the facts and the influences on them.
PEDAGOGY
The organisation of outcomes and content for English highlight the role and connection that Understanding Texts and Creating Texts have across all areas of English. The organisation of outcomes and content reflects the essential knowledge, understanding and skills that students are expected to learn, including the study of a wide range of literature.
In English K–6, the importance of strong foundations in the early years across oral language, reading and writing is highlighted. The organisation of the syllabus supports the development of early literacy knowledge and skills, while continuing to acknowledge the importance of learning about and enjoying literature.
3/4 Polding certainly enjoy their text reading and have regular opportunities to build on their reading strategies and skills.
CURRICULUM
Focus on Reading Program (Super Six Comprehension Strategies) is a program including; predicting, making, questioning, visualising and summarising. Learning these strategies will help students to become better readers and develop a stronger and deeper comprehension of a text. Secondary classes have implemented these six strategies in different ways whilst reading and viewing different forms of texts and listening to media.
9/10 McCabe read the adapted text ‘Wonder’ by R.J Palacio. They built on their knowledge of comprehension through the use of the super six strategies for comprehension.
SPORTS NEWS
REPRESENTATIVE SWIMMING
Term One finished with Nate F representing the Mackillop team, at the NSWPSSA Swimming Championships in Homebush. Nate finished with personal best times in both the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke.
CROSS COUNTRY
Seven of our Mater Dei students were due to represent the school at the Wollongong Diocese Cross Country Championships in Nowra, this week but unfortunately, the event was postponed due to the wet weather over the weekend and will now be run later in May.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
We are excited to announce that this year, we will be running our Athletics Carnival offsite at the Narellan Sports Hub. All students from Kindergarten to Year Twelve will have the opportunity to participate in the carnival. The carnival will take place on Tuesday 20th June, parents and carers are welcome to attend. Students have already begun learning the skills involved in athletics in their PDHPE lessons and weekly sports sessions.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
MOTHER'S DAY STALL
CANTEEN
Canteen will be running on Friday 12 May.
All orders must be in by 9am the day prior via the student diary. Unfortunately, no late orders can be accepted.
MUFTI DAY
P&F SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE
COVID - CURRENT MEASURES IN PLACE
Given we are a high risk, disability setting, we wish to remind families of the mandatory 7 day isolation requirement remains in place at Mater Dei for all staff and students who test positive to COVID (including if you are a close contact).
Students should not attend Mater Dei if unwell or displaying COVID symptoms and only return after completing isolation and/or when symptom free.
2023 SCHOOL DROP OFF / PICK UP PROCEDURES
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.
MAISY'S CORNER
WE ARE LEARNING HOW TO PAT MAISY FROM HER COLLAR TO HER TAIL...
EVENTS
ANZAC DAY
On Tuesday 25th April some of our students represented Mater Dei School at the Camden ANZAC Day March. Our School Captains, Breeana and Jack lead our school in the march carrying a wreath and our Mater Dei School Banner with pride. They were joined by Ava, Chase, Dylan and Raymond. Thank you for your attendance.
ANZAC ASSEMBLY
On Friday 28th April, Mater Dei School invited families to join us at our ANZAC Day Assembly. We gathered on this day to commemorate ANZAC DAY and pay our respects to the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed for our community. Stage 6 staff and students were responsible for organising the assembly to ensure that the ANZAC spirit continues to inspire us all. We greatly appreciated your attendance.
Lest We Forget
LIPSTICK LUNCHEON
This Friday 5th May, is the Mater Dei Lipstick Luncheon at The Cube, at Campbelltown Catholic Club. 38 students will be performing at the luncheon, in our school choir and our performance group.
McDONALD'S CHARITY FUN NIGHT
It’s on again! The McDonald’s Charity Fun Night for Mater Dei is happening on Wednesday, 17 May.
During dinner on this day, 10% of all proceeds at McDonald’s in Macarthur stores will be donated to Mater Dei (Eat-in and Drive-Thru orders only).
Lock it in your calendars and enjoy dinner with a difference at McDonald’s!
BURGERS ARE OUR THING THIS MONTH!
Grill’d Narellan are supporting Mater Dei in their Local Matters program in May, and you can help.
Simply purchase a burger at Grill’d Narellan in May, and add your Grill’d Token to the Mater Dei jar in display in-store. It’s as simple as that!
1 BURGER = 1 VOTE
So be sure to stop by Grill’d Narellan this month, grab a burger, and put your token vote towards Mater Dei!
IMPORTANT DATES
HELPFUL REMINDERS
COMPASS PARENT GUIDE
PARENT FORMS AND SCHOOL DOCUMENTATION
School documentation and common forms are stored in Compass for parents to access at any time. Parent Forms can be found by following these steps on your Compass App:
(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 2023, please download the Application for Leave Exemption form on Compass, complete and return to schooladmin@materdei.org.au
2023 AFTERNOON ARRANGEMENTS
In the event of either of the following:
- Student needs to be collected by a different family member or family friend over 18 years of age
- Student needs to be collected by parent INSTEAD of usual taxi arrangement for a 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 2:30pm 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.
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