Term 3, Week 3, 2022

Dear Families,

On Monday of this week was the celebration of Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop. She was a pretty amazing person who, along with her Sisters, set up so many schools around Australia and New Zealand. Probably every school that is named “St Joseph’s” would have been started by the Sisters. We commonly refer to them as Josephite schools. Our school, St Mary Magdalene’s was started by a different order or group of sisters known as Mercy Sisters (begun my Catherine McAuley) and hence is known as a Mercy school. There are lots of other order schools around the world, just like the Mercys and the Josephites. Most would have a different focus, vision or ‘charism’ but they would all have Jesus as being central to all that they do. For me, our values of Compassion, Courage, Hospitality, Justice, Respect and Service sum up how the Mercy Sisters and Jesus would want us to live and be each day.

As you would be aware our Principal, Chris Platten, is currently on leave and will be absent for 3 weeks. I am Acting Principal in his place, both at St Mary Magdalene’s but also at St Thomas More. This means that I will need to spread my time across both schools and while I might not always be available in person, I can be contacted through the front office if needed.

We welcome two new children this week: Chalanti in Year 6 and Ravi in Reception. Next week we also welcome a Student Teacher, Rebecca Errigo, who will be on placement in Mrs Drewett’s Reception class for 4 weeks. We welcome you and your family to our community and hope your time with us is full of learning, fun and friendships!

Thank you to those families who were able to complete the Live Learn Lead survey that we advertised through the newsletter and seesaw recently. Your responses will help us in discerning what we are doing well in our school and in what areas we need to improve.

Last Friday our Year 3/4 students enjoyed a trip to Monarto Zoo and fortunately they all made it back safely, even after being chased by a cheetah! It looked like they had a fabulous time and learnt a lot about a variety of animals at the same time. Miss Sam has provided some pictures and thoughts about their excursion elsewhere in this newsletter.

With Covid and other factors, our School Board has not been able to meet as regularly as it might. I am keen for us to get our School Board up and running again and have planned for a meeting in Week 8. The School Board has a governance role and works in partnership with the school community to develop policies, promote excellence, support the school administration, protect children, monitor building and grounds development and maintenance, exercise financial management and ensure compliance with legal obligations.

The Board meets twice per term and I am looking for some parents from the community who might be interested to find out more about the role. Please catch up with me in the yard if you’d like to have a chat about it.

Well done to our cross country runners who competed in the SACPSSA Carnival today in the Adelaide Parklands. Thank you to Mr Maglai and Mrs Tullio who braved the cold with the students and ensured they all returned safely.

Working in Partnership

Peter Mercer

Head of Campus

‘I have great confidence in you to do what you think best. State your opinion and always act with courage.’ ~ Catherine McAuley

Welcome to Week 3! We have had a very busy start to term 3! This term we are looking at Information texts on African Animals for literacy, focusing on 3D shapes and symmetry for numeracy, exploring the importance recycling and different ways people are sustainable for HASS and focusing on the theme of Service for Religion.

Last week the Year 3 and 4 students set off to Monarto Zoo to gather some information about the animal they decided to write their information report about. The students had previously completed a persuasive text about Monarto Zoo in comparison to Adelaide Zoo, including which they believed to be the better zoo for the animals. Upon arrival, we participated in a habitat building exercise called ‘My Cubby Rules’ at Indaba Bush Camp, where we learnt about how animals survive in different habitats and the importance of healthy habitats and animals’ survival needs. After the activity, we had lunch and visited the meerkats before departing on our African Animal Safari Tour on the Zoo loop. The students were very engaged and excited throughout the tour, asking our guide, Wallie, many questions while completing their African Animal spotting activity. We finished our visit at Monarto Zoo by watching the chimpanzees play and get up to mischief. A big thank you to Esther, John and Jess for coming along and supporting the excursion!

Here are some of the highlights from the students about their trip to Monarto Zoo:

“My favourite part was when the cheetah came up to our bus and started chasing us”- Kaeleb

“I loved when the hyena cubs were playing and were chasing each other”- Jayden

“The best part of the day was the team challenge and building our habitats”- Mia

“I really enjoyed how close we were to all the animals, especially the giraffes”- Amelia

Scroll down to see some photos!

Due to the fact that our numbers have grown so high, unfortunately we are no longer able to offer alternative snacks if your child simply doesn’t like what we are offering. We encourage that you look at the menu in advance and if your child does not like what we have planned, could you please add some extra food to their lunchbox for “afternoon snack”? As usual, if your child has an allergy or cannot eat the food that we have to offer we are more than happy to offer alternatives to our menu. If you have any questions please feel free to speak to Esther or Jenn about your child’s requirements.

Please remember to book your child in as soon as you realise that you need to use OSHC. Lately, I have had a quite a few children coming into OSHC when their parent has told them to come but they have not actually been booked in. This makes it difficult for us as we don’t know the numbers that are attending, causing problems when we prepare snacks to ensure there is enough for all children. We appreciate that last minute bookings will happen due to unforseen circumstances. However, if you do realise you need OSHC please remember to either call the office, tell Lisa or Esther or send an SMS to 0437 609 630 as soon as you can.

Regards

Esther and Jenn

SMMS OSHC Team