Dear Parents and Carers,
This week we celebrated the feast day of Mary of the Cross Mackillop with a special prayer service and some fun activities for the students, including a special BBQ lunch. We were able to reflect on her wonderful achievements in establishing the Sisters of St Joseph’s and gain an understanding of the incredible person she was, especially her love for educating children and her love for God. Thank you to all our volunteers who assisted us on the day. It was lovely to have the use of our community kitchen and see how easy it is to use, especially for community events. I would like to remind our families that you are welcome to attend our Monday morning prayer each week in the Parish Hall, starting at 8:45am until 9am, run by our students. This is a whole school gathering and a lovely way to start the week.
New Students and a Staff member
This term we welcomed nine new mid-year Receptions students into our school. We welcome: William, Lilly, Leonard, Lottie, Charlotte, Sebastian, Olivia, Julian and Lawrence. It has been amazing to see them transitioning so smoothly and it has been lovely to see our students making them feel so special. We also welcome Mary and Lorella in Year 4 and Molly in Year 1. A special welcome to Samantha Smith who has joined the OSHC team. Samantha is our new Assistant OSHC Director and she is working in the school supporting students as an ESO during the day.
Building Works
Our adventure play space is continuing to progress. Today we saw the extra turf being laid, leading up to the fort. You can start to see the main structure taking shape and we hope to be using it very soon. The Multi-sports space is also moving along with the near completion of the retaining wall and very soon, we hope to have access to the new mega sand pit, which is exciting.
Over the last few weeks, we have been working closely with our architects, GGA, on Stage 2 of the Master Plan to develop our concept plans for the Learning Street Project. This is an exciting project as we look to building three new classrooms and refurbishing two current classrooms. The complex will be connected by a learning street space that will provide our students with more contemporary and flexible learning spaces. I hope to share the new designs with the school community in the next few weeks. We plan to have the project starting by the end of the year.
Family Playgroup
Our new playgroup is again operating on Tuesday mornings in its new home, the top meeting space in the Parish Hall. It has easy access through the front door and parking is available in the street. With the new improved facilities, this makes for a very enjoyable and fun experience. If you interested in attending the service please contact the front office and Jacqui, our Playgroup coordinator, will be more than happy to book you in or you can just turn up on the day.
We also welcome back ‘Little Voices” with Jane on Thursday mornings in the Parish Hall. Little Voices Music offers small group classes for children aged 3 months to 3 years, based on the Kodaly approach to Early Childhood Music Education.
Classes are welcoming, engaging, interactive and fun for children and adults alike. Musical concepts are taught through songs and rhymes, both traditional and new, with the use of puppets, props, stories and percussion instruments for added enjoyment. Jane runs a couple of sessions in the morning. If you are interested, please visit the website: http://www.littlevoicesmusic.com.au
Finally, I would like to thank all our families for the way they are using the drop off and pick up zones as well as the new entrances to our school. We really appreciate your support and your assistance in making this a safe experience for everyone. It is great to see families returning to the middle yard and collecting their child after school.
I would like to remind families if you are using the kiss and drop, especially afterschool, that you remain with your vehicle at all times and please continue to move along if directed by staff so that cars behind are not banking up and around onto Magill Road. This helps create a smooth, flowing system and allows everyone to exit safely. Please be aware that children should be getting into the vehicle only where there is a dotted yellow line on the ground. Also, please note that unless a staff member ushers you to the front of the line, for safety reasons please do not attempt to cut in front of other vehicles.
Thank you again for your support.
I hope all our students enjoy the extra day away this Monday as all our staff attend our Formation Day and we look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday.
Kind regards
Adrian Grbin
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