St Margaret Mary’s School - … Margaret Mary’s School ... Marcus Amurao Stavros Shanoda Emilie Clark Madeleine Clark ... other schools and with different notes and pitches.

Newsletter No 8 Wednesday 18th March 2015

St Margaret Mary’s School A Dynamic Community of Learners in Action

7 Chetwynd Road, Merrylands 2160 Tel (02) 9637 4600 Fax (02) 9637 0509 Email: [email protected] www.stmmmerrylands.catholic.edu.au

Diary Dates

Thursday 19th March • All Staff to attend CEDP Mass

at St Patricks Blacktown (All Students must be picked up by 3:10pm)

Friday 20th March • CEDP Survey must by Completed

by today

• Tea Towel Orders Due (no late orders will be accepted.

Monday 23rd March • 8:40am Morning Assembly and

Prayer .

Wednesday 25th March • Feast of the Annunciation

• Year Four Prayer Service 2:15pm

Administration

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Boys and Girls,

Yesterday we celebrated the feast day of St Patrick. He spent his life serving God and brought faith to many people with his wonderful stories of God’s love. He turned their hearts to God, because he demonstrated genuine care for the people of Ireland. In having St. Patrick as our patron saint we are a blessed Catholic Community. He is one of the world's most popular saints and a great role model for our students. As a young teenager, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. This is not the reason he is an excellent role model, but rather, his capacity during his time in captivity, where he turned to God in prayer. At this time Ireland and its people were far from Christianity and in need of peace.

He wrote: "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith,

and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred

prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the moun-

tain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

Prayer is our connection to God. It is our conversation with the Spiritual. It is our chat with the One we draw strength from. Patrick wrote many times about his connection to God.

“Day by day I began to pray more frequently - and more and more my love of God and my faith in him and reverence for him began to increase.” It is through this commitment to prayer that Patrick declared “I must choose to proclaim the gift of

God and his everlasting help confidently and without fear to make known his name

everywhere”

Patrick began sharing and preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland. He and his fol-lowers preached and converted thousands and began establishing communities across the land. Patrick focussed on spreading the Gospel and encouraged prayer in all his communities. Patrick preached all over Ireland for 40 years. He worked many mira-cles and wrote of his love for God. After years of living in poverty, travelling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.

Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. We thank God for the example of St Patrick who worked hard to spread the Good News and we ask to be blessed with the energy and faith of Patrick.

God Bless,

Mr Kevin Mills Principal

School Fees Term One fees are now overdue, unless arrangements have been made, or a flexible payment plan option has been entered into. If you have any questions regarding your fees please contact Maria Pagano at the school office.

2016 Enrolment Enrolment forms for Kindergarten 2016 will be available for collection from Tuesday 28th April (Term Two).

Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta Schooling Survey 60 families from our school have been selected to participate in the survey. If your family has been selected, surveys must be completed by Friday 20th March. If you did not receive a survey package and would like to participate, please contact the school office.

Library Bags Due to the increase in price from the supplier, our school library bags have increased in price to $15.00.

Marcus Amurao Stavros Shanoda Emilie Clark Madeleine Clark

Alex Hatter Joseph Ghosn Unish Shrestha Mercy Gama

Breana Boustani Therese Bougoide Eric Lin Anastasia Bleeker

Felicity Roach Annalise Vea Bernard El Margi Emma Cham

Grace Geaitani Jason Saahene

Congratulations to all those children who celebrate their birthday around this time.

Faith and Community Personal Growth Project Compassion Harmony fundraiser for Project Compassion.

Don’t forget to order your tea towels. Order forms and information were sent home last Friday with the eldest child. Please complete the form and return to the school office by Friday 20th March. No late orders will be accepted.

Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey

(SPANS) We are delighted to announce that our school has been invited to participate in the Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey which involves over 100 schools in NSW. The survey is being managed by a research team from the University of Sydney and will involve students in K, 2, 4 and 6. The survey will take place at our school on Thursday 26th March. Children involved must wear their sports uniform on this day.

Captivate My Experience at Captivate rehearsals was really fun. It was held at Holy Family, Granville. We learnt 4 songs, 2 were English and the 2 songs remaining were African. They were Pure Imagination, Dry Your Tears, Africa, Walking in the Night, and Stombula Pumpa. Then we had lunch and went over all of the songs. Finally we finished and waited for our bus. We had such a fun time.

By Mikayla

What a day I had today, well it was a great experience. I had the best day today, I sang as good, and tried my very best. There were other schools besides St Margaret Mary’s. Holy Family was a great school, Mr Russell sure had a great and wonderful voice.

By Adut Mayom

When I went to Holy Family we went into the hall and practiced some songs one of them was called Take Away your Tears Africa, but the best thing was there were six different schools. Mr Russell told us we were the best school in the world.

By Samantha 5Red

On the 24th February 2015 at Holy Family Granville Year Five and Six Rehearsed for Captivate Concert. We sang songs with other schools and with different notes and pitches. We sang songs in different languages and sang “Pure Imagination” from the best selling book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We made friends from other school. We had a fun time at the Captivate Rehearsal and hope that we sing beautifully at the Captivate Concert.

By Rebecca Georges 5Red

School Choir Congratulations to all the students who auditioned for the school Choir. There were a large number of talented students who auditioned, unfortunately due to the large number of students who auditions we were only able to take a certain number. Congratulation to the following students who make up our Choir for 2015.

Matteo Luccitti Maya Bazouni Angelina Salama

Naydeen Poumale Christopher Fares Laura Gittany

Tayla Jammal Isabella Nassour Rachael Mansour

Dakota Cunningham Georgia Aoun Rita Bougoide

Allira Harrison Anastasia Bleeker Amelie Zabaras

Tahlia Abram Achel Majock Ella Sallit

Ajok Kondok Sophie Hatter Perica Aspinall

Tianna Gattuso Phoebe Afful Alana Curkovic

Jessica El-Ghoussain Mikayla Yaacoub Mary Fakhr

Elias Othman Aguer Biar Lian Chen

Sunnelle Maxion Athok Mayom George Taktak

Angelina Georges Jemma Bazouni Elie Merhi

Grazia Carrano Thuraya Dandash Kelsea Chimanya

Aluel Juk Krystelle Saliba Abuka Ayac

Danielle Horish Jacinta Hanna Jamelia Youssef

Priscilla Azar Noelle Nakhoul Emmalee Essey

Tatiana Elias Theara Santos-Lorenzo Celena El Khoury

Athieng Aleu Mercy Gama Nicole El-Helo

Akurdit Akoy Annie Dib Sally Fung

Antonia Kyriakos Taya Higgins Samantha Georges

Deb Gobena Sarah Albazouni Adut Mayom

Anabelle Mika Rebecca Georges Mikayla Issac

Angelina Horish Maddison Laing Daniella Fares

Alaura Lassiter Alannah Elias Zainab Kamara

Grace Othman Elizabeth Pobee Jasmin Ghosn

Taylor Edwards Shania Biber Chloe Boustani

Angel El-Khoury Emma Cham Alesandra Nasr

Elianor Khoury Audrey Afful Denise Bou Sattout

Talisa Bourke– Taufahema Fatima Caraan

Holy Week

Week 10: Holy Week is the most important week for our Church and school family. We will celebrate the events of Holy week on Thursday 2nd April. You are most welcome to join with us for this special Liturgy with different grades being responsible for a different aspect. Our liturgy will commence at 9:00am in the church.

Partnership

PARENT TO PARENT Easter Raffle All families should have now received a book of raffle tickets. If you did not receive any raffle tickets or need any extra tickets you can collect them from the school office. All sold and unsold tickets need to be returned by Friday 27th March 2015. The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday 1st April and prizes will be sent home with the children on this day. Parents could you please ensure your child’s name and class is on every ticket sold by your family as it makes distributing prizes easier for the fundraising committee. Wednesday 1st April 2015 will be a Mufti Day and students are asked to donate an Easter Egg on this day. We will need lots of helpers on Wednesday 1st April to wrap the prizes. If you can spare any time between 9am—1pm (toddlers and babies welcome) any help would be much appreciated.

We also need sweet trays/plates and cane baskets to make up the Easter Raffle prizes. If you have any could please bring all donations to the office before Wednesday 1st April. �—————————————————————————-

Easter Raffle Helper

� I am able to help with the Easter Raffle basket making on

Wednesday 1st April 2015.

� I have completed the Child Protection Module.

Name:_______________________________________

Phone:_______________________________________

Child’s Name:_________________ Class:________

Time available:_________________________

Easter Food Donations P&F

� I am unable to help but I am able to provide morning tea eg.

Sandwiches, quiche, biscuits, soft drink, juice etc. Name:____________________________________

Phone:______________________

Child’s Name:___________________ Class:_____

Food/ Drink to be provided: _____________________________________________________

Faith and Community

Parish Car Park Parents are asked to obey the signs when parking in the parish car park. Please enter the car park via the gate

closest to the school office area, and exit via the gate

closest to Merrylands Road. There is NO RIGHT TURN

out of the car park onto Chetwynd Road. This allows for a better flowing traffic and safety with in the car pack.

Parent Helpers Wanted On Thursday 19th March we will be having a craft day for parents to make Maths equipment for our students. The day will begin at 8:40am and morning tea will be provided. If you are able to help, even for half an hour or an hour, this would be appreciated. Please let the office know ahead of time if you are able to help. We will be working in the LARC and we welcome your support. Thankyou Miss Teulan

Catholic School’s Week Mass

On Monday, the 9th of March, we began Catholic School’s Week by celebrating Mass as St Margaret Mary’s Community. The school choir led us in song and sang beautifully. Fr Peter James demonstrated the need for teachers and parents to be strong vines and branches for the healthy fruit, the children of St Margaret Mary’s, to develop and grow. Mr Mills also explained the importance of listening, sharing and acting on the Word of God.

Staff Prayer

On Wednesday morning the Staff at St Margaret Mary’s (StMM’s) gathered in community to reflect upon the Letters of St Paul.

Project Compassion

The students of StMM’s have been generously donating to Caritas Australia to help people in need. A goal tally is on display on the LARC window. Another way the students have been encouraged to raise money is to purchase a tea towel for $10 which has been specially designed by each grade to include a face of each student drawn by themselves. The students were given time to draw their “selfie” during our Harmony Day Celebrations last Friday. A percentage of all sales will go to Project Compassion.

Celebrating Catholic Schools

Some students at StMM’s have entered a 30 sec video competition showing … What will your Catholic School of tomorrow look like? They have put a lot of effort into their videos and are very creative. Good luck!

St Patrick’s Day

On Tuesday, the 17th of March the children were invited to add something green to their normal school uniform to celebrate the Feast of St Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland.

Personal Growth

Harmony Day

On Friday, the 13th of March, all of the students and teachers of StMM’s celebrated Harmony Day by wearing something orange. Harmony Day is about accepting people for who they are, it doesn’t matter what nationality they are or if they are different. Everyone belongs and should be included and respected. The children showed the meaning of Harmony Day by holding hands, putting arms around each other, working together and enjoying being together.

Year 3 Liturgy

Year 3 invited parents to share their Liturgy with them on Tuesday afternoon. It was lovely to see the children so prayerful.

Teaching and Learning

Cross Country

On Tuesday, the 10th of March, the students from Yrs 3-6 participated in the 2015 StMM’s Cross Country at King’s Park. The children raced in age groups. The first 6 students in each age group will be selected to go to the Zone Cross Country to compete against other schools in the Parramatta Diocese. Everyone had a great time even though it was exhausting!

Catholic School’s Week

The children at StMM’s participated in many activities during this week. On Friday, during our Harmony Day Celebrations, students were reading a wide range of books, used iPads, used computers, played Maths games, joined in group and sport activities (including sack races and ball games) and participated in a variety of art/craft activities (including “selfies”, origami, making people chains and creating brightly coloured “Rainbow Fish”). Kinder-garten were keeping fit and having fun by singing and dancing to “Five Little Monkeys”. They looked so cute!

Staff Meeting

On Wednesday, after school, the teachers at StMM’s were given the opportunity to focus on the new Science and Technology Syllabus and its implementation at their staff meeting, which was led by guest speaker Caroline Taouk. The staff also participated in a number of fun Drama/Literacy activities led by our own specialist staff.

Open Classrooms

During our Harmony Day Celebrations classrooms were open for parents, relatives and friends to visit and join in the activities happening in each grade. It was wonderful to see so many parents being involved. Fr Peter James and Mr Mills also visited the classrooms to join in our celebrations of Catholic School’s Week and Harmony Day.

Sharing Morning Tea

Many parents, family and friends stayed to share morning tea with the students. There was a real feeling of community. The children seemed so happy chatting and playing with their and friends.

Tuckshop Roster Thursday March 19th M Aoun

Friday March 20th

Monday March 23rd M. Gong

Tuesday March 24th

Wednesday March 25th C. Hitti, A. Essey

Band

Every Thursday members of the StMM’s band join together and practice before school. This group is led by the talented Margaret Ciccarelli. During the day students rehearse and practice their skills at playing their instrument. They sound great!

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Any child, K-6, wishing to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) this year may begin to do so online by going to the PRC website:

https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

Any new students, anyone who has not previously participated in the PRC or anyone who has forgotten their User Name and Password please see Mrs Balogh-Caristo in the LARC or your class teacher.

The children at St Margaret Mary’s have until the 21st of August to complete the PRC online.

All children in Kindergarten, Yr 1 and Yr 2 will experience/read the required number of books to complete the PRC at school and are welcome to complete the Challenge at home as well.

PARENTS PLEASE NOTE: Children who complete the PRC will receive a certificate for their efforts towards the end of the year and their name and school only will appear in the PRC Hon-our Roll. If you DO NOT WISH your child in Kindergarten, Yr 1 or Yr 2 to receive a certificate and have their name appear in the PRC Honour Roll please let your child’s class teacher know by Friday the 20th of March.

If you have any queries or problems, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mrs Balogh-Caristo (Teacher/Librarian)

2015 State Election

DID YOU KNOW? On average, it costs around $13,000 per year to educate a child in a NSW school. In most Catholic schools, school fees cover less than a quarter of this cost. The rest comes from taxpayers like you! This is why funding support from Federal and State Governments must keep pace with rising education costs - to maintain education quality and to ensure a Catholic education remains affordable for all families.

DID YOU KNOW? The Federal Government contributes 57.5% of the cost of educating a child in a NSW Catholic school, and the NSW Government contributes 19.7%. The remaining 22.8% comes from parents and the parish community through school fees and private fundraising. This is why funding support from Federal and State Governments must keep pace with rising education costs - to maintain education quality and to ensure a Catholic education remains affordable for all families.

Talking sign notices:

Make your vote count – How does your party support Catholic education? This State Election – vote 1 for Catholic education Every vote counts because every child counts Non-govt schools receive just 12% of all capital funding

DISCOVER WHAT A MERCY EDUCATION

CAN DO FOR YOUR DAUGHTER – Year 7, 2017 Enrolment Information Evening

Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta invites prospective fam-ilies to the Year 7, 2017 Enrolment Information Evening at 4.45pm on March 31. Tour the College, collect an Enrolment pack, attend an information session, meet the College staff and enjoy a BBQ with the OLMC P&F. For enquiries, please contact the Registrar on 8838 1222 or email [email protected]. Limited places available for Year 7 2016.

Boronia Multicultural Services Dear Women and Girls You are invited for morning tea When : Every Tuesday Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm Where: Uniting Church (Hall at the back adjacent to church

car park) 7 Memorial Avenue, Merrylands 2160. Join us for a cuppa, some fun activities and feel connected. Please confirm your participation to Jaspreet on 9631 1777. Free Childcare provided but you must book first.

NSW Sport and Recreation Kids Camps Entertain the kids these school holidays with a Sport and Recreation camp. Our popular Kids’ and Family Camps offer a range of exciting activities to keep even the biggest kid entertained. Kids’ Day Camps start from $47. Family Camp weekends start from $63 per day for kids and $96 per day for adults (kids under 5 attend free: cost includes accommodation meals and activities). For more information please contact the Office of Sport & Recreation 13 13 02 or dsr.nsw.gov.au/kidscamps or dsr.nsw.gov.au/familycamps.

St Paul’s Visit

On Friday the 13th, after morning tea, Mr Humphries, (the Assistant Principal of St Paul’s, Greystanes) and Mr Graziani (next year’s Yr 7 Coordinator) spoke to our Yr 6 boys about what it would be like if they went to St Paul’s next year. They talked about expectations, technology, curricular and extra curricula activities and the school in general. Three ex-students from StMM’s who are now at St Paul’s, answered questions and discussed what they enjoyed about going to St Paul’s.