Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School Newborough eNewsletter

This week in 5/6 Bell the students learn about a type of Prayer using Mandalas.

Praying with Mandalas is an opportunity to bring simplicity and vitality to your prayer life. It is a method that weaves together the recent interest in adult colouring with centuries old contemplative practices including centering prayer, intercessory prayer, and the Lectio Divina prayer.

The students thoroughly enjoyed working in the outdoor classroom, having some quiet time for meditation and completing their Mandalas.

Dear Parents

As is often the case, the fear of something happening can be more daunting than the reality. As you all are aware, we recently had a COVID case linked to our school. I was informed on Sunday and immediately sought guidance from DOSCEL (Docese of Sale Catholic Education Limited). We moved quickly to complete all of the COVID requirements, including informing all families directly involved, all school families and staff, thorough cleaning and contact tracing. This was all completed on Sunday to enable us to keep the school open on Monday. This meant that we did not need to take a school day to complete all of the requirements and could instead offer normal schooling for our students from Monday. I understand the confusion this raised for some families when they knew of other schools closing for a day while ours did not, however I assure you that all of the work that would normally be completed on the Monday was done on the Sunday. I am so grateful to Sandi, our administration officer, and Jackie, our cleaner, for the support they gave me on Sunday. I could not have completed all of the work that needed to be done without their generosity and support. This amazing display of teamwork and dedication is the reason your children had the opportunity to attend school on Monday. We have received the results from the children and staff of the class involved and all tests are negative.

On a positive note, now that we have had a case in the school, we know that our processes and practices are working well and that we have a clear pathway should it happen again. While I cannot assure you that we will not have any cases in the future, I can assure you that we will do everything we can to support your child and your family to enable us to continue to provide the quality of care and learning that we feel your children need and deserve.

As always I am available to answer any questions you may have and to provide support to you and your family. As a staff we completely understand your concern and hesitation at this time and we will support you and your family as you engage in school life, are in remote learning, or are transitioning back to onsite learning. We are all in this together and, with your continued support and our commitment to your family, we are able to continue to create a positive, safe, happy learning environment for your child. I feel extremely proud of our school community as I engage with families as you are approaching conversations with understandable concern, but also with respect and support for all we are trying to achieve.

We have decided to continue with our Monday school closure ahead of the Tuesday Melbourne Cup day off as this is a wonderful opportunity for families and our staff to have a well earned break, perhaps have a little holiday, and come back ready for a wonderful, busy, exciting end to the school year. We are hopeful that, with the easing of restrictions, we will be able to enjoy some exciting opportunities to compliment the focus we have on rich learning for all of our students. The staff of St Mary’s continue to show how talented and dedicated they are as they deliver high quality learning and support for all of our families. I shared the attached quote with our staff at a particularly challenging time and thought it might be appreciated by our families as well.

We continue to pray for each of you and for those who are impacted directly or indirectly by COVID-19. We also pray for our essential service workers who so generously give of themselves in support of our communities. We ask God to pour out God’s blessings on all of our families and the wider community. It is times like these that our faith can be such a strength and comfort.

Have a wonderful weekend with your families and we look forward to seeing you all back at school soon.

Kind regards
Lisa Broeren

Last chance to order!

Please place your orders via CDFpay by tomorrow afternoon please.

CDFpay can be accessed via the link below;

St_Marys_Showbags.pdf

St_Marys_Showbags_Price_List.pdf

Thank you for supporting our school and this great fundraiser.

St Mary's P&F

We need a new Uniform Co-ordinator to run the Uniform Shop next year.

We need someone who can place orders, stock take and fill orders a couple of times a week.

We could probably get a couple of volunteers to help fill orders and unpack stock a few nights a week also, so you do not need to come in every day.

Fiona Peatey has been doing this role for the last 12 mths but needs to step down due to work commitments. I'm sure Fiona would be happy to show the new co-ordinator the ropes.

If you can help, please leave your name at the office.

A very big thank you to Fiona Peatey.

School Fees - Booklist

We are considering a change in the way we handle booklists for next year. We are looking into a levy, to be added to school fees at the beginning of the school year.

Students would no longer be given a booklist for families to fill instead teachers would make purchases for all students for all stationery items needed for the year.

We are in the process of getting DOSCEL approval for this, followed by quotes from local newsagents to ensure that we get the best price.

We will issue more information in the coming weeks.

COVID Vaccination

Pop-up Vaccine Clinc at Moe RSL 5th November

Uniform Shop

To place orders online please click the link below.

Parish Newsletter

30th_Sunday_in_Ordinary_Time_2021.pdf

29th_Sunday_Ordinary_Time_2021_with_readings_from_Pentecost_A_.pdf

Mass Times

St Kieran's; Saturday 4pm and 6pm, Sunday 11am and 5pm

St Mary's; Saturday 5pm, Sunaday 9.30am

To book your place at Mass please phone the Parish Office on 51271057

Sunday Mass will be livestreamed on our Facebook page;

http://www.facebook.com/ParishesInPartnership

Yours in Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate.

Fr Nadeem OMI and Fr Daniel OMI

Moe Neighbourhood House - Toy Sale

The sad thing about our childcare closing, is that we now need to sell all our childcare toys, books and equipment.
Sale will be every Thursday from 10am-2pm until 18th Nov 2021. Other days are available by appointment only, please contact our office (03) 51263123 or moemnh@bigpond.com