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Dear Families,
We welcome everyone back to the 2021 School Year and trust you all had a wonderful holiday break. Our first two weeks have gone past so quickly and it has been wonderful to see our children settle well into their classes and routines. Already showing a positive approach to learning, building relationships and being part of our whole school community, 2021 looks like being a great year! We extend a very warm welcome to our new families, children and staff and hope that you enjoy being part of the Catherine McAuley School Community and find the spirit of friendship, respect and kindness amongst us here. This year we are pleased to introduce you to Ms Makayla McKee and welcome back Ms Danielle Hodson who together are teaching Year 4/5. This week we also welcome Mrs Kathy Jackson to the Office administration team. Please make yourself known to all our new and returning staff.
We also welcome the following Reception children: Indiana, Charlie, Archer, Reuben, Veronica, Riley, Izaiah, Ivy, Alexander, Oakland, Dexter, Anuan, Lucas, Izabelle, Charlie, Mackenzie, Olivia, William, Oliver, Lucas, William, Harrison, Eden, Ayla, Jack, Elise, Serenity, Mackenzie, Brooklyn, Mikayla, Angus, Jeremy, Peyton, Scarlett, Adrien, Jonah, James, Xavier, Jaikob, Jaques, Flynn, Oliver, Cora, Jermaine, Harper, Lara, Xander, Tyson and Marcus.
And all our students who have joined other classes: Abiel, Blake, Christian, Sienna, Saxon, Lucious, Isabella, Casey, Holly, Cohan, Scarlette, Aubree, Matiaishe, Muku, Ashton, Tysha, Poasa, Indy, Jedidiah and Mikah
We extend a very warm welcome to our new families, children and staff and hope that you enjoy being part of the Catherine McAuley School Community and find the spirit of friendship, respect and kindness amongst us here.
We look forward to a fantastic year of learning, living and growing as together 375 students, our incredible staff and all families work in partnership to make Catherine McAuley School a great place to be in 2021.
Covid Safe / QR Code
At Catherine McAuley School we continue to maintain our Covid Safe practices established last year. Whilst we have welcomed families back onto the school grounds, we ask all adults to respect our density requirements and only enter the classrooms is absolutely necessary. We also remind families that when ever on site, adults are expected to social distance and minimise their time on the school grounds.
This week, we received our SA health school QR code. As of this week, all parents/carers entering the school grounds in the morning and afternoon will need to scan the QR code. All adults, volunteers and visitors who are remaining on site are asked to scan the QR code and sign in as per usual protocols.
Families are now welcome to join us for Monday Morning Prayer, Liturgy and Assembly.
Yours in Faith, Growth and Unity
CMS Leadership Team -
Belinda, Angela, Linda and Courtney
Welcome back to what has already proven to be a busy few weeks. We especially welcome all families new to our community. As the door of God’s mercy is always open, may you find our great doors of mercy generously open deep in the charism of Catherine McAuley. May our hospitality shine in the freedom of welcome, foster opportunities to learn and participate and promote unity as we continually work together.
Loving God,
Our creator, our saviour, our companion, bless this journey of a new school year that we undertake today.
Refresh our souls and renew our spirits as we embrace the beautiful ministry you have called us to.
We welcome those who are new to this community and ask that you strengthen them to share the wonderful gifts you have given them.
Lord, make our hearts pure as we prepare for the return of students to this school, and may you guide them to return with open hearts and minds eager to learn.
We ask this in Your name,
Amen.
The UN has declared 2021 as the Year of Peace and Trust. There can be no peace without a culture of care. The culture of care thus calls for a common, supportive and inclusive commitment to protecting and promoting the dignity and good of all, a willingness to show care and compassion, to work for reconciliation and healing, and to advance mutual respect and acceptance. As such, it represents a privileged path to peace. At Catherine McAuley School, we can achieve this if we continue to walk together building a more just, peaceful and trusting community where all, and their gifts and talents, are nurtured and honoured. We are here to walk forward together; honouring the gifts each of us bring to the mission of our Catholic faith and our Catherine McAuley principles of Faith, Growth and Unity.
We are glad to invite you all back to Monday Morning Prayer, Liturgy, Mass and Assembly, as your child or child’s class is involved or hosting. It is most important that protocols, set by CESA, are adhered to. Each class is responsible for hosting liturgical events and when they occur, an invitation will go out to families in the host’s class. Events usually take place in the JHPAC. As you come into the JHPAC, from the carpark entrance, please take the time to browse through our Catherine McAuley museum. It will communicate Catherine McAuley’s life, vision, and mission and how we started as a school.
God Bless.
Linda Caldinez
APRIM
Learning in the New Reception Classes
We are looking forward to a fun year of learning in Reception. We are getting to know each other and in the first weeks of School have talked about belonging to the Catherine mcAuley School community, being kind like Catherine McAuley, making A and B choices and showing the 5 L’s of learning.
Parent Partnership
Working in partnership with our families is crucial to school success and we encourage all families to make regular contact with their child’ class teacher/s. This year we tried a new approach to ‘Meet the Teacher’ and we are pleased to see so many families utilise this time to make themselves familiar with the class teachers. Throughout the year Teachers will keep in touch via See Saw as well as through email and phone. Developing positive relationships early is key to your child’s success and growth. If you have not yet provided your class teacher with your contact details please do so as soon as possible.
We also remind all families to download our school SZapp (Schoolzine App). Through SZapp you will get many notifications, direct links to forms and the newsletter as well as be able to make absentee notifications. Please refer to the download information in the Community Dimension of the newsletter.
Safer Internet Day
Tuesday 9th February is Safer Internet Day. Safer Internet Day is a worldwide event that raises awareness about online safety and encourages everyone to help create a better internet. It is important for families and schools to work together to ensure our children are developing four, critical skills. We call these skills the 4Rs: Respect, Responsibility, Reasoning and Resilience.
Following are some tips suggested by Cyber Safety experts:
- Ensure that they comply with the age restrictions (DO NOT let them on Facebook under 13 years of age)
- Ensure that they understand how the privacy and security settings work
- Ensure that they can change their passwords and they know how to report a problem
- Ensure that they know where to go if they have an online issue
- Set up an account yourself and be your child’s friend (this is not going to ensure safety but is part of what you expect as the parent)
- Know your child’s password
- Have house rules about what your child can view, post and when they can add new ‘friends’
- Have rules around where they use the internet and how much time they have on the internet
- Have house rules around where devices are kept overnight
We remind all families of the importance of being vigilant when children are using the internet at home. More information, useful tips and support can be found on the Office of the esafety Commissioner website:
Absentees
Whilst we understand that children do get sick etc, being absent from school regularly as well as arriving late and leaving early for school impacts your child’s learning. Please be aware that absences over two consecutive days will require a Doctor’s certificate and will be followed up by the Class Teacher and/or Leadership Team.
Our School Day starts at 8:50am. The first bell sounds at 8:45am for students to start making their way to class, unpack and be ready to enter the class and start the day at 8:50am. Students arriving after 8:50am will need to enter via the Front Office to collect a green late card, which is recorded on the roll.
Early Learning at CMS
We welcomed back our Playgroup and Early Learning Programs this week. Families and friends of toddlers are warmly invited to come along to our programs: Toddler Bop - Monday 9.15am, ELY (Early Learning Years) - Tuesday or Wednesday 9:30am and Playgroup – Thursday 9.30am. To register for any of these fabulous programs, please contact Jo Williamson via eccp.hello@gmail.com.
If you have any queries, please see Jo Williamson or pop into the Front Office to find out more. For regular updates, ‘like’ our ECC on Facebook: Elizabeth Community Connections.
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
Welcome to 2021! My name is Fabian Chevalier and I am excited to be a part of your child’s learning journey this year and to see the growth of each student as they approach new challenges and experiences. This year I will be teaching Physical Education from Wednesday to Friday. I wanted introduce myself and give you some background information about the year ahead.
While this is my first year at Catherine McAuley School, I’ve been teaching Physical Education for 15 years in the Catholic system. My wife Natalie and I have two young boys, Thomas and Jack. Thomas has started school this year which is an exciting, although nervous time, for our family.
I have a passion for fitness and enjoy outdoor activities along with regularly catching up with family and friends and watching AFL. With two young boys, we also spend a lot of time exploring new playgrounds and spaces within our local and surrounding community.
I am passionate about helping students develop a range of skills that further their natural abilities and talents through a fun and engaging curriculum. I am fixed on young people developing a growth mindset, practicing mindfulness, and building confidence within themselves as learners and as individuals. The aim of the Physical Education program in 2021 will be to inspire a new way of thinking and create lifelong participants in sport. I have planned many exciting experiences to ensure that your child is equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to confidently explore sporting opportunities in the wider community.
I strongly feel that for the school year to be successful, it is necessary for every child, teacher, and parent/caregiver to work closely together. Our main form of communication will be through SeeSaw and SZapp where you will be updated with school news and events.
I hope you have had a wonderful break and look forward to working with you and your child/ren this year.
Yours in Faith, Growth and Unity,
Fabian Chevalier
Physical Education Teacher
Catherine McAuley Community Team
First meeting Friday 12th February
Happy New year everyone and welcome back to the new school year.
While we are keen to have parents and caregivers back on site, we are conscious that we need to follow social distancing and health protocols.
I am really keen to invite interested parents/caregivers to our first CMCT gathering of the year this Friday morning 12th February at 8:50am (school drop off) to discuss possible activities, including ordering gifts for the Mother’s Day stall in term 2. In order for me to plan the appropriate space in which to meet, I will need an indication of numbers first.
Please email me directly at amorrison@cms.catholic.edu.au
I look forward to meeting with you and encourage new parents to join in supporting our school.
Breakfast Club
We will be offering Breakfast Club everyday again this year thanks to our amazing morning volunteers and Kickstart for kids who provide our supplies each week.
Breakfast club is now located in the Joan Haren Centre and is open from 8:30am through to 8:45am. A sign is put out each morning just outside the hall, so students know that Breakfast Club is on and children are to eat thier toast sitting outsudide under the trees closest to the play equipment.
Breakfast Club or affectionaly known as toast on the go, is available to all children even if you have had breakfast at home!
Keeping in touch with the School
Keeping in touch with the latest updates from our school is made easy with SchoolZine newsletter, SZapp and Facebook. ‘Like’ us and upload the sZapp app using iTunes or google play, subscribe to the newsletter and it will be delivered straight to your inbox.
To install SZapp, follow these simple steps:
Apple device:
- On your device, open the App Store.
- Search the App Store for SZapp.
- Download and install SZapp.
Android Device:
- On your device, open the Play Store.
- Search the Play Store for SZapp.
- Download and install SZapp.
Find our school: Catherine McAuley School Craigmore South Australia.
Register a User: register with your email, or sign in with Google or Facebook. Then enter your email, your name and create a password.
Our official Facebook page can be identified by our school logo or by typing into your URL:
Click here to Like Us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/CatherineMcAuleySchoolCraigmore
Once you have found us click “like” and you will receive our updates. While this form of communication is quite useful we ask families to adhere to community guidelines listed in the “about” section of the page and only use this page as a forum that promotes our school. It would be disappointing to have to delete comments or block anyone from our school community due to inappropriate comments. We will continue to inform our community via the online newsletter, flyers, notes etc. but Facebook will provide another means to share information.
While Facebook is a great way to connect people we must ask families to respect the directive from the Catholic Education Office that staff do not accept friend requests from parents or students, by not making these requests of the Catherine McAuley Staff.
Canteen
Our Canteen service is run by Rory’s School Lunches. Please ensure you are using the new 2021 Menu for Catherine McAuley School available on their website at: rorys.com.au/menus/catherine-mcauley/ and ensure you update your child’s class for this year. Orders online need to be placed by 8.30am on the day of require. For further information visit www.rorys.com.au or call their support line on 0413 575 800.
My name is Jacqui Langstreth, I am the Defence School mentor here at our Playford/McAuley Campus.
I am employed by our school to support and encourage the smooth transition of defence families into and out of our school environments. My aim is to assist students and their parents to quickly become part of our Playford/McAuley Campus community. In addition to this, I also offer support to the families of defence members who may be absent from home due to a deployment, exercise or course. I also act as a link between defence families and the defence community resources that are available to them.
During the year I am at school Mon, Tues, Wed and Fri. You can contact me on 82843065 during these hours or via email: jacqui.langstreth279@schools.sa.edu.au
If you are a defence family and have not received a welcome email, please let me know.