Dear families, 

What an incredibly productive term this has been particularly the last fortnight with an Evening School Tour, New Reception Parent Information Evening, Children's University Graduation, School Concert, Small Mercies Transition Visit and Premier's Reading Challenge Medal distribution. Add to that - the teachers have been completing End of Year Student Reports, working on class groupings for 2022 and many have also been completing assignments for their Catholic Studies. I am in awe of the dedication and professionalism that every member of the staff puts in to ensuring their commitment to develop thriving people, capable learners and future leaders for the world we all desire.

There is still much to achieve before the year's end and the senior students are excitedly transitioning on to secondary school and preparing for graduation while the year fives are in the planning stages for their student leadership next year. The students from Reception to Year 5 will have an opportunity in week 9 to meet their new classmates and teacher for 2022. 

Car Parking - please be patently aware that the car parks on site are STAFF ONLY and we have been receiving complaints from our friends at Playford Primary about some of our parents taking up valuable parking spaces in their staff car park. Please support us in maintaining our positive and cooperative relationship with our peers at Playford Primary. Many thanks.

Given that the next newsletter in week 8 will be a campus one, this is our last newsletter for the year. I thank you all sincerely for your friendliness, smiles and greetings at the gates, respect for our profession and trust in us all, in continuing the education of your darling children with you. It is an honour to be among you and I enjoy the children so much - I look forward to each day as I learn something new every day. Its a bit early for Christmas greetings so I will just wish you all a happy rest of the school year and God Bless.

Yours in Faith Growth and Unity,

Angela, Michelle, Linda and Courtney

Children’s University

I would like to begin by recognising our parents, families, and the graduate loved ones who have been ever-present in the success of our first ever Catherine McAuley cohort to take part in Children’s University (CUA). Thank you all for being our graduates’ foundation and support system. And of course, to the graduates, congratulations! We have finally reached the conclusion of our first ‘university’ journey together. We got through it and we are now brighter than we were at the start of 2021, a lot wiser and even more eager to learn – because CUA has proven – learning can be fun.

To our CUA graduates of 2021, Jeremy, Alexis, Matthew, Emma, Chae, Jaden, Ziva, Matilda, Imogen, Indyana, Amarni, Lilah, Sophiah, Anna, Luka, Kelsea, Jai, Cody, Aubree-Rose, Lachlan, Lacey, Ella, Bethany and Dakota-Paige, your achievement is the result of all your time, dedication, and energy you put towards this extracurricular program. I hope this experience inspires you to have FAITH in your ability, recognise the GROWTH you’ve made throughout 2021 and continue to work in UNITY with your family and friends to continue achieving greatness. Know you are an inspiration to many. The graduation ceremony (Tuesday 9^th November) was all about you and what you have accomplished, be proud, NO, BE VERY PROUD. You all looked extremely academic in your gown and mortarboard, your big beaming smiles told a wonderful narrative about your triumphant story, and you were very worthy of your certificates. Bring on 2022!!

CONGRATUALTIONS.

God Bless

Mrs. Caldinez

APRIM

Written from a few students, on behalf of the Graduating Class of 2021.
Wow… 2021 has been a wild ride!
Being in 6/7 this year has been exciting, with all the fun activities that we’ve done, like the 6/7 sleepover in term 2 and the camp at Monarto Safari Park in term 3. Being in 6/7 has taught us so much. How to be a leader, how to be kind to others and ourselves, how to respect things and how important it is that we must cherish our time with those we love, especially the friends and teachers we are about to leave behind as we begin our high school journey. Our friends and teachers have made such a huge impact in our lives. They have helped us grow into the caring and loving people that we are today. We thank our fellow peers for being so supportive throughout our time here at CMS and our teachers, well we couldn’t have achieved as much without them.
And then comes, High School…
We are all so excited for this next chapter of our journey. We feel prepared, excited and ready.
We have loved every minute of our time at Catherine McAuley School.
What a year it has been and we can’t wait for our Graduation!! The countdown is on!

Koby Bialas, Grace O’Neill, Eve Raso

Term 4 Sports Carnivals

Over the last few weeks, Catherine McAuley School has participated in the Catholic Schools Tennis and Athletics Carnival with many students involved in all or both carnivals. Our students thoroughly enjoy taking part in these carnivals each term and look forward to the team spirit it ignites in all students.

Catholic Schools Tennis Carnival

Early this term, members of the Year 3/4 cohort represented the school at the Catholic Schools Tennis Carnival. Throughout the day it was great to see students improve their serving and forehand skills to hit many winners. As the day progressed players grew in confidence and students worked well with their partners to gain many successful results. Congratulations to Cohen King who received the sportsmanship award. Thank you to the supporting staff for their assistance at the carnival.

Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival

On Thursday 4^th November Catherine McAuley school participated in the Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival. The Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival competition is conducted between Catholic Schools of similar ability and size. Thirty-three students represented the school competing in various athletics events, with many students helping other year levels.

 

After a successful result last year Catherine McAuley was promoted to section A. Overall the boys and girls finished 4^th and on aggregate the school finished second which is a reflection of the student’s preparation leading up to the event.

 

Congratulations to Logan Schunke and Georgette Frimpong on winning an individual age champion award. Logan also broke the Year 5 girls' High Jump record with a jump of 1.29cm. Georgette also claimed records for the Year 7 girls' 100m, 200m, 60m Hurdles and Long Jump. Amazing effort girls!!

Thank you to all of the students for their efforts leading up to the carnival and for the way they represented the school displaying great sportspersonship. I would also like to thank Nick Guidolin, Jemma O’Neil, Amy Marafioti, Amy Doecke and Emma Colebrook for their help and support during the day.

 

SAPSASA District Cricket

Congratulations to Mitchell Fischer on making the Playford District SAPSASA team. Mitchell represented the Playford District at the State Cricket Championships this term. Well done Mitchell!

 

Yours in Faith, Growth and Unity,

Fabian Chevalier

PE Teacher/Coordinator

 

ABSENT FROM SCHOOL

If your child is going to be absent from school please leave a message on the Absentee Notification on SZAPP or phone the School on 8284 1666 and leave a message on the Absentee line.

Regular attendance at school is a very important habit to develop.  Parents are requested to notify the School Office by 9:00am if children are absent due to illness or any other unexpected cause.  If the School Office has not been notified, a parent of the student will be sent an SMS Message.  These measures seek to ensure the safety of all students in the school community and provide reassurance for families.

Permission is required, in writing for planned absences such as family holidays. An Application Form for Exemption from School is required if over 5 days.  When parents are away from home and leaving children in the care of a temporary guardian, notification should be given to the School in writing.

• Catherine McAuley School is committed to maximising learning outcomes for every student. Absenteeism is an issue for the wellbeing and learning for all students.
• Habitual absence is where a student is absent for 5-9 days in one term for any reason.
• Chronic absence is where a student is absent for 10 or more days in one term for any reason.

We are mandated to report unexplained absences as neglect. Please make sure you let your child’s school know why they are absent and please note that all illnesses of 2 days or more require a doctor’s certificate.

Although the vast majority of our students arrive at school regularly and on time, we are committed to ongoing improvement in the overall area of punctuality and attendance.  Being late for school has a negative impact on your student’s learning.

We all run late sometimes, however, chronic lateness eventually takes its toll on a student’s overall educational experience.

Being just 10 minutes late every day adds up to an nearly an hour a week of lost learning. This adds up to one and a half weeks of school missed in a year.

Being late for class often means important interactions and learning opportunities are missed and the learning of other students in the class, is interrupted. Arriving at least 5 minutes before the school day begins allows your student time to prepare. The skills developed through attending school regularly and arriving on time, builds in our students the skills and capabilities that will prepare them not only for school, but for life.

It is important to contact your care teacher if your child experiencing other reasons for lateness that can be supported and addressed within the school setting.

PARKING / KISS and DROP ZONE

We remind families of the parking laws on Adams Road, between 8.30am - 9.30 am and 2.30pm – 3.30pm there is  NO PARKING directly outside the school grounds.

Please DO NOT park and leave your vehicle in the ‘Kiss and Drop” zone.

We particularly ask families to use the pick-up and drop off zones during this time correctly – drive in, drop off and drive out. Parking in this area causes great frustration for those wanting to drop off. Council and police monitor these areas regularly and fines are issued to people who do not follow the parking conditions as outlined on the signs.

We look forward to everyone abiding by the procedures and rules that have been put in place for the safety of everyone accessing and leaving our Campus.

We understand the difficulty which surrounds parking at the Campus and urge all families to use patience and respect whilst remembering that the safety of our children is our priority. Parents speaking rudely to one another or staff and using abusive language is offensive and this behaviour is not condoned by either school.

Families are reminded to:

• abide by the parking signs on Adams Road and Somerset Grove.
• refrain from stopping in the bus zone or at any of the crossings and calling children to the cars.
• refrain from parking and using the staff carparks as drop off/pick up zones.
• refrain from parking in the Somerset Grove driveway/car park, adjacent to the ovals.

All these practices pose a risk to student safety and potentially could result in a child being seriously injured. Staff on these duties have a ‘duty of care’ to students and appreciate your support with this matter. We trust you will put the safety of all our children first.

The road is regularly monitored by SAPOL and you will be fined for not following road traffic signs.

• Staff have no jurisdiction over the road, and we ask our school families to adhere to the rules.
• Parents/Caregivers can use the Police Traffic Watch site to register a complaint against road/parking users using the link https://forms.police.sa.gov.au/Runtime/Form/TW+Data+Entry+Form
• or contact the local Council. 

Please note the 6pm Vigil Mass is now at St Ann's Church, Midway Road, Elizabeth East and will remain there until day light saving ends in April.