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Dear Families & Caregivers
With the school year coming to a close, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on 2022.
Twelve months is a significant period of time in the life of a child, and it has been a honour to watch your children learn and grow this year.
Thank you for working in partnership with us at Catherine McAuley School throughout the year to support your child’s learning and wellbeing. We are proud of what we have achieved this year, from the learning that has taken place through to the variety of programs and activities we have offered to support all of our students.
This year hasn’t been without its challenges, with the change of leadership and also the pandemic, which has continued to have a significant impact on many families. Thank you for continuing to support Catherine McAuley School through these challenges.
To our Year 6 Graduating Class of 2022, the completion of your Primary School years symbolises your transition into the beginning stages of becoming a teenager and an adult. This may be daunting, but we know your time here at Catherine McAuley School has nourished and built upon your family values which will guide you well. As thriving people, capable leaners and future leaders for the world God desires, you are equipped to make a significant impact on the world around you. Our challenge to you is to grab this opportunity. Make change. Make the world a better place for you, your family, your friends and for those most vulnerable at the fringes of society. Carry the Mercy values, be guided by the Holy Spirit and make your mark on this wonderful world.
On behalf of the staff, past and present, we wish you all the best as you embark on the next adventure. Remember where you have come from. Remember who you are and remember we are always here if you need us.
On behalf of the Leadership Team, I would like to thank all our hard-working staff for their continued dedication and care for every child at Catherine McAuley School, without your tireless work ethic CMS wouldn’t be the school it has become. We farewell our long-term staff -Mrs Malissa Jones, Mrs Rachel Probets, Mr Mac Assaad and Mrs Serena Fisher who have been part of our school community ranging from 8 to 16 ½ years. And to our staff who have been with us a shorter fraction of time – Miss Lauren Kosonen, Miss Stephanie Ricci, Mrs Kylie O’Connell , Mrs Jane Foster, Mrs Amy Waters and Mr Andrew Wright. All these staff will be sadly missed by our school community, for they have left their mark in our community and we wish them all the best in their new school communities in 2023.
We also farewell, Mrs Leonie Wood and Ms Courtney Starr who are taking leave in 2023 to pursue new roles in other school communities, we hope that they will really miss us and return to us in the near future. All the best ladies!!
We are grateful for your trust in 2022 as we helped guide and support your children towards their brightest future. We look forward to welcoming you all back to CMS in 2023 and continuing our journey together.
Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year with your families. Have a wonderful holiday break, enjoy some sleep-ins and a well deserved break from the routines of school!
Yours in Faith, Growth and Unity,
Marc Forster, Eleni Colonico, Linda Caldinez and Courtney Starr.
Catherine McAuley Leadership Team
Where has the year gone? But what a wonderful time of the year we are heading into. I can only imagine the excitement in your homes in anticipation for the ‘guy in the red suit’ to pop over with a handful of delights. But CHRISTmas is so much more than that.
Fr. Pat
Hopefully in 2023, we will be able to farewell him appropriately but until then, we wish him God’s peace and comfort.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
CHRISTmas
Christmas is one of the most important days of the Church year, second only to Easter itself. Celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the conclusion of the mystery of the incarnation, the feast of God becoming flesh.
The Nativity
A nativity scene is a three-dimensional representation of the Nativity of Jesus. It is also called a crib, manger, or crèche. Typically, a large-scale scene includes the Holy Family, angels, the ox, Wise Men (Magi) and the donkey, and an assortment of shepherds, villagers, servants, and others.
St. Francis of Assisi is said to have created the first nativity scene in 1223 (a ‘living’ one) in Italy. It was a monumental success. The scene's popularity inspired communities throughout Catholic countries to stage similar scenes.
Manger
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Jesus’ birth. Mary, Jesus’ mother, and Joseph came to Bethlehem together with their donkey right before Jesus was born. When there was no room at any of the inns, they ended up in a stable where animals were kept. In a manger, or trough, Baby Jesus slept.
To complete the manger scene:
In Luke’ Gospel, we learn about the angel who brought the shepherds ‘good news of great joy’ (Luke 2:10) when Jesus was born, so we include the shepherds and the angel in the Nativity scene.
Matthew, Chapter 2, we read about the Wise Men, or Magi, who came to visit Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So, we add the Wise Men to our Nativity scene.
Gifts
To Christians, the gifts given at Christmas are symbolic of the tributes made to the baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men after his birth, during the story of the Nativity.
WE EACH HAVE DIFFERENT GIFTS
Romans (12:6) reminds us that God, through Christ, has given each of us gifts to use for his glory. The holidays can be a wonderful time to use your gifts for that purpose — to shine the light on Jesus while bringing joy to other people.
Bells
For centuries, bells have been rung to announce the arrival of the Christmas season. They can symbolise the announcement of the birth of Christ when angels in heaven praised God and declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”
Bells are also a symbol of God’s voice. In the rite of blessing used during the Spanish times, Psalm 28 (29):4 which says, ‘This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice in it and be glad!,’ is used, obviously to point out that church bells symbolise the voice of God.
Dear God,
We ask for the salvation of all our family members and friends, and we pray your blessings on all people. May there be bread for the hungry, love for the unlovable, healing for the sick, protection for our children, and wisdom for our youth. We pray for the abundant life in Christ.
Amen
On behalf of all staff at Catherine McAuley School, may God’s blessings come to you a thousand-fold: may the love in your heart never get old: and may you find treasures more precious than gold. Have a Blessed CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.
Stay safe and we will see you in 2023.
Mrs Caldinez
APRIM
Christmas Dolls
Over the last few weeks of term, our prized knitted Christmas Dolls, kindly made and donated over the years by one of our grandparents, Dawn Nuttall, have been visiting our Junior Primary Classes.
These dolls have had pride of place in the Front Office for a number of years where the children would look at them with awe. This year, we thought we would get them out and about in the junior classes, as many younger children would always come in to look at them and want to hold them. As the Naughty Elves were playing havoc in each of the JP classes, the Christmas Dolls were being positive role models to the Naughty Elves by sitting nicely with the children who needed to be comforted, helping to spread the Christmas cheer!
Dear Families,
The summer holidays have finally arrived bringing about much joy and happiness with Christmas around the corner and new beginnings in 2023.
Throughout the holidays and particularly towards school return, your child may experience a mix of emotions: happiness- excitement- sadness- nervousness- uncertainty- worry. There are many things that may cause your child, or even yourself to feel a ‘rollercoaster’ of emotions towards school return which is completely natural! Being out of the school routine for many weeks, going into a new class with a different teacher, and peers can at first feel overwhelming and unfamiliar.
To help your child understand and work through these thoughts and emotions we have provided a short list of simple things you can try. These are common techniques that are taught and practiced daily at Catherine McAuley:
- Mindfulness (peaceful music, downloading a mindfulness app, mindfulness drawing, tensing and relaxing muscles)
- Practice deep breathing and trying different techniques (Hand breathing, belly breathing, invisible stress ball breathing)
- Normalise your child’s feelings and have open conversations about how they are feeling, what thoughts they are having, identify their worries, the positives and what is in their control that they can focus on
- If your child is finding it challenging to talk about their feelings, use the 5-point scale (sent in the week 8 newsletter) so they can visually communicate what they are feeling
- Read through the transition booklet and/or teacher letter to guide conversation and provide information to you child
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and happy and safe New Year !
Kind regards,
Adam Meolla and Lee-Anne Vandenberg
This year at CMS has been the best year yet, we have had so many fun activities with our teachers and peers. This year we have gone to Woodhouse, we have had the Year 6 sleepover, PJ Day, Spirit of Christmas day, Carols’ Night, Leadership Day 1 and 2, fun day Fridays, Mercy Award nominees/winners, graduation planning. We had the best time at Woodhouse our favourite was the tube slide and challenge hill. The Year 6 unit have had so many times to laugh and to have so much fun with each other. The Year 6 unit are so happy to go to high school, but so sad to leave primary school! We will never forget our time at CMS goodbye primary and hello high school?
Sophiah, Hannah, Madison.
Over this year we have had a lot of exciting experiences and we have had such a memorable journey! Our favorite memories from Year 6 are school sleepover, camp, sports day and Friday PE tournaments. During this school year we were privileged with getting to sit on the chairs during Liturgy and Monday morning prayer. We were lucky enough to still go to camp at Woodhouse, once the covid restrictions eased! We got to learn so many survival skills like how to set a fire and filter water and we also made heaps of fun memories that we will never forget like going on the tube slide, laser tag and even Challenge Hill! At the sleepover we got to experience what it was like sleeping at school! We joined in for a lot of exciting games that included hide and seek in the dark, a night walk through Playford grounds and sport in the morning. We also got an early wake up at six with some LOUD, funky pop music! Each week our teachers took us out in the morning to do PE. We learned a lot about teamwork and resilience. We enjoyed making friends and working together!
Overall we LOVED being the leaders of Catherine McAuley School and enjoyed our time here!
Aleea, Lacey, Liv.
Miss Desmond and Miss Connelly are so proud of each and every single one of the Year 6 students. It has been an outstanding year and each of you have proven to be flexible, mature and caring individuals. We wish each of you a successful beginning in your high school journey.
The uniform shop is relocating, it will no longer be on school premises. The new shop located at Craigmore Village on Yorktown Road will open its doors on January 11th 2023.
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