Dear Parents, Friends, Students and Staff

During this week we honour our Mothers in a special way as we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day.  Whilst we are disappointed that we cannot gather as we usually would, with Mass and morning tea, the students have been working hard to have some special surprises on Mother’s Day.  Please look out for the Mother’s Day surprises on our social media platforms and on the website. The Mother’s Day gifts and cards that the students have been making, both at home and at school, are lovely.  Home made gifts are always precious keep sakes and often mean far more than shop purchased gifts. I still have the beautifully coloured macaroni necklace that was made by one of my children over 20 years ago.  It is treasured!  Thank you to our Matthew Gibney Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunties and special friends who are so significant in the lives of the children.  Thank you for your love, guidance, support, encouragement and wise counsel that you provide to the children each day. Parenting is the most valued of all vocations.  On behalf of the Mathew Gibney community I extend love, prayers and gratitude to all our Mothers and wish them a very happy Mother’s Day with their families.

A Prayer for Mothers

Where would we be without our mother’s love? Lord,
bless our mothers with wisdom to teach and guide their
children in a way that will help them to follow You and
to become men and women who will be pleasing in Your sight.

Give all mothers the patience to deal with the difficulties
of their job and, most of all, give them a special blessing as
they care so lovingly for the gifts that You have allowed them the honour of raising.

Amen

Teaching and Learning in Week 3

The majority of our students have now returned to school.  We have a further increase in numbers next week.  I applaud our teachers for their efforts in making sure that the students learning from home have continuing access to quality remote learning and opportunities to receive feedback from their teachers.  I am most grateful to our parents for supporting their children’s education, both at home and at school.  Parents are reminded that the decision to send the children to school or to work with them at home continues to be parent choice.  The school will do all it can to support parents with the decisions they make, in the best interests of their own families. However, we are open for all our children to return and will continue to make sure we provide an environment that is as safe and healthy as possible.

A few points for next week:

1. Students will continue to be dropped off and collected from the gate. I thank parents for supporting this arrangement over the past two weeks. We have certainly seen an increase in student confidence and resilience with the pick up and drop off arrangements.
2. With an increased number of students returning, the normal school timetable, including the specialist timetable, will recommence.
3. The weekly remote learning program will be available on the Seesaw App for our home families to access and to support them in their learning.
4. All students, working from home or at school, will continue working from the remote learning platforms that the teachers have prepared.
5. The formal Zoom Meeting Timetable will cease. Teachers will notify parents if they schedule a Zoom meeting next week. This will be a teacher decision based on their class situation as it is presented next week.
6. Teachers will continue to provide short videos to support the learning, from time to time, however, there will be fewer videos available than usual.
7. Teachers will continue to provide regular feedback to students learning from home.
8. The strict hygiene practices introduced this term will continue to be rigorously implemented.

Parents and Friends Meeting

The P&F Meeting scheduled for next Wednesday will go ahead as an online meeting, via Zoom.  Parents will be notified of the meeting link from the class representatives.

New Reading Books – P&F

We are delighted that we now have one thousand new reading books available for our students to enjoy as they work on improving their reading skills.  We are most grateful to the P&F for their support in purchasing the new reading books.  The books will have a direct impact on all our students as a valuable addition to our school resources. Sincerest thanks to Mrs Scriven for her hard work in purchasing the books and coordinating their preparation for the students to use.

Playground Improvements

Thank you to Mrs Nickels for providing the painted tyres for the playground.  The students have enjoyed playing on the tyres and they are a welcome addition to our nature play area.

Best wishes to all our families for a very happy Mother’s Day weekend.

Warm regards

Therese Hussey
Principal