Dear Parents, Friends, Students and Staff
Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day to our Matthew Gibney Dads and Grandfathers. It was wonderful to welcome you all to the school this morning for a shared breakfast with your children. Dads and Grandfathers play such an important role in the lives of their children. I am encouraged by the wonderful way our school Dads and Grandfathers are involved with their children and the life of the school. It is not uncommon to see Dads and Grandfathers taking the children to school, coming along to events and helping out in classrooms. The support you show for your children now will have an ongoing and positive effect as your children grow and mature.
Loving God,
We thank you for the gift of good Dads, and everything that they do for us.
Help them to have patience when we’re difficult, wisdom when we can’t see the way, strength when we need comforting, and love at all times, so that, through them, we get a little glimpse of how you feel about us.
Our heavenly Father, Amen.
Faction Athletics Carnival
The Athletics Carnival is underway this morning. The enthusiasm and excitement amongst the students has created a carnival atmosphere. On your behalf I thank Mrs Shannon Hewitt for all her hours of hard work in preparing the carnival. I am grateful to Mr Steve Vajas for marking the oval and to our parents and staff for their help and support on the day. I also thank Mrs Alison Honter for organising the canteen treats for spectators and students during the carnival.
Survey Results
We had 99 parent responses to our recent survey. This is an excellent result that demonstrates the high level of interest our parents have in the school. The survey results indicate strongly that our parents would like the school to further investigate an out of school hour care facility at Mathew Gibney Catholic Primary School to cater for our students and the needs of our parents. I will commence discussions with a provider over the next few weeks and further information will be made available to parents. The provision of a facility will depend on the level of confirmed commitment from parents once they have been informed about how a possible facility will operate at the school.
Parent support for an online ordering system for the canteen was very positive. The school will commence investigations into suitable platforms to use. Once a new system is established parents will be given plenty of time and support to utilise the online ordering system. We hope a new system will add convenience for parents and encourage families to continue using the excellent service that is provided with the school canteen.
Absentee Procedures
Parents are reminded that absentee notifications need to be received at school by 9.30am. Unaccounted absentee SMS messages are sent to parents at 9.30am from the administration office. Teachers do not have the time to follow up with messages whilst they are teaching. In order to ensure parents are not getting SMS messages unnecessarily it is important that all absentee notifications are emailed to the administration office or copied to administration if sent directly to class teachers.
Additional P&F Meeting – Tuesday 15th September 1.45pm
In order to give as many parents as possible an opportunity to contribute ideas towards the P&F we have decided to have an additional afternoon meeting on Tuesday 15th September, from 1.45-2.45pm. I hope that the additional meeting will be an opportunity for parents with young children, who may find it difficult to attend an evening meeting, to come along and have their voice heard about planning for 2021. We will some toys available to cater for young children and afternoon tea will be available.
Scholastic Book Fair
The Book Fair has been a wonderful success. My thanks to Mrs Marnie Hughes for her work in coordinating the Book Fair and to the Year Six students who volunteered their time to assist with the purchases. The Book Fair has been overwhelmingly supported by our families with book sales breaking all previous records. We look forward to using the credits from the sales to benefit the reading program for all our students.
First Eucharist Preparation
Please continue to keep our Year Four students, their families and teachers, in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist on 13th September. With just one more week to go the students are busily preparing. They have completed some beautifully reflective work, on display in their classrooms, to show their commitment to receiving the Sacrament of First Eucharist. We look forward to their Holy Communion Retreat Day at school next Friday.
I look forward to welcoming parents and friends to the Year Three Prayer Liturgy next Wednesday at 9.00am. We also look forward to welcoming parents and students to the Year Six Confirmation Workshop next Wednesday evening commencing at 4.00 or 5.45pm.
Best wishes for the week ahead.
Therese Hussey
Principal