Wednesday 28th May 2014 Newsletter No 16

St Margaret Mary’s School A Dynamic Community of Learners in Action

7 Chetwynd Road, Merrylands 2160 Tel (02) 9637 4600 Fax (02) 9637 0509

Email: stmargaretmarys@parra.catholic.edu.au www.stmmmerrylands.catholic.edu.au

Dear Parents, Boys and Girls,

Hold Hands

With the increase in the number of children being hit by cars around schools in the last couple of weeks. It is very important that children are made aware of the dangers when crossing the road and playing on or near the road.

Here are a few tips to improve the safety of children around our school.

• Children up to at least eight years old should hold an adult’s hand in the carpark, on the footpath and when crossing the road. Children between eight and at least ten years old should be closely supervised by an adult in the traffic environment and should hold an adults hand when crossing the road.

• Always drop off your children on the school side of the road.

• Never call to your children from across the road. Teach them to wait until you come to them.

• For the safety of all school children, please do not stop or park your vehicle on or near any pedestrian crossing.

• Teach your children to get in and out of the car by the safety door.

• Never allow children to get out of the car on the traffic side.

• Never double park—it puts children at risk.

• Park safely even if it means walking further to the school gate.

• Allocate enough time to get your child to the school gate safely with out rushing.

• NEVER PARK ILLEGALLY In the school driveway On or near the school crossing In the school bus bay In the NO PARKING zone.

• NEVER DOUBLE PARK: it: Blocks the vision of other drivers Forces children onto the road and puts them in danger Obstructs the flow of traffic

God Bless

————————— Kevin Mills Principal

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

DAY FRIDAY 6th JUNE

This is a pupil free day

Next Weeks Happenings

Thursday 29th May

Year 3& 4 Prayer Service 2:15pm in LARC

Friday 23rd May

Assembly: Year 6 2:00pm in the Hall

Monday 2nd June

8:40am Morning Assembly and Prayer Service

Tuesday 3rd June

Kindergarten 2015 Interviews Commence.

Wednesday 4th June

ICAS Science Kindergarten 2015 Interviews Continue

Friday 6th June Staff Development Day Students do not attend on this day.

HOLD HANDS!!!!!

From the RMS Website

School Fees Term 2 fees are due, unless arrangements have been made or flexible payment plan option has been entered into. If you have any questions regarding your fees please contact Maria Pagano at the school office.

Carla Haddad George Madbak Jayden Nguyen Bartosz Faber Delisha Serwah Amankwatia

Janette El Bayeh Tamara Elias Samuel Halteh George Taktak Anyang Ayac

Chris Falgiatori Ameli Passa Mikayla Gadd Taylor Edwards

Congratulations to all those children who celebrate their birthday around this time.

Kindergarten Enrolments Enrolments for Kindergarten 2015 are now being taken. If your child was born between 1st August 2009 and 31st July 2010 you will need to collect an enrolment form from the school office. For enrolment enquires please contact the school office. We are limiting our numbers in 2015.

PARENT TO PARENT

The P&F Committee would like to offer an open invitation to all parents, grandparents, carers in our school community to join us for our next meeting to be held on Wednesday 11th June at 7:00pm in the School Staff room.

If you would like to get more involved in the school and know what’s happening and future plans, please join us at our next meeting.

Items on the agenda include:

Welcome Minutes from Previous Meeting Business arising from minutes Treasurers Report Mr Mills Report School Photos for 2015 Fundraising Report Easter Raffle Mother’s Day Stall Plan’s for Father’s Day Outdoor Movie Night in October General Business

If you can not attend the meeting but would like to have something mentioned please put it in writing and leave at the school office, marked attention Pauline Poumale no later than Tuesday 10th June and all ideas, questions will be presented in the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 11th June at 7:00pm

Pauline Poumale President P&F Committee

About Catholic Faith

Sacred Scripture is Inspired Truth

The Church interprets the books of the Bible (Canon of Sacred Scripture) as inspired truth. Every author of Scripture wrote as a person of their own times, in and for communities with unique traditions and issues, and in literary style that best suited their purpose—narrative, poetry, legal formulae. Discerning the inspired truth of each text requires an appreciation not only of the content but all aspects of the authors’ purpose, background and style. They were interested in communicating truth about God and God’s relationship with humankind. They were not interested in reporting events like modern journalists or scientists. Consequently, it is wrong to interpret these texts as if they are journalistic articles or scientific reports.

3 criteria for interpreting scripture The Holy Spirit not only inspires the sacred authors to write but also the church to interpret (CCC 111). Vatican II identified 3 criteria necessary for interpreting Scripture according to the Spirit: 1) while the books of Scripture are distinct, they also

form a unified whole under the same Spirit. They must be interpreted in the light of each other. They do not contradict but augment one another;

2) all Scripture is written in and for the Church as part of her living Tradition. Hence, texts are interpreted appropriately only within the Church and its Tradition. It is false and futile practice to interpret Scripture outside or apart from the Church;

3) the books of Scripture not only form a dynamic coherence with each other but also with the wider Tradition of the Church. This principle is called the analogy of faith. Scriptural interpretations that contradict constitutional principles of the Church as expressed by her Tradition are erroneous.

Tuckshop Roster

Thursday May 29th

Friday May 30th M.Cheng

Monday June 2nd

Tuesday June 3rd L.Luccitti

Wednesday June 4th L.McLeay

Australian Government Assistance

for National Capital Excursion Students from our school have recently undertaken, an educational tour of the national capital. While on this tour they participated in a variety of educational programs focused on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit their national capital as part of their civics and citizenship education. To assist you (the parent) in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20 - per eligible student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program toward the travel expenses incurred. This amount was deducted from the overall costing. This contribution will be paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

We would like to thank the Australian Government for their support of this program.

Activities undertaken as part of the educational tour where outlined in last weeks newsletter.t

We hope that the excursion was a rewarding experience for all students.

Celebra�ng Mass as a whole school

Great News!

Our Book Fair arrives in

2 Weeks

All purchases benefit our school. There will be more information in next weeks newsletter.

Creative Space

Monday Morning Assembly

Being sun safe

and healthy!

Reflection from our Week

Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta 125 Years Anniversary Concert

You are invited to join with the OLMC Parramatta community in celebrating our 125th anniversary at a special concert at Riverside Theatres Parramatta, on Thursday June 5 and Friday June 6, 2014. Visit olmc.nsw.edu.au/125years for details and to book your tickets.

STEPPING BEYOND: SUPPORT FOR THOSE SEPARATED OR DIVORCED If you have been separated or divorced and would benefit from regular shared discussion evenings with others who are in a similar situation to you, come along to STEPPING BEYOND on the last Tuesday of each month at CCSS Centre, 51-59 Allawah St, Blacktown, at 7.30pm! You are very likely to be supported and helped through the sharing of experiences on matters such as “How well are you stepping beyond? What do you want to step beyond? What are you currently stepping beyond? What is stopping you from stepping beyond? What have you learned as you keep stepping beyond?” Venue: CCSS centre 51-59 Allawah St, Blacktown. Time: 7.30 – 9.30. Cost: $5.00. Registration:soloparentministry@ccss.org.au or Ph. 99330205

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

Children in your family are eligible throughout 2014 for the child Dental Benefits schedule, a new dental program which replaces the Medicare Teen Dental Plan. The Child Dental Benefits Schedule provides up to $1,000 in benefits for basic dental services, capped over two consecutive calendar years.

A child is eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule if he or she is aged between 2-17 years old for at least one day in the calendar year, is eligible for Medicare and is part of a family that receives a relevant Australian government payment such as Family Tax Benefit part A.

Federal Budget 2014-15

Federal Budget 2014-15: ‘No certainty on funding or direction’ says Catholic Schools director

‘This is back to the future’ approach of devolving responsibility to the states and the constantly shifting educational focus is a distraction to the core work of improving schooling.

‘If Australia wants to be competitive internationally, we need a coherent, funded national policy framework for schools focused on the areas that makes the greatest difference. We know the focus needs to be on improving the quality of teaching by building professional expertise and practice,’ he said.

‘Cuts to AITSL and ACARA will significantly impact on the ability to deliver a national curriculum.’

‘As funding will now be linked to the CPI, which is almost half the real cost of school expenditure, there are real concerns for the growing financial burden on families.’

‘Government funding for Catholic schools beyond 2017 needs to keep pace with real school costs and we need a clear plan for capital funding given to expected demand for Catholic schools to rise by 350 nationally over the next 10 years.’

‘We are committed to providing affordable, quality Catholic education for the families of Western Sydney and will continue to invest our efforts into working with our teachers to improve the learning outcomes of each child in each school.’

NSW Health

As you may be aware, smoking has been banned in a range of public outdoor places under the Act since 7 January 2013. this includes public transport stops and stations, within 10 metres of children’s play equipment, spectator areas of sports grounds, within 4 metres of a pedestrian entrance or exit point from a public building and open area of public swimming pool complexes.

The first phase of a public notice campaign to increase community awareness of the reforms was undertaken in the lead up to the introduction of this legislation.

The second phase of the campaign will target transport stops and stations and spectator areas at sporting grounds to support increased compliance with the legislation.

For more information go to: www.health.nsw.gov.au/smoke-free