Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the final term of the 2026 school year! It is set to be a wonderful term packed with activities, including our upcoming Art Show, Concert, Year 5/6 Camp, swimming, beach days, Christmas events, and many other engaging learning experiences.

🌟 Acknowledgements & Celebrations

STEM Day Success: A huge thank you and congratulations to Ebony Jenkin, Georgie Dunn, and Ashleigh Gledhill for facilitating an inspiring STEM Day. Seeing students from six Catholic schools come together to share transformative ideas was truly wonderful. It was an absolute "WOW!" factor day where high-quality learning was on full display, and we were so proud to host such a special event.

Tidy Towns Finalists & Winners: Congratulations to Dom Taylor and the Year 4 Mangrove Warriors for winning the State Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Towns award in the Young Legends category. What an amazing achievement! I was on the Zoom call when the eight students presented their wonderful work in student leadership, and it was a fantastic display of young leaders in action. We were also finalists in four other categories: Playgroup, Kinder Mentors, Earth Care and "The Sea is Our Best Friend."

Garden Mural Revival: Thank you to Dom Taylor, Lisa Renfrey, and our students for our magnificent updated garden mural. We successfully applied for the Dulux Keep Australia Beautiful Mural Competition and have now completed the artwork in our community garden. Representatives from Dulux and Keep Australia Beautiful will visit our school on Tuesday, 20 October to unveil and celebrate the mural.

💡 Curriculum Alignment & Vision

All of this outstanding work in STEM and the ARTs showcases and deepens our school's learning culture. Celebrating achievements like Tidy Towns, our STEM Expo, and our upcoming Art Show highlights the core strengths of our school.

As we equip and empower the next generation of scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators, we directly align our practice with our core frameworks:

Vision for Instruction: Explicit skill development and structured mastery.
Vision for Engagement: Empowered, excited learners building lifelong learning capabilities and translating knowledge into real-world action.

Garden Day

We have our upcoming garden day next Tuesday 13th October. Bunnings will be attending and it is set to be a great day ensuring our beautiful environment is ready for Spring. We would love as many parents to volunteer and join in on the day. Currently we only have two parents who have volunteered so jump in and join in if you can.

🏛️ Centenary Celebrations Planning (100 Years)

Thank you to the parents who have joined our working groups. The teams will meet soon to commence their preparations:

History & Archives (The "Storytellers"): History, local connections, and archiving stories
Events (The "Gatherers"): Fun Fair, Parent Evening, and major celebrations
Liturgy: Centenary Mass (19 March)
Communications & Marketing (The "Megaphones"): Promotion, outreach, and messaging
Student Voice & Activities (The "Future"): Student-led events and interactive experiences
Finance & Fundraising (The "Enablers"): Merchandise, budget, and commemorative items

Attendance and Participation

Please ensure your child is at school every day from 8:45 am to 3:15 pm. One of the primary focus areas of MACS's new Vision for Engagement strategy is school attendance. We currently have a high rate of above-average absenteeism, as well as many families arriving late or consistently picking children up early. This significantly impacts students' learning growth and is a top priority for us in Term 4.

Please do not allow your child to opt in and out of compulsory school activities, such as the concert, sports events, camp, and school Masses or Liturgies. We will gladly work with you to ensure your child is supported and can adapt activities if required, but all students are expected to participate fully in our school events.

Finally, October is Mission Month, with a focus on our Catholic Social Teachings—caring for the poor and vulnerable, respecting the dignity of every person in our school, and working for the common good.

In our school, we look to St Mary MacKillop for inspiration in doing all we can to assist and love every person we meet.

Yours in partnership,

Gab

Playgroup 2026