Dear Parents and Carers,

What a great start we have had to 2025! We've finalised our preliminary student assessments, welcomed our new Foundation students and our new Year 3 Teacher Tilly, held our Welcome Barbecue, a Parliament Excursion for our 5/6s and we have plenty more excitement coming up next week. We have our Parent-Teacher Meetings on Monday, Beginning of School Year Mass on Wednesday and our Year 3/4 City Camp on Thursday and Friday...... never a dull moment!

And lunch orders are back!

For all other upcoming events, please visit our School Calendar on our school Website.

N-Forma Portal for Communication

It looks like we have most of our families signed up to our new N-Forma Portal App. This is great news. This will allow us to collect student Medical Information for first aid at school and on Camps and Excursions. It will also allow parents to report and track student absences online and provide consent for participation in off site activities. We will be able to send messages directly to the whole school or target individual year levels. We are hopeful that this will further enhance our home-school communication.

School Parking / Kiss and Drop

Thanks to everyone for the care, respect and patience they show each other, the staff and students in the Car Park. Things are flowing beautifully each morning and afternoon.

Just a couple of important reminders:

First person in the queue in the afternoon is asked to remove the chain
Observe 5km per hour speed limit at all times anywhere on site
Reverse park at all times in the Spa Centre Carpark
Children exiting on the opposite side of the car to the gutter are to walk in front of their parent's vehicle, not behind
No overtaking stationary vehicles in the queue - risk of hitting children entering or exiting vehicles
Parents wishing to help their child out of the car in the morning are to move right up to the staffroom door to avoid halting traffic
Drivers to move as far forward as possible in the Pick Up Zone before stopping to collect their child in the afternoon
Smoking in the queue or anywhere on school grounds is not permitted - seems pretty obvious but it does happen from time to time

Mount Lilydale Of Mercy College (MLMC)

We have received the following dates and notifications from MLMC:

College Open Day - Sunday 16 March 2025 -11am - 2.00pm

Future Stars (Yr 5s) - Mon 30 June and Wed 2 July 2025 - further details to follow

College Musical Matinee for Year 5/6s - Tue 12 August and Thurs 14 August 2025 - further details to follow

Year 7 2026 Parent Information Evening (for parents of students who are enrolled to commence in 2026) - Thur 6 Nov 2025

MOUNT LILYDALE MERCY COLLEGE OPEN DAY

We understand that selecting a school for your child is an important decision. We warmly invite families to visit the College at our upcoming Open Day, on Sunday 16 March 2025 to discover the difference that an education at MLMC offers.

You can pre-register your attendance online at https://enrol.mlmc.vic.edu.au/events/

ENROLMENT Year 7 2026

Offers for Year 7 2026 were sent to families in October 2024. We have four students who have received these offers. MLMC is concerned that some families may have missed the communication about the enrolment date or believe that they cannot afford to send their child there, especially in these difficult economic times. You are welcome to contact the College to discuss the support they may be able to offer. This will need to be done as a matter of urgency. Continuing to support late applications is proving to become very difficult for the college.

Scam Alert from the Cyber Security Team

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic School has a sophisticated suite of online tools that protect us from cyber-attacks that happen on a daily basis. These tools keep our financial records, bank accounts and your personal information safe.

However, it is still up to all of us to do everything we can to keep our school network secure. This includes maintaining password security, not replying to or clicking links in emails from unknow/suspicious senders and treating with suspicion any approaches over the phone or via text message from cold callers, no matter how very persuasive and articulate they sound.

It’s always worthwhile for staff and parents to remind themselves about recognising scams. Visit the Recognising cyber.gov.au Scams webpage for some fantastic videos and resources.

Best wishes for a restful and peaceful weekend.

Nick.

Nicholas Boyhan

Principal

2025 Parents' Handbook