Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We are very blessed to have a wonderful and supportive community here at Mary Mac, and whilst we are not perfect, things mostly tick along nicely. From time to time, we get situations where students make poor choices and say things to one another that are not nice and sometimes even end in a push or a shove. Please remember that at all times, the teachers, myself and the Assistant Principals are best placed to deal with such issues. We are all very experienced in this area and we have the capacity to remain neutral. However, when parents contact other parents or even speak to someone else’s children, the situation can escalate quickly and end badly. Therefore, it is imperative that when issues do arise, that you contact the appropriate staff members to deal with it. We will always do our very best to resolve any situation in a fair and compassionate way and keep you informed of the outcomes. The same applies with the inappropriate use of social media. Sometimes people just want to have a rant and they don’t think about the consequences of saying negative things about other people or even our community itself. Please come and talk to us if you have any issues so they can be resolved respectfully, maintaining the dignity of all those involved.

Resilience Reflection
The next time you experience stress, take some time to mindfully check in with yourself and tune into the types of thoughts that arise.

Student Code of Conduct
Recently, our Year Six Co-ordinators, Faction Captains and Vice Captains collaborated with Mrs Tucker and the Year 6 teachers to review and develop our Student Code of Conduct. This document enables our students to identify the way that they want to feel at Mary MacKillop and provides detail regarding the behaviours to support students to achieve these feelings. The Co-ordinators presented their code and talked through their thinking to explain the process they went through in their review. Over the upcoming weeks, our Student Coordinators will discuss the Student Code of Conduct with every class and this will set some very clear directives to guide behaviours and expectations among our student body.  The maturity and depth of thinking exhibited by our student leaders has been impressive and we congratulate them for expressing themselves so succinctly. We look forward to having their input in future discussions to ensure that the voice of our students is heard and valued in decision making. (There is a copy on our Website for you to view).

Kindergarten 2023
I have started the enrolment process and the field for next year is very strong. One class is already full and the other one is filling quickly. The second class is over half full already and I am anticipating it will fill early next term. Our highest priority is to keep our families together by granting younger siblings automatic enrolment. However, we don’t necessarily know if you have another child coming unless you tell us. Please make sure that we know about your younger children as I would hate for them to miss out.

Reports
The teachers are now putting the finishing touches to their reports and these are due to go live on Monday 27 June. I am about half way through reading all the wonderful feedback the teachers are providing and there is a lot to be very proud of this semester. Our teachers and students have done exceptionally well under very difficult circumstances. We will give you the details closer to the date about accessing the reports online.

Winter Carnival
The annual Winter Carnival is due to be held on Thursday 23 June and all the details will be sent home to the parents of our Year 6 students. I am sure they will compete in the right spirit and they will try their best. Parents and grandparents are most welcome to come along and cheer for our students.

Yours sincerely
Laurie Bechelli