NEWSLETTER
1st March 2001
Dear Parents,
Tomorrow is Newcastle Show Day. Schools in the City of Newcastle and the City of Lake Macquarie are closed for the show holiday. Don’t forget to visit the Hall of Industry. The scarecrow built by Mrs Paula Northfield and the Year 1 students will be on display among the sunflowers, corn and barley. Many thanks to Mr Kevin Allardice for his technical assistance.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Father Brian Brock has taken up duties in Mayfield while Father Bill Burston is on sabbatical leave. Fr Brian has been the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Society for many years and has recently returned to our Diocese. The children met Father Brian at our Ash Wednesday service. As part of our Lenten observance Catholics are asked to pray, fast and give to the poor (almsgiving). In this spirit we will hold our Mission Day on March 16 to raise funds for the Pontifical Mission Society. Donations for the cake and lolly stall and the white elephant stall will be greatly appreciated on that day. The school raised a significant amount for
the Mission Society last year as well as the Jesuit Refugee Service in East Timor where Mrs Henchy has been working. A large quantity of school materials were also shipped to Maliana on the West Timor border.
LENTEN DISCUSSION GROUPS. Starting on Thursday March 8 the Mayfield Parish will be beginning this year’s Lenten Groups. These will be held at 1:30pm and 7:00pm for 5 weeks. Come to one or come to all 5. "CALL TO ACTION" is the name of the programme and it will provide an opportunity to explore the message of Jesus and to relate it to our own experiences. The sharing of our questions, our doubts and our encounters with God has the power to strengthen and deepen our faith and that of others. If you are interested or would like to know more about the discussion groups please phone 4968 2428.
MAINTENANCE. Thank you to the Movigliatti, Allardice, Powell and O’Sullivan families who have been maintaining the school grounds. Any further assistance particularly with the quadrangle gardens would be much appreciated. Thank you to the Ryan and Stephens families who looked after the school aviary during the summer holidays. The budgies are doing well.
SPORT. Children who have expressed interest in the Regional Winter Sport Trials should have received a nomination form. The sports are Rugby League (U/11 and Opens), Hockey, Netball and Soccer. Regional Convenors will inform the school when the trials will be held, which depends on numbers. Some regional teams go straight to Diocesan trials due to lack of numbers in some sports. The children will be competing against senior primary children
(U/12) in most cases and a high level of competence and knowledge of the game is expected.
AFL trials continued this week for the Gala Day on March 20 at Wallsend. A squad of 15 will attend.
The Diocesan Swimming Carnival will be held at Lambton Pool on March 5. Congratulations to Malia Taufaao, Jacob Tamplin, Christopher Breton, Danielle Bridges, Alyssa Gladstone, Felise Taufaao and Hannah Smith who have progressed to this level. Team Managers are Debbie Black and Richard Crowfoot.
A cricket clinic will be held on March 8 with Neil McDonald from NSW Cricket Association.
INSERVICE DAY – MARCH 26. The inservice day for this term is Monday March 26. The staff will be working with Ms Kathy Gillespie, Director of St John of God Family Services and Mr John Collet, Clinical Psychologist, St Laurence Centre. The theme of the day is Behaviour Management. Children DO NOT attend school on that day. Ms Gillespie and Mr Collet have organised a great deal of support for many children and their families in our school. We hope to expand this level of support.
ABORIGINAL EDUCATION. Mrs Louise Campbell, Catholic Schools Office adviser on Aboriginal Education will be spending two weeks at our school from March 5. She will be working with Year 5/6 teaching all key learning areas. This is a great opportunity for our school to access a range of programs with the help of Mrs Campbell.
PLACEMAKING ARTWORK. Congratulations to the children and families who supported the community artists at the unveiling of the artwork on Saturday by the Lord Mayor, Councillor John Tate, at Mayfield Library.
St Columban’s provided 8 of the 10 children who assisted in painting the "Congratulations Mayfield" banner and helped the Lord Mayor in the unveiling. The artwork depicts the unique history and spirit of Mayfield. The children were Lizzie Gamage, Brooke Forbes, Emma Veronesi, Adrienna Gain, Maria Leao, Krystal Webb, Joseph Mercieca, Caitlin Stephenson, Elleanor Tucker and Amy Johnson.
PLACEMAKING SCULPTURES. A Report from Adrienna Gain. On Saturday 24th February 2001, some children from various local schools participated in the unveiling of some sculptures in Mayfield. The chidlren arrived at 8:00am and we had an enjoyable morning painting a banner which said "Congratulations Mayfield". There were three tiled sculptures, one was a very large leaf, the second one was a map of Mayfield and the third sculpture was about the history of Mayfield. At 10:00am John Tate, the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, unveiled the sculptures by pulling on some ribbons which were attached to the covers on the sculptures. The children helped by pulling the covers off. The ceremony was completed with a morning tea shared by the local community. Adrienna Gain Year 5/6.
PROHIBITED EMPLOYMENT DECLARATION. Some volunteers have yet to return the declaration form to the school or the Catholic Schools Office. Please return the form to our office as a matter of urgency. Any volunteer not willing to provide a Prohibited Employment Declaration cannot be permitted to undertake any work within the school that would allow unsupervised and direct contact with children.
MUSIC. As part of our Music Programme with Monica Orman, Year 2 will start learning Recorder. Recorders may be purchased from Monica for $2-50. These recorders will be kept at school. All Year 2 children will need a recorder as soon as possible.
AUDIT. Each year the school undergoes a financial audit by Accounting firm KPMG. The audit was completed last week and all financial records were found to be in order. Many thanks to Mrs Cath Ryan for her conscientious work in the school office. The school retains 45% of school fees to cover all operating costs. The other 55% is levied by the Catholic Schools Office for salaries. The school runs on a very tight budget and your early attention to fees is appreciated.
SCHOOL WEBSITE. Many thanks to parent, Mr Gionni Di Gravio, who has been developing the school website.
http://www.schools.ash.org.au/stcol/default.htm
It has quite a few new links and is registered with several search engines. You can view our school history, recent activities and successes. Have a look! We shall soon be connected to the Diocesan website.
ABC RADIO. Children in Years 5 And 6 will be reading the weather on ABC Radio 1233 during Week 7 (March 12-16) with David Sayers around 7:30am. The children are given a scientific instrument to read variables like temperature, humidity and air pressure.
FUNDRAISERS. Please support Geraldine Bridges and her committee in their efforts to help the school. The Multicultural Cook Book is their first project and your consideration would be appreciated. With over 20 nationalities represented in the school I am sure we have the potential to produce a useful resource.
Our Easter raffle is on again. We will start collecting donations when the weather cools down. Last year nearly 40 children won a prize of chocolate goodies on Holy Thursday.
CANTEEN. We are still in need of helpers for the canteen. If you can spare some time please come along and join us. Contact Maria Stephens or leave your name at the office.
COMPUTER HELPERS. If you are interested in helping the students in the classrooms but you do not know how to use a computer, come along to the computer room next Thursday, March 8, and we will show you how to begin.
Please complete the form below if you are coming.
Michael Doyle
PRINCIPALMrs/Mr…………………….would like to come along Thursday March 8 to learn how to use the computers in the classrooms. I will be there at……….am/pm.
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