Information evening held for local community

On Tuesday 28th November, the School held a successful information evening for the local community. At the meeting Principal Anthony Drill discussed a range of topics including the school staffing, master plan, communication, buses, key dates and school times. Below is a summary of what was discussed.

Master Plan for Building and Grounds

The Master Plan for the redevelopment of the school buildings and grounds over the school holidays and beyond was discussed.  Impressions of the new entry to the school off High Street were unveiled.  Copies of Masterplan drawings and new entry were distributed to share with friends and family to share what will be happening.

View the Master Plan.

Geelong Secondary Schools – Entry into the Future

Anthony has almost met with all of the Geelong Secondary Principals and discussed the enrolment procedure now there is a Catholic School in the Parish of Meredith.  Priority entry will be given to Baptised Catholic children who attend St Mary MacKillop from 2020 onwards.  Non-Catholics who attend St Mary MacKillop will be looked upon more favourably than those at Govt schools.

Pressure is mounting especially at St Joseph’s and there may be a time soon where they may not be able to take catholics who haven’t been to a Catholic Primary school.

The Principal at Clonard is open to Non-Catholic girls enrolling as there is less pressure there than at Sacred Heart for places.

A new Catholic Co-Educational Secondary school is set to open at Armstrong Creek.  St Ignatius is unsure as to what impact this will have on them but at this point will be unable to guarantee bus service from out this way.

Communication between school & home

Communication is at the heart of any good relationship.

We will strive to keep you up to date with:

• what is planned to happen well ahead of time.
• changes to timetabled activities etc.
• the learning that is planned for the children.
• your child’s achievements and samples of their work.

There will also be opportunities for you to:

• Communicate directly with the teachers and myself
• Keep your child’s medical records updated… and more

We will be using three different Smart Phone Apps to communicate with you

1. Flexibuzz which will allow us to target messages to the whole community or specific groups in our community. Teachers will be able to communicate with you directly and you can communicate with them
2. CareMonkey will allow us to remove the need for paper notes and the need to continuously collect the same information every time we go out of the school etc. You can set up a medical profile for your child which you keep updated.  This also has many other uses.
3. SeeSaw will allow you children and their teachers to share the work they are doing in their classes including, photos, videos, audio etc with the ability for you to comment on the work shared.

Buses & Conveyance Allowance

• St Mary MacKillop’s children will have access to the free busses bringing children to Bannockburn College next year.
• Busses will run on four routes originating out of Meredith, Lethbridge, Shelford and Inverliegh
• You need to live 4.8km from St Mary Mackillop School to access this service
• Forms need to be completed and returned to us ASAP to pass onto Bannockburn College as the host school so bus stops etc can be finalized
• If you live more than 4.8 kms away from St Mary MacKillop CPS and there is no bus route near you, you may qualify for Conveyance Allowance.
• Check out the criteria, complete the appropriate form and return it to us for processing.
• You cannot access the bus and get the Conveyance Allowance.

Visioning

• During term 1 all St Mary MacKillop Community members will be able to have input into the school’s vision and mission statements.
• We will employ a facilitator to lead us on this important Journey.
• Our Vision will be based on the life and teachings of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
• School

2018 Dates

Tuesday 2nd January	St Mary MacKillop School takes over Bannockburn PS site Builders move in and refurbishment works begin.
Thursday 11th January	All portables to be removed
Thursday 25th January	Refurbished school is handed back to St Mary MacKillop School.
Monday 29th January	Term 1 begins – Teachers begin
Tuesday 30th January	Teacher Professional Learning Day
Wednesday 31st January	Parent, child and teacher Conferences
Thursday 1st February	Prep children begin – Half day
Friday 2nd February	Prep children half day Years 1 – 6 begin
Monday 5th February	Preps begin full days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday.  Wednesdays are rest days at home
Wednesday 7th, 14th,21st,28th February and March 7th	Preps rest day at home Prep Parent, child and teacher Conferences and testing
Wednesday 14th March	Prep’s First Wednesday at school

School Times

TIME	ACTIVITY
8.30am	Morning duty begins
	Busses arrive
8.45am	1st bell to move into Learning Spaces
8.55am	2nd bell to begin the day
10.55am	Beginning Recess
11.35am	End Recess
1.35 pm	Beginning Lunch Time
2.15pm	End Lunch Time
3.15pm	School Finishes
	Busses depart and afterschool duty ceases

Extra Curricular Activities

• Working on making camp a reality for Year 4 – 6 at least
• Oxygen Tuition will provide instrumental and singing lessons during school time
• Investigating a partnership with a sports academy to conduct after school sports in the stadium including gymnastics