Tag: News

Wellbeing Week

It has been a wonderful week centered around student wellbeing and the many facets that contribute to our overall wellbeing. Students excitedly arrived on a rainy Monday morning to the theme ‘Get Active’ and enjoyed a range of activities that got their bodies moving. From running to skipping to some fitness led by Mrs Simpson, all activities resulted in a healthy dose of fun and smiles. It was great seeing the Year 12 students join the Marian students for these fitness activities too.

There was bundles of fun at Marian Campus on Tuesday with a bouncy castle, animal farm, yard games and bubble blowing. Our students wore lots of big smiles as they participated in these activities and focused on the wellbeing topic of “Mindfulness”. Research tells us that mindfulness helps to lower anxiety and stress, which in today’s world is an important skill for our growing students to develop. Teachers reinforced the concept of mindfulness with activities in their classrooms.

Wednesday’s wellbeing theme was Gratitude and students participated in a range of gratitude activities in their classroom and across the campus. Thank you to the Marian families who took part in our Gratitude staff feedback opportunity. The staff were very grateful for the kind comments and appreciative feedback – these small gestures go a long way.

Today ’s Buddy Day was thoroughly enjoyed by all, particularly as it was the first Buddy Day that we have been able to celebrate face to face this year. Marian and Lavalla students joined together to start the morning with two beautiful and reverent liturgical celebrations dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption. Thanks to the Years 2, 4 and 6 students for leading these services. Following this, the classes jumped into their Buddy Activities and our annual Lapathon, with monies raised going to support Marist Solidarity. It was a fantastic day and the opportunity to witness the relationships between older and younger students provided a wonderful reflection of our school’s mission as a composite community.

Pre Primary Red Assembly

A big thank you to Mrs Simpson, Mrs Hunter and Ms Smith who led the Pre Primary Red class in an entertaining and music filled assembly last week. The students gave us an insight into their dreams based around their in-class reading of the story “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers. There are some wonderful, big dreams in Pre Primary Red!

Marcellin Award

Congratulations to the following student who received a Marcellin Award in Weeks 3 and 4:

• William Burton, Year 2: For displaying the Marist characteristic of “Family Spirit” by always making good choices and putting others first. Thank you Will for caring about your classmates and helping them when they need it.
• Alexandra Simpson, Year 1: For being a model for how we live our life ‘in the way of Mary’ with patience, gentleness and love. Alexandra, you always have a smile and friendly greeting for every person that you encounter. Thank you for shining your light on us all.

The Marcellin Award at Marian Campus is drawn from submitted nominations each Wednesday morning at Prayer Assembly.

Year 2 Excursion – Kings Park

Year 2 students embarked on an excursion to Kings Park to explore the native flora and fauna in preparation for an activity at our STEM festival. They were blessed with a cold but dry day and reported lots of learning and enjoyment from the experience. I was lucky enough to read some of the students Recount Writing about the excursion and was amazed to learn some very interesting facts about the Boab Tree and the Eternal Flame.

A big thank you to the parent volunteers who joined the Year 2 classes. We are so grateful for the commitment of parents to our students’ educational experiences.

BYODD Program – Year 3 2021

As your child moves from the Marian Campus to the Lavalla Campus, families are required to provide an electronic device to support their child’s learning. Marian campus students have had access to a classroom bank of iPads which have been regularly utilised to support their learning. From Year 3, the College commences with a BYODD device program which allow students to have 1:1 access to a device.

Current Year 2 parents will receive further information in the coming months regarding the Year 3-6 BYOD iPad program. Our IT Team is currently in negotiations with Winthrop Australia to facilitate the best value package possible for families. As I appreciate this is a significant expense, we aim to provide as much time and notice as possible, so that families can budget for this purchase.

The Great Book Swap

The annual Marian book swap will take place on Friday 4 September before school until the bell goes.

Students are encouraged to donate a book they already own and place in one of the boxes located in the library and in the foyer.

On the day of the event, students are asked to bring a gold coin donation to purchase a book to take home. The money raised will then be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Students can of course purchase more than one book at the Book Swap.

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation is a national charity, which aims to reduce the disadvantage experienced by children in remote communities across Australia. The foundation promotes the idea of schools holding a book swap in order to raise funds for the charity.

Marian Campus Toilets

We have recently had some repairs undertaken to the students’ toilets across the campus to improve the access and usability of these facilities. In conjunction with this, I have spoken to all PP- Year 2 students regarding the respect and care that they need to take in order to maintain the cleanliness of these facilities.

I would greatly appreciate if parents can emphasise with their child at home, the importance of leaving the toilets as clean as they first found them. Common complaints centre around children’s failure to flush the toilet after use and their failure to clean up any mess that they may make on the floor and toilet seats. Teachers are also giving friendly reminders to their class about this.

On Saturday 15 August the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when, according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”. Although defined as an article of faith by Pope Pius XII just over half a century ago, the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven has been accepted from back to the earliest of Christian times.

This Feast of the recognition of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, is significant for the Marist Brothers and its Founder, St Marcellin Champagnat and underpins their foundations. As a Marist school in 2020 we seek to embody the characteristics of Mary through our resilience, commitment and strength through gentleness. On Thursday we held our weekly PK-12 Community Mass and recognised our Marist Brothers Churchlands Community. We are so blessed in this College to have Br Terry, Br Paul, Br Noel and Br John living close to us and still ministering their vocation to our community. Their lives have permeated with the richness of bringing to life the Gospel of Jesus Christ, animating us all to be people of transformation and hope. We recognise their contribution and celebrate our Marist charism and the family spirit it imbues.

Across the College this week we celebrated Wellbeing focusing on the whole person and engaging students and teachers in activities that were both fun and community building. Some of the most pleasing aspects of the week were the senior students playing and leading activities with our Primary students at both Lavalla and Marian Campuses. At the heart of our community is the alignment of the faith and learning journey of our composite PK-12 College. We are part of something great and we all have a place where we are valued and supported.

The week will culminate on Friday with a Staff Wellbeing Day which includes sessions from our partners, Edith Cowan University, on healthy living, and the Catholic Institute on the power of meditation and prayer. Our staff have been remarkable in their agility, commitment and support over the significant disruption of COVID-19. This day is an opportunity to take time as a whole staff, to reflect from where we have come and to prepare for the inevitable challenges ahead.

Congratulations Charlotte Easden

Year 12 student Charlotte Easden has won the Zonta International Young Women in Public Affairs Award. The award recognises young women, ages 16-19, who demonstrate volunteer leadership skills/achievements and dedication to empowering women worldwide. The award further encourages the winner to continue their participation in public and political life.

Charlotte gave a moving speech about how Sister Felicitas and Sister Rita from the The Fatima Center in the Philippines have inspired her to pursue a career in Human Rights Law so she can help those that are living on the margins of society. She is also passionate about female empowerment in Australia, breaking stereotypes and encouraging young girls to follow their dreams like she has. We are very proud of Charlotte’s achievements! Click here to hear from Charlotte about her award.

New Students Morning Tea

Last week we welcomed our new students of Marcellin Campus to a morning tea led by our College Captains and Counselling Team. It was a great opportunity to gauge their transition into our school, receive feedback and build and cultivate relationships. Once again, we are so blessed with our College student leaders by the way they facilitated this event and exemplified the Marist characteristics.

Marcellin Athletics Carnival

Our annual Secondary Athletics Carnival was a resounding success. Our attendance was at an all time high and the atmosphere was electric. Moreover, this Carnival saw multiple records broken and personal bests achieved by many students. A big thanks to Year 12 leaders who again animated their cohort to engage in the community building spirit of the Carnival.

WA Champagnat Cup, Bunbury

The inaugural WA Champagnat Cup was held in Bunbury last Friday featuring our open Netball, boys Basketball and Boys Football teams. The genesis of this day was our Sports Captains, Marcus Romano and Holly Johnson, who formulated the idea of competing against our Marist school in Bunbury. Traditionally, our Marist Carnivals would have been held in the Eastern States but with the advent of COVID-19 meant that this has not been possible in 2020. Thank you to Bunbury Catholic College and to all our players from Newman who participated and competed with a great Marist spirit. We look forward to this becoming an annual event.

Celebrating 105 Years

We were so blessed to have our Marian Campus Receptionist Jan Robertson’s mother, Bid Grocke, come and speak with our Pre Primary students about the number 105… her age. Her visit coincided with the class’s 105th day of learning so far this year and also ties in with the Unit’s history topic of appreciating our past and religion topic of ‘our families are special’. To top it off, Bid’s visit was a wonderful addition to our wellbeing week; taking care of our bodies, minds and souls. It was a beautiful experience for all involved.