You will have received this week an email from Mrs Radley, the College Director of Formation, encouraging students to wear masks this Tuesday. Australia doesn't really have the same traditions as countries like Italy or Brazil, where 'Mardi Gras' or 'Fat Tuesday' is a pretty big deal. Like so many Catholic traditions, this is rooted in the European seasons and the liturgical calendar. So, on 'Fat Tuesday' the winter stores of butter and sweets that were considered too luxurious for Lent were eaten. We also get the word 'carnival' from 'carne levare' - to remove meat - as meat could not be eaten during Lent.

We deny ourselves a lot less now but Lent remains a really special time. Inspired by Jesus's preparation for his ministry, it is a time where we can focus on what we can do to continue that message and support others in our community. So, in addition to acknowledging Carnival - we will also be asking our students to engage in a genuine Lenten focus, no matter what their age, themes like sacrifice, selflessness and service will be discussed as we celebrate Lent together. 

You will soon be hearing from me about a survey related to the College's Catholic identity. It is a real big-hitter, and I ask please that you complete it. It is the keystone of all of our strategic planning for the next ten years, and is your chance to inform the makeup of that plan.  I will be doing a little podcast to announce it as well as a news section on the College website.  

You may have noticed that the newsletters this year have had a lot more content than those last year.  We are really blessed to have a staff body and wider community who want to promote good news, and parents who want to read about it.  I was told by a parent last year that 'nobody reads the newsletter' but we know from our tracking that 640 people (at least) read the last one.  In a community with less than 450 families, that's a great result.  It is our best medium to get general information and key messages to you, so do please put aside some time every other Friday to read it.  

I would like to draw your attention in this newsletter to the articles by Mrs Adler and Mr Naiker.  Their individual messages regarding teaching and learning are really key.  I have set the expectation this year of really positive, engaging lessons and positive academic growth for every child.  Mrs Adler and Mr Naiker summarise elements of this expectation and how we will start to achieve it very well. 

Finally, thank you very much for helping us to have started 2020 so well. 

Mary MacKillop Catholic College Semester 1 Parent Teacher Interviews for Prep to Year 12 will be held on Tuesday, 10 March 2020 from 3:30pm - 8:30pm in the MacKillop Centre. Interviews will go for 10 minutes each.

Bookings will open 6:00am Saturday, 29 February and close at 9:00am Monday, 9 March 2020. Please refer to your child's timetable before making any bookings to ensure you select the correct teacher for their subjects.

You may change bookings any time prior to the closing date, by revisiting the booking site. Remember to use the same name and email address that you used when you made your original booking. Parents wishing to change their interview times after the closing date should contact their child’s teacher.

Please note, the interviews will be 10 mins in length and to enable as many parents to meet with teachers, we ask that if your child has the same teacher for two subjects, to book only one interview for that teacher.

Sponsorship packages for the 2020 Mary MacKillop Catholic College Musical are still available. Please see the attached link if you are interested in sponsoring this fantastic College event.

This coming Tuesday, 25 February is Pancake Tuesday. To celebrate, the tuckshop will have pancakes for sale with the option of syrup or jam. 

Prep - Year 2 have the option to order Pancakes via Flexischools. Cash sales are available for all other year levels.

Also, during the season of Lent, we will be introducing a new menu. Starting on Ash Wednesday, we will introduce several fish dishes. These items will be available every Friday during Lent.

Each Friday will be meat free, with the exception of fish. All regular items will be available on Monday to Thursday.

Please see new menu for all the food options.

Last Saturday the gravel carpark across from Junior Admin received a makeover.  Many thanks to Shayne Cleary from Reid Consulting for overseeing the project, Dan Evans from Procrete for supplying the machinery and Scrivens Haulage for delivering the materials.  So good to see what can happen when College families get together and make things happen around the College.  

Fred Voll, another member of our College community, from Fred Voll Plaumbing & Gas was also a little busy during the school holidays restoring water to our Senior College, and extending our bore water up to 77 Highfields Road.  

If you are a small business and are interested in assisting the College, please feel free to contact kirsty.gillett@twb.catholic.edu.au as we are always looking at working with local College families and developing mutually beneficial business relationships.

The new student management system, Sentral was rolled out across the Diocese last week. There are four phases which will be rolled out over the year. Phase one includes roll marking and sick bay management.

Should your child be absent with no explanation, you will receive an unexplained absence notification from mobile number 0418 424 380. Parents and caregivers can reply to this SMS to respond accordingly. It is recommended that you add this number to your phone contacts.

At Mary MacKillop we have Learning Non-negotiables that we expect to see in every classroom. They are:

• Students first
• Empower people
• Unleash potential
• Be courageous
• Ideas in Action

I visited Year 6 Stradbroke during a writing lesson. To put the lesson in context, Mr Hubbard had attended A Writing PD during the week leading up to the start of school. One of his learnings from that PD was how to get students to write more interesting, engaging and varied sentences. The students had 15 minutes to plan the structure of their writing and then 15 minutes writing time. The students had a very clear Learning Intention and Success Criteria.

“What are you learning about?” “We’re learning to write better sentences. Today we have to use sentences that have ‘ing’ words, some adverbs, some speech…but not too much so that it becomes confusing to read.”

To set the students up for success, Mr Hubbard asked each student to plan their writing: theme / Orientation (setting, characters) / Complication and Resolution and also a list of words to possibly include in the writing.

The criteria for the writing or ‘must haves’ were:

• At least one short, simple sentence;
• At least one ‘ing’ sentence starter e.g. Escaping through the window……;
• At least one set of speech marks;
• Optional – adverb sentence starters e.g. Curiously the ogre removed the lid…….

The students’ willingness to engage with this task was high as they had been set up for success. I encourage you to discuss with your child their writing experiences or even have a go at this task at home. Short, sharp writing experiences enable students to perform better under exam conditions. Happy Writing!

In our next newsletter I write about visiting a Year 1 classroom to see a hands on Number lesson.

A few years ago, I was challenged to write down the names of 25 students from my Year 10 History class. I could only come up with 22 names. The 3 I could not recall were the invisible students in my classroom.

The invisible child is the one who moves from year level to another and cause no trouble, coast under the radar because they always do the right thing. They become invisible and often, educators have no idea about their academic progression and wellbeing.

Before the students arrived in Term 1, Senior teachers went through all the data on every single child that would be attending the College. This included subject achievements, PAT data on literacy and numeracy, NAPLAN results and wellbeing data. Teachers all shared the unique qualities and interest, along with ideas on how they learn best. It gave us a good picture of who our students were, who needed further support and who needed to be challenged further in their learning.

During the last two weeks, our teachers formed Professional Learning Teams (PLT) in the areas of Literacy, Learning Support, Wellbeing and Digital Technology. Mini initiatives have been developed to ensure that all students receive quality teaching and learning in every lesson. 

Being quiet and well-behaved alone don't make an excellent student, not if that student is not meeting their true potential. As a Catholic College, it is our responsibility to intervene and get to know students as individuals. We must not let it be the case that invisible children's voices are only heard when they answer 'present' when the class roll is being marked.

My son's favourite story is currently Little Blue Truck, a rhyming text full of vehicle noises and animal sounds. He loves to hear the cacophony of the animal chorus and the intricate sounds of the different vehicles. His laughter lights up the house. 

Throughout our College our teachers, as expert readers, read to their students. This occurs regularly within our teaching and learning process; however, the Reading Improvement Strategy(RIS) has enabled us to develop the process further. The RIS in the Junior College incorporates this through Shared Reading and Guided Reading and in the Senior College, as I alluded to in the previous newsletter, occurs once a week in Pastoral Care lessons. 

Last week on assembly, I spoke to the senior students about the benefit of reading aloud. It improves concentration, vocabulary and literacy while enhancing imagination and the processing of visual information. The expert reader, in this instance the teacher, can demonstrate phrasing, intonation, pronunciation and cadence. 

My Year 11 class are currently reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller. We are reading this text aloud as a class. I have heard students say "I can't wait to keep reading." I want to find out what happens next." Through reading this text aloud, as a class, I believe the Year 11 students have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for the text but, just as importantly, have also enjoyed it. This is the aim of read aloud activities in progress throughout the College. We want to instill a love of reading within our students and allow them to see that reading is something to enjoy. 

I'm looking forward to reading Little Blue Truck tonight (again). 

Collaboration is a critical factor in generating creative ideas. On Friday, 14 February, local artist Catherine Parker and the Senior art students from St Saviours College attended Mary Mackillop Catholic college for an intensive art workshop. Rather than present this article entirely from the teacher perspective I asked some of the students if they wished to contribute. The following is a reflection of the day from their perspective.

- Mr Chivers

Today was a fantastic, interruption free, full day of Visual Art for year 11 and 12. The year 11 students from Mary MacKillop spent the day working on their artworks for the ATAR unit ‘Art as Lens’; while the year 12 Mary MacKillop students and the year 11 and 12 students from St. Saviors built on their work for the ATAR unit ‘Art as Knowledge’.

We had a wonderful time discussing and sharing our creative ideas with local professional artist, Catherine Parker. Catherine’s broad knowledge of the world of art was instrumental to the continued development and extension of our ideas and experimental work.

The workshop today was a brilliant opportunity for us to contribute to our body of work where we are using personal items to explore and develop a better understanding of the concept of “Lens” and “Knowledge”. Our success and extension of confidence made possible with input from 3 professionals in a collaborative environment has been one of the greatest learning experiences we have participated in.

The timely and most appreciated injection of Crackerjack Chicken and carbonated drinks contributed greatly to restore our energy levels for the final session and provided an opportunity to celebrate the day together before returning to our individual creative pursuits.

As a part of looking at ‘Art as Lens’, we are expected to observe various viewpoints and perspectives. It was imperative for us to use this opportunity to open our creative minds to new viewpoints. The opportunity to collaborate with students from St Saviours College and have access to 3 teachers was such a rare and wonderful experience. I sincerely hope that future Visual Art students are offered the same experience.

- Jaymee Suliman and Gemma Tancred

It’s not everyday that high school art students are presented with the opportunity to spend a day creating art with a resident industry professional, but that is just what myself and the St Savior’s 11/12 ATAR art class were able to do on Friday.

We travelled to Mary Mackillop Catholic college to collaborate with the MMCC students and the brilliant local artist Catherine Parker and incredible art teachers Matt Chivers and Kim Murray. We spent the day in consultation with Catherine Parker, developing our portfolios and our inquiry questions for our first major assessment projects of 2020.

Ms Parker’s extensive experience and advice was invaluable to the development of our works, as were the perspectives of our peers and access to our two art teachers. The day was immensely productive and a thoroughly enjoyable exploration of the role of artworks in informing a youthful perspective of the world and our place and agency in it.

- Kate Hudson James (St Saviour's)

Please find attached a letter inviting your participation in the State Government funded Prep Vision Screening Program.

Library Lovers Day, celebrated on 14 February encourages people across Australia to show their love for their libraries.

With the 2020 theme being Uncover something new, students were encouraged to go on a 'Blind Date with a Book' and choose a book only by reading a cryptic clue attached to the front cover. Students could only unwrap their book and reveal its title once they arrived home.  This activity provides a Lucky Dip for readers which may lead them to new stories and authors that they have not considered before.

Students eagerly visited both Junior and Senior libraries to read the clues and choose a book, with more than 80 books being borrowed. Several senior students even requested that 'Blind Date with a Book' be scheduled again during the year as they really enjoyed choosing a 'mystery' book by clue rather than cover.

While we love to see students reading and enjoying books, we also love books being returned on time to the Library. Generally students may borrow books for a two week period, with the exception of Senior textbooks and novels which are borrowed per term or per year. Students are welcome to renew loans at the library if a book is required for a longer period, except where the book has been reserved by another borrower. Books need to be sighted by Library Staff for renewals to be processed.

In the Junior School, students are reminded at borrowing time about any overdue items and letters are sent home if items remain overdue. In the Senior School, students receive an email advising them of overdue items. 

Outstanding overdue items from 2019 have been communicated to students this term and reminder letters will be sent home to parents at the end of the week. In week 6, outstanding items from 2019 will be removed from student's records and replacement costs will be invoiced to parents. If you have any questions regarding specific loans feel free to contact the library staff. Thank you for your continued support in caring for College resources.

Positive Learning Behaviours

You may have heard your child talk about Joey Points, Positive Learning Behaviours or even getting a sticker on a chart in their classroom. So what is this all about?

As part of our Whole College Merit System, children can earn Joey Points in the Junior School when they work towards/improve upon/display the Positive learning behaviour for the week. You will see below a copy of each of the posters. I invite you to read the poster relevant to you child/ren's year level. You may even wish to use some of these phrases when encouraging your child to do their homework, interact with others or stick at something that may be challenging.

Year Four Digital Licences

At our College, students receive a one to one learning device for the first time in year 4. This year, we have committed to keeping our students safe online, by purchasing an E-safety Digital Licence for all year 4 students. To receive their licence, children will work through a series of topics and activities, to prepare them to be smart, safe and responsible online. The topics include:

• digital devices
• searching and researching
• social networking and gaming
• credits, coins and tokens
• protecting privacy
• creating and sharing
• communicating safely online
• friends and strangers

Parents of any child's age can also purchase a home licence to help support your child. The following website can provide you with further information https://www.digitallicence.com.au/

We look forward to our Year 4 cohort earning their 'Digital Licence'.

Websites to Support Families

There are some excellent websites to support parents/carers and their families to have safer and positive experiences online. I encourage you, regardless of the age of your child, to take some time to navigate the Esafety website. It can be found at https://www.esafety.gov.au/

This week in the Senior School, students will begin a program called Get Skill'd. Developed in consultation with our College counselors Jasmin and Khara, the program is informed by the 'Be You Mental Health Continuum' data collected across the College and positive psychology drawing from the PERMA model. This model asserts there are five building blocks that enable flourishing – Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (hence PERMA™), Get Skill’d facilitates the development of techniques to increase each building block, with the view of enhancing the students capacity to flourish.

Each year level will focus on different building blocks each term, with experiential exercises and opportunities for technique application prioritised to aide skill acquisition. This week, students will understand the PERMA model and the importance of goal setting for wellbeing. They will reflect on their development of positive learning behaviours and consider focus areas for growth and improvement this term. All students will set goals that target specific behaviours they would like to improve to enhance their success at school. 

Please take the opportunity to ask your child about the goals they set  and consider ways to support them in achieving those goals this term. 

Thank you to all who completed the Guidance Counsellor and Parent Engagement survey. Your feedback is valued and will inform how we continue to support parents, guardians, and students to thrive at Mary MacKillop.

Based on your feedback we will continue to deliver parent information sessions across the college throughout the year, in addition to providing targeted information via the newsletter and podcasts. Resilience, wellbeing, and anxiety were identified as priority areas and as such, these areas will be the focus for this semester (Term 1 and 2).   

Anxiety and fear is a common and adaptive human experience driven by our innate survival instinct. When faced with a threat or challenge, our body is primed to react in a way that will promote safety and survival. This is helpful if proportionate to the actual threat, however at times, and due to a number of factors, our alarm system can become overly sensitive. In these cases the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response is activated quickly and the body becomes charged ready to react, unnecessarily. This can be experienced physiologically with a racing heart, rapid and shallow breathing, perspiration, muscle tension, or shakiness. This can also be experienced behaviourally, as we experience an urge to escape or avoid the situation, or at times we can simply freeze.

It is important to note that anxiety can be helpful if kept within manageable limits. It can motivate children to prepare for important exams, to get to sporting practice on time, and to be careful when walking home in the dark. Some people can find it more difficult than others to manage these anxious feelings or to calm their body down once the ‘anxiety switch’ is turned on. They may appear overwhelmed or consumed by their emotions and behave in ways that are unhelpful or distracting.

Anxiety can manifest in the school context in many ways and due to the highly social nature of school and the inherent focus on learning and achievement, this can often be intensified. A child who is feeling anxious may regularly seek reassurance (ask lots of questions!), avoid new or challenging situations, report feeling sick, get upset easily, or have difficulty separating from specific people they feel safe with. They likely worry about lots of things, may ask for help when we know they are capable, may find it difficult making friends, or could avoid or refuse to go to school. In the classroom, a child who is feeling anxious may have difficulty maintaining attention and concentration due to their ‘busy mind’ and their racing thoughts.

We need to remember that it is normal to feel anxious and we all do at certain times! As parents/guardians, we need to acknowledge and validate these feelings, but at the same time normalise and express confidence in their capacity to manage (e.g., "you can be scared, AND brave").

If you have any concerns around your child's experience of anxiety symptoms be sure to discuss this with their teacher. The Guidance Counselors are committed to engaging with teachers, parents and students across the College to manage anxiety and its impact on their school experience. Further information around anxiety management strategies will be provided via podcast and this Term's Parent Information Session - watch this space! 

Additional information is also available from Beyond Blue and Kids Helpline.

That is the theme for this year's Caritas Australia's fundraising for Project Compassion during Lent.  St Theresa from Calcutta said "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things, with great love." We are looking at ways to support other people from around the world through doing our part here at Mary MacKillop Catholic College . We are giving every class and PC the challenge to raise $40 across the 40 days. Ideas for this this could include helping at home more and giving the pocket money to Caritas, seeing another student in need and offering to help, giving up going to the movies and instead donating that money to Caritas. The ideas are limitless. Look out for ways you can support your child/ren with this activity. More information will be sent out as events are occurring.

As part of student leadership this year, we have involved our Junior and Senior Leaders in the Caritas 'Just Leadership' day with Catherine McAleer. The students will bring back with them ideas and skills to support our Project Compassion work throughout Lent. 

Next Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday. You may know it as Pancake Tuesday. Around the world it is also known as Fat Tuesday. It is the day before Ash Wednesday when traditionally all the stores would be used before the long period of fasting. So all the flour, eggs, milk, meat was used in a great 'feast' hence pancakes has become the food of choice. This year we are taking a slightly different stance and celebrating with a Carne vale (mardi gras, festival) which is a goodbye to meat or removal of meat from the diet. This was the tradition many years ago and people today do this in a variety of ways (ie no meat on a Friday). This is celebrated by having a carnival atmosphere so we are asking everyone to make / buy colourful masks to be part of the festival to wear on Tuesday.  Pancakes will be available for sale from the tuckshop also. I look forward to seeing all the students in their masks on Tuesday. 

Ash Wednesday is next week, following Carne Vale, so we are having a staff / parish mass at 7:30 am then we will commence our whole school liturgy at 8:45 am in the MacKillop Centre. Everyone is welcome to join us!

At this liturgy, everyone present will have the sign of the cross with ashes placed on their forehead by a school leader or staff member. This ash is a symbol of death/dying/starting over/leaving behind. From ash new growth will come. If you look around as you travel into the fire ridden areas of recent you will notice that the rain has transformed the landscape. So it is for us - to start a journey towards Easter where we think about how we can be better people, more like Jesus. This is where traditionally people will give up something that they really enjoy but can go with out; do something that will help others; and say prayers throughout the six weeks.  Students are being asked as part of their Lenten journey to do this as well. It would be great for you know what your child is doing and support them on their journey.

Coming up on Sunday, 15 March, we will be having a College supported mass in our Parish. The school house that will be asked to attend and be part of the celebration will be Penola House, so if your child/ren are in this house we are looking for you to support us on that day. Further information will be sent out via an Ed Smart form. This is a new format we are trying this year where across the year each house will be attending one. There is only one per term. I look forward to this celebration with you starting at 8am.

To finish today, I will leave you with this Mary MacKillop quote: 

God wants us by every means in our power to lead others to life. (1899)  

So, let us "Go further together".

Each February in the Religion classroom, I find myself asking students why we celebrate Valentine’s Day. No matter the year level, I am usually hit with a barrage of responses, including it’s when Dad buys Mum flowers, or, we celebrate it because it’s nice to give other people gifts. This may be true; but these aren’t really reasons why we celebrate it. It is rare then that a student ever tells me about the life of Saint Valentine, or that the 14th of February was the day when he died. Perhaps this is because little is actually known about Saint Valentine. There are many urban legends surrounding Valentine; most research suggests that there were actually three different Saint Valentines, all of whom share a February 14th feast day. Despite the limited details and the commercialisation of such a day, Valentine’s Day still holds a valid message for Christians. The symbol of the heart is a reminder that we are called to pledge our love to our loved ones and thank them for their love in return. Valentine’s Day calls for a timely reflection on Jesus’ commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12-13).

In Religion classes last Thursday and Friday, students were invited to write affirmations to other students who they respect, appreciate or perhaps even to a student who they do not often sit with or who they have had a disagreement with in the past. Some teachers extended the task to encourage their class to write self-affirmations – an opportunity for students to reflect on their own gifts and strengths that they appreciate in themselves. This is not an easy task and I commend students for how they participated. Throughout the day on Friday, it was also lovely to see staff following suit and affirming their colleagues via messages on paper hearts.

An exciting opportunity has emerged for students in Year 7 to 12 who would like to be involved in a Youth Ministry Collegiate. This will involve students from St. Saviour’s College, Mary MacKillop College, St. Mary’s College and St. Joseph’s College coming together to share their experiences of service learning and social justice opportunities. As building our mission and identity is part of our goal this year, we welcome any students who would like to take part. There will also be a chance to be involved in planning a TeamVinnies Trivia Fundraiser (to occur in October at St. Saviour’s College) to build awareness around the St. Vincent de Paul’s “Buddies Program”. At this stage, there is an initial meeting for the Youth Ministry Collegiate planned for Thursday 5 March (Week 6) from approximately 3:30pm to 5:00pm.

Please see either Mrs Radley or Mrs O’Rourke ASAP to express your interest in being involved!

Continue to look out for more fundraising and service learning opportunities as they appear throughout the term.

Instrumental music has started with 76 students taking the option to undertake instrument and voice tutoring. 

Our guitar timetable is full, however, if you have a student interested in learning guitar please let me know and I could find an additional teacher. We have some places in the brass program and would be really keen to have some new trumpeters or trombone players. 

If you have a student in the instrumental music program please ensure they know their lesson time and do encourage them to play their instrument at home. 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via my email address. 

In recent weeks, students have been given the opportunity to register their interest in a number of sports. It is pleasing to see the number of students showing an interest in representing their College. Sports for consideration include Touch, Soccer, Rugby and Softball. Other opportunities will arise as the year progresses.

In most cases, we will need to hold selection trials for these teams. Once teams are finalised, teams will train on a semi-regular basis, before focusing their preparation for upcoming tournaments and gala days. Please discuss these opportunities with your children and encourage them to register their interest before the end of Week 5 as trials will commence in Week 6.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, 23 February 2020

Laura Gietz Shield

26 February 2020

• IDZ 13-19 yrs Selection Trials Cluster Day 2
• Basketball, Netball, Rugby League and Soccer

Tuesday, 3 March 2020

• DD 13-19 yrs Swimming Regional Trials

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

• DD 10-12 yrs Swimming Regional Trials
• IDZ 10-12 yrs Softball selection trials

Monday, 9 March 2020

• IDZ 11 & 12 yrs Boy’s Rugby League Trials

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

• DD 13-14 yrs Boys Australian Rules Regional Trials
• DD 10-19 yrs Golf Regional Trials
• DD 13-19 yrs Boys & Girls Hockey Regional Trials
• IDZ 10-12 yrs Girls Basketball selection trials

Wednesday, 11 March 2020

• IDZ 10-12 yrs Boys Basketball selection trials

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Catholic Primary Schools Swimming event last week. The carnival is aimed at building community, participation and fun. It was lovely to witness the high levels of sportsmanship on display on the day and the behaviour of our College representatives was outstanding. Thank you to the parents who attended to support their children and to Mrs Rillie and Miss Morgan for their organisation on the day.

Following the postponement of the College Swimming Carnivals in Week 2, the following dates have been finalised for our carnivals in 2020.

Cross Country (MMCC and AFL Oval)

P-12: Friday, 24 April

Swimming (Highfields Pool)

3-6: Tuesday, 20 October

7-12 Wednesday, 21 October

Athletics (AFL Oval)

P-6: Monday, 22 June

7-12: Wednesday, 17 June

Bella Scrivens, Lucas Ward and Erin and Chloe O’Rourke recently participated at the 2020 RMHC Qld Sprint (Swimming) Championships. Congratulations to Lucas who achieved two PB’s, and Bella who achieved one PB. At the Inner Downs Swimming selection trials on Monday, Erin swam three PB’s on the day. Chloe O'Rourke qualified for the first time for her event and swam 50m Breaststroke. Well done! 

Minutes - October 2019 P&F General Meeting

Attached are the minutes from the October 2019 P&F Meeting that were ratified at the P&F Meeting on 11th February 2020.

February's meeting had a great attendance including new faces and students. 

P&F AGM 

• Tuesday, 17 March 
• 7:00pm in the Junior School Staff Room
• All Executive Positions are up for nomination.

In 2019 the P&F Association Executive Committee was made up of the following positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Communications Officer, Special Committee Members and Diocesan Council Delegates.

Key Roles for the P&F to be able to function are accessed by the following link: https://www.pandf.org.au/roles-responsibilities

Below is a summary of the roles.

President

A President leads the P&F Association by:

• Plan and chair meetings in consultation with the secretary and principal;
• Ensure meetings run according to the agenda and the constitution
• Ensure fair discussion - give all an opportunity to speak
• Ensure activities are sanctioned by principal
• Work with the treasurer to ensure financial accountability
• Ensure decisions are carried out – follow up
• Encouraging parents to get involved
• Helping parents feel welcomed at the school

Vice-President 

The Vice President will support the President by:

• Chairing the meeting in his/her absence;
• Sharing duties and responsibilities as agreed e.g. being responsible for coordinating the activities of sub-committees.
• Being supportive and attending meetings.
• Playing a constructive role – not just an understudy

Secretary

• Communication and correspondence;
• Maintaining effective records;
• Ensuring meetings are effectively organised and minuted;
• Prepare the agenda in consultation with the president and principal;
• Notify members of meetings (date, time, venue);
• Keep good records;
• Receive and manage the correspondence;
• Obtain reports from sub-committees;
• Write up the minutes;
• Understand the constitution; and
• Guide and advise the president.

Treasurer

• The Treasurer accounts for and reports on the finances of the P&F. 
• The Treasurer needs to be a person of trust and responsibility.
• Must keep accurate financial records of all receipts and expenditure;
• Must issue receipts for all money received;
• Pay all accounts as authorized;
• Bank all money regularly;
• Present a monthly financial report – keep the P&F informed;
• Arrange for an audited financial report for the Annual General Meeting;
• Arrange for the monthly Bank Statement and reconcile deposits and cheque books with the statements.

Once the above four roles are filled and the P&F can operate, the following additional roles will be up for nomination as follows:

Sub-Committees

Sub-committee can save time and ease the workload of the regular P&F meetings by dealing with particular projects and reporting back to the P&F meeting. Sub-committees must be set up by the decision of a P&F meeting and their task should be clearly defined in writing as part of the minutes of that meeting.

At MMCC, the Sub Committees align with the Four Pillars of Catholic Education -Teaching and Learning, Mission and Identity, Continual Renewal and Sustainability and Stewardship.

• Meet with your sub-committee colleagues and focus on the task
• Be prepared to report to P&F meetings;
• Attend meetings regularly;
• Send apologies if unable to attend;
• Be cooperative at all times;
• Responsibility for what has been agreed should be shared by all group members;
• Attend to business of particular sub-committee to obtain outcome;
• Ensure Terms of Reference for committee is adhered to.

Communications Officer

Work with College Marketing and Communications Officer to support P&F by:

• Ensuring a regular P&F item for the Newsletter is submitted to the College;
• Liaising with Class Representatives regarding P&F events/issues;
• Maintaining positive communications between P&G, parents and College staff;
• Assisting with preparation and distribution of promotional material for P7F events; and
• Monitor and update P&F Facebook page in accordance with College Solcial Media Guidelines.

Fundraising Officer

The Fundraising Officer coordinates fundraising initiatives approved by the P&F and the College to facilitate the funding of major projects.

Grants Officer

The Grants Officer supports the P&F and College by identifying and preparing applications for relevant grants and funding opportunities.

Diocesan Council Delegates

To represent the P&F of your school at the diocesan council:

• Attend your school P&F association meetings;
• Attend Diocesan cluster and/or diocesan council meetings;
• Ensure correspondence from diocesan council is read and dealt with appropriately;
• Report to the P&F about diocesan council meetings;
• Take issues to diocesan council meetings.

In mid 2019, the P&F put out a document outlining the structure of the P&F and how it aligns with the four pillars.  This document is attached.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact the P&F on HIGPandF@twb.catholic.edu.au

We hope to see new faces at the meeting :) 

Please see the attached document which outlines NDIS and Carers Queensland local information/workshop dates.