Dear Parents

As a Catholic learning community,

all at Mother Teresa School are called

to care, to dream, to innovate, to inspire!

What a year! So many exciting events and opportunities were provided to the children, with lots of successes celebrated throughout the year. It is now time to give thanks to the amazing staff, wonderful parents community, and the fabulous children for making the years so enjoyable. We give thanks at this joyful time of Christmas for the many special moments and faith-filled encounters shared and celebrated.

Farewell to 

• Karen Garrity, DLT Coordinator, has been a wonderful support to so many children and parents to ensure all children had access to the curriculum. Karen is off to SFX to develop a new inclusion program.
• Liana White is retiring to enjoy the grandchildren and to take time to travel.
• Susan Curbishley, our Music Teacher, provided so many amazing musical experiences. 
• Stephanie Travers, who has been on leave for 2023 will be remaining in Cairns.
• Trees Williams, who has been on maternity leave for 2023 is moving to the coast.
• Sara McCluskey, is moving to the coast to live and will be putting her kinder experience to excellent use in 2024.
• Kathy Falaras, a Classroom Support Assistant, is moving to Melbourne to be close to extended family.
• Kari Turnbull, on exchange in 2023, and will be remaining at Holy Spirit, Nicholls.
• Vicki Strickland, our Community Liasion Officer, whose support has been very much appreciated by the Community Council. Vicki's position was paid via a specialised grant funded by the Government for one semester.
• Racheal Trow (ELC) is moving north.
• Emily Hu (ELC) looking for a new adventure.
• Michelle Woodward for all the help with the ELC over the last 6 months. We are hoping to announce our new Director in the new year.
• The many families leaving our community and the Year 6 students

We wish you all the very best for the future and your new ventures. 

2024 Classes 

On Wednesday, most children had the opportunity to meet their teacher/s and the students in their new class group. Many hours have been given to setting up the classes, with each child being placed with a student from their nominated list that they provided to the teacher earlier in the term. 

Year Books 

Our amazing 2023 Year Books were handed out to the students on Monday. Unfortunately, we do not have any additional copies for sale.

Building Project 2024

During the week I received formal notification that the school's grant application was successful and we will receive an Australian Government Capital Grant for $863,000 toward the cost of our hall extension project. I am still to communicate with CE regarding our timeline and if we will have access to parts of the hall during the project. More to come in 2024. 

School Reports

Our Semester Two reports were issued on Tuesday. A Compass notification was sent to parents via the Compass portal. Families leaving must copy or save all documents on Compass as you will no longer have access once your child finishes at MTS. The school can still access the reports and email copies on request. 

Uniform Shop Opening 2024 - Opening 29 January

Our uniform shop volunteers have advised that they will open the uniform shop on Monday 29 January from 9:00am to 10:00am. Please ensure you bring cash if your Qkr! app is not downloaded and working. 

Back to School 2024

We look forward to welcoming our

• Year 1 to 6 students back to school on Wednesday 31 January 2024.
• Kinder students on Thursday 1 February - please gather in the courtyard from 8.40am.

God bless and have a beautiful Christmas, if travelling stay safe.

Carmel Maguire

Principal

Online registration for the Sacrament of Confirmation for 2024 Year 6 Catholic students is now open.

Please use this link to the Google form:  https://forms.gle/7GoSYdPAimvdeEj79

or scan this QR code which takes you to the form: 

Early registration is greatly appreciated.

*Payment must be made to the Holy Spirit Parish, NOT YOUR SCHOOL.

If you are going to purchase a Chromebook for your child, now is an excellent time to have a look around. 

At Mother Teresa School teaching and learning in Years 4, 5 and 6 involves a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 bring their home-owned device to and from school each day and use their device to support some of their learning throughout the school day. The devices are used to complement the curriculum, and are used purposefully. Technology provides different opportunities for collaboration, creativity and independence. Technology does not take the place of good teaching.

Our BYOD program is currently in transition from iPads to Chromebooks, with the vast majority of Year 4 students bringing Chromebooks in 2023. If you are purchasing a new device, we ask that it be a Chromebook.

Teachers have reported that Chromebooks are much better suited to the research, publishing and typing needs of student learning compared to iPads.

BYOD devices other than Chromebooks and iPads are not supported at Mother Teresa School. 

Devices do not have to be brand new. Please contact the office if sourcing a device is difficult.

Please see below for device requirements.

Further information about the BYOD program, policies and setup instructions will follow later in the year but we know parents are keen to find out about specifications now.

BYOD Chromebook specifications - Years 4 - 6

The transition of BYOD (Bring your Own Device) to Chromebooks continues in 2023. If purchasing a new device, we ask that it is a Chromebook. A Chromebook is a kind of laptop running Chrome OS, an operating system made by Google. Chromebooks are made by a range of known technology brands like Lenovo and ASUS. There often is not a lot of difference between brands. 

You may like to shop around and see if there are student or education deals around or keep an eye out for upcoming shopping events like Black Friday (October/November), Cyber Monday (November), Boxing Day (December).

When purchasing, please be aware of the following specifications: 

• 4GB Memory (RAM) minimum
• 32GB Storage for use in primary school is fine, many will have 64GB anyway
• 11-13 Inch screen minimum 
• personal preference
• please consider the size and weight of the device - your child is transporting the device to and from school each day - not too heavy or large
• consider if it fits into their school bag (this was an issue we discovered in 2023)
• At least 8 hour battery life 
• Must have the ability to connect to headphones, whether it be via a port or bluetooth - whatever your student has access to
• Must have a camera
• A touchscreen can be useful for some students (but it's optional) 
• Stay away from Chromebook tablets without keyboards - these are not recommended
• In terms of price, don't spend too much on the Chromebook. A budget of up to $500 is reasonable. One of the deciding factors in moving from iPads to Chromebooks was the comparable/cheaper price.
• A protective case or cover for the Chromebook is required
• Headphones or earphones are required
• Some students have a mouse (optional)
• Warranty should be a consideration when purchasing a device
• We recommend that you consider adding the device to your insurance policy

Chromebooks do not require active firewalls, or anti-virus and anti-malware software. When the Chromebook is connected to the school network via specialised BYOD WiFi, it will utilise the online security settings set up by Catholic Education.

Dear Parents,

Thank you for providing your student with a Chromebook for their learning.

After experiencing some teething problems during 2023 with Chromebook setups, we have determined that the following is the most reliable setup for students to access their account at school.

 In order for the Chromebook to be used at school, please set up the following:

 1. Personal Account

We recommend parents sign into the Chromebook using a personal account first. It can be their own account, or the account they create for the student. 

The first account will automatically be the owner account of that device. By doing this, parents can set up parental controls and students won’t have admin. The family will still have access to the iPad in the case the student leaves Catholic education.

Instructions:https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047362?hl=en

2. Child personal account

If the personal account set up in Step 1 belongs to an adult, please set up a child personal account. The student will need this in order to add their school account. If the child already has a personal account on the Chromebook, you can skip this step.

Instructions:https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1059242?hl=en

3. Child school account inside the child’s personal account

Please add the school account inside the child’s personal account. 

1. Student signs in to their personal account
2. At the bottom right, select the time.
3. Select Settings cog.
4. In the "Accounts" section, at the top, select your Google Account.
5. Select Add Student Account
6. Follow the on-screen steps.
7. Parents will need to enter their email password to allow this.

The student needs to use their school account to access Google Classroom, Google Drive, and other apps in the Google Suite. The student account is managed by Catholic Education.

Your child has a record of their school account. It is in the form of their school email address

Eg. mrobit02@cgstudents.catholic.edu.au and a password they nominated with their teacher. This password has more complex requirements as soon as students begin Year 4. Teachers will guide students through choosing a suitable password.

Students will then be able to switch between their home and school accounts in Chrome by clicking on their letter icon in the top right corner.

Family Link controls

If parents would like to apply extra supervision to the Chromebook, they can set up Family Link.

However, at this stage Catholic Education ICT and Mother Teresa Staff are not in the position of supporting parents with Family Link on BYO devices. 

Some information and instructions are below:

https://support.google.com/families/answer/7101025?hl=en

https://support.google.com/families/answer/7680868?hl=en

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9900467

If you child has been using Seesaw in their classroom and you are connected to the class with a family account you will continue to have access to your child's content even after the class is archived.

Do you want to download a copy of your student's work? Here's how to download a .zip archive of a Seesaw journal, including pictures, photos, videos, audio recordings, and text notes or captions. 

Please use a computer and a Chrome or Firefox browser only, the .zip file will not download on a mobile or tablet device.

You will get files organized by month and then ordered by the date the post was added. You'll see an .html file with a thumbnail, text notes or captions, folder names, and links (if the post used the Link Creative Tool). You'll also see the original image, video, or audio files.

Find instructions here https://help.seesaw.me/hc/en-us/articles/208754866-How-do-families-and-students-download-an-archive-of-student-work-

MTS Community Council - Thanks for a great year!

As we come to the end of 2023, the MTS Community Council Social & Fundraising Committee would like to thank our school community for supporting our endeavours this year.

This includes the Easter Raffle, Paint and Sip and the Carols Picnic as well as fundraising projects: Recycling/10c, Family Portraits, Environmental Collections, School Year Book, Entertainment Books, Scholastic Books and the Second Hand Uniform Shop.

Thank you to those who helped out with volunteering, organising, supporting and donating to these events and activities.

We will be having a welcome picnic early in the new school year and look forward to reconnecting again after the summer break, as well as welcoming new families to MTS.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Your Community Council Friends.