St Mary's Primary School Newsletter Term 4 Week 3

Acknowledgement of Country

St Mary’s Primary School respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the
Wimmera Mallee area, the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk
peoples, and pays respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples.

As partners in Catholic Education and open to God’s presence, we pursue the fullness of life for all.  St Mary's Catholic Primary School  is committed to the safety and well-being of all students.

Key Dates

Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 4 Week 3

This week we wish Eilish Flagg safe travels as she embarks on her trip to Rome as one of the Australian Catholic University representatives to participate in the III Uniservitate Symposium to be held in Rome. We are very proud of Eilish's selection for the program and look forward to hearing of her experiences and her sharing knowledge and ideas to continue and grow the Catholic mission of social justice at St Mary's.  Eilish will return to school on Thursday November 3. 

October is Catholic Mission month and we have recognised this with a liturgy this week and Lentils planning  towards their fundraising day on Wednesday November 2. 

A reminder we have our school closure day on Tuesday 25th October, and on Wednesday  26th October I will be accompanying student representatives to a Child Safety forum in Horsham.

Travel safely with God's blessings

Nerrida Holland

Principal

Mission Month

This October, we are celebrating World Mission Month, a month dedicated to the life-giving work of missionaries around the world. This year, we walk hand-in-hand with the Church of Ethiopia and the local communities towards providing life-changing opportunities to those most in need.
Pope Francis, in his 2022 World Mission Sunday message, invites everyone to answer the call to be
missionary, sharing that "Mission is carried out together, not individually..."
Through the Pontifical Mission Societies’ international network, Catholic Mission is answering the
call to help build brighter futures. Working at a grass-roots level and closely collaborating with the
local communities, Catholic Mission aims to find sustainable solutions which will bring hope to
those in most need. Their work is currently supporting a range of mission development programs
in Ethiopia addressing malnutrition, the lack of access to education for young children, and the vulnerable position of women in society.
In the rural region of Emdibir, where 70 percent of families struggle to put food on their tables,
Catholic Mission is working towards providing them with a sustainable source of nutrition by building a goat-rearing centre. The resources produced through the Centre will help fight malnutrition, a phenomenon that contributes to 50 percent of child deaths. This project is led by Fr Habte, a local priest who is dedicated to raising the local community out of poverty by creating employment, providing sustainable food resources, and bringing hope.

This week we welcomed Fr. Matt Restall to meet with the children as we had a short children's liturgy to acknowledge Catholic Mission Month. Lentils class and the Grade 6 leaders are now busy planning and coordinating Mission Day which will be celebrated on the afternoon of November 2. More details will be in next week's newsletter and also added to the Facebook page.  Your support of fundraising activities organised by our students will help to support this project!

School Advisory Council and Parent Club 2023

This week the AGM was held for School Advisory Council and Parent Club

For Parent Club, I am please to announce Jess Boyd as President, Sam Schulz as Vice President, Abby Stephan as Treasurer and Alison Perris as Secretary - a full complement of office bearers!.  We thank these parents for their willingness to take these positions. 

With incredible gratitude I thank Tammy Marshall, Narelle Drage and Emma Mansfield for their tireless contributions as committe members to Parent Club. Their dedication to plan and organise fundraiding activities from pie drives to special lunches has allowed money to be raised directed back to your children through equipment and other areas.  Thankfully these wonderful parents will still be active in fundraising events next year. 

Graeme Holland has now ended his time on our School Advisory Council and in the role of Chair.  Thank you Graeme for your calming nature, generosity of time and spirit and your passion for the stewardship of St Mary's.  Your support for me as new Principal, and also your work with Joy previously, is greatly appeciated.  Dale Stephan has ended his time on SAC, and Jess and Ali have moved to new roles in Parent Club.  Thank you all for your contributions as SAC members.  Narelle Drage will continue to be on SAC for 2023. 

We are still seeking new members and a Chair for SAC. If you are interested in being part of this team please contact Nerrida. 

Child Safety Forum in Horsham

Selected students from the schools of our Parish are coming together in Horsham on Wednesday
26th October to create child-friendly policies for the new Child Safe Standards. Students from St Mary's who have been selected are Evan, Finn, Eljah, Olivia and Blake.  The purpose of the day is to bring together students from the different primary schools in the Parish, to learn about the new Child Safety documentation and have the students work together to design a child friendly version of the standards to take back to to schools to share with their peers. The session will be run by representatives from Catholic Education Ballarat and teachers. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to work with students from other schools and have input into documentation that will be used across the Catholic primary schools in our Parish and the Ballarat Diocese. Ms Holland will be attending the day with the students. 

Curriculum

Lentils Assembly

Congratulations to Lentils for their amazing assembly this week.  It was very special particularly for the Grade 6 students, as this was their last assembly as hosts for the school.  In particular, the students invited our local police representatives as guests, in recognition of recent National Police Rememebrance Day. This allowed the students to say thank you to those who protect and serve our community.  The police were presented with appreciation certificates to show our school's gratitude.  Thank you Mrs. Letts, for your work guiding the students in designing and presenting such a wonderful assembly. 

Congratulations to our award winners, including our Pen Licence recipients, who were incredibly excited to gain their licence.  Be sure to have a look at the video of the assembly on our Facebook page!  Thank you Sarah-Jayne for filming. 

Sunscreen and Insect Repellent

Thank you to families who have already responded to the Operoo for Insect Repellent application. Now we are into the higher UV index time of the year, please apply suncreen as well as repellent to your child's exposed skin each day before school. Spraying clothing with repellent can also be helpful. Many students are also wearing mozzie patches on their clothing which is also encouraged.

School Uniform reminders

As students have now moved back into summer uniform, parents please check sizing as many children have had a growth spurt! In particular, girl's summer dresses may need to be lengthened.  As this is Term 4, purchasing new uniform before another growth spurt over the Christmas break may not be worthwhile, so please know we do have a range of good quality second hand uniform available. 

Also, scrunchies/ headbands/ ribbons must be in school material or dark navy blue. 

Community News

Parish Bulletin