2024 St Mary's Primary School Fortnightly Newsletter Term 2 Week 11

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 2 Week 11

With mixed emotions I sent all families and staff an email announcing my resignation at the end of the 2024 school year. The process is now underway through DOBCEL to advertise for a new Principal for St Mary's. The position is currently advertised through DOBCEL and soon to be through statewide and interstate media and educational leadership platforms. Filming occurred yesterday and this promotional video will be uploaded with the position advertisement next week.  Thank you to students Elli and Hudson, staff Paula and Victoria and parent Jess Lang for agreeing to be part of the video.

In preparation for interviews, Janet Claassen (Educational Consultant DOBCEL) will be here on site from 3:00pm Monday 29th July to meet with interested staff. For the parent community, Janet will be available before, during and after school on Tuesday 30th July to meet with interested parents, in order to seek community feedback to to  develop the interview questions for the Principal Appointment Panel.  There will also be a survey sent out to staff and families next term to seek feedback from those who may be unable to meet with Janet on these dates. 

As mentioned in my email to the St Mary's community, it has been an honour ( and still is!) to lead this beautiful little school. I have cherished the opportunity to work with dedicated staff, supportive parents and inspiring students. Together, we have a nurturing and supportive environment that fosters safe, respectful and responsible learning. After giving myself some time to reflect, I intend to work with children at risk in marginalised communities here and perhaps even one day overseas.

I will continue to update you of the new Principal appointment process as information comes to hand. 

As we head into the school holiday break, may you all stay warm and safe. I look forward to seeing all the students again on Tuesday 16 July - don't forget Monday 15 July is a school closure day!

Travel safely with God's blessings,

Nerrida

Hudson and Elli being interviewed for the Principal advertisement

Learning Walk Success!  The importance of parent engagement.

We had a fabulous turn out of current and prospective families to engage in our Learning Walk last Wednesday. Family Engagement Consultant, Tony Dalton assisted with the process to guide interested parents and children through our school to see the learning of our school in action and witness our point of difference.  At the end of the walk we received much positive feedback from our visitors, especially how calm and inviting our school is and also how the students were on task and knew what they were doing for the purpose of their learning - very impressive!

There has been much research around how strong parental engagement can improve learning outcomes.  A learning walk is not just a school tour.  It provides opportunity for parents to see for themselves the learning environment for their child and strengthens our partnership with families. Research also shows students with engaged parents do better. Here at St Mary's we will continue to explore opportunities to work closely with parents to create a culture of shared involvement and high expectations.

Please pass onto your friends and colleagues, especially those with children starting school next year as to why St Mary's should be considered to be the choice for their child's primary education. Please also ask people to contact me if the would like further information. 

We will have other Learning Walks through the year. Please email Nerrida at principal@smwarracknabeal.catholic.edu.au   to join us for the next Learning Walk.

Foundation Enrolments

Preparations are underway for our 2025 Foundation class. For all new and existing families with children due to commence in 2025, please collect an enrolment package and return your completed applications to the office as soon as possible.  Current students with siblings joining us next year will have an enrolment package sent home in their school bag.  

Safety Poster Competition and fundraising for St Vincent de Paul.

Well done to those students who participated in the Safety Poster competition. Thank you to families for your donations to SVDP. Congratulations to Chloe, winner of two movie tickets for her colorful presentation to reinforce to everyone to be a safe, respectful and responsible member of St Mary's. 

Year level prize winners are: 

Foundation:  Summer; Year 1: Frankie; Year 2: Jai and Jacko; Year 3: Ashi and Violet; Year 4: Elli; Year 5: Harlow; Year 6: Aleah 

Also at the liturgy we were able to present our engraved Swimming Carnival trophy to Blue House Captains, and also present Ryan with his medallion for U10 champion - these finally arrived!

St Vincent de Paul volunteers kindly provided a sausage and bread lunch for the students and staff today. We were able to say thank you to the team of volunteers and present them with $300 of fundraising. Thank you families for your contributions. 

Thank you Kalarni!

This week we welcomed Kalarni from Warracknabeal Secondary College for her work experience placement. Kalarni enjoyed being in classes across the school and experiencing life in education other than a student. Thank you for being with us Kalarni and best wishes with your future endeavours.

Canola class - Gratitude for our First Repsonders

(From Meika in Canola )

In Religion this term, the Canola Class were learning about Gratitude and
made a hamper for the First Responders in our community. The groups created four hampers for each first responder group; CFA, SES, Police and Ambulance.

In each hamper we put in a mini model of their business vehicle, a decorated cup and bowl, chocolates from all students, coffee satchels, tissue paper flowers made by the students, a heartfelt letter to thank them and a school pen. A gift card was placed on top of the hamper that all of the items were neatly arranged in.

All first responder groups came to our school to receive their hamper. We asked a few questions about their job and thanked them for all of the hard work they do for us.  We would like to thank all of the first responders for keeping our community a safe and protected place to stay. They are very hard-working and try their best to protect our shire and other's lives.

(Thank you Meika, and also Mrs Letts and Bron for your work with Canola in organising the hampers and contacting the first repsonders to meet the students at school to receive their hampers)

Hamper presentations to our first responders

Latest Assembly Award Winners

After presenting a song in three parts from Music class, Canola have been working in teams to create a Mars Habitat. Their big question for the term was "How can we design and build a sustainable habitat for people to live in space?" Students used the design process to plan, create and review their habitat.

Wheat then presented a song called Sneaking Around on chimebars. Every year there is a display in Hobart to recognise the role that Hobart plays with work done in Antarctica. This year, we are contributing 50 penguins decorated by students at our school. These will be displayed around Hobart with other penguins from all around Australia.

Chickpeas ended the assembly with two songs - 'I had a little turtle' and 'Barramundi'. They shared their stomp rockets. Chickpeas have been learning about what it takes for an astronaut to get to Mars. They made themselves into astronauts then made stomp rockets and flew them on the oval. A stomp rocket is a small rocket on the end of a pipe. You stomp on a bottle and the rocket flies into the air. Chickpeas talked about how the air gets forced through the tubes and makes the rockets fly.

All students had been working very hard on their assembly presentations over the term. Well done to all students on their hard work for the Semester.

(Thank you to Fiona Holland for organising the assembly. Thank you also to Sarah-Jayne Holland for videoing the assembly which is uploaded to our Family Facebook page.)

Reports now available, Parent-Teacher Interviews next term- all on PAM

Communication between home and school is always an ongoing process at St Mary's, and twice a year, families receive a formal student report highlighting student achievement and growth. Semester One reports are now available via PAM on the SIMON Everywhere App. 

We will hold Parent-Teacher Interviews early next term on Tuesday July 23 and Thursday July 25. Bookings for these are also now available via PAM. The interviews will be held in person at the school and will provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress with their classroom teacher (s). If you are unable to attend on that date or require a phone interview, please contact your child’s teacher to arrange an alternative time. 

Canola student interviews are to be booked on PAM with Clare Letts. Meg Werner will also be in attendance

Wheat student interviews are to be booked on PAM with Claire Schulz.  Victoria McPhee will also be present

Chickpea student interviews are to be booked on PAM with Louise Kemp. 

School TV - Celebrating NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to recognise and learn more about the history and culture of indigenous communities.

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced back to the Aboriginal rights movement, when on Australia Day 1938, protestors marched through the streets of Sydney to highlight the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Today, it is a week-long celebration held in July that consists of range of traditional and contemporary activities.

NAIDOC Week is an important event that helps build positive relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It enables a deeper understanding of our differences and similarities. NAIDOC week is an opportunity for all Australians to eliminate bias and discrimination by reflecting and reconciling the wrongs of the past to facilitate hope and build a fairer future. Families are encouraged to join in and support young people in learning the significance of NAIDOC Week.

This Special Report offers suggestions on how families can celebrate NAIDOC Week together. We hope you take a moment to reflect on the information offered, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you, a loved one or the wellbeing of your child, please seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your Special Report https://smwarracknabeal.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-celebrating-naidoc-week

CEP Perfomance "The Snow Queen"

Our next CEP excursion is next term to see the live Alpha Show performance of  'The Snow Queen", on Tuesday July 30 at the Horsham Town Hall. The story looks at how our negative or positive perceptions alter our thoughts and emotions and how these can affect us reaching our own potential. This engaging and interactive storytelling experience takes the characters and the audience through steps to be all of who we are. Students will travel to and from the venue by bus. Permission forms are now available through PAM. 

Parent/Carer Excursion/Camp form update

DOBCEL have updated the requirements for consent for our excursions and camps.  Moving forward, permission forms for activities on PAM have now been adjusted to reflect this. These changes have been made to ensure parents are able to give informed consent to their child's participation in an excursion after considering the risks, that you have been provided with all specific information and have the opportunity to ask questions. You will only see a few slight changes from previous permission forms.  This new format will be used for the next excursion for the 'Snow Queen'. 

Last Day of School 2024 Wednesday 18 December

Families for your planning please note the last day for students at school will be Wednesday 18 December, school finishing at this stage until further notice from WEP at 3:15 pm

Child Safe Standards

School Fees

Thank you to families who have paid their student levy and arranged payments.  If you are experiencing difficulties with fees please contact Nerrida for a confidential discussion and payment plan options. 

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