St Mary's Primary School Newsletter Term 3 Week 4

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.

Enrolment 2023 – Personalised or group Tours available anytime!

Enrolments for 2023 are open! We invite all prospective families to come to St Mary's school for a visit to see for themselves our great school and learning in action. New and existing families are invited to contact principal@smwarracknabeal.catholic.edu.au or phone 5398 2001 to arrange a personal or small group tour of our school and learn more about how St Mary's Primary school can be your first choice for your child’s primary education.

Our well-organized transition program working with Warracknabeal Memorial Kindergarten aims to ensure that your child starts their education at St Mary's Primary feeling confident and happy. For our Foundation children, we have many opportunities for your child to become familiar with their teachers, peers, and buddies.

Students enrolling in all year levels will be invited to attend the State-wide Transition Day which is usually held in early December.  This date will be confirmed closer to the time.

Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 3 Week 4

Last Sunday was the 18th Sunday of Ordinary time in our Church. In the Gospel from Luke last
weekend Jesus told the parable of a rich man who was concerned with increasing his wealth, rather than sharing with those in need. The Gospel challenges us to think about how important
the acquisition of material wealth is to us. We should also be thinking about what we can do to
make ourselves ‘rich in the eyes of God’. The quest for material wealth and security can be a
cause of distraction from what is really important. This week, we are called to reflect on the attitudes and values we need to cultivate to be rich in the eyes of God. 

Prayer for Justice

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:
a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

- Author Unknown

This week we have been blessed with limited numbers compared to previous weeks with student and staff illness.  Whilst we hope we may be over the peak of our Winter COVID and flu infections, we are very thankful that more children and staff have been able to recover and return to school. We have missed you! We wish all good health and anticipate will be back at school soon.  Next week is a shorter week as we head into our circuit breaker long weekend, plus we have the CEP Aladdin perfomance to look forward to. 

We are leading into our Kinder transition for 2023 and we are all very much looking forward to new students and families joining St Mary's in 2023.  Please see articles regarding the Kinder information evening and the School TV links with resources supporting families with thildren transitioning to  primary school and secondary school. 

Travel safely with God's blessings

Nerrida Holland

Principal

Kindergarten/ Foundation Information Evening

We will be holding our  information evening for our Fondation students from new and current families on Monday 22nd August from 5:00 pm for a 5:30 start.  There will be a light supper provided and child minding available.  We are very much looking forward to sharing with you the exciting opportunities St Mary's can offer your child and why St Mary's should be your first choice for primary education for your children.

Father's Day Breakfast Friday September 2  (only 3 responses so far....)

All fathers and significant adult male family members are invited to breakfast from 8:00am on Friday September 2.  If you would like to attend, for catering purposes, please complete the google form below or email principal@smwarracknabeal.catholic.edu.au

Staff Vacancies for 2022 and 2023

We have staff vacancies Term 4 and into 2023, and have advertised through Catholic Education Ballarat/ Victoria and regional media. Please let your networks know we are seeking staff for 2022/2023 and casual relief teachers.

Key Dates

Curriculum

Book Week - Dress Up  Day and Parade 23rd August

Dont forget Book Week is during the Week 22nd-26th August.  \We have some special events planneed. The theme for this week is 'Dreaming with eyes open We will be having our Book Week Parade On TUESDAY 23rd AUGUST at 9:15 am.  Students are asked to come to school dressed as their favorite book character or something related to the Book Week theme.

Barley Assembly

Report from Barley students:

Dear parents and families, we are here to explain our  wonderful Barley assembly! In our assembly, we showed some of our artworks we created with Mrs Letts and Bron. We created pots out of clay, robots using three different techniques, and paper mache planets. We also showed our fraction artworks. These artworks used different fractions like halves, thirds, quarters, fifths and eighths. Two people shared their information texts that were completed last Term. These were about Natural Disasters and famous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. We, the Barley class, worked hard on our assembly, and we are thankful to be able to share it with you. 

Congratulation to all our award winners as well!

CEP Performance "Aladdin

CEP (Country Education Partnership) Performance "Aladdin" from Alpha Shows

• Wednesday, 10th August at 10.30 am
• Horsham Town Hall
• Depart St Mary's Primary School  at 9.15 am
• Return to school  12.45 pm
• Travel by Bus
• Permission Forms on Operoo

For more information and preview go to https://www.alphashows.com.au/schedule/aladdin/

Soccer Clinics - return 19th August

Thank you to Jason and the Positive Start Program supported by the Department of Education and Training Victoria for free our soccer clinics  Jason will return on Tuesday 19th August for our next session. (Click on the photos to enlarge)

School TV - School Transition

At this time of year families of Kindergarten and Grade 6 children are considering the school at which they will attend next year. Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means that the children are growing up!

However, for many it may also be a very anxious and stressful time for both parents and children. Parents need to be aware of their child’s feelings during any school transition and minimise anxiety so the process is an enjoyable experience for all. It is important for children to attend transition or orientation programs offered by schools. Familiarisation is often key to reducing stress levels. It is also important for parents to talk to their children about their expectations and being more responsible for their own needs.

The following link has many resources to help families with their child transitioning schools

https://smwarracknabeal.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-transitions

This is also a useful article with practical advice for starting secondary school

https://smwarracknabeal.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter-article/7272/52

Child Safety

Child safety and wellbeing at St Mary's Primary School: information for families and the school community

Below is the updated Statement of Commitment to Child Safety from the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV). This statement has been updated in light of the revised Child Safe
Standards that came into effect from July 1st. Please take the time to read the updated statement.
We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further
strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact Nerrida

Diocesan Bulletin

Please find below the link for the July 2022 edition of “Our Diocesan Community”

https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ODC-July-2022-web.pdf.

Australian Parents Council Newsletter

Please see the link below for information for parents

Community News

Parish Bulletin