2024 St Mary's Primary School Fortnightly Newsletter Term 3 Week 1

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 3 Week 1

Welcome to a new term, and our second Semester! As always there will be much happening around our school over the next ten weeks so make sure that you stay tuned for our fortnightly newsletter to keep up with all the happenings at St. Mary's.

On Monday 15th July our teachers undertook professional development in Religious Education with the focus on prayer and the different forms this can take. For Catholics, prayer is an essential aspect of their faith and spiritual life. It is a way to communicate with God, seek guidance, express gratitude, and find solace. We understand many families at St Mary's are not of the Catholic faith, and some may not even be faith-based. At St Mary's prayer is invitational and opportunities are provided for all to be included if they choose to do so. Whether prayer is traditional or non-traditional, prayer can be inclusive, inviting people of all faiths and beliefs to join in a shared spiritual experience.

On Tuesday 16th July as students returned we welcomed Jack into the Wheat class, along with parents Emma and Shannon. Welcome to St Mary's!

Thank you also to families who have already made a booking for the Parent-Teacher interviews for either next Tuesday or next Thursday afternoon - bookings are still available through PAM.

In preparation for new Principal appointment 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 develop the interview questions for the Principal Appointment Panel.  There will also be a survey sent out to staff and families soon to seek feedback from those who may be unable to meet with Janet on these dates. 

I wish all families a very happy third term. This is our coldest term but we will continue to work together to look out for each other in the weeks ahead as we learn and play together.

Travel safely with God's blessings,

Nerrida

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 have had an enrolment package sent home in their school bag at the end of last term. 

Reports now available, Parent-Teacher Interviews next week- 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. Please contact your child's teacher if you are having difficulty accessing your child's report. 

We will hold Parent-Teacher Interviews next week 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. 

WWSSA Sports- helpers needed.

The WWSSA interschool sports will be held at ANZAC Park on Wednesday 21 August. Students involved and the events in which they have been entered will be sent home with students early next week. There will be a canteen available on the day with a lunch order form to fill in closer to the date.

There will be approximately 37 children involved across the day, which is more than half the school. St Mary's has also been asked to provide two adults to supervise the shot put and two for long jump, as another small school has pulled out due to their inability to staff the day.  St Mary's is a small school, and Wednesday is a day with no specialist classes, so staffing for the day will be limited. Two relief teachers have been organised, and it is essential we have parents to assist through the day, especially with helping overseeing the shot put and long jump.  Staff will be required to walk students between school and ANZAC Park,  supervise and organise students for their events at ANZAC Park, and supervise classes and yard duties back at school. So your help is incredibly important for this day to go ahead. 

If you are able to assist on the day please contact Nerrida.  We will coordinate as best we can to ensure those parents helping are released to see their child compete in their events. If we dont get enough helpers, it will be very hard for us to support events like this for the children in the future. Please help if you can. 

Pie Drive Fundraiser - pick up August 5

Thank you Parent Club for organisisng the Pie Drive and to all families and friends who have purchased goods. Orders have now closed. Pies will be available for pick up on Monday August 5.

School TV - Resilience

Resilience is important for a child’s mental health. It is their ability to bounce back from failure, challenges, adversity and stress. It’s not something that kids have or don’t have but a skill that kids develop over time as they grow. Building resilience not only helps a child deal with current difficulties, but it also helps develop a resilient mindset that will help them deal with challenges later in life. All children are capable of working through challenges and coping with stress, but they require guidance and support from a charismatic adult role model.

"Resilience is key to addressing mental health issues. We need to allow our kids to experience adversity. There is a tendency to shield our kids because parents have become a bit over-protective.”   Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

For further information please go to https://smwarracknabeal.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience

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'. 

A Personal Autism Story

Please see the flyer below. Daniel is a very inspirational young man, and was a student at Catholic College Bendigo when I taught there. His talks are very informative and shares how neurodiverse people can lead successful and richly fulfilling lives.

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

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. 

Child Safe Standards

Community News