2025 St Mary's Primary School Newsletter Term 2 Week 6

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.

Principal's News

Dear families,

This week St Mary’s, St Patrick’s Nhill and OLHC Murtoa will be celebrating Catholic Education Week together. The three schools will attend Mass, enjoy a provided for, BBQ lunch (sausage in bread) and in mixed groups will be doing some fun activities. The whole school will travel by bus to Murtoa today leaving at 9:15 and returning by 3:00 pm. Take a look at our Facebook Page later today.

This week is also Reconciliation Week and this year’s theme ‘Bridging Now to Next’ encourages all Australians to continue to work together while being guided by the lessons of the past. Please read the Special Report (SR) from the Lentil students below.

Over the next two weeks the office will be unattended at times. I ask for your patience in advance and assure you that we will respond to messages left on our answering service.

Following the previous newsletter, students have experienced a range of activities involving all key curriculum areas. Most of the additional activities and events that happen at St Mary’s are posted  on our Facebook Page as most of you have seen. Special Reports (SR) are also included on the Newsletter 

Many parents came to watch (and join in) the children’s dance performance, following many lessons over the course of the week from Stomp Dance Company. Students, staff and families that were able to, participated in the National Walk to School Day on Friday 16th.(SR)

Last Wednesday, our whole school joined over 16,000 other groups across Australia for National Simultaneous Story Time. This year’s book, Truck Cat, shared a heartwarming story about friendship and belonging, as a truck driver and his cat connected over memories of home. After the reading, students got creative making cats, trucks, and their own versions of “home.” It was especially lovely to see our senior students supporting and guiding the juniors during the activities — a true reflection of our caring school community. 

Last Friday, Mrs Woods (Wellbeing) organised two separate excursions for the F-2  and 3-6 classes to visit the Warracknabeal Community Garden (SR). Thank you to all the St Mary’s staff for consistently seeking opportunities for our children to grow academically, socially and emotionally. Also Thank you to Cath Bellis for organising Book Week sales and making herself available for families to purchase books.

Julie

Key Dates

School Promotional Video

After two busy days of filming, the school promotional video is now live. You can find the link below.

St Mary's Pie Drive 🥧

Pie Drive, Treat your taste buds and support a great cause! Our pie drive is back, and we are serving up delicious pies from Warrack Bakery just in time for winter!We are asking everyone to please collect orders and sell pies to friends, families and neighbours. We have a variety of yummy flavours to choose from, so spread the word and get those orders rolling in!

Parent's Club

              Parent's Club Wood Raffle

Parents club have been incredibly busy with lots of planning and fundraising, all money raised goes towards the children and the school. 

The wood raffle is still running, money and tickets are due back to school by this Friday 28th May, raffle will be drawn on Monday morning at 9am. We would like to thank Corey and Kristy Gove, Aaron and Jess Boyd and Sam and Shane Schulz who have donated trailer loads of wood, we really appreciate your donations.

If you would like to join Parents Club, our next meeting is on Tuesday 24th June, 3:30pm in the school library.

St Mary's Being Active: Walk to School Day

Many of the students and staff from St Mary's actively participated in the National Walk Safely to School Day in Australia last Friday. This day encourages families to walk to school together and emphasizes road safety. It's a chance for children to be active, practice road safety, and reduce traffic congestion.  Thank you to the parents and staff that were able to keep our children safe during the walk from ANZAC Park to school.

Thank you for participating in the 26th
National Walk Safely to School Day last Friday.

We hope you had a great time and know your support of this important community initiative is hugely appreciated. 

We were thrilled to also have the support of the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP. Please see his official letter of support below along with some images from last week's events around the country!

Warm regards,
The Pedestrian Council of Australia

Reconciliation Week 2025

Last week Lentils class presented Assembly based on Reconciliation Week. Reconciliation  week is always held between 27th May and 3rd June. This week is about recognising the wrong things done, saying sorry and offering forgiveness. It is a time to reflect on the shared histories, cultures, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians, so we can work towards a more just and equitable nation.  We all need to listen to each other and respect each other's ideas and cultures. Hudson and Ryan looked up some statistics about reconciliation and found:

• Ninety-five percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 91% of Australians in the general community feel our relationship is important.
• 93% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 89% of Australians in the general community supporting formal truth-telling processes in relation to Australia’s shared history.                  

• Most of us also believe that education about our shared past is critical, with 83% of the general community and 91% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people agreeing that it’s important for Indigenous history and culture to be taught in schools.

This week, we will continue to explore what reconciliation is and why it is important to Australians.

by Lentils class.

Warracknabeal Community Garden

As part of our Wellbeing Program this term, The F-6 clalsses went to the Warracknabeal Community Garden last Friday. While there, students were able to feel and taste the different produce they grow as well as learn about sustainability. It inspired many of the students to think about what we can do at school to become more sustainable. There was a buzz  excited for things we could include in our own garden at school. It was a great learning experience where students were able to make community connections and explore environmental science considering things like compost bins.

F-2 Cross Country

Yesterday the F-2 students participated in the school Cross Country. There was a great deal of enthusiasm as we have been training for the last few weeks. Congratulations to the First, Second and Third Place winners. Well done to all the students that tried their hardest to complete their first cross country event.

Football Fever. 

On Sunday the 18th May, the Wimmera Football Netball League launched the Women’s and under 14.5 girls football, this is such a wonderful opportunity for women and girls in the Wimmera to either pursue their passion or start something new. 

In the under 14.5 girls team, Indigo played, getting in there and she really enjoyed playing, playing alongside her were previous St Mary’s students Matilda Drage and Eedie Rowe. The girls all did an amazing job, coming out with a win against Laharum, 8.12.73  to 5.4.34. An amazing start to girls football in the Wimmera! 

For the women’s team, parent Ali Perris made her debut for the Minyip/Murtoa team, doing an absolutely amazing job as number 23, the women’s team lost by 9, but they tried their best and did amazing! 

SchoolTV: Blended Families

“Many people suffer the "Brady delusion” – the notion that everything's going to be peachy and perfect. The reality is, there isn't a step-family on the planet that actually works like that.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Overview of this edition

In the past, step-parenting has always had a bad rap. Throughout history, fairytales have often depicted characters by describing them as the evil step-mother or step-sister. Today, this family demographic is becoming the fastest-growing in the world! On average, one in five families is a ‘step’ or ‘blended’ family. These two terms are now used interchangeably to remove some of the negative stigma. For many step-parent’s, the greatest challenge lies in determining what their role is within the family. It is important to allow this role to develop organically with time and patience being key.

We are a BARR school (Bushfire at Risk)

Pleae read the communication below. As a Bushfire at Risk school, on days there is a Catastrophic fire danger forcasted in our district, the school will close. Other educational providers in our area will also close, and there will be no school byses running. We need to receive notification from the Department if Education and also DOBCEL in order to close. The school will always endeavour to notify families as soon as practical. We did have two Catastrophic school closure days earlier this year. 

Please ensure you have downloaded the SIMON everywhere app to receive the first notification of a sudden school closure through PAM, as this is the official school emergency notification platform.

Then emails will be sent to families, followed by a Facebook update. 

DOBCEL Strategy 2035

Please find below a letter from Catholic Education Ballarat Executive Director, Tom Sexton and DOBCEL Board Chair Terry Harney regarding the DOBCEL Strategy 2035.

This letter introduces the new strategy that all DOBCEL schools will be working through over the next ten years.

Child Safety at St Mary's

St Mary's is committed to zero tolerance of child abuse, listening to and empowering children and young people and keeping children and young people safe. We are committed to being proactive in the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young people. Child Safe Standard 11 as below highlights what we as an organisation must do. regarding documentation. If you ever have any concerns, regarding the safety and wellbeing of your child please contact the Principal. Your information makes us more aware of what needs to be addressed and how we can improve. 

For more information please visit this link Child Safe Standards 

Thunderstorm Asthma

Community News