2025 St Mary's Primary School 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.

Principal's News

Dear families,

Welcome Back!

Yesterday classrooms were buzzing with students and staff ready to dive into another exciting term, packed with learning, growth and fun.

During the last week of Term 2 Mid Year Reports were sent to families and the Parent/Carers Conversation Bookings were opened up on PAM. We encourage families to book a time with your child/childrens teacher as soon as possible.

In view of the school calendar, Term 3 is going to be a very busy and exciting term. I encourage you all to regularly take a look at our St Mary’s FB Page for additional event/activity news and information.

Just a reminder that the Parent’s Club Meeting will be held tonight,  6:00pm at the Palace Hotel and we would love to see more parents join (many hands make light work).The Parent’s Club consistently raise money, seek grants and generally work towards making St Mary’s a great place to be a part of. 

Please view our school calendar for important dates this term. Our first school event begins next Friday 1st August. The Foundation Class are celebrating 100 Days of school and families are welcome to join us at 9:00am for the Foundation Class School Assembly on that day. Only the children in the Founation Class will be dressing up for this milestone day.

Next week we say farewell to Mrs Kelly Woods who has been with us during Term 2. We thank Mrs Woods for her time and commitment in her role coordinating the MHiPS Program.

Travel assistance required: A family from Nhill is recolating to Warracknabeal and are seeking transport for their two children to St Brigids in Horsham. For further information please contact St Brigids (03) 53823545

Continue reading for Special Articles and Flyers for some big events

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.

                                               Foundation Class Celebrate 100 Days of School 

There is a great deal of excitement surronding the Foundation Class as they head towards their 100 days at school milestone. This is a very special for the Foundation Class as they prepare for Dress up Day (Foundation class only). They will begin the day leading the School Assembly and we invite families to attend. 

Gifting Mass for St Vinnies

On the last day of Term 2, the Year 5/ 6 Class organised a ‘Gifting Mass’ for people less fortunate. The school raised $262 along with some donations of toiletry essentials (deodorant, toothpaste etc) for St Vincent de Paul. James McFarlane, Head of the Warracknabeal Chapter presented us with certificates. Next Assembly we will be presented with our Mini Vinnies Victoria  badges because we are members of Mini Vinnies. 

 By Nathan & Chloe

Shhhhh It's Coming

The foundation for the Gaga Pit has been prepared thanks to Mark Peters and his trusty team. We also give special thanks for the transport and materials donated by QA Hay. The Gaga Pit itself, is kindly donated by Bentley Group and is planned to be assembled over the next couple weeks. Watch this Space!

The Parent’s Club were successful in a grant application sponsored by WG & SF McPherson in Brim as part of CRT Primary School Program. On the last day of Term 2, St Mary's was grateful to receive a cheque for $2000.

Book Week Parade at St Mary's

Tuesday 19th August 9:00am: Come along and join in the fun!

Support for drought-affected families 🌾

As many in our community continue to face the impact of drought, DOBCEL want to acknowledge the strain this places on families, particularly those in farming and related industries.

In collaboration with CatholicCare Victoria and the St Vincent de Paul Society, they have compiled a summary of the support available to families experiencing financial hardship due to drought. This includes access to school fee assistance, wellbeing and parenting services, and practical material support such as uniforms, fuel vouchers and help with utility bills.

Please view the Executive Director’s letter to families at the link below.

Families are also reminded that you can speak confidentially with myself at any time in relation to school fees.

Re: Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Dear parents, guardians and carers

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

Kind regards

Principal

The Aurora Structured Literacy Project

SPECIAL REPORT: Respectful Language

In today’s world, it is becoming apparent that some young people are being influenced by the language around them. It is becoming more common for them to hear derogatory terms or offensive language on the streets, on social media channels, streaming services and in some forms of modern music. Proliferating the use of such language can sometimes normalise, glamorise and sanitise their impact, taking their meaning out of context. Words can be misconstrued to be hurtful, racist, homophobic, mysogynistic or even discriminatory. Using disrespectful language is considered socially unacceptable, and if not addressed early, can become a serious problem.

The use of derogatory language or the act of swearing at someone, or about someone, is actually a form of verbal violence. It transgresses the usual rules of social interaction by impinging on an individual’s self-image and sense of dignity. Therefore, many schools enforce a zero tolerance policy when it comes to such language. Parents and carers also need to play an important role in enforcing this approach by proactively monitoring what their children are viewing or being exposed to and discussing the use of words or their origin. This can help prevent inappropriate or disrespectful language being used in the classroom, school yard or other situations.

Whilst some students may use swearing or derogatory terms for attention seeking purposes, others may use it simply because they are still learning how to moderate their language. As young people develop their language skills, it is important for them to have a clear understanding of the impact of their choice of words on others and how their words can impact other people’s perspective of them - an important and essential skill to learn as they progress in their personal and professional development.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg: Child and Adolescent Psychologist

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