31st March 2022
Principal News
We have reached the end of one of the most challenging terms in our students’ school history! Well done and thank you for your ongoing support as parents, carers and the school community that wraps themselves around our students to ensure they arrive safe and happy every day. We are all dedicated to improving the social and educational outcomes for our students and this term has been evidence of that. Covid continues to place unpredictable circumstances before us each week and we have been able to provide consistent, quality teaching and learning throughout it all.
Last week, parents and carers had an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their effort, behaviour, and achievement for this term. If you were unable to attend a face-to-face meeting, please contact the classroom teacher for a copy of the notes to be emailed to you.
This week, we welcome Mrs Phillips on campus for her visit as the Learning Support Teacher. Mrs Phillips has been working with teachers this term to improve learning adjustment and support processes, whilst also providing quality reading intervention through Microsoft Teams. The students have enjoyed the online lessons with the help of our wonderful School Officer, Mrs Csatlos.
I have particularly enjoyed being in classrooms this term, supporting behaviour management and reading lessons. I managed to snap a few photos this term on my adventures, please enjoy them below.
Annual Action Plan 2022
I mentioned our key priorities in an earlier newsletter this year and wanted to end the term with a recap of these. The key focus areas have been highlighted this fortnight to indicate how we are progressing with our annual action plan for 2022. Take a look below of our Term 1 and 2 outcomes that are well in progress and the outcomes we plan to tackle in Terms 3 and 4 this year.
- Engaged students, personalised learning:
- Graduate teacher induction and mentoring
- Building staff knowledge and skills of Reading Improvement Strategy, Essential Skills for Classroom Management, and the Diocesan Learning Portal.
- Development of the whole School Learning Framework and Scope & Sequence for each learning area
- Being distinctively catholic
- Developing mercy charism and understanding of the four pillars (compassion, hospitality, justice, excellence)
- Updating the vision and mission for St Mary’s School, embedding the mercy values
- Staying on mission
- Staff goal setting and professional development support
- Leadership survey and performance review
- Using resources wisely
- Creating a Master Plan 2022 – 2032 with the support of TCSO
- Seeking feedback (through the use of Microsoft Forms) from our school community to improve and maximise student outcomes
Tuckshop Convenor – required ASAP
We are currently seeking keen applicants for the Tuckshop Convener role. Friday tuckshop will return when we can successfully fill this position. This is a paid position. Contact the office for more information.
NAPLAN 2022
An information sheet was sent home last week with valuable information regarding NAPLAN 2022 for Year 3 and Year 5 students. If you did not receive this information, please contact Mrs Alexander at the school. Early next term, the year three and five students will undertake a NAPLAN online practice session. This is to ensure that our internet speeds can cope with the test conditions and for our students to experience the platform of NAPLAN online. The test results of this practice do not get reported to any governing body, it is for practice only. NAPLAN dates for 2022 are: Tuesday 10th – Thursday 12th May.
Important Dates coming up….
| Competitive Cross Country, Colour Run and Mega Draw Term 1 concludes |
| Term 2 commences (Tuesday 19th April is a professional development day for staff) |
| Anzac Day public holiday. All students invited to march in full school uniform on this day. |
| Learning Support Teacher visit – Mrs Phillips |
| NAPLAN for Year 3 and Year 5 students |
| Charleville Show Holiday |
Have a wonderful Easter Break!
Cheers
Katrina
APRE News
Sacramental Program
Students wishing to make their first Holy Communion (First Eucharist) – this program will run in Term 2. We are hoping to be able to order a new program (updated) for First Eucharist and Confirmation candidates this year. However, this will mean an increase of cost with parents being asked to contribute $40 to the program instead of $20, as in previous years. This will cover the cost of the new program, gifts and cake at Confirmation. Any questions please see me or phone / email: Kirsty.lines@twb.catholic.edu.au
Mass Times
After receiving feedback from the Parish and parents of St Mary’s students, Parish council has decided to trial having one set time for Charleville Mass from June – August in 2022. The set time will be 6pm, Saturday Vigil Mass. We are hoping having one set time will be less confusing for people wishing to attend – Mass will be 6pm Saturday every week in June – August. Parish council will review this change at the end of August, and with feedback from Mass goers, will decide if it will become a permanent change.
This is happening due to direct feedback from St Mary’s families – please support it by making an effort to attend mass as a family. We are also looking at having two children’s masses during this time – watch this space!
Easter Celebrations
Please see below for Charleville Mass times during this upcoming Easter season:
- Palm Sunday – 9am Mass, Sunday April 10th
- Second Rite of Penance – 5:30pm, Tuesday April 12th
- Holy Thursday – 5:30pm Mass, Thursday April 14th
- Good Friday – 3pm, Friday April 15th (Lord’s Passion / Veneration of the Cross / Communion)
- Easter Vigil – 6:30pm, Saturday April 16th (Blessing of Fire / Easter Candle / Renewal of Baptism – 2 Baptisms to be performed).
St Mary’s Holy Week celebrations
We have celebrated some Holy Week events this week as it will be too late when we return to school! Please see photos below of our Palm Sunday celebration on Monday. A huge thank you to Ruby Anderson, who played Jesus this year.
Wishing you all a happy and Holy Easter season,
God Bless,
Kirsty Lines
APRE
Learning Support
I am excited to be back on campus this week, spending time in the classrooms with students. It’s fantastic to see the amazing learning that has been taking place in each classroom. What a wonderful learning community we have! This week, our teachers will be participating in our Student Support Committee. This is a wonderful chance for teachers to reflect on their teaching practices and to develop their skills and approaches when it comes to helping all students to learn and grow in their classrooms. I’m excited to be conducting reading groups in person this week and I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate how hard St. Mary’s students have been working on their own reading journey.
My Auslan sign for this newsletter is one that is pretty important for deaf people to communicate when there is a problem. Below is the Auslan Sign bank’s sign for: Help (see:Signbank (auslan.org.au)
Have a restful and enjoyable holiday. See you all next term!
The Arts
Well, that is a wrap on Visual Arts for 2022! Next term we will begin Music in the lead up to the Charleville Performing Arts Festival. It has been an absolute joy to deliver Arts to the students at St Mary’s, here is what we have been up to:
Prep, Year 1 and Year 2
As many of you must have heard, this term we have been exploring BIRDS! The children have been using their newfound expertise of birds to explore visual conventions and concepts. To finish up our term we have been picking out our favourite projects to enter into the Charleville Show! How exciting.
Year 3
Year 3 have been expressing themselves through ‘found objects’ looking art that is recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable. We have explored a variety of concepts and projects. Their latest being a whole class collaboration, their ‘Rainbow Archway’ is spectacular, I can’t wait to see it finished. But check out our progress photos!
Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6
Our senior students have been getting creative with global issues. Learning about more complex visual conventions and techniques and how to use them to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions. For their latest projects they have been working on sculptures made out of recycled and/or reusable materials and tools to deliver a message about an issue important to them.
Choir
Our school choir has been singing every Wednesday at second break. We are currently working on beautiful songs in memory of ANZACs. As well as some songs using AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language), to ensure our songs can be enjoyed by all.
We look forward to performing at our final Assembly for the year and can’t wait to hear what you think!
Library News
Congratulations to our “Hey Read Every Day” term competition winners.
Each winner selected a book from either Book Club or Book Fair as their prize, which students were all excited to do.
Absent from the Read Everyday photos are Harlow and Hope
Some very happy Book Fair shoppers who were busy reading their new book at lunch time. They even asked could they come back to the library the next break, so they could keep reading. How I loved that!
Holiday Reading
It is imperative that students continue to read over the holidays and at St Mary’s we facilitate this by adjusting our lending rules to allow students to borrow extra books over the break.
Happy holidays,
Michelle and Alice
HPE News
Welcome to end of term 1, what a sport packed term it has been! Three cheers to all students who participated in sporting trials this term. A big thanks to parents for making themselves available to ensure their children participate in sporting trials.
Cross Country and Colour Run will end this term with a BANG! As this is something new, I would appreciate feedback to reflect on how to change/improve this event for next time.
Enjoy the holidays.
Yours in PE and Health.
Ms Mac.
Prep News
Hip Hip Hooray we have made it!!!
Have a look at what Prep has gotten up to over the term.
We have been working really hard in our math rotations to understand that a number can be represented in a variety of ways.
Last week in English we explored We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, which sparked students’ interest on creating a real-life bear hunt. Students are becoming experts in their retells and character descriptions. With this knowledge they have been transferring it to a variety of different texts.
We have an exciting final week of term 1, with Trendy Tuesday, colour run and school photos.
Can’t wait to see where Term 2 takes us in Prep.
Year 2 News
Welcome to the end of term 1! Year 2 students have been very busy completing their assessment for this term. In math we have been focusing on repeating and growing patterns, in HASS we have been creating information posters about a city or town in Australia. Our English focus this term was creating our ‘Most Magnificent Thing’ and developing a sequence of steps that we took to make it. Our science task was to explain life cycles of living things (we are still waiting for our flowers to grow!).
Have a very happy and safe Easter break and I look forward to seeing you all in term 2!
Year 3 News
Year 4/5 News
Year 5/6 News
Wow, what a wonderful term we have shared together in Year 5/6 😊
We have been working hard to finish off all our assessments – including our poetic narratives which show just how creative we are!
We have been LOVING our research project for science – exploring a specific organism and creating a report.
This term, we have had a strong focus on compassion and what that means for us, at St Mary’s. We have done so well to demonstrate this Mercy value and we look forward to exploring a new one next term!
See you all next term, have a wonderful holiday!
Miss Morrison and the Year 5/6 crew 😊
March Birthdays
Daniel Batstone, Lexi Tickell, PJ Pezet, Walter Cameron, Jock Winks, Hope Castles, Billie Doolan, Rosie Ballard, Ella Owen, Betty Thomas, Regan White, Mrs Hampel, Mr Lambourne, Mrs Lines.