Term 1 Week 8 - 13 March 2024

Principal - Ms Katrina Dunne

Welcome to our Week 8 newsletter! As we approach the end of our first term of the year, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for the incredible journey we’ve undertaken so far this year. It’s been a term filled with growth, learning and memorable experiences for all of us.

We have welcomed new teachers and school officers to our team, implemented a new program for teaching phonics across our whole school, refined our routines and classroom expectations and embraced many new enrolments across our school! We are thrilled to celebrate the remarkable growth of our school community, with enrolments soaring from 114 (August 2020) to 140 students (March 2024), reflecting the trust and confidence placed in our wonderful school.

I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our dedicated teachers, staff, and support personnel who have worked tirelessly to create a nurturing and stimulating environment for our students. Your commitment to excellence is truly commendable, and it is evident in the progress and achievements of our young learners.

To our students, I want to express how proud I am of each and every one of you. Throughout this term, you have demonstrated resilience, creativity, and a thirst for knowledge that is truly inspiring.

As we enter the final stretch of the term, I encourage everyone to finish strong. Let’s continue to support one another, stay focussed on our goals, and maintain a positive attitude as we wrap up our term and prepare for a well-deserved break.

Wishing you all a wonderful end of the term and a rejuvenating break ahead.

Note:
Last Day of Term 1 | Wednesday 27^th March
First Day of Term 2 | Tuesday 16^th April

What’s happening this term…

Swimming

Class swimming finishes at the end of this week. Please help us encourage your child to attend their last lesson for the term. If you are available to help as a spotter or in the pool on Thursday or Friday, please contact the school office.

Movie Night | This Friday! 6:00pm at the Performing Arts Hall  

All St Mary’s students and their siblings are invited to the movie night this Friday. The cost for the movie night is $10 per person. Dinner will be a sausage on bread and slushie, served at approximately 6:45pm. Your child is welcome to bring extra snacks if required. All funds raised from this night will support the school musical production in Term 4 this year.

Student-Led Conferences | Week 9

Parents and carers, please ensure that you have booked in for your child’s student-led conference next week. Your child is eager to share their learning goals with you.

Dates to highlight on your calendar:

NOTE: please see the calendar on the Parent Portal app for up-to-date events throughout the term.

Have a great two weeks,

Katrina Dunne

School Fees Statement

Several families have mentioned that they have trouble understanding our school fee statement. Attached is an explanation of this statement. We hope that this helps everyone.

APRE - Mrs Kirsty Lines

Staff Blessing & Children’s Mass

We’d love to see you and your family at our staff blessing and children’s mass, this coming Saturday, 16 March at 6pm in the church.  A huge thank you to the students who have offered to read and assist Fr Peter and Sr Elizabeth with the mass.  Please see flyer below.  All are welcome!

Sacramental Program

On Wednesday, March 20^th at 9:30am, some of our students will make their first Reconciliation.  This is a private time with only close family attending.  For families of candidates, a reminder your child’s reconciliation book is due Tuesday, 19 March.  Students will attend a few practises in the coming week with Mrs Lines in order to prepare for the ceremony.  Candidates will then begin to prepare for their first Holy Communion in Term 2. 

Holy Week

This year we are extremely lucky to have Holy Week fall on our last week of school.  All are welcome to attend our whole school commemoration of Holy Week in Week 10, as timetabled below:

Palm Sunday remembrance – Monday 25 March at 8:20 am, on the oval.

Holy Thursday remembrance  - Tuesday 26 March at 8:20 am, in the lunch shed.

Good Friday remembrance – Wednesday 27 March at 8:20 am, in PAH. 

As we progress through the season of Lent, let us continue to remember our Lenten promises – not always easy!  I encourage you to continue to ask your child ‘what is your Lenten promise – how are you going with that?’

Wishing you a blessed fortnight,

God bless,

Kirsty Lines

APRE

Prep - Mrs Bernice McPhee

Term 1 is flying by! Our Preps have all made such growth already. They are writing their own names, numbers and letters. They get so excited about learning new things and then putting it in to practice, eg, new sounds, writing new letters and numbers. Make sure you ask your little ones to show you what they have learnt.

We have been loving the amazing fruit platters (shared fruit) that our amazing helpers create for us each day. The students are loving all the different types of fruit that are available to them. Thank you to all parents who supply the fruit and a HUGE thank you to the parents you spend the time cutting it up for us.

In Science we have been learning about what living things need to survive. We have been doing an experiment where we planted some grass seeds and have been looking after them and taking photos of their growth. They are growing so fast and look amazing!

In Religion we have been learning about the sacred places and things in the Church and at our school. In small groups, students visited all classrooms to take photos of each class's sacred space. We also visited the church with Mrs Lines to have a look at the sacred things in the church.

Year 1 - Ms Susan Holloway

Hello everyone,

What a busy term we have been having in Year One!

As well as learning Mathematics, Phonics, Reading, Technology, Religion and Writing skills, we have been investigating the world of ‘wiggly worms’ during our Science lessons. It was with much excitement that approximately 75 worms were placed into their ‘worm viewers’ which had been made by the students the day before. We will now increase our knowledge about worms and the important role they play in keeping our soil healthy by closely observing them. We will be watching the tracks the worms make, what they eat and documenting our findings throughout the rest of term.

A huge thank you goes to Jed and Henry Sommerfield, who provided the class with dirt, gravel and sand for this learning task. Thank you all for your support in providing enough plastic bottles to create the worm viewers.  Your support is very much appreciated!

Year 2 - Miss Imogen Hunt

Wow, we are hopping, skipping and jumping through our first term of year 2.

We have been learning up a storm and have really been enjoying our new phonics program. Students are really starting to get into the groove and striving for excellence in each lesson.

Year 2 has had a keen interest in healthy smoothies, so last week we got ‘Barry the Blender’ out and tried a green smoothie which had zucchini in it. Students really took on the challenge of trying it with their finger and taking a sip. Most students loved the taste of it.

Last week we also presented our first prayer assembly where students showed their knowledge about Jesus' relationships with people and how we can embody this in our everyday life and especially at school.

We have a jam-packed few weeks of learning and fun events coming up.

Enjoy the rest of your term.

Thanks,

Imogen

Sporting Trials

March Birthdays

Tuckshop - Mrs Alice Short

Flyers