Welcome to our new school newsletter through Schoolzine. We are still in the early days of moving over to Schoolzine, linking it to our Facebook page and website.  In time we will include an online parent calendar for upcoming events. Hopefully parents will find it much easier to engage with and read on their devices. 

Remote Learning 
Thank you for the wonderful support you gave us as we moved to remote learning this week. The staff have been working hard for weeks to get things underway and devices have gone home to many families. We are very pleased with the level of engagement and positivity from the students about learning from home. Please call out to your child's teacher if you or your child is experiencing any difficulty at all.   

Directions - NSW Health and Catholic Education
If at all possible, parents are urged to keep their children at home during the lockdown, at least on the days when one parent is not working and can care for them. Parents who are able to work from home themselves are expected to keep their children with them. If you have a sick baby or child, please do not send your other children to school. 

All children must be completely well to attend school each day. Any child sent home now has to have a negative COVID test result before they are allowed back to school. The results need to be emailed to the front office before your child returns. 

I thank you for your help with all of this. We fully understand how challenging life is at present and we are doing our best to support you and keep our students and staff safe.  

Yesterday, the Premier announced that the lockdown in regional NSW has been extended until August 28. I will keep you informed of any updates affecting your children. 

School Events 
The current situation has required us to postpone a number of events until Term 4.   Peter Pan is tentatively booked for Term 4 and will definitely go ahead at some stage. It is much healthier for the children to focus on all of the good things they have had this year, rather than the things they may have missed. Having already participated in Year 5 and 6 camps, Sports, Phenomenal Friday, Easter Hat Factory, Mothers’ Day Breakfast, Mini Olympics, Walker Learning etc, the students this year have been very fortunate. 

Teaching children to be positive and allowing them to see these times as an adventure are very important for young children. Enjoy this time with your children and watch them learn. Remember to send some photos and videos to the teachers to put up on Facebook. 

From the finale song at our last musical, ‘We are all in this together.’ 

Stay well and keep safe.

We pray for the people of Afghanistan in this time of unrest, fear and uncertainty.

Pope Francis expressed his hope for the peace and safety of the country’s citizens hours before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

“I join in the unanimous concern for the situation in Afghanistan. I ask all of you to pray with me to the God of peace, so that the clamour of weapons might cease and solutions can be found at the table of dialogue,” the Pope said on 15 August during his Angelus address.

Only through dialogue, he added, “can the battered population of that country — men, women, elderly and children — return to their own homes, and live in peace and security, in total mutual respect.”

“I ASK ALL OF YOU TO PRAY WITH ME TO THE GOD OF PEACE” – POPE FRANCIS  

We also remember in our prayers all those we know and love who are sick and those affected by the Coronavirus.

Wishing everyone health and peace in this uncertain time.

In all things may God be glorified

Parent Helpers

On behalf of staff and students at St Mary’s, I'd like to thank Matt Gill for his generous time on Sunday 8 August to assist with replacing our school basketball backboard. A big thanks also to Brett Hill for picking up and delivering the portable stage for our school musical production “Peter Pan”. The generosity of both men is greatly appreciated. As always, St Mary’s is so fortunate to have such a wonderful parent community who is always willing to help.

Peter Pan Update

Please be advised that under current COVID 19 restrictions, the staff of St Mary’s have decided to postpone the production until Term 4. Cast members, please continue to rehearse your lines at home. Class teachers will post videos on Google Classroom and Seesaw of class dances for the children to rehearse.

UOW Learning Labs

University Of Wollongong Learning Labs has a range of workshops on offer for Year 1-6 students. Workshops cover a variety of topic areas from debating, robotics and more. Workshops are designed to challenge and stimulate the interests of self-motivated and curious learners. For full workshop descriptions on offer, please go to their website: