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Dear Parents and Carers,
Where has Term 3 gone? All terms go quickly at school but this one has shocked everyone!
First Eucharist
Last Sunday, many of our Year 4 students celebrated the Sacrament of First Eucharist. The mass was beautiful and the students were reverent and prayerful. Thank you to Mrs Afflick for coordinating the mass and to Mrs Hampson and Mrs Veneris for their work in preparing the students for this most important sacrament. A small but beautiful young choir sang uplifting hymns for us and I thank Mrs Devonald, Mrs Croese and Mrs Durnan for being there to support them.
A special thank you to Father Eden. On behalf of the students, staff and families, I would like to express my gratitude to Father for his support by visiting us each week and welcoming all of our families to Church. The students enjoy having Father Eden visit their classes and we appreciate his guidance and humour. We wish Father well on his travels to Europe. A well deserved holiday!
Youth Mental Health Training for Parents
The Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) and Catholic Education are hosting a Youth Mental Health First Aid Training Course in Batemans Bay on 27th & 28th October. This course is being offered at no cost for parents and carers of young people (12-18yrs) at St Mary’s and Carroll College.
Participants will learn how to assist a young person who may be experiencing a mental health problem or mental health crisis until appropriate professional help is received or the crisis resolves, using a practical, evidence-based action plan. This course is delivered by a trained facilitator and is based on guidelines developed through the expert consensus of people with lived experience of mental health problems and professionals.
The 2-day training will take place on 27th & 28th October from 8.30am-4pm at the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club. Places are limited to 20 participants, so parents and carers are encouraged to register early at Eventbrite:
Term 4 Expectations
Term 4 promises to be as busy as this one. With Stage 2 visiting Canberra, Peter Pan, Kinder Orientations, Yr 6 Orientation, K-2 Art Show and End of Year celebrations, we will need to hit the ground running in Week 1. At the Assembly on Wednesday, while everyone looked like they had just got outta bed… I spoke about the necessity for all of us being positive, cooperative and respectful at all times. Please remind your children that this is especially important in Term 4 when the staff are incredibly busy, teaching and assessing students, organising co-curricular activities, planning fun, end of year activities as well as transitioning students for 2023.
At St Mary’s we have a Behaviour Management Plan that is well understood. When things go wrong, we keep it simple by referring back to our four school values and ask the following questions:
Were you being kind?
Were you being safe?
Were you being respectful?
Were you doing your best?
We are here to support your child to make the right choices and learn from situations. Occasionally a student requires time away from their class and teacher to discuss and reflect on their behaviour. Parents are informed if the situation is of a serious nature, or if a pattern of misbehaviour is occurring. Thank you for your support with this. When teachers and parents trust each other’s decisions and work together, the students know what is expected and benefit greatly.
We all want the same thing; For children to grow up to be the best person they can be.
Students return to school on Tuesday October 11, and will be wearing their summer school uniform. Parents are asked to check that their child's uniform is neat and correct. All students are expected to wear black shoes/joggers on non sport days. Coloured nails and excessive jewellery are not part of the St Mary's school uniform. Thank you for your support.
Wishing you and your families a safe and happy holiday break. Your children have worked incredibly hard and deserve a good break.
God's blessings on your families
Noeleen O'Neill
Principal
Dear Parents, Carers, Boys and Girls,
Staff Professional Learning
Teachers are always striving to improve what they do and they hold high expectations for themselves and their students. Over the past two years our staff have been engaged in a series of professional learning opportunities with a focus on embedding High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) into their daily teaching. HITP are instructional practices that reliably increase student learning.
During the September/October break, a large number of our teaching staff will be attending a 3 day professional learning intensive program in Canberra called HITP in Action. The program is grounded in the Science of Learning and will continue to explore what we know about how students learn and what that means for how we teach. There will be a focus on daily review and explicit teaching, two strategies our staff have been working on with Dr Lorraine Hammond and her team this year. Dr Lorraine Hammond and her team will lead the learning and our teachers will be involved in a combination of theory, demonstration, practice and coaching sessions.
As a system of schools, we are committed to build our knowledge and learn together to transform students’ lives through learning. At the centre of our learning is the achievement of our two system goals:
- Every child is a competent reader
- High Impact Teaching Practice is visible in every classroom
On the first day of Term 4, the whole teaching team will be attending another day of professional learning in Braidwood along with a number of other schools from our system. This day will focus on the principles of explicit instruction to teach writing and vocabulary, the impact on student learning when teaching this way, and opportunities to work collaboratively with colleagues across the system to plan writing and vocabulary daily reviews and lessons.
It is exciting work and we are fortunate to have such dedicated staff that are committed to being their best.
Wishing you and your families a safe and enjoyable break.
God bless and take care.
Sue Heffernan
Assistant Principal
Dear Families,
It seems hard to believe we are welcoming the end of another busy term, and this one seems to have flown by particularly fast. Term 3 is always a special one for seeing the growth in the children in both their confidence and their abilities.
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION
Last weekend, 17 of our students celebrated a very special milestone in their faith as they received the Eucharist for the first time. It was a lovely celebration for these children and we thank Fr Eden for his guidance as the children prepared for this sacrament.
On the 18th of October, Aid to the Church in Need invites families, parishes, staff and students to join the prayer campaign One Million Children Praying the Rosary.
“We are inviting everyone to pray together with children on the 18th of October for peace and unity in the world. As part of our prayer unit this term, Year 5 and 6 have been learning all about the Rosary and how to pray it. These classes have been registered to take part in the One Million Children prayer.
To register and learn more visit:
Click here for link to One Million Children Praying the Rosary
Wishing you all a safe and happy school holiday break with your children.
Mrs Jess Afflick
Religious Education Coordinator
NSWCPS Athletics
Congratulations to the students who competed at the NSWCPS athletics event at Homebush, Sydney last Wednesday. It is always a tough competition at this level, and by all reports our students represented both the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese and St Mary’s proudly. A big thank you to our parents who sent through photos of the day, and transported their children to the carnival as well as providing lots of encouragement and training along the way.
A special mention to the Junior Girls Relay team who made it through to the finals and placed 5th overall from across the state. Congratulations to Harper L, Mackenzie H, Ava B and Anikah H on this spectacular achievement.
And another special mention to Asher B who was the lucky recipient of a BRONZE (3rd) medal in the 11 years boys Long Jump. Again, such an amazing achievement and congratulations from everyone at St Mary’s.
|
NSWCPS Mackillop Team |
Darcy F |
Xavier H |
|
|
Mackenzie H |
Anikah H |
Harper L |
Kobi Pe |
|
Archer Sch |
Mitchell W |
Asher B |
Ava B |
Results from the day:
Mitchell W: 11th (and PB) in the Junior Boys 1500m
Darcy F: 14th in 11 years boys High Jump and 1500m
Kobi P: 7th in senior boys Discus
Anikah H, Ava B, Mackenzie H and Harper L: into finals and placed 5th in Junior Girls Relay
Asher B: 3rd place in 11 years Boys Long jump, 6th in 11 years Shotput and 14th in 100m and 200m.
Weyman Shield Rugby League Gala Day
Stage 3 students had a great day at the Weyman Shield Rugby League Gala Day last Wednesday at Ack Weyman Oval. We had both tackle and league tag teams on the fields and all teachers were very impressed with the team spirit, sportsmanship and sense of fair play, even in some very tough games. We thank Damian Kennedy from the NRL development team for facilitating the day.
It has been a very busy term for sporting events and I am very proud of all the St Mary’s students for their enthusiasm, participation and commitment to doing their very best in all sports. I am very lucky to have a role that allows me to witness our students in both academic and sporting settings.
I wish everyone a safe and restful holiday.
Megan Grant
Sports Coordinator
This award is an acknowledgment that students have been
outstanding and have gone above and beyond in the
classroom and on the playground!
| Kinder Blue | Quinn A | Amazing attempts at spelling new words and fabulous reading |
| 1 Blue | Evander S | Brilliant story about 1Blue travelling to space! |
| 1/2 Maroon | Maisie B | Outstanding listening, articulate responses and enthusiastic engagement in all learning tasks |
| 2 Blue | Ethan T | Fantastic Picasso inspired self portrait of himself |
| 3 Blue | Tessa H | Fantastic effort calculating fractions of a whole and working out equivalent fractions |
| 4 Blue | Sophie VW | Demonstrating fantastic mathetical skills when converting a range of fractions to decimals and for her engagement in Daily Review |
| 4 Maroon | Elyse B | Detailed and informative pamphlet created all about Princess Diana |
| 5 Blue | Indi T | Deeply profound and insightful Haiku poem depicting the relationship between mother and baby sloth |
| 5 Maroon | Fiona S | Consistency and application in all key learning areas |
| 6 Blue | Kai W | Greatly improved bookwork presentation and his perseverence with more challenging tasks, in particular when working out the area of a circle |
| 6 Maroon | Emily-Kate K | Consistent dedication to all independent learning tasks, specifically her biome research task, demonstrating high school ready work habits |
| Pastoral | Harper P | Kindness in helping others in the classroom |
| Literacy | Blake R | Always offering words of encouragement to peers in his Literacy group |
| Kinder Blue | Phoebe K | Respectful listening and regular contributions to class discussions |
| 1 Blue | Penelope B | Designing and making a beautiful polymer clay earrings using 2D shapes |
| 1/2 Maroon | Patrick S | Painting a detailed and impressive artwork using the style of pointillism |
| 2 Blue | Aria T | Outstanding sportsmanship, empathy and inclusion of her teammates in sport sessions |
| 3 Blue | Benjamin R | Writing a variety of creative poems |
| 4 Blue | Liam F | Fantastic effort when researching and collecting information to create an engaging pamphlet about the arts |
| 4 Maroon | Billy I | Outstanding sportsmanship and skills demonstrated this term during our weekly hockey development program |
| 5 Blue | Jaxon E | Applying his knowledge of figurative language to add description to his poetry writing |
| 5 Maroon | Jakayda T-K | Providing consistent, amazing artwork this term especially her Upoko mask and 3D optical illusion |
| 6 Blue | Jemma H | Dedication and commitment to improving her Maths pathways results |
| 6 Maroon | Samira R | Thoughtful and calculated responses when reacting to our class novel, "Out of my Mind" |
| Pastoral | Reign C | Fantastic design of an environmentally friendly play area |
Superstar Staff
Mr Campbell - Year 5
We love Mr Campbell as our teacher because he is smart, nice, happy, funny, chill, sporty, cool, honest, fabulous, supportive, respectful, he gets involved and has amazing ideas. He helps us with our work, does fun things with us, and always tells us to do our best. He is a good role model, wanting us to learn and is the best teacher!
I love teaching at St. Mary’s because the staff are so welcoming and supportive. It’s a beautiful, small school amongst an amazing community that has always been close to my heart.
Mrs Durnan - Year 2
We love Mrs. Durnan as our teacher because she is nice, fun, lets us Go Noodle, caring, great, helpful, plays kahoot, is kind, does things for us, helps us learn new things and always looks after us.
I love teaching at St Mary’s, after having taught at schools across Queensland and NSW, working here feels like one big family. I love being part of a staff that goes above and beyond to create authentic engaging learning opportunities for all learners in and outside of the classroom.
Mrs. Schofield - Year 1
We love Mrs. Schofield as our teacher because she is nice, funny, kind, respectful and keeps us safe. She helps us learn and is the best teacher!
I love teaching at St Mary's for so many reasons ... it is something I treasure. The staff continually inspire me professionally, and, because they are truly wonderful humans. They're also a very funny bunch, you'll often hear hoots of laughter coming out of the staffroom at lunchtime (the very loud, annoying hoot is probably mine).
St Mary's is also the school I chose to send my own girls to, and they now look back on their years here with so much fondness. The primary school years are such a special time in a child's life. As a parent, I know only too well just how quickly the years pass. It is a privilege to be able to relive them again and again through my students.
MESSAGE FROM STAGE 1 AND STAGE 2
We are looking for some donations for our K-2 Investigations for Term 4. Families, if you are doing a tidy up/spring clean over the holidays and would like to donate some of the following items to school for use & display, K-2 students and teachers would be most appreciative:
- jewellery making supplies; cord, beads, string, ribbon, elastic, polymer clay etc
- plastic plumbing pipe offcuts, wood offcuts (building/ renovation offcuts)
- toy animals, toy match box cars
- Historical/ vintage items; music players - old radios, records, cassettes, mobile phones, landline phones, copies of photos from the past (Moruya in particular),
- beauty supplies; hair clips, ribbons, brushes, combs
- Christmas supplies; Xmas wrapping paper, Christmas toys, dress ups etc.
- sandpit toys; plastic shovels, trucks, buckets etc
Fire and Rescue have asked us to remind the entire school community with the following:
INSTALL AND MAINTAIN SMOKE ALARMS
