Stage 2 Wellbeing program
This term, we have been fortunate to have staff from The Family Place at St Mary’s working alongside our Stage 2 teachers and students. Binin.gala is a Social and Emotional Wellbeing program, focusing on developing Bravery, Resilience and Empathy. Through Art and Drama activities, students are supported to develop their self-regulation skills, a deeper connection, respect and empathy for others. Our students have responded well to the workshops and we thank The Family Place  and NSW Office of Regional Youth for their support.

Thanks to our creative parents for helping out with the costumes and coming along for the fun on Wednesday.  

New playground update
The new natural play space is nearing completion. This week the new shade structures were installed and logs and granite rocks were placed to create a wonderful and unique play experience compared to traditional play equipment. We can’t wait to see the end result and let the students experience what will be an incredible addition to our school.

Vietnam Veterans Service
Last Friday, Mrs Butler and I had the privilege of taking two of our School Leaders, Cooper H and Indi T to Batemans Bay for a special Eurobodalla Vietnam Veterans’ Day Service. Initially surprised at how many Bikies were in attendance, Cooper and Indi came to understand the importance of the gathering, especially as this year marks 50 years since Australian troops were withdrawn from the Vietnam War.  We were especially proud of the way the students confidently shook hands and thanked the veterans for their service. 

Special Lunch 
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of taking twelve very happy students to lunch at Tukka Cafe. The students were chosen by the Leadership Team because they have shown us that they are consistently Doing their Best in the classroom and on the playground.

It was lovely to sit down in the sunshine with the children and watch them interact with each other. Congratulations to Ashley H, Zane C, Theodore J, Akeyla F, Tessa H, Anthony M, Cooper C, Callum T, Kye N, Evie G, Quade McD, Noah B-T.

We look forward to choosing more students later in the term for the next I am Kind Awards. 

My hope is that over a two year period, all children at St Mary’s will have had at least one Special Lunch outing.

Principal REC and Clergy Day 
On Friday this week, Father George, Mrs Schofield and I will join other Clergy, RECs and Principals across the Archdiocese for the annual Catholic Key Leaders Day in Canberra. The focus will be on Church and system priorities and direction for 2024. The link between Direct Instruction and the teaching of Religious Education is also on the agenda.

Staffing
Mrs Jo Matthews and Mrs Fran Devonald will be on leave until the end of Term 3. As the Year 2 cohort is of a normal class size, Mrs Carla Durnan is currently teaching the students together. Students will remain in their small Spelling Mastery and CMC Maths groups.

Mrs Jessie White will cover some of Mrs Matthew’s role as Learning Support Teacher and Mrs Wendy Hackett will teach Year 1 on some afternoons. 

Mrs Georgia Veneris was due to return to St Mary’s later this term, following her Parental Leave. Unfortunately for us, Georgia has made the difficult decision to transfer to St Bernard’s to be closer to home and family. We thank Georgia for the wonderful job she did here at St Mary’s and wish her well for the future.  

Currently, Ms Bridget Tegart is teaching Performing Arts for us and the students are thoroughly enjoying the dancing.

As you would know, there is currently a chronic shortage of teachers in Australia  and we are affected like all other schools and communities. Generally, we do quite well at St Mary’s as we have additional staff,  but occasionally when there are many teachers who are sick, we have no choice other than to combine or split classes. 

And so….please encourage young people to consider teaching as a profession. Despite its present challenges, education is and will always be a brilliant career!

Kindergarten 2024  Orientation Days
Dates have been set for 2024 Kindergarten Orientation sessions.

Wednesday November 8 and Wednesday November 22.

Invitations will be sent home soon to families who have enrolled their children at St Mary’s next year.  

God’s blessings on you and your families

Noeleen O'neill
Principal

Dear Families,

The Gospel
This Sunday’s Gospel comes from Matthew (16:13-20).

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On Tuesday last week we celebrated the Feast Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a Whole School Mass. We thank Fr. George for a beautiful celebration, and our Year 4 First Eucharist candidates who did a wonderful job with the readings, prayers and offertory.

Year 4 Sacramental Retreat
On Wednesday 30 August the students in Year 4 will spend the day at Carroll College learning about the Sacrament of the Eucharist. If you have a student in Year 4, please check your child’s COMPASS profile for upcoming events that require parental permission. 

Fathers’ Day Celebrations - please join us!
On Friday next week (1 September), we will hold a Fathers’ Day breakfast and liturgy to celebrate our wonderful fathers and father-figures. The breakfast will begin at 7:30 am, and the liturgy - hosted by the students in Year 2 - will follow at 9:00 am in the PAC. Please join us for this very special occasion.

“God took the strength of a mountain, the majesty of a tree, the warmth of a summer sun, the calm of a quiet sea, the generous soul of nature, the comforting arm of night, the wisdom of the ages, the power of the eagle’s flight, the joy of a morning in spring, the faith of a mustard seed, the patience of eternity, the depth of a family need, then God combined these qualities, when there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete, and so,
He called it … Dad.”

Author Unknown

Time flies in Kindergarten - it is amazing to think that we are over halfway through our first year of school already. We have been having lots of fun and learning a huge amount - we are certainly busy little bees. We began this term with a celebration of 100 Days of Kinder. In Week 4 we hosted a special liturgy for The Feast of St Mary of the Cross McKillop with our Year 6 buddies, and learned about life in Indonesia from visiting teachers Ibu Yuni & Ibu Lina. We are very pleased to be sharing our learning with you in this week’s newsletter.

Religious Education
This term in Religious Education we have been exploring the theme “What is the Church?” Our focus scripture is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple (Matthew 21:12-13), which helped us to understand how we should behave in the church. We have also been learning about the special items in the church and what they are used for. We are now working on dioramas of the church interior.

English
In English we recently met ‘Yawning Yak’, ‘FleXible MaX’ and ‘Zippy Zebra’, which means we have now been introduced to all of our letter “friends”. We have even learned some digraphs (two letters making one sound): ll, ss, ff, zz, ch, ck, sh. We love to blend these sounds together to read words and sentences. Our writing lessons include expanding sentences by adding extra information such as who, when, where, as well as adding but and because to sentence stems. We have so much to remember in Kindergarten and we work very hard in English!

Mathematics
Kindergarten have embraced our new Connecting Maths Concepts lessons and are very engaged in this explicit direct approach to mathematics instruction. Our most recent lessons have focussed on counting and identifying numbers, sequencing numbers, following directions and identifying like symbols. 

Science
This term in Science Kindergarten are exploring the weather and seasons. We have been learning about how the weather is predicted, recorded and then delivered to an audience through the use of symbols and words via television, the internet and other devices. We inquired into our four seasons in Australia and the months these seasons fall into. We also enjoyed reading Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester, and learning about the seasonal changes in Arnhem Land. 

Kindergarten are very good at recognising what items of clothing we would wear and what activities people can participate in during different seasons and air temperatures. We are currently learning how animals adapt their lifestyle according to the seasons and will further investigate how in some parts of the world there are only two seasons - the wet season and the dry season. Towards the end of term, Kindergarten will be creating a class video of our weather and season learning. We look forward to sharing this with you.  

Creative Arts
In Dance we are exploring ways the body can move in non-locomotor and locomotor movements. We are learning to perform a sequence of movements using different parts of the body to a variety of sounds, voice, music and percussion. 

In Visual Arts, we are currently working on a mixed-media artwork, that compliments our exploration of the weather and seasons in Science. Using foil, cardboard, sticks and acrylic paint, Kinder are creating embossed trees, representing the changing seasons.

PDHPE
This term in Health our unit of work is about ‘Keeping Myself Safe’. We have been learning to recognise our reactions and body signals to safe and unsafe situations. In PE we have been practising our kicking and catching skills. 

History
In History we are currently exploring the question ‘What is a family?’ We are also investigating where in the world our families come from. Our History Investigation zone has been very popular this term, as it includes some very interesting and mysterious objects from the past. 

Family Focus Visits
Family Focus visits are held during Terms 3 and 4 in Kindergarten. The students love to welcome their families into the classroom, where we spend time getting to know each other. Sometimes our families share special news or a skill with us, and at other times they simply spend time with us during Investigations. This is always a very special time in Kinder Blue.

Archdiocesan Athletics
Congratulations to the students who represented St Mary’s and the Southern Region at the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese Athletics Carnival. From all accounts, it was a great day and our students were wonderful ambassadors for our school. 

Lewis McA: It was fun. I got to watch lots of the other races - there were a lot of really fast runners up there. I saw Xavier E and Tane there.

Anikah H: I think our relay team had good team work. We came third but it was very close. My best event was the 100m - it was challenging.

Mackenzie H:We all showed good sportsmanship. I came third in the high jump event and it was my favourite. I didn’t really want to go in the long jump, but I came first!

Ava B: The relay was really fun and tricky and even though we lost we still had a very good time. It was my favourite relay team ever! It was very cold in Canberra.

Evie G: This year was my first year going to Canberra for running. Even though it was only my first year being in a relay team, it was super fun and I loved it.

Interschools SnowSport Competition
Yesterday, Xavier H competed in the NSW Snow Sport Championships at Perisher in the Boardercross and Giant Slalom events. We congratulate Xavier for successfully making it to the National Championships at Mt Buller, Victoria for the Giant Slalom event next month - what an amazing achievement! Xavier is awaiting final results for the Boardercross event but is hopeful that he will be successful for entry in this event also. 

Xavier H: ‘I made it through for the GS and in Boardercross, I came 21st but I might still get to do that I hope. It was a great day, the weather was good, a blue sky day but the snow was pretty icy to ride on. I didn’t like the board I was using because it was for park riding, not racing.’

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Megan Grant
Sports Coordinator