Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for your support for yet another busy term at St Mary’s. Whilst we are all feeling tired and holiday ready, it is hard to believe that we are at the end of the term with only one to go before another school year is complete. It has been an extremely busy and rewarding term for all students and we are certainly ready for a well deserved rest from the routines of school life.

END OF TERM PRAYER
We thank you Lord, for this term.
For the challenges, the successes and the mistakes from
which we have learnt.
Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.
Give us strength and courage to do what is right; to be witnesses of our faith.
Help us to be practical Christians these holidays, to appreciate what others do for us, to give time and effort to help others, to be peacemakers in our families.
Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun. Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.
We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents and a community that cares for us.
May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen

Farewell Mrs Matthews
Yesterday was Mrs Jo Matthew’s last day of teaching at St Mary’s. Mrs Matthew’s is retiring at the end of this year and will be on long service leave in Term 4. As Mrs Matthews embarks on this new chapter of her life, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for her years of dedication and service. While we will greatly miss Mrs Matthews, we wish her all the joy and adventure that retirement brings. Enjoy every moment!

Kindergarten Orientation
We look forward to welcoming our 2025 Kindergarten students next term for the Kindergarten Orientation sessions.

Parish News
In the coming weeks, our Sacred Heart Parish have organised a few community events that they would love your involvement in. Please see 'Parish News' in this newsletter to find details of these events, including a CarBoot sale on Saturday 5 October.

CSPA Parent Survey on Student Wellbeing and Learning
Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) are collaborating with the University of New England (UNE) to conduct a national study on student wellbeing and learning. The university is aiming to collect evidence through a survey from a broad sample of parents and carers of children attending Catholic schools in Australia. The survey will be open until the end of October. Results will be used to report to the Federal Government and Catholic Education. 

Please see the information on the flyer below on how to participate. I would encourage all parents and carers to participate in this survey.

 KEY DATES FOR THE DIARY - Term 4
Term 4 promises to be a busy one! Please refer to the COMPASS Parent Calendar throughout the term for up to date information.

Today we have had our Staff Spirituality day and there will be a Staff Professional Learning day on Monday 14 October.

We will look forward to seeing our students' smiling faces on Tuesday 15 October.

May God bless you all for a safe and happy term break.

Mrs Sue Heffernan
Principal (Acting)

Footy Colours to fight MND
On our last day of Term, students and staff were able to ‘show their true colours’ and wear Footy Colours to Fight MND. We know there are so many great causes, and this one feels close to many of us as we know many including an ex-St Mary’s, now Carroll College family member who is currently being treated for MND. Many of our local school and sporting communities this term have taken the opportunity to raise money for this cause supporting a cure for Motor Neurone Disease. St Mary’s was able to raise $180 towards this cause. If you would like to see what local community groups have raised there is more information here: FightMND - Footy2Fight MND 

Marshalls Bus Changes - West Moruya/ Araluen
Some families who use the West Moruya bus service have been notified by Marshall’s buses that the current West Moruya bus is over capacity. They are adjusting some students who currently use this service and moving them over to using the Araluen bus for travel to and from school. Please contact Marshall Buses if you have any concerns with this change. 

October is Mission Month
In October, Catholic schools across Australia work on ways to raise awareness and support the work of Catholic Missions around the world in times of need. We know how difficult it is in this cost of living crisis and how we have all had to tighten the purse strings, and this campaign brings further awareness to so many people in our community and in our world that are doing it quite tough and don’t have access to clean water or regular food supplies. Each year as part of our Mission focus in Religious Education we learn about different parts of this program. This year, students will learn about the work of Mission in Mongolia and the reality of the people living there. They will focus on understanding the challenges of living in a country where the weather makes normal things a lot harder. As they learn about the Don Bosco Caring Center, a centre dedicated to being a welcoming home to children left to fend for themselves in the streets, students will focus their awareness and fundraising efforts towards building a brighter and more certain future for the children at the Caring Center.

On the first Friday of Term 4, students across the school will be raising money to assist Catholic Mission in their work in both Australia and overseas. 

More information about this is below and has been sent home in class memos.

Mary Poppins musical practice- dress rehearsal
The excitement has been building over the last few weeks for our school musical Mary Poppins Jnr. This week the cast has participated in a number of dress rehearsals to tweak their performances as classes finalise their dances. We look forward to doing our whole school dress rehearsals in the first few weeks in readiness for our performances for our family and friends. A reminder to please ensure your child has their costume requirements to start Term 4 if you have not already sent it in. 

Thank you to all our families who have purchased tickets,
they will be sent home in Week 1 - Term 4.
Tickets are still available via Qkr, get in quick as they are selling fast!

Term 4 Swimming sessions
Next term students from K-6 will be participating in Swimming lessons with Mrs Connaughton, Mrs Durnan, Mrs Grant and Mrs White as qualified swim teachers. We found this of great benefit as students are very familiar with our staff already from school, and found that we were able to assist children to build confidence and competence over the sessions each week. More information will be sent home on Compass early next term. 

Mrs Carla Durnan
Assistant Principal (Acting)

Life In Year 1
The saying time flies when you are having fun is certainly the case for our incredible group of Year 1 learners! It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of term 3 and are quickly approaching our final term together. This group of children demonstrate a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge each and every day. They are a supportive and kind group of children who simply love everything about school life (which as their teacher makes my life a dream)! 

Religion
During this term the children have been exploring life in the time of Jesus. We have been learning about aspects of Jewish daily life at the time of Jesus. Clothing, houses, school life, occupations and families all were very different to what we are accustomed to today. The children have posed thought provoking questions, wondering about how people lived during these times. 

English
In English the students participate in a series of daily activities from the InitiaLit program, which provides learning opportunities that vary between explicit direct instruction and small group English rotations. In recent weeks we have been busy learning about adverbs, contractions and suffixes and transferring these learnt concepts into our reading and writing. 

Recently we have been learning about persuasive writing and using persuasive devices to convenience our readers of our point of view. The children were grateful to have this knowledge as we approached one sunny Friday morning, only to discover that our classroom chairs had decided to quit! The Year 1 students received a letter from the chairs, explaining that they were overworked, under appreciated and had grown tired of not being pushed in or cared for! The Year 1 children decided they would respond, each writing a persuasive letter convincing the chairs to return! We are happy to report that order has returned to our classroom, thanks to the persuasive writing skills of the Year 1 children! 

History
This term in History we have been learning about something very close to our hearts… our families! We have been investigating the differences in family structures and roles today and how these have changed or remained the same over time. Mrs Christine Greig has led the History unit this term and the children have been very fortunate as she has shared her extensive knowledge and passion of local history. The Year 1 students took great pride in researching and creating their own family trees. The children presented these projects to their peers reflecting on the important people in their lives. 

Upon reflection of their family tree projects they wrote what they loved about their individual families, which was very special. 

I love being in my family because… 

• they love me just as I am! Kingi 
• my brothers and sisters play with me in our garden. Mason
• they love me so very much and make me feel special every day. Harper
• they help me with everything and they make really yummy food! William 
• work really hard to look after me and love me every day. Maeve 
• they teach me about our family in Poland and take us on amazing adventures. Alex.

Performing and Creative Arts
This term along with the rest of the school Year 1 have been very busy preparing for our upcoming production of Mary Poppins. The children have loved their weekly dance classes with Miss Erika, where they have been explicitly taught choreography, musicality and dance appreciation. The Year 1 children look forward to sharing their kite flying dance moves with the school community as we all take to the stage in a few weeks time! 

In our weekly visual arts lessons we have been creating mixed medium pieces this term, our highlight being a piece called “the long and winding road’ by artist Mathew Wong. The children have used their developing knowledge of warm and cool colours to create these beautiful landscapes. 

Science
During our science unit this term we have learnt about space, the students enjoyed learning about planets, stars, the International Space Station and satellites. This week we heard from astronauts about what daily life is like in space. The children were wondering about how they wash their hair, what they eat and how they exercise without gravity. After listening to the astronauts on the International Space Station the students wrote convincing responses explaining why they would or would not like to live in space. 

I would not like to live in space because…

• I would miss my animals on earth! Finnley
• I would miss my family, not be able to play football or ride my motorbike. Byron

I would like to live in space because… 

• I would be able to do flips and jumps easily with no gravity! James
• I would like to be a scientist, study moon rocks and be the first female on the moon. Sydney

The Year 1 students look forward to their final term of learning together. 
Wishing the St Mary’s school community a happy and safe holiday.

Mrs Jessie White
Teacher 1 Blue

JAR TOMBOLA
The Fundraiser we’ve planned is a Jar Tombola, which works as below:

1. Simply fill an empty jam jar with lollies, biscuits, small toys, pencils, anything you have that you think someone else would appreciate – see examples in picture.

2. Each family can then donate their jar by dropping it off at the St Mary’s office or alternatively send in with students. You can start sending jars in from now until the week prior to the Musical.

3. Community Council will be selling tickets ($5 per Jar) at the evening performances – you simply buy a ticket, you are given a number that corresponds to one of the jars, and you then collect your prize! 

EVENING REFRESHMENTS
In addition to the fundraiser, the Community Council will also be planning to provide intermission refreshments at the evening performances of Mary Poppins – a cup of tea/coffee and a sweet treat for $4.

If families would like to support the Community Council with donations of cakes, slices or biscuits for the performances, that would be much appreciated.

We are asking that families in K-3 provide donations on Tuesday 5 November.
We are asking that families in Yr 4-6 provide donations on Wednesday 6 November. (If you have children across these grades, please choose from either day to send in a donation. Families are not expected to donate food on both days).

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE
The Community Council will also be selling raffle tickets for a Christmas Raffle at the evening performances. Further details about the raffle will be provided in Term 4.

UNIFORM DONATIONS
The Community Council is starting a second hand uniform shop. Please see flyer beolow.

Community Council