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Newsletter Term 3 Week 6

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Families,

This week we welcome Pauline Fisher, Murray McDonald and Andrea Cox, our External School Reviewers. Over the next two days this panel is meeting with staff, parents and students focus groups and experiencing life at St Mary’s. We are really looking forward to Pauline and the panel working with us this week and helping set strategic goals for school improvement for the next five years.

On Thursday, we say farewell and thank you to Josh Rodriguez, fondly known as Mr Rod, who has been a valued member of our wellbeing team this year. Josh has accepted a position at Tooleybuc School and we wish him all the best as he takes on this new role.

School Feast Day 15th August- The Assumption of Mary
Today is a special one on the school calendar as we celebrate our school feast day -the Assumption of Mary - Mary, mother of Jesus and a very important and special woman in our Catholic tradition and this feast honours her as “God’s Mother”. Our feast day fun commences with Luke from Kaboom Sports running his much loved tabloid sports day for our Year F-6 students. In the afternoon we celebrated the Assumption of Mary Mass in the Gym.
Thanks to the Year 2 teachers and students for their leadership of this special Mass.

Come and Try Mornings
With Flying Start done and dusted, another popular way many new or prospective families find out a little more about how we do things in Foundation are our Come and Try Mornings. These mornings provide opportunities for new families to essentially 'come and try' what life and learning is like in real time in our Foundation rooms. These normally run in the second half of the year with our first session this Thursday August 18th from 9:30-11:00am.

Nude Food day - Wednesday 17th August
As part of our Religious Education Unit on Sustainability and care for Creation the Year 3 & 4 students have organised Nude Food Day at school. On Wednesday 17th August, they are asking staff and students to bring lunch boxes that are free of single use wrapping and packaging. It will be wonderful if we could all get on board with this great initiative and bring our food in reusable containers or in compostable wraps. Not only does it show a commitment to improving our environmental impact but Nude food days significantly reduce the amount of paper rubbish at school.

Book Week 20th – 26th August 2022
Fast approaching! Book Week is celebrated each year in mid to late August. On this day we see everything from Super Heroes and Pirates to Mermaids or Dalmations as students and teachers get into the spirit of the day!

This year’s Book Week theme is “Dreaming with eyes open”. To celebrate this we will be holding the annual school book parade on Thursday the 25th of August at 9.05am. On this day the children can dress as any one of their favourite book characters.

Long Weekend
A reminder to all families that we have a long weekend coming up. Friday 19th August and Monday 22nd August are school closure days. These days have been approved by Catholic Education Ballarat and we hope that this mini break will provide a period of rest for staff and students to get us through until the holidays in September.

Parent Teacher Interviews and Student Led Conferences
Tuesday 23/8 and Wednesday 31/8 have been set aside for staff to conduct our second round of Parent/Teacher Interviews. This is a great opportunity for all parents to book a time to spend with your child’s teacher. Our Year 5 & 6 students will participate in Student Led Conferences while our Year 2-4 students will run 3 Way Chats with both parents and their children required to attend. Foundation and Year 1 will have Parent/Teacher interviews where the children are not required to attend. Bookings will open tomorrow afternoon.

Once again it was lovely to see so many families at our Friday assembly. Congratulations to all our award winners who are always so proud to receive this recognition for their work throughout the week. Well done to 4N who presented their prayer so confidently and shared what they loved about learning at our school.

I hope you all have a fantastic extra long weekend.

Kate

Key Dates

Monday August 15th
St Mary's Feast Day Mass
Kaboom Sports

Tuesday August 16th
Foundation Health Assessments Commence

Wednesday August 17th
Nude Food Day

Thursday August 18th
Come & Try Morning
9.30am-11am

School of Rock - St Mary MacKillop College
Year 5 students - information sent via PAM

Friday August 19th & Monday August 22nd
Pupil Free Days

Tuesday August 23rd & Wednesday August 31st
Parent/Teacher Conversations

Thursday August 25th
Book Week Parade

Friday August 26th
No Assembly

Senior Athletics (Year 3-6)

Come & Try Morning
9.30am-11am

Wellbeing with Mrs Gook

Teaching kids to be kind
Judgement and criticism are the stock in trade for many people in todayʼs fast-paced world. In our playgrounds and parks, children oen act cruelly – or are simply uninterested in how other people feel. Little kids, big kids, and even adults can respond reactively and unthinkingly, or sometimes intentionally, with unkindness. Although being unkind is nothing new (itʼs happened from the beginning of humanity), technology is enabling cruelty in faster, easier, anonymous ways. Technology is also making it hard for our kids to develop skills to delay gratification. Exercising impulse control – self regulation – is trickier because waiting isnʼt needed. These things combine to make it increasingly hard to be a compassionate and kind person, someone who considers the needs of others rather than acting out of self-interest. It demands intention and commitment.

The helperʼs high
Our brains release “feelgood” chemicals (like oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins) which fight stress and make us feel happy when we engage in, or even witness, acts of kindness. Itʼs called the “helperʼs high” and it's our brainsʼ way of rewarding us for doing good, making us want to repeat the behaviour to get the same good feeling again. Not only does being kind feel good, but it generally keeps us safe because it makes us more likely to be accepted by social groups. It builds social capital when we are considerate of the needs of others.

Create opportunities for kindness
Even though they are hardwired for kindness we still need to create opportunities for our kids to engage in acts of kindness. We also need them to know what it feels like to have someone treat them kindly (so they know what behaviours to copy, and why kindness is important). So how can you help them?

Stay tuned for these tips next week......

RE with Mrs Davies

Meals on Wheels - August Visit
On Tuesday last week we had our monthly Meals on Wheels visit to deliver meals to people in need around Swan Hill. The Year 6 children have been really enjoying helping others and knowing that they can make a little difference in the lives of people in our local community. The smiles and conversations that we encounter make this act of mission a very worthwhile venture.

Assumption of Mary Feast Day - 15th August
Today is a very exciting day on our school calendar as it is our St Mary’s Feast Day. We have an action packed day with Kaboom Sports coming to run fun filled activities out on the oval for the whole school. After this, starting at 1.30pm, we have our Assumption of Mary Mass which will be led by Fr James and the Year 2’s in the gym.

For each canonised saint, the Catholic Church assigns one day of the year, known as the saint’s feast day, to honour and remember their unwavering faith and extraordinary contribution to humanity and the Church. Our school is named after the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is a very special part of who we are as a Catholic school. Mary was a woman of deep faith, trust and service. In the Gospel of Luke, we see Mary chosen by God to bring Christ into the world. She is with Jesus at his birth, nurtures him in childhood, is present during his ministry, witnesses his death, and stands with the early Church as it grows and proclaims the Good News.

PE with Miss Clark

Primary School Golf Competition
On Friday 21st of October there is a Golf Competition held at Kerang Golf Course for Years 3 to 6 students. Golfers MUST have their own set of clubs and have some skill of hitting.
The following information are some rules for the day;

Entry is done online through Vic Golf website
They don’t need a handicap
Maximum no. of shots per hole is 10
Drop out of the sand one stroke
Par 3 -100m, Par 4 -200m Par 5- 300m
It is recommended that one adult needs to attend per four golfers to help with rules, scoring etc.

If your child is interested could they please come and see Miss Clark for further information to take home.

Gymnastics After School Program
We have had a great start to the Gymnastics program with Lou and her coaching team running some fun games and station activities for the students after school. I can already see the students grow in confidence when using the balance beams, vault and bars. There are three more sessions to go.

Senior Athletics Carnival
The St Mary’s Year 3-6 Athletics carnival will be held on Friday the 26th of August at Ken Harrison Reserve. Thank you to those parents who have offered to help on the day. Further information will be sent out to those parents.

Junior Athletics Carnival
The Foundation - Year 2 Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday the 6th of September on the St Mary’s school oval. Information will be sent home shortly regarding details of the event.

Sustainability with Mrs Ward

Nude Food Day- Wednesday 17th of August

Why have a Nude Food Day?
Coinciding with our whole school R.E focus on Sustainability, the 3/4 year levels have organised a whole school ‘Nude Food Day’ to reduce the amount of rubbish at St. Mary’s.

What is Nude Food?
Nude Food is food without excess packaging. It is food that comes to school without disposable packaging such as extra plastic bags, paper bags, wrappings or cling wraps. We encourage you to package snacks and lunches in durable, reusable containers.

But some things just come in a packet- like a muesli bar!
This does not mean your child cannot eat food that comes from a packet. Please leave the packet (rubbish) at home and bring the food to school in a reusable container.

@2 Murlong Before & After School Care

The Out of School Hours Care program, @ 2 Murlong, is operating out of the gym hub and provides before and after school care for school age children in the Swan Hill area. Please express your interest via the following link;

https://prodadmin.myxplor.com/enrollment/index/dHdBOThsSW9JeHUxYTEwaHNxZlMrdz0

News from the Office

School Beanies
The days are freezing...........jump on to CDF Pay and order your child a beanie
($15 each).

Rapid Antigen Test Collection - Weeks 5-8
You can collect your test kits from the office window for Weeks 5-8 (2 boxes per student) between 8.30am and 4pm. Please notify the office via email if someone else will be collecting them on your behalf.

Foundation Health Assessments - School Nurse Visit
Kerrie McCosh, primary school nurse, will be visiting St Mary's this term and the beginning of Term 4.

Foundation Health Assessments: All parents/guardians of Foundation children will be asked to complete a Health Questionnaire and return the form to the school before her visit. If you do not wish your child to be seen by the school nurse, please sign the non-consent section and return the form to the school. Foundation Health Assessments will commence on Tuesday August 16th. Health questionnaire's will be sent home with your child this week.

Referrals (Grades 1-6): Parents and/or teachers may refer children from any grade for assessments of vision, hearing, basic speech, physical abilities, medical conditions, behavioural and parenting issues. Please collect a referral form from the school office. Completed forms are to be handed into the school office prior to beginning of Term 4. Should parents wish to have an interview with the School Nurse, please indicate your request on the form.

Book Club - Issue 6
Scholastic Book Club Issue 6 has been sent home. We will not be accepting cash payments for orders. Please order online following the instructions below.

Issue 6 orders are due by Wednesday August 31st
This is the link for LOOP, which will allow you to make an online order and payment; https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

If you are not registered for LOOP, click on the link above and create a new account. You will need to enter your details, add children and select our school (typed as is here); St. Mary's SWAN HILL
If you have any questions or are having trouble with the LOOP ordering system, please contact the office via email - office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au

Signing in at the Office
Just a reminder to bring your Working with Children's Check with you when you visit our school and remember to sign in and out at the office.

Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is kindly asking for donations of vegemite and jam. Donations can be dropped at the office.

News from the Canteen

Rivett's Pies are available from the Lunch Specials menu on Tuesdays & Thursdays!!!

Our cut off time for CDF Pay orders is 9.30am

We require helpers in the canteen on Mondays and Tuesdays in Term 3. Please email the office office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au if you are able to assist.

CANTEEN ROSTER: