Newsletter Term 1 Week 2

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Families,

We had a very positive start to our school year last week and it was wonderful to see our classrooms and the playground full of happy children. Our Foundation children loved their first opportunity to meet and work with their Year 6 PALS, brekky club was back, and it was equally as exciting to get into all classrooms and see children bright and energised and ready to start another school year!  It was also fantastic to see many families bringing their children to the classroom and meeting their teacher and other staff who work in that room.

Meet the Teacher Chats
Our teachers enjoyed meeting with families on Wednesday and learning more about the children in their 2025 classes with our second round of Meet the Teacher Chats running on Tuesday. If you haven't yet booked it's not too late.
Book via the following details;
www.schoolinterviews.com.au
Log in code: 94wpm

School Photo Day - Friday 7th February
Get those hairdos happening and make sure the shoes are polished, as it’s school photo day this week, Friday 7th February!  On school photo day students wear the normal school uniform they would wear on Fridays. This means if your child has PE or Sport on Friday they would wear their Sports uniform. If they don’t, they wear their regular school uniform. All information has been sent out via PAM. The students' individual and class photos will be taken on this day. If you have any concerns or queries regarding your school photo order please give the office a call.

Beginning of School Year Mass - Friday February 14th
All families are warmly invited to join us on Friday February 14th at 9.15 am to celebrate the 2025 Beginning School Year Mass in the gym.

The first few weeks
In the first few weeks of this year, we focus on “Learning To Learn” at St Mary's. Time is spent on creating a safe and supportive learning environment, getting to know all students' DNA (Dreams, Needs and Abilities) and on establishing learning routines and expectations. There is also a strong emphasis on developing a culture of understanding and respect for each other in our school, supporting children to build their skills of resilience, have a growth mindset and relish taking on challenges. Across the classes, we are discussing the different kinds of learning dispositions that we can develop  and how we can live out the St Mary’s Way.

Positive Greetings

Positive greetings and taking the time to say hello and how are you is our first School Wide Positive Behaviour focus and it has been delightful to see and hear the children taking the time to practise up this very important life skill as they interact in the yard and in class.

Keeping in touch – Our communication with you  
Throughout the year there will be times when you need to contact your child’s teacher(s) or one of the senior leadership team.  We encourage frank and open discussions at all times and would suggest that any matter, major or minor, is best dealt with sooner rather than later. If there is something you are concerned about, unsure of or puzzled by regarding your child we would encourage you to touch base with us. While it may be convenient to try to catch a teacher before or after the school day, this may not be the most appropriate time to have an in-depth discussion about your child.  So how do you do this? Phone or email to the school, who will contact the class teacher asking them to call you.  We strongly encourage all families to join our school Facebook page www.facebook.com/stmarysswanhillvictoria as it captures many different events occurring at the school while our Instagram page #stmarysswanhill gives you lots of insights into what is happening on a day to day basis around the school. In particular, our Facebook page is a handy quick reference if you want to check  details about upcoming events as these are always promoted on this platform. Our school website www.smswanhill.catholic.edu.au provides a very comprehensive overview of the school and the snapshot tours are well worth a look. 

In terms of other communication, please ensure that you have set up your PAM account. This platform will keep you up to date with weekly reminders and the newsletter. We showcase key events in The Guardian and upcoming events regularly on the local radio station and on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Friday Assembly Update
Friday assemblies are held in the gym and are an opportunity to celebrate the week at school. Each Friday assembly is run by a different class who lead us in prayer and sometimes we like to enjoy a whole school sing along at these gatherings as well.  Many family and friends attend assembly and often stay on and share lunch with their child in our playground. 

With school photos on Friday the 7th and our opening School Mass on Friday the 14th, our weekly whole school assemblies will commence on Friday the 21st February with 6N leading the way.

I look forward to this year, working with all families. My door is always open for conversations or simply for you to say ‘Hi’.

Kate

"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress

Key Dates

Tuesday February 4th
Meet the Teacher chats
Wednesday February 5th
Foundation rest day
Foundation Literacy & Numeracy testing commences
Thursday February 6th
Swimming Trials
Friday February 7th
School Photos
Wednesday February 12th
Foundation rest day
Friday February 14th
Beginning of Year Mass - School Gym at 9.15am

Deputy Principal's Message - Mr Perry

Buses
It was great to see lots of students start on the buses last week. Any new students will always be given a bus buddy to help them get on and off the bus at the end of the day. If you have a student who is going to begin on the bus for the first time, please let the office know so we can set up a schedule and ensure they have a bus buddy to show them what to do. If your child's schedule has changed from 2024, please give the office a call and let them know. 
Last week, all families received a letter about bus safety. Please go through some of the key points with your children to ensure they have a happy and safe trip on the bus each day.

Seesaw - Digital Learning Journal
This is a digital learning journal that all the students use to document their learning and activities at St. Mary's. You will have received a letter about this today. A reminder to existing families - please check that your account is working and has rolled over to your child's new class. Our classrooms will be sharing lots of the fabulous things they are already doing each day.

Wellbeing with Mr Doran

Curriculum with Mrs Hall

DNA: Dreams, Needs and Abilities
With the excitement of a new year we begin with a whole school focus around  our  ‘Learning to Learning’ Units. As a school  we value the strong focus of positive relationships, building connections amongst students and staff and fostering resilience which is built from strong relationships.  This week our students will  share their DNA (dreams, needs and abilities), as a way of building relationships and making new connections with their peers and teachers.  We believe that every child is a success story waiting to be told and that “Every Child Matters Every Day”.

Different ways to ask your child  “How was school today?”
Here are some great questions and conversation starters to get your children talking about school. Remember it is also the perfect opportunity for you to share your own answers too and as a family.

• What is your DNA? (Dreams, needs, abilities)

• What is something that went well today?

• What made you smile today?

• Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?

• Tell me something that made your teacher laugh today.

• Tell me something you know today that you didn't know yesterday.

• What did you do that was creative?

• If you could choose, who would you like to sit next to in class?

• Where is the coolest place at the school?

• How did you help somebody today? Did anyone help you?

• Who would you give student of the day to today? Why?

• Which playground is your favourite and why?

• If you got to be the teacher tomorrow what would you do?

• What are you looking forward to this week/term/year at school?

• Tell me what does Lego club looks like?

RE with Mrs Davies

Beginning of Year Liturgy - Friday 14th February
Next Friday, 14th February we will be holding our Beginning of Year Liturgy in our school gym. Fr James and the school captains will be leading a lovely liturgy celebrating God’s love and the love that we can share with one another this year together at St Mary’s. All staff and students will receive a blessing and special prayers to help strengthen and guide them through the year ahead. This will begin at 9.15am - all families are more than welcome to attend. 

PE with Miss Clark

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your summer break. It was great to see lots of our students keeping active during the holidays. I am really looking forward to seeing all the students again and to have some fun in our PE lessons and sporting school events.

Swimming Trials- Years 3-6
We kick the year off with the St. Mary’s Swimming Trials which will be held on Thursday, 6th February at the Swan Hill Town Swimming Pool (outdoor) beginning at 1.00pm for students 9 years and older. 

This is an OPTIONAL event and students who participate must be able to swim 50m (1 lap) non stop in order to try out. On the day, each child who wishes to participate will be given the opportunity to swim in the stroke(s) that they have nominated. All strokes will be 50m. We will record their time for each nominated stroke to determine the fastest 2 swimmers for each event in each age group to qualify for the DIVISION SWIMMING competition held later in the month. I will also be asking for parent volunteers for timing and recording results. If your child is interested they will receive a permission slip to take home. Please ensure permission is returned asap.

Team VIC State Registration
Team Vic State registrations https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic 

If you have a student in Grade 4-6 who is HIGHLY SKILLED in a sport or two. Parents can register them for School Sport Victoria  State trials. 

• There is a fee of course paid by parents, about $25 per sport.
• These trials are run by School Sport Victoria not schools
• If interested, parents need to register via the website  https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic 
• Registrations close on February 28th, 2025.
• Sports included in the trials are:

• Australian Football 12 Years and Under Boys
• Basketball 12 Years and Under Girls
• Basketball 12 Years and Under Boys
• Cricket 12 Years and Under Boys
• Football (Soccer) 12 Years and Under Boys
• Netball 12 Years and Under Girls

For further information please feel free to contact Tim Croft 0439032354 or Max Carroll 03 50321336 (Swan Hill PS)

@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

Working with Children Check
A reminder to bring your Working with Children Check with you if you are coming on to the school grounds for volunteer purposes. If you would like to apply for a Working with Children's Check, please follow the link below;

https://service.vic.gov.au/find-services/work-and-volunteering/working-with-children-check

PAM (Parent Access Module) - How can I notify the school of my child’s absence via PAM?
PAM is our preferred notification method for absences. Absences must be entered prior to 9.25am on the day your child will be absent. Absences can also be entered in advance.

On PAM, you can add an absence if:

• Your child is going to be absent for the day (All Day)
• Your child is going to be late to school (Arriving Late)
• Your child is going to be leaving early from school (Leaving Early)
• Your child will be leaving school and returning eg. for an appointment (Partial)
• Your child is going to be absent for more than one day (Multi-day max of 7 days)

To add an absence:

• Log in to your PAM account
• Select “Parent Notified Absences” listed under “Students”. This can also be accessed by selecting the 3 line menu bar on the top right hand corner of the screen and selecting “Parent Notified Absence”. Select 'Add Absence"
  
• Select the child who will be absent
• Select the reason for your child’s absence
• Select the appropriate absence period
• Select the absence date
• Notes can be added if required
• You can edit or delete current and future absences, by clicking on your child and amending it if required

Book Fair
Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school in Week 4 (Monday 17th of February - Friday the 21st of February). The books will be displayed in the library where the children will complete a wish list in their normal library time. This will be sent home with an order form, if you wish to make any purchases. 30 -40 % of the sales from Book Fair will be used to purchase new books for our school library. Last orders are due in by Friday the 28th of February.

School Photos - Friday February 7th
Please see information below to order your child's 2025 school photos.

If you would like family photos taken with siblings at MacKillop College or Swan Hill College, these will be taken after school on Friday February 7th at 3.25pm. There will be discount coupons available for family photos (with siblings at St Mary's and MacKillop College/ Swan Hill College only), please contact the office - office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au and a coupon code will be provided.

Changes to CDF Pay
Please see below instructions to create your new CDF Pay account. Our previous system has been disabled. Please do this at your earliest convenience to be able to order recess/lunch from our school canteen.

Book Club - Issue 1 orders close Monday February 17th
Scholastic Book Club Issue 1 has been sent home. We will not be accepting cash payments for orders. Please order online following the instructions below. 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

News from the Canteen

Volunteers Needed:
We are looking for canteen helpers on Fridays in 2025!
You will need your VIC WWCC. Volunteer hours at 11.30am-1.30pm.
Please email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au if you are able assist.

Happy Birthday!

First Week Highlights

Community News