Newsletter Term 2 Week 7
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
On Friday, we celebrated our Annual CESH Mass with staff and students from St. Mary MacKillop College. Our students especially enjoyed staying for a shared lunch, where many reconnected with their former Foundation PALS or older siblings. It was a great way to end Catholic Education Week. This week we welcome Ryan and Nirvana, who are here on work experience from SHSC, and look forward to Junior Cross Country on Wednesday.
MS Fundraiser
Thursday’s Casual Dress Day for MS was a big success! Students and staff embraced “a touch of red” with some bright and creative outfits, and everyone enjoyed taking part in the morning Walk for MS. We raised over $700 to support life-changing research into the prevention, treatment, and cure of multiple sclerosis. The ice creams at recess were an absolute hit, over 500 sales!! Opportunities like these show our students how to live out our Catholic Social Teachings and show care for those in need, which is something that’s at the heart of who we are at St Mary’s.
Year 4 Eucharist
This week, we hold in prayer our Year 4 students as they attend their Eucharist Retreat on Tuesday, preparing to receive this sacrament in June. We thank Fr James, Mary, our dedicated teachers, and families for their support and guidance in this special journey of faith.
Flying Start and 2026 Enrolments
Check out our socials to hear all about what Flying Start has on offer!
The forms are starting to come in and places are filling fast, especially in the 8.30 am sessions, so don’t forget to contact the school to confirm a place for your preschooler. Our parent community is one of our best forms of advertising, so please let your friends and family know about the great teaching and learning programs and wonderful pastoral support that exists at St Mary's when they are considering 2026 school options for their children.
Junior Cross Country - Wednesday 4th June
The St. Mary’s Junior Cross Country (Foundation to Year 2) will be held this Wednesday, June 4th on the St. Mary’s School oval between 2.00 pm and 3.00 pm. All children are encouraged to participate, but only at a pace where they feel comfortable. Family and friends are very welcome to come along and cheer the kids on. All children need to wear their sports uniform to school on that day.
Please let the office know if you plan to take your child/ren at the end of the day, before the event.
The order of events are (please note these are approximate times):
2.00 pm - Foundation Girls
2.05 pm - Foundation Boys
2.10 pm - Year 1 Girls
2.15 pm - Year 1 Boys
2.20 pm - Year 2 Girls
2.30 pm - Year 2 Boys
Fundraising to date
Thanks to a donation of $1000 from the St Pats Race committee, school raffle ticket sales from both this day and the easter raffle and profits from The Colour Run The P & F have been raised $7705 in total this year. This money along with previous fundraising efforts, will go towards furniture and resources to create a new sensory space at school.
Long Weekend & Pupil Free Day
Please note that there is no school next Monday, June 9th due to the King’s Birthday Holiday. The school newsletter will be published on Tuesday.
Enjoy the week ahead and that extra long weekend!
Kate
"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress
Key Dates
Tuesday June 3rd
Year 4 Eucharist Retreat
Wednesday June 4th
Junior Cross Country
Friday June 6th
Assembly 12.25pm - 3E
Monday June 9th
King's Birthday Public Holiday
Wednesday June 11th
Division Boys Netball
Division Girls AFL
Friday June 13th
Assembly 12.25pm - 3G
Saturday June 14th & Sunday June 15th
Eucharist Masses
Thursday June 19th & Friday June 20th
Flying Start session 1
Wellbeing with Mr Doran
SchoolTV invites parents, carers, grandparents, educators and school leaders to attend an exclusive webinar supporting primary and secondary students.
WEBINAR: Digital Media Literacy & Safety (Part II)
DATE: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
TIME: 7:30 pm
This exclusive session with two of Australia's leading experts in youth wellbeing and cybersafety, Susan McLean and Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is a one-off event and will not be available to replay later.
Register using the link or QR code
https://tcc.vic.schooltv.me/webinar/east-coast-digital-media-literacy-safety-part-2
RE with Mrs Davies
CESH Mass 2025 - Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope
On Christmas Eve 2024, Pope Francis symbolically opened the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica, marking the start of the 2025 Jubilee Year.
Jubilee years happen every 25 years and are times of reconciliation and renewal. The theme of this Jubilee is Pilgrims of Hope.
This Year of Jubilee in the universal Church calls us to embrace, and be renewed in, the hope of Christ—a hope that does not disappoint. We are embarking on a particular time of pilgrimage, and as the Holy Father has reminded us, Jesus, ‘is the destination of our pilgrimage’. He is both the way, and the path to be travelled.
Last Friday we celebrated our annual CESH Mass with St Mary MacKillop College. This was held in the Jubilee Centre at the College. We shared a lovely Mass together and then enjoyed a BBQ lunch with the Mackillop students.
PE with Miss Clark
Regional Cross Country
On our student free day last week on Tuesday the 27th of May, we had 14 brave students take on the challenging race at Regional Cross Country at St Arnaud. Thank you to Deb Parsons who supported the kids this year. Not only is the 2km and 3km course much more challenging with a couple of steep hills and actually more like a cross country track but there is always some very fierce competition and is usually very tough weather conditions as was yesterday with very cold winds.
Below are the results:
Patrick K 21/50
Rory P 39/ 50
Wil F 6/58 (8 seconds off the winning time!)
Raf F 15/58
Arlee P 27/57
Willow C 30/57
Conor M 3/66 (4 seconds off the winning time!)
Jasper B 13/66
Oscar B 21/66
Lewis K 26/66
Cooper S 34/66
Nylah K 4/65 (23 seconds off the winning time!)
Elise K 52/65
Maddy M 61/65
A super effort to all these students! We are very proud of all of them.
Qualifying for States in Melbourne this year we have Wil F, Conor M and Nylah K.
Junior Cross Country
The running events continue this time for our Junior students this week with the St. Mary’s Junior Cross Country (Foundation to Year 2 students) on Wednesday the 4th of June on the St. Mary’s School oval between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. All family and friends are welcome to attend to support their child/ren. All children are encouraged to participate with the aim of having fun and trying your best. The following are approximate times of the events;
2.00pm - Foundation Girls
2.05pm - Foundation Boys
2.10pm - Year 1 Girls
2.15pm - Year 1 Boys
2.20pm - Year 2 Girls
2.30pm - Year 2 Boys
Division Boys Netball and Girls Football
Separate to our Year 5/6 Winter Sports, there are more sport competition opportunities for our students to compete in over the next couple of weeks. St Mary’s will send a Year 6 Boys Netball team to compete against local schools in Swan Hill. This opportunity was very popular with 20 boys trying out for the team. We held two try out sessions and all boys can be very proud of their efforts, respect to the umpires and good sportsmanship. Congratulations to the team of 11 boys who will compete on Wednesday the 11th of June. Also on this day we will have two Girls Footy teams made up of Year 5 and 6 students that will compete against local schools in Swan Hill. Both Netball and Footy teams will complete some practice sessions before the day.
@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
With the weather cooling down, now is the perfect time to purchase a school beanie. Available on CDF Pay, under "Shop" for $20.00. Remember to put your child's name on them.
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 do I make bus changes on PAM?
We encourage you to make bus changes via your PAM account. This includes bus passes, not on bus, change of bus etc.
- Log in to your PAM account.
- From the three line menu in the top right hand corner, select “Transport Passes”.
- Ensure the date is correct, displayed above the student schedule table.
- Click on the “Edit” button of the child you wish to add/remove from a bus.
- “Select New Route” will allow you to add your child to a bus, add your child to a different bus or select “No transport needed” if your child is not to travel on the bus on that particular day.
Scheduled Transport - this is for children who are on a regular bus schedule. It is the bus that your child would usually catch on that day.
Actual Transport - the bus that your child is catching on that particular day eg. if a change has been made.
Bus changes via PAM must be made by 2.30pm. For last minute changes, contact the office on 50332541. You can action bus changes up to 7 days in advance. If your child requires a permanent schedule change, please contact the office. Need assistance? Please contact the office 50332541.
Please note you can not add your child to a Country Bus unless they are registered to travel on that particular bus.
News from the Canteen
Happy Birthday!
Term 2 Highlights
Community News
Rabobank - George the Farmer Book Competition
https://rabobankaunz.eventsair.com/gtfcompetition/gtf2025/Site/Register
Courage and Crowns
There have been some parental enquiries regarding strategies or resources they could access from home to help build their child's emotional awareness, confidence, and ability to make and retain friendships. Courage and Crowns mentoring offers practical tools and support in these areas. For further information, check out;
courageandcrowns.com/