Newsletter Term 3 Week 6
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
Our school came alive with colour and excitement on Friday as students took to the assembly area for our much-loved Book Week Parade. The creativity and effort that goes into the costumes never fails to amaze me, and this year our families outdid themselves with some truly original and impressive outfits! Of course, the staff weren’t going to miss out on the fun either—joining in with everything from Snow White and the Dwarves, Bucket Fillers, Charlotte's Web, to a band of slightly suspicious convicts!
It was such a delight to see so many families joining us to celebrate this special event together. A heartfelt thank you to Lisa in the library for all the energy and enthusiasm she pours into Book Week each year, making it such a memorable experience for our students.
In other news, our Year 2 and Year 4 teachers, Mrs Hall and I spent the last Monday at Mt Eliza collaborating with staff and students to deepen our understanding of student agency. Like us, they use explicit teaching, but students also have a strong sense of ownership over their learning. It was inspiring to hear how confidently and thoughtfully the students spoke about their learning journey, their personalised goals, and the strategies they use to achieve them. The experience was both affirming and provocative, giving us much to reflect on as we consider the next steps to further strengthen student agency in our own practice.
Parent Teacher Interviews and Student Led Conferences
Just a reminder that this Wednesday 27th August and Tuesday 9th September 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 their child’s teacher. Our Year 5 & 6 students will participate in Student Led Conferences while our Year Foundation-4 students will run 3 Way Chats with both parents and their children required to attend. The online booking is filling quickly. Booking in quickly is the best way to ensure to secure your preferred time slot. Please ring the office if you have any issues with your booking. 6O & 5B - please refer to a separate letter for your booking details.
https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code
Code: duxfy
Andrew Plant
This week, the students are in for a treat as we welcome well-known illustrator Andrew Plant to our school. Andrew will be sharing some of his most memorable picture story books with us and running hands-on illustrating tips and techniques workshops while he is here.
Senior Athletics (Year 3 – 6)
The St Mary’s Year 3-6 Athletics carnival will be held this Thursday, August 28th at Ken Harrison Reserve. This is always a great day and we thank Miss Clark and Maree for the enormous amount of work behind the scenes to put this day together. Thank you to those parents who have offered to help on the day. The timetable for events is as follows :
St Mary’s School Disco – Friday, 29th August
Get your tickets early!! The P&F, together with Ebony from our office, have been busy getting everything ready for our upcoming school disco. Excitement is definitely building, and ticket sales are already looking great for this much-loved event on the school calendar! With DJ Jayden spinning the tunes, smoke machines, lights and plenty of good vibes, we’re set for a night full of energy, fun and some pretty impressive dance moves. The kids always love dressing up, hitting the dance floor, and enjoying the fun with their friends—it’s sure to be a fantastic evening!
Father’s and Special Friends Celebrations-Advance Notice
Put this on the calendar! On Monday, 1st September, we are holding a special event to celebrate all of the Dads and special male figures in the lives of our students. Come along between 10.30-11.30 to see your child in action in the classroom and hear all about what they are learning before spending some time with them on the yard at recess.
Bus Travel- safety first!
The majority of our students travel to and from school using the country and town bus service. Our bus drivers do a marvellous job as they transport our children to and from home. We encourage all parents to reinforce the message we give to our children at school about appropriate behaviour on the bus and treating their bus drivers with respect.
This includes: sitting in their seat using a seatbelt (when fitted), only getting up at their bus stop, using quiet voices while travelling, treating others kindly and being respectful of the driver.
Lastly, I will be taking leave from 2nd September to walk the Camino in Spain and will return at the end of the first week of Term 4. During my time away, Mr Perry will step into the role of Principal and Mrs Hall will take on the Deputy Principal role. I am very grateful to Jason and Mardi for their generosity and support in making it possible for me to undertake this pilgrimage.
I look forward to seeing you at either the Parent teacher Interviews, Disco, Athletics Day or out and about in the yard.
Kate
"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress
Key Dates
Wednesday August 27th
Andrew Plant - incursion
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thursday August 28th
Senior Athletics
Friday August 29th
Assembly 12.25pm - Foundation Orange
School Disco
Monday September 1st
Father's & Special Friends event
Wednesday September 3rd-Friday September 5th
Year 3 Camp
Thursday September 4th
Junior Athletics
Friday September 5th
Assembly 12.25pm - Foundation Yellow
Curriculum with Mrs Hall
2025: Young Writers Competition: “The Day All the Machines Stopped”
This year again as a school we are proud to be participating in the Young Writers Award, which is kindly organised by our local library. The competition is devised to inspire students to write a narrative piece of no more than 500 words. This year’s theme is “The Day All the Machines Stopped”. The competition consists of 7 categories; Grade Prep, Grade 1/2, Grade 3/4, Grade 5/6, Year 7/8, Year 9/10 and Multi-class.
All winners will be announced during Children’s Week, with a special presentation at Swan Hill Library on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, at 7pm. Shortlisted entries will be displayed at the library throughout November 2025.
The following students have had their entries submitted on behalf of St. Mary’s, and we are now waiting to find out if any of them have been selected as finalists. We wish them all the best and are very proud of their writing achievement.
RE with Mrs Davies
Social Justice Visits
Last week, our students continued to live out our school’s commitment to Catholic Social Teaching by reaching out and making meaningful connections within our local community. Year 6 visited Alcheringa, Year 3 to Logan Lodge, and Year 4 headed down to Swan Hill District Health Social Support Group.
These visits gave our students the opportunity to spend time with residents, share stories, participate in activities and brighten someone else’s day with their presence. It was wonderful to see the way our students showed kindness, respect and compassion, and how much joy a simple conversation or smile could bring.
These experiences remind us that social justice is not only about giving material goods, but also about giving of ourselves – our time, our attention, and our willingness to connect with others. They were a beautiful example of our Gospel values in action.
PE with Miss Clark
Regional Soccer and Netball
St Mary’s had a big week of senior sports last week as we had several teams represent our at Regional Netball and Soccer here in Swan Hill. We are pretty lucky to often have our school sport teams do very well at the Division level for a chance to compete at Regionals! Thank you to Tenay, BJ, Christine and Finn for their help coaching on the day.
Our Girls Soccer team and Boys Netball team unfortunately lost all their games but were competitive against the other schools and showed great sportsmanship.
Our Boys Soccer team had 2 draws and 1 loss and should be very proud of that result!!
Our Girls Netball team won all their games and made it to the grand final but unfortunately the result did not go our way and we lost by 4 goals. Well done to these girls for their runners up result.
Congratulations to all the students involved and for representing our school with 100% effort!
State Girls AFL
In a St Mary’s first, we had our senior girls represent our school at State Girls AFL in Melbourne on Thursday the 21st of August. Thank you to all the parents who were able to transport their child down and support the team for the day. The girls should be super proud of their efforts as they managed to win 2 out of the 3 games they played but unfortunately missed out on the grand final only by percentage. A huge congratulations to our St Mary’s girls for being the THIRD best girls footy team in Victoria!
Seniors Athletics
This Thursday, 28th of August, students from Years 3-6 will be heading to Ken Harrison Reserve to participate in our Senior School Athletics Carnival. Students have been practising all events throughout the term in their PE and sport sessions and are raring to go. Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to help out for the day, it is always much appreciated. Parents and family are welcome to watch and support our students at Ken Harrison Reserve on Thursday. Cross your fingers that the weather holds out for us!
Junior Athletics Carnival
Next Thursday, 4th of September, the Junior Athletics will be held here at St Mary’s on the oval. Information in regards to this has been sent out to families. Much similar to the Senior Athletics, many hands make light work so if you are willing to help out for the day either fill in the note and hand it into the office. Thank you to those who have already signed up as a helper. Information about your event will be sent out this week.
@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
Donations for Breakfast Club
We are kindly asking for donation of vegemite, jam and fresh fruit for Breaky Club. Donations can be left at the office.
Picking your child up early? These are our announcements times....
Just a friendly reminder that if you need to pick your children up early from school, our announcement times are at 11am (Recess), 1pm (Lunch) and 3pm (End of Day). This is to avoid disruption within the classroom. Please consider this when making appointments/arrangements.
Labelling your school items
Just a reminder to clearly label any items your child brings to school, in particular jumpers. We collect a huge amount of jumpers every week, some of them brand new and they can't be returned unless they are named.
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
How to make your 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.
News from the Canteen
Happy Birthday!
