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Newsletter Term 1 Week 4

Principal's Message

Dear Parents & Families,

It was fantastic to see so many St Mary’s students competing in the Riverside Tri over the weekend at Riverside Park. While the weather was on the warm side, a great time was had by all involved. Today, 27 of our Year 3-6 students head off to the Division Swimming Carnival. Well done to so many students who have made it through to this level and I am sure you will represent our school with pride.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday
All classes will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday by making and eating pancakes and participating in activities related to the beginning of Lent. The Year 6 level will be leading the Ash Wednesday liturgy on Wednesday at 9:15. All families are very welcome to attend.

Leadership Day
On Wednesday, Year 6 students participated in a Student Leadership Development Day where they focussed on learning more about themselves and their peers as leaders and team players. Highlights included the show throw, beach towel challenge, outdoor games on the oval, the chance to be at the leisure centre and of course the pizza lunch!

History Box
This term the Foundation-6 children will be learning about events that have shaped our Australian history. To compliment their history units, we welcome back Barry and Cynda, who run The History Box incursions program. The History Box conducts onsite history programs complete with very engaging “hands-on” activities that teach children a great deal about the past as they participate in the program. Last year the children had so much fun with Cyn and Baz and we are sure that this will be the case again. The History Box will be here from Tuesday to Thursday with parents welcome to attend any workshops. All sessions will run in the gym.

Casual Dress Day - Friday February 24th
This Friday is our first casual dress day for the year. For those new to St Mary's, the SRC hold a casual dress day on the last Friday of each month with each student bringing a gold coin donation to raise money for a worthy cause. This month we are raising money for the local Foodbank to help support those families within our community in need.

School Closure day Monday 27th February - Religious Education
A reminder that we have a pupil free day on Monday 27th February . This school closure day allows staff to be together and explore and celebrate our Catholic faith and traditions with a particular emphasis on our Josephite traditions. As a Josephite school, their charism is foundational to our Religious Education teaching and curriculum.

Book Fair
The Book Fair commences this week, Monday 20th February to Friday the 24th of February. The school receives 30% of money raised in book stock for our library. We will have a large range of books displayed, which the children will view during their library class time. The children make a “Wish List” which they bring home with an order form. If purchasing any books this must be sent back to the office no later than Friday the 3rd of March.

Save the Date - Family Welcome Picnic
The restrictions placed on us in 2021 meant many of our new families had limited opportunity to meet each other at school or in the kindergarten setting.

Tuesday March 7th is a welcome picnic and chance for all families from the Foundation -Year 6 area to meet each other. Families are warmly invited to bring the picnic rug, a picnic tea and enjoy time at school from 5.30pm-7.00pm, mixing informally, having a look around our school and enjoying some music by Tony Haley in the passive play area. More information to follow!

Canteen Helpers Required
It was all hands on deck last week with hundreds of lunch orders to prepare in our school canteen. Trudy who runs the canteen, does a great job to get these out on time, but we would dearly love to have some more parent volunteers to assist. Hours are generally 11:30-1:30 but any help would be greatly appreciated. Parents, grandparents, aunties, etc are all welcome! To assist you need to have a valid VIC Working with Childrens Check. Please ring or email the office - we would love to hear from you!

Whole School Assembly
We look forward to gathering in the Gymnasium at 12:25 for our first whole school assembly this Friday. 5I will be leading our assembly prayer and we will then celebrate the Students of the Week. Parents and families are very welcome to attend assembly and stay on for lunch with their children in the Passive Play area. Just a reminder that if you are on the school grounds over lunchtime you are required to sign in at the table set up outside the gym.

Bus Travel Reminder
Our bus schedules have rolled over from 2022, if you have made any changes to your bus travel arrangements for 2023, please contact the office on 50332541.

Also a reminder to our Foundation families, if your child will be catching a bus, please advise the office of a start date, even if they have older siblings at school. This helps to ensure our records are up to date and to make sure each child has a buddy to assist them with bus travel.

It’s been lovely to catch up with so many families since the start of the school year and I look forward to seeing many of you out in the yard or at assembly this Friday,

Kate

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

Key Dates

Monday February 20th
Division Swimming
Monday February 20th - Wednesday February 22nd
History Box Incursion
Monday February 20th - Friday February 24th
Book Fair
Tuesday February 21st
Shrove Tuesday
Wednesday February 22nd
Ash Wednesday Liturgy 9.15am
Friday February 24th
Assembly 12.25pm - 5I
Casual Dress Day (no theme/please bring a gold coin donation)
Monday February 27th
Pupil Free Day - Staff PD Day
Friday March 3rd
Assemby 12.25pm - 4K
Tuesday March 7th
Welcome Picnic - more information to come
Friday March 10th
Assembly 12.25pm - 2C
Monday March 13th
Public Holiday
Tuesday March 14th - Friday March 17th
Year 6 Camp
Wednesday March 15th
NAPLAN Testing Period commences
Friday March 17th
Assembly 12.25pm - IY
Sunday March 19th
St Pat's Cup Family Day
Monday March 27th & Tuesday March 28th
Year 4 Reconciliation
Wednesday March 29th
Italian Day
Thursday April 5th
Holy Week Liturgy 9.15am
Thursday April 6th
End of Term 1

Wellbeing with Mr Prockter

‘WHY WE WORRY’

There will more likely than not be something we are always worried about or conscious about. It’s making sure we handle uncertainty well and ensure it doesn't overwhelm us.

WORRY V ANXIETY - The difference between worry and anxiety is that while we may feel anxiety physically, such as sweat, heart rate quickens, worry is the cognitive or thinking component of being anxious. Anxiety itself is actually a helpful and adaptive coping mechanism to potentially hostile and dangerous environments. Both anxiety and worry are essential as they help us all foresee potentially threatening situations and develop problem-solving strategies to avoid them.

A little bit of worrying about how aspects of our lives and the future will turn out is both normal and healthy! It is how we manage these positively and the impact we let it have on us and those around us. :)

Have a great week!

Stay positive 😃 👍🏼

RE with Mrs Davies

Ash Wednesday Liturgy - 22nd February
On Wednesday 22nd February we celebrate our Liturgy with Father James for Ash Wednesday, which is the commencement of the Lenten Season (the six weeks in the lead up to Easter) and culminates in the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. Lent is about the preparation for Easter, which includes prayers, fasting and penance over forty days. It is a time for personal reflection as we struggle with our bad habits and find new opportunities to turn back to God.

Lent is a wonderful opportunity to spring clean our lives and start anew. Many of us will connect Lent with Project Compassion and donate money to help with projects around the world which impact greatly on the lives of others. We also connect Lent with giving up something we enjoy, like chocolate. Making sacrifices is also an important part of Lent, we are called to come from a place of selfishness towards caring about and appreciating others and hopefully our lives will take on a meaning that is more about others than ourselves.

Project Compassion boxes will be coming home this week as a part of the Lenten Program. If you have any spare coins laying around, you may wish to have your children place these in the Project Compassion box for Caritas Australia. You are also able to visit the Caritas website to see some of the stories behind the project. https://lent.caritas.org.au Thank you for your on-going support for the wellbeing of others. You make a difference!

All families are welcome to attend our Ash Wednesday Liturgy to be held in the outside assembly area beginning at 9.05am.

PE with Miss Clark

Division Swimming
Goodluck to the 27 students representing St Mary’s today at the Division Swimming competition! We hope you all enjoy the atmosphere and swim your very best!

House Captains for 2023
The 2023 Sports Captains were announced this Monday morning and presented with their badges at assembly. The sports captains are; Bunyips - Indigo P, Kayla M, Archie B and Blake S, Bandicoots - Lola P, Sienna, Aiden K and Oscar E, Dingoes - Prue O, Maddyn F, Rory M and Jack B, Wombats - Eliza L, Charli S, Cooper G and Brody S. I am very much looking forward to working alongside these students for the year.

Year 5 and 6 Summer Sport practice
The Year 5 and 6 students started their Summer Sport practice session last Friday. Thank you to the teachers who ran the session as we unfortunately cancelled the Mackillop students coming to our school due to the very hot conditions on Friday. Hopefully the weather is a bit more kind this Friday. There are 4 more sessions to practice; Feb 2nd, March 3rd, 10th and 24th. The Summer Sports are held on Friday March the 31st. Thank you to those parents who have been prompt with giving PAM permission already.

Sharon Denham visit
Sharon Denham has visited St Mary’s this week to deliver a Basketball session to our Year 6 students during their PE time. She has been super impressed with how quickly our students are able to take on feedback and improve their skills. Sharon has focused on dribbling and shooting this week with tips such as ‘pushing the ball out in front of you and at hip height when dribbling’ and ‘10 toes pointing at the hoop and having wrinkles at the back of your wrist when shooting’. Sharon will be here for 3 more weeks.

Sustainability with Mrs Ward

Our school is very fortunate to have 13 enthusiastic Year 6 students who are our sustainability leaders for 2023.

The purpose of the sustainability leaders is for them to promote sustainable practices within the school around our use of energy, recycling, waste and water. These students work under the guidance of staff from our Resource Smart team.

A big congratulations to these new leaders: Jaz S, Madison B, Ella C, Reve O, Elli S, Charlee W,
Lani O, Sophie J, Natalia B, Hugh W, Morrissey M, Sophie W, Ellah D

@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

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)
Applications for CSEF close on 23rd June 2023

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.

HOW TO APPLY:
New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from the CSEF website www.vic.gov.au/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund

If you applied for the CSEF at your child’s school in 2022, you do not need to complete an application form in 2023 unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

new student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools in 2023 or you did not apply in 2022
changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing at the school in 2023.

If you are unsure please contact the school office on 50332541.

If you are eligible for CSEF you are also eligible for the Family Fee Assistance Scheme. The FFAS amount for 2023 is $850.00. This amount is credited against your school fee account once your CSEF application has been validated.

PAM - Connect Fields
We kindly ask that all families log in to their PAM accounts, view the "Incomplete Connect Fields" that will appear on your homescreen and action the Digital Tech Agreement & Photo/Video Permission for 2023. If you still require assistance with your PAM account, please contact the office.

Breakfast Club
Our Breakfast Club program is in need of vegemite, honey and jam. Donations can be left at the office. We are also looking for a parent helper every Tuesday from 8.25am-9am. Please contact the office if you would like to assist.

Rapid Antigen Tests
We have excess supply of Rapid Antigen Tests available for families. You can collect test kits from the office between 8.30am and 4pm.

News from the Canteen

Ordering from our canteen for recess or lunch is online via CDF Pay
www.swswanhill.cdfpay.org.au
Orders are to be placed by 9.30am. We recommend ordering the night before.

Thank-you to those families who have volunteered their time in the canteen already this term. We still need more helpers, so if you have your VIC WWCC and would like to help out, please contact the office on 50332541 or email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au