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Newsletter Term 1 Week 9

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Families,

It is hard to believe that there are only a few days left until the Easter break. This term has flown and both our staff and students are to be congratulated on the way they have worked to make their classrooms such positive and vibrant learning communities.

Throughout the term the students have had many exciting activities, opportunities and experiences being Backflips Against Bullying, Craig Smith illustrator workshops, Harmony Day and many different sporting opportunities. Many of these learning experiences have been shared via Seesaw over the term while this week your child's Term 1 Personal Qualities sheet will be uploaded As we head towards holidays, it is also timely to acknowledge the amazing work of our staff this term. Their dedication and care for each student under their care is commendable and I am grateful every day for their efforts to ensure our school is as safe and productive as possible.

All the very best to Johannes Oosterlaak and to Jo-Ann and Henco Van Der Westhuizen who are moving to new schools this week in Kerang and WA respectively. We hope they enjoyed their time at St Mary’s and wish them every success at their new schools. Today is also the last day for Mrs Wade who is ready to rest up as she awaits the birth of her baby in early May. Nikita has been a terrific addition to our staff and will be really missed by our students and the staff.

Community Groups
The children had so much fun this morning completing some. Harmony Day based themed activities when we held our first community group session for the year last Friday. At St Mary’s we have many opportunities for children to mix and get to know each other and other teachers. Community Groups is one of these. We run Community Groups once a term with children being vertically grouped with family members and the same teacher for the year. This is a great way for children to meet other children and teachers and to build positive relationships with others

Holy Week Liturgy
Holy Week is one of the highlights on our religious calendar for the year and this Thursday we are looking forward to the Year 2 students leading our Holy Week Liturgy together with Fr James. This will begin at the gym at 9:10am. All are welcome.

St Pat's Races
The St Pats Races were a big success with all proceeds donated to St Mary’s. A huge thank you to Carl Hufer and his team at Racing Victoria who pulled out all the stops to ensure it was a wonderful family event that also raised much-needed funds for our school. We are still waiting for the final wash-up and will advertise this figure in our first newsletter after the holidays.

P & F Easter Raffle
Last week your child bought home a flyer for the Easter raffle. Tickets are $1 and the prizes are hampers of delicious Easter goodies! Always a favourite with the kids (and big kids too!). Proceeds from this raffle and the St Pat’s Races go towards the rebuilding of the Ninja playground. Please return all tickets by tomorrow as the raffle is drawn on Wednesday!

Parent/Teacher Interviews: Tuesday 26th March
It was terrific to see such a great rollup at our first week of Parent Teacher Interviews. These continue tomorrow. These meetings are an opportunity to share and celebrate your child’s learning so far and to focus on the goals ahead and we strongly encourage all families to book in and take up this opportunity. Our Year 5-6 children take the reins conducting Student Led conferences while our Year 2-4 levels run 3 Way Interviews where your child is asked to be present and involved in the interview. Foundation and Year 1 are running a more traditional parent-teacher style-no children required.

Our school interviews website is still open for you to log a time for your child’s Parent / Teacher Interviews. You can log on and choose your preferred time or contact the office and we can do this for you. The allocated time is 10 minutes per chat.
Parent / Teacher Interviews will be held at:
3.40 pm – 6.00 pm on Tuesday 26th March

The web address for booking is http://www.schoolinterviews.com.au and the login code is 7b7x6

Easter activities
Thanks to the SRC we have an Easter-themed casual dress on Thursday and the very popular ‘Guess how many Easter Eggs are in the jar’ competition is also happening this week.

Enrolments for 2025
Enrolments are now open for children who start Foundation in 2025. Interviews for new and existing families will take place later in Term 2 and continue in Term 3. Parents of existing families who have a child to start in 2025, please ring the office so an enrolment form can be forwarded to you.

A reminder that Thursday is the end of Term 1, which means an early finish (first bell at 2.15pm). Wishing you all a blessed Easter and a safe holiday and look forward to seeing you all when we return on Monday 15th April.

Kate

"We have much for which to be thankful"
St Mary MacKillop 1875

Key Dates

Monday March 25th & Tuesday March 26th
Craig Smith - Illustrator incursion
Tuesday March 26th
Year 5 & Year 6 Summer Sports
Year 4 Reconciliation Mass
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thursday March 28th
Holy Week Liturgy - 9.10am
Casual Dress Day
End of Term 1 (1 hour earlier finish time)
Monday April 15th
Start of Term 2
Thursday April 25th
ANZAC Day - Public Holiday
Friday April 26th
Pupil Free Day - Staff PD

Wellbeing with Mr Prockter

Keeping Kids Active
Anyone who has seen kids on a playground knows that most are naturally physically active and love to move around. But what might not be apparent is that climbing to the top of a slide or swinging from the monkey bars can help lead kids to a lifetime of being active.

As they get older, it can be a challenge for kids to get enough daily activity. This can be due to:

increasing demands at school
a feeling among some kids that they aren't good at sports
a lack of active role models
busy working families

Benefits of being active - When kids are active, their bodies can do the things they want and need them to do. Why? Because regular exercise provides these benefits:

strong muscles and bones
healthy weight
decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes
better sleep
a better outlook on life

Physically active kids also are more likely to be motivated, focused, and successful in school. And mastering physical skills builds confidence at every age.

What motivates kids? So there's a lot to gain from regular physical activity, but how do you encourage kids to do it? The three keys are:

Choosing the right activities for a child's age: If you don't, the child may be bored or frustrated.
Giving kids plenty of opportunity to be active: Kids need parents to make activity easy by providing equipment, signing them up for classes or sports teams, and taking them to playgrounds and other active spots.
Keeping the focus on fun: Kids won't do something they don't enjoy.

When kids enjoy an activity, they want to do more of it. Practicing a skill — whether it's swimming or riding a tricycle — improves their abilities and helps them feel accomplished, especially when the effort is noticed and praised. These good feelings often make kids want to continue the activity and even try others.

Curriculum with Mrs Hall

Craig Smith: Illustrator Workshop Foundation - Year 6
Craig Smith is one of Australia's most prolific, popular and award-winning illustrators of children's books. Craig Smith has illustrated more than 400 books for children over 40 plus years, working with many of Australia’s most experienced writers and editors.

Craig Smith is known for his ability to engage primary children with his creative wit and drawing skills. Through his illustrations, he brings stories to life and captivates young audiences with imaginative characters and vibrant scenes. Smith's talent lies not only in his artistic abilities but also in his knack for connecting with children, understanding their interests, and translating them into captivating visuals that spark their imagination and curiosity.

Craig Smith is conducting interactive drawing workshops with all our students this week, encouraging them to explore their own creativity through art and storytelling.

Home reading plays a crucial role in promoting literacy
Reading regularly at home helps children improve their literacy skills such as reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness. These foundational skills are crucial for academic success across all subjects. When children read at home, they have the opportunity to explore different genres, authors, and topics, which can foster a lifelong love for reading. Developing a positive attitude towards reading early on can lead to improved academic performance and personal enrichment.

RE with Mrs Davies

This week we enter the most sacred and special time of the Church Year - Easter. We have been journeying through Lent in preparation for the special time that awaits us ahead.

On Thursday morning at 9.15am we warmly invite families to attend our whole school Holy Week Liturgy led by Fr James and the Year 2 children. This will be held in the Gym.

Holy Week & Easter Schedule - Holy Week in Swan Hill

Holy Thursday
Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Swan Hill 6pm

Good Friday
Stations of the Cross Swan Hill 10am
Followed by Confessions until 11:30am
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion Swan Hill 3pm

Holy Saturday & Easter Vigil
Confessions 10am
Easter Vigil Mass 6pm

Easter Sunday
Mass Swan Hill 10:30am
Followed by Easter Lunch

Easter Sunday Parish Lunch
Easter is a special day of celebration and joy, but with distance and circumstance not everyone is able to join with family and friends for a special meal. So that no-one need be alone, some parishioners have offered to host a special lunch on Easter Sunday after Mass, so that we can celebrate together as a parish family. Everyone is welcome!

PE with Miss Clark

Sharon Denham visit
St Mary’s Year 5 and 6 students and myself would like to thank Sharon Denham for helping to coach and run Basketball drills during our PE lessons for the past 4 weeks. Sharon’s amazing knowledge and experience helped to improve all of our student’s Basketball skills and game sense. She strongly encourages being a good team player and had lots of coaching points that students could use in other team sports such as ‘scanning to look for the best pass’, ‘adopting an athletic stance’, ‘not passing 3 in a row’ and ‘moving into space to receive a pass’. We really appreciate Sharon’s time and effort by coming to St Mary’s and hope our students learnt something new, improved their confidence and had fun.

Regional Tennis
Best of luck to Jameson B who will compete at the Regional Singles Tennis tournament at the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis Club today!

Summer Sports
Good luck to all the Year 5 and 6 students participating in Summer Sports this week on Tuesday the 26th of March. It is a great opportunity to showcase the 5 weeks of coaching from the Mackillop students in a friendly and competitive environment against other primary schools in our local area. The sports on offer were Basketball, Softball, Cricket and Tennis. Parents and friends are welcome to watch and support our students during the day. Go St Mary’s!

@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

Breakfast Club - donations of fresh fruit
Donations of fresh fruit eg. watermelon, oranges, stonefruit etc would be welcomed next term to be served at Breakfast Club. Donations can be left at the office.

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)
Applications for CSEF close on 28th June 2024

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 $150 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 2023, you do not need to complete an application form in 2024 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 2024 or you did not apply in 2023
* Changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing at the school in 2024.
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 2024 is $860.00. This amount is credited against your school fee account once your CSEF application has been validated.

Buses - Town & Country bus reminders
Just a reminder that casual travel on our town bus service is $3 per day/per family. We kindly ask that this is sent to the office on the day that travel in required.

We are unable to issue bus passes for Country Buses. These buses are State Government funded and are for registered travellers only to travel to and from their place of residence.

News from the Canteen

We are looking for volunteers to help in our school canteen during 2024. Volunteer hours at 11.30am - 1.30pm. If you have a Victorian WWCC and would like to assist, please contact the office on 50332541.

Ordering from the canteen:
Recess and lunch orders are placed online only via CDF Pay. The orders close at 9.30am each day, so it is recommended you place your order the night before. Our canteen is a very busy, so late orders will be offered limited options. Please contact the office if you need help with CDF Pay.

https://smswanhill.cdfpay.org.au

Canteen Roster