Newsletter Term 3 Week 3
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
Our school wellbeing dog Mac turned 2 today! The Mac monitors did a great job of planning some special activities to celebrate with the birthday boy and a big thank you to Dani, Frankie, Grace, Alahni & Gurlal who made Mac a beautiful dog friendly birthday cake!
The disco was a real success with 400 students attending. They had a fantastic time and loved the photo booths, the smoke machine, glow sticks and the playlists our students put together. Apart from having fun, the disco was a very successful fundraiser with over $1350 profit raised with all proceeds going towards the new Ninja Playground. A sincere thanks to Renee, Flick and the P & F for their work in putting this together, the many staff and parent helpers who came along and got into the spirit of the night and to Ebony, who did a huge amount of work behind the scenes and on the actual night to make sure everything was organised and ran smoothly
Mini Olympics- Friday August 2nd
The Olympics are the big ticket item at school at the moment with our students investigating everything from the history of the games to the countries, athletes and different events.
Excitement levels are high and to celebrate this significant world event we are having our own mini Olympics running throughout the day on Friday August 2nd. On this day the children can wear casual dress with a touch of Yellow and/or Green.
100 Days of Learning
It’s that time of year again when our kids and staff ‘age a little’ as they dress up to celebrate 100 days of learning. The Foundation children are very excited to celebrate 100 days of Learning on Wednesday July 31st This annual event is one that the staff and children in Foundation really look forward to and love to see our youngest students dress up and have fun, celebrating just how clever they have become - a whole 100 days smarter!
School Improvement Survey
Every 2 years our school community is required to complete a survey which provides us with data concerning our school. This data is used in the process of assessing growth, setting goals and working towards school improvement. 2024 is a survey year. A selection of parents have been chosen randomly from our family list, and will receive a survey for completion between Monday 26th July and Friday 9th August. If you receive an invitation to participate it would be fantastic if you could take the time to complete the survey. Staff and senior students are also involved in completing surveys and providing important feedback for our school.
Parent Survey
Thank you to the families that responded to the Parent Feedback survey which was advertised on the school newsletter last term. We really appreciated the feedback about various aspects of our school operations.
This week I have shared what parents thought about our school communication methods, with 1 indicating disagree through to 3 which means strongly agree.
Flying Start
Our final sessions concluded last week . We have a great little bunch of 2025 students in the making based on the preschoolers who have been in for Flying Start and it has been lovely to see them grow in confidence each week.
Check out the fun in their final session.....
It was lovely to see so many families at our assembly last Friday. Congratulations to the children in 5C who were extremely proud to lead our assembly prayer. This week we look forward to hearing from 2T
Enjoy the week ahead,
Kate
"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress
Key Dates
Wednesday July 31st
100 days of School - Foundation
MacKillop College Transition Day 2
Friday August 2nd
Assembly 12.25pm - 2T
Casual Dress Day (Green & Gold Olympics theme/no donation)
Thursday August 8th
Regional Netball (Girls & Boys)
Regional Soccer (Girls & Boys)
Mary MacKillop Liturgy - 9.10am
Friday August 9th
Assembly 12.25pm - 2U
Tuesday August 13th
Regional AFL (Girls & Boys)
Thursday August 15th
School Feast Day - Assumption of Mary Mass - 9.10am
Friday August 16th
Pupil Free Day
Wellbeing with Mr Prockter
Curriculum with Mrs Hall
Young Writers Award - “FLOOD”
The Young Writers Award Writing Competition is an exciting opportunity for Prep to Year 10 and multi-class school children across the Swan Hill district. The competition is devised to inspire pupils to write a narrative piece of no more than 500 words for primary students. As a school we are proud to be involved with this great initiative and look forward to reading many wonderful narratives written by our students across all year levels. This year’s theme is “FLOOD”.
Prizes will be awarded to shortlisted entries and the winner in each of the seven categories.
Winners will be announced at a presentation to be held at the library during Children’s Week, on Wednesday, 23 October 2024 at 7pm. Shortlisted entries will be on display at Swan Hill library during November 2024. Shortlisted entries will be notified once the school has been informed by the library.
RE with Mrs Davies
News from our Parish - Festa della Madonna: August 4th 2024
Something Old, Something New...
The celebration of the Festa della Madonna del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) has a long history in Swan Hill and has been a very special celebration for the Italian Catholic community and indeed the whole Parish. At its height it included a procession along the street with a full band, several dinners and special Mission talks.
A dedicated and generous Festa Committee faithfully kept it alive as a special service to the parish, especially for the older Italian parishioners to whom it meant so much. In more recent years it has evolved into a simpler celebration, while still retaining its heart as a loving tribute to Our Lady and a celebration of the special contribution the Italian community has made to our parish. After many years of hard work, the Committee made the call after last year’s celebration that it would be the last Festa they would organise. I would like to sincerely thank the Festa Committee for their tremendous generosity and hard work.
Not quite ready to disappear completely though, and out of great respect and affection for what has been, the Festa will now evolve into a slightly new form with some new helpers, while still retaining its heart as a loving tribute to Our Lady.
We will celebrate the Festa on Sunday 4th August to coincide with Bishop Paul's visit of the same weekend. After the 10:30am Mass everyone is welcome to join over in the Parish Function Centre for a shared meal and celebration. If you are able, please bring some antipasto or a sweet to be shared. Mains will be provided by the organising team so that we can make sure we provide for the various dietary requirements . If you are able to contribute at all, or have any questions, please contact Jordan Wong on 04 34 588 623.
And once again, I would like to thank the outgoing Festa Committee for their faithful dedication over many years. Grazie!
PE with Miss Clark
Division Girls Football
Last Thursday, July 25th, 41 St Mary’s students participated in the Division Girls Football carnival. With the growing popularity of the sport, it was great to see all the girls play in great spirit, and it was pleasing to see such outstanding skills from our girls on display. Well done to team A and C who won their divisions on the day.
Thank you also to Tenay for coming along and coaching. The Division 1 A team now advances to the next stage at regional level on Thursday 8th August.
Division Boys Netball
Also last Thursday, July 25th, St Mary’s had 9 Year 6 boys who got out of their comfort zones and participated in the Division Boys Netball competition held at Alan Garden Reserve. These boys have been training hard at lunchtime at school which paid off as they were lucky enough to come away with a well earned victory. Thank you also to Mrs Davies for helping to coach the boys at lunch times and on the day. These boys will now proceed to the Regional Netball competition on Thursday August 8th.
Athletics Sports Carnival Volunteers
To run a successful event, it always takes great volunteers. Over the coming weeks, I will be sending out expressions of interest to assist with the St Mary’s Primary School Athletics Carnivals. The dates are as follows;
Senior Athletics (Years 3-6) at Ken Harrison Reserve - Thursday, August 29th
Junior Athletics (Foundation-Year 2) at St Mary’s Primary School oval - Thursday, September 5th
If you are willing to help out at either of these, please save the dates. More details to follow.
Gymnastics After School
The after school gymnastics program will start this week on Thursday 1st of August and run for a total of 4 weeks. A confirmation note will be sent home to the 24 students participating. Those students who were unable to get a spot will be put on a waiting list if any students pull out. A reminder to parents to make arrangements to pick their child/ren up at the conclusion of the session at 4:30 at 19 Webster Drive.
@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.
Student Absences
Just a reminder that if your child is absent from school, you need to let the office know, preferably via PAM, prior to 9.25am.
Book Club - Issue 5 orders close Monday August 5th
Scholastic Book Club Issue 5 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
School Beanies
Winter is here so now is a great time to purchase a school beanie.
Available on CDF Pay for $15.
News from the Canteen
Volunteers Needed:
We are always on the lookout for volunteers in our school canteen. You just need your VIC WWCC. Volunteer hours at 11.30am-1.30pm. Please email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au if you are able assist
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
Just a reminder to sign in at the office when you are on canteen duty
Student of the Week
Happy Birthday!
