Newsletter Term 3 Week 9
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
What a lot of fun our younger students had at the Junior Athletics carnival last Thursday and it was terrific to see so many family and friends join us and enjoy the event.
Parent Teacher Interviews and Student Led Conferences
Just a reminder that Parent Teacher Interviews are running again this Tuesday 10/9. It has been terrific to see so many parents booking in via schoolinterviews.com.au and if you have not yet done so, it is not too late to book in this week. This is a great opportunity for all parents to book a time to spend with your child’s teacher. Please ring the office if you have any issues booking a time.
Bookings can be made via https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code
Code: vzr7h
R U OK Day - Thursday September 12th
R U OK Day is a national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that every day is the day to ask , 'are you OK?' and support those struggling with life's ups and downs. Our staff are doing some fun activities throughout the week promoting staff wellbeing. The students will also learn how they can support each other and be good friends.
Parent Survey
Thank you to the families that responded to the recent Parent Feedback survey. We appreciated the feedback about various aspects of our school operations. This week I have shared what parents thought about our expectations of students and how we celebrate student achievements,1 indicating disagree through to 3 which means strongly agree.
Bus Safety
All students have been reminded of the importance of displaying positive behaviour while travelling on the bus to and from school. The St. Mary’s norms - Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful & Be Your Best are all important to remember when travelling on a bus. Students are reminded to make sure they do the following:
- Wear your seatbelt
- Keep noise levels down
- Do not move around the bus
- Speak kindly and respectfully to others
- Do not eat on the bus
We encourage all families to remind their children of these important points to ensure all children can travel safely and happily on the bus.
Transitioning to Summer Uniform
Towards the end of Term 3 the weather begins to warm up. Children can transition into summer uniform on these warmer days, keeping in mind that there will still be some colder days ahead. By the start of Term 4 all children should be in summer uniform and will need to have their school hat at school.
2025 Enrolments
We are still taking enrolments for Foundation and other year levels for 2024 and encourage you to let your family and friends know about the warm and supportive environment offered at St Mary's for all students.
Footy Colours Day - Friday September 20th
Just some advanced notice, our Footy Colours Day will be held next Friday. More information has been sent home with students today.
Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing many of you at assembly which will be hosted by 2V.
Kate
"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress
Key Dates
Tuesday September 10th
Parent Teacher Interviews
Friday September 13th
Assembly 12.25pm - 2V
Monday September 16th
Division Athletics
Foundation Camp
Wednesday September 18th
State Netball
Friday September 20th
Casual Dress Day - Footy Colours Day
Assembly 12.25pm - 5D
End of Term 3 (1 hour earlier finish time)
Monday October 7th
Start of Term 4
Wellbeing with Mr Prockter
Child Safe Standard Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
R U OK? is a national suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times.
Our work focuses on building the motivation, confidence and skills of the help-giver – the person who can have a meaningful conversation with someone who is struggling with life.
R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in their personal relationships and building the capacity of informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues - to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they're in crisis.
This week in class students and staff will be participating in R U OK activities which are wrapped around our SEL program here at St Mary’s.
Have a great week everyone, and remember to check in with someone who you may not have seen lately!
Mr Prockter & The Wellbeing Team
Curriculum with Mrs Hall
2024: Young Writers Competition: Flood
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 Flood. 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.
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
Sacrament of Confirmation 2024- Year 3 and above
Next term we are looking forward to our Year 3 Children (for baptised Catholics) who will be preparing and celebrating their Sacrament of Confirmation. Children above Year 3 who have not yet been Confirmed are also welcome to be part of the program. The program begins with attending one of the enrolment sessions in week 2 of next term.
Invitations will be sent directly to the families of baptised Catholics the school has a record of. If for whatever reason you miss this invitation, and want your child to be part of the program, please contact the Parish directly via email northeastmallee@ballarat.catholic.org.au or phone 50324144 and they can assist you.
Below are some other important dates to remember -
Enrolment Sessions- Monday 14th & Wednesday 16th October- (need to book in via trybooking)
Presentation Masses - Saturday Oct 19th 6pm or Sunday Oct 20th 10.30am
Retreat - Tuesday November 12th
Mass Celebration - Saturday November 16th 6pm or Sunday November 17th 10.30am
PE with Miss Clark
Junior Athletics
Well we certainly got lucky with the weather when we hosted our Junior Athletics last week on Thursday. It was a hot one but thankfully there was cloud cover for the majority of the event and the wind wasn’t as bad as it has been. A huge thank you to everyone who made the event run successfully including parent helpers, staff and senior house captains. The results of the Junior Athletics are as follows;
Relay Results
1st - Dingoes with 19 points
2nd - Bunyips with 17 points
3rd - Bandicoots 12 points
4th - Wombats 12 points
Overall Results
1st - Wombats Agg 13.08
2nd - Dingoes 12.91
3rd - Bunyips Agg 12.59
4th - Bandicoots Agg 12.33
Congratulations to all Age Champions and Sports Person individual award winners. Well done to all our students!
Division Athletics
Following on from the Senior Athletics for students in Years 3-6, students who qualified will participate in the Division Athletics on Monday the 16th of September at Ken Harrison Reserve. If your child has qualified for an event, a timetable will be sent home this week highlighting their event/s times and a permission note has gone out on PAM.
@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.
Country Bus Travel
Country Buses are to be used for registered travellers only. If Country Bus travel is required in an emergency, please contact the office so that the appropriate paperwork can be completed.
Breakfast Club
We kindly ask for donations of jam and vegemite for Breakfast Club. Donations can be dropped in to the office.
Thank-you to those families who have donated fresh fruit, this has certainly been a hit with the students!
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
Happy Birthday!
What's happening in Foundation Blue?
Community News
