Save the date! Grandparents Day 25th October

WEEK 6

Monday 26th -  We welcome Emily Hungerford who will be completing her teaching practicum with Year 1

Tuesday 27th - Church Visit Year 5  @ 11.30 am

Tuesday 27th - Year 1 Phonics Screener today

Tuesday 27th  - Kinder and Burrows reciprocal visits

Wednesday 28th - Basketball Clinic

Thursday 29th - Googabinj Performance cancelled

Thursday 29th - Yr 4 Accendere Retreat

Friday 30th - 3:30 – 4:30pm Family Play Afternoon @ Park - all welcome.  Weather permitting

Sunday 1st - Fathers’ Day

WEEK 7 

NAPCAN National Child Protection Week - Every Conversation Matters

Electricity Safety Week

Public Speaking Finals This Week

Wednesday 4th - Basketball Clinic

Friday 6th - OzGreen Protected Species Fundraiser Mufti Day

Sunday 8th - INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

WEEK 8

School Camp

Year 4 Cascade

Year 5-6 Coffs Coast Adventure Camp

Please do not stop in the bus zone to drop off or pick up children - you will be booked by the ranger.

The Kiss and Drop in Watson St (behind the school) is very successful and people move through very quickly.  Try it out.

Sunday 25th August was Social Justice Sunday

The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to their appeal (Psalm 34)

Kiss and Drop has finally opened in the mornings! Please make sure that you are on the school side of Watson Street facing up the hill and that students exit the car from the passenger side onto the footpath. Wait until they have gone into the school grounds via the gate before moving off. We have had a number of families already using this access and things are going well.

The 'Spotlight on Cyberbullying' provides a comprehensive online hub for preventing online harm, fostering close collaboration with education sectors and schools across the nation. 

Parents | eSafety Commissioner

Webinars for parents

Understanding how to support your child with online gaming
Suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and early secondary school.
Tuesday, 3 September, 12.30pm
Register here

Consent and online boundaries: How to support your primary-aged child
Suitable for parents and carers of children in primary school.

Wednesday, 11 September, 12.30 pm
Register here

An introduction to online safety and emerging technologies
Suitable for parents and carers of children and parents in primary and secondary school.
Thursday, 5 September, 12.30pm
Register here

Parent Assembly currently has a subscription with Real Talk. Check it out - there are resources that are relevant for all ages and stages.

Real Talk Flyer (1).pdf

In Year 1 this term we have made some Aboriginal Weapons with the knowledge of Miss Hunter out of salt dough for our NAIDOC Week celebrations. The children loved this sensory experience and got to learn about a range of weapons and what they were used for. We learned they were not just used for hunting but also for ceremonies, child play and practice and food gathering. 

I have added the recipe as many children have wanted to know why Year 1 made things out of bread. 

Recipe 

2 cups of flour

1.5 cups of salt

1 cup of water

Knead for 5-10 minutes

Bake at 120 for 2 hours. 

In Year 1 we have also been learning how to enhance our writing. We have been learning how to use adjectives, adverbs, modifying words, prepositions, exclamation marks and speech marks. The children have goals that they work towards with one or two of these as a whole class goal. They get stars on these goals when they have done it and they are loving making fantastic sentences.

This term, Year 3 students have embarked on an exciting learning journey with the book Wandi by Favel Parrett. This captivating story of a young dingo pup has opened the door to deep discussions about the unique role dingoes play in Australia’s ecosystem. 

As part of our studies, students have not only discovered fascinating facts about the dingo's appearance, habitat, and diet but have also explored the increasing threats these remarkable animals face in the wild. Through research and class discussions, we uncovered why it is so important to protect dingoes, from maintaining biodiversity to balancing our fragile ecosystems.

Our Year 3 students used their new knowledge to create persuasive texts aimed at raising awareness about the importance of protecting dingoes. Here is a peek at a few of them. 

Congratulations to our Year 5 authors who participated in the Kids’ Cancer Project Write a Book in a Day last week. The students worked on their book from 8am to 8pm. Well done team! A big thank you to Mrs Derrin for organising this amazing experience for our students, who said later it was the most stunningly beautiful group work she has ever been involved in.

The Book Week Parade was a massive success! Well done everyone who was able to come dressed up as a book character. There was a lot of work that went into the outfits and your patience and dedication is appreciated parents.

If your child is not returning to St Mary's School next year could you advise the office as soon as possible please.

Camp Creative Scholarships for 2025

Scholarships are once again open to students who would:

⦁ Benefit from the enriching experience that attending Camp Creative would bring.

⦁ Not otherwise be able to participate in a Camp Creative course due to family financial constraints.

⦁ Willingly attend for the five-day duration of the course and enjoy participating in a group.

N.B. Applications close at 5pm Friday 13th September. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of the second week in October. If you want to nominate your child, please email lisa.doolan@lism.catholic.edu.au by Wednesday 11th September.

The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting a FREE parenting webinar with parenting speaker and author, Justin Coulson. This webinar will unpack:

• The root causes behind the deteriorating state of mental health, and who (or what) is responsible.
• The tools you need to reverse this trend for your children.
• Realistic approaches for managing screen time in a way that protects your child's wellbeing.
• Creating margin in your home and family life to protect and promote mental wellness.

Please register by scanning the QR code on the flyer.

Breaking Point Presented by Dr Justin Coulson 11 September 2024.pdf

Week 4

Kinder - Lily Hogarth & Logan Piper

Year 1 - Tully Brown & Tasman Day

Year 2 - Layla Shinfield & Phoenix Jones

Year 3 - Nora Cusack & Anurag Sharma

Year 4 - Lenny Shenfield

Year 5 - Seanna Condon & Nitesh Grimson

PBS - "I am honest"

Kinder - Vera Farrugia & Tully Ouali

Year 1 - Jaxon Fitzgerald

Year 2 - Daisy Tarrant

Year 3 - Digby Bruce

Year 4 - Charlotte Carlon

Year 5 - Aoife Tsang

Week 5

Year 1 - Maddi Moodie & Pip Wadick

Year 2 - Malkia Wamara & Lachlann Kiddle

Year 3 - Jack Bruce & Mateo D'Arcy Ryan

Year 4 - Jala Beddows

Year 5 - Dimity Leslie & Monty Scott

PBS - "I can ask for help"

Year 1 - Zion Sullivan-Njemanze

Year 2 - Henry Hart

Year 3 - Freddy Tsang

Year 4 - Fayruz Ouali

Year 5 - Neerav Pratap

Piano = Victoria Christie 6655 8782

Brass/Piano = Kate Butcher 0419 789 078

Guitar = Katie Crane 0431 151 987