Save The Date 

Save the date! Grandparents Day 25th October

Save the date! Angela Lockwood - Thriving in the Age of Distraction 6-8pm  11th November 

Last day of Term 4 Wednesday 18th December 

Week 2 

Tuesday 22nd: Marybells 9-11

Tuesday 22nd: Year 3 Church visit

Wednesday 23rd: Wear Red for Dyslexia

Friday 25th: World Teachers Day

Friday 25th: Grandparents Day

   9.30 Prayer Service and Choir

   10.00 Class Activities

   11.00 Picnic Lunch

Week 3

Tuesday 29th: Exuro - Year 5 x 3 students

Tuesday 29th: Marybells 9-11

Thursday 31st: Socktober for Catholic Missions, wear school uniform and crazy socks

Friday 1st:  ALL SAINTS Day

Friday 1st: Year 5 Captain Nominations Due

Saturday 2nd: The COMMEMORATION of ALL the FAITHFUL DEPARTED (All Souls' Day)

October 20th

We are looking forward to our Grandparents Day this Friday.

The plan for the day is as follows:

9.30 am Meet in the COLA for Prayer Service and Choir performance

10 am Activities in classrooms

11 am Lunch - Grandparents/parents can bring a picnic lunch if they wish. Tea and coffee will be available.

If Grandparents are unable to attend, your child may wish to bring a photo to put on the prayer space for our prayer service. Photos can be brought into school any time before our Grandparents Day and given to Mrs Dagger, Lisa or Georgia in the office.

Let’s celebrate our teachers and thank them for all the work they do to educate, inspire and empower learners across Australia.

At last week’s P&F Meeting it was voted that we move to the School Community Group.

All families upon enrolment become members of the School Community Group and can attend meetings.

The model is a less formal structure for parent representation, engagement and voice.

There is no executive committee. However, the roles of chair and notetaker are required to be filled each meeting. The SCG can determine whether these roles are rotated each meeting or held for the period of a year.

The Principal and Parish Priest and a Parish Representative are members of the SCG.

The School Community Group Handbook will contain meeting guidelines, suggested agenda and meeting topics.

An educative/consultative component will be included in each agenda.

School Community Groups can support school fundraising if a school chooses to host a fundraiser. Funds are deposited into the school account and the school must adhere to 83C and taxation laws regarding Charity/NFPs.

We all get to dress in the colour RED again this week on Wednesday 23rd October. Dyslexia Awareness Month is held globally every October. Let’s support this and help raise awareness.  

SPELD NSW also has fact sheets about Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Gysgraphia.

If you want to know more go to https://www.speldnsw.org.au/information/resources-downloads/ 

• Meals for the children
• Electricity
• Heating
• Council services
• Uniforms
• School supplies
• A school bus
• Developmental lessons

Come along to this informative event, and bring another St Mary’s parent or carer with you. If there is anyone who looks after your children, invite them along as well.

The “NSW Police Legacy Child Safety Handbook” is a comprehensive and free resource to assist parents, carers as well as teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety.  

This new digital edition (link here) includes important content updates from: NSW Rural Fire Service (NEW fire danger ratings), NSW Health (Water & Pool Safety), Transport NSW (School Bus Safety).

https://www.thefunctionalfamily.com/podcast

Supporting healthy tech use as your child transitions into high school. This webinar explores the social pressures, peer influences, and technological challenges young people face as they transition into high school. It also offers practical strategies for navigating online friendships and connections to help minimise negative experiences.

It is suitable for parents and carers of children in upper primary school (ages 11 to 12) and Year 7.

Tuesday, 29 October, 12.30 pm
Thursday, 28 November, 12.30 pm
Registration link 

eSafety 101: how eSafety can help you. An overview of The eSafety Commissioner and supporting programs and resources for parents and carers, children, and young people.

It is suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and secondary school.

Thursday, 24 October, 12.30pm
Wednesday, 4 December, 12.30pm
Registration link

A GP’s top tips to support kids’ mental wellbeing

Dr. Preeya Alexander is a mum of two and a GP. She’s passionate about doing what she can to help children thrive—both physically and mentally.

There are lots of things we can do to nurture the mental fitness and wellbeing of the children in our lives. Here are my top 4 tips.

1. Understand the mind / body connection

• Eat the rainbow! What we eat can impact our mood; this is true for both adults and children.
• Studies have shown that teenagers who consume a diet high in salt and processed foods have a higher risk of depression.
• Trying to bump up everyone’s fruit and veg intake can yield mental health benefits (and physical ones too like reduced risk of bowel cancer, heart disease and fatty liver).

2. Encourage flexible thinking

• No one is happy all the time. Flexible thinking can help your child deal with bumps in the road that inevitably tend to happen in life. It’s about building resilience and ensuring kids are able to adapt with change.
• One of my favourite ways to foster flexible thinking at home is through practising gratitude. This is so that, even in the deep dark moments, finding even the smallest of things to be grateful for can provide some light.
• Emotional management—the ability to identify feelings, the triggers and how to deal with certain feelings when they arise is another important part of flexible thinking. We work on this heavily at home, particularly with our 3-year-old (we read about feelings and listen to songs). This ensures that when an emotion like anger, for instance, crops up we can try and modulate the feelings and act appropriately (ideally without screaming).

3. Introduce some regular mindfulness/meditation

• Mindfulness and meditation are things lots of children and adults can benefit from. In our home, we tend to do it together; if our 7-year-old is turning on a meditation to wind down, manage stress or bring her brain to the present we often join her.
• Meditation and mindfulness can really help when it comes to the mood and for kids developing the skill early can be powerful. If meditation isn't something that works for your child, informal mindfulness activities are a great way to achieve the same benefits. 
• Smiling Mind has loads of practical resources in this space including meditation and mindfulness activities on the app and worksheets on the Smiling Generation Hub (there are mindful colouring activities, identifying feelings activities and more).

4. Help your child build strong relationships

• Empathy, kindness, and compassion are all critical emotional skills that develop through strong and meaningful relationships
• Having a meaningful connection with others (that might be caregivers, friends, peers) is an important part of mental fitness
• Helping children build strong connections with those around them is a practical way you can help with their sense of belonging and self esteem.

Article here

Currently in mathematics we are looking at informal units of
measurements for length and area. We have had some fun
practicing wrapping boxes using the least amount of paper as
possible (a good way to save on Christmas paper) and using
blocks to create patterns leaving no gaps and not overlapping.

In English we have been creating our own characters focusing on adjectives and adverbs

Week 1

Kinder - Asha Beddows & Jed Ravell

Year 2 - Harriet Lynch & Phoenix Jones

Year 3 - Juliet Harper & Neiva Harding

Year 4 - Banjo Baylis

Year 5 - Oscar Reibelt & Arlo Pym

Year 6 - Ryley McKay

PBS Award - "I move through the school calmly and quietly"

Kinder - Lily Hogarth & Vera Farrugia

Year 2 - Malkia Wamara

Year 3 - Mateo D'Arcy Ryan

Year 4 - Aaliyah Gale

Year 5 - Remy Martin

Year 6 - Halle Wamara

Good Samaritan Award - Charlotte Carlon

Maddie Gibson 27/10, Ailidh Lewis 29/10, Arthur West 29/10, Daisy Tarrant 31/10, Monty Scott 31/10, Faye Lane 03/11.

Police School Liaison Officer -  Bernadette Snow - 0437774483

Police Youth Liaison Officer - Jo Brooker - 66910799 -

Kids Help Line - 1800551800 http://www.kidshelp.com.au/

Cyber Safety  - Incredible resource for parents and children  www.esafety.gov.au

Piano = Victoria Christie 6655 8782

Brass/Piano = Kate Butcher 0419 789 078

Guitar = Katie Crane 0431 151 987

The local veterans' community is set to come together for a day of connection, recreation, and support at the "Keeping Veterans Connected" event on Sunday, 10 November, from 9am to 1:30pm at Lavender's Park, on the north bank of the Bellinger River.

Organised by the Bellinger River RSL sub-Branch with support from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), this event is part of the annual Veterans' Health Week. This year's theme, "Keep Connected," emphasises the crucial role of community bonds in supporting veterans' wellbeing.

This free event, open to all currently serving and ex-service personnel (whether or not they have been deployed overseas) and their families, offers a range of activities designed to promote physical health, mental wellbeing, and community spirit. Highlights include:

- Canoeing on the Bellinger River, supervised by Bellingen Canoe Adventures

- Traditional games like three-legged races and sack races

- Board games and card games for all ages

- Information on access to veteran support services

- Morning tea and a sausage sizzle lunch

Lavender's Park, situated on the north bank of the Bellinger River, provides a picturesque backdrop for this community gathering. Bring a picnic rug or folding chairs.

For more information, please contact Rick Maunder, 0407 764 853 or email bellinger-riversb@rslnsw.org.au

Taking place on Sunday 3rd November, 2024 in the Bellingen CBD, this family friendly event features Performances, Workshops as well as the Belonging Parade and Producers market, this event will be held on northern end of Church Street, Bellingen, and will be an opportunity to reimagine Bellingen as a pedestrian paradise, filled with music, colour and dance. The free event runs from 9:30am - 4pm.

The Taranta Festival is an Italian and Mediterranean inspired folk festival, named for the Southern Italian myth and ritual connected with the bite of the Tarantula spider. Legend says that the only cure for the poison of this bite was music and dance. The entire community would come together in ceremony to heal the affected. The Taranta Festival aims to bring the community together through the power of music and dance.

The theme for the 2024 Festival is ‘Belonging’ and the programme will include:

On Sunday morning street performers will take over to celebrate our Belonging. Argentinian artist Gonzalo Varela says: “We come from different places but we all have something in common: we are all children of the same mother. That’s why I am going to build a big puppet representing Mother Earth ( La Mamma), to help us reflect on who we are as a community, what’s our story as persons and how we maintain our relationship with her and our roots.”

La Mamma will be presented at the parade, escorted by the music and the dances from Jalay Jalay Dance troupe, Zany Zanni street band lead by Giri Mazzella, Kaya Boom, The Bellingen Big Band, All Sorts , Bundangen Sevillanas, Taranta Meanjin plus many more. 

Expect to be involved in Mediterranean dances, wander around food street vendors and local producer’s stalls, listen to stories from local elders, sing songs with community choirs, and eat delicious food. Be ready to experience the making of the longest lasagne sheet ever made (on Church Street) with Cranky Nonna.

For more information www.tarantafestival.com.au or tarantafestival@gmail.com