Newsletter, W4,T2, 2024
Principal's Report
Dear Parents & Carers,
It’s hard to believe that we are approaching week 5 of Term 2 - where is the time going?
Today at St Mary’s we held our annual Mother’s Day celebration and once again it was a great success. It was so lovely to see so many mothers, grandmothers and other special guests attend and be part of our celebration. We hope everyone enjoyed this special time with your loved ones. A big thank you to Mikayla McGowan-Rickard, Jess Baldock, Sindy Nel and Cenza Brigante for planning and organising our celebration. Also a special thank you to Sassy Balloons for the beautiful backdrop display for our liturgy and to Robinvale Euston Rotary for the delicious donuts.
The momentum has continued since our whole school cross country event in week two. We apologise for the oversight in not including the cross country results in our previous newsletter. You can find them included further below in this week’s publication. After some wonderful results at our school event, last week, we had approximately twenty students from Years 3-6 represent St Mary’s at the Primary Division Cross country in Mildura. On Wednesday this week, we had 10 Secondary students representing St Mary’s at the Mallee Division Cross Country in Ouyen. Congratulations to all those who participated and a special congratulations to those who have qualified for the Regional event later this month.
On Wednesday, our Year 3-6 students had an enlightening experience at the Emergency Services Day in Mildura. It was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to learn about the invaluable work our emergency service providers do and gain an insight into community safety.
Additionally, on Wednesday, our class captains had the privilege of attending the GRIP Leadership conference in Mildura. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn about leadership and further develop their leadership skills so that they can continue to make positive contributions to our school community.
At St Mary’s, the safety and wellbeing of every student is important. Recently, there have been some instances of tackling and rough play during break times. While we understand that children engage in active play, it’s crucial to remind everyone that such behaviour is not acceptable at St Mary’s. Tackling and rough play can pose risks not only to the individuals involved but also to their peers and the overall school environment. Therefore, we kindly request your cooperation in reinforcing this message at home and discussing with your child the importance of respectful and considerate behaviour.
Thank you to all families who promptly responded to and returned the volunteers note. Your willingness to lend a helping hand and support our school community is deeply appreciated. Your offers to assist in various capacities are invaluable, and with your continued support our school events will continue to be successful.
Finally, to all of our mums and special friends, we would like to wish you a lovely Mother’s Day this Sunday. Your love, care and dedication are truly cherished, and we thank you for everything you do. We hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends.
Regards,
Nicole Zappia, Maryanne Leslie & Jess Baldock
SWPBS
The SWPBS focus for this week is to flush, wash, dry and goodbye when using the toilets at school.
The SWPBS focus for next week is to greet people, be polite and speak respectfully.
Primary
Foundation
The Foundation students have had a busy few weeks! Before ANAZAC day we read a story called ‘ANZAC Ted’ that gently teaches students about the concepts of war and the hardships. Students then completed a play based craft where they decorated their own Ted using their creativity and imagination.
This week students have walked into a redecorated room as Miss M and Mrs Brigante opened up the divider in their room so they are now one big classroom for them to team teach in. Students have settled in well and are responding to this change positively. They are building their social skills as they sit in their new seats and support their peers.
This week students have learnt two new letters, ‘e’ and ‘n’ and another two tricky words, ‘they’ and ‘that’. Foundation students have enjoyed using these to read and write.
A friendly reminder to please label your child’s items, we have many jumpers and jackets that are now in lost property because there are no names on them.
Year 1/2
After a few busy weeks we have settled into the flow of term two. In Literacy students have been exploring the features of a narrative and how to write one. They used their knowledge of the history of ANZAC Day to start from. Students will be building on their knowledge of narratives to write some exciting stories to read in the next couple of weeks.
This term students will be looking at materials constructed by humans and how they can change. Students have already begun by exploring the process of making paper. Students worked hard to rip pieces of scrap paper up into tiny pieces to begin the paper making process.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the cross country. It was great to see so many people getting out there and giving it their best shot.
Please remember to read as often as possible with your child to build lifelong reading habits and continue filling in their reader diaries.
Year 3/4
We have been busy with engaging learning and multiple activities. Our trip to Mildura for Emergency Services Day was a wonderful learning experience for the students.
All 3/4 students thoroughly enjoyed learning the procedure of making Anzac Biscuits. Their excitement in the kitchen was appreciated. Thank you to Mrs Kennedy for leading this. Our focus in the upcoming weeks for reading will be on using text features and search tools to locate information in written and digital texts efficiently. Students will be working on locating information about Australia’s neighbouring countries, which is also our Humanities focus. They will continue to work on writing procedure texts independently in writing. In Religion, students will be learning about the Pentecost Story and its relevance to the theme of Unity.
All in year 3/4 are eagerly planning for the upcoming school camp which is to be held from Wednesday 22nd May to Friday 24th May. We have sent the permission form for the camp. Thank you to all who have signed and returned the permission form. More information will be sent home next week.
Year 5/6
Thank you for your enthusiastic participation in the recent homework interviews. We're eagerly anticipating the upcoming presentations for the Humanities project, where we'll get to see students’ respect, passion and appreciation for heritage.
The recent visit to the Emergency Expo in Mildura was a hit among our students. They had a great time and learned valuable information.
In class, we've wrapped up our exploration of procedural texts. As part of this, students were tasked with creating their own unique Lego creations, allowing them to put their procedural skills to the test while having fun.
A big congratulations to all the students who took part in the Cross Country event. It was a wonderful day, made even better by the strong support from our parent community.
Please remember to read with your child as often as possible. Developing a healthy habit for reading promotes so many wonderful skills that could benefit them throughout life.
Secondary
Congratulations to our Secondary students who participated in the Mallee Division Cross Country event. Everyone should be proud of their achievements.
In other news, our students continue to enjoy their Food Technology lessons, and we hope all the mothers enjoyed the delicious cupcakes that the students made. It's wonderful to see their culinary skills developing and their enthusiasm for cooking growing.
Looking ahead, we are excited about our upcoming excursion to the Mildura Field Days, where students will have the opportunity to learn about agriculture and regional industries. Following this, we are eagerly anticipating our camp in Week 6, where students will have the chance to participate in various outdoor activities and team-building exercises.