Newsletter, W2, T3, 2024

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome to term 3. We’ve hit the ground running, as usual, with many events already taking place and it’s only week 2!

Sport has been a huge focus this term already. One of the highlights has been our Year 8 student, Javon Costantino, competing in the State Cross Country in Melbourne. Javon placed in the top 10 of the field which is an amazing achievement. Well done Javon! 

This week our Year 5/6 students travelled to Red Cliffs to compete in the Mildura South District Lightning Premierships. A great time was had by all with both our football and netball teams making it through to the Regional Competition in the coming weeks. Well done to these teams and to every student who participated in the day and represented St Mary’s so well. Thanks also to Mark Zappia, Clare Smith and Fiona Shawcross for coaching the football and netball respectively, along with the other parents who supported our students and, of course, the staff who organised and attended the event. 

We recently purchased new uniforms for our students to wear when they represent St Mary’s at various sporting events and competitions. The Lightning Premiership was our first opportunity to show them off. We’ve included photos of the teams in their new outfits in this newsletter and I’m sure you’ll agree that they look fantastic!

Also this week, a team of Year 7/8 girls travelled to Bendigo to compete in the Regional Netball Competition. The girls played extremely well and enjoyed the experience immensely. Thank you to Tina Zappia who coached the team. Coming up next week a combined St Mary’s/Robinvale College Year 7/8 Football Team will head to Swan Hill to play in the Regional Football Competition. We wish the boys the very best of luck and thank Charlie Ford for coaching the team.

On Friday we will have a very important visitor in our school. Bishop Paul Bird will share lunch with the staff and enjoy participating in our weekly assembly. Bishop Paul is currently visiting all the parishes in the Ballarat Diocese in recognition of the 150 Year Anniversary of the Diocese. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host the Bishop, to have him join our community and experience our wonderful school. Bishop Paul will address the assembly on Friday and everyone is very welcome to attend.

In addition to the events discussed above, we celebrated NAIDOC Week when we returned to school after the holidays. This year’s theme is ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’. NAIDOC Week is an important event on our annual calendar during which we take the time to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait culture and history and celebrate these. Many activities took place across the school and our Year 7/8 students had the opportunity to experience Aboriginal culture first hand on an excursion to the local Easter Camp where they made damper and learned about our local history from Daryl Singh. Thanks to Daryl for his time and support.

This week our Prep students celebrated 100 Days at School. This is a fun and important milestone in our students' education here at St Mary’s. It was lovely to see so many ‘old people’ in the Prep rooms having a great day with their peers and teachers. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Last week the parish held this year’s Confirmation Parent Meeting and preparations to receive the sacrament are now underway. Please keep these students and their families in your prayers as they get ready to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation at Mass on 19th October.

Another date to place in your diaries is Grandparents Day, Friday 1th October 9.30am - 11.30am. This is always a wonderful celebration and school community event. We are looking forward to welcoming Grandparents and other special people in our students' lives into our school for a very special morning. Following a liturgy and shared morning tea, this year the STOMP dance company will work with students to put together the much anticipated Grandparents Day performance. Definitely something to look forward to!

This term we welcomed Will Lowry into our school. Will is teaching Year 5/6 and has settled in well. We are very pleased that he has joined us.  Most of you will be aware that Cenza Brigante is leaving St Mary’s at the end of this term in order to welcome her first child into the world. This is an exciting time for Cenza and I’m equally excited to let you know that Kirstyn Pepping will be returning from her extended travels to replace Cenza and teach her Prep class for the remainder of 2024. We are very much looking forward to seeing Kirstyn again and to meeting Cenza and Justin’s baby when the time comes.

Kind regards, 

Andrea Welsh

The SWPBS focus for next week is to enter and exit in an orderly manner. 

Foundation

Welcome back to Term 3! What a busy start we have had! This week we celebrated being at school for 100 days and all the great things we have learned. Students enjoyed dressing up, exploring the number 100 and imagining what they would do with $100. On Friday, Foundation M has their assembly and have been busy practising their lines they have to say! 

Since returning to school we have introduced five new sounds, four tricky words and two new reading concepts; what a digraph is and what a vowel is! A digraph is two letters that makes.one sound, like the letters CK in duck! 

Later this term we have planned an excursion to Mildura and our Prep Dinner. These are exciting experiences that students can share together to prepare them for camps in their later years at school. Notes will be sent home soon, but we have begun speaking to students about this to ensure they are aware of the expectations when leaving school for an excursion and the experience of Prep Dinner.

Year 1/2

Welcome back, everyone! We think this might be a very busy term indeed! Our literacy focus will be on information reports. We are hoping to align the current events of the Olympics into this unit.  We have been experiencing quite a cold spell this winter and recommend students wear their jackets and jumpers during this time. As always, we encourage daily reading and following the class teachers routine of signing diaries and recording. Consistent reading is such an important routine that leads to confidence in approaching unknown vocabulary with increased ease, as well as improvement of overall fluency. It allows students to continually utilise skills taught to them in how to approach reading.

Year 3/4

Welcome back to school! We have a busy Term 3 planned for our Year 3/4 students. In writing, we are exploring poetry, with a focus on narrative poems for the next few weeks. In Humanities, we'll delve into the history of pioneers and Robinvale. Our science topic is "Night and Day," and in Religion, we'll discuss the theme of Hospitality. In Health, we will talk about help-seeking.

We kindly remind you to encourage your child to read for at least 10 minutes each night and to have their diaries signed by a parent or carer. Homework is sent home on Mondays and is due on Fridays. Thank you for your support in fostering a love for learning!

We are excited for a wonderful term of learning and growth!

Year 5/6

In year 5-6 we welcome Will Lowry to Room 15. Will has returned to Sunraysia after spending some time teaching both abroad and in Melbourne. Having grown up in the area, he has been looking forward to coming back home to teach for a little while now, and is very excited to have the opportunity to join the team at St Mary’s. 

This term in Year 5-6 we have many interesting topics that we will explore. These range from:

Religion - The role of women in the Bible  

Health - Personal identity and the human body 

Humanities - Geography - mapping and exploring Asia

Science- Inventions that helped to change the world

PE - Preparations for Athletics Day 

Currently in English we have been learning about the role Elders play in Aboriginal communities and in Maths the year 5 students have completed lessons on fractions, while the year 6 students are focusing on ******.

Thanks you to the families who have returned the expression of interest camp note. Please keep an eye out for another camp note that will include a packing list.

Year 7/8 homeroom

Welcome back to Term 3! Where did the first semester go? We hope you all had a restful break and are ready for an exciting and busy term ahead. We have a fantastic line up of sporting and themed events that will keep us all engaged and enthusiastic.

Firstly, well done to the Year 7 & 8 Girls who went to Bendigo to represent St Mary's. A special mention goes to Mrs. Tina Zappia for giving up her time to coach our team and to Mr. Lowry for driving the bus and Miss Tehan Kelleher for accompanying the team. Your dedication is very appreciated.

Good luck to the Year 7 & 8 Boys from St Mary's and Robinvale College who will be heading to Swan Hill to represent our community. A big thank you to Mr. Ford and Travis Bussell, who have generously volunteered their time to coach the boys.

Mark your calendars for our Science Fair, which is scheduled for Tuesday, 13th August. Following that, we have the Science Show on Thursday, 15th August, which is also when we celebrate the Feast of Assumption. It's going to be a busy and exciting day, and more details will follow soon.

We hope all students have a fantastic term ahead and we look forward to seeing parents and friends at our upcoming events.

English

Year 7: This term students are stepping into the unknown of Fiction Reading and Creative Writing. Students have already submitted fantastic writing pieces about their school holidays in week 1, and will continue to develop writing in complete sentences and incorporating descriptive words into their text.

Year 8: This term, students are continuing their unit in Reading and Writing Gothic Fiction. We have been reading extracts and letters in the famous novel Frankenstein. Here, we have been discussing themes, character traits and intentions behind the story. Students have also submitted their recounts about their school holidays which were exciting to see improvements in descriptive words and structure.

Religion

Year 7: Religion our theme is ‘Meaning Making’ identifying some of the key themes in Jesus’s teachings about God’s dream for the world.

Year 8: Religion our theme is ‘Community’ - where students will identify the big questions of life and explore responses to these enduring questions.

Year 7 & 8 Students completed their Cross that represented; NAIDOC, St Mary’s and our Community of Robinvale. The crosses are on display in the front office.

Health

Year 7: Food & nutrition, Discussing the 5 food groups and analysing the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

Year 8: Fit For Life, identifying what is Fitness and what it means to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Calculate their own lifestyle choices and calculate how much time they spend on each area out of the 24 hours in a day.

Humanities

Year 7: Weeks 1-4 Ancient Australia. Identifying the importance of History and learning about our First Nations people. Learning about Using the Land, Bush medicine and use of fire.

Food Technology

St Mary’s Kitchen Rules has begun!! Who will take out the challenge?

NAIDOC Week Celebrations

Year 7 & 8 Students Celebrate NAIDOC Week with a Special Visit to the Easter Camp.

Thursday 18th July Robinvale,  2024 — Year 7 and 8 students from St. Mary's School had a memorable experience celebrating NAIDOC Week with a visit to the Easter Camp on the banks of the Murray River, guided by Mr. Daryl Singh.

The excursion provided a unique opportunity for students to learn about the cultural and historical significance of the site to the Aboriginal people of Robinvale. Mr. Singh shared his extensive knowledge, explaining the importance of the riverbank and its deep connection to the local Indigenous community.

One of the highlights of the visit was observing the scarred trees, which are estimated to be over 1000 years old. These trees bear the marks where canoes or bowls were skilfully carved out by Aboriginal people long ago. The students were fascinated by the history etched into these living monuments, providing a tangible link to the past.

In addition to exploring the site, the students had the chance to make damper and learn about bush tucker. This hands-on activity allowed them to engage with Indigenous culinary practices and gain a deeper appreciation for the resourcefulness and knowledge of Aboriginal culture.

"We are incredibly grateful to Mr. Daryl Singh for taking the time to show and explain the significance of NAIDOC Week to our students

BOOK WEEK 2024

 Book Week Dress Up Day: Tuesday August 20

It’s time to start thinking about your book week costumes! The theme for book week is ‘Reading is
Magic’, a celebration of reading stories and their amazing power to transport minds. 

More information will be provided closer to the date.