2022 Term 2 Week 4
Dear Parents and Carers
Thank you to our school community and P&F committee for such an amazing evening on Tuesday for our Silent Disco. These types of events are just not possible without the ongoing support of our parents, and also the planning and organisation of our P&F committee.
On behalf of our staff and students, I would like to extend our thanks to the P&F executive committee Loretta Brown, Bree Henson, Gabi Fenerich and Kellie Thomson and also to the other parents who volunteered their time for the evening. We are grateful for all you do for our beautiful school.
The P&F committee meet for one hour on the second Tuesday of each month starting at 5.45pm. We would love for you to be involved, just come along when you can!
Earlier this year I shared with you some goals that we have set for our school to continually improve on what we do. This year our school staff are working towards achieving two goals, to improve writing skills in students and to continue to find ways to connect with our faith through a meaningful prayer life.
We have made some steady gains towards our goals this year already! We have had staff training in developing effective writing strategies to ensure each student is receiving quality, targeted instruction that meets the students individual needs. We continue to develop this work every week in our Professional Learning Team meetings and Staff Meeting. We have been able to engage with professional learning on our staff development days for developing effective assessments in writing and engaging with different forms of prayer.
I would like to acknowledge the commitment that our staff have shown to constantly reflect on their practice to improve teaching and the way that we work together to improve student outcomes. Congratulations to you all.
The allocated staff development (pupil free days) for this year are as follows.
Day 1: Friday 8 April Day 2: Tuesday 26 April
Day 3: Monday 18 July Day 4: Monday 10 October
The 2022 school year ends on Friday 16 December 2022.
Information about enrolment for new and existing parents is on our website. If you are intending to enrol a child in Kindergarten next year you can start your online enrolment process here.
Warm regards
Jacki
Learning and Teaching
Science & Technology: Kindergarten
This term Kindergarten is exploring everyday materials and their properties. We have sorted objects into either natural or made and found different types of materials used around our school.
Year 2
Year 2 have been learning about halves, quarters, and eighths in Mathematics. We made fairy bread and cut our fairy bread into halves, quarters and eighths (which was a bit tricky!) and got to eat it when we were finished! We also enjoyed being able to go to Mass for the first time in a long time.
Year 5 News
It has been a very busy time for Year 5 as they sat their NAPLAN (National Assessment Progress Literacy And Numeracy) tests last week. It was very exciting as this was the first time this particular cohort of students sat down for this assessment, missing their Year 3 testing due to COVID. All assessments were online, Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Mathematics. Students were familiar with the formatt after having a practice test two weeks earlier. All of our students completed the assessments without any problems, well done Year 5.
We are now back to working on our persuasive writing in English and our rapid recall of the four operations in Mathematics. We are on the improve!
Sport Week 4
Netball NSW Schools Cup and The Daily Examiner Netball Shield
St Mary’s has entered two teams from Stage 3 in this Gala Day of Netball to be held in Grafton next Wednesday, May 25. Twenty students will travel by our school bus to the Grafton Netball Courts to compete against most schools from the Clarence Valley. The winner of this competition will then travel to Casino for the Nth NSW Regional Championships.
Good luck to the following children:
Georgia Skeels, Sabrina Golding, Charlotte Hottes, Max Lobsey, Theo Davey, Wyn Brown, Zaden Nipperess,
Oliver Inskip, Archie Pope, Callum Cameron, Jamieson Allen, Stella Skeels, Emily Archer, Logan Ada, Logan Taylor,
Oliver Gallaher, Chace Harris, Ryan Smith
Athletics
The St Mary’s Athletics Carnival is set for Friday in Week 8 ( 17 June). All classes at St Mary's Primary will be undergoing a vigorous athletics program in preparation for the event. Long jumping, shot putting, relay running, long distance running and sprinting will be the focus of each class. Students will participate in numerous activities based on these events at their appropriate level.
Yours in Sport
Peter Tonkin
Yours in Sport
Peter Tonkin
P and F News
| Clocktower Hotel $40 voucher | McNally Family |
| Vines Cafe $40 voucher | Vines |
| Country Nails 8 x $30 vouchers | Phung Family |
| Assorted Boys toys | Porteus Families |
| 1 x trailer load of split firewood | Henson Family |
| 2 x $25 vouchers Sweet Temptations | Henson Family |
| Sausages for the Sizzle |
GDSC |
| Sausages for the Sizzle | Walsh Demolitions Pty Ltd |
| Discounted bread |
Hanks Kitchen |
School Fees update
- Statements are automatically sent via email at the end of each month.
- The preferred payment of fees is via BPAY, EFTPOS or Compass.
- BPAY: Please ensure you are using the current number. Contact the school office via email if you wish to check the number.
- EFTPOS: cards may be used in the school office
- COMPASS: open the app, click the cog wheel and open 'tools'. Your current outstanding balance will be on the screen.
MCC Enrolment Information
Kiss and Drop Zone in Turf Street
Just a reminder that the Kiss and Drop Zone is currently signed as a one minute parking zone. This means that you cannot park your car in the kiss and drop zone for an extended period. The students arrive at Kiss and Drop at 3pm and are supervised in this zone until 3.20pm. Please consider arriving closer to 3pm for collection.
The Kiss and Drop is designed for you to stay in your car while your child enters the car. If your child cannot open the car door and secure their own seatbelt, you need to park your car and walk to the gate to collect your child. The Kiss and Drop Zone does not function effectively and becomes congested if there are any hold ups or delays.
The school does not request the presence of the Grafton Police to manage traffic at the front of the school. However, there is a regular police presence on Turf Street monitoring the safety of the school zone. Please ensure that you adhere to all traffic signs in the area to avoid fines.
Please check out our school Safe Travel webpage that details all the processes for travel to and from school.
Parking in Hoof Street
There are a small number of parking spaces near the Sunrise Shop (corner of Hoof and Turf Streets) for use by their customers. To assist this small business we suggest parking away from the corner.
