2023 Term 1 Week 6
Dear Parents and Carers,
Our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in NAPLAN over the coming weeks. NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Every 3 years our Diocesan schools are reviewed by the Catholic Schools Office for continual growth and improvement. Recently a new methodology has been adopted with the Catholic Schools Office partnering with The Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) to review schools using the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT).
The review will be conducted in our school on Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 May with the review panel being made up of a Catholic Schools Office staff member, a representative from ACER and a Principal reviewer from another Catholic Primary School in our Diocese. An important part of the review is collecting as much information as possible through an interview process. We will provide more information to you in the coming weeks about how you can be involved.
At the conclusion of the review process, our school will be supported to develop a three-year strategic plan for the school moving forward.
This week it has been wonderful to welcome parents to the classrooms for our student-led conferences. This interview structure has ensured that the teacher, parent/s, and child are able to discuss learning in partnership to identify areas of success to celebrate and areas that can be collaboratively built upon for growth and achievement in the future.
This year, the Sacrament of Confirmation for our Year 3 students who have been baptised will take place on Friday 23 June. Specific details of the sacrament will be shared once they have been confirmed by the Bishop’s office. In preparation for this, students undertaking Confirmation will participate in a 8 week program in the lead up to the sacrament. This program will be led by their classroom teacher and take place during school time, beginning in Week 2 of Term 2.
We look forward to welcoming our community members to our school in Week 10 to celebrate our whole school re-enactment of the Holy Week events. These will take place at 2:00pm on Tuesday 4 April and Wednesday 5 April in our school hall. Each class will present a special re-enactment of a specific Holy Week Event to highlight the journey of Jesus in the days leading up to Easter.
McAuley Catholic College is now accepting enrolment applications for Year 7 2024. They are holding an ’Open Evening’ on Tuesday 4th April. School tours will take place between 4pm-6:30pm and enrolment applications will be available. Please see the attached flyer for further information and to RSVP for the night.
Warm regards from the Executive Team
Jacki, Matt and Jas
St Mary’s Primary 2023 Important Dates
(subject to change please check our website for calendar updates)
Term 1
Wednesday 15 March to Friday 17 March - Naplan for Year 3 and 5
Friday 31 March - Cross Country
Monday 3 April - Holy Week and P and F Easter Raffle
Tuesday 4 April - MCC Open Evening for Year 7 2024
Tuesday 4 April to Wednesday 5 April - Holy Week events
Thursday 6 April - Staff PL Day - Pupil Free Day
Friday 7 April - Good Friday (public holiday)
Term 2
Monday 24 April - Staff PL Day - Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 25 April - Anzac Day (public holiday)
Wed 26 April - Anzac Day liturgy at 9am in School hall
Thursday 27 April - School Photo day
Wednesday 3 May - Zone Cross Country for selected students at MCC
Friday 12 May - Mother’s Day breakfast and liturgy
Thursday 1 June - Staff Proclaim - Pupil Free Day
Friday 9 June - Athletics Carnival
Monday 12 June - King’s birthday public holiday
Wednesday 21 June - Footy and Fairies Dress up day + party pies and fairy bread at canteen
Friday 23 June - Sacrament of Confirmation for Year 3 with Bishop Greg
Thursday 29 June - Zone Athletics Carnival for selected students
Term 3
Monday 17 July - Staff PL Day - Pupil Free Day
Thursday 20 July - PJ Day + Milo day
Friday 4 August - Writer’s Festival with pizza lunch
Tuesday 15 August - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Liturgy
Friday 25 August - Book Week Dress up day and Parade - 9am start
Friday 1 September - Father’s Day breakfast and liturgy
Monday 4 September - Stage 3 Camp to Lake Ainsworth TBC
Friday 8 September - St Mary’s Feast Day celebrations and open classrooms
Thursday 14 September - R U OK? Day - yellow dress up day
Friday 22 September - Staff PL day - Pupil Free Day
Term 4
Monday 9 October - Staff PL day - Pupil Free Day
Friday 13 October - Socktober
Tuesday 17 October - P and F Disco 5.30 start
Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 October - CSO Band - Wildfire visit
Friday 27 October - World Teacher’s Day in Australia
Friday 27 October - Day for Daniel - Red dress up day
Thursday 2 November - Jacaranda Thursday - school closed
Friday 10 November - Remembrance day liturgy 10.35am start
Tuesday 21 November - Year 5 Leadership speeches
Thursday 7 December - End of Year Mass and Awards ceremony
Friday 8 December - Stage party and colour run; class rewards day; and Christmas Shirt day.
Wednesday 13 December - Year 6 Grad dinner
Thursday 14 December - Year 6 fun day
Friday 15 December - Year 6 farewell assembly and last day of the year for students.
Fantastic effort by our girls last Friday at Kempsey with Stella winning Senior Girls Champion and Sophie getting runner-up. Well done and congratulations. They now move on to the next level which are the Polding trials in Sydney at the Homebush Olympic Aquatic Centre on 30 March. Good luck!
Collection Notice - Student Residential Address and Other Information
eSafety Advice for Parents - thinkUKnow
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are urging families to be proactive this school year and update the privacy settings on children’s devices to help prevent predators from contacting them online.
The AFP-led ThinkUKnow program – Australia’s first and only nationally delivered, law enforcement-led online safety program – has produced guides for parents and carers.
- Gaming devices and what you need to know
- Parent and carer social media starter kit
For more information, visit this website.
Parent Guide to DIBELS Assessment (Primary)
Free Parent Webinar with Dr Justine Coulson
The NSW Council of Catholic School Parents is facilitating a free webinar for parents in Catholic schools with Justin Coulson to support parents and carers to understand anxiety and resilience in children. Additional information may be found below:
Seasons for Growth
St Mary's Primary School P&F
The P&F are an important group within our school. We understand that it is not always possible to attend the meetings due to time restraints of family and work. We value everyone's thoughts and ideas, and therefore invite parents to use the link below to share agenda items with us.
The minutes of the last P&F meeting are included in this newsletter. Please check the school calendar for the date of the next meeting.
Cancer Council Nutrition Snippets
Road Safety
A Message from Busways
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School Fee Update
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.
Child Protection
St Mary's Primary School is committed to ensuring we provide a safe environment for students. We are required to meet the statutory obligations of the legislation relating to child protection and the policies and guidelines set out by the Catholic Schools Office. The Child Protection Policy can be found on the webpage.
Working With Children Check (WWCC)
At St Mary's we are committed to creating and supporting a culture of safety for children and ensuring that children are protected. All employees and volunteers are required to have a current WWCC.
NB - The vast majority of volunteers in schools are parents of a child attending the school at which they are volunteering (eg reading groups, fetes, camps, excursions and canteen) and therefore do not require a WWCC. Exceptions to this are
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volunteers interacting one-on-one with a child not their own,
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working with children who have a disability,
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offering mentoring services,
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when the volunteer is not a parent or close relative.
Anti-bullying and Wellbeing
Bullying is a serious offence and is not acceptable in our school. All alleged violations and every act of bullying will be duly investigated, and parents/carers informed.
The anti-bullying policy can be found on the webpage.
