2024 Term 2 Week 7
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been a busy two weeks since the last newsletter.
Last week many of our students travelled to South Grafton High School to compete in the 70th Grafton Eisteddfod. They competed in Choral Verse Speaking, Choir and Dance and achieved a first, three seconds and a highly commended by the judge. Comments from the judge included “You spoke well as a group and had good actions”, “Be brave enough to really let your voices really sing out because they are good! You got braver as you went”, “This was a good cheer squad performance” and “It was great to see a whole group really enjoying the performance!”.
We are proud of the outstanding achievements of our students at the Eisteddfod. Their performances were a testament to their hard work and dedication. A special thank you to the teachers for their organisation and commitment to providing this wonderful opportunity for our students to shine.
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and at St Mary's Primary School staff and students were grateful for the contributions provided by our local community recently.
Confirmation retreat was held last Friday with a visit from two of the members of “Wildfire’ a youth band from CSO. As we look ahead to next week, we ask the school community to pray for our Confirmation candidates. These students are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, a significant milestone in their faith journey on Tuesday 18 June. Your thoughts and prayers will support them as they approach this important day.
Later this month on Friday 28 June our Year 4 students will participate in the Accendere Retreat.
Sport is featuring in our Term 2 activities. Anastasia Vereyken has been selected to the Polding Cross Country team and will travel to Sydney soon to compete at the state level. We wish her every success.
We are thrilled to share the success of today's Athletics Carnival! The event was a fantastic display of sportsmanship, teamwork, and school spirit. A heartfelt thank you goes to Mr. T for his meticulous organisation and dedication, which ensured the day ran smoothly and was enjoyable for all.
A number of fundraising activities are being held for our Stage 3 camp and the Year 6 graduation. These include the Funraising Bite, Pie Drive (Prince Bakery), Pizza and Popper and today’s BBQ and cake stall at the Athletics Carnival. A big thank you to those parents who have assisted with these events. We know the students appreciate the support that families and friends are providing them.
Our current Kinder students are joining in with the fun next week. A bus safety talk (and bus ride) has been organised for the students and will be held on Monday and 100 days of Kinder dress celebrates an important milestone on Wednesday next week. They will have another dress up opportunity with all students on the Footy and Fairies day on Wednesday 26 June.
On Thursday 4 July (last day of term) we will have a Disco and Free Dress to celebrate the end of the term.
We have almost completed our Kinder 2025 interviews and are winding up the school tours next week. NB: If you have not already enrolled your child in Kinder for next year please do so now.
Warmest regards,
Jacki, Dom and Jas
Upcoming Staff Development Days
- Friday 5 July (Week 10 Term 2)
- Monday 22 July (Week 1 Term 3)
Term 2 Events Calendar
Confirmation Retreat
Last Friday, Year 3 and our Confirmation candidates celebrated their learning by participating in the Confirmation retreat, filled with engaging activities and profound reflections.
Throughout the retreat, students delved deeply into Confirmation's meaning and explored the Holy Spirit's seven gifts. Joey and Ash, our Regional Ministry Assistants, shared powerful personal testimonies, inspiring the students with their experiences of being open to the Holy Spirit and effectively utilizing God's divine gifts bestowed upon them.
The retreat concluded with a meaningful preparation and celebration of a liturgy. This allowed the students to internalize the day's lessons and experiences, creating a spiritual and reflective end to a transformative day.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Please pray for our Confirmation candidates as they prepare to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Mrs Dominique Montford
Assistant Principal Mission
School Annual Improvement Goal Update
Every fortnight, our teachers meet in Professional Learning Teams (PLT’s), the Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching is also involved in these meetings. The Professional Learning Team is built on the foundation of a shared moral purpose for school improvement. We have high standards of learning for all students, and recognise that a Professional Learning Team enables our school community to work collaboratively, learn and gain knowledge, skills and understanding from one another to strengthen learning outcomes for all of our students.
The focus on learning growth for every student demands that the team agrees on the evidence they use to measure this. This data is gathered and shared by each educator within the Professional Learning Team to determine next steps in their inquiry and to monitor achievement of their goals.
Our focus for our Professional Learning Team meetings this year has been on the spelling element of writing. This focus aligns with our School Annual Improvement goal for 2024, to improve the growth of our high performing students in writing. During our PLT meetings, we work together to analyse data and determine the next steps for students to ensure all students are progressing in their learning, including our students who require extending.
Premiers Reading Challenge is now on.
We encourage our students to keep reading!
SORA
Sora is our Lismore Diocesan school digital library. It houses eBooks, magazines and audiobooks suitable for Kinder through to staff (including professional reading).
Sora will work on any platform. You will need internet access to locate and borrow, but you can download to read and listen offline. Sora is available for all staff and students in the Lismore Diocese. The ability to borrow a resource is determined by date of birth to ensure appropriate content. (Juvenile - Kinder - Year 6, Young Adult - Years 7 +, Adult - Year 9 +). Visit "Getting started with Sora" for more information.
Warm regards
Jas Stuart
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
Use the 5 Safety tips to have a conversation with your child about being safe online.
Athletics Carnival
Diocesan Cross Country
Polding Selection
Congratulations to Anastasia Vereyken on being selected to the Polding team for Cross Country
Vacation Care
Uniforms
St Mary's School uniforms are available to purchase from Lowes in Grafton Shopping World. The sports uniform is worn on Wednesday and Friday each week.
Attendance
- If your child is arriving to the school after 8:45am please sign them in at the office.
- Please use Compass to record full day absentees. Partial absences are recorded by staff when students are signed in and out of the office.
- Students who leave a school event early will have a partial absence recorded.
- A medical certificate or other documentation may be requested where frequent absences due to illness occur.
- Generally, extended leave (greater than 10 days) during the school term would not be approved. These absences are recorded on the roll as unjustified and a completed Form 01 Extended Leave Notification Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days is required.
- In exceptional circumstances parents may complete an Form 02 Approved Extended Leave Application - Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days for consideration by the Principal, explaining why an absence for extended leave is in the best educational interest of the student. The Principal may decline or accept this application.
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.
Overseas Visa Details
Reminder: Parents and Carers are to keep the school informed of any change in residency/visa status during the course of their child's enrolment, with
evidence of new visa status provided. Parents should be made aware that
the school must be informed of any change in residency status;
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.
