2024 Term 3 Week 1
Dear Parents and Carers,
Today we held our Grandparents Day Liturgy and it was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and friends visit our school. Thank you for your support each and every day. Please visit our facebook page to view photos from the event.
NAIDOC Week
This week was an opportunity for our school community to come together to celebrate, learn and grow as one.
Naidoc Week events included our ATSI group working with Matt Jeffery in establishing our very own Bush Tucker Garden; a cultural excursion to learn about the history and traditions of our culture; a visit by NRL player Albert Kelly who shared his story and the opportunity to hear from many local Aboriginal organisations on topics of health and wellbeing.
This week we welcomed a new face to our school staff when Ms Susie Fletcher started as an assistant in the office. Susie will be working three days per week.
In Week 2, students who successfully qualified to compete in the Diocesan Zone Athletics Carnival will travel to Coffs Harbour on Tuesday 30 July.
Trivia Night
Stage 3 is hosting a Trivia Night Fundraiser in Week 3 of Term 3 to raise money for camp.
Event Details:
- Date - Thursday 8th August 2024
- Time - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
- Venue - Grafton District Services Club
Tickets will be available to purchase through CompassTix for $80 per team of 8.
Further details of the night to follow.
Warmest regards,
Jacki
Upcoming Staff Development Days
- Friday 27 September (Week 10, Term 3)
- Monday 14 October (Week 1, Term 4)
- Thursday 19 and Friday 20 December (Week 10, Term 4)
Term 3 Events Calendar
Learning and Teaching
Our Learning and Teaching School Improvement goal for 2024 is to develop a whole school approach to differentiation that includes our high potential learners.
Differentiation is an approach where teachers proactively adjust their teaching methods and curriculum to accommodate diverse learning needs, interests, and abilities among students. The goal is to provide each student with appropriate challenges and supports to maximise learning and success.
Staff collaboratively developed the draft copy of this document on our staff development day, we will continue to refine this for the remainder of the year.
Part of our goal also includes providing more enrichment opportunities for our students. There are many enrichment opportunities taking place in Term 3, below are some further details about these.
Maths Olympiad
5-9 August
Students in Years 2-6 compete in an online Mathematic Competition throughout the week. This will take place at school, parents will be provided with an information letter and student log in details closer to the date. Students are also able to work on this at home if they wish to.
Australian Mathematics Competition
Tuesday 6 August
Students in Years 3-6 can nominate to participate in The Australian Mathematics Competition. The competition contains unique problems designed each year by leading educators and academics to challenge and extend students’ mathematical problem-solving skills in the areas of:
- Basic arithmetic
- Fractions and ratios
- Algebra and pre-algebra
- Geometry
- Measurement
- Statistics and probability
- Problem-solving (including enumeration)
This event is optional. If your child would like to participate the cost is $8.50, payment can be made through Events on the Compass App.
Science Week
Wednesday 14 August
Students in Kindergarten to Year 6 will participate in Science Week enrichment activities in their classrooms.
The school theme for National Science Week in 2024 is Species Survival - More than just sustainability. The theme aims to highlight the importance of science and innovation in ensuring the survival and thriving of different species in an ever-changing world.
Premiers Reading Challenge
Students in Kindergarten - Year 6
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The challenge closes for student entries on Friday 23 August.
Clarence Valley Public Speaking Competition
Tuesday 3 September
We will be holding a public speaking competition at school on Tuesday 3 September for interested students in Years 3-6. The finalists will be invited to participate in the Clarence Schools Regional Public Speaking Competition on 23 September which will be held in the theatre at St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour.
Warm regards
Jas Stuart
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
Diocesan Rugby Union
Athletics
Last Tuesday Anastasia Vereyken competed in the NSW PSSA Cross Country Championships at the Sydney Equestrian Centre, Homebush. Approximately 80 students competed in Anastasia’s race which was a 3km cross country course. Anastasia ran her best race time for 3km, 12mins 42sec. Special mention for Anastasia’s family who have supported her in the many training and travel hours it has taken to get her to where she is today, a cross country champion, well done the Vereyken’s.
Parenting Courses
Understanding how to support your child with online gaming
Suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and early secondary school.
Tuesday, 30 July, 12.30pm
Tuesday, 3 September, 12.30pm
Register here
Consent and online boundaries: How to support your primary-aged child
Suitable for parents and carers of children in primary school.
Tuesday, 13 August, 12.30 pm
Wednesday, 11 September, 12.30 pm
Register here
An introduction to online safety and emerging technologies
Suitable for parents and carers of children and parents in primary and secondary school.
Wednesday, 24 July, 2.30pm
Thursday, 5 September, 12.30pm
Register here
Census 2024
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.
