Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s been another busy week here at St Mary’s. Mr Nielsen has been away in Canberra for the last two days at the Principals Conference and we look forward to his return on Monday. As I reflect on the week I see a common theme of generosity and reaching out to others which is a real strength of our school community.

Today is very special for two reasons.

Firstly, World Teachers Day is celebrated today in our NSW schools and at St Mary’s we say a huge THANK YOU to our teachers here who provide outstanding care, professionalism and excellent learning experiences for all our students. We are so fortunate to have such dedicated educators and give thanks for their hard work.

Secondly, today everyone has been wearing bright, colourful socks for Soctober day. I’ve seen socks with bananas, camera’s, hamburgers, cupcakes, cats, footy teams and even Donald Trump on them. Soctober is a fundraising event for Catholic Missions, a Pontifical Charity which sends money all around the world for those in need. This year, the children’s money will support children and adults in Cambodia. Catholic Missions have put out a wonderful resource kit for teachers to use focussing on themes such as ‘Compassion’ and ‘Respect’. Each week in our MJR lessons the students will work through the different themes and activities with their teachers to create a greater awareness of Social Justice and reaching out to those around the world in poverty.

Finally, Glenda from Rural Aid came to St Mary’s this week with a special delivery of musical instruments, books, Lego and Stationery. Rural Aid is a not for profit organisation who assist farming families and districts during drought and tough times. They rely on corporate sponsorship to providing funding, services and supplies to farming families, business’ and schools in towns such as West Wyalong. We truly appreciate their generosity and look forward to restocking our music dept with these new instruments.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and thank you all again for your generosity.

Regards,

Angela Scott