A Message from our Assistant Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
Since I arrived in 2019, I have found that the strength of St Mary’s lies in its commitment to and love of community. There has been no greater evidence of this than in the past week given the tragedy that has surrounded our West Wyalong and school communities.
On Wednesday at 11.00am in our St Mary’s Church, the community will come together to celebrate the life of Keelan Glasgow. There are quite a few staff members who will be attending the funeral which will be quite emotional for them but a way of celebrating Keelan’s seven years of Primary School education at St Mary’s. Students will only attend the funeral if their parents take them and I encourage those parents to keep their children with them for the remainder of the day so they can be comforted and debrief with family. The students left at school will be supervised by the remaining teachers.
St Mary’s continues to keep Trent, Carlie, Kade and Kelsie Glasgow in our prayers and we ask God to give them the strength and hope they need to endure this devastating loss of their precious son and brother. Keelan will forever remain in our hearts and memories here at St Mary’s. We give thanks for the privilege of being part of his life and education.
May Keelan rest peacefully now in the arms of his God.
Our weekend mass marked the beginning of Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday. In line with this special week in our Catholic Christian church liturgical calendar, our students have been busy preparing to re enact the Passion of Christ. Mrs Harland, Mrs Haworth and the classroom teachers have been devoted to preparing the students to lead this beautiful prayer which reminds us so poignantly that this is the very reason for our faith. In this enactment the students engage in prayerful presentation rather than an emphasis on performance. As they move through the events of the Lord’s Passion on Thursday afternoon at 2pm in the church, may we all come to a deeper understanding of His immense act of love for us and the hope this story can bring to our lives.
During the final week of the school term we remind all families that students will return on Tuesday 20th April for Term 2. Staff will be involved in Mathematics Professional Learning with Mrs Leonie Anstey from Elevated Learning on the Monday 19th April and the front office will be open for enquiries on this day. In order to assist our parents in understanding how we teach Maths in our classrooms today, Leonie will host a parent workshop on Monday evening 19th April at 6pm in the hall for all parents K-6. I strongly encourage you to come along and be part of the fun in engaging in Mathematics the same way your child/ren do when they are at school. Leonie will then continue to work with staff and students by modelling lessons on Tuesday 20th April.
We also ask that you keep in mind the ANZAC Day march on Sunday 25th April as we traditionally have a very strong presence in the march. I encourage our students to attend the march in a mark of respect for all the serviceman who fought for our country. Details of what to do and wear are outlined further in this newsletter.
Thank you to all staff, students and community members who have made contributions to the success of this term. It is with mixed sadness and joy that we farewell Mrs Cuthbertson as she goes on maternity leave from Terms 2-4 this year. Mrs Cuthbertson will be missed by the students, teachers and parents of St Mary’s but we want her to enjoy her time with her new baby and family. We are working very hard with CE and recruitment to work out a replacement for Mrs Cuthbertson. Please be assured that your children’s education is our highest priority and we will inform staff and parents as soon as we know.
Personally, I would like to thank the school community for their support over the last five weeks whilst Phil has been away on sick leave. Phil sustained a neck injury which has been very painful and affected his ability to move and work. He is hoping to return in Term 2 as he undergoes various treatments to help treat his pain over the next couple of weeks. We will continue to keep him in our prayers so that he can be restored to good health and return to us in his full capacity soon. We have missed having him around the school.
Finally, wishing you and your family a very a happy Easter with your loved ones and a safe holiday.
Take care.
Mrs Scott