Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to thank our parent community, our students and our staff for adapting to the dynamic nature of 2020 and welcome everybody back for Term 4.

We have had an exciting start to the term with our new classrooms cleared for usage and we waved good-bye to classrooms in the hall. The new space is a wonderful learning environment and the décor and windows present a calm and crisp feel. The new laser projectors and iPad Pro bring the digital world into our rooms and our teachers are exploring ways to use this technology to enhance the learning experience for our students.

This term is historically a very busy and while there will be some adjustments, most of the usual Term 4 events will take place. Some events to look forward to are; school photos, St Mary’s School Feast Day, book week dress-up & parade, Year 5/6 day excursion, intensive swimming program, end of year performances & yearly awards, and Year 6 graduation mass and dinner.

I would like to emphasise the importance of contacting the school if you have any concerns at all. For classroom queries, it is always best to make contact with your child’s teacher through the office. For general school issues my door is always open and I welcome constructive feedback to ensure we are providing the best possible service for our students.

I am looking forward to the exciting term that lies ahead.

Regards

Phil Nielsen

Heavenly Father

The one who loves us unconditionally, who gives us strength, protection and happiness.

Teach me to treat everyone with love and courage.

Overwhelm me with your peace, Love me with your heart, Thank you for thy Grace, the food and needs you have helped me earn, the strength you have given me.

Thank you for guiding me in the right direction and into happiness.

Amen.

Written by Claudia Murdoch 5/6 Faith

Order your school photos now!

School Photography day is next Wednesday 21 October

On photo day children must wear their summer uniform.  This means a neat and clean school shirt, a skort with blue socks for girls, grey shorts with grey socks for boys and polished black shoes.

  
St Mary's War Memorial School

ONLINE ORDER CODE: 6G9 B9C 7GD

Online Order link: https://www.advancedimage.com.au/keycode/keycodefinder.aspx?keycode=6G9B9C7GD

*Sibling photographs must be ordered either online or by order envelope prior to the day of photography.  A photograph will not be taken without an order. Sibling photographs only apply to children enrolled at the school.

Dates are:

Friday 6 November - 8.55am to Midday

Friday 13 November - 8.55am to Midday

Friday 20 November - 8.55am to 3.20pm

Friday 27 November - 8.55am to 3.20pm

Children should wear comfortable clothes and a hat.  They will need a piece of fruit, recess and a drink and on the full days, lunch.

   

   

Due to the final athletics event on Tuesday, school photos on Wednesday and Children's Book Week on Thursday please note the uniform requirements for next week.

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

  Happy Birthday to

Andrew Cumming, Harry Cumming, Ashley Thomas and Keelan Glasgow

who celebrate their birthdays next week.

   We hope you enjoy your special day.    

Mrs Emma McRae our counsellor will still be visiting our school during Term 4.  Emma will be holding her counselling sessions on the following days:

• • Week 2 - Wednesday 21st October
  • Week 5 - Wednesday 11th November
  • Week 7 -  Wednesday 25th November
  • Week 9 - Wednesday 9th December

If you would like to organise a confidential appointment for your child please contact Mr Nielsen or the school office.

Issue 7 of Scholastic Book Club will close on Friday 23rd of October.

Bellarwi Country Women's Association Education Grants

Bellarwi CWA are calling for applications for the Phillip Group Education Grants 2021. 

These are for students going into Years 3 to 12 or first year Tertiary/TAFE education and are intended to assist families with the financial responsibilities associated with educating their children.

Application forms are available from the school office and they must be returned to the school by Monday 2nd November 2020.

With the completion of the new classrooms, the building work has moved to the current Principals, Assistant Principals and office areas.

There will be no access via the front door until further notice, this door will be locked.

Our exectuive team will be located in the classroom next to the temporary school office.

Parents should continue to come to the office in it's new location when entering the school.  Social distancing protocols still apply.

Due to COVID restrictions, the 2020 Marian Procession will take place online. Led by our ethnic communities, the event is an opportunity to pray the Rosary together as a community.

We encourage participants to gather online in hubs with members of their families, local parishes, friends, or just individually to pray the Rosary during the week leading up to the celebration of the live-streamed Multicultural Mass Sunday 25 October.

Find out more information and register for notifications at https://hozana.org/en/community/9352-marian-procession

Award Winners and New Classrooms

Our Staff Learning Community

 

Our St Mary’s staff are always learning. On Monday the teachers gathered for the Staff Development day. They spent the first half of the day analysing various forms of school data from school grades, NAPLAN, PAT testing and running records with Dr Phil Pettit from the Catholic Education Office. This was an extremely fruitful session as teachers could look at trends, compare to state and national data with certain diagnostics and more importantly give us all direction as to where to go to from here to continue to improve student outcomes. It was very affirming to see how our data in PAT testing in particular is very promising when compared to other students around Australia in the same grades who complete the same testing. A huge thank you to Dr Phil Pettit for all of his help and preparation of the presentation.

For the second half of the day, the staff completed their annual CPR update with Angus Westaway. Thank you Angus for your time and good humour that helped us all get through the afternoon.

On Tuesday, Mrs McGee our REC, worked with individual teachers on Programming RE using the new curriculum and Conceptual Inquiry. This will continue through the term and a new RE Scope and Sequence will be developed integrating RE into other subject areas.

Finally, on Tuesday and Wednesday Mrs Scott was in Canberra working with a team of 24 other leaders from across the Archdiocese which was led by Dr Stephen Brown, CEO of the Brown Collective. Dr Brown has been contracted to run a Leadership Pathways course. This is a two year course which involves Mrs Scott attending seminars and webinars, personal coaching and completing a project by the end of next year which aims to improve student outcomes in an area that is pinpointed in our school Annual Improvement Plan.

The following events are in next weeks calendar.

To see the school's full calender check out the SZApp or our website.