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 20^th April for Term 2.  Staff will be involved in Mathematics Professional Learning with Mrs Leonie Anstey from Elevated Learning on the Monday 19^th 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 19^th 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 20^th 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

Why do we have so many ceremonies at Easter?

The Easter Triduum refers to three days in the Church's calendar which express the central mystery of our Christian faith.

It begins on Holy Thursday as we focus on Jesus' farewell words and deeds at the Last Supper.  Good Friday is when we ponder the events of his suffering and death.  It finishes with the Easter Vigil when we celebrate the liberation of humankin through Christ's resurrection.

This three-stage sequence of worship allows us to take in an enormous mystery in small parts and to relate it to our own lives - the sorrows, joys, successes and failures.  Of all the Church's celebrations throughout the year, the Easter Triduum is considered the highpoint.

   

Students and teachers have been busy practising for our Passion Play to be held on Thursday 1st April at 2.00pm in the church.

Every student will have a special role in depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death.  This story is the centre of our Catholic Christian faith and we are very proud to be re-enacting this sacred story.

We welcome all parents, grandparents and carers to our Passion Play.  There will be a booking system coming out next week as we have limited seats due to COVID-19 regulations.  All parents and visitors will also have to sign in on arrival.

What should your child wear?

Students should come to school in school uniform.

Students must bring black t-shirts and black leggings/jeans/shorts on Thursday for the play.  Students will change into these clothes at school, their class teacher will specify further any changes via Seesaw.

Bookings Essential by the close of the school day tomorrow!!

Due to the COVID-19 rules still in place the church is restricted to 200 people.  Unfortunately this means we will sell FREE tickets to the Passion Play.

To purchase tickets please open our school APP, click on the orange Calendar tile, scroll to the 1st of April, click on the Passion Play and then tickets to secure your seats.

Each family will be able to purchase 5 tickets and this will include any pre-schoolers in the group.

If you are having problems with the ticketing procedure please call the school office and we can assist you.

1. Pickup during school hours - If you want to come and pickup your child during the day please call the office, who will arrange for your child to come to the office for collection so they can be signed out.
2. Pickup from the lawn area at 3.20pm - If your child is going to be picked up by anyone else other than a parent please contact the office so the child and the  teacher on duty can be advised.  The teacher on duty cannot let your child go with anyone else unless they have been advised by the office.
3. Pickup from the lawn area at 3.20pm when raining - due to the building works the verandah on the back of the main school building will be used as a pickup point.  The children will wait with the teacher on duty until parents come to the verandah to collect them.

Happy Birthday to

Pippa Cuthbertson, Nate Pursehouse, Billy Pettit, Audrey Pritchard, Hugo Harper, Elizabeth Sturgess, Harry Morton, Nate Sams and Alexander Ridley 

who celebrate their birthdays during the school holidays and during week 1 next term.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

St Mary's had planned a pupil fee day to begin Term 2.

The Pupil Free Day for Term 2 is the first day of the term Monday 26th April.

Over the last 2 years our staff at St Mary’s have been working with Mrs Leonie Anstey from Elevated Learning to improve student outcomes in Mathematics and build teacher capacity in delivering the Maths curriculum. She will be spending two days at the start of Term 2 with the staff to continue her work.  On Monday the 19th of April she will be leading our Professional Development Day with teachers only.  Then on Tuesday the 20th of April she will work with teachers and students in the classrooms.

Parents often don't feel confident in assisting their child/ren with mathematics.  They feel it is taught differently now than when they were at school.  So on Monday the 19th of April at 6pm in our school hall, Leonie will be conducting a workshop for parents to provide them with strategies to assist their children in their learning of mathematics.  This is a really good opportunity for parents and we strongly encourage all parents K-6 to attend.

• Screen time restrictions should not be activated on your child's iPad on any day of the NAPLAN testing.  Please ensure you disable these restrictions in the settings before sending the iPad to school.  If you are unsure please contact the school office.
• If your child prefers their own headphones, please ensure they can connect to their iPad before sending them into school on the day of testing.

It has been brought to our attention that children maybe watching a cartoon You Tube series titled "Gachi".  This cartoon is not appropriate for primary aged children as it contains lots of swearing and violence and is embedded with sexual content.

ANZAC Day falls on the first Sunday of Term 2.  As usual St Mary's is participating in the march and wreath laying ceremony in West Wyalong on the morning of April 25.

Students who would like to participate in the march are asked to meet at Thom Dick & Harry's corner by 10:20am for the commencement of the march.

The students and parents are invited to stay for the wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph at the S&C Club.  Students should wear the full summer school uniform including their black polished school shoes.  Ties do not need to be worn.  If it is cold students may wear their school jumpers.  The students will be accompanied by supervising teachers from our school.

Assembly

Sacrament of Reconciliation

MacKillop Swimming

The following events are in the caldendar in the next few weeks.

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