To Hamwene Sichimwi in Year 1 and his family Ester and Rod Daniher.  We hope they are made very welcome in the St Mary's community.

Happy Birthday to

who celebrate their birthdays next week.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

The following students have been chosen to read at our Feast of the Assumption Mass at 9.30am on Wednesday 15 August.  If your child is not available please contact Mrs Haworth or the school office so a replacement can be arranged.

First Reading - Vijil Viju

Welcome - Kayla Edwards

Response - Seaton Crouch

Second Reading - Flynn Bryant

Prayers of the Faithfull - Harley Wilson, Sam Tulloch, Milla Pilon, Hamish McClintock and Keelan Glasgow

The remaining mass times for this year are:

• General Excursion Permission Note - Kinder to Year 2 - Due 10 August
• General Excursion Permission Notes (2 Notes) - Year 3-6 - Due 10 August
• Canberra Excursion - Year 5/6 - forms due ASAP, final payment due 14 October.  Payment plans available. 

Students who bring digital devices to school, other than their classroom iPad, are to hand their devices in at the office before school and collect them on the way home.  This includes mobile phones.

If a child and parent need to contact each other during the day, the message is to go through the front office or their classroom teacher.

There are two official St Mary's Facebook pages.

• The P&F have a Facebook page which is wonderful for parents to share messages and information.
• The school has Facebook page that is public with the address @smwmswestwyalong. The purpose of this page is to inform the wider community of the fantastic things that happen at our school.  Only the principal and assistant principal can post to this page, which has the following cover picture.

It has been brought to our attention of a third Facebook Page with the school name.  This was not setup by us and is not the official page shown above.  There will be no official messages from the school or P&F on this page.  It may be best not to join this page and if you know the administrator of this page we would appreciate if you could advise our school office.

Mrs Emma McRae our counsellor will be visiting our school next week on Tuesday 14th of August.

 If you would like to make a confidential appointment for your child please contact the office.

We are running very short of tissues this year and would appreciate the donation of extra boxes to your child's class.

For students in Year 1 to Year 6 please ensure your child still has stationery supplies.  These include scissors, glue sticks, erasers, pencil sharpeners, black lead pencil (HB), plastic ruler, coloured pencils and textas.  Students in Year 5/6 also have biros.

Thank you.

CPS Basketball

26 and 27 October 2018

The teams are shown below with coaches and managers listed.

We still require coaches for our Senior Boys Black and Junior Boys Blue teams.  Please contact Mr Nielsen if you can help.

We would like all coaches to attend training sessions in Week 5-9 of this term and Week 1 of Term 4.  The senior teams will train on Wednesday (time TBA) and the junior teams on Friday at 12.30 to 1.30pm.  The time of the senior training will depend on the coaches and stadium availability.  Could coaches please contact Mr Nielsen to discuss the training sessions.

St Mary's will be hosting the Western Region Public Speaking on Wednesday 22 August.

The school will provide morning tea and a light lunch to the parents and carers who attend this event with their children.  We expect up to 80 parents and children.

We are calling for help from our school community:

• For donations of cakes, slices, biscuits and sandwiches.  These would need to be delivered to the school before 11 am on the day.
• For a few parents to help setup, serve and clean up on the day from 10.30am to approximately 1.30pm.

If you can help please click on this link to email the school office.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

This month on SchoolTV - Body Image

Kids today are more obsessed with their body image than those in past generations. This is partially influenced by the media and their social connectivity. Encouraging kids to have a healthy body image in childhood, can lay the foundations for good physical and mental health later in life.

A recent study highlighted that body image is one of the top three concerns for Australian youth. Over half of girls in high schools have tried to lose weight. One-third of teenage boys wanted to be thinner and another third wanted to be larger. Children need to understand that their body shape and size is not a reflection of their health or success. Parents and schools need to work together to help kids understand that everyone is born with their own ‘body-suit’.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to encourage their child to have a positive body image and why it is so important to their mental health. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition and we always welcome your feedback.

If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school office for further information.

Here is the link to this month’s edition http://smwms.nsw.schooltv.me/newsletter/body-image