St Mary's War Memorial School West Wyalong eNewsletter

Our virtue to concentrate this week is courtesy.

Courtesy is the showing of politeness in one's attitude and behaviour towards others. Courtesy is an important virtue within our lives as it prevents rudeness and arguing. It enables our daily lives to run more smoothly as people aren't being selfish yet are able to think of others.

Jesus was an exemplar of courtesy. He considered people and thought about what was good for them and not just himself. This selflessness was often preached and displayed. It can be found in scripture passages where Jesus healed the leper, preached to the Gentiles, healed the sick, forgave those who hurt him, and included those who had sinned against him. Courtesy was demonstrated on a daily basis by Jesus in conjunction with other inspiring virtues.

Courtesy is more than a set of polite behaviours; it is a lens through which children will learn to see the world. Through this lens, children will also learn to respect himself and hence develop a higher self-esteem and happier, healthier relationships with others. Showing courtesy can be very simple, say things like, “thank you, no thank you, please, sorry, and excuse me.” These may sound basic, but powerful words that make a big difference.

This week we offer our prayers to those students who are about to embark upon their NAPLAN testing on Wednesday. We wish them well and we pray that they do not become overwhelmed with the pressures that testing can bring. We remind them that they are not defined by their results rather their character to do their best.

We ran our practise NAPLAN tests for Years 3 & 5 last week and will do more practice on Monday and Tuesday this week.

This is a great opportunity for our students to experience the test format even though results are not collated from these tests. It was also a good chance for the school to check that the systems, iPads and headphones are workng.

The real tests start on Wednesday this week, the 15th of March.

The timetable for the NAPLAN tests over the next two weeks:

Wednesday 15th March - Writing
Thursday 16th March - Reading
Monday 20th March - Conventions of Language
Tuesday 21st March - Numeracy

On each test day the Year 5 test will start at 9am and the Year 3 test will start at 11.30am. Any child who is away on the days above will be caught up on the next available test session.

Please ensure students know the importance of bringing their iPad to school fully charged on each day of the tests. If students would rather bring in their own headphones that is fine but they must work.

Children are ready for these tests and the best preparation for them is plenty of sleep and to remain calm.

Please click on the link below to see more information for parents on the NAPLAN testing.

NAPLAN Parent Information

This year the parish will be undertaking the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the First Eucharist for students in Year 3 and 4. The important dates to remember are shown below, please note there will be one information night for both Sacraments.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Thursday 27 April -	Welcoming and Information Night
Thursday 4 May -	Reconciliation Retreat
Thursday 11 May -	Sacrament of Reconciliation

Sacrament of Eucharist

Thursday 27 April -	Welcoming and Information Night
Sunday 28 May -	Commitment Mass @ 9.30am
Thursday 1 June -	Eucharist Retreat
Sunday 4 June -	First Eucharist @ 9.30am

Third Week of Lent

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Priscilla, who lives in the Hwange district in Zimbabwe with her husband, Charles, and two of their grandchildren. Climate change continues to bring unprecedented challenges for people living in the most vulnerable and remote communities in Zimbabwe.

During times of intense drought and food shortages, Priscilla had to commute to the town centre and wait in long queues to collect food.

With the support of Caritas Hwange, Priscilla learnt conservation farming skills to grow drought-resistant crops and started poultry farming to support her family during the current food crisis. Priscilla was able to produce a bumper harvest in her first year of practising in conservation farming. Priscilla also used the funds from her harvest to start poultry farming, which enabled her to sell eggs to pay for her grandchildren’s school fees, books and stationery. The poultry farming provides a safety net for Priscilla and her family during times of hardship, like the current drought.

While the situation in Zimbabwe and across eastern Africa remains dire, the work of Caritas Hwange means that Priscilla can learn the techniques, tools and resources she needs to build resilience and support her family during this current food crisis.

Watch a short film about Priscilla’s story here.

Please support Project Compassion:

Donate to Caritas

The recipients of our Whatever You Do, Do Well awards this week:

Ashton Barber	Adalia Chantrill	Bodhi Fair
Hunter Ferguson	Molly Green	Riley Greenwood
River Greenwood	Rose Hague	Alicia Otaegui
Alexandra Patton	Ella Patton	John Patton
Reuben Ridley	Lanie Sams	Nate Sams
	Zoey Smith

Our assembly will be held in the school hall on Friday afternoon at 1:55pm. Parents and carers are welcome to attend.

Please note that if you receive a text on Thursday regarding an award and your child is not at school on Friday, the award witll be presented at the next assembly your child attends. No further texts will be sent.

Archdiocesan Swimming

Hunter Connellan, Meila Fair and Indi fair attended the Archdiocesan Swimming in Queanbeyan last Tuesday the 7th of March representing the Western Region.

Meila and Indi performed very well at their first representative carnival coming 6th and 8th respectively in the 50m freestyle event. This is a busy carnival with many students and it was a fantastic first experience for the girls.

Hunter had another amazing swimming carnival, finishing 2nd in the 100m and 50m freestyle, 1st in the 50m breaststroke, backstroke, butterfuly and the 200m medley.

This incredible swimming meant Hunter won the Senior Boy Champion of the meet. This is an outstanding result and a great reward for his hard work and determination.

Parents are requested to ensure that their childrens hair and uniform complies with school policy. The policy can be found on our website in the school handbook.

The handbook states the following:

"For health and safety reasons hair is to be worn tied back if shoulder length, this applies to both boys and girls."

"Hair adornments must in a colour scheme that matches the uniform and be kept to the minimum."

Please help St Mary's remain a school to be proud of by ensuring your children are clean and tidy in our school uniform.

This year St Marys is celebrating St Patricks day with a dress up day on Friday 17^th March.

Come dressed in all your green coloured clothes and celebrate all things Irish. We will have some games and food on offer.

A $2 coin donation, or 4 x 50c pieces if we want to reach Mr Nielsen's weight, is required for all children and these coins will be collected in the morning and the money will be donated to Caritas.

Please send your children with extra coins because at recess we will have green food and treats for sale. There will be a "Guess the number of lollies jar" for 50 cents.

Date and Day	Teacher on Leave or PD	Class	Relief
Mrs Ramsay will be attending Finance training on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Mrs Connellan will be in the office.

Mrs Emma McRae our counsellor will be visiting our school this week on Wednesday 15th of March.

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

Happy Birthday to

Mae Dean, Nixon Hart, Rose Hague, Will McDonell and Stella Murrells

who celebrate their birthdays during this week.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

Students in Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 will travel to the Altina Wildlife Park in Darlington Point NSW on Wednesday the 29th of March.

The bus will leave the front of the school at 7am sharp and return between 3:45pm and 4:15pm. Parents will need to drop off and collect their children at the school bus stop. Arrival time will be communicated via SeeSaw and text message.

Students should wear sport uniform and bring recess, fruit, lunch, water bottle and a hat.

This excursion will cost $18 per child and permission and payment is via Compass. The cost of transport is covered by St Mary's School.

Please logon to Compass to given permission and pay for your child to attend.

Our school cross country will be held on Friday the 31st of March.

Students in Years 2 to 6 will compete at the West Wyalong Showground. Permission via Compass is now required for these students as they will be transported by bus. Volunteers are required at the showground so please nominate on the permission form if you can help.

Kinder and Year 1 will participate in cross country games on the school oval. No permission is required.

Students can wear house coloured shirts to school on this Friday.

Parents are welcome to attend.

Year 2 - 6

Cross Country Information

West Wyalong Showground

Departing the school at 9.00am, returning 12.00pm.

Students will be transported to and from the showground by bus.

Students should bring a hat, a water bottle and recess.

9.15am Students walk the course the run in the following order:

Race 1 - 8 & 9 years 2000 metres

Race 1 - 10 year 2000 metres

Race 3 - 11 year 3000 meters

Race 4 - 12 year 3000 meters

Western Region Cross Country will be held on Friday 28th April in Grenfell. Archdiocesan Cross Country will be held at Stromlo on Friday 19th May.

Kinder and Year 1

Cross Country Information

School Oval

Races will begin at approximately 9am.

Issue 2 of Scholastic Book Club will close on Monday 20th of March.

It is best to use the LOOP order system but if you need to pay by cash then the completed forms and cash need to be sent to the office.

Student Easter Raffle Information

Our Community Council are running a special Easter Egg raffle for our students on Thursday 6th of April.

Tickets will be sold on the 6th of April for 50c each (to a limit of $5) and there will be three prizes per class drawn that afternoon.

Each family is asked to donate one Easter Egg for our raffle prizes. Please send these to the school office before Thursday the 30th of March.

Special Lunch Order Friday 24th of March

The canteen will be open at recess as normal however the normal lunch orders will not be available.

Drinks & Iceblock’s are available to order with the special lunch.

Ordering CLOSES on Qkr! 22^nd March at 9am.

Please remember to send your child to school with lunch if they are not having the special lunch.

Canteen Roster

Monday 20 March	Friday 24 March
Lisa Sturgess Baking: Lisa Sturgess	BUTTER CHICKEN AND RICE No other lunch orders will be available. Treats can still be purchased online or cash.
Monday 27 March	Friday 31 March
Lisa Sturgess Baking: Lisa Sturgess	2 X VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED
Monday 3 April	Friday 7 April
Liz Webber-Patton 1 VOLUNTEER REQUIRED Baking: Liz Webber-Patton	GOOD FRIDAY

Award Winners

Some pictures of our award winners this week.

Healthy Harold

Life Education visited our school this week and with the help of Healthy Harold delivered some important messages to our students ranging from how to build friendsips, safe place, healthy lifestyle and online safety.

Thank you to the Healthy Harold educator, Jess, for leading our students in the personal development and health sessions.

For more information click on this link:

Freezing Fruit

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

The Compass Calendar is updated to show Mass times, sporting events, important events.

The SZAPP calendar is no longer updated, please do not refer to this calendar for important dates.

Day	Event	Location
Tuesday 14 March	Canberra Goulburn Rugby League Trials	Canberra
Wednesday 15 March	School Counsellor Visit	At School
Wednesday 15 March	NAPLAN Writing Year 3 & 5	At School
Thursday 16 March	NAPLAN Reading Year 3 & 5	At School
Friday 17th March	St Patrick's Day Dress Up, Gold Coin Donation, treats for sale	At School
Monday 20th March	NAPLAN Conventions of Language Year 3 & 5	At School
Tuesday 21st March	NAPLAN Numeracy Year 3 and 5	At School
Wednesday 22 March	School Counsellor Visit	At School
Tuesday 28 March	MacKillop AFL Trials	Wagga Wagga
Wednesday 29 March	Altina Wildlife Park (more information closer to the date) Kinder, Year 1, Year 2	Altina Wildlife Park
Wednesday 29 March	School Counsellor Visit	At School
Wednesday 5 April	School Counsellor Visit	At School
Thursday 6 April	Last day of Term 1
Monday 24th April	First Day of Term 2
Tuesday 25 April	ANZAC Day Public Holiday. Our students participate in the march and service in West Wyalong.	Main Street and S&C Club
Thursday 27 April	Reconciliation and Sacrament of Eucharist Enrolment (Year 3/4) @ 5pm	At School

WEST WYALONG JUNIOR NETBALL

Welcome to West Wyalong Junior Netball for the 2023 season. Our Monday afternoon netball will commence on Monday 22nd March 2023 (Week 9 Term 1). We will have a 3 week break during the Easter Holidays and recommence on Monday 1st May with our grand final and presentation day being Monday 19th June 2023.

It will also save the confusion with those involved with Saturday netball competitions. The format will be similar to last season and run in 3 age groups provided we get the amazing support we had last year.

Net Set Go 5-7 years (Preschool but must be turning 5, Kindergarten and Year 1)

8-10 Years modified Net Set Go rules (Years 2,3 and 4 at school)

11+ Years (Years 5 and 6 at school)

We will be organising teams for the competition which will involve some setting up, packing up and canteen shifts this season as I am back at work full time again this year.

We are looking forward to another great season of netball. Registrations are completed through the Play HQ format now which is similar to Junior Basketball. Active kids vouchers can be used. If you have any questions just shoot me a PM.

Please comment below if you are interested in registering your child or have registered your child with their name and age so we can begin forming teams.

Alternatively if you have already registered because you have used your 2022 active kids voucher please comment below so I can include your child in a team.

Registration Links -

Net Set Go 5-10 years

https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/8cd998

Junior 11-14 years

https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/eeca2a

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Sacrament of Eucharist

Archdiocesan Swimming

Date and Day

Teacher on Leave or PD

Class

Relief

Student Easter Raffle Information

Special Lunch Order Friday 24th of March

Canteen Roster

Award Winners

Healthy Harold

For more information click on this link:

WEST WYALONG JUNIOR NETBALL