Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to Week 8.  Last week we held our annual school athletics carnival at McAlister Oval. Well done to all students on their conduct and behaviour. In particular, congratulations to the age champions and those who qualified for the Western Region carnival in Temora on Friday. Well done to Meila and Indi Fair who both broke the 1500m school record. An amazing achievement. A massive thank you must go to Mrs Taylor who organised the carnival and all the teachers that braved the cold and wet conditions to ensure the students enjoyed the day. Those 36 students who have qualified for Temora have been notified of arrangements on compass. Please accept or decline the event as a matter of importance.

At the last community council meeting, the matter of parent/family volunteers was raised. We warmly welcome any parents or grandparents who are willing to help out with anything in the classroom whether it be creative arts, reading or other Key Learning Areas where teachers see a need. If you want to volunteer your time in your child or grandchild’s class, please contact their teacher to make arrangements. This will begin in Term 3. Volunteers will need a current Working with Children Check (WWCC). The process for applying for your WWCC can be found following this website. https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-working-with-children-check  

The Working with Children Check (WWCC) is a requirement for anyone in paid or volunteer child-related work in NSW.

In last week’s newsletter we published the incorrect date for the fundraising group that will meet and report back to the Community Council Executive. The correct date is Wednesday the 19^th of June at Thom Dick and Harry’s at 2pm.

Last week I travelled to Young to meet with other principals across the western region. Amongst other conversations there was quite a robust discussion about what schools are doing in regards to internet safety at their school. There was discussion about Kirra Prendergast from Safe on Social visiting our region online or face to face. I have witnessed her presentation to both parents and students many years ago when I was in Young. Her presentation is targeted at both parents and children and was informative and engaging while outlining the importance of good online safety practices. I look forward to working with other schools in our region in this space. Until then, the eSafety website https://www.esafety.gov.au/ is full of fantastic resources.

Helen Bramanathan from the Catholic Education Office will visit our school on Tuesday. She will spend time in each class teaching staff and students about Christian Meditation. We look forward to welcoming Helen to our lovely school and embedding this meditative practice in our school.

This week’s newsletter will feature our awesome Year 3 and 4 students!!

Remember my door is always open.

Acting Principal

Damian Collins

Term 2, 2024 Class and Whole School Mass Timetable

Events - Resources

For certain events in Compass there will be information available found under 'resources'. Compass has updated its platform and it is much easier to access these. In the event scroll down to resources and there will be files available for you to check. For this week's Western Region Athletics there are 2 Resources

1. Western Region Team - lists all the students who made it away and what events they are in

2. Western Region Athletics Note - lists the venue, start time, Schools participating, event order, start procedure plus other rules.

Pictured below is a screenshot of an old event to give you an idea of what it should look like.

      Happy Birthday to

Winnie Wendt

who celebrates her birthday during this week.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

Mackillop Trials - Touch Football

Well done to Billy Petit (5/6 Faith), who represented our Archdiocese at the MacKillop Touch Football trials in Forbes on Friday. Unfortunately Billy was not selected but just to represent the Archdiocese is a fabulous effort. Well done Billy!!

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.

Day	Event	Location
Wednesday 19th June	Year 1 Joy and Year 4 Trust Class Mass @ 12pm	School Hall
Friday 21st June	Western Region Athletics	At Temora
Thursday 27th June	Kinder 2025 Tour & Information Session	At School
Thursday 4th July	Last Day of Term for Students	At School
Friday 5th July	Staff Development Day
Monday 22nd July	Staff Development Day
Tuesday 23rd July	All students return to school - Term 3
Thursday 8th August	'The Grugs' Kinder, Year 1 & 2 excursion	Wagga Civic Theatre
Thursday 15th August	School Photo Day	At School

• Winter uniform to be worn
• Hair is to be tied up and neat & tidy
• Socks - Boys grey and Girls navy
• Ties with top button done up
• Jumpers to be worn
• Girls in navy pants or school skirts and boys in grey pants
• No jewellery other than small studs or sleepers

  - Envelopes will be available at the front office when they arrive for those who do not wish to order online.

St Mary's War Memorial School

School Photography Date: 15th August 2024

School photography day is coming up soon. Group and portrait photographs can be purchased by following the link above.

Important Information:

• School photos purchased online DO NOT require envelopes returned to school.
• Don’t forget to order your sibling photos now - when you order your single photos.
• Late fees/additional charges will be applied for purchases after photo day
• Photos will be returned to your school for distribution approximately six weeks after photos are taken
• Past years’ photographs are available at school’s advancedlife & your advancedyou photo sites (follow the link above)

*Sibling photographs must be ordered either online, 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.

advancedlife would like to express our appreciation to St Mary's War Memorial School for placing your trust in us. Please remember we offer a 100% money back guarantee on our products to ensure your peace of mind. We would also love to receive your feedback or resolve any issues you may experience as fast as possible, to ensure your satisfaction. If you have any questions, comments or feedback relating to your advancedlife experience please contact us at  enquiries@advancedlife.com.au.

   

REGISTRATIONS 

CLOSING Monday 29th July 2024

This year the UNSW ICAS assessments are online and will be held in August.

Participation in these assessments is at parents discretion.  There is no obiligation for your children to sit these assessments as they are not used in the schools reporting.

The ICAS assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment.  Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.  Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

All registrations and payment for 2024 are to be done online

To register and pay for your child please click on the following link and note that the special code for St Mary's is VNS280.

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Cost for EACH assessment is $19.25, except Writing which is $23.65

The sitting windows for the ICAS tests are listed below, however the school will finalise the actual date of the tests in the coming weeks:

Writing - Monday 5th - Friday 9th August

Digital Technologies - Monday 5th - Friday 9th August

English - Monday 12th - Friday 16th August

Science - Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August

Spelling Bee - Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August

Mathematics - Monday 26th - Friday 30th August

We are welcoming new enrolments for the 2025 school year.

Please enrol online before the 2nd of August, however late enrolments are always accepted, at our website with the link below - https://smwms.nsw.edu.au/enrolment

If you require further information please call the school office.