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PRINCIPAL'S NEWS - MR PETER HUGHES
The next meeting of the school’s community council is taking place next Wednesday 20th March at 6pm in the staffroom. The meeting is open to all parents. We would love a few more members if you feel you can support the school in this capacity.
Parents who are interested, to join either the social, facilities or fundraising sub-committees are asked join via the link provided in the COMPASS message or below in the newsletter. All meetings will be done via ‘WhatsApp’ and you can choose your level of involvement. It would be wonderful to have a core group of interested parents in each sub-committee.
Clothing Pool
We are looking for volunteers to assist with the school’s clothing pool. This facility is well used by parents and because of the traffic we have moved it to a new room. We are looking for a number of parents so we can set up a roster where parents come in, sort the donated clothing and hang it for display.
If you can assist, please contact the front office.
Chess
Our first chess competition will take place against Hennessy College on Tuesday 9th April. There will be a few friendly games and then some coaching. Our regular chess players will enjoy the experience as they prepare themselves for the trips to the ACT Championships, usually held in term two.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Congratulations to all our Year 4 students who made their Sacrament of Reconciliation last Saturday afternoon. It was a lovely celebration and wonderful to see families, friends and teachers supporting our students as they made their first sacrament together.
Project Compassion Appeal
The theme of Project Compassion this year is For All Future Generations, with Caritas Australia highlighting the inspiring journeys of three resilient women.
This week, students listened to Leaia’s story and the impact of a new water tank on her family. Leaia resides on Upolu Island in Samoa with her five children, husband, brother, and sister-in-law.
Easter Concert
On Wednesday March 27th, David Enever is coming to St. Mary’s to celebrate Easter with a whole school concert. The Easter concert will be held in our school hall and begins at 1:45 pm. Parents and carers are welcome to attend.
Family Engagement with Faith
Below is a link to a resource for parents and carers with faith-based activities to engage in with their child this term.
Family Engagement with Faith - Term 1
SPORTS NEWS - MRS LEONNE CHALLEN
Mixed Tag Gala Day
What a wonderful day everyone had!!! Thank you to our students - our behaviour and sportspersonship was commented on by a number of people which is fantastic to hear. Thank you to Mrs Amos and Mrs Dal Molin for attending with the students and driving the bus. Thank you to the parents for transporting the students - especially Amanda Caldwell, Liz Sheridan, Priscilla Maloney and Elecia Anderson who did an outstanding job managing the teams - we cannot provide these opportunities without you!
Could all students please return their shorts, socks and belts (boys) to Mrs Challen to have their name marked off.
Archdiocesan Rugby League & Netball Trials
Well done to all our students who competed at the trials this week - the competition was very tough!
Congratulations to the following students who were successful in gaining selection to the Canberra-Goulburn Rugby League and Netball Teams:
RL 11s - Oliver Harden, Kynan Burgess & Nixon Gault
RL 12s - Jesse Gault
Netball - Daisy Sullivan & Annabel Bailey
These students will compete at the upcoming MacKillop Trials on May 10th. We wish them the very best of luck!
Rugby Union and Rugby League Online Courses
As per CE Policy any parents managing or coaching tackle football games (including tackle gala days) will need to complete a quick online course prior to the day. Here are the links for these courses:
Rugby League - League Safe Course
Rugby Union - Smart Rugby Course
Southern Inland Primary Schools Tackle 10s Gala Day
Students from Year 3 to 6 have been invited via Compass to participate in the upcoming Rugby Union Tackle 10s Gala Day to be held in Young on Thursday 4th April. This is open to both boys and girls and teams will be mixed. As this is a tackle competition and a pathway to the SIRU Primary School Tackle 10s Championships in Wagga students must be registered with either a Rugby Union or Rugby League town tackle competition to play and must wear headgear & a mouthguard. Please give permission through the events section of Compass. This event will close on Friday 22nd March - please ensure you have opted in for your child prior to this date to avoid disappointment. We would love to have some assistance with managing the teams please!
Young & District Soccer Carnival
Students from Year 1 to Year 6 have been invited to attend our annual Young & Districts Soccer Carnival to be held in Young on Wednesday 8th May at Gus Smith & Cranfield Oval & Hall Brothers Oval from 9am to 3pm. Teams will be mixed in a 1/2 division, 3/4 division & 5/6 division. You must opt in to the event on Compass and please ensure your answer all questions and press the green confirmation button. You will know if you have been successful because it will say attending for your child under the event. Opt in permissions are due by Monday 1st April. This is a very popular event and I urge you to ensure you have opted in by the due date. We cannot accept late nominations.
Archdiocesan Sport - Year 5 & 6 only
Football (Soccer) - 9th April in Lyneham. Nominations close 2nd April
Hockey - MacKillop Trials 10th May - registrations online by 15th March
Rugby Union - 28th May
Registrations are via the Canberra-Goulburn Sports Webpage:
https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/nominations
https://csnsw.sport/help/help-guide-for-parents
School Cross Country Information
Our Cross Country Carnival will be held next Thursday 21st March at The Young Golf Course.
* 5, 6, 7 and 8 year olds will run 1 km.
PLEASE NOTE …… IF YOUR CHILD IS TURNING 8 AND WISHES TO BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE AT THE WESTERN REGION CARNIVAL THEY WILL NEED TO RUN 2KM AGAINST THE 9 YEAR OLDS. IF YOU WISH FOR YOUR CHILD TO RUN WITH THE 9 YEAR OLDS PLEASE LET ME KNOW VIA EMAIL.
* 9 and 10 year olds will run 2 km.
*11 and 12 year olds will run 3 km.
CHILDREN DO NOT COMPETE IN GRADE GROUPS – THEY COMPETE AS THE AGE THEY ARE TURNING OR HAVE ALREADY TURNED IN 2024 REGARDLESS OF THE GRADE YEAR THEY ARE IN.
Following is the format for the day:
- 9:15am – 5,6,7 and 8yrs doing 1km will be taken by bus to the Golf Course. They will follow a golf cart around the course and will begin at approximately 9.30am.
- 10:00am – Buses will return the 5/6 year olds and bring the 9 and 10 year olds to the Golf Course and wait to return 7 and 8 year olds back to school. The 9 and 10 year olds (including any 8 yr olds competing for WR Selection) will begin their races (following the golf cart) at around 10.30.
- 11.15am – Buses will bring 11 and 12/13 year olds to the Golf Course and wait to return the 9 and 10 year olds back to school. The 11 and 12/13 year olds will begin their races (following a golf cart) at around 11:30am.
- Approx. 12:00pm – All remaining students will return to school by bus.
PLEASE NOTE, THE TIMES ABOVE ARE APPROXIMATE TIMES ONLY. While we do our best to stick to the times given, we may run early or late. All students will be given a sticker with a unique number which will be recorded at the completion of the race to establish placings.
ALL CHILDREN ARE TO WEAR THEIR SPORTS UNIFORM. They will take their bag to the golf club with their hats, sunscreen, fruit break and a drink. The canteen will operate normally for the day.
Any students with asthma indicated on their medical information must have their puffers in their pockets for the entire race and ensure they’re wearing their asthma band they received from their teacher. Students with asthma will not be permitted to race without their puffer.
Any assistance you can offer on the day would be greatly appreciated. In order to ensure the day runs smoothly we really need people to supervise at checkpoints. If you can help on the day please let me know via email - leonne.challen@cg.catholic.edu.au
COMMUNITY COUNCIL SUB- COMMITTEES
The Community Council is aware of the busy lives all families lead in today’s world. Besides working, many families have regular commitments to organisations in the Young region, such as sporting groups, artistic and cultural organisations. These commitments on top of work and school life make it very difficult for many parents to volunteer or attend meetings on a regular basis.
To give parents a chance to participate and contribute to school activities and events we are aiming to establish several subcommittees, each with a particular focus. These subcommittees will not involve person to person meetings but will use WhatsApp to facilitate communication and information sharing among members of the group. The initial sub-committees are:
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Social committee - to build a sense of community among the parents. This group will incorporate the functions previously organised by the Men of St Mary’s and the Women of St Mary’s groups.
CLICK THIS LINK TO JOIN THE SOCIAL MESSAGE THREAD
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Fundraising committee - to work with the school to run fundraising events to allow for the purchase of resources for the school. Last year this included catering at the soccer carnival organised by the school as well as running the highly successful pie drive.
CLICK THIS LINK TO JOIN THE FUNDRAISING MESSAGE THREAD
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Facilities committee - to work with the principal to prioritise the maintenance of the school facilities as well as provide advice on the best way to approach projects.
CLICK THIS LINK TO JOIN THE FACILITIES MESSAGE THREAD
If you can assist on any of these committees please indicate below, even if it is a one off or your wish to be informed directly of what is being planned. You are more than welcome to put your details down for several committees. The newsletter will continue to inform parents of upcoming events and will still call for volunteers for events.
Our next community council meeting is on the 20th March and we hope to have all groups up and running this term. If any parents wish to join the community council the meetings commence at 6pm in the staff room. Feel free to come along.
THURSDAY 21st March
Wear a splash of orange or your cultural heritage traditional clothing.
The Harmony Day menu will be available to order from on FLEXISCHOOLS starting at 1:00 pm on Wednesday the 20th and is only available to order for lunch on Thursday the 21st.
SCHOOL PHOTOS - MONDAY 8TH APRIL & WEDNESDAY 10TH APRIL
There has been a slight change to the order in which the photos will be taken which is as below.
Monday 8th April
3/4A
KMW
1M
1/2 C
2M
Siblings
Wednesday 10th April
KKW
3/4S
3/4R
5D
5Z
6C
6E
Students are expected to wear their full blue summer uniform for the photos.
If your child will be away on the scheduled day please contact the front office to make arrangements. Please note that we will be doing whole class photos (group shot) this year so if your child is away for the class photo they will be listed absent. We will be unable to do make up class photos.
FAMILY PHOTOS
Online ordering for Family/Sibling photos has now closed. If you haven’t already ordered yours but would like to do so, you must include the correct money in an envelope with your children’s names and classes. Please note that these will be taken on Monday.
ONLINE ORDERING
Online ordering starts: Tuesday 30th April (access keys will not be distributed to students until the photos are loaded and ready to viewed and selected)
Online ordering ends: Tuesday 14th May
What is SWAP IT?
SWAP IT is a free evidence-based healthy lunchbox program developed by the NSW Health and the University of Newcastle. The program supports parents and carers to SWAP what is packed in their child’s lunchbox from sometimes foods to everyday foods.
The SWAP IT recommendations have been developed based on the latest evidence-based government nutrition guidelines.