Next week I will be accompanying our Year Six students on their excursion to the Sport and Recreation Camp at Narrabeen on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday while on Tuesday I will be taking a group of girls to the ACT Girls Chess Championships. So this will be my last newsletter for the term.

I hope for fine weather for the camp and challenging chess games for our girl chess representatives.

Staffing

The last few weeks of this term has seen a number of staff on leave for a variety of reasons. At this stage I anticipate a number of staff returning next week while Miss Murray and Mr Ziebowski plan to return at the start of term two. At this stage the return of Mrs McIsaac is uncertain as she awaits test results following her husband's operation.

I thank Mrs Collins and Mrs Sullivan for the work they have done in 1/2 White while Mr Ziebowski has been absent. Thank you also to Mrs Amos for the work in 3/4 White covering Mr McIsaac and to all the casual staff and Mrs Presser for covering Miss Murray’s class.

I will update parents that have children in Mrs McIsaac’s class prior to the students' return.

Holy Week & Easter Prayer Services

Next week we will be holding a whole school prayer on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as we prepare for Holy Week. All prayer services will be held at 1pm in the school hall. The focus of each day will be:

• Monday 7th April: Palm Sunday Prayer Service. 
• Tuesday 8th April: Holy Thursday - The Last Supper Prayer Service 
• Wednesday 9th: Good Friday Prayer Service 

When we return to school in term two (Tuesday April 29th) we will hold our final prayer service, again at 1pm, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Parents are very welcome to attend any of these prayer services.

Lent and Easter are the two important seasons of the Catholic Church and cornerstones of our faith. I ask our Catholic families to consider attending church on at least Easter Sunday to give your children an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of their faith.

Safe on Social - Kirra Pendergast:

All parents have available to them a vast array of information to support them in understanding the complexities of online safety and their children. Please reach out via email if you would like information from Safe on Social. You may need material to extend your understanding about certain apps of laws, or perhaps there are areas of concern around online behaviours of other children or your own. Whatever the need, we have a large amount of material useful to parents and easily available. Just email katie.thompson@cg.catholic.edu.au. 

Do your children play on ROBLOX? 

There are over 43 million daily active users, half of whom are under the age of 13 and Roblox has become one of the most popular platforms for young people today. The fact sheet is designed to help parents and educators understand Roblox's key features, risks, and best practices for keeping children safe while playing. Click here for your “Guide on ROBLOX”.

Does your child use “Dress to Impress” on ROBLOX? Read on here to learn what your children are really doing and what no one’s telling you. At a glance, "Dress to Impress" looks like a harmless fashion game. Your kid picks outfits, walks a digital runway, gets judged by other players. Sounds simple, right? It's not. This game is a live, unfiltered popularity contest disguised as fun. And it's packed with hidden dangers that most parents never see. Click here to read “The Truth about ‘Dress to Impress’ on ROBLOX.”

Our annual Book Fair will be held in our school library in Week 2 of Term 2. 

Wednesday 7^th May from 8:30am - 3:30pm.

Thursday 8^th May from 7:30am - 3:30pm (Mothers' Day Breakfast)

We see this as an opportunity to promote reading for pleasure and foster literacy through developing a love of books and reading.  Sales from the Book Fair attract a generous commission from Scholastic and this is then used to  purchase resources for use in the library.

Students from Kinder to Year 6 will visit the Book Fair during their library time to browse and preview the books available for sale. During this visit students will create a Wish List of book  titles that they can take home. Parents and students can either visit the fair or complete an online purchase.

PURCHASING BOOKS ONLINE

Students will have a list of book titles on their Wish List. To purchase from the Book Fair, simply go online and search St Marys School (select YOUNG) and make your payment and return the Wish List form to St Mary’s Library. Further details, including the website details may be found on the Wish List. The purchased books will be sent home with your child. Any titles that are sold out will be ordered and delivered to student classrooms soon after the completion of the Book Fair.

Thank you for supporting our school library. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you require further information.