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Dear Parents,
One of the goals for the school, which has previously been shared with parents, was to “enhance learning by building positive relationships across the school community.
”Learning is a partnership with parents, carers and others in the community, all of whom have a role to play in nurturing the love of learning needed for success at school and in life.”
Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (December 2019)
Following disruptions to school life by Covid, we arranged events for parents to come together in an attempt to revive the sense of community at St Mary’s. Alecia Dennis and Peter Vagg have been organising activities for the Ladies of St Mary’s and Men of St Mary’s respectively in 2022. These are social events that happen about once per term. The Community Council also is in the initial stages of planning an event for parents later in the year. This year the school will organise the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day events and we will also hold Grandparent’s Day. At the end of 2022 we also held the Christmas carols evening which was very successful.
These events are open to all families and are a wonderful way to meet other parents as well as taking interest in the life of St Mary’s. Children love seeing family members at school and it sends the message to them that you value their education.
Invitations will be going home to parents shortly outlining our first events for the year.
The Ladies of St Mary’s will be holding a dinner on Friday 31st March at The Cranfield while the Men of St Mary’s will be holding a get together at the Aussie Hotel on Friday 17th March from 5pm. We would love to see you there.
Nut Aware School
Following an inquiry from a parent I thought it was timely to remind families that St Mary's is a ‘Nut Aware School”. As such we do not use nuts or nut products in our canteen. We also encourage parents not to send nuts or nut products to school.
The NSW Department of Education says it is not advisable to declare a school "peanut or nut free" as such a claim could not reliably be made and, if made, may lead to a false sense of security about exposure to peanuts and tree nuts.
While we only have one student and one staff member who have a severe allergic reaction to nuts or nut products we want to protect them and any other student we are not aware of.
I ask families to give careful consideration to what they place in the child’s lunchbox.
Dear Parents,
NAPLAN 2023 will commence in Week 7 for Year 3 and Year 5 students. As Mr Hughes outlined last week, its placement has been moved forward to Term 1 and the testing window opens on a Wednesday. Below you will find the timetable for the four tests. Please ensure your children are at school on these days and arrange for any appointments to be made after the NAPLAN tests or if urgent, after lunch on the testing days. If a student is absent due to illness, they will be required to make up the test they missed before they can sit any future ones as ACARA stipulates the testing sequence. Mrs Thompson will be managing the make-up testing schedule and will communicate with those students when the make-ups will take place.
- Wednesday 15th March: Writing 9am - 10am
- Thursday 16th March:
- Reading 9am - 10am
- Fruit break
- Conventions of Language 10.10am - 11am
- Friday 17th March: Numeracy 9am - 10am
We encourage you to help your child(ren) to stay calm and remind them that NAPLAN is just a snapshot of their learning and only ONE measure of their achievement. We recognise that some students do become anxious but with your help we aim to assist them in keeping perspective, building resilience and teaching them relaxation techniques. Other useful factors that assist them during NAPLAN are adequate sleep, good nutrition and hydration and some exercise. If you have any concerns please contact your child's classroom teacher in the first instance.
The attached information from Steve Francis of Happy Schools, contains some excellent tips for helping students around NAPLAN testing.
5_Tips_for_Helping_Students_in_NAPLAN_Week_by_Steve_Francis.pdf
EVERYDAY COUNTS
Parents’ responsibilities
- Parents/carers must ensure children of mandatory school age are enrolled in school and attend every day of school, and every activity or event the school requires the student to attend, during the required times. This is known as the ‘full-time participation’ requirement.
- Parents/carers must provide an explanation to the school for any absence, ideally on or before the day of absence, and no more than five school days after the absence occurs. Parents/carers may be liable under the ACT or NSW Education Acts if students fail to attend school without a reasonable excuse.
- Parents/carers must notify the school principal of planned absences of up to 25 school days in a 12-month period (including 25 part days) in writing, including the reason for the absence.
- Planned absences of more than 25 days in a 12-month period, other than sick leave, have additional requirements and parents/carers must apply in advance for extended leave or exemption. The application and approval process complies with strict requirements of the NSW and ACT governments.
- CECG recommends, and the NSW Department of Education expects, that students granted extended leave of more than 100 days in a twelve-month period be unenrolled from school and enrolled in home or distance education.
- Parents/carers should understand that schools are required to record any absence as an unapproved or unjustified absence, unless they receive and accept a reasonable explanation before the attendance register is finalised.
Encouraging Attendance
Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn identifies the following levels of attendance:
- Excellent Attendance 95% and above (e.g. 2.5 days absence or less in a term or 10 absences over a year)
- Regular Attendance 90%-94.9% (e.g. 2.6 to 5 days absence in a term or 10.1 - 20 absences in a year)
- Emerging Absenteeism: 80%-89.9% (e.g. 5.1 to 10 days absence in a term or 20.1 - 40 absences in a year)
- Chronic Absenteeism Less than 80% (e.g. more than 10 days absence in a term or 40 absences in a year)
Mrs Katie Thompson
Assistant Principal
GOSPEL: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was hungry, and the tester came and said to him, 'If you are Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.' But he replied, 'Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' The devil then took him to the holy city and set him on the parapet of the Temple.'If you are Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down; for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, and they will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.' Jesus said to him, 'Scripture also says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. And he said to him, 'I will give you all these, if you fall at my feet and do me homage.' Then Jesus replied, 'Away with you, Satan! For scripture says: The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve.' Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels appeared and looked after him.
REFLECTION
The story is told of a man who had been faithful to his wife all throughout their marriage. When he was asked about the secret of his faithfulness, he answered: “I always remember our marriage vows and I’ve learned the secret on how to avoid temptations or tempting situations by rejecting it outright.”
Everyday in our lives the tempter is always there to bait us with his wicked temptations. For example the temptation to steal, to betray the marriage vows, to be arrogant and so forth. What is the antidote to all these temptations? It’s our perpetual connection with God.
The devil is always at our backs watching us and the moment he sees that we are not connected with God. He will immediately present himself as an alternative. All of us are candidates to be in the ring with these temptations. But it’s actually not impossible for us to defeat these wicked enticements by the devil.
How did Jesus reject the three temptations of the devil in the gospel? In each temptation He was always invoking the name of God in His words and deeds. So, it’s the same with us; as long as we are always connected with God in our worship and in our deeds we are safe to avoid the many attractive yet wicked enticements of the devil.
In this first week of Lent, we are reminded to always be connected with God. And to allow God to take control of our lives, not us and the devil taking control of our lives.
Are you always connected with God and do you always allow God to take control of your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
PROJECT COMPASSION
Laxmi's story: Nepal
After losing her father at a young age, Laxmi was at risk of falling further into extreme poverty. But with the support of our partner Caritas Nepal, Laxmi joined a child's club, became a leader in her school and is now a mentor to other girls in her village. Please watch Laxmi’s story using the following link: Laxmi's story | Project Compassion 2023
Please remember that we can all make a difference to the lives of people just like Laxmi. Please donate any amount to our Project Compassion Appeal this year and make a difference for ‘All Future Generations’.
So far, your generous contributions have helped us raise: $228.50
LITURGIES
This week, Year 1 and 2 celebrated a beautiful Liturgy based on Lent. We would like to thank everyone who was able to join us.
On Thursday, Year 6 will be celebrating a Liturgy in the Prayer Room at 12pm. We extend a warm welcome to all parents and carers.
God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
(Religious Education Coordinator)
Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival
We wish the following students the very best of luck as they represent the Western Region at the Archdicocesan Swimming Carnival:
Kate Aston, Rory Brodbeck, Chloe Buck, Henry Burgess, Kynan Burgess, Hannah Cusack, Nixon Gault, Willa Morris, Ivy Murphy, Nate Neilsen, Ollie Orr, Patrick O’Reilly, Alex Presser, Sam Presser, Harry Robinson, Sarah Webber and William Woods.
We look forward to hearing about your day!!!
Raiders Mixed Tag Day
We are very pleased to be entering 3 teams in the 3/4 division and 5 teams in the 5/6 division. Students will need to wear their sports uniform please. If students have Cherrypickers/Yabbies tag shorts they are welcome to wear those otherwise, students will be provided with belts and tags. We do not have enough tag shorts to supply all students as unfortunately we still have a number that were not returned from last year’s tag gala day. The organisers will confirm the availability of a canteen closer to the date. Please ensure your child has a hat, sunscreen and plenty of fluids. Our school tent will be there for the students to utilise. The games will run for 12 minutes and there will be no scoring.
The teams can be viewed here. If your child can no longer attend please let me know as I have students on the waiting list. I will send the draw via Compass email when it becomes available. The teams will be managed by Year 11 Hennessy students. Mr Ziebowski, Mrs Eastwwod & Mrs Collins will attend with the students.
Archdiocesan Sport - Year 5 & 6 only
Netball - Tuesday 14th March at Lyneham - unfortunately we were unable to fill a team for the Archdiocesan Netball Championships, however, students are able to register individually and will be placed in a team on the day. Please register via the Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage. Nominations close 6th March 2023.
Rugby League (11yrs and Opens) - 14th March 2023 at Lyneham - please register via the Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage. Nominations close 6th March 2023.
Hockey - please register via the Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage. Nominations close 10th March 2023.
Soccer - Monday 3rd April at Lyneham - please register via the Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage. Nominations close 27th March 2023.
Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage links:
https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/nominations
https://csnsw.sport/help/help-guide-for-parents
The Full Sports Calendar is now available on the Canberra Goulburn Sports webpage:
This week, our young gardeners were busy harvesting more of our abundance of vegetables. We sent off our finest to compete in the Boorowa Show and the remainder we have put away to cook up a huge batch of pasta sauce next week. We also got to work on our compost heap which is coming along well. We can't wait to see what's ready next week!
Thank you to the parents who have submitted feedback. We are making changes and continue to welcome feedback and suggestions.
https://forms.gle/yySG4HhULGGrhjmu8
Did you know we are now using Bakers Delight Hi fibre Low GI bread for our sandwiches.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
This week we are seeking feedback from the students.
Students are asked to complete the below and place in the canteen order box for their chance to win a Stackerz frozen rainbow treat.
Name: ……………………………………………Class:.............................................. |
What do you like about our canteen? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… |
What don’t you like about our canteen? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… |
What would you like to see on our menu? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… |
WEEKLY SPECIALS
INTERNATIONAL MEATBALL DAY - THURSDAY 09/03
Did you know Thursday is International Meatball day. We are currently seeking a meatball menu item for the Canteen which we hope to send out to you on Monday. Orders will be via flexischools and or brown paperbag.
THANK YOU
Another big Thank You to this week canteen volunteers. We are seeking volunteers for every day next week if you are able to help please contact Donna in the front office.
LADIES OF ST MARY'S @ THE CRANFIELD
We still have a few seats available and asking for payment of $75 (Cash or Eftpos) to be made at the front office at school by Tuesday 21/03/23. Payment can be taken over the phone by credit card.