Week 3, Term 3 2023 - 25th July 2023

Principal's Reflection

This week, St Mary’s joins with over 300 other Qld Catholic schools to celebrate Catholic Education Week.

For nearly 200 years, Catholic schools in Australia have catered for the spiritual, academic and holistic needs of their students and communities.  Currently we have over 1750 Catholic schools in Australia, educating over 750,000 young people; 1 in 5 Australian students.  From very humble beginnings and thanks to the immeasurable efforts of priests, religious brothers and sisters and the lay faithful, Catholic schools are quality educational institutions which now receive significant government funding, enjoy excellent facilities, have well-trained and professional staff and hold good standing in the community.

But what is the true purpose of Catholic schools?  What is their reason for being? Why is there still a need for Catholic schools in our contemporary society, where there is a rapidly diverging values base? 

For us at St Mary’s school, our reason for being is very clearly articulated in our school Mission and Vision statements. 

These statements acknowledge that all at St Mary’s strive to provide a relevant, quality and holistic education that is framed by the teaching of Jesus Christ. 

I am very proud of our school and know that together with the staff and parents, we can make a positive difference in the lives of all students.  We all have a role to play.  And, in this week where we celebrate Catholic Education, I invite you all to participate in the educative mission that we share.  It is in this pursuit that we can achieve the very best for our students.

All the very best,

Wes Rose
Principal

From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose

Parent Engagement – Special Dates Term 3

Maintaining a cohesive home and school partnership is a key focus at St Mary’s School.  One way to assist families to engage in the life of their child’s education is to advise of some important events planned for this term.  I ask you to pencil these dates into your calendar and attend if you are available.

Prep 2024 Interviews
Over the coming weeks, we will be conducting interviews for the 2024 Prep year.  You may see some new families around the school, please make them feel welcome.

MDSS Athletics Carnival
All the best to the following athletes who have qualified for the Mackay District Athletics Carnival this Thursday and Friday at the ARC;

10 yrs     Blake Dyson, Oliver Standish, Brady Vassallo, Jaylah Breayley, Rylie Hanson, Nina Lucas,                      Lexie Martin, Mila Taylor, Harper Standish.

11 yrs     Oscar Devries, Jax Fidler, Tom Hurley, Ryder Reynolds, Ava Callinan, Madison Malagueno,                   Heidi Mapp, Magenta Newland.

12 yrs     Ariah Corrigan, Aylah Henderson, Sibella Mayer, Mayson Vassallo.

APPA Conference
Please note that next week I am on sabbatical leave, attending the 2023 Australian Primary Principal Conference in Hobart.  The APPA National Conference is an annual event, bringing together primary school principals and school leaders from across the country and overseas.  For more information, please click here. Mrs Leotta is Acting Principal in my absence.

Uniform Reminders
With the cold weather upon us, it is timely to remind parent and students of the uniform expectations at St Mary’s.  A reminder to all families of our uniform guidelines.  Some important areas to note include;

• Students are to wear plain black footwear (formal shoes or joggers). Please note that appropriate footwear can be purchased from many retailers in Mackay, including Athletes Foot and Intersport.
• Navy jumper with school badge on left side. Navy stockings or tracksuit pants.
• No coloured nail polish or acrylic nails.
• Boys hair styles. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes or past the collar. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school (e.g. no tracks, rat’s tails, mo-hawks, top knots, hair no shorter than gauge 2 or undercuts that have a large variance between length).
• Boys: No earrings or body piercings.
• Girls hair styles. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes. Girls with shoulder or longer length hair must have it tied back. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school. Hair accessories should be minimal and must be in colours of navy, blue or white.

Quote of the Week

2023 International Competition for Schools (ICAS) Invitation

Children in years 4-6 are invited to take part in the 2023 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).  The 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.  The competitions form the largest independent assessment program for schools in Australia, Asia and the Pacific region.

At St Mary’s we will be offering the following competitions this year:  Science, Mathematics, Spelling and English.

The entry fees for the competitions are as follows:

If you would like your child to participate in one or more of these competitions, please obtain an entry form from the office, make your payment using the ICAS parent payment system by Monday 31^st July and return the completed note to school by Monday 31^st July.

Belinda Battaia
Assistant Principal: Curriculum

Catholic Education Week

The Catholic Education Week 2023 theme is " Communities of Faith, Hope and Love".  

The Catholic Education Week theme is Faith, Hope and Love. These three Virtues are central to our mission at St Mary’s. It takes a team effort to make a school truly great school and this CEW logo symbolizes the unity required. The logo below contains photos of all SMM staff and students. We realise that parents are integral to this mission as well and we thank you for your support.

Thank you to those who have supported our Catholic Education Week activities so far.

It was lovely to see many children attend our Children's Liturgy on Saturday followed by our disco after mass in the hall. Even Mr Rose joined in the limbo fun at the disco. Click here to watch the video. Proceeds of $469 raised at the disco, will be donated to the Sisters of Mercy.

Our year 6 students also enjoyed their visit to residents of Good Shepherd Lodge on Monday and we thank the many parents who attended our CEW Prayer Celebration in the hall today. 

We will continue to celebrate for the remainder of the week with the following events;

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Sacramental Program 2023

St Mary's Art Program

Next week marks the beginning of our St Mary’s Art program.  Each of the year levels are exploring a different artist and different techniques in creating art. 

The children in year 6 are exploring the work of one of the most influential neo-expressionist artists of the 1980s, Jean- Michel Basquiat.  His work focuses on dichotomies such as wealth vs poverty, integration vs segregation and inner vs outer worlds. His body of work is the greatest single influence on street art culture around the world today.

In year 5 we will delve into the world of Jesse Reno.  He is fascinated by primitive and native culture and the connection between humans and the natural world.   We will focus on his animal works and unravel the process of random shape and colour that he uses to create his works.

Paul Cezanne was a prolific French post-impressionist painter who throughout his career explored a range of subjects including landscape, portraiture, figural scenes and still life.  Year 4 will concentrate on the sculptural qualities and the use of harmony and balance in form and colour of his amazing still life work.

The year 3 classes will study the beautiful, vibrant landscape work of artist Heather Galler.   She combines bold colours, energetic patterns and geometric shapes to create landscapes that are full of fun and vitality.

The colourful and decorative portrait work of Pristine Cartera Turkus will be the focus for the year 2 children, where they will look at her wonderful paintings of Mary.

Year 1 will dive into the swirling, twirling world of Vincent Van Gogh and his expressive application of paint.  They will explore creative ways to apply paint on their canvas to create the movement apparent in his landscapes.

Prep will analyze the Synthetic Cubist style of art work apparent in the Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso.  They will use shape pattern and colour to create their own musicians.

Please find below the art lesson timetable for each year level. 

Maria Lenz
Artist in Residence

Book Fair Volunteers Needed!

Sport News

Congratulations to our age champions for athletics this year. These students achieved 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in most of the events that they competed in throughout our 2 days of carnivals which was fantastic to see.

9 year old girls – Ava C
9 year old boys- Oscar D
10 year old girls- Rylie H
10 year old boys- Oliver S
11 year old girls- Madison M
11 year old boys – Thomas H
12 year old girls – Mayson V
12 year old boys – Thomas L

Simone Sibley
HPE Teacher

Student of the Week

Week 2, Term 3 Student Award Winners

Community News