Week 4, Term 3 2024 - 30th July 2024

APRE's Reflection

Dear Parents

This Saturday night 30 of our students will receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion (also called Eucharist). These students and parents will have completed 4 workshops and 2 workbooks in preparation. Their commitment to the learning is crucial to fulfilling the obligation to show commitment to the reverence and importance of what they are receiving.

Andrew Mullins in his book, “Parenting for Character”, urges us to, “Teach your children to honour commitments, to keep their word, to face up to consequences of the simplest actions, otherwise, when commitments become adult sized, their good intentions may not last the distance. If they lack the necessary habit of commitment, intentions can unravel when life picks away at them.”

Being able to honour commitments has a lot to do with having a good strong character and “good character” in our children does not just happen; it is the outcome of the consistent efforts of parents and teachers over many years.

Aristotle made the observation that, “Good moral behaviour comes about as the result of habit: we become just by doing just acts, brave by doing brave acts.” We are not born with character. Character is a learned behaviour.

“The goal of Catholic character nurture is not simply “good character” but the character of Christ.” When we encourage our children to be the best possible persons they can be, we are encouraging them to strive for excellence, to develop their given gifts, those talents that enable them to become fully the person God means them to be. When we encourage our children to be of strong moral character, we are asking them to exercise the capacity God gave them for goodness and the ability to love other people in a way that reflects God’s love.

By being good models, setting high expectations and upholding fair discipline that holds our children accountable to themselves, we provide an environment that supports the development of good character.

Congratulations to our sacramental children and their families and may Saturday night be a chance to celebrate the commitment made, and also all those who assisted in guiding the development of their faith and good character, and those will continue to guide them throughout their lives.

Terri Leotta
Deputy Principal/Assistant Principal: Religious Education

From our Principal | Mr Wes Rose

School Satisfaction Survey
Thank you to the 104 parents who have submitted a response to our school satisfaction surveys so far. All parents have received a link to complete this survey; I ask that you take 10 minutes to complete it, as the feedback we receive helps us to celebrate what is working well and continue our school improvement journey.  If you are having difficulty with accessing the survey, please contact the school office. The survey closes this Sunday 4^th August.

Confirmation/First Holy Communion

I congratulate the students and parents who have been preparing for these sacraments over the past few weeks.  We welcome Bishop Michael McCarthy who will celebrate Mass this Saturday at 5pm at St Mary’s Church.

Staff News

• This week, we welcome Miss Danah Gaske who is our new Prep P teacher assistant. Danah is a dynamic young lady who is currently studying to be a primary school teacher and we look forward to having her on staff.
• This Wednesday-Friday I will be away on Year 5 camp at Seaforth Pines. Mrs Leotta will be acting principal in my absence. Mrs Carmody, Mrs Motteram, Miss Kennedy, Mr Brooks and Mr Cusack will also be attending the camp as the supervisors.

Rock, Pop, Mime!

Congratulations to the students and staff who were a part of our Rock, Pop, Mime group.  After weeks of rehearsals, the performance was held at New Life Church last Friday and St Mary’s completed against a very competitive field of 8 schools.  Performing first, our group did an amazing job with their ‘Cruella’ themed dance, eventually being awarded 2^nd place!  On behalf of the school, I thank the students, Mrs Woods, Miss Potts, Mrs Porter and a loyal band of parent helpers for their dedication to get our RPM group ready.

School Fee Advice #4

Please find below Advice #4, developed to inform our Catholic Education families of the school fee structure, from 2025 onwards. Previous Advice pieces outlined the new Federal Government Funding model (Gonski model), the impact on School Fees for Catholic Schools, and the need to align with the Federal Government’s means-tested Capacity to Contribute assessment of the school community. As outlined in Advice #4, CEDR School Fees will be presented as an “All-Inclusive Fee”, rather than the previous school fees model of Tuition Fees, plus several school-based levies and charges.

Centenary Celebrations

Please find below some important information about our upcoming Centenary celebrations.

• Centenary Mass. Tuesday 6^th August from 9am on the basketball court.  This Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Michael McCarthy.  All parents and relatives are invited to attend. Refreshments afterwards.  RSVP here.
• Centenary Dinner. Friday 9^th August from 6pm-11pm at the Pavilion 500 (Showgrounds). We welcome past and current families, students, parishioners and other guests to this celebration dinner.  This is sure to be a lovely night, so if you would like to attend, please book here. Bookings will close on Wednesday at 12pm. We currently only have a few seats remaining, so book asap! Perhaps get a few fellow parents from your child’s year level and come along!  Our special guest is Golden Guitar winning artist, Mr Graeme Connors, a past student of St Mary’s. Dress is smart casual.
• Centenary Open Day. Sunday 11^th August from 9am-1pm. Our Open day will showcase St Mary’s school for current and past families and students.  With free jumping castles, a memorabilia display, food/drink and student entertainment, it is sure to be a lovely morning for the whole family.  I ask that children wear their centenary shirts on the Open Day.  We do need several parent helpers to assist, so please register your availability here.

If you have any old school memorabilia that you could lend us for the Open Day, please let Mel McGuinness know at smm_centenary@rok.catholic.edu.au I look forward to celebrating this special milestone with you.  If you have any queries, please let me know.

Centenary Commemorative Pin
All students have received a commemorative pin to celebrate our school’s centenary year.  The cost of these pins has been generously donated by our P&F and can be worn by students either on their hat or shirt each day.  I trust that families look after this keepsake of their child’s enrolment in our centenary year.  Additional pins will be for sale for $5 in our school office and at our open day on Sun 11^th August.

Quote of the Week

Parent Orbit App

Last week we sent an email to all parents with instructions on how to install our new Parent Orbit App.

The key features of the Parent Orbit App:

• Instantly links to your Parent Lounge, only need to enter your Parent Code and Password once, when setting up the App; 
• Instant Notifications: Stay up to date with the latest announcements and important
  alerts on your smartphone (be sure to enable Notifications);
• Pay Fees: Easy fee payment from your phone;
• Events and Payments: Easily approve excursion attendance or make fee payments;
• Medical Details: Keep your student’s medical details up to date
• Attendance Tracking: Easily track attendance and notify the School of your student's
  absence
• Event Calendar: Stay informed about school events, meetings, and important dates
• Parent Teacher Interviews: Schedule parent-teacher interviews and receive
  reminders
• Academic Reports: View and download your student’s school reports

Please note: Our SZapp will be disabled next Friday 2nd August.

To download the app, scan the following QR code or follow the directions below (School Code is SMM):

If you are having any problems or require further information, please contact the school office.

School Fees

Please note that school fees were issued on the 12^th July 2024 and were due for payment last Friday, 26^th July 2024. If you have not yet received your invoice, please check your junk mail folder.

If you have previously entered into a payment arrangement you do not need to do anything, please treat this invoice as statement.

To check if you have school fees owing, please log into parent lounge or use our new Parent Orbit App. Click on the account tab, then school fees account tile. You are now able to make payments through the app using your card.

If you have any questions in relation to school fees, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Kathy Parrish
Finance Officer

Sacramental Program

Jump Rope for Heart

Well done on another great week of skipping St Mary’s. Last week we started partner skipping in the upper year classes and there were some fantastic tricks being displayed.  Well done to 6T who took on the challenge of mastering 10 ‘Elevators’. Many of them were able to jump 5 in a row but only a few managed to push through the burn in their quadriceps and get beyond 10.  

The challenge of the week is ‘ Double Under’ https://youtu.be/B3whrLYqVxc?feature=shared

Here are our results thus far:

• 19 students online
• Raising $1901 to date
• Logging 11 hours of skipping!

I hope to see lots of you back again for Skipping Club this Thursday morning from 8am.

Simone Sibley
HPE Teacher

Census Collection Notice for Parents/Guardians

Please find below a letter from the Australian Government regarding the 2024 Non-government schools Census Privacy Collection Notice.

Please click on the link below for further information.

Student of the Week

Week 3, Term 3 Student Award Winners

Community News

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