Week 1, Term 3 2022 - 12th July 2022

Principal's Reflection

Welcome back to Semester 2.  I trust all families and staff members had a safe and enjoyable break and are ready to commence another very busy term. 

For our Year 6 students, Semester 2 is their last at St Mary’s before they commence high school.  As a Year 6 parent, it feels like only yesterday that I was enrolling my son into Prep, and now I look at the 19 weeks remaining of primary school and I am left thinking, “where has the time gone?”

When wrapped up in the busyness of life, we can often feel that time speeds up.  Common popular sayings about this phenomenon include;

- Time flies when you’re having fun.
- The trouble is, you think you have time…
- Where did the time go?

We can all get into bad habits with how we spend our time. One bad habit is to simply mark the days between major events - a family holiday, a special celebration - without fully appreciating the times in between.  Another bad habit is when we often put off seemingly mundane tasks – like exercising or playing with our children – because we feel we don’t have time.  Some other famous sayings that address these points include;

- Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.
- You are what you do not say you will do.
- You define what is important to you by what you dedicate your time to.

Time is a precious and beautiful gift that we all too often squander.  Let us try to be present in the moment, appreciate the gifts that we have and value the time we share with our loved ones and when we are doing the things that we love.  This truth is very eloquently portrayed in the following story, that I hope you enjoy.

Once, an old man and a young man were sitting on the shore of a wild and stormy river.  “Master,” the student asked, “why does the time flow straight, but always ripples, either slowing down to a complete stop, or racing like a cow with a thistle under her tail?” 

The teacher looked at the seething water and answered. “You see there are a few large stones in the river and a lot of small pebbles. Imagine that the river is your life. If you will only rejoice over big occasions: about your wedding that will happen next month, that after one year you will have a son, that after five years you will be able to start your business, then you will cross your life in a few jumps, like jumping from one stone to another. If you will move in small paces over the pebbles, taking joy in small things: a sunny day, the beauty of autumn forest, a good conversation, later looking back at your life you won’t see ten big stones, on which you jumped, but lots of your own traces, every of which you will be able to remember with a happy smile. And you will see that the road that you have crossed is much longer.”

“But teacher, when I love, do the work that I like, talk with a friends – the time flies fast, but the same time drags so long when I’m hurting, when I’m afraid and alone.”

“You see,” the old man answered wistfully, “this is what it should be. When we are unhappy, we don’t live but exist. During it, the time lies still in our wallets, and only for our happiness we pay the ringing coin of time, that we still have left.”

– unknown.

All the very best,

Wes Rose: Principal

From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose

Staff News
- We keep Mrs Michelle Brazil (teacher assistant) and family in our prayers following the passing of Michelle’s father after a long illness.  On behalf of the school community, I offer my sincerest condolences at this time. 
- Miss Brooke Anderson (teacher assistant) is on leave until the 23^rd August.  Mrs Leeanne Yet Foy is replacing her during this time.

Challenge Cup Rugby League/Netball
All the best to the students participating in the Diocesan Challenge Cup competition in Yeppoon this Wed-Fri.  This carnival is always a great event and I look forward to our students representing their school with pride and determination.  I thank the following staff members for coaching/managing the teams; Phil Clancy, Belinda Battaia, Belinda van Lint and Elli Gee.

Whitsunday Voices
This Thursday, our Year 4-6 students will attend a session of Whitsunday voices.  This annual literary festival is always a great opportunity for our students.  For more information, please visit their website.

School Maintenance
Over the holidays, several jobs were undertaken at school, including;

• External washdown of Admin block
• Pressure clean of all walkways, basketball court and eating areas.
• Air-conditioner maintenance in F Block
• The 2 junior playgrounds had work done to remove the old timber edging, which will be replaced with kwik-kerb edging this week. New sand and drainage works were also done at this time.
• Our 120kw solar system was serviced.

P&F Meeting
I advise that our next P&F meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 19^th July from 6:30pm in the staffroom.  At this meeting, we will have a ‘wrap-up’ of the Trivia night, look at the P&F fundraising commitments for 2022 and plan some other great events for the remainder of the year, including the bike-a-thon.   All parents are invited to attend.

Removal of vaccination requirements for staff and parents
The COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for schools was revoked, effective from 1am, 30^th June 2022.  This means that staff, workers and parent volunteers are no longer required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to attend schools.

Parent/Teacher Interviews – Week 2
As advised previously, Semester 1 student report cards are now available via parent lounge.  Following the release of these reports, I ask all parents to make a time to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their progress and areas for improvement.  Parents can book a time during week 2 (18^th-22^nd July) using our new booking system - Session Keeper.

To access Session Keeper, you can use the Parent Teacher Interview tile in our Schoolzine App or via the link:
https://smcpssm.schoolzineplus.com/2022Term3ParentTeacherInterview

All first-time users of the St Mary’s booking system will be asked to enter your email and register with a password.  Once you have done this you will need to:

• add your child(ren);
• select their teacher(s); and
• select available date/time for the interview.

If you have any queries regarding this new system, please contact our office.

Lunchtime Eating Procedures
Your child may have gone home discussing some different procedures at lunchtime.  In summary, please find below what to expect at lunch/afternoon tea time:

• Prep and Year 1 sit in the tuckshop area. Years 2-6 sit on the basketball court.
• Students are asked to find a seat with their friends. At their spot, they can eat and talk with their friends. We ask students to limit moving around at this time.  Students eat for 15 mins (no change). 
• After eating time, students with any rubbish are encouraged to use the 10c recyclable bin (for poppers), red soft plastic bin (for clean, soft plastics, glad wrap, etc), foodscraps bin (for fruit, sandwich scraps) and Green wheelie bin (other general waste). Our Eco Heros are on hand to assist students to work out what bin their waste goes into.
• Afterwards, students are then dismissed to play for the remainder of the break time (no change).

These procedures are attempting to reduce the waste sent to landfill.  Ideally, we ask that all students bring a lunch free of single use plastics and wrappers.  I thank parents for assisting in this regard.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

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

St Mary's Website Launch

We are happy to announce that our new St Mary's Website is up and running. Check it out!

Catholic Education Week

The Catholic Education Week 2022 theme is " Communities of Faith, Hope and Love". 

Celebrated annually in week 3 of term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 309 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

We will celebrate the week through these activities, liturgies and events. 

International Food Day

Dear Parents,

We are inviting you to be involved in our International Food Day, or Eat Street. It is designed to be an exciting and meaningful experience for all students at St Mary’s. We invite you to prepare a meal at home (50 serves) which has cultural significance to your family. This meal is brought to the hall on 26^th July for sharing with the school community.

In line with school policy, we request that food prepared for the day be nut free. This includes all varieties of nuts and cooking oils. Please also provide an ingredient list which will be displayed.

Our school P and F are happy to re-imburse you for the cost of the ingredients. Please consider taking the time to share your culture with the school community and allow students to experience traditions present in our school community.

Mrs Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Sacramental Program 2022

Sport News

Watch this space! 

We are participating in Jump Rope for Heart this term. More details to follow next week. 

Gala Day Wrap-Up

On the last day of last term, a number of our St Mary’s students participated in the Grant Rovelli and Brittany Breayley Challenge.  Experienced and non-experienced rugby league players came together to learn drills, build team spirit and compete with and against many other Mackay and district teams.  The St Mary’s students demonstrated wonderful sportsmanship and great appreciation for the parents and supporters who came along to watch on the day.