Week 5, Term 3 2022 - 9th August 2022

Principal's Reflection

Most weeks, I meet with several students who are experiencing peer conflict and other friendship issues.  While dealing with conflict is a normal part of growing up, it is important to guide our young people through these situations using compassion, logic and pragmatism.  Importantly, I have found that there is rarely a ‘cut and dry’ situation where a victim is blameless and the aggressor holds complete fault. 

In these discussions, one maxim I often refer to is the ‘Golden Rule’.  The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as you want to be treated.

Various expressions of this rule can be found in the tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages. It can be considered an ethic of reciprocity in some religions, although different religions treat it differently.

In the Christian tradition, Jesus makes reference to this rule several times in his ministry.  During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states, “Do for others what you want them to do for you” (Mt 7:12). Again, in Luke’s gospel (Lk 10:27) the rule is expressed as, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.  The importance of this principle is borne out in the lived example of Jesus Christ, who, in word and deed, perfectly illustrated this philosophy.

However, I am sure that you would agree, the simplicity of this short statement belies the great difficulty of enacting it in our everyday lives.  We usually find that treating people the way we want to be treated comes easily towards those we like; but is incredibly hard towards people we don’t. 

Therein lies the challenge of the Golden Rule. The fact is we will never fully achieve the fulfilment of the golden rule, as different people and different situations shape our interactions one way or the other.  We can only strive to do and be better each and every day. 

All the very best,

Wes Rose
Principal

From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose

In our prayers
We keep Mrs Donna Berardi (1B teacher) and her family in our prayers following the passing of her uncle, Mr Kevin Bagley. Donna will be away this Thu-Fri attending Kevin’s funeral.

Artist in Residence lessons/ Art Extravaganza
In the lead up to our annual Art Extravaganza, we will once again host Ms Maria Lenz as our ‘artist in residence’.  Over the course of 2 weeks, Maria will work with all students to create an eye-catching piece of visual artwork to display at our Art Exhibition, which will be held at school on Tuesday 13^th September from 5:30pm-7:30pm.  As well as the exhibition in the hall, we are excited to have wine, nibbles and live music ‘on the green’ near F Block.  This event is always a wonderful feature of our school community, so I urge all parents to save the date and make it along to this great event.

Staff News
This week, we welcome Mrs Nella Simpson, who commences as a Teacher Assistant.  Nella brings a wealth of experience in the early childhood setting and has been a key member of our relief teacher assistant ranks for some time.  I am sure that she will thoroughly enjoy working at St Mary’s. 

This Wednesday to Friday, Mrs Belinda Battaia (APC) will attend the Diocesan Curriculum Conference in Rockhampton.

Baby News
Congratulations to Scott, Courtney and Dominic Waine (1L) on the safe arrival of baby Lachlan last week.  

Uniform Reminders
I issue an important reminder to all parents about our school uniform guidelines.  We are noticing the vast majority of students are adhering to the uniform expectations, which is pleasing to see.  However, we have noticed that there are a couple of areas that some students and parents need to be reminded of.  They include;

• Boys hairstyles. 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).  This includes mullets.
• Girls earrings. We are noticing some girls wearing large, dangly earrings that are not appropriate for school. Girls are reminded that studs and sleeper style earrings are preferred.
• Winter clothing. A reminder that the school jumper is to be worn. Navy trackpants (boys/girls) or navy tights (girls) can also be worn. Please avoid undershirts and other, non-school jumpers.
• School shoes. Plain black footwear is to be worn each day. An all-black jogger is recommended.

To access our full uniform guidelines, please click here.

Reading Assessments
You may have noticed that your child’s teacher has been released over the past week to conduct Diagnostic Reading Assessments (DRA) with their students.  As a school, we use DRA to track reading growth and achievement.  DRA is also used to identify strengths and weaknesses and set reading/comprehension goals for each student.  I thank the teachers for their diligent work in administering these assessments, which form an important part of our ongoing monitoring and assessment practices.

Quote of the Week

Sacramental Program 2022

Please keep in your prayers the children who will receiving the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation at St Mary's  Church this Saturday.

Many thanks to the parents, teachers and Sacramental team who helped with preparations for this important occasion.

Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education 

From the Office - Finance Department

Dear Parents

A friendly reminder that school fees were due last week, Tuesday 2nd August. Thank you to those parents who have made payment or entered into a payment arrangement.

If you are yet to pay fees, could you please make payment as soon as possible.

If you need to enter into a payment arrangement, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 4951 1743 to discuss payment arrangement options.

Mrs Kathy Parrish
Finance Officer

Book Fair Volunteers Needed!

2022 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee

Next week every student in Years 3 – 6 will participate in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee. This is an online spelling competition which will be completed during class time.  It is free to enter and there are great prizes to be won.  Consent forms have been sent home for parents to sign. Please return signed forms to your class teacher.  Your child can have go here: Try the Bee!

If you have any questions, please see Mrs Paul or your class teacher.

Book Week Parade

Book Week will officially run from 20th-26th August 2022.

St Mary’s will be holding its annual Book Week Parade during this week on Tuesday 23rd August. This year’s theme is 'DREAMING WITH EYES OPEN...'

Students are encouraged to start thinking about their favourite book characters and how a creative costume might come to life for this celebration.

Sport News

Mackay & District Athletics Carnival

Last week the following athletes competed at the Mackay District Athletics Carnival at the ARC.  Students tried their very best against the best athletes in Mackay for a place in the Mackay District School Sport team. Well done to all students for displaying great sportsmanship and resilience in warm, sunny conditions.

10 yrs Girls: Heidi Mapp, Madison Malagueno, Ava Callinan
10 yrs Boys: Thomas Hurley
11yrs Girls: Emmi Burgess, Mayson Vassallo
11yrs Boys: Eddie Rose, Tom Louw, Bodene Tass, Harry Vella

Congratulations to Thomas Hurley for his 1^st placing in the 800m and 1500m and Madison Malagueno for her 3^rd placing in the 800m and 1500m races. Both students have been invited to attend the Capricornia Trials to compete in the 800m and 1500m races on the 22^nd and 23^rd of August at Mackay ARC.

Jump Rope for Heart

St Mary’s have gone skipping mad! There are students out skipping before school, at both lunch times and at home which means there are some amazing tricks and challenges being displayed each day. A huge thank you to all families for supporting this program at home. Many students are trying to master the ‘Criss Cross’ and it was fantastic to see some of our Prep students proudly showing off their ‘Criss Cross’ skills in PE last week. Go Preppies!!!

We have raised $2,948.05 as a school and are well on our way to reach our $5000 target. It’s not too late to register online at www.jumprope.org.au/parents. Even if you do not wish to raise money, logging on to this link will give your child access to many skipping videos to further challenge them. Well done to Eddie Richards (Prep C) for your super fundraising efforts so far.

Congratulations to the following class skipping champions from week 4. A huge shout out to Matilda O’Keeffe (1L), Dillon McConnon (1B) and Madison Malagueno (5R) who have been class champion for 3 weeks in a row.

Prep C - Lishwanth Yuvaraj               Prep P - Cayden Baillie
Year 1B - Dillon McConnon                Year 1L - Matilda O'Keeffe
Year 2A - Finn Suratman                     Year 2B - Rohan Tennant
Year 3B - Nina Lucas                              Year 3M - Ava Corrigan
Year 4C - Oliver Standish                     Year 4K - Georgie Duncan
Year 5L - Nev Lucas                                Year 5R - Madison Malagueno
Year 6M - Jack Macey                             Year 6V - Harry Roberts

Simone Sibley
HPE Teacher

St Mary's Battlers

Last Wednesday’s game was our toughest yet, as we opposed a strong West Mackay State School.  The final score was 22 all, but West Mackay scored first claiming the win. 

Proud moments for our coaches were our team defense efforts and our sportsmanship on the field.  Tomorrow we play Marian State school at 4:50pm on field 2, with the last of our round games occurring next week before finals begin.

Lost Property

From our P & F

St Mary's P&F Committee is excited to announce a fun new event added to this year's social calendar.

Paint & Sip with the talented Kylie Ferriday

Sunday 21 August 10am - 12.30pm

Tickets on sale now. www.trybooking.com.CBKRW 

Tickets are limited, so get in quick.

Prep Vision Screening

Visit by Registered Nurse for Free Prep Vision Screening

Good vision is important for a child’s educational, physical and social development. Vision screening checks for common eye conditions that may impact your child’s ability to see and therefore impact their learning and development.

A Registered Nurse will be visiting the school on Tuesday 16^th August to conduct vision screening for children in their prep year. Your child does not need a Medicare card in order to participate in screening.  Parents do not need to be present for screening, however if you would like to be, please contact the school to arrange this.

If your child’s vision is screened, you will be advised of the results in writing. If a vision concern is found, you will receive a phone call from the nurse to discuss referral to an eye health professional for further assessment. If a vision concern is identified and your child requires glasses, eligible health care card holders may be assisted with free basic glasses through the Spectacle Supply Scheme.

Participation in vision screening is not compulsory. If you do not wish for your child to participate in screening, please complete the consent form and indicate that you wish to decline screening.

If you have any questions, please contact the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program on 1800 687 372.

Student of the Week

Week 4, Term 3 Student Award Winners

Community News