Week 3, Term 4 2022 - 18th October 2022
Principal's Reflection
“Throw off everything that hinders us and run with endurance the race that is set before us”
– Hebrews 12:1
Not that anyone should be counting already, but can you believe that there are only 33 school days left for the year? With a host of events and celebrations including the Parish Fair, the Christmas concert and the Year 6 Graduation, there is much to look forward to before the end of the school year.
Facing this downhill run, it can be easy to take the foot off the accelerator and coast into the Christmas season. Even though it is only a hop, skip and jump to Christmas, there is much to be achieved this term and it is important to guard against complacency. It is important to aim for what St Paul writes about in his letter to the Hebrews – show endurance and to finish strong.
Finishing strong exemplifies the importance of students maintaining a high level of commitment and effort to their studies, right to the very last day of term. As you know, there is a high correlation between student effort and success. Therefore, I urge all students to give themselves the best chance to succeed by ensuring they begin each day ready to learn and strive to complete all their set work to the highest level possible.
By way of a sporting parallel, I share footage of the 1996 Stawell Gift 400m final, featuring Mackay’s Olympic champion, Cathy Freeman. For those who don’t know, races at the Stawell gift are handicapped, with slower runners receiving a ‘head start’ to ensure close finishes. In this final, Cathy gave the rest of the field a whopping 54m head start, a seemingly insurmountable lead. Watch the video to see what happens.
Each day, our students are building a foundation for their future; a future heavily influenced by the level of education they attain. I know that with the support of parents and teachers, that future can be a desirable one.
With effort comes success. Finish strong!
All the very best,
Wes Rose
Principal
From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose
Families Leaving
As our total enrolment drives many aspects of our school (staffing, budget, class sizes and structure) it is important that we try to be as accurate as possible in predicting the school enrolment for 2023. If you know that you will be leaving at the end of the year, please notify the office as soon as possible. Your assistance with this matter is greatly appreciated.
‘Deadly Day Out’
This Wednesday, our Year 5 & 6 indigenous students will gather with other Mackay Catholic school indigenous students to attend the Deadly Day Out cultural activity day. Hosted at Leprechaun Park, students will participate in several cultural activities and games. Miss Loban and Mrs Tatchell will also attend the day.
Bike-a-Thon
Thank you to everyone who came and joined us for some fun in the sun. Bikes, scooters, walkers and an even a unicycle made an appearance along the blue water trail on Sunday.
Thank you to our generous sponsors, Mackay Cycles for donating all the prizes for best dressed boys and girls, Chris Air for donating prizes for the best dressed families and K3Financial for donating the food for our sausage sizzle.
Events like these could not take place without our amazing parent volunteers who helped cook, serve and Marshall along the track. Thank you all so very much.
Best dressed BOYS
Hunter Mapp & Hudson Kelland
Best dress GIRLS
Tayla McGuinness & Kalani van Lint
Best Dress FAMILY
Taylor Family & Perkins Family
100 Board
No. 31 - Tayla McGuinness
Quote of the Week
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."
-Oscar Wilde
From our APRE - Terri Leotta
Sacramental Program
Please be advised that the Sacramental Program, for baptised children who are in Year 3 or above will begin in November. Date will be forwarded as soon as possible.
Socktober
Wow! St Mary’s; what an outstanding assortment of pets you created for our Pet Sock Parade last week. We had a fabulous array of hairy, cute, unusual and creative pet socks at our competition. Congratulations to our winners:
Malachi "Best in show"
Jasleen "Friendliest”
Evie "Most like owner"
Banjo "The most unusual”
Ava "Hairiest pet"
A special thank you to our judge, Mr Clancy, who had the most difficult task of choosing our winning pets. Thank you to all our participants for being generous and giving your time to help others in need.
This week our Socktober activity is the “Sock-O-War.” If your child would like to participate in a tug of war fun, please give a gold coin donation to the class teacher.
Mission Competition
Thank you to those parents and students who have submitted an artwork for our Mission Competition. We’d love to see more come in before next Monday 31 October. All you need to do is respond, using your choice of media; photo, artwork or video, to the question “What is our Mission as the Community of St Mary’s?” Take a look at some of the great entries received so far.
Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education
Youth Mass & Children's Liturgy
Please join us!
St Mary's School will join with Mercy College to celebrate our Youth Mass Saturday 22nd October at St Mary's Church at 5pm. Children's Liturgy will also be held.
Mass will be followed by a supper outside the church which the whole family is most welcome to attend.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Mrs Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education
Free Dress Day
St Mary's Christmas Fair
Year Level Christmas Fair Coordinators
As we start the preparation to the St Mary's Christmas Community Fair, we are requiring preferably two (2) Fair Coordinators from each year level. If you are interested in volunteering your time, can you please contact Tanya Davies on 0438 138 392 or email tanya_davies@rok.catholic.edu.au. A roster for the night will be communicated to all year levels from your coordinator via Facebook or email. Thank you to the wonderful parents who have already volunteered.
Stalls Coordinators
Prep - Fairy Floss & Snow Cones Aileen Balding (Prep C)
Grade 1 - Mini Cent Sale Lisa-Ann McNamara (1B) & Bianca Miles (1L)
Grade 2 - Cold Drinks
Grade 3 - Hot Chips
Grade 4 - Bar Nikita Kinnane (4K) & Ashley Miles (4C)
Grade 5 - Sweet Stall Natalie Phelan (5L) & Kate Vella (5R)
Grade 6 - BBQ & Food Preparation
Day for Daniel
Students are encouraged to commemorate this day by wearing
an item of red on Friday 28th October.
Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day. Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. On this day, parents, carers, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. St Mary’s school will also conduct a child safety lesson, focusing on the three steps to personal safety - Recognise, React, Report.
Year 5 Social
Come knee board, wakeboard, swim and have some fun with the YEAR 5’s of 2022!
A great way to finish off a wonderful year that was!
Suitable for all skills - beginners to advanced!
Sunday 13th NOVEMBER- 8:30am until 10am
Please note 😎
The cost is $40 per person.
Siblings are welcome.
15 people needed to make this party proceed!
What do you need to do from here?…..
✅You need to commit to attending.
✅ RSVP to this forum or text 0439 071 633 and PAY BY 29/10
Student of the Week
Week 2, Term 4 Student Award Winners
| PC | Lishwanth | For your amazing progress with your writing. You are writing in sentences all by yourself! The extra effort you put into your writing is fantastic - keep it up! |
| PC | Lindsey | For your focus and attention to detail in our Daily Five sessions this week. You are concentrating all the time and putting in your best effort with your work. Well Done! |
| PP | Halle | For great work with your reading and writing in class this week. We are so proud of how hard you are working. Keep up the wonderful work Halle! |
| PP | Hayden | For great work with your writing. You are sounding out tricky words and always write so neatly. Well done Hayden! |
| 1B | Hudson | For working independently to complete your writing based on the adventures of the flamingo and the turtle. It was a very humorous and entertaining story! Well done! |
| 1B | Annabelle | For your creative story writing this week. It was extremely imaginative, and you included a terrific beginning, middle and end. Well done! |
| 1L | Ellie | For your expressive writing about the escape of the Flamingo and Turtle. |
| 1L | Stevie | For the effort you are putting into making improvements in your handwriting. Keep it up! |
| 2A | Oaklan | For being responsible and respectful and always listening in class. |
| 2B | Rohan | For your hard work and persistence to begin Term 4 has been outstanding. You should be extremely proud of your efforts. Absolutely amazing work. |
| 3B | Ivy-Isle | For all the practice you have been doing with calculating change. You will be a 'Change Champion' in no time. |
| 3B | Emily | For the wonderful results you achieved in your PAT reading. You were a detail detective when hunting for the answers in the text. |
| 3M | Sophia | For the way you actively listen in class and make thoughtful contributions to class discussions. Keep up the great work Sophia! |
| 4C | Lacey | For your highly comprehensive presentation on Christopher Columbus. You offered great insight on his significant life events and showed thorough research, which was evident in your Kahoot, to keep your audience entertained. |
| 4K | Jaylah | For your insightful character summaries and discussions about the book you are reading in BOOST. I enjoyed listening to you talk about events that have occurred in the novel so far and listening to you read. You are a star! |
| 4K | Ellis | For your insightful character summaries and discussions about the book you are reading in BOOST. I enjoyed listening to you talk about events that have occurred in the novel so far and listening to you read. You are a star! |
| 5L | Nate | Nate, your enthusiasm for learning mathematics is astounding and your knowledgeable contributions during discussions about farming in BOOST group reading and HASS lessons, has been very informative!!! Keep up the great work! |
| 5L | Ryan | Ryan congratulations on your results in mathematics this week. You’ve nailed percentages!! Great work! |
| 5R | Cooper | For showing mature and responsible work habits. You continue to work to improve your learning every day. Well done. |
| 5R | Aylah | For the maturity and respect you show to your teachers and peers each day. Thank you for always being a positive member of 5R. |
| 6M | Aiden | For excellent results on your science assessment. Congratulations Aiden, your hard work paid off. |
| 6M | Evie | For your excellent ability to work as part of a group, focus on the task at hand and share your ideas and knowledge. You set a wonderful example to your classmates, Evie. |
| 6V | Ruby | For working hard and managing your time effectively to catch up on classwork while participating in extracurricular activities. Your teachers are very proud of your efforts Ruby! |
| 6V | Lara | For consistently working independently and completing work of a very high standard across all curriculum areas. You should be very proud of the excellent example you set for your peers Lara. |
Community News
Learn To Skate!
If you are interested in learning to skate come on down to the Mackay Leisure Centre on Thursdays from 4pm to 5pm and get your skate on. The first lesson is free and all abilities and ages are welcome. For further information contact Mackay Roller Sports Association at mrollerhockey@gmail.com or phone Lyle Denman on 0432170997.