Week 2, Term 1 2023 - 31st January 2023

Week 2 Reflection

Subsidiarity and Participation

Dear Parents,

This year, one of our school goals is to strengthen partnerships between the school, parents and the wider community. Research demonstrates that effective schools have high levels of parent, community and student engagement. Such engagement with the school is strongly related to enhanced wellbeing, positive behaviours and improved student learning.

Parent participation in a diversity of roles affirms the important role of parents as partners with the Church, school and broader community, in supporting the learning and development of their children. Partnerships can enhance faith development as well as social and educational outcomes for children. It also allows our school to benefit from a broader resource and encourages community spirit and cohesion.

Some of the initiatives we have introduced include; the survey sent home last year, upcoming parent/teacher interviews, assemblies, and an open invitation to our School Mass on 14^th February.

All students are learning about the Catholic Social Teaching goal of Subsidiarity and Participation. Subsidiarity is about how participation and decision-making should be organised. Responsibility should be kept as close as possible to the grassroots. The people or groups most directly affected by a decision or policy should have a key decision-making role in it. We are strongly encouraging participation from all stakeholders in our school community to enhance educational and emotional goals. Along with the Catholic charity, Caritas we apply these principals to our social justice and fundraising efforts.

We have endeavoured to offer many avenues to participate, and hope that you join us on this mission in 2023.

https://www.pinterest.com.au/narenjtree/solidarity/

From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose

Uniform Guidelines

A reminder to all families of our uniform guidelines.  Some important areas to note include;

• Fingernails. No coloured nail polish or acrylic nails.
• Boys Hair. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes. Hair past the collar must be tied back.  Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school (i.e. no tracks, rat’s tails, mo-hawks, mullets or undercuts that have a large variance between length).
• Girls Hair. 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.

Our students demonstrate pride in St Mary’s school by the way they wear their uniform correctly.  We have noticed quite a few boys with hairstyles  An infringement letter will be sent home to notify parents of any areas that need to be addressed.   If you have any queries about this, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Afternoon Pick Up Procedures

• All students in Prep are to be collected from their prep classroom by a parent or guardian.
• For all other students, the car park works effectively when everybody follows the procedures. 
• Please allow others to come out of car parks. Drive slowly through the car park, especially when merging in front of the parking bays. 
• Cars should drive from MacDonald St. into Morley St. and turn right into the school car park. 
• Everyone must turn right into the car park in the afternoon and turn left when exiting. (In the afternoon those that turn left into the car park are pushing in and this upsets others!)
• If everyone is considerate it will be safe and fair for all users. I encourage parents who are not Prep parents to actively use our drive through pick-up protocol. 
• We have two staff members supervising this area. Parents are asked to drive on and line up if their child is not ready.  This avoids any unnecessary delays.
• Please ensure your name is displayed on your sun visor as this will speed up the process. 
• In the afternoon please turn left when leaving MacDonald Street as this speeds up the line-up. 
• Please do not encourage children to wait outside of the school or church where they are not directly supervised.  We have had some unpleasant situations in the past when children have been told to wait outside the school by parents. It is simply not worth the risk!  

 Please support us to ensure the safety of your children. For those families using the drive through for the first time, please contact the office for your laminated name card.

Just 1 Thing

Positive parent engagement in a child’s education is critical to achieve the very best of educational outcomes.  To assist the school and P&F to engage parents in their preferred ways, we ask that all parents complete this short, 1-minute survey. This survey will be open until Friday 17^th Feb.  The ‘Just 1 Thing’ campaign was hugely successful last year, with over 160 families submitting a response.  It is our aim to achieve over 200 responses this year, so please make time to consider the ways to can be involved in your child’s education at St Mary’s school.  If you have any questions, please contact the school office. Complete the survey here.

P&F Welcoming BBQ – 7^th February 5:30pm

The P&F BBQ is a chance for us to gather to welcome new and existing families to St Mary's.  Our P&F Association is graciously providing free drinks and dinner for this event!  Please complete this RSVP if you would like to attend the P&F Welcoming BBQ on Tuesday 7th Feb 2023 from 5:30pm-7:00pm in the St Mary's basketball court area.  We also require some parent help to cook the BBQ and assist with serving.  If you can help, please advise on the RSVP link.  If you have any questions, please contact the school office.  I hope to see many families there!

Interschool Touch Football Term 1 Comp

Interschool Touch Football notes were sent home with interested students today.  I remind parents/students to return these notes by Friday 3^rd Feb so we can finalise teams. First round of games starting on Wednesday 15^th Feb.   We do require parent help to supervise and manage substitutions; if you can assist, please let the school office know. Further announcements and game times will be communicated through our St Mary’s Facebook page. Thanks for your support.

Instrumental Music Lessons

Please be advised that our Instrumental Music contractor, Musicorp, has temporarily paused their service at St Mary’s school while they find a suitable music teacher.  Once a replacement has been found, they will recommence student lessons.

School TV

St Mary’s is very excited to introduce a new initiative to help support the wellbeing of our students. After all, happy and well supported students are better equipped to learn and succeed.

We know that it can be difficult and time consuming for parents to source credible information when it comes to ongoing wellbeing support strategies for their children.   To aid with this we have partnered with SchoolTV, an online resource designed to empower parents to better deal with the challenges for raising happy, well and resilient young people.

Because parenting doesn't come with instructions, the SchoolTV resource has now been implemented at our school to assist parents and caregivers in navigating the challenges of modern-day parenting. This outstanding resource delivers credible information with practical strategies featuring video interviews with leading specialists, supported by a host of resources from key wellbeing organisations.

SchoolTV offers parents a fresh approach to the issues and pressures faced by children and young people in our communities throughout Australia.

Some topics featured include:

• Youth Anxiety
• Raising Girls
• School Refusal
• Positive Parenting
• Digital Reputation
• Managing Screen Time
• Cyberbullying

We encourage you to visit our SchoolTV site and view the content but more importantly use this resource if and when needed to support your child and family through particular needs as they may arise. At a time when the wellbeing of our youth has never been more challenged, we are pleased to be able to offer this accessible, credible and empowering resource to our families.

Many thanks again to the support provided by Catholic Education Rockhampton Northern Region to get this up and running across all schools in the region.

Quote of the Week

Parent Teacher Interviews

A good working relationship between home and school is an essential part of a positive schooling experience.  St Mary’s fosters this home-school relationship early in the school year with the parent-teacher interview. These interviews are a time for teachers and parents to discuss a child’s needs, goals and other pertinent information. These interviews are scheduled for Week 3 (6^th -10^th February).  All parents are asked to schedule an interview time with their child’s teacher. Parents can book a time using our  booking system - Session Keeper.

To access Session Keeper, you can use the Parent Teacher Interview tile in our Schoolzine App or via this link.

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.

School Photo Day-Wednesday 8th February

School photo day is Wednesday 8th February and we once again welcome the team from MSP.  Students are to wear their formal school uniform (Preps to wear their prep uniform). If your child has specialist lessons on Wednesday (HPE or The Arts), please pack their sport uniform for them to change into after photos are taken.

Your child was given a photo order envelope to take home last week.  Please ensure they bring this personalised envelope back to school, even if you do not intend ordering any photo packs. You will have the option to order online or with cash in your student’s envelope.  Please take care to follow the instructions carefully.

Additional order envelopes are available from the School Office for separated parents, blended families and grandparents. You will need to collect these on or before photo day and give it to the photographer on photo day.  Be sure to write “Mum’s order” or “Dad’s order” on top of your envelope.

This year, all families with siblings were given a personalised sibling order form (attached to the eldest child's order form), should you wish a sibling photo taken on the day. 

As school staff are unable to help with photography enquiries or payments, please direct your questions and comments directly to MSP Photography by phoning 4921 3355. More information is available by clicking the link below. 

2023 School Leaders

Congratulations to our 202 school leaders, who were recognised at last Friday's badge presentation ceremony. All year 6 students made their leadership pledge and look forward to the many opportunities throughout the year that will develop their leadership capabilities.

Staff Professional Development

Last Tuesday, St Mary’s staff participated in a zoom webinar conducted by Mr Peter Sullivan. Peter is a researcher and author who has a passion for the Mathematics curriculum, teaching and learning in mathematics, student engagement and improving student achievement. 

Peter’s book, Open ended maths activities features ‘good’ questions for use in our classrooms to expand and deepen students mathematical understanding.  Questions from Peter’s text have already become a feature of classrooms at St Mary’s and student responses are already displaying a shift in thinking when it comes to ‘answers’ in maths and ‘explaining thinking’ in maths.  Please see a sample of these open ended maths questions below.

Sample questions:  

• The minute hand of a clock is on 2. The hands make an acute angle. What might be the time?

• The numbers 15 and 40 are in the same arithmetic sequence. What might be the sequence?
  

Belinda Battaia
Assistant Principal: Curriculm

Book Club Orders

PLEASE NOTE: The new brochures for 2023 are newspaper style rather than the normal glossy brochures we are used to receiving.  

Parent Volunteer Induction

A huge thank you to all the parents who take time out of their busy lives to volunteer at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School.  In order to volunteer at St Mary’s, please read the 2023 Induction of Volunteers Guidelines (attached) and complete the google form.  

It is our hope that all parents complete this induction package and complete the acknowledgement via the google form.  If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

Run Club

Run Club is back and everyone is invited!!

P-6 student ALL welcome
Starting Week 3, Thursday 9^th February
Time: 3.00pm-3.45pm
What to bring:  comfortable shoes for running, hat, water bottle and a ‘have a go’ attitude

A great way to get ready for the cross country and have some fun!!

See you there!

Mrs Dalglish, Mrs Sibley & Mrs McGovern.

Community News