Dear Parents & Carers,

We continue to keep Mr Nielsen in our prayers as he is still unwell and will not be back this week.

Last Wednesday I attended the Assistant Principal’s meeting in Canberra. Whilst many different aspects of Catholic Education in our Archdiocese were addressed, one that I would like to bring to your attention is the extra support all our schools are receiving for student counselling. At St Mary’s this has meant that we now have a school counsellor from Catholic Care visiting once a week instead of every fortnight as it has been in the past. This has come about after an Archdiocesan Survey in 2019 revealed that there was a huge need for more services to support schools and their students with the continum of pastoral care and wellbeing. Our school Counsellor, Emma McRae is employed by Catholic Care and visits every Wednesday for the full day and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Emma for working with our staff, students and their families to ensure wellbeing / mental health for all.

As part of the preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our Year 3 /4 students will all take part in a whole day retreat tomorrow in the hall. At the retreat Mass on Tuesday morning  we will welcome a new member into our Catholic Church community. Caitlin Parker will be baptised during the mass with her family, classmates and teachers as witness’. This is a very special time for Caitlin and may God bless Caitlin and her family as she takes a new direction in her faith journey.

Tonight Lachlan Ellis, Child Protection Officer from the Catholic Education Office Canberra, will be working with  our Year 5/6 parents and their children on Cyber Safety. I strongly urge all our Year 5/6 parents to attend with their child/ren to keep you all informed on the latest in cyber awareness. 

Last year Covid prevented the P & F from fundraising like they would normally do. This body of volunteering parents work hard to raise money for our school. There are a few different fundraisers on the go at the moment and I thank them for organising these.

I wish our Year 5/6 students all best for a fun and active day in Wagga at the AFL Paul Kelly Cup Carnival. It will be a great day to play AFL, interact with other schools and to work as a team.

Have a wonderful week everyone and stay safe.

Mrs Scott