St Mary's War Memorial School West Wyalong eNewsletter

SOCKTOBER

In 2022, students and their families across Australia will raise funds to support families in Ethiopia facing malnutrition and food insecurity.

Our projects on the ground will help sustain and enrich the lives of vulnerable children who are in need of our support.

If you wish to donate to the Catholic Mission please see the article later in the newlsetter or follow this link https://www.socktober.org.au/join/StMarysWarMemorial

Year 5 School Captain Speeches and Voting @ 9.10am	Tuesday 6 December St Mary's School Hall
Matinee Performance @ 11.30am	Thursday 8 December West Wyalong S&C Club
Speech Night and Performance @ 6pm	Thursday 8 December West Wyalong S&C Club
Reports go home to parents	Monday 12 December
Year 6 Graduation Dinner	Wednesday 14 December West Wyalong Sports Club 6.00pm
Year 6 Graduation Mass	Thursday 15 December St Mary's Church at midday
Final School Day	Friday 16th of December
First Day of School for all students in 2023 This includes our new KINDER, who will then have the next four Wednesday's off.	Wednesday 1st February

Congratulations to Nell Ramsay who represented MacKillop at the NSW PSSA state athletics last Thursday.

Competing against some very strong competition Nell, not throwing her best, still was able to finish in 20th place. This is a huge achievement translating to Nell being in the top 20 discus throwers in NSW.

Well done Nell, St Mary's is proud of you.

We welcome our 2023 Kinder students and families who started Kinder orientation on Friday last week. We hope you enjoy your start with our lovely school.

Our Kinder Orientation sessions continue this week, with the following dates still to go:

Friday 28 October - 8.55am to Midday

Friday 4 November - 8.55am to 3.20pm - wth a parent information session at 9am on "Everything you need to know about Kinder 2023"

Friday 11 November - 8.55am to 3.20pm

Children should wear comfortable clothes and a hat. They will need a piece of fruit, recess and a drink for the two half days. On the full days they will need their lunch as well.

Date and Day	Teacher on Leave or PD	Class	Relief
Mr Nielsen will be attending the Western Region Principals conference on Thursday and Friday.

If your child is holding a perpetual trophy from last year, could this please be returned to the school office.

Happy Birthday to

Max Brose and Ashton Barber

who celebrate their birthday's next week.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

Fee statements for Term 4 have been posted.

Thank you to those families who have payment plans in place.

Those who have set up their own BPAY or direct debit payments are asked to also check their statement and alter or suspend your payments as required. Payment plans through the school's Catholic Development Fund can be altered here at the office. You will be contacted if we think you need to change your payment amount.

The school has the ability to provide school fee support for families in genuine need, and the CEO are offering fee relief for COVID-19 income loss. Confidential information is available at the school office.

School fee payment records are strictly confidential and access is restricted to office staff and the school principal. Please contact Mr Nielsen if you wish to discuss this matter or any other issue.

During October, St Mary’s will be participating in Socktober, an Australian Catholic Missions initiative to raise funds for global poverty. This year’s effort will be directed to children in Ethiopia.

In Week 3 of Term 4, students will be learning about the life experiences of children in Ethopia and making a sock caterpillar.

Our school fundraising goal has been set at $200. This equates to roughly $2 donation per St Mary’s student. The following link will send you to our SMWMS fundraising page to donate. Your child’s name can be attached to the donation or you can choose to remain anonymous.

Link to St Mary's Socktober Fundraising page

Please give generously and support our fundraising effort.

Mrs Cuthbertson

Students in Year 3 and 4 will travel to the Lake Cowal Conservation Centre on Thursday the 3rd of November to learn about "Living Things and their Habitat".

The bus will leave the front of the school at 9am sharp and return to St Mary's by 3.00pm.

Students should wear farm or bush walking clothes ie. long pants, boots or sneakers, t-shirt/shirt and jumper and bring a packed recess, fruit, water bottle and a hat. Lunch of a sausage sizzle and popper is provided.

The cost of transport and lunch will be covered by St Mary's School.

Please logon to Compass to give consent for your child/ren to attend this event.

It is important for your child's safety to notify the school office of any change to your child's routine.

For example if you child is normally on the bus and you are picking them up, or if another carer is picking them up.

Weather permitting - get ready to go on Monday the 31st of October.

Don't forget students will need a white shirt.

For the first time in four years our Year 5/6 excursion to Canberra is happening.

Final payment for the excursion was due on Friday the 21st of October.

Consent and payment is via Compass. Please contact the school office if you need more time to pay.

The itinerary, packing list and important information can be found as part of the event in Compass under resources.

Planning is underway for St Mary’s Intensive Swimming Program. All students are encouraged to participate in this program. Swimming is very much a part of the Australian lifestyle and a high level of swimming ability and knowledge and skill in water safety is not only highly desirable but could be life saving.

The program will run over five days, from Monday the 21st of November to Friday the 25th of November. The program will be implemented by qualified instructors employed by the L&R Group from the Holland Park Swim Centre to meet the needs of the K - 6 PDHPE syllabus. Class teachers will attend to supervise.

The primary aim is to develop each child’s swimming ability. The program will offer the following skill levels:

*HARP SEALS*	This level is for beginners. Children who have little to no swimming ability and/or experiences.
*LEOPARD SEALS*	This level is for children who can propel themselves through the water independently but have yet to develop correct freestyle swimming.
*WEDDELL SEALS*	This level is for children who can swim independently for 15m-25m who need stroke development.
*GREY SEALS*	This is our school squad level and is for swimmers who can swim 50m freestyle. Other strokes will be developed.

The students will be placed in groups depending on their level of ability as advised by parents. Students will be assessed on the first day to make sure they are in the correct group.

Students not attending the program will be supervised at school and set appropriate literacy learning activities.

MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING COST WILL BE IN NEXT WEEKS NEWSLETTER.

My Body, My Life - Day Session for Year 5/6 students

My Body My Life is the Archdiocesan program approved by Catholic Education for Stage 3 Puberty and Personal Development education.

Our Year 5/6 students will participate in this program on Wednesday the 26th of October.

Year 5/6 parents will receive more detailed information about this via SeeSaw.

2023 school travel applications are now open
Applications for student travel in 2023 open from Monday 10 October 2022.

If your child intends to use the free bus travel scheme, either in town for Years K to 2 or from a rural location for Years K to 6, please plan ahead and apply before the end of Term 4 via the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS). In rural areas it is recommended parents also contact their local bus operator to discuss their travel needs.

If you have received an expiry notice from Transport for NSW you should update the details before the end of Term 4 to ensure that St Mary's can endorse the application and entitlements remain valid.

Please contact the school if you have any questions.

Dear Parents and Carers,

The Parents and Friends Association and School Board are currently trialling a Community Council forum. This forum is the merging of both groups to try and streamline the process of decision making that the school community is involved in. Community councils work very effectively in many schools and has a decision-making role in certain policy areas and an advisory role in others. Previously, the P&F raised money for school equipment, ran the canteen, helped at school events, (among many other things), while the Board’s role was to assist the principal and teachers to make and advise on some decision-making processes.

The Community Council will combine both aspects of these groups to ensure a more efficient process while still being transparent.

Some of the aims of the new Community Council will include:

Fundraising for school equipment that cannot be covered by the budget,
Overseeing the canteen,
Assist the school on budget making decisions,
Have input into school policies and procedures,
Include smaller sub-committees that can meet outside of the scheduled meetings and report back to the Community Council when necessary.

While we are still in a trial phase to see if this model will suit St Mary’s, if it goes to plan, it will be officially introduced at the start of 2023 to replace the School Board and P&F Association.

Informal chats in the school playground and beyond demonstrates that our school community has so many fabulous ideas that could be implemented and as the saying goes, ‘Many hands make light work’. We would like to invite any members of our school community to attend these meetings to gain a better understanding of our aims and to have your input into how we can improve our already wonderful school.

The next Community Council meeting will be held on Wednesday the 26th October at 5pm in the teacher’s staff room. Please email Amy Pursehouse at amypursehouse@outlook.com.au if you wish to attend so we can add you to the mailing list in case of late changes.

Sincerely,

Kate Dean	La’Shey Cattle
School Board Chair	P&F Association President

Colour Explosion Run - Canteen Operation 31st October

There will be no lunch orders on Monday the 31st of October.

There will be a free sausage sizzle lunch and a juice popper for every child.

There will also be counter service at recess, please send your children with cash for treats.

Canteen Volunteers for Term 4

We only have volunteers as shown on the table below, plus Friday the 9th of December.

Every canteen day is vacant from 4 October till the end of the year. The canteen will be closed on the days without a volunteer.

Canteen Roster

Monday 24 October	Friday 28 October
	Allirah Stewart and Emily Watts Baking: Both
Monday 31 October	Friday 4 October
Colour Explosion Run Fundraising - no orders Lisa Sturgess	VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED

This helpful video on how to pack a healthy lunchbox may be useful as we wind down for the year, to help us stay focussed.

How to pack a healthy lunch box

Edward the Emu Excursion

Our Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 students enjoyed their excursion to Wagga to see "Edward the Emu". They stopped at St Anne's on the way to keep out of the rain.