Filter Content
- A Message from our Acting Principal
- St Mary's Prays
- Class Mass Times Term 2, 2024
- Sacrament of Confirmation Program 2024
- Online Safety For Kids
- Compass - Parent Portal - PLEASE READ
- Happy Birthday
- Around the school this week
- School Sport
- School Athletics Carnival 2024
- IMPORTANT DATES IN THE COMING WEEKS
- Staff Changes Week 8 - Term 2
- School Photo Day 2024
- ICAS Assessments 2024
- Kinder Enrolment 2025
- St Mary's Information Session & Tour
- Canteen News
- Live Life Well at School
- Community Notices
A Message from our Acting Principal
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome to Week 8. Last week we held our annual school athletics carnival at McAlister Oval. Well done to all students on their conduct and behaviour. In particular, congratulations to the age champions and those who qualified for the Western Region carnival in Temora on Friday. Well done to Meila and Indi Fair who both broke the 1500m school record. An amazing achievement. A massive thank you must go to Mrs Taylor who organised the carnival and all the teachers that braved the cold and wet conditions to ensure the students enjoyed the day. Those 36 students who have qualified for Temora have been notified of arrangements on compass. Please accept or decline the event as a matter of importance.
At the last community council meeting, the matter of parent/family volunteers was raised. We warmly welcome any parents or grandparents who are willing to help out with anything in the classroom whether it be creative arts, reading or other Key Learning Areas where teachers see a need. If you want to volunteer your time in your child or grandchild’s class, please contact their teacher to make arrangements. This will begin in Term 3. Volunteers will need a current Working with Children Check (WWCC). The process for applying for your WWCC can be found following this website. https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-working-with-children-check
The Working with Children Check (WWCC) is a requirement for anyone in paid or volunteer child-related work in NSW.
In last week’s newsletter we published the incorrect date for the fundraising group that will meet and report back to the Community Council Executive. The correct date is Wednesday the 19th of June at Thom Dick and Harry’s at 2pm.
Last week I travelled to Young to meet with other principals across the western region. Amongst other conversations there was quite a robust discussion about what schools are doing in regards to internet safety at their school. There was discussion about Kirra Prendergast from Safe on Social visiting our region online or face to face. I have witnessed her presentation to both parents and students many years ago when I was in Young. Her presentation is targeted at both parents and children and was informative and engaging while outlining the importance of good online safety practices. I look forward to working with other schools in our region in this space. Until then, the eSafety website https://www.esafety.gov.au/ is full of fantastic resources.
Helen Bramanathan from the Catholic Education Office will visit our school on Tuesday. She will spend time in each class teaching staff and students about Christian Meditation. We look forward to welcoming Helen to our lovely school and embedding this meditative practice in our school.
This week’s newsletter will feature our awesome Year 3 and 4 students!!
Remember my door is always open.
Acting Principal
Damian Collins
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BCR - Bulding Character & Resilience
Every Friday following assembly the K - 6 students are placed into BCR (Building character and resilience) multi-age groups. During these sessions the students explore good habits that fall under the four core virtues of character: Respect & Responsibility, Sound Judgement, Self-Mastery, and Courage and Strength. This Friday the students will complete their exploration of the importance of showing gratitude by creating their very own ‘gratitude’ stones. Some things our students are grateful for in their lives are:
Luna in Year 1 is grateful for her friends and family.
Nixon in Year 2 is grateful for his blue Yamaha motorbike.
Isla in Kindergarten is grateful for her family, God, the earth and education.
Zoe in Year 4 is grateful for gluten free mint slices.
Riley in Year 5/6 is grateful for his 3 pet horses and his dog, Alf.
Annabelle in Year 4 is grateful for sport, especially the Pirates Rugby Union Club.
The next BCR value to be explored in Weeks 8 & 9 is HONESTY.
Term 2, 2024 Class and Whole School Mass Timetable
Date |
Class |
Week 8 Wednesday 19th June |
Year 1 Joy & Year 4 Trust Class Mass @ 12pm. Family and friends are most welcome. |
Sacrament of Confirmation Program 2024
Confirmation 2024
If you have a child in Years 5/6 participating in the Sacrament of Confirmation this year the following dates are important to your calendar:
Confirmation Enrolment and Parent Information Evening |
Thursday 25th July @ 5:30pm |
St Mary's Church |
Commitment Mass |
Sunday 4th August 9:30am |
St Mary's Church |
Retreat Day |
Thursday 8th August 9am - 3:20pm |
St Mary's School |
Confirmation Mass |
Sunday 11th August 9:30am |
St Mary's Church |
Compass - Parent Portal - PLEASE READ
Events - Resources
For certain events in Compass there will be information available found under 'resources'. Compass has updated its platform and it is much easier to access these. In the event scroll down to resources and there will be files available for you to check. For this week's Western Region Athletics there are 2 Resources
1. Western Region Team - lists all the students who made it away and what events they are in
2. Western Region Athletics Note - lists the venue, start time, Schools participating, event order, start procedure plus other rules.
Pictured below is a screenshot of an old event to give you an idea of what it should look like.
Winnie Wendt
who celebrates her birthday during this week.
We hope you enjoy your special day.
Matilda Cumming | Hugh Haworth | Luna Kelly |
Milani Mortimer | Amity Speedy | Skylar Shumba |
Clancy Blampied | Annabelle Brose | Stella Murrells |
Marcus Murrells | Billy Pettit | Maive Stewart |
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Mackillop Trials - Touch Football
Well done to Billy Petit (5/6 Faith), who represented our Archdiocese at the MacKillop Touch Football trials in Forbes on Friday. Unfortunately Billy was not selected but just to represent the Archdiocese is a fabulous effort. Well done Billy!!
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School Athletics Carnival 2024
Our school athletics carnival was held last Wednesday at McAlister Oval. There were many outstanding achievements, in particular Meila and Indi Fair’s effort in the 1500m race where they broke the old school record. Well done to McAuley who were the winning house for the day and good luck to the 36 students who will travel to Temora on Friday to represent our school. Unfortunately we were unable to hold High Jump safely due to the conditions so the results from 2023 were used to select students to compete at the western region carnival. The highlight of the carnival was the finish in the relay between the students and the parents. Well done Billy!! Below are our age champions.
AGE CHAMPIONS
Junior Boys Champion | Ricky Smith |
Junior Boys Runner Up | Reni Went |
Junior Girls Champion | Meila Fair |
Junior Girls Runner Up | Indi Fair |
Intermediate Boys Champion | Billy Pettit |
Intermediate Boys Runner Up | William McDonell |
Intermediate Girls Champion | Maive Stewart |
Intermediate Girls Runner Up | Scarlette Orr |
Senior Boys Champion | Kim Farias |
Senior Boys Runner Up | Liam Davies |
Senior Girls Champion | Georgina Patton |
Senior Girls Runner Up | Zahli Cattle |
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IMPORTANT DATES IN THE COMING WEEKS
The following events are in the calendar in the next few weeks.
The Compass Calendar is updated to show Mass times, sporting events, important events.
Day |
Event | Location |
Wednesday 19th June |
School Hall | |
Friday 21st June |
At Temora | |
Thursday 27th June |
At School | |
Thursday 4th July |
At School | |
Friday 5th July |
Staff Development Day
|
|
Monday 22nd July |
Staff Development Day
|
|
Tuesday 23rd July |
||
Thursday 8th August |
Wagga Civic Theatre | |
Thursday 15th August |
School Photo Day
|
At School |
Date and Day |
Teacher on Leave or PD |
Class |
Relief |
Monday 17th June |
Mrs Akehurst |
Year 1 Joy |
Mrs Daniher |
Tuesday 18th June (pm) & Wednesday 19th June |
Mrs Harland |
Year 5/6 Faith (Wednesday) |
Mrs O'Brien |
- Winter uniform to be worn
- Hair is to be tied up and neat & tidy
- Socks - Boys grey and Girls navy
- Ties with top button done up
- Jumpers to be worn
- Girls in navy pants or school skirts and boys in grey pants
- No jewellery other than small studs or sleepers
- Envelopes will be available at the front office when they arrive for those who do not wish to order online.
St Mary's War Memorial School
School Photography Date: 15th August 2024
School photography day is coming up soon. Group and portrait photographs can be purchased by following the link above.
Important Information:
- School photos purchased online DO NOT require envelopes returned to school.
- Don’t forget to order your sibling photos now - when you order your single photos.
- Late fees/additional charges will be applied for purchases after photo day
- Photos will be returned to your school for distribution approximately six weeks after photos are taken
- Past years’ photographs are available at school’s advancedlife & your advancedyou photo sites (follow the link above)
*Sibling photographs must be ordered either online, prior to the day of photography. A photograph will not be taken without an order. Sibling photographs only apply to children enrolled at the school.
advancedlife would like to express our appreciation to St Mary's War Memorial School for placing your trust in us. Please remember we offer a 100% money back guarantee on our products to ensure your peace of mind. We would also love to receive your feedback or resolve any issues you may experience as fast as possible, to ensure your satisfaction. If you have any questions, comments or feedback relating to your advancedlife experience please contact us at enquiries@advancedlife.com.au.
REGISTRATIONS
CLOSING Monday 29th July 2024
This year the UNSW ICAS assessments are online and will be held in August.
Participation in these assessments is at parents discretion. There is no obiligation for your children to sit these assessments as they are not used in the schools reporting.
The ICAS assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.
All registrations and payment for 2024 are to be done online
To register and pay for your child please click on the following link and note that the special code for St Mary's is VNS280.
https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
Cost for EACH assessment is $19.25, except Writing which is $23.65
The sitting windows for the ICAS tests are listed below, however the school will finalise the actual date of the tests in the coming weeks:
Writing - Monday 5th - Friday 9th August
Digital Technologies - Monday 5th - Friday 9th August
English - Monday 12th - Friday 16th August
Science - Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August
Spelling Bee - Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August
Mathematics - Monday 26th - Friday 30th August
We are welcoming new enrolments for the 2025 school year.
Please enrol online before the 2nd of August, however late enrolments are always accepted, at our website with the link below - https://smwms.nsw.edu.au/enrolment
If you require further information please call the school office.
St Mary's Information Session & Tour
FOR KINDER 2025 AND OTHER NEW ENROLMENTS
Thursday 27th June 2024
9.30am to 11.00am - meet in the staffroom
Parents and children (optional) are invited for a tour of the school and an informal chat with the School Executive followed by a short presentation and morning tea.
2025 ENROLMENTS ARE NOW OPEN ONLINE VIA OUR WEBSITE