Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to Week 9.  On Friday, 33 St Mary’s students travelled to Temora as part of the school’s western region athletics team. Congratulations to all students on the exemplary behaviour and conduct they exhibited. It was great to experience the immense support all students gave to their fellow classmates as they competed. It made me very proud to be principal of such a supportive and thoughtful school. Thank you also to Bree Taylor who accompanied the team. There were a number of fabulous personal achievements that will be outlined later in the newsletter.    

On Wednesday this week we will welcome Philippa Brearley to St Mary’s. Philippa is the Performance Improvement Leader for our school. You would remember Brad Gaynor who became a familiar face at St Mary’s toward the end of 2023. Philippa has taken on Brad’s role as he enjoys some well-earned Long Service Leave. I am sure we will make Philippa feel welcome and we look forward to her joining our school community.  

Thursday will see the 2025 kinder parents take part in a tour of the school’s facilities and grounds. This will be a great opportunity to show off our fabulous school and meet and greet potential parents of St Mary’s. The tour will begin at 9:30 in the staffroom and finish back in the staffroom with morning tea. The tour will include an information session and presentation from the school leadership team in the school’s library. We look forward to meeting the new members of our St Mary’s community. A reminder, if you are wishing to enrol your child at St Mary’s in 2025, please visit our school website for enrolment details. Having correct enrolment numbers is important as we are currently in discussions with the Catholic Education office in Canberra in regards to our class structure for 2025.   

Helen Bramanathan from the Catholic Education Office visited our school last Tuesday. She spent time in each class teaching staff and students about Christian Meditation. The students have embraced this meditative practice in our school and are enjoying their Christian Meditation time each day after lunch.

On Friday students reports will become available via compass. These reports are based on an A - E scale for students from Year One to Year Six while Kindergarten reports use the achievement descriptors ‘above expectations’, ‘meeting expectations’, ‘working towards expectations’ and ‘experiencing difficulty’. To make it easier to understand, simply view a ‘C’ as your child is meeting expectations. Included with this report is a section on the general capabilities the children have been developing as they work with others, as well as how they live out the school’s mission behaviours of ‘Respect’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Compassion’, Commitment’ and ‘Courage’. Should you wish to discuss your child’s report with your child’s teacher, you will be provided with this opportunity in Week 10 at our parent conferences. Please check compass to book your times, these times will become available on Friday.

This week’s newsletter will feature our awesome Year 5/6 students!!

Remember my door is always open.

Acting Principal

Damian Collins

 

Term 2, 2024 Class and Whole School Mass Timetable

      Happy Birthday to

Bronte Whittaker

who celebrates her birthday during this week.

We hope you enjoy your special day.

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
Thursday 27th June	Kinder 2025 Tour & Information Session	At School
Thursday 4th July	Kinder Kind 100 Days of School	At School
Thursday 4th July	Last Day of Term for Students	At School
Friday 5th July	Staff Development Day
Monday 22nd July	Staff Development Day
Tuesday 23rd July	All students return to school - Term 3
Monday 29th July	ICAS Registrations CLOSE
Monday 5th August - Friday 9th August	ICAS - Writing & Digital Technologies	At School
Thursday 8th August	'The Grugs' Kinder, Year 1 & 2 excursion	Wagga Civic Theatre
Monday 12th August - Friday 16th August	ICAS - English	At School
Thursday 15th August	School Photo Day	At School
Monday 19th August - Friday 23rd August	ICAS - Science & Spelling	At School
Monday 26th August - Friday 30th	ICAS - Maths	At School

Congratulations to Kinder Kind, who will be celebrating 100 days of school on Thursday 4th of July.

Mrs Iverach has lots of fun activities planned for the day.

Reports will be made available through Compass on Friday the 28th of June at 3pm.

Bookings are made in Compass under Conferences

• 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.