Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to Week 10.  What a whirlwind term. We have so much to celebrate at St Mary’s. On Wednesday we welcomed Catholic Education Performance Improvement Leader Philippa Brearley to St Mary’s. She was very impressed with the school’s facilities and was extremely complimentary about how welcome she felt at St Mary’s from both staff and students.

Thursday was another fabulous day where we again showed off the beautiful surrounds and facilities St Mary’s has to offer. The 2025 kinder parents took part in a tour of the school and engaged in an information session led by the school leadership team. Thank you to all who were involved. The kinder parents for 2025 were very impressed with what St Mary’s has to offer their child.

The end of term marks a sad day for the school, as the Hart family made the difficult decision to move on. We will miss both Nixon (2 Mercy) and Harper (1 Joy) and wish them well in the future and thank them for their contribution to the life at St Mary’s. While we say farewell to one family, we welcome another. Last week Aris KC began his educational journey with us in 3 Peace. We trust he will enjoy his time with us.

On Thursday, our last day of school, students will be permitted to wear casual clothes. All students will join together for MJR/BCR groups after lunch and will be involved in team building and cooperative learning activities led by their BCR/MJR teacher.

Students will finish on Thursday while teachers engage in professional development on Friday. The staff will reflect on school wide processes, procedures and routines whilst preparing their class for the upcoming term.

Term 3 will see the implementation of our NIEP program (Numeracy Intervention Extension Program). This will be implemented by our Learning Support Team and will provide an opportunity for select students to engage in numeracy development or extension. The students who will engage in this program will be selected from results attained in Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT), NAPLAN tests, Mastery Tests and teacher recommendations.   

On Friday, students’ reports became available via compass. If you cannot access these or are having trouble, please contact the front office. Parents were also given the opportunity to book time to meet with teachers to discuss their child’s report. If you have not taken up this opportunity, please do so. If you have any difficulty in booking a conference time, please contact the front office at your earliest convenience.

Next term will begin for students on Tuesday the 23^rd of July. The staff will be involved in a Spirituality Formation day led by Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn. This important spiritual experience to be held at the chapel at Bolo on Monday the 22^nd, will include staff from St Joseph’s, Grenfell and St Francis Xavier, Lake Cargelligo.

This week’s newsletter will feature our awesome staff!!

Remember my door is always open.

Acting Principal

Damian Collins

 

Term 2, 2024 Class and Whole School Mass Timetable

Thank you to those parents and friends who have been able to support our students' class masses this term. We have celebrated kindness, gratitude and individual strengths in our celebrations this term and look forward to continuing to celebrate masses with our community in Term Three. A special thanks to Fr Dominic who has led these masses each week, to our teachers for their organisation and to our students who have participated in each Mass with respect and reverence. 

Winter Skirts and Ties available from the school office

Elastic Ties and Small tie your own Ties have arrived!!

Girls winter skirts - various sizes - $40.

Ties (either elastic or tie your own) - various lengths - $16

If you want further information please call the school office on (02) 6972 3003.

      Happy Birthday to

Zahli Cattle, Jack Connellan, Piper Hoye, John Patton and Charlie Hague

who celebrate their birthday during this week and during the school holidays.

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 4th July	Kinder Kind 100 Days of School	At School
Thursday 4th July	Last Day of Term for Students CASUAL CLOTHES DAY	At School
Friday 5th July	Staff Development Day
Monday 22nd July	Staff Spirituality Day	Bolo Chapel - Lake Cargelligo
Tuesday 23rd July	All students return to school - Term 3	At School
Monday 29th July	ICAS Registrations CLOSE
Monday 5th August - Friday 9th August	ICAS - Writing & Digital Technologies	At School
Thursday 8th August	'Grug' 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 are available on Compass.

• 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.