Dear Parents & Carers,

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all our students that participated in the swimming carnival last Friday. I am very proud of the manner in which our students conducted themselves, along with their willingness to ‘have a go’. Our winning house this year was Hume. Our age champions were:

Junior Girl - Ellie Dodds

Junior Boy - Hunter Smith

Intermediate Girl - Hayley Potter

Intermediate Boy - Phillip Quarmby

Senior Boy - Jack Shang

We wish Ellie and Hayley all the best at the Western Swimming Carnival next week in Cootamundra.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Bookings for our Parent Teacher Conferences are now open. These meetings will run in the afternoons of Week Five (from Monday 26th February to Wednesday 28th February). Parent Teacher Conferences are a great opportunity for parents and guardians to meet their child’s teacher, set some goals for the semester and discuss any particular needs that have arisen at the start of term. Bookings can be made via the Compass portal. Please log in and book a time or alternatively, contact your child’s teacher to schedule a booking.

School Community Council

Later this term, our school community council executive will be meeting to discuss the ways in which we can support the mission and ethos of the school, promote the school within the local community (including fundraising at local events) and foster connections within the school community. The School Community Council is a great opportunity for families to contribute to St Mary’s and I encourage parents/guardians to get involved. If anyone is interested in coming to our meetings, please contact myself or our other School Community Council executive (Sam Flenley, Matt Flenley, Letishia Fayle or Renae Smith). We will post the date and time of our next open meeting in the coming weeks.

Community Engagement

At our Opening School Mass last Thursday, we were left with a quote from Mary Mackillop that read “so great is the strength we possess in our unity.” I would like to emphasise the importance of an engaged and connected school community and the pivotal role that I want our parents and guardians to play in a St Mary’s child's schooling. Not only in supporting your child’s faith formation and academic success but also contributing to the fundamental values and life skills that inspire our students to learn with confidence and lead with compassion. Thank you for all you are doing to support this vision.

I hope to see families at our BBQ this evening

Ryan 

Yesterday we acknowledged the beginning of the season of Lent with an Ash Wednesday liturgy in our St Mary’s church. 

Year 5/6 shone as they hosted a reverant liturgy with some local parishioners in attendance. 

The season of Lent lasts 40 days to represent the amount of time Jesus spent in the desert — fasting and preparing for his ministry — and to remember this, many Christians choose to make a promise of their own over those 40 days. Luxuries like dessert or chocolate are commonly given up for Lent, or Christians may perform acts of kindness for others through volunteer work throughout the Lenten season, right up until Easter Sunday and beyond. 

Students have been asked to think about their own Lenten promises during the past few days. They have been encouraged to decide if they would like to give up something or do more of something and be more for others during Lent. 

During the next 40 days of Lent, what might you like to do more or less of? 

I hope you all have a wonderful evening at our Welcome BBQ, unfortunately I will not be there as I am in Canberra for professional development. Enjoy! 

Amy Buckmaster - Religious Education Coordinator

SCIENCE

In Science this term, Years 3/4 are studying Chemistry with Mrs Murray. While learning about the three states of matter - solids, liquids and gases, the students thoroughly enjoyed the 'Magic Balloon' experiment. All the students were highly engaged with their learning.

This week the class created models to show the arrangement of particles in solids, liquids and gases. 

Great work 3/4!

HISTORY

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 are learning about 'Families' in History this term. They have looking at where families might live, activities that families enjoy together and naming members of their own families. They have completed some fabulous family portraits. You are welcome to pop into the room to view them. 

I am asking each family to send in a family photo. This can be emailed to me or I can photocopy a picture that you bring in. Please send back the Homework sheet 'All About Your Child' when you have completed it. Thank you to the families that have completed the task - the students are enjoying talking about themselves and the class have been keen to hear their individual stories. We love looking at their baby photo and seeing how they have grown and changed!

If you have any questions please come and chat with me.

Thank you

Mrs Murray