Friday 7th February 2025 ~ Issue 2

Child Safety Statement

School Values

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Respect Our School - Hormati Sekolah Kita

Do Your Best - Lakukan Yang Terbaik

Help Others to Succeed - Bantu Teman Untuk Berhasil

Important Dates

Tuesday 11th February - PUPIL FREE DAY - all staff at Structured Literacy PD

Friday 14th February - Assembly at 2.55pm

Sunday 16th February - Beginning of the Year School Mass, 10.30pm at St Mary's Church

Wednesday 26th February - Family & Child Sacramental Meeting (students in Gr 3-6 are eligible) - 7pm at the Mackillop Centre

Friday 28th February - Assembly at 2.55pm

Wednesday 5th March - Ash Wednesday - Mass at 10am

Thursday 6th March - Athletic Sports for Gr 1-6 at Monivae

Monday 10th March - Long Weekend

Friday 14th March - Assembly at 2.55pm

Monday 17th March - St Patrick's Day - wear a touch of green with your uniform

Monday 17th March - Learning Walk for 2026 families

Wednesday 19th - Friday 21st - Gr 5/6 Camp

Thursday 27th March - Learning Conversations

Friday 28th March - Assembly at 2.55pm

Monday 31st March - Learning Conversations

Wednesday 2nd - Friday 4th April - Sacrament of Reconciliation

Friday 4th April - Last day of Term 1 - 2.15pm finish

From the Principal

Dear Families,

This week the weather has been our biggest challenge! Between the heat and the smoke we have spent more time inside than out! Hopefully next week we will be out and about again.

Our students have continued to settle in beautifully to the 2025 school year. They really are amazing! Thank you for supporting them in bringing such positive energy to school each day.

A huge thank you to our community for your generosity in supporting the Bell family. We have just popped the meal donations on hold as the Bell's have had more tragic news, with the passing of their close friend's teenage son in WA. They will be heading over there to support them. It really is difficult to comprehend that Madeleine, Josh and the children now have to deal with this devastating news. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Enjoy the weekend with those you love,

Terrielynn

Catholic School Culture

MASS TIMES – 2025                                                 

Hamilton: Saturday 6pm and Sunday 10.30am                                    

Dunkeld: Sunday 8.30am                  

Glenthompson:  Sunday 8.30am

Penshurst: Sunday 8.30am

Beginning of the Year School Mass

Our Beginning of the Year School Mass is on Sunday 16th February, at St Mary's Church, 10.30am. All families are invited to join together in celebrating our beautiful school and the new year. At this Mass we will honour our new Gr 6 student leaders too. They are -

School Captains - Alani Rook and Jack Bourke

School Councillors - Selena Brown, Hana Churchill, Tahlia Fitzsimmons, Marcus Knight, Marcus McRae, Rosie Read, Rebecca Shelly, Jayda Storan, Ryan Smith, Isabella Templeton, Sophie Uebergang, Brayden Williams, Deklan Wilmot and Lexi Withers

Sustainability Leaders - Lola Stanley, Bentley Jacobson, Jax Hollard and Jedah Brown

Art Leaders - Samantha Perkins  and Lilly Kuilboer

House Captains -   Rosaria - Meki Churchill and Rhys Jackson

                               Lourdes - Nina Roll and  Harry San Ba

                               Fatima - Johannah Winnell and  Beau Plush

                               Loreto - Charlie Moyle and Ollie Porter

Students are asked to wear their school uniform and to sit with their families. It would be greatly appreciated if a small plate of food could be brought along to share after Mass. Thanks!

Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church

This year is a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has set the theme as Pilgrims of Hope, so fitting in our turbulent and at times, unsettled world. We will have a strong focus on hope here at school, such an important way to see life, that there is always hope even in our darkest times. We can certainly do our bit here at school! We will have more details and information as the year goes on.

Learning and Teaching

School Wide Positive Behaviours

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is:  A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.

For the next two weeks at St Mary’s, we are working with our students on the following:

RESPECT -  Use kind words

SAFETY - Keep hands and feet off others

RESPONSIBILITY - Make the most of the learning opportunities offered

Structured Literacy

As many of you will know we are embarking on our Structured Literacy journey in 2025, beginning with a whole staff PD next Tuesday in Camperdown. Structured Literacy is an evidence based approach that involves instruction that is systematic, meaning it follows a carefully planned sequence that ensures children master each skill before moving on to the next. This sequential approach builds a solid foundation for reading, writing and spelling success, giving children the confidence and skills they need to progress. We look forward to sharing more! Please see a letter further in the newsletter regarding the collection of your child's data.

Sports Catch Up

Welcome to another year of sport! The calendar for Term One is filling up quickly, so make sure you have a read of the Sports Catch Up each week to keep up to date with everything that is happening. If you have any questions throughout the year, please do not hesitate to email or send a message on Seesaw.

Saturday Morning Netball

Saturday Morning Netball starts next weekend, Saturday 15th February. I have sent families who wish to be involved an information letter home today. We are hoping to have one Grade 3-4 team and two Grade 5-6 teams. This is a six week competition. The games will run from Saturday 15th February – Saturday 29th March, with no play on Saturday 8th March (Labour Day Long Weekend).

We are very short of umpires for Saturday Morning Netball. You do not need to have an umpiring badge, just a basic understanding of the game and a Working With Children Check. If anyone in our community would be willing to help umpire one of our teams, please contact me ASAP. 

Hockey Clinic

Students in Grades 1-4 will be participating in a hockey clinic on Monday 24th February. This event will be held at school, and there is no cost to families. Students in these year levels will need to wear their sports uniform to school on that day.

Division Swimming

The Division Swimming Carnival will be held at the Aquazone facility in Warrnambool on Friday 28th February. I have begun looking at last year's Swimming Carnival times to see which children qualify for this event. I will contact families in the coming weeks to get recent swim times, as there is a minimum qualifying time for each event. If you have a swimmer in Grade 3, are a new family this year or if you know your child will meet the qualifying times please email or Seesaw me for more information. Families will be responsible for transporting and supervising their child at this event.

Athletics Carnival

Our School Athletics Carnival is on Thursday 6th March at Monivae. Students will come to school in their sports uniform and be walked up to Monivae for a 9:30am start. More information about the day, including a helper slip, will be sent out next week. We cannot run this event without the support of our St. Mary’s community. 

District Tennis

Students in Grades 3-6 are invited to participate in the Southern Grampians District Tennis event to be held on Thursday 27th of March in Hamilton. Please either email or Seesaw me if your child wishes to play before the end of February. SSV have decided that the Hotshots format (8 students per side) will be the progression from District through to State. Due to a tight timeframe and many other sporting events in Term One, the HDSA have decided we will play a singles format tournament this year, similar to what we have played in the past. However, there will not be progression from this event. Please note that families will be responsible for transporting and supervising their child for the day, as we do not send staff to this event.

Team Vic

Throughout the year, there are many opportunities for students to compete in sports at the state level. Usually, these events require families to transport their children to trials (generally in Ballarat or Melbourne), and can be quite time consuming for families. If you would like to consider your child for an event throughout the year, you must get in contact with me before the closing dates for specific events. Information (Registration, Key Dates and the Principal Endorsement process) can be found on the link below: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic 

Dates for your Diary

February

Saturday 15th February - Saturday Morning Netball commences @ Pedrina Park

Monday 24th February - Hockey Clinic (Grades 1-4) @ St. Mary’s

Friday 28th February - Division Swimming @ Aquazone, Warrnambool

March

Thursday 6th March - School Athletics Carnival @ Monivae

Thursday 20th March - District Athletics @ Mitchell Park

Wednesday 26th March - Regional Swimming @ Horsham

Thursday 27th March - Southern Grampians District Tennis event @ Hamilton

Friday 28th March - School Cross Country @ St Mary’s 

Elise Gordon

egordon@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au 

Parent Access Portal (PAM)

PAM has been released - you should have received an email from St Mary's Student Portal. Please follow the instructions to log in.

I see that we have a few families who have not logged in and completed the consent forms for 2025. If you could please check your emails and log into your PAM account and complete these and the Medical Form ASAP, it would be greatly appreciated. It also ensures we are set up for the new 2025 year.

Many thanks,

Shannon Smith                                                             

Wellbeing

Child Safety

What a great start we have had to the 2025 school year. It is so lovely to walk up the Learning Street and see all the children settled and learning in their homerooms.

 We have welcomed 36 new Preps to their school journey this year, as well as a number of new students and their families right throughout the school. Transitions can be tricky and the way that we, as parents and guardians, support our young people during these times can be the difference between a smooth transition and a trickier one.  SchoolTV has a special report on School Transitions, which covers starting primary school, secondary school and all the transitions in between. I shared this at the end of the 2024 year, but it is just as important to share as we begin our new school year.  The link to this important report is below.

Thank you for all of the work you have already done to prepare your child/ren for the new school year - this is shining through right throughout the school! 

  Tania Stevens

Standing Tall Mentoring Program

Again this year, we are delighted to be a part of the Standing Tall Mentoring Program. This program matches students with a mentor and they spend time together at school on a weekly basis. This program allows students to form a special relationship with their mentor, someone who they can chat to, play board games with or spend time with in the garden. Please contact school if you think this is something that might assist your child.

Leadership and Stewardship

Student Attendance

It is a legal requirement for schools to contact families if students are absent from school without an explanation. As a result, our office staff are required to contact you from 9.30am if your child is absent from school and you have not let us know. Please phone or email. Thanks!

A Few Reminders

School Fees
School Fees for 2025 will be sent out today with your child - please check their bags. Direct Debit forms are available from the office or if you would prefer to set up your own Direct Debit, the account details are located on the top right hand side of your fee statement. All accounts are due by 30th June, 2025 unless you are on a regular payment plan.
The Family Fee Assistance scheme will be available again in 2025. Families who qualify for the scheme (if you hold a Health Care Card or Pension card) will pay $520 per annum for primary school tuition fees. The discounted fee covers tuition
and capital fees only. It does not cover additional charges such as camps, student fees, and excursions. Please note that students who are holders of Health Care Cards are not eligible. An application form needs to be completed unless you have previously filled it out and you have no changes to your family situation i.e. a new prep student starting. These forms are available at the office. The forms, plus a copy of your current Centrelink card, must be received by Monday 24th February, 2025. The Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. Please see below for eligibility or please contact the office. Forms are available at the office and must be completed no later than Monday 24th February, 2025.
If during the year your circumstances change and you become eligible for Centrelink, please come and discuss this with Helen. If you have any queries concerning your account, please contact me at the office or via email helen@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au  Thank you, Helen

Community Engagement

Assembly

Our next assembly will be on Friday 14th February at 2.55pm.

Icy Poles

This term we are selling icy poles every Friday for $1.00 each. We will meet with our Students Leaders to determine what organisation we will be raising money for and let you know. Our first day of selling will be on Friday 7th February.

Town bus cost

 There has been a price rise for tickets, the new prices and term pass prices are listed below.

• Student Single $1.50
• Student Return $3.00
• Student Weekly $14.00
• Term 1 Pass $131.60
• Term 2 Pass $142.80
• Term 3 Pass $123.20
• Term4 Pass $148.40

Town bus routes are availiable at the front office

Garden Gurus

Community Events