Friday 28th March 2025 ~ Issue 9

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

Monday 31st March - Learning Conversations 

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

Thursday 3rd April - Farewell Assembly for Lindy Cullinane at 2.55pm

Friday 4th April - Big Water Walk for Project Compassion - 11.30am

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

TERM 2

Monday 28th April - First day of Term 2

Monday 28th April - Open Day

Thursday 1st May - Step Into Prep

Friday 2nd May - Assembly

Thursday 8th May - Step Into Prep

Thursday 8th May - Spend the Day at Monivae (Grade 6 students)

Monday 12th May - Mother's Day Celebration at school

Friday 16th May - Assembly

Monday 26th - Friday 30th May - Catholic Education Week

Wednesday 28th May - Friday 30th May - Gr 5/6 Camp - Warrnambool

Friday 30th May - Assembly

Wednesday 4th June - School Photos

Friday 13th June - Assembly

Friday 27th June - Assembly

Friday 4th July - Last day of Term 2

PUPIL FREE DAYS IN 2025

Tuesday 22nd April - Religious Education PD - Hamilton

Wednesday 23rd April - Whole School PD - English Curriculum - Horsham

Thursday 24th April - Numeracy PD - Hamilton

Wednesday 14th May - Whole School PD - Diocesan Strategic Plan - Horsham

Friday 19th September - Structured Literacy

Wednesday 17th December - Last day of the school year for students

From the Principal

Dear Families,

We acknowledged Harmony Day last Friday. This is a celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. We wore orange to show our support of Harmony Day. The message that ‘everyone belongs’ is a message that can be lived by each of us, every day.

Congratulations to Claire, Lexi, Lucy and Nina who represented us at the Regional Swimming in Horsham on Wednesday. This was an outstanding accomplishment! An extra big congratulations to Lucy who has qualified for the State Swimming! This is an outstanding effort and we can't wait to see how she goes.

We are starting to think about this year's Christmas Parade! We had a great conversation at our recent School Advisory Council meeting about keeping it on a Friday evening or going back to a Saturday morning. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Please Seesaw me if you have an opinion!

In the Learning and Teaching section of the newsletter you will find some information on Structured Literacy. This is an area we are in the early stages of learning about and dabbling in so we thought we'd share some information with you. Be sure to take a look.

Have a wonderful weekend, shared 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

Sacramental Program

Preparations for the Sacrament of Reconciliation are well underway, with sessions at Saturday night's Mass and weekly Zoom meetings. The Sacrament will be received in the last week of term.

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 - Include others

SAFETY - Use your words to solve problems

RESPONSIBILITY - Try to make yourself smarter everyday

Sports Catch Up

This week has been a big week in sport at St Mary's! We have had students representing us in district tennis, regional swimming and of course, our school cross country today.  Mrs Gordon will have a full update on all of these events in next week's newsletter - stay tuned!

Saturday Morning Netball

This week is the last game for the season. Thanks to everyone who has supported our students this term.

Round Six - 29th March

Dates for your diary

May

Friday 2nd May - Division Athletics @ Warrnambool

Monday 5th May - Friday 9th May - Prep Swimming Program

Thursday 8th May - District Cross Country @ Lake Hamilton

Friday 16th May - Division Cross Country @ Warrnambool

Monday 26th May - Regional Cross Country @ Warrnambool

Monday 26th May-Friday 30th May - Grade 1/2 Swimming Program

Elise Gordon

egordon@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au 

Learning Conversations

Term 1 Parent Teacher Learning Conversations for students in Prep to Grade 6 started on Thursday 27th March and will continue on Monday 31st March between 2.30pm and 5.45pm.  These conversations have been so valuable and we thank all those that have been able to attend.

Structured Literacy

Please see the information flyer below.

Wellbeing

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader Role

Bec Sherlock has returned to school this year in a new role as the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader. This is a role that is funded by our governing authority DOBCEL and provides us with the amazing resource of having a teacher who is able to coordinate our work in the area of mental health and wellbeing. Through training we are learning more about what this role looks like in schools and will share this with you as the year goes on.

Child Safety ~ Child Safe Standards

The new Child Safe Standards (eleven in total) came into effect in July 2022 and are a
vital part of what we do here at St Mary’s. But, what do these standards look like in practice? Each week, we will look at a standard in closer detail.
Standard 1 - Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique
identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.
At St Mary’s we can see this standard in action in a variety of ways. We have the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island flags on display in our school. As part of our Learning to Learn curriculum at the beginning of each year, children learn about these flags and what they represent. We ensure that all of our gatherings begin with an
Acknowledgement of Country. Our whole school assembly starts with a Welcome to Country from
one of our students. Every term, when our staff are planning for the following term, they include Indigenous perspectives as per the Victorian Curriculum.  This permeates through all of our subject areas.  Our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy highlights and describes the organisation’s commitment to respecting and valuing Aboriginal children.

More information can be found on the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) website - the link to this website is below.

Tania Stevens

Leadership and Stewardship

Lifelong Benefits of Attending a Catholic School!

We're pleased to share new research based on data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, which reveals that individuals who attended Catholic schools are likely to experience lifelong benefits in employment, general health, and overall life satisfaction.

The study highlights that Catholic schooling offers both personal and community advantages. On average, Catholic school alumni are more likely to be employed and earn higher wages compared to those who attended government schools, with wage differences ranging from 4% to 11%. Additionally, former Catholic school students are more inclined to work in public-serving industries and sectors, and they are more likely to donate to charity. The research also shows that Catholic school attendance positively influences personal health and life satisfaction scores.

Conducted by the Centre for International Research on Education Systems (CIRES) at Victoria University and commissioned by VCEA, the research adjusts for various individual and family characteristics to specifically isolate the impact of Catholic school attendance.

This evidence supports what we have likely known instinctively – that an education focused on developing the whole person leads to well-rounded individuals who are prepared to succeed, thrive, and navigate life with confidence, regardless of the path they choose.

We should take great pride in the substantial and positive impact we have on the lives of our students and families as they journey through our educational system.

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, Seesaw, use the Simon Everywhere app or email. Thanks!

School Fees

School Fees for 2025 have been sent home today.  Charges for our school camps, excursions and swimming program have been added to this account.  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 30^th June, 2025, unless you are on a regular payment plan.

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

We have a special assembly on Thursday 3rd April to farewell Lindy Cullinane. This will be held at 2:55pm. Our next regular assembly will be on Friday 2nd May at 2.55pm.

Icy Poles

We will not be selling icy poles on the final Friday of term (4th April).  Icy poles will  be rested for Terms 2 and 3 and be back in Term 4.  Thank you to everyone who has supported this fund raising effort. Well done to our school councillors for taking on this responsibility this term.

Spend the Day at Monivae

Grade 6 students are invited to SPEND THE DAY at Monivae College and experience a day of classes and activities on
Thursday 8th May 2025.  Please save the date and register via the link below.

Easter Egg Raffle
Our wonderful Siana Causer is organising the Easter raffle again this year. Tickets have been handed out to the eldest in each family. There are 10 tickets in each book and tickets are $1 each. These are due back by THIS Monday 31st of March. The money raised will go to Project Compassion.

A BIG shout out to Woolworths Hamilton and Trev's Bargin Emporium for their wonderful donations toward our Easter Raffle which has meant we are able to keep costs down and make more money for Project Compassion.

Garden Gurus

Community Events

Good Friday Bake Sale

The annual bake sale will be held on Friday 18th April, more details to come.
It’s a good excuse to jump out of bed, get a cuppa and stock up on some yummy treats for Easter.
Please share this information and get the word out. Come and support this awesome event and raise
some funds for the amazing Royal Children’s Hospital.
If we have any parents, grandparents or guardians who would like to bake for this day, please contact Erika on 0408 721 991.