Friday 16th August ~ Issue 24

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

Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd August - School Review

Friday 30th August - Father's Day Celebration from 1.20pm - wear your footy colours! 

Friday 30th August - Assembly @ 2.55pm

Tuesday 3rd September - 3/4 Hoop Time

Friday 6th September - 5/6 Hoop Time

Friday 6th September - First Eucharist Workshop

Sunday 8th September - Sacrament of First Eucharist - 10.30 Mass @ St Mary's Church

Wednesday 11th & Thursday 12th September - Art Show - 5.30-7pm - details to come

Thursday 12th September - R U OK Day

Friday 20th September - last day of term - 2.15pm finish

Monday 7th October - first day of Term 4

From the Principal

Dear Families,

We had a wonderful gathering of family members at our Learning Showcase on Monday. The children greatly enjoyed sharing their learning and showing the visitors all the amazing things happening at school. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us - the feedback has been incredibly positive.

Yesterday was our school Feast Day, the Assumption of Mary. As the mother of Jesus, Mary holds a very special and important place in our story. Her strength, kindness and wisdom inspires us everyday.

Next week is our School Review. As a school, we have worked very hard in preparing for these two days and look forward to celebrating our successes, reflecting on our challenges and planning for a bright future at St Mary's.

Have a wonderful weekend, shared with those you love, 

 Terrielynn

Catholic School Culture

Assumption of Mary

Mary, woman of listening, open our ears;
Grant us to know how to listen to the word of
Your Son Jesus among the thousands of words
of this world;
Grant that we may listen to the reality in
which we live, to every person we encounter,
Especially those who are poor, in need, in
hardship.
(Pope Francis, 31 May 2013)

MASS TIMES – 2024                                                 

Hamilton: Saturday 6pm and Sunday 10.30am                                    

Dunkeld: Sunday 8.30am                  

Glenthompson:  Sunday 8.30am

Penshurst: Sunday 8.30am

Prayers                                                                       

Please keep members of our school community in your thoughts and prayers as they battle some serious health issues.

We also keep former staff member John Healy in our prayers, following the death of his dad John Snr recently. The Healy family have been important members of our school and Parish community for many, many decades. 

First Eucharist

Our family meeting to prepare for the Sacrament of First Eucharist was on Wednesday 31st July, 7pm. Children's Liturgy to prepare for the sacrament began on Saturday 3rd August at the 6pm Mass. The First Eucharist will be celebrated on Sunday 8th September at the 10.30am Mass.

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 your manners 

SAFETY - make sure your words keep everyone safe

                                                  RESPONSIBILITY - listen carefully to teaching moments 

NAPLAN in the Media

We need to be cautious about stories in the media stating that Australian students’ performances in NAPLAN and other standardised tests are getting worse. It has been reported that in 2024, about one in three school students were into the bottom two proficiency bands, with the remaining two-thirds in the top two. About one in 10 students were rated as needing additional support.

Sally Larsen,  a senior lecturer in education at the University of New England, in her study clearly shows no long-term decline in NAPLAN results from 2008 through to 2022. It even shows some considerable gains. In particular, Gr 3 and Gr 5 reading showed good progress at the population level over the 14 years of NAPLAN to 2022.

It is important to note that in 2023, some of the processes around NAPLAN  changed. This included reporting results in four proficiency levels within each year, rather than the 10 bands used from 2008 to 2022. Because there are now fewer categories in the new reporting of proficiency, there are now higher percentages of students in each category. As is clearly evident from the media report, categorising students into fewer proficiency levels can be misinterpreted.

The results in Victoria are well above the data from other states and our own results at St Mary's are comparative to or above the state mean when compared to like schools. 

Book Week

Wow! What an amazing morning we had for our Book Week Parade!  Thank you so much to everyone for your enthusiasm and excitement around the day.  Without the support of families helping to organise costumes and props, days like today wouldn't be possible.  It was also a joy to see so many of you here to enjoy the parade too.  From the characters of Hogwarts, to The Babysitters Club and even B1 and B2, we had so many amazing and interesting costumes.  The love of books and reading certainly is strong here at St Mary's!   We have a few photos of the day below.  Reading really IS Magic! 

Tania Stevens

Sports Catch Up

Grade 5-6 AFL 9s

I am going to start off by saying how proud we are of our 39 Grade 5-6 students who went to Pedrina Park yesterday in the AFL 9s competition. The way in which they played the game, as well as displaying high levels of sportsmanship was truly admirable.

Every student I spoke to reported their enjoyment of the carnival, and being able to send so many students demonstrates our school vision of ‘Fullness of Life For All’ so fantastically! 

A day like this can’t go ahead without the help of many people. A huge thank you to Tyler Fehsler and Monivae College students who gave up their time to umpire games throughout the day. Thank you also to Pat Sherlock for coaching one of our teams, plus other families who put their hand up to assist and support throughout the day. Thanks to Jess Hayes for bringing an enormous amount of oranges to share for our students. Finally, a thank you to Bec Sherlock and Tracy Keen who coached and supported our teams as well.

It was unfortunate that the day ended abruptly due to the inclement weather, but a great day was had by all!

Grade 3-4 and Grade 5-6 Hooptime

It feels like it has taken an eternity, but finally, I have sent home the Hooptime teams for both the Grade 3-4 and 5-6 days. Your child will have brought home a note last week outlining the information for the day. Creating the teams takes plenty of time and consideration, particularly to ensure that all students are playing at a standard that best suits each child, as well as enjoyment of the event.

I am on the lookout for one more scorer for our ‘Rookies’ team for the Grade 3-4 event. If you are able to assist, please get in contact with me so this can be arranged.

If you are dropping off or picking up your child from HILAC on the day, can you please return the slip at the bottom of the note. With the competition starting early in the morning, we cannot be waiting at school for students and calling families to find out where they are. Your help with this is greatly appreciated!

Melbourne Renegades Cricket Clinic

Students in Grade 3-6 have been given an opportunity to participate in a cricket clinic on Thursday 22nd August. This will be taking place at Monivae between 12:30pm - 1:30pm. All students who have registered their interest at school are able to go. On this day, students participating will need to wear their sports uniform.

Division Table Tennis

This event will be held at the Warrnambool Table Tennis centre on Friday 13th September. If your child is interested in playing, could you please email or send me a message on Seesaw. Families will be responsible for transporting their child to the event on the day.

Saturday Morning Netball - Term 4

The HNA has a new committee which means Saturday Morning Netball is back in Term 4! There is a Grade 3-4 and a Grade 5-6 competition. Students in Grade 2 are also permitted to play, but they must have turned 8 by the 12th October this year. I have contacted those families this week on Seesaw who are eligible.

Students who are interested in playing have brought home a note this week indicating their interest in participating. The slip must be returned by Thursday 22nd August if your child is playing. The teams need to be submitted to the HNA very shortly.

We can’t offer this opportunity to our students without the help of our parents and families with coaching or umpiring our teams. If you are able to help in either role, can you please indicate this on the slip. No umpires mean no games unfortunately! I would also like to acknowledge the efforts and dedication that these people have done in previous years. It is important that we support our families who are giving up their time to let all of our students play.

Fitness Laps - Bec Sherlock

Dates for your Diary

Grade 3-6 Melbourne Renegades Cricket Clinic: Thursday 22nd August @ Monivae (12:30pm - 1:30pm)

Grade 3-4 Hooptime: Tuesday 3rd September @ HILAC

Grade 5-6 Hooptime: Friday 6th September @ HILAC

Division Table Tennis: Friday 13th September @ Warrnambool Table Tennis Centre

Latham Wishart

lwishart@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au

Wellbeing

 Child Safety -   Bullying - No Way!  

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence has a new name—Bullying No Way.

Bullying No Way Week was this week and  is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative and connects schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.

The theme for 2024 is 'Everyone Belongs'.

When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It's about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness.

Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We're encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued.

At St Mary's, we focus on this every single day. We are not perfect by any means but we work very hard to be the best we can be and at all times we strive to be and do better. Working in partnership with our families is a vital part of the work we do.

Below is a link to the 'Bullying No Way' page with information for families around what is bullying and how we can work together to prevent bullying, as well as a link to our 'SchoolTV' page with information around cyberbullying.

Tania Stevens

Community Engagement

Father's Day Celebration (Footy Colours)

On Friday 30th August at 1.20pm, we will be inviting our Dad's and special friends to a Father's Day celebration at school.

Dad's and visitors are asked to join us for lunch - BYO - and then some fun time over playtime. Visitors are also welcome to stay on for Assembly at 2.55pm. Feel free to wear your footy colours too!

We can't wait to welcome you all to school! 

Busking for Change

Sustainability

St Mary's Christmas Parade

Leadership and Stewardship

Monivae Car Park

Monivae have asked to share this information about parking, which featured in their latest newsletter, with our community to ensure everyone is safe.

 Drop Off and Pick Up zones – with the increase in vehicle traffic:

• No student is to enter or exit a car near the Food Tech rooms or the bottom of the Excel Wing
• If parents are collecting students from both Monivae and St Mary’s, please use our preferred option of the Chevalier car park or there is limited space in the Monivae/St Mary’s quick pick-up zone

Change of Pick Up

If you are needing to change the arrangement of how your child is getting home, please ensure this is done by 1:30pm. We cannot guarantee being able to pass messages on close to the end of the day, due to the influx of phone calls and messages.

Building Update!