Week 8, Term 3 2022 - 30th August 2022
APRE's Reflection
Dear Parents,
This weekend we’re invited to take some time to honour our fathers. It is important that we recognise the contributions fathers make to our society and say "thank you" to those men who shaped our lives.
The following reflection exemplifies their impact:
When God Created Fathers
When the Good Lord was creating
fathers, He started with a tall frame.
An angel nearby said, "What kind of father is that?
If you're going to make children so close to the ground,
why have you put fathers up so high?
They won't be able to shoot marbles without kneeling,
tuck a child in bed without bending over
or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping.
God smiled and said, "Yes but, if I make them child-sized,
who would children have to look up to?"
Father’s Day may also be a useful time for fathers to reflect on what it means to be a father. Fatherhood is a gift from God, and with this great gift comes great responsibility. Being a responsible father requires hard work, yet, the reward is colossal.
It is in spending time with children where real bonds of love are forged, which will last into their adult lives. With a little imagination, time spent together can be both a source of fun and a source of education and formation.
In the home, children are taught skills to take their place in society. The family is a small microcosm of the wider community, and therefore, the perfect training ground for learning tenderness, forgiveness, respect and service for others.
Children learn these virtues best by observing the good example of their parents. The example of fathers makes a particular impression upon young children.
Truly; virtues are ‘caught, not taught.’
Happy Father's Day to all our dads. Thank you for the vital role you play in families and in our society. May your day be filled with all the things that give you a warm and happy feeling and leave you with bright memories to look back through the year.
Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education
From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose
Pupil Free Day
Please note that this Friday is a pupil free day. Staff will be involved in analysing Semester 1 academic data, reviewing 2022 school goals and assisting with formulating 2023 areas of focus. We will also hold our CPR refresher and First Aid courses.
Year 6 Camp
Our Year 6 students are attending their camp this Tue-Thu to the Capricorn Coast. On camp, students will learn about Indigenous history at the Dreamtime Cultural Centre, pat a variety of wildlife at Cooberrie Park, snorkel and glass bottom boat ride around Great Keppel Island and explore the Capricorn Caves. I thank the staff and parents attending; Mrs van Lint, Mrs Battaia, Mrs Motteram, Mrs Gordon, Mrs McGovern, Mr Tass and Mr Clarendon. We are scheduled to return around 6pm Thursday.
Acting Principal
I am away this week attending Yr 6 camp. Mrs Leotta is Acting Principal in my absence.
Reader's Cup
All the best to our readers cup team, who are travelling to Brisbane to compete at the Qld finals this week. Our team, consisting of Lara, Katie, Lily and Georgia, have been diligently reading a selection of 5 novels to prepare for this event. I am sure they will do well. Many thanks to Mrs Paul for preparing the girls and to Mrs Savige who will chaperone the girls to Brisbane.
Farewell
This week we farewell the Doll family (Alex, Bec, Annalise Yr 4, Felix and Heidi Yr 1), who relocate to Tasmania. They have been a great support of our school and on behalf of St Mary’s, I wish them all the very best for the future.
Students Riding to School – Safety Notice
We have been advised of some near misses and unsafe riding habits from our students who ride to/from school. Students are to dismount their bike when they reach the school boundary and walk it into the school grounds. At the end of the day, students need to be mindful of other parents/families exiting school, and to cross Juliet St safely using either the school crossing or the traffic lights near Mercy College. I ask parents whose students ride to school to discuss this with them.
Early Departure and Late Arrival at School
For the safety of all students, it is important that the following procedures are followed when students are collected early or arrive late for school;
- If your child needs to leave school during the day for any reason, they must be collected from the school office and signed out. Advanced notice to the school office will assist in having students ready at the collection time.
- Please do not go directly to your child’s class, as the class teacher is unable to amend the attendance roll.
- When returning to school following an appointment, students must report to the office so that the class roll can be marked accordingly.
- Students who arrive late to school in the morning (after 8:30am) must report to the school office before going to their classroom. This will prevent SMS messages being sent to parents when children are present at school.
Uniform Reminders
I issue an important reminder to all parents about our school uniform guidelines. We are noticing the vast majority of students are adhering to the uniform expectations, which is pleasing to see. However, we have noticed that there are a couple of areas that some students and parents need to be reminded of. They include;
- Boys hairstyles. Be neat in appearance and not falling into eyes or past the collar. Hair may not be dyed or worn in a style that is extreme or inappropriate for school (e.g. no tracks, rat’s tails, mo-hawks, top knots, hair no shorter than gauge 2 or undercuts that have a large variance between length). This includes mullets.
- Girls earrings. We are noticing some girls wearing large, dangly earrings that are not appropriate for school. Girls are reminded that studs and sleeper style earrings are preferred.
- Winter clothing. A reminder that the school jumper is to be worn. Navy trackpants (boys/girls) or navy tights (girls) can also be worn. Please avoid undershirts and other, non-school jumpers.
- School shoes. Plain black footwear is to be worn each day. An all-black jogger is recommended.
To access our full uniform guidelines, please click here.
Quote of the Week
"There's only two times in life; now and too late."
-Anh Do
Father's Day Stall
REMINDER: Our Father's Day Stall is open!
Students still have tomorrow and Thursday to buy something special for Dad.
Open from 8am-8:25am in the School Hall.
We wish all our fathers a very happy Father's Day on Sunday 4th September.
Pupil Free Day
REMINDER:
Pupil Free Day
Friday 2nd September
Tuckshop News
St Mary's Feast Day
Next Thursday, 8th September, we will hold our school feast day celebrations. The day will begin with our School Feast Day Mass at 8:45am in the School Hall. We would love to have you join us.
Our day will also include the cutting of a cake in honour of Our Lady's Birthday and our famous ‘St Mary’s Got Talent’ show from 11:15am in the hall.
Mrs Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education
APRE: Terri Leotta
October - Month of the Rosary
Next Term all classes will pray The Rosary each day in October. St Mary's honours the Blessed mother of Jesus and our school booklist requires that each student have their own set of Rosary beads throughout Prep to Year 6.
If your child does not have rosary beads, please purchase a set through our school office for $12 or source them from home, St Vincent de Paul or South Mackay Newsagency.
Terri Leotta
Assistant Principal: Religious Education
St Mary's Got Talent - Save the Date
Come along and see the amazing talent of our students. Thursday 8th September at 11.15am in the School Hall. This is always a highlight of our calendar and parents and relatives are most welcome to attend.
Art Extravaganza-Tuesday 13th September
As the St Mary’s Art Extravaganza gets closer, Miss Lenz and all students are working hard on learning their genre and producing some amazing art pieces.
The entry fee is a cash donation (to purchase your child(s) artwork).
There will also be art displays from our photograhpy club, the P&F's Sip & Paint event, and other artists.
Live music, a bar and food will take place on the green. Bento boxes are available to pre-order through Quickcliq.
Click on Meal Order, select the date as 13/09/2022, select Special Event Menu, then Art Show Bento Box.
If you can assist on the evening, or leading up to the event, below is a list of volunteers required:
- Bar / serving
- Collect display boards from St Pat’s (9th September)
- Collect display plants (12th September)
Sport News
With only 3 weeks left of Jump Rope for Heart students are beginning to refine their skills to present at our Jump Off afternoon in Week 10.
We have raised $3351 so far which is a great effort. Well done to Dillon and Nina who have been their class skipping champions for 5 weeks in a row. Can they make it 6 in a row?
Week 7 Skipping Champions
Prep C - Adelaide Year 3M - Lexie
Prep P - Remi Year 4C - Jack
Year 1B - Dillon Year 4K - Addison
Year 1L - Matilda Year 5L - Ariah & Nev
Year 2A- Mila & Emerson Year 5R - Magenta & Madison
Year 2B - Jasleen Year 6M - Bodene
Year 3B - Nina Year 6V - Ivy
Simone Sibley
HPE Teacher
Rugby League - St Mary's Battler's
Finals footy…….what a game! The St Mary’s battlers were outstanding. We won the game on team defense and a handy couple of tries from Sonny Richardson and Fynn Shears. Following this win, we have secured our spot in the Grand Final against West Mackay State School. Due to school camps, this final will be played on Wednesday 14th September at 4pm at the Abbott Park fields.
Steve Jackson and Karen Murphy Rugby League Gala Days
Paperwork for these gala days will be sent home yesterday. If you did not receive a note, please contact the school office.
https://www.saints.com.au/news/260405/footy-finals-fever-at-moorabbin-social
Year 5 Camp
In Week 6, our Year 5 campers really enjoyed the activities on offer at Seaforth Pines. Thank you to the staff and parents who supervised our students, for what were a fun-filled, educational and adventurous couple of days.
Student of the Week
Week 7, Term 3, Student Award Winners
| Prep C | Hudson | For your amazing journal writing this week. You were chopping up the sounds in words and writing your heart words perfectly - you are a writer! Well Done. |
| Prep C | Eloise | For your excellent show and share presentation. You were so confident and enthusiastic to share the special memories related to your clay sculptures, you are a star! |
| Prep P | Cayden | For wonderful work with your literacy learning. It's great to see you sounding out when you are reading and writing. Keep up the great work Cayden! |
| Prep P | Evelyn | For working hard with your writing this week. You did a great job of sounding out words on your own. We loved reading about your trip to Target to get a flamingo! |
| 1B | Alfie | For the excellent and accurate segmenting of sounds in your Daily Five activity this week. You completed this so quickly too! Well done. |
| 1L | Maggie | Thanks for helping out with the visiting teachers this week. |
| 2A | Meeka | For the fantastic effort you have made in your reading responses and persuasive writing tasks. Well done! |
| 2A | Cohen | For the fantastic effort you have made in your reading responses and persuasive writing tasks. Well done! |
| 2B | Jasleen | For the extra effort you are putting into making your work the best it can be. You are showing the virtue of excellence. |
| 3B | Alice | For your fantastic listening in JEMM maths this week. You were the only one who didn't get caught out with the new question. |
| 3B | Gabriel | For the vocabulary knowledge you bring to our BOOST reading group discussions. You are like our walking dictionary. |
| 3M | Zoe | For your focus during our Maths lessons this week. You persevered even when you found some of the concepts difficult. Keep up the great work Zoe! |
| 4C | Isla | For consistently being attentive, organised and ready to listen. You truly are a star student Isla! |
| 4K | Harper | For all round great results on your weekly test. You are continuously showing improvement across all areas of English and Maths. Keep it up! |
| 4K | Sophia | For an amazing class talk presentation. You really catered to your audience and showed improvement in your expression. You were an A1 entertainer. |
| 5L | Zac | Zac, the effort you’ve put into your ‘Sunflowers’ for the visual arts assessment is fabulous!! You could be our next ‘Van Gogh’! |
| 5R | Stella | For the determination and perseverance you showed at camp. You bounced back with a smile and show us what true grit looked like. We are so proud of you! |
| 5R | Hamiora | For the way you worked with your peers at camp to achieve common goals. It was great to see you having fun and showing initiative at the same time. |
| 6M | Tayla | For finally getting into the 'EMMs 20' club. Your hard work and focus has paid off. Keep up the great work Tayla! |
| 6M | Jack | For the enthusiasm and positive energy you bring to problem solving tasks. Your 'can do' attitude is contagious! |
| 6V | Samuel | For excellent ideas and vocabulary choices in out 'quick writes' this week. Well done Sam! |
| 6V | Christina | For being organised and managing your class time effectively to work on due tasks. Well done Christina, these are excellent skills to have in preparation for high school. |
Community News
