Newsletter Term 2 2025 12th June
Principal Report
Dear parents and carers,
I hope you all enjoyed a lovely long weekend, whether you were tucked up tight in front of the fire or braving the elements. The students have shared so many exciting stories of fun in the snow and it's wonderful to see them delight in simple pleasures.
I would like to let you know that our wonderful school counsellor, Nicole Chambers, has secured a position with Centacare as the Supervisor for Primary Counsellors across the diocese. This is a brilliant promotion for Mrs Chambers and is so very well deserved.
We are of course sad that she will be leaving us. Mrs Chambers has given incredible support to the students and families of St Mary's in her role over many years and has formed strong friendships among our staff. I would like to thank her personally for her support for me as Principal when we have had some difficult situations to negotiate. She is always generous with her time and expertise, and is a brilliant collaborator. Her last official day at St Mary's is Wednesday 18 June.
A new counsellor has been already been appointed for St Mary's. Her name is Makayla Fitzgerald. She is a psychologist with experience in counselling support for children across a number of services, most recently with the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service. Mrs Chambers will conduct a thorough hand-over with Ms Fitzgerald and has/ will be in contact with families affected by this change in personnel. Ms Fitzgerald will work 5 days a fortnight with the change of Wednesday to Thursday, which will work in brilliantly with Mrs Nobes in her role of Wellbeing Coordinator. We look forward to giving Ms Fitzgerald a warm, St Mary's welcome.
I would like to remind you this week of some of the ways that we can work together to keep our students' safe. The school gates open at 8:20am, from which time there is supervision of them until they go into class just before 9am. We often see a queue of children at the gates from 8am, which worries me, as there is no-one to watch over them during that time. Please do your best to not drop your children before 8:20am or make use of the before school service at McAuley if work commitments need you to drop them off earlier. Similarly in the afternoon, please ensure your children know where they will be picked up from or what bus they need to be on. We regularly have students in our office with no idea how they are getting home that day. The children are supervised until 3:30pm, unless they are catching the bus, and we wait with them in the undercroft until the last bus has collected the last students.
It is also really important that you do not use the bus bay before and after school as the driveway is used by school buses and delivery vehicles. It is high risk for pedestrians to be using this driveway so please use the school exits or the main gate. There is always someone in the staffroom with the buzzer, ready to open the gate for you.
In terms of online safety, which I spoke to you about in the last newsletter, our students have regular lessons and workshops around how to keep themselves safe online. Please remember to tap into the resources on the eSafety Commissioner website if you would like to learn more about this. It helps to support your children if they know that you are across this. https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids
We are currently researching commercial programs to assist students build mental fitness, resilience and a gratitude mindset. We are going to trial Grow Your Mind (Alice Peel) in some of our classrooms next term and if we find it helps improve student wellbeing then we will implement it throughout the school. There is a text that has been written for students called How to be a Fantastic, Sensational, Good Enough Kid and it comes highly recommended from schools already using this resource.
I love this take on growing perspective for example: Consider a fallen tree in the forest: to us, it may look like rotten, useless wood. But what about the insects who love living in the log? To them, it a safe haven of food, family and important work. And how about the insect-eating echidna who reaps the benefits of this situation? I's not necessarily about working out what is wrong and right. Instead, it's about understanding different perspectives before you make decisions. This program is full of lots of practical, relatable examples for students to use and exercises/scenarios to help them build new skills.
Our teachers are all head down with report-writing at the moment and these will be published to you on the 30 June. For our students in Years 1-6, please be reminded that a C grade means they are performing satisfactorily at their level. If you would like to discuss your child's report with his/her teacher you are most welcome to make an appointment to do so by contacting the office staff. A number of staff have already met with parents prior to the reports being published.
In closing, a heartfelt thank you to Heidi in Year 6 for facilitating a Staff Vs Students sporting tournament last week. I love it when students take initiative to build school spirit in ways that are meaningful to them. Well done to our talented teachers for taking home the inaugural trophy (kindly donated by the Penberthy-Neil family) for this round.
Take care of yourselves and each other,
Gayle Stratton
Assistant Principal
School Attendance
Student attendance at St Mary's is important to us. Every day of attendance adds to a student's opportunity to learn, develop and experience success in education. There is no safe number of days for missing school. If a student misses as little as four days each term they will have missed over a year of learning, by the end of their schooling.
At St Mary's our process is as follows:
Classroom teachers monitor the attendance of their students. The classroom teacher generally telephones the parents/ carers of students with unexplained absences after 2 days and notes this in a student chronicle. The teacher will notify the Assistant Principal of unexplained absences after 2-3 days.
Classroom teachers will generally telephone the parents/carers of students with explained absences after 3 or 4 days to check on the welfare of the student. This is also added to the student chronicle (school recording system).
The Assistant Principal follows the CEDB Attendance Policy’s instructions in regard to sending out the Attendance Letters to families once various thresholds have been reached.
It is important you complete the absence note on compass to provide a reason when your child is away from school. We pride ourselves on an excellent school attendance rate, we are here to work together with families to maintain this.
Student Initiative Staff v students wellbeing games
I have been fortunate to be able to work with our Year 6 School Captain Heidi, to establish a student initiative to promote an inclusive and fun lunchtime competition.
Last week, Year 6 student Heidi took the lead in organising a Staff vs Students Challenge — a fun-filled competition designed to bring our school community together.
Her initiative brought excitement, teamwork, and plenty of laughter as students and teachers went head-to-head in a series of friendly challenges. It was a fantastic display of leadership and school spirit — well done, Heidi! All of the Year 6 students had the opportunity to nominate for a particular sport netball, soccer, basketball or channel ball. As it stands the teachers were able to narrowly defeat Year 6 students in netball and basketball, while the students dominated two from two games in channel ball and drew in soccer. Term 2 challenge score board stands at teachers 5 students 5.
Teachers Vs Students
Teacher Vs Student report
This week was not a great week for the students. The total score is:
You get 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss. The teachers won Netball, Basketball, Tied in Gym Ball soccer. Students won two games of the channel ball.
Thank you to all the Teachers and Students that participated. It is all about school spirit. (Until we present the trophy) Let’s hope the students play better next term and teachers keep doing what you’re are doing!
written by Emily and Heidi year 6
Religious Education
Claire Nicholson
Religious Education Coordinator
First Holy Communion: Last Sunday we joyfully celebrated Pentecost, a special feast that marks the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. It is also a very special time for some of our students who are preparing to make or have recently made their First Holy Communion. We congratulate them and their families on this important step in their faith journey. As they receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time, may they continue to grow in God’s love and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Vinnies Winter Appeal: Winter Warmers - As temperatures drop, our Mini Vinnies group are collecting winter warmers to help those in need. We’re kindly asking for donations of gently used or new items such as jumpers, blankets, canned soup, cup noodles, Milo, gloves—and especially towels. Please ensure that all items are in reasonable condition and clean. You can drop off your donations at the collection point outside the school office each morning. We will continue this into Term 3. Every contribution makes a difference in keeping our community warm this winter. Thank you for your generosity and support!
KIDS’ MINISTRY: A number of parishioners have expressed interest in forming a “nursery group” or bringing Children’s Liturgy back to the 10am Mass at St Mary’s. If you are interested in this, a meeting will be held at St Mary’s after the 10am Mass on Sunday 29 June. To RSVP, or if you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to be involved, please contact Amy Sullivan at ministries.orange@cdob.org.au or 6362 2378.
Grandparent's Day Liturgy: The first Friday back next term we will be holding a liturgy in our school hall for our wonderful Grandparents. Our liturgy will begin at 12:30pm on the 25th of July.
Christian Leadership Awards
Teresa Jackson Ella Thomas Tysharnii McKellar Angus Jose | In recognition of "Positive View of Life" |
Alannah Agland Eva Bain Finn Nobes Eva Soley | In recognition of "Community & Common Good" |
Sebastian Stedman Harriet Vogler | In recognition of " God's presence in the world" |
Curriculum News
SEMESTER REPORTS
Teachers are currently working on student reports for the semester. These will be available to parents on Compass on June 30.
Learning Statements are used to report on student achievement relevant to Focus Areas, Outcomes, skills and knowledge. In Years 1-6, these Learning Statements are reported using the grading A-E lettering. The definitions of these letters, taken from the Common Grade Scale, are located on the front page of the report for parents and carers and included below. In Kindergarten, the three-point scale of Working Towards, Working At and Working Beyond is used.
Common Grade Scale
The scale describes performance at each of the five grade levels.
A - The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.
B - The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.
C - The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.
D - The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.
E - The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.
To provide further information for parents and carers, teachers identify a student’s Learning Strengths and Learning Goals through the provision of report comments. These comments are designed to supplement the Learning Statements and areas of achievement and support all stakeholders to understand where their child’s learning is now and what they need to do to move their learning forward.
Effort and Application
Staff draw upon various pieces of evidence and observation throughout the semester to determine the consistency of student effort in each Learning Area.
- Outstanding - the student demonstrates outstanding effort and application to all aspects of this Learning Area.
- Commendable - the student displays very good effort and application to most aspects of this Learning Area.
- Satisfactory - the student displays satisfactory effort and application in some aspects of this Learning Area.
- Inconsistent - the student displays an inconsistent application.
Behaviours for Learning - the categories for this area are:
- Consistently
- Developing
- Needs Improvement
School News
| Year Group | Grade Reps | Event |
| Kindy | Michaela Wilson & Alice Weily | Kindy Orientation |
| Year 1 | Sharon Henry & Stacey Tracey | Kindy Welcome Morning tea-"Tissues & Tim Tams" & Father's Day Gift Stall |
| Year 2 | Olivia Day Gorham & Amanda Fragar | Father's Day Breakfast |
| Year 3 | Renee Davis & Lizzy Jaensch | Mother's Day Breakfast |
| Year 4 | Olivia Day Gorham & Renee Davis | Easter Egg Raffle |
| Year 5 | Jess McGrath & Katrina Holway | Mother's Day Gift Stall |
| Year 6 | Kellie Pickering, Kym Flitcroft & Angela Duncan | Kindy Welcome Morning Tea -"Tissues & Tim Tams "& Year 6 farewell |
Sports News
Bathurst Diocesan Community Sport
Dear Parents,
Keep up to date with sporting events and achievements across the Bathurst Diocese. Search CEBD community sport or use the following link.
https://sites.google.com/bth.catholic.edu.au/cedbsportcommunity/
SPORTS UNIFORM 2 (Winter)
(any changes to the uniform days will be sent out via Compass)
Kindergarten - Friday
Year One - Friday
Year Two - Friday
Year Three - Thursday
Year Four - Thursday
Year Five - Thursday & Friday
Year Six - Friday
Class News
Canteen News
SEVERE REACTIONS TO ‘NUTS’ & ‘EGGS’
As some of our students have a ‘nut’ and/or ‘egg’ allergy, we ask that nuts, nut
products and eggs NOT be packed as part of school snacks and lunches.
Sometimes even contact with nuts or eggs can trigger the severe reaction. This
severe allergy is called ANAPHYLAXIS and can be life-threatening.
Please, NO eggs, peanut butter, Nutella, nut products, etc.
(Check those labels to see that products do not contain nuts.)
School-Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning (SPB4L)
SPB4L
Our focus this week:
CORRIDORS
At St Mary's students are reminded of the importance of the expected behaviours in the corridors.
I will:
- stay out of corridors during break times.
- ask permission to go into the corridor at lunch or recess if I have left something in my bag or if I am going to a lunch club such as library.
- walk safely in line or pairs in the corridors.
- stay left to allow others to pass.
- keep the corridors tidy.
- step aside or open doors for others.
- only touch my own belongings.
- remember the corridors are out of bounds before school, at recess, lunch and after school.
YARNING CIRCLE
I will:
- sit and yarn, not run around.
- respect other people using the space for quiet time.
- respect and care for the space.
- report any misuse or damage to the teacher.
Yarning Circle
Health Matters
Medication at School- Parental Advice
If your child requires medication that needs to be administered during school hours, please bring the medication to the school office, where it is stored safely. This includes asthma inhalers.
Medication must be authorised by a Medical practitioner with a letter
Students can come to the office at an arranged time to have the medication administered by trained First Aid Officers.
The office does not have Panadol, unless parents supply and complete a form for their child only.
Thank you
Student Wellbeing
Children with communication devices such as iPhones and Smart Watches must be handed to the school office in the morning before class and collected at the end of the day. This includes any device capable of taking photos.
Please support your child to meet this school requirement.
If you need to contact your child during school hours please call the school office.
Community News
CCSP PARENT WEBINAR
Parents and carers of tweenagers and teenagers, these two webinars are for you!
PLEASE JOIN CCSP’S FREE WEBINARS IN TERM 2 Register using the link - see you online!
PARENTING TWEENS: WHAT KIDS NEED NOW, BEFORE THE TEEN YEARS
For parents and carers of primary school students 8+
Presented by Michelle Mitchell
Tuesday 24 June
7pm - 8pm
NO Parking in the Bowling Alley car park
the bowling alley car park is for their patrons so please park elsewhere when dropping or picking up your children.
The PCYC has many parks that can be used for dropping off and picking up
Thankyou
St Mary's Uniform Shop
is run by Parent Volunteers and is open from 8:45 am for an hour on Friday Mornings.
If you have put your order through Flexi schools it will be packed the following Friday and sent home with your child.
Dear Parents & Carers
Please label students' clothing , so we can return them from lost property with ease.
Clothes that don't have names will be returned to the clothing pool, if not collected by the end of term.
Thank you