St Mary's Bulletin

We believe in God and in each other

One of our identified school improvement goals from last year was the implementation of a process whereby as a community, we were able to embed and fully understand our school values.  This year we are extending this process to include the faction attributes.  The students will be able to receive points (tokens) for their faction and at the end of the term the faction with the most points will receive a reward.  Each term and on St Mary’s Day, each faction will also join together to complete connectedness activities. 

You may have noticed the letter boxes on the Hall walkway – this is where the students will place their tokens when they receive them.

We had a lovely Mass this morning to start the 2022 School Year.  Thank you to Fr Matthew Hodgson who led the Mass and delivered a beautiful Homily telling the children that they can overcome anything if they set their mind to it - just like David overcame Goliath.  At the Mass, Fr Matthew also commissioned our SAC and P&F Executive.  Thank you to those families that were able to join us this morning.

There was a great deal of work that occurred over the holidays – the specialist room is finally complete – which is very exciting, feel free to pop in and have a look next time you are at school!  Room Two and Three received a much needed freshen up by being painted.

Thank you to All Round Maintenance Merredin for preparing the gardens, ovals and grounds.  Thank you also to Mario Discenza who has taken on the maintenance at St Mary’s School – he was certainly kept busy during the holidays!

The St Mary’s School Code of Conduct promotes positive work practices and establishes expectations for personal and professional boundaries concerning appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in relation to staff, students, volunteers, parents and guardians. It provides guidance about behaviour, relationships, attitudes and responsibilities and outlines the process that will be followed if the code is not observed. Listed below are the 12 Conduct Statements for your information – the entire Code of Conduct, which was recently reviewed by the staff, can be found on the St Mary’s website. 

Conduct Statements 

1. You act safely and competently.
2. You give priority to students’ safety and well-being in all your behaviour and decision making.
3. You act in accordance with the values of the Gospel as defined in the Code of Ethical Conduct.
4. You conduct yourself in accordance with laws, agreements, policies and standards relevant to your relationship with the school community.
5. You respect the dignity, culture, values and beliefs of each member of the school community.
6. You treat personal information about members of the school community as private and confidential.
7. You give impartial, honest and accurate information about the education, safety and wellbeing of students.
8. You support all members of the school community in making informed decisions about students.
9. You promote and preserve the trust and privilege inherent in your relationship with all members of the school community.
10. You maintain and build on the community’s trust and confidence in Catholic schools and the Church.
11. You act reflectively and ethically.
12. You allow students to have a voice in their education, safety and well-being.

At St Mary’s School, we value the relationship between home and school  and believe that open communication between the two is a factor in student happiness and success at school.. At St Mary’s, we have many vehicles of communication, including the website, Skoolbag App. Email, newsletters and bulletins.  To streamline this communication, could I please ask you to take note of the following: 

Emails:  Staff can be emailed directly using firstname.surname@cewa.edu.au Please keep emails to staff short and to the point.. Avoid discussing academic, social or behavioural concerns in emails – these are best addressed via face to face meetings or through telephone conversation.  If you are sending emails after hours, please do not expect an immediate response (staff need to relax and recharge after hours in preparation for the next school day) within 24 hours is an acceptable response time. 

Skoolbag App:  Skoolbag App is a one-way means of communication between home and school.. It is not a vehicle for advertising community events.  This is best done through the Newsletter/Bulletin  and/or P&F Facebook page. 

SeeSaw:  This is used as an e-portfolio – so parents can see what their children are doing/have done at school during the day.  Although it has a  message functions, please do not use this as a means of communication as messages may not be seen and responded to and therefore your concern or query may not be addressed. 

Any contact with school staff in regard to school matters is to be done through the appropriate channels at school ie email, telephone call, diary, communication books, etc.  Please do not contact staff through social media ie Facebook, messenger, Instagram, etc as staff will not respond and therefore your concern or query may not be addressed. 

Throughout the year if you have any concerns please follow this procedure: 

It is important that if you have a query, question or concern that you discuss it with the appropriate people at that point in time.  Please do not let things linger or turn a blind eye in the hope that they will eventually go away. 

Should you wish to speak to me, I am generally out and about in the morning before and after school, I can be emailed directly or through the school admin email, alternatively you can call the reception to speak with me or make a time to meet with me. 

On Tuesday, 8 February 2021 we will be holding our Parent Information Evening.  This is an opportunity for families to hear what their child’s teacher’s educational philosophies are and how their classroom will operate.  It is important that at least one parent from each family attends.  The outline for the evening is as follows:

5.30pm:  Pre-primary, Year One and Year 3/4

6.15pm:  Year Two, Year 4/5 and Year Six

Thank you to Chesney Maloney and Asha Carr who have nominated to take on the President and Vice President roles on the P & F Executive.  Our P & F Executive consists of Chesney Maloney – President

Asha Carr – Vice President

Meg Gethin – Treasurer

Lola Okeowo – Secretary

The first P&F Meeting for the year will be held on Monday evening (7 February) in the Library beginning at 7.30pm.  Everyone is welcome to come along and support the P&F.

Please see poster at the end of this Bulletin for information about a current Hair Accessory Fundraiser.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the pool tonight for our Welcome Back Pool Party – tonight’s weather should be ideal for swimming.  Please ensure that you check in using the Safe WA app or manually.

Due to personal circumstances, All Round Maintenance Merredin are no longer able to continue with the gardening contract at St Mary's School.  Therefore, we are currently looking for someone who can take over the care of the St Mary's School grounds asap.  If you know someone who is suitable, please ask them to get in touch with me via the office.

My sincerest thanks go to Matt and Kat for the amazing work they have done on the gardens during their time as the gardening and maintenance contractors for St Mary's School.

Thank you to all the staff who worked tirelessly before school returned to ensure that the new school year could start smoothly.  All the classrooms looked amazing!  The start this year has been seamless and I know that the preparation of the staff has made this so.  I know that I have said it before, but we are so lucky to have the calibre of staff we have at St Mary’s School.  Thank you to our wonderful students who have come back to school ready to learn and so full of enthusiasm for the year ahead.  Thank you also to all our parents who have followed the mask requirements while on the school grounds and have been so understanding in regard to the roadworks on South Avenue.  If Week One is any indication, then we are in for another fabulous year at St Mary’s School in 2022.

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families.

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal