St Mary's Newsletter

We believe strongly in God and in each other.

Our first Children’s Liturgy will be held on Sunday at the 10.30am Mass and will be led by Mrs O’Malley and Miss Lynch.  All are welcome to come along.

It was wonderful to see so many families at the Welcome Back Pool Party last Friday evening.  The children (and adults) enjoyed an evening swim on what was a lovely summer’s night.  Thank you to Mrs O’Malley and Mrs Riethuller for organising the logistics and cooking the sausage sizzle, to all the staff for their help with serving, being lifeguards, organising social media posts and photos, etc. A very particular thank you goes to Mrs Judy Jefferys for taking responsibility for the pool on the night.  $440.00 was raised for Project Compassion.

Linking with our Strategic Plan, the 2022 School Improvement Goals are:

Catholic Identity:

Improve and strengthen school and parish relations.

Assist and support staff in completing their Accreditation requirements

Education

Whole school Numeracy focus – particularly in the area of mental maths and basic fact recall

Embed Talk for Writing across the school

Look at school assessment and feedback processes – add test/work sample folder to go home at the end of each term to current formal, whole school feedback processes

Community

Embed the school values – addition of faction attributes to this process

Stewardship

Continue with whole school marketing focus

Clarity around the roles of the School Advisory Council and P&F

Fee Statements for 2022 were emailed out to all families this week.  If you have not received yours please contact Mrs Ryan in the office.  A reminder that the Payment Option Form must be returned to the office.

I have been advised, that due to an unexpected delay, the roadworks, in their current format will continue for another week.  Thank you for your patience and understanding with the roadworks.

Thank you to everyone for their support and understanding in relation to the high caseload protocols that were introduced earlier this week for schools.  

One of the key protocols is that groups (be they children or adults) are not to gather on school grounds.   We have modified many of our usual practices to mitigate the risk of this occurring (Monday assembly, Staff Meetings, etc). We will continue to apply a risk assessment for any upcoming activities in relation to the protocols and see how we can best move forward, in light of the government mandates and in the best interest of the students.

While the gathering of parents on the school site is not an issue before school, we have noticed that parents are gathering at pick up time with no social distancing.  Parents are asked not to be on the school grounds prior to 3.00pm.  If you are picking up a child in Kindy to Year Two after school, please stay in your car until 3.00pm before making your way to the classroom.  Students who are in Year Three to Six are capable of making their own way to the back car park pick up zone independently.  

Parents who are coming into school during the day to collect students, drop off forgotten items, etc.  will need to access the front car park via the laneway off Kendall St.  Parents should not be walking through the school after 8.40am and before 3.00pm.  Please be reminded to call the office first and we will have your child/children ready to be collected.  Students will need to be signed in/out at the desk which has been set up outside the office door.  Any items to be dropped off can also be left on the desk.

While these protocols are not 'the St Mary's way' or how we envisaged to begin the new school year, they have been put in place to protect our students and to reduce the spread and transmission of COVID19 in school settings.  

At the end of 2021, I was nominated by my peers and consequently elected onto the Catholic Primary Principals Association (CPPA) Executive.  This will mean that I will be away from school at certain times throughout the year (roughly twice a term) to attend meetings, etc.  Next Thursday and Friday are two such days.  I will also be taking part (remotely) in the Leaders Forum on Monday.  Mrs Riethmuller and Mrs O'Malley will be responsible for the school in my absence.

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families.

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal

There will be Children’s Liturgy at St Mary’s Parish on Sunday, 13th February commencing at 10.30am. All children and their families are welcome and encouraged to attend. 

Kind regards,

Mrs Zoe O'Malley

Assistant Principal

We have had an amazing start to the year in Year Two!

We began learning about items from the past such as a typewriter, gramophone and the penny-farthing.

Did you know… the heart of the Melbourne Cup racehorse, Phar Lap is a part of the National Museum’s collection. We loved learning all about this incredible horse and went on a virtual tour of the museum to look at some other interesting artefacts.

In Religion, we have been exploring our immediate family and extended family. We brainstormed all the things our families share with each other and how we spend time with our family. Christian Meditation has been a great way to calm down and be mindful.

Visual Art Fridays are our favourite way to end the week. We have enjoyed some guided drawings and created some very creative artwork. Look out for our signature on the next priceless piece of art you see! We have explored the colour wheel and started learning more about warm and cool colours.

We have got into the routine of spelling, reading and writing and had so much fun using SeeSaw for lots of activities. We have practised these skills on a game where we must answer questions to grow a crop and fix machinery on our own virtual farms!

Mathematics has turned our thinking brains on and our favourite warm up game is Pig, Sheep, Cow. We are that good at it now, we can play it in partners! This term we will continue to look at numbers and place value and are excited to play the games waiting for us in the cupboard. 

We are looking forward to the wonderful year we are going to have!

Merredin: Saturday 6.30pm & Sunday 10.30am

Kellerberrin: Sunday 8.00am