FRIDAY 21 MAY

From the Principal

Dear families, 

As with many others around the world, I am praying for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas.  Already too many people have died (and distressingly far too many children), too many homes have been destroyed and despite human intervention, there seems no end in sight to the violence.

Inspired by Jesus we are called to be people of peace, love and hope. And so we pray today: 

Come O Christ of Peace, Come O Spirit of Peace.  

Have mercy on your people,

Speak to the hearts of leaders,

Bring healing, send grace, 

breathe Peace into the Holy Land. 

Amen.

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

There is a team of incredible teachers here at St Marys! On Tuesday, we met to moderate writing samples from each child across the school (see photos below). This process allows teachers to make accurate determinations about learning growth that is aligned to the curriculum and consistent from Foundation to Year 6. These determinations will be communicated to families in the mid-year reports that will be available via PAM in week 10 of this term. These reports will provide a formal assessment of your child’s learning growth. We will be holding parent teacher interviews in Week 2 Term 3 (20th and 21st July) when parents, teachers and students can discuss these reports and set future goals. 

Thanks for being in partnership with us in this important aspect of your child’s learning. 

Writing Samples

Safe to School Project

8 of our students at St Mary’s have been chosen to work on a Safe to School project offered by Central Grampians Local Learning & Employment Network (CGLLEN).

Hannah French, an artist and animator, has been working with Bridie, Nansi, Eden, Ben, Charlotte, Riley, Mabel and Evie over the past 5 weeks creating animations that represent a mode of transport. Our theme is bike and scooter safety. This project is designed to help address issues of safety around pick up and drop off times, create safe routes to school and encourage active transport to and from school. Most importantly, the project acknowledges that road safety is a shared responsibility of the whole community.

The clip developed by our students will be combined with clips from other schools involved in the project, and insights from Victoria Police staff to create an in-class resource for us at St Mary’s. 

We are so proud of our students for their hard work and look forward to seeing their progress. 

Lost Property

Over the past few weeks, we have had quite a few families with students missing their school jumpers. We are asking parents to please check your child's jumper label and return any jumpers that are not yours back to the school. 

We thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Seeking bread bags and tags!

St Mary's has just signed up to be part of the Wonder Recycling Rewards Program for schools, which contributes to recycling and making play equipment for schools throughout Australia.

We are seeking any empty plastic bread bags and tags that families may have, which can be put into the large collection bin situated in the office foyer. The more we collect, the more reward points we gain to redeem new sports equipment for the school! Please see flyer below.

Upcoming Dates

TUESDAY 25 MAY
Middle LC Bowling Club at Ararat Bowls Club

WEDNESDAY 26 MAY
Senior LC - Black Ranges Winter Sports Carnival - Stawell

FRIDAY 28 MAY
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY - NO LUNCH ORDERS THIS WEEK

TUESDAY 1 JUNE
Middle LC Bowling Club at Ararat Bowls Club

FRIDAY 4 JUNE
Book Club Issue 4 Orders Due

MONDAY 14 JUNE
Queen's Birthday Public Holiday - NO SCHOOL

FRIDAY 18 JUNE
Marian College School Closure Day - NO LUNCH ORDERS THIS WEEK

FRIDAY 25 JUNE
Last Day of Term 2
Early finish at 2.15pm

WEDNESDAY 14 JULY - FRIDAY 16 JULY                                                                                                  Grade 5/6 Camp Sovereign Hill

TUESDAY 20 JULY                                                                                                                                         Parent/Teacher Interviews

WEDNESDAY 21 JULY                                                                                                                                  Parent/Teacher Interviews

Happy Birthday

To the following students celebrating their birthdays this week:

Darcy C, Nansi B & Mabelle B

St Mary's School Office Hours

MONDAY              8.30AM - 4.00PM

TUESDAY             8.30AM - 4.00PM

WEDNESDAY        8.30AM - 4.00PM

THURSDAY           8.30AM - 4.00PM

FRIDAY                9.00AM - 4.00PM

Marian College Year 7 2022 School Tours

Ararat College - Open Night