St Mary's Newsletter

In his letter to the Philippians, St Paul wrote:  For us, our home is in heaven, and from there will come our Saviour Jesus Christ.  With power, he subdues the whole world.  He will transform our imperfect bodies into copies of his glorious body.  

Pride hurts our relationships.  For one thing, it prevents us from seeking reconciliation with others when we think that we are always right.  During Lent, we should all try humility building gestures such as:  biting our tongues, giving (donating) in secret, saying ‘sorry’, rejecting vanity and forgiving others.

On Tuesday we celebrate the Feast of St Joseph with Mass led by the Year Six students beginning at 9.00am.  St Joseph was the earthly father of Jesus and the saint on whom Mary McKillop built her order, the sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.  This order of nuns was instrumental in setting up St Mary’s school and up until a few years ago were prominent in the Merredin community.

Our GEMS visitors were very impressed with our school.  They joined the students for assembly on Monday morning and were taken with the way the students conducted themselves and the ‘community' feel of St Mary’s.

Congratulations to all the swimmers who competed in the Interschool Swimming Carnival against Merredin College today.  I am told that the students of St Mary’s exhibited the school values of leadership, sportsmanship and respect with distinction.  Thanks must go to Mrs Criddle for all her hard work in organising a well run event.

For STAFF this includes but is not limited to:

Being inclusive of all

Acknowledging the gifts of students by giving out awards- Christian Value Award, Excellence Award/Specialist Award/Mary McKillop Award, etc

Sharing pastoral care information at staff meetings about staff and students

Putting notes into SEQTA (pastoral care, academic performance and behaviour and parent meetings)

Sharing students work with the principal

Teaching Protective Behaviours throughout the school  

For PARENTS this includes but is not limited to:

Attending Parent Information Evenings

Attending the Open Morning

Attending the Grandparents Morning Tea

Open Invitation to all Masses and Liturgical Events

Thankyou Morning Tea

Being welcome at assemblies

Principal and classroom teachers have an open-door policy

Parents are informed about their child’s progress

For STUDENTS this includes but is not limited to:

Having an emphasis on the school values

Buddy Bench

Teaching the children to be respectful for each other

Students are able to approach all staff members about their concerns 

For VISITORS/VOLUNTEERS this includes but is not limited to:

We expect visitors to be respectful and mindful of the school values

Visitors and volunteers to have positive interaction with staff and students 

The Healthy Food and Drink Choices Policy includes:  

Class Parties  

·            May be scheduled once per year  

·            Have children share food that is bought in for each party. Eg. boys bring the foods for the party or whatever provides a balanced number of students.  

·            Parents are encouraged to use the type of food that be brought in for class parties ensuring it adheres to the Traffic Light system – green foods more and amber less. 

·            Only small plates of food be sent in to class and teachers will assign boys/girls to bring food in, to avoid wastage.  

Parent-Teacher Interviews will begin in Week Eight for all classes Pre-primary to Year Six.  This is a great time for parents and teachers to discuss the children and see how they have settled into their new year level and to set goals for them moving forward.  Information about how to book a time with your child’s teacher will be sent home via Skoolbag today.

The next P&F Meeting will be held in the Library at 7.30pm on Monday, 18 March.  This meeting is for the dads (Beer and Buddies) although mums are also very welcome to attend!

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families. 

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal

Welcome to our new St Mary's Tuckshop menu,

*  Our aim in most of the changes is to provide a service to the school community that ensures the freshest quality of food and drink choices using the Traffic Light System and to also minimise any unnecessary wastage of food.

*  Please be aware the menu will change according to the season.

*  To avoid disappointment, pre ordering recess is recommended.  Please place any pre order recess items on the back of your lunch order bag and return it to the canteen on Friday morning with payment included before school starts. 

*  If your child only requires a drink at recess they can come and purchase that at recess time without placing an order.

*  Please make sure the correct change is put into the lunch bags.

*  Ice-creams will only be available for purchase at Lunch Time.

On Tuesday the 5th of March, the Kindy, Pre-Primary and Year Two students celebrated  Shrove Tuesday.  Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Lent begins.   

How Are Pancakes Involved?  

Many years ago, after people went to church to confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday, they returned home to have a feast. One of the dishes that was often made was pancakes. This is why Shrove Tuesday is sometimes known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day.  

Last week, the students participated in a whole school Lent activity. Each class discussed extra things people can do or things they can give up during Lent and the importance of this. Students were then asked to write or draw one thing that they would do extra or give up during Lent on a footprint. The student’s footprints are displayed outside the Library. Feel free to pop by and have a look! 

Last night, the Sacramental Parent Night was held in the school library for any students participating in Reconciliation, Communion or Confirmation this year. Thank you to Father Andrew Bowron for giving a brief explanation about the Sacraments and their importance. Important dates for each of the Sacraments were also discussed as well as the purpose of the Commitment Books. If you were unable to attend, please get in contact with me and I will provide you with a copy of the handouts.  

Mrs Hannah Herbert 

Religious Education Coordinator 

Over the last few weeks Year Fours have been exploring the meaning and origin of Lent. Time has been spent reading scripture and linking stories from Jesus’ life to our lives today. We have read scripture on Jesus’ final days and have learnt about unlikely friendships through reading the story of Levi. We have also made Lenten commitments that we hope to follow in the lead up to Easter. 

The Year One class have been very busy doing a variety of activities.  We have been looking at different modes of transport and classifying them according to Land, Sea or Air.  Then we made paper aeroplanes and had a number of races to see who had designed the fastest aeroplane.  

We have been looking at measurement and the different types of containers we can use to measure.   Then we used a number of class objects to estimate and measure a variety of shapes.

In a world that is increasingly digitised and automated, it is critical to the wellbeing and sustainability of the economy, the environment and society, that the benefits of information systems are exploited ethically.  Digital systems, such as mobile and desktop devices and networks are transforming learning, recreational activities, home life and work. 

Digital systems are supporting new ways of collaborating and communicating, and require new skills such as computational and systems thinking. These technologies are an essential problem-solving toolset in our knowledge-based society.  

Thursday, 7 March 2019 saw us compete in our first major sporting event for the year with the students participating in the St Mary’s Faction Swimming Carnival. The weather looked ominous, but luckily we were able to get through all our events unscathed. The students were amazing in and out of the pool with both ability and behaviour and are to be commended for this.

Thank you to the Merredin Swimming pool and Meagan and John Symmonds, the Merredin Swimming Club, the St Mary’s staff, the amazing parent volunteers and of course the students. 

YEAR 3 

Runner Up Boy                              Charlie Growden

Champion Boy                               Brock Barnett 

Runner Up Champion Girl          Skye Wilson

Champion Girl                                Isabella Stones 

YEAR 4 

Runner Up Champion Boy          Blair Carr

Champion Boy                                Tyler Geier 

Runner Up Champion Girl          Gracie Hayes Thompson and Lilly Townrow

Champion Girl                                Charlotte Criddle 

YEAR 5 

Runner Up Champion Boy         Charlie Atkinson

Champion Boy                               Jacob Barnett 

Runner Up Champion Girl         Darci Jefferys

Champion Girl                               Shelby Roberts 

YEAR 6 

Runner Up Champion Boy        Angus Townrow

Champion Boy                              Austin Roberts 

Runner Up Champion Girl         Ellie Criddle

Champion Girl                               Makayla Geier

Congratulations to Merredin College on winning the OVERALL SHIELD on 640 points

St Mary's were runners up on 565 points 

Here are the results from the day

Year 3

Runner Up Boy                  Alex Junk                                  Merredin College 

Champion Boy                   Brock Barnett                          St Mary’s

Runner Up Girl                  Skye Wilson                              St Mary’s

Champion Girl                   Bonnie Wahlsten                    Merredin College

Year 4

Runner Up Boy                 Drikus Putter                           Merredin College

Champion Boy                  Tyler Geier                               St Mary's

Runner Up Girl                 Chloe Major                             Merredin College

Champion Girl                  Gracie Hayes-Thompson       St Mary's

Year 5

Runner Up Boy                 Xander Boehme                      Merredin College

Equal Champion Boy      Nathaniel Shelton                   Merredin College

Equal Champion Boy      Sam Anderson                         Merredin College

Runner UP Girl                  Shelby Roberts                        St Mary’s                                           

Champion Girl                   Charlotte Rajagopala             Merredin College 

Year 6

Runner Up Boy                  Kurtis Jones                             Merredin College

Champion Boy                   Austin Roberts                        St Mary’s

Runner Up Girl                  Makayla Geier                         St Mary’s  

Champion Girl                   Phoebe Hayden                      Merredin College

PP:                    Andrew Wilson                      Year Four:    Olumiji Onikola         

Year One:       Patrick O'Neill                        Year Five:    Darci Jefferys

Year Two:       Charlotte Bartlett                   Year Six:    Tom Carlson           

Year Three:    Nash Garrett    

It’s that time of the year again and St Mary’s major fundraising is about to start.  The P&F are needing your help with selling tickets.  It’s an easy online competition that can be joined and played anywhere in Australia.   The 1st prize is amazing and with so few entrants the odds of winning are relatively good.  Please see below for further information.