St Mary's Newsletter

We set a positive example in the classroom, playground and community.

The St Mary’s Sacramental Program began on Thursday afternoon with a meeting for all students and their families who will be receiving one of the Sacraments this year.  The preparation for these students continues this weekend as they make their Commitment at either Saturday night or Sunday morning Mass.  This year we have six children receiving the Sacrament of Penance, five receiving the Eucharist for the first time and three children receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.  

On Thursday, 17 March is the Feast of St Patrick’s Day.  St. Patrick was a 5th-century missionary to Ireland and later served as bishop there. He is credited with bringing Christianity to parts of Ireland, where he taught about the Trinity using the shamrock. He is one of the patron saints of Ireland.

The P&F Meeting will not be going ahead on Monday night - there will be communication from Chesney Maloney as the President, a Principal's report and Treasurer's report emailed to all families on Monday afternoon.

Due to the uncertainty with COVID19, the Colour Run scheduled for 29 April will be postponed.  Once there is clarity around the pandemic then a new date for the Colour Run will be determined. 

All families should have received notification today of a COVID19 positive case within our community.   All staff and families of students who are deemed close contacts have been notified.  This news should come as a timely reminder for all members of the community to monitor COVID-19 symptoms and seek testing if symptoms develop.

We have turned off the water fountains outside the Kindy and Pre-primary classrooms (school side).  The water troughs in the Early Learning area and the Undercover Area will remain on as they have bottle fillers attached to them.  All parents are encouraged to ensure that their children come to school with a full water bottle which they can then top up during the day, if necessary.  The water troughs will be cleaned as part of the increased cleaning procedures that are in place.

I take this opportunity to remind parents that they are only to come onto the school grounds to pick up and drop off their children - parents are asked not to 'gather' on the school grounds after these times and especially not use the play spaces (ie playgrounds in the main school and in the Early Learning Area.).  It is an expectation that masks are worn by adults when on the school grounds, including in the Early Learning Area.  

I take the opportunity to thank all those who offered words of support, thanks and encouragement throughout today.  

As the situation around COVID19 worsens and case numbers increase, I appreciate that many parents will have questions, concerns and/or they will need to get in touch with me to let me know that their child is a close contact or has tested positive for COVID.  Whatever the reason may be – please do not hesitate to contact me via email at adriana.coniglio@cewa.edu.au I check my emails regularly during the day and with some regularity over the weekend – if the matter is urgent, I will get in touch with you as soon as possible.  

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families.

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal

A reminder that all students making their First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation in 2022 are required to attend a Sacrament Commitment Mass on either Saturday, 12 March at 6.30pm or Sunday, 13 March at 10.30am. Everyone is welcome to attend to show their support of the students.

Please email zoe.omalley@cewa.edu.au or pauline.riethmuller@cewa.edu.au if you cannot attend either one of these dates. 

The Year Six RE Ministry have organised a Crazy Hair/Hat Day for a gold coin donation to raise money for Project Compassion.  Crazy Hair/Hat Day will be held on Wednesday, 6th April (Week 10).

Kind regards,

Mrs Zoe O'Malley

Assistant Principal

Wow! Term 1 is flying, and we can’t believe it is Week 6 already. We’ve been busy learning about Place Value in Maths as well as learning our timetables, writing scary suspense stories in Literacy, reading a whole range of books and challenging ourselves to learn new words. We’ve started learning about the states in Australia and the continents around the world and worked on adding texture to our painting in art. We can’t wait to see what the rest of Term 1 brings. 

Clancy – I enjoyed learning how to add texture to painting and I created a picture of a sunflower.

Patrick – I liked learning my times tables and becoming the first Multiplication Magician!

Celia – I have enjoyed learning how to round numbers to the nearest 10.

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Values Certificates;

Responsibility -  We have a duty to be accountable to ourselves and to others.

Pre-Primary: Charlotte Alberti

Year One: Ruby Jardine

Year Two: Logan Sharp

Year Three/Four: Royce White

Year Four/Five: Mitchell O'Neill

Year Six: Archie Gethin

Last Friday our Year Three to Six students came together for our Faction Swimming Carnival in what was a very different feel event with level 2 restrictions in place. Despite having to wear masks and stay in year groups rather than their Factions all students participated to the best of their ability and showed wonderful sportsmanship throughout the day.

Results are as follows;

1st: Salvatorians 554 points

2nd: Mackillop 508 points

3rd: St Joseph’s 460 points

Year Three

Runner Up Girl - Audrey Mason

Champion Girl - Mia Crees

Runner Up Boy - Thomas Billing

Champion Boy - Andrew Wilson

Year Four

Runner Up Girl - Ruby Smith

Champion Girl - Kate Growden

Runner Up Boy - Zac Crees

Champion Boy - Patrick O'Neill

Year Five

Runner Up Girl - Angelica Kraske Beck

Champion Girl - Camee Roberts

Runner Up Boy - Koby Sayers

Champion Boy - Ashton Thompson

Year Six

Runner Up Girl - Isabella Stones

Champion Girl - Skye Wilson

Runner Up Boy -Elijah Sutherland

Champion Boy - William Elliott

Congratulations to everyone and a big thank you to all who made the day possible, in particular Merredin Swimming Club for the set up and use of the lane ropes and starting hooter, our wonderful parent helpers and the St Mary’s P&F for catering.

Unfortunately, the Interschool Swimming Carnival has had to be postponed until 4th Term, however we are looking forward to seeing our students back in the pool representing St Mary's then. 

It was great to be back in the Canteen yesterday!  I am not sure who was happier - me or the children.

A big thank you to Julie Nicoletti and Meg Gethin who were able to help me in the Canteen yesterday.  I couldn't have don it without you!

Thank you to all the families that have confirmed their availability to help in the Canteen this term.  We still have some empty spaces that need filling - so if you haven't filled in the eForm on Skoolbag App, please do so.

Our Canteen can only run with the support and assistance of our school community.

Kind regards,

Damiana Demarte - Canteen Manager

damiana.demarte@cewa.edu.au

Merredin: Saturday 6.30pm & Sunday 10.30am

Kellerberrin: Sunday 8.00am

It’s not too late to get your footy tipping entries in! Tell your friends & families. It’s a great fundraising opportunity for our school and we can have some fun along the way. Please can everyone make every effort to get your entries in so we can make this a great competition with as many tippers as we can!  

Contact Kristy if you have any questions: stmarysfootytipping@gmail.com

NAPLAN testing will be conducted in Term 2 during the week of May 10 - 20 (Week 4) for students in Year 3 and 5. NAPLAN is a national assessment and participation is mandatory.

Students may be withdrawn from the testing program by their parent/carer. This is a matter for consideration by individual parent/carers in consultation with the school. Withdrawals are intended to address issues such as philosophical objections to testing.

If you wish to have your child exempt from NAPLAN testing, please make an appointment to see me as soon as possible. Exemption forms have to be submitted by 2 May 2022.

Pauline Riethmuller

Assistant Principal

An opportunity to share through STEM Classroom Cash Competition.

The funds can be used for a classroom or whole-school resources.

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:

School with most entries:  $5000

First random draw prize:  $5000

School with most entries:  4 x $1250

5 x Random draw prizes:  $1000 

Collect coupons from Saturday’s edition of The West Australian on March 12, 19, 26 & April 2.  Please start collecting from your families and local community to gather as many coupons as you can.

Please collect and give to Mrs McCormack.