St Mary's Bulletin

It was so wonderful to welcome everyone back on Monday morning and hear all about their holiday adventures!  It seems like the most uneventful holiday was had by the Principal!  The children all looked happy, relaxed and eager to start the school year! 

A warm welcome goes out to our new staff members, Miss Anna Piazzola (Pre-primary), Miss Lyndee Montgomery (Year Four) and Mrs Gemma Dolton (Music).  I know that they have already been made to feel very welcome by the wonderful St Mary’s community. 

We also welcome the Wegner, Okeowo and Casella families who join the St Mary’s community in 2019.  Welcome also to the Nelson, Jardine and Webb families who have joined the school through Three Year Old Kindy. 

I apologise in advance for the length of this Bulletin; however, seeing as it is the start of the new school year there was a number of things that I wanted to tell you about.  I promise to keep future Bulletins to one page. 

We celebrated the beginning of the new school year with Mass this morning.  The theme of the Mass was "Let Your Light Shine".  At the end of the Mass, the students were reminded that their goal for the year, is to let their light shine by doing their best and being the best person that they can be for others.   This message complements our school motto of 'doing ordinary things extraordinarily well'.  Many thanks to Father Derrick from Bruce Rock for leading us in the Mass, Mrs Herbert for coordinating the Mass and to the staff for leading the Mass.

The St Mary’s 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.  I have attached the 12 Conduct Statements and aim to elaborate each statement and its application to the community in upcoming newsletters. 

Schools are well placed to support healthy eating and in fact have a vital role to play in helping to reduce the worldwide epidemic of childhood obesity. Children should eat a wide range of foods so that they have the energy for learning and growing. Nutrition and physical activity messages are being taught in the classroom to promote healthy lifestyles. St Mary’s School has a long-term vision of embracing a whole of school approach to ensure that the standards for healthy food and drink choices are consistent with these curriculum messages and apply to the canteen, class parties, cooking activities, birthday treats, camps and excursions etc as well as other school community events involving the students. In 2018, a committee comprised of staff and parents, got together to devise a Healthy Food and Drink Policy for St Mary’s School, this policy can be found on the school website.  Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing information about the policy through the Newsletter.

Thank you to Mrs Riethmuller, Miss Walsh, Mrs Discenza, Kat White, Mel Carr and Nicole Newton for all their work with this policy.

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.  We have many vehicles of communication, including the website, SkoolBag App, email, newsletters and bulletins which increase the avenue of communication.  To streamline this communication, could I please ask parents to take note of the following: 

Emails:  In 2019, parents have the capacity to email staff directly.  All emails are:  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 school and home.  It is not a vehicle for advertising community events.  These are all done through the Newsletter and/or P&F Facebook page. 

SeeSaw/Class DoJo:  These are used as e-portfolios – so parents can see what their children are doing/have done at school during the day.  Although they both have message functions, please do not use these as a means of communication to teachers as messages may not be seen and responded to and therefore your issue or concern not addressed.

You may have noticed the ‘St Mary’s School System for Students’ charts in your child’s classroom.  I have attached a copy for your information – teachers have gone through this with their class and it was also addressed at Monday’s assembly.  This is a visual prompt for students in the event that they have an issue/concern or need help to solve a problem.  

Should you as a parent, have a concern, please see below as to the process you should follow.

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 to them in the hope that they will eventually go away.  

Should you wish to speak to me, I am generally out and about in the school at the start and end of the day.  I can be emailed directly or through the school admin email, alternatively you can call reception to speak with me on the phone or set up a meeting.

Congratulations to Mrs Zoe O’Malley and her family on the arrival of Bree Maddison O’Malley on 29.01.2019.

Congratulations also to our wonderful P&F President, Mrs Meg Gethin who was nominated for and was awarded the 2019 Merredin Citizen of the Year.  What a recognition!  

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families. 

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal