St Mary's Newsletter

In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus gave his followers an important last message:  GO!  Make disciples!  A lot of people think that this call to mission is only for religious brothers, sisters and priests.  But Jesus calls us all to be missionaries.  He wants all of his followers to share his message of love with others.

Fr Andrew will recommence public Mass on the weekend but with strict guidelines in place such as recording of names, safe distance (1.5metres space between each person), and communion under one species (host only). There will be no gathering outside after Mass. There will be the opportunity to wash hands/disinfect on entering and leaving, and optional mask available for wearing.  I personally have found not being able to go to Church for Mass one of the more difficult things to adapt to under isolation.   It would be great to have the St Mary’s families supporting Fr Andrew by attending one of the weekend Masses at either 6.30pm on Saturday evening or 10.30am on Sunday.

This Monday, 24 May is the feast day of Mary Help of Christians. This has been celebrated in Australia since 1844.  The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.  Catholic Australia has always remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

Tuesday, 26 May is Sorry Day. On this date in 1997 the landmark Bringing them Home report was tabled in federal parliament. Bringing them Home is the final report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families and was conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (now called the Australian Human Rights Commission) between 1995 and 1997.

On 26 May 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held to commemorate the anniversary of the report and remember the grief, suffering and injustice experienced by the stolen generations.

National Reconciliation Week follows Sorry Day from 27 May until 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The theme for NRW in 2020 is, In This Together; every one of us has a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Classroom teachers will acknowledge both Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week in their classrooms.

We welcome the Yates family to St Mary’s School.  Mia began Three-Year-Old Kindy on Monday.

We offer our condolences to the Kraske Beck family (Tomas - 4/5 and Anjelica - 3) on the passing of their father and grandfather, Herbert Kraske.  May Herbert rest in peace and may perpetual light shine on him.

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 20th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

By facilitating NSS we aim to:

·   promote the value of reading and literacy,

·   promote the value and fun of books,

·   promote an Australian writer and publisher,

COVID19 restrictions prevent us from joining together as a school to share this year’s story ‘Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas by Lucinda Clifford; however, all classroom teachers will read the story simultaneously to their classes on Wednesday, 27 May at 9.00am.

Week Five is Wellbeing Week at St Mary’s School and all families are encouraged to use this time to spend together as a family focusing on mental health and well-being.  Please be reminded that there is no homework during Wellbeing Week or after school meetings with staff.  I look forward to hearing about some of the ways that families have spent Wellbeing Week.  Teachers will be completing wellbeing and mindfulness activities with their classes.

Congratulations to our 2020 Library Monitors who received their badges on Monday morning.  The Library Monitors have already been working hard in their role.

God Bless and have a lovely weekend with your families,

Ms Adriana Coniglio

Principal

By 1844, there were only three Bishops in Australia. At their very first Synod in that year, they requested the Pope to declare, as Australia’s special patron, the Mother of God under the title of Mary Help of Christians with her feast to be celebrated on May 24th.

The feast was celebrated from 1844, even though it was not officially approved by Rome until 1852.The infant Church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. In those early and mostly priestless days, it was largely the Rosary that kept the faith alive.

Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary, and was the first nation to choose her, under the title of Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

Mary, Help of Christians, watch over us with love.

Intercede for us with your Son, to bless Australia, so that we can be people of peace – people who love and respect each other, and people who love and respect our land, Australia.

We make this prayer through Jesus, your Son. Amen. 

Several days after Jesus had returned to heaven, the Jewish people celebrated the festival of Pentecost. Jesus’ closest friends were hiding away together when they experienced a remarkable event that would change the lives of every Christian forever. On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s Apostles, an event that marked the birthday of the Church.

When the Holy Spirit touched each of them, what difference did it make?

Instead of hiding away in fear, they couldn’t wait to rush outside into the street and begin telling people the news about Jesus. The Holy Spirit had filled them with God’s strength and courage so that they would be able to complete the mission given to them by Jesus before he ascended into heaven. 

Mrs Zoe O'Malley

Acting Assistant Principal

The Bible teaches that with the help of the Holy Spirit, people can follow the example of Jesus by being loving to others. In Pre-Primary we have been focusing on doing one loving thing a day for someone in our family, community or class. An example of this might be helping out around the house, saying something kind to others or to pick up some rubbish and put it in the bin.

Welcome back to Term Two. 

The Year 5/6 class rejoiced at being back together, we certainly missed our fellow classmates and their gorgeous smiles every day. We started the term with online learning where Mrs. McDonald gave us a timetable to work through on the app Teams. Those of us that were working from home had an online meeting each morning with Mrs. Mac and the class, which was pretty cool to see everyone on the screen. 

We’ve been very busy learning about poetry and how it is a creative way to express ourselves. We’ve created a few different types of poems such as Haiku, Limerick, Acrostic and we are now working on a free verse poem which we hope will be as good as Banjo Patterson’s The Man from Ironbark. We’ve also been busy learning all about perimeter and area and the difference between the two. It was a little difficult to remember the formulas for them as that part is important in order to solve problems. Year 6’s know how to calculate the area of a triangle too, which is awesome!   

Pre-Primary have been learning about how objects move.  The students were asked to investigate which car will go down the ramp and travel the furtherest.   They were asked to build their own ramp and to make a prediction.  Then they had to test their prediction.  They had lots of fun with their building and testing!

Year One have been investigating sound and the different ways we can make sound.  We carried out an experiment to see if sound can make objects vibrate.  We then made our own maracas using rice, decorated foam cups and tape.  We hope you have been enjoying the noise!

Year Two have been looking at the forces and how gravity and air resistance work together.  We have been investigating gravity and how it works.  The students constructed parachutes and we estimated their length of flight. 

Year Three have been investigating machine parts and how they work.  We are going to look at the machine parts that are used in a Roller-coaster.  They are going to design and then construct a roller-coaster using recycled materials. 

Year Four/Five have been investigating what materials are needed for a rocket to take off.  We tested this by using film canisters and other materials.  They are also working to design an App that is practical and informative.  They are presenting these to the class in their groups. 

Year Five/Six have been investigating the question "How does Solar Power work?"  Some of our students designed and constructed Solar Ovens during remote learning.  We have been looking at different forms of energy and resources.   We are looking at how we can be sustainable for the future.  The students constructed a wind challenge turbine!

Pre-Primary:    River O'Meagher

Year One:    Royce White

Year Two:    Patrick O'Neill

Year Three:    Blake Wahlsten

Year Four/Five:    Archie Gethin

Year Five/Six:    Lily Brooker