Week 8/9 Newsletter Term 4 2024

Term 4 Week 10 - What's On

• Monday, 2 December - Step-Up Day - 11.20-1.20
• Wednesday, 4 December - Year 6 Graduation Dinner at 6pm
• Thursday, 5 December - Christmas Concert - food available from 5pm  - Concert Starts at 6pm
• Friday, 6 December - Last day of School🥳🎄 
  • Whole School Mass and Awards Ceremony - 9am
    
  • School finishes at 12.00pm - ALL students to be collected 

Principal's Welcome

As we approach the end of 2024, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on a wonderful year of learning, growth, and community at St. Mary’s Catholic School. It has been a joy to journey alongside our students, staff, and families as we strive to live out our mission of faith, learning, and service.

Looking ahead to 2025, I am excited to announce our teaching staff for next year:

• Prep: Mrs. Karen Jones
• Year 1: Miss Emily Harte
• Year 2: TBA (This position has been readvertised, and we look forward to sharing an update soon.)
• Year 3: Mrs. Stephanie Rees
• Year 4: Mrs. Rachael Young (3 days) and Miss Rachel Strambini (2 days)
• Year 5: Miss Renae Adcock
• Year 6: Mrs. Melanie Menzies
• Arts / Italian / Music: Miss Rachel Strambini (3 days)
• HPE: Mrs. Catherine Antonio
• APPL / Inclusive Practices: Mrs. Krystal Land
• APRE / Chaplain / First Nations Lead Teacher: Mrs. Suzette Windridge

We are blessed to have such a dedicated and talented team, and I know they will continue to nurture and inspire your children throughout the coming year.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those staff who are leaving us at the end of 2024, either in retirement or for maternity leave. Please share your congratulations and appreciation of these wonderful women when you see them over the next week or so:

• Mrs Sharon Sullivan
• Mrs Trasy McEniery
• Ms Abbey Ross

Before we say goodbye for the year, there are still some special events to mark on your calendar:

• Year 6 Graduation: Wednesday, 4 December - We will be farewelling our graduating Year 6 class with a liturgy and dinner at the Merinda Hotel.
• Christmas Concert: Thursday, 5 December – Join us as we celebrate the joy of the season with music and performances by our students. Dinner available at 5pm, concert to start at 6pm.
• End-of-Year Mass and Awards Ceremony: Friday, 6 December – We will gather in the church at 9am to thank God for the past year and to recognize the achievements of our students. Please note that school will finish at 12:00 pm on this day. 

Our Mary Mackillop OSHC will be open from 12pm on Friday, 6 December, to provide care for students that afternoon, however numbers will be limited. Please see the coordinator, Theresea, as soon as possible to book your place if needed. State schools operate for an extra week after Catholic schools finish. While Mary Mackillop OSHC will not be offering vacation care, Bowen OSHC has offered vacation care for St Mary's students that week. Please see the flyer below for more information.

As the holidays approach, I wish all our families a safe and joyful Christmas filled with peace, love, and laughter. May the light of Christ shine brightly in your homes and hearts as we celebrate His birth.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership throughout 2024. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2025, a year of renewal for our school and community.

Wishing you every blessing for the festive season,

Alicia Ninnes

Religious Life of the School

As we conclude another successful school year, it is an opportune time to reflect on our achievements in strengthening the Religious Life of our School community.

This year, we continued our commitment to our Laudato Si’ action plan, inspiring students to engage deeply with the Catholic Social Teaching of Care for Creation. This principle guided classroom learning and encouraged students to connect with the natural world, fostering a sense of responsibility for our shared environment.

Our efforts were supported by many wonderful community groups, including local businesses and the Bowen Men's Shed, who have collaborated with us to advance our goals. We’ve also continued our valued partnership with St. Vincent de Paul, working together to better understand and address the needs of our community as a united Christian family.

Looking ahead to next year, we are excited to build on our current efforts by incorporating a focus upon Human Dignity—a cornerstone of Catholic Social Teaching. This focus will help students understand the intrinsic value of every person, nurturing compassion and respect as core values within our school.

Another highlight of this year was the completion of our new St. Mary’s school prayer. This project was a 12-month journey, gathering input from various community members to create a prayer that truly reflects our shared faith and vision. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed their time and insight to this meaningful initiative—it has been a rewarding experience for all involved, especially our students.

In Religious Education, our teachers have developed mini charism units for next year, exploring the history and Catholic values that make St. Mary’s unique. These units will provide students with a strong foundation from which to start the school year, offering a clear understanding of who we are as a school community and what our values and traditions mean.

Finally, we look forward to analyzing the results of our 2024 ECSI (Enhancing Catholic School Identity) survey to further strengthen our Catholic identity. The insights from this survey will help us continue building a school environment that benefits our students, families, and the wider community.

Thank you profusely to all our families and staff who make up the community of St Mary's. We wish you the very best over the Christmas period. 

May God, the source of all love and unity, bless each member of your family with peace and joy at this Holy time of year.  May your homes be places of kindness and faith, where you feel God’s presence amongst you. 

Mrs Windridge. 

Please note the Parish cent sale is now scheduled for the 15th of December, see details below. Donations can also be dropped at St Vincent de Paul's. If you would like to assist on the day, please contact sibichank@tsv.catholic.org.au

Learning and Teaching

This week our students participated in a Quick Write, by going through The Writing Process to publish a letter to Santa. We are looking forward to sharing and celebrating the wonderful writing that has occurred across P-6 on Monday.

Also on parade this week we will be finalising the graduates for MiniLit and MacqLit for 2024. I would like to sincerely thank all of our wonderful school officers who have delivered this Literacy intervention program in our school. Their commitment to improving the Literacy skills of students has definitely not gone unnoticed. 

This week you may have also noticed that not as many of our school officers have been in the classrooms, this is because they are off class busily preparing for 2025. As you can see in the picture below they have been like little elves covering decodables for our Year 1 and 2 classroom. We can't wait to see these in the classrooms in use with our students for homereaders. Keep an eye out in early Term 1 as the students will bring home a letter explaining the new procedure for homereaders at our school.

Next week report cards will be released on the last day of school. If anyone encounters any difficulties accessing these, please email bwn@tsv.catholic.edu.au or phone the Admin staff on 47 861 203.

I hope that everyone has a safe, blessed, and happy holiday. See you all back for another wonderful year of learning in 2025! 

Kind regards,

Krystal Land

Acting Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning.  

Guidance Counsellor News

A SPECIAL REPORT: Parenting Styles

There are so many different opinions offered on how best to parent. New parents will often have firm beliefs about how they wish to balance love and discipline, but this ideal often goes out the window when a toddler throws their first tantrum in the supermarket!

Raising children can bring parents and caregivers great joy despite many learning ‘on the job’ and growing into the role through experience and understanding. Children will always flourish in a warm and loving environment, supported by clear guidance.

In this Special Report, parents and caregivers can gain a greater understanding of the four defined parenting styles by taking part in the quiz. It can guide parents towards deciding which style they wish to adopt and the effects it may have on their children.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school guidance counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help. Here is the link to your special report:

https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-parenting-styles

Week 7 - "Mercy & Outreach"

Week 8 - "Compassion & Care"

Birthdays

Swimming Carnival

 2024 Swimming Carnival 

What a fantastic day! Our students gave it their all and made us so proud with their amazing efforts in the pool.
A huge congratulations to MacKillop on taking out the win this year! 
A massive thank you to our incredible staff, students, and all our helpers who worked hard to make the carnival such a success. Days like these remind us of the wonderful spirit in our community. Well done, everyone

✨Year 6 Flashback✨

Flashback to Year 3 in 2021… when our current Year 6 class did the Colour Fun Run!

Reef Guardian

As a Reef Guardian school, we encourage you to please take the time to log onto http://4planet.au and register. For every person that registers, 4Planet donates $1 to coral reservation initiatives; vital for the continued survival of our Great Barrier Reef🌊🐟🐢🪸

End of Year Events

Mary's Munchkins Playgroup - New day in 2025

Mary's Munchkins Playgroup will be changing days in 2025 to Tuesday. We look forward to welcoming all of our regulars and any new attendees for our first session on Tuesday, 4 February, 2025.

Bowen OSHC Vacation Care

The Murri Bus Project

Bowen Lions Club Need You!!!

 Join the Bowen Lions Club! 

The Bowen Lions Club is looking for new members to join their incredible team and make a difference in our community.

 Where: Castle Motor Lodge

 When: 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month

 Time: 6:30 PM

If you're interested in joining or learning more, please contact Andrew Beatson, President, at 0411 481 738.
Be part of something meaningful and help create positive change!

Community News

The Resilience Project

Mary's Munchkins Playgroup

Mary Mackillop OSHC

OSHC at St Mary’s Catholic School is now operating Monday to Friday from  6.30 am to 8.30 am and 2.45 pm to 6.00 pm.

The government has announced changes in the way that Child Care Subsidy is worked out. The income limit for CCS will be increasing to $530,000, meaning that the cost of OSHC will reduce for the majority of families. The changes came into effect on 10 July.

Currently the service costs $17.50 for Before-School Care, and $22 for After-School Care, before CCS reductions are applied. Food (breakfast and afternoon tea) is provided at no extra cost. Please see below for more information about the upcoming reduction in fees.

If you would like more information or to register, please contact Theresa on 0428 216 062 OR at bowenoshc@mmcnq.catholic.edu.au

Cooinda Family Centre

School Dental Service

Tuckshop Menu