Week 7, Term 1 2025

Principal's News

Dear Parents/Carers

Thank you to all parents and carers who have introduced themselves to me as I fill the role of Acting Principal.  Firstly, may I bring to your attention some school rules which are being strongly reinforced with the students.  These rules are:

• NO HAT, NO PLAY
• AFTER PLAY STUDENTS SIT QUIETLY WAITING FOR THEIR TEACHER SO AS TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR LEARNING.

The children have been wonderful in their positive response to these school rules and I would ask that you reinforce these rules at home if you get the opportunity.

I am also asking for your cooperation in regard to the STOP, DROP, GO zone.  The students who are waiting for their transport are not sitting as they should and wait.  I have spoken with this group of students about sitting and waiting.  This pick up method works very well in lots of schools if the students know how they wait for their parents/carers.  Again, it would be helpful if you could reinforce this message at home

We have undertaken a review of the playground roster and made a few minor adjustments.  If the weather holds, the senior oval will be open again next week.

Sadly, our cleaner, Mrs Bernadette Allen, has tendered her resignation and will be finishing at the end of the Easter holidays. I’m sure you will agree that Bernadette has worked tirelessly and gone above and beyond her role description to ensure that St Mary’s is a clean and tidy school. I anticipate that advertising for Bernadette’s replacement will commence next week.

On Tuesday afternoon I met with the P&F who mapped out a full year of activities.  It was wonderful to see such an enthusiastic group who were focussed on supporting the students and staff at the school.  A special thank you to this group for providing a NAPLAN breakfast for students in years 3 and 5.

May God Bless You

Mary-Ellen

Religious Life of the School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Students had a wonderful time raising money for The Big Water Walk last week for Project Compassion. Thanks to our generous community and proactive students, we raised over $900 in one day for this amazing cause! Students can continue to donate small amounts of change to their class Project Compassion money boxes until the end of term.

Next week is shaping up to be a wonderful and meaningful time for our school community, as we come together to celebrate faith, inclusion, and unity. We have a number of special events that will provide our students with opportunities for both spiritual growth and deeper awareness of the importance of belonging.

St. Patrick’s Day – Monday, March 17

On Monday, we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, honouring the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick was a missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland and is remembered for his faith, courage, and dedication to spreading the Gospel. Legend tells us that he used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to the people of Ireland.

To mark this special day, we will hold a whole-school prayer service at 11:10 am in the big shed. Parents and carers are warmly invited to join us as we reflect on St. Patrick’s message of faith and perseverance. Students may also wear green on this day (no gold coin donation). 

Harmony Day – Friday, March 21

On Friday, we will celebrate Harmony Day, a day dedicated to inclusivity, diversity, and the message that everyone belongs. Students are encouraged to wear orange as a symbol of harmony and unity (no gold coin donation required). Throughout the day, teachers will engage students in important discussions and activities that promote understanding, acceptance, and respect for all cultures.

As part of our commitment to fostering compassion and awareness, students will also be writing a special prayer for immigrants in recognition of World Day of Prayer, reflecting on the challenges faced by those seeking a new home and the importance of welcoming others with open hearts.

This is a busy and meaningful week for our students’ spiritual formation, and we look forward to celebrating these important values together as a school community.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you at these special events.

Blessings,
Mrs Suzette Windridge
Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE and Chaplain) 

Learning and Teaching

This week our Prep and Year 1 Teachers received their Early Years Pre Test Data. It was wonderful to see the teachers thoroughly analysing their data to inform each students next steps for Literacy and Numeracy. Teachers will be sharing this data with you at the Parent Teacher Interviews next week. 

As hearing loss affects 1 in 10 children, we have purchased an ongoing subscription to Sound Scouts. 

Sound Scouts is a hearing check designed to make testing easy by incorporating the science of a hearing test into a fun mobile game. It checks for three different types of hearing issues:
1.Conductive hearing loss (middle/outer ear issues)
2.Sensorineural hearing loss (inner ear issues)
3.Difficulties listening in noise (potentially caused by processing issues, attention or language issues including EAL/D)

Developed in collaboration with the National Acoustic Laboratories, Sound Scouts, when connected to the internet, generates a report as soon as the test is complete which includes guidance on next steps if a problem is detected.
This week I conducted some follow up tests across Years 1-6 for students who were flagged last year by their teachers (with parent permission.) Teachers will be sharing these results with parents at the upcoming Parent Teacher Interviews. I am looking forward to working with all Prep students in Term 2 to test their hearing in order to ensure that we are helping all learners succeed. 

Attached in some information that helps support learners of all ages to get their Ear, Nose and Throat ready for learning. This is something that we are doing in our classrooms, and it may be something that you wish to do at home with your child as well.

Kind regards,

Krystal Land

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning.  

Music & Art News 🎶🎨

Our St Mary’s students have been very busy in our Arts subjects over the past few weeks. I’m excited to share some of their incredible work with you! 

Prep: Finding the Beat!
Our Prep students have been exploring the world of music with the concept of beat. They are developing their sense of a steady beat by tapping, clapping and marching to our fun chants and rhymes. Their favourite is Engine Engine Number 9. See below for some photos of our beat train! 

Grade 5: The Art of Exaggeration!
In Visual Arts, our Grade 5 students have been experimenting with line and shape to create caricature drawings. They have been learning how to exaggerate features in a humorous and artistic way and adding personality and expression to their artwork.

The results have been nothing short of amazing!

Getting to know our Year 6 Cultural Leaders - Bailee Tapp✨

Hello, my name is Bailee tapp.

I am 10 years old.

This year I will be one of the cultural leaders.

The thing that I am good at is netball.

My favourite thing about saint mary’s is that they aren't ashamed that they are religious.

I am looking forward to writing in the newsletter.

Getting to know our Year 6 Cultural Leaders - Evan Moxham ✨

My name is Evan and I am a Cultural leader.

I am good at drawing. 

One of my interests is drawing.

My favourite movie is ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron.’

I would like to go to Melbourne.

I like that, at St Marys, we get to play at the start of the day. 

Getting to know our Year 6 Cultural Leaders - Tate Buckley ✨

My name is Tate Buckley and I am a cultural leader. 

My favorite food is pasta. I love playing handball. 

I can go into the sport shed to help give out sports equipment for our students to play. 

I help out in gardening, at the Church garden, by weeding and watering the plants. I raise the flag and put it away in the afternoon too. I read during the Assembly. I lead in the prayer meditation and prayer liturgy.

Getting to know our Year 6 Cultural Leaders - Ezekiel Brown✨

Hello my name is Ezekiel. I'm in year six and I am 11 years old. I'm a cultural Leader for St Mary's Catholic School. I have a lot of friends at this school now and I like to get along with new people. 

I have a lot of hobbies like playing basketball, playing on my phone and playing on my console. I also like playing outside with my cousins. I am excited for NAIDOC week because I like celebrating my culture.

One of my goals for the future is to be able to control my emotions and to not get upset at things that aren’t worth it.

Getting to know our Year 6 Cultural Leaders - Isaiah Cedric✨

Hello my name is Isaiah.

I am 11 years old. I am a cultural leader of the school. I love learning about dinosaurs.

I am really looking forward to making lots of new friends as I have just started at St Mary’s. One thing I am really excited about is going to and experiencing mass as I have never been to one ever.

One of my goals for the future is to become a person anyone can talk to so someone always has a friend and won’t feel lonely.

Class Awards - Week 5 - Be My Best ⭐

Class Awards - Week 6 - Show Respect⭐

Birthdays🥳

Year 1 Mathematics 🌟

There is some wonderful learning happening in Year 1 Mathematics. Keep up the great measuring Emma!

Shrove Tuesday 🥞

On 4 March at St Mary's we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with Students, staff and families all popping in to share some delicious pancakes. Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before Lent - a period of 40 days where we traditionally fast or give up certain foods. The 40 days represent the time that Jesus spent fasting in the desert where he resisted the temptation of Satan. 

Ash Wednesday Liturgy ✝️

St Mary's celebrated Ash Wednesday on 5 March with a Liturgy to mark the beginning of Lent. During this time we are encouraged to reflect on our lives, seek forgiveness, and deepen our faith.

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Project Compassion Long Walk for Water 💧

On Wednesday 5 March, to kickstart Lent, students braved the heat and humidity to walk laps of the oval for vulnerable communities in Samoa, Asia and Africa. People in these communities often have to walk long distances to obtain fresh water, and sometimes students can't attend school due to lack of water. On this one day alone students raised over $900, and we are blown away by the generosity and compassion of our school community. Not only that, students had a great time and felt good about it too! Mercy and Outreach is certainly alive and thriving at St Mary's!

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Thank you 🙏🏽

We would like to thank Amanda Jones, our Religious Education Advisor, for spending time with the St Mary's staff this afternoon. We spent time discussing what it means to work in a Catholic School and all of the incredible benefits that students with a Catholic Education receive.

We cannot thank our amazing P and F committee enough. They have provided a yummy breakfast for the students who were completing Naplan this week. Truly blessed to have these caring parents in our community

Thankyou Mr Darwen for coming into yr 2 to talk to us about how delivering the local News has changed over the years in our community.

St Patrick's Day & Harmony Day 🍀🧡

Tuckshop Volunteers Wanted 🦸‍♀️🦸

Bowen and Whitsunday Sub District ⚽🏈

Hockey Clinics

Mary's Munchkins Playgroup

Stop, Drop, Go Zone

Uniforms

Uniforms are available for purchase from the school office. Reminder that uniform days have now changed, please see below:

Formal Uniform - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

Sports Uniform - Wednesday and Friday

Specialty, commemorative and representative shirts - Friday

The Murri Bus Project

Community News

NETBALL IS BACK IN 2025

Registrations are open!

https://registration.netballconnect.com/userRegistration?organisationId=cf3d1c66-1f73-4fc7-880b-94dd59c09b4b&competitionId=c292a28d-efad-4311-b17d-c9c54666e9bb

Net/Set - 22nd April 2025

Go/Juniors/Cadets - grading 18th March 2025

Seniors - grading 25th March 2025 

Please see below times for each age group:

 Net & Set: 3:45pm - 4:30m
Go/Juniors: 3:45pm - 5:30pm
Cadets: 4:30PM - 6:30PM
 Seniors: 6:30PM- 8:30PM

Mary Mackillop OSHC

OSHC at St Mary’s Catholic School is now operating Monday to Friday from  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.

Food (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

School Dental Service

Tuckshop Menu