Week 7/8 - Term 3

Principal's News

Dear Parents and Caregivers

A letter was sent out earlier today regarding the departure at the end of the year of Mrs Suzette Windridge, our long serving Assistant Principal - Religious Education. She will be greatly missed but we congratulate her on her appointment to an exciting leadership position at another Catholic school. I know that Suzette will commit herself to her new school with the same vigour that she has applied here and will be a blessing to her new school community.  

This week, we had the Townsville Catholic Education Verification team here as part of the second phase of our Year of Renewal, for the purposes of school improvement. I am pleased to share that we have now successfully completed the Verification phase. Our leadership team provided a comprehensive overview of our school's progress to the Verification Team comprising of Townsville Catholic Education personnel and two visiting principals.  The Team conducted classroom observations, went on a guided school tour, and conducted interviews with teachers, school staff, parents and parishioners, during which time, they gathered valuable information to assess our school's performance. 

Next month, we can expect to receive the final report from the Verification Team. This report will include commendations for the things we are doing well and recommendations for our future goals. The insights from this report will guide us as we continue to improve and enhance our school's performance and educational experience. Thank you again to the entire school community for your part in assisting in this important process. 

A big thank you to Gilmour Space who today, have brought their flight simulator to school for our students to use over the next two years. They are still finalising the computer system for us to use it and we will keep you posted on that. 

Schools are ever conscious of not encroaching upon prime learning times in each day and week, and it is a constant battle to minimise distractions and interruptions. One strategy we are going to trial next term to assist in this regard, is having our parade times happen on a Monday afternoon instead of first thing in the morning. We will distribute more information on this before the end of the term to clarify times. 

We had a wonderful Father’s Day Mass this week and our Prep students did a wonderful job of closing our time together in song and actions. Thank you to our ever-hard-working P and F for helping our students buy their fathers a present and for putting on our Fathers’ Day Brekky - it was delicious! A big thank you also to our fathers who juggled their time to make the morning. It was a special day. 

Next week (Monday - Wednesday) I will be in Townsville for Principals' Meetings and Mrs Krystal Land will be Acting Principal in my absence. I am hoping that everyone can have a restful weekend and be ready for our next two weeks to close our busy term.

Yours sincerely

Rodney Lane

Acting Principal

Religious Life of the School

Dear Parents and Friends,

Thank you for your wonderful support during our Social Justice Week last week. Your encouragement means so much, and our students gained a great deal from the experience.

Looking ahead to next term, we are excited to continue exploring Catholic Social Teaching through upcoming opportunities such as our Socktober celebrations and a Catholic Mission Mass.

We will also gather as a school community for prayer and meditation for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, as well as Remembrance Day. We are excited to announce the return of our Family Masses each term as well, so please keep an eye out for more details coming soon.

The religious life of our school is rich and vibrant, and we are proud to offer our students regular opportunities not only to worship together, but also to live out their faith in action through meaningful social justice initiatives.

I am taking some time away to be with family down south and look forward to seeing you all again next term. I take this opportunity to share the news that I will be finishing up my time at St Mary’s at the end of this year. I truly wish everyone the best, and I am so grateful for my time at St Mary’s. I look forward to helping the school transition and continuing with my work in Term 4. May God bless you and keep you safe as you journey through the final weeks of term and prepare for the holidays.

Child Protection Week at St Mary’s: Shifting Conversation to Action

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

St Mary’s will be actively participating in National Child Protection Week (7–13 September 2025), following NAPCAN’s theme, “Every Conversation Matters: Shifting Conversation to Action.” This campaign reminds us that while talking about safety is important, it is the actions we take that truly help to protect children.

During the week, our students will take part in a range of activities and events to highlight the importance of safety and wellbeing. These include:

• A guest speaker for staff and students to share practical ways we can all help create safe environments for children.
  
  
• Classroom conversations and role-play activities using prompts such as “What makes you feel safe?” and “Who would you talk to if you felt unsafe?” to encourage openness and confidence.
  
  
• Use of NAPCAN’s Children’s Activity Booklet and art projects where students can express what safety and support look like to them.
  
  
• Posters and displays around the school featuring this year’s Child Protection Week messages, reminding everyone that we all have a role to play.
  
  

By working together as a school and parent community, we can help ensure our children feel supported, valued and protected. You can help at home by having open conversations with your child, listening carefully, and reinforcing that they can always speak to you or a trusted adult about anything that makes them feel unsafe.

For practical tips and resources to support conversations and strategies to keep your child safe, visit: NAPCAN Brochures for Download 

Let’s make sure every conversation counts – and turns into action for the wellbeing of our children.

Warm regards,

Mrs Windridge and St Mary’s Student Protection Team

Learning and Teaching

Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to sincerely thank our amazing librarian, Mrs Paula-Jo Fellows for all of her efforts with organising and running the Book Fair and our annual Book Week Parade. We look forward to this every year! 

Congratulations to our Year 2 class for returning the most Premiers Reading Challenge forms for 2025. We thank parents and carers for getting behind this initiative, our year 2 class enjoyed an icy pole this week as a reward for their hard work. 

Last week our teachers reviewed the ways in which to give quality feedback to learners so that they can set SMART curriculum goals with their students. A SMART goal is a goal that is: 

• Specific- What are you trying to achieve? 

• Measurable- What data will you use to measure your progress? 

• Achievable- Is the goal realistic/achievable? 

• Relevant- Does it reflect where you need to go with your learning? 

• Time-Bound- When will it be achieved by? 

All teachers will be setting SMART goals with their students for Literacy or Numeracy moving forward so that students are aware of their goal and work towards achieving it.  

 On Friday 5th September all teachers will be participating in Reflective Practice Day (Pupil Free Day). During this day teachers will be looking at the latest changes released from the Non-State School Accreditation Board in relation to time allocations for Learning Areas for the 2026 school year. I look forward to sharing these with you in the near future and I am pleased to see that there is an emphasis and priority placed on curriculum based face-to-face teaching time each week. Comment end  

Kind regards, 

Krystal Land 

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning 

St Mary's Term 3 calendar

Music & Art News

Our students have been experimenting, exploring, and enjoying some fantastic creative experiences this week.

Year 1: Mixed Media Magic!
In Visual Arts, our Year 1 students have been exploring multimedia artworks. Using oil pastels, markers, and coloured paper, they created vibrant pieces full of texture, contrast, and imagination. Each artwork is bursting with colour and creativity—it’s been wonderful to see students experimenting with how different materials work together to make something truly unique.

Year 4: Exploring Music Through Genres!
In Music, our Year 4 students have been learning all about different genres of music. From pop and rock to classical and jazz, we discussed how music can sound and feel very different depending on its style. The highlight of our lessons was watching parts of the film Sing, where students identified the genres of music performed by the characters and reflected on how the songs made them feel. It was both fun and meaningful, deepening their understanding of how music connects with our emotions.

Year 6 Report Tom - The Lost Things

On Sunday, the 24th of August, our Tournament of the Minds team competed at Bowen State High for a spot at the state   finals. We got that spot, and on Thursday the 11th of September, we will be flying out to Brisbane to compete in the state finals on Saturday the 13th of September. We have 3 teams from St Mary’s going, our team, The Lost Things (Lang Lit), the Arts team and the Social Sciences team. Congratulations and good luck to all teams!! :) 🎉🎉

We will be given a question and will have 3 hours to come up with the most creative answer we can. The best answer will be the most creative, but we also have to work together as a team to gain points, and build on each other's answers. TOM is all about teamwork and creativity, thinking outside the box. 

Next Thursday, we will go to school and at around 9:30am we will catch a bus to the Proserpine Airport and fly to Brisbane at 12:00pm. The flight is 1 hour and 50 minutes. We will have an extra day to do fun stuff before the competition starts on Saturday and we will be leaving on Sunday.

Thank-you.

The Lost Things  

Indigenous Literacy Day

On Wednesday it was Indigenous Literacy Day. For Indigenous Literacy day there was a livestream from the Sydney Opera House. During this livestream it touched on the importance of preserving language and that in Warakurna only 2000 people spoke the local language. The presenter for the area was Daisy. Daisy was writing a book about the seasons and how First Nations people tracked seasons. For example, Goannas hibernate in the winter and if you want to keep safe you should follow the Goanna. It is important to celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day as, if First Nations language isn’t written down or made into books it could be lost forever.

Thank you for listening,

Ezekiel, Isaiah and William

Class Awards - Week 5 - Safe, Just and Fair

Class Awards - Week 6 - Be My Best

Birthdays

Recipes Wanted

Don't forget to submit your favourite recipes! We haven't had many submitted and we'd love to receive a recipe from each family!

Please click on the link below to submit your recipe by next Friday! https://publishedauthors.com.au/

FANCY DRESS BALL - NEW DATE

Our Fancy Dress Ball will now be held on Thursday, 18th September!Join us for a fun-filled, family-friendly evening of dancing and celebration.

Students are encouraged to come dressed in a costume of their choice – whether it’s a movie character, animal, superhero, or anything they dream up, we can’t wait to see their creativity shine!

Our students have been working hard to learn their class dances and are eager to perform them for you. It’s sure to be a night to remember!

Food & Drinks:Delicious dinner, dessert, and drink options will be available to purchase on the night – please remember it’s cash only.

Important Info for Parents:- A gold coin donation is required for entry.- All students must be signed in by a parent or guardian.- Parents/guardians are required to stay for the duration of the event to supervise their children.

We can’t wait to see you all there – costumes on and dancing shoes ready!

Don River Dash Visit

A huge thank you to Don River Dash 2025 for dropping by our school this week! We’re super excited for all the racers hitting the course this weekend — good luck, everyone! 

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Social Justice Day

On Friday, August 29th, St Mary’s School visited the St Vincent de Paul store for Social Justice Day, aligning with Social Justice Sunday on August 31st. This visit celebrated our Mercy values of justice, outreach, and compassion while supporting the Bowen community.

Students saw firsthand how Vinnies helps those in need and had the chance to buy outfits from the store, promoting sustainability and charity.

The day ended with a fun ‘Vinnies Fashion Parade’ celebrating student creativity!

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Celebrating Father’s Day at St Mary’s

On Thursday, 4 September, we celebrated Father’s Day with all the dads, grandads, and special father figures of St Mary’s. The day began with a delightful breakfast filled with fun games and a lucky door prize, creating wonderful memories for everyone involved. This joyous morning was followed by a special Father’s Day Mass at the church, honoring the important role these men play in our community.

Father's Day Breakfast

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Father's Day Mass

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Friendly Reminder

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

Community News

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 Sue on 0428 216 062 OR at bowenoshc@mmcnq.catholic.edu.au

School Dental Service

Tuckshop