Newsletter - 9th November 2023
Principal Report
Dear parents and carers,
Happy St Mary's Wellbeing Week. We hope you have enjoyed the break from the homework routine.
As part of Wellbeing Week we have organised something very special for our Years 4, 5 and 6 students. They are participating in 'Confidence Boosting KYUP' workshops, recommended to us by a St Mary's parent after she had attended the workshop with her daughter at PCYC. The workshops cover personal safety tips, scripts and self-defence techniques suited to the age of our students using relatable examples of real-life situations to set boundaries and respond to conflict.
Change to BYODD Policy
Yesterday I wrote to the parents and carers of our Year Two classes to let them know that as from 2024 there will be a change to the St Mary's BYODD Policy. The Catholic Diocese of Bathurst will now supply a Chromebook for each student on entering Year Three to use for the remaining 4 years of primary school; handing it back at the completion of Year 6.
This means that parents and carers are no longer required to purchase a Chromebook for their child to use at school, as has been our policy over the past few years. School-supplied Chromebooks will come with a laptop bag and charger so that the students can still bring their device home and have responsibility for it. More details will follow on the specifics (for example, what to do if it needs repairing) and will be shared with parents as the students move into Year Three.
Congratulations!
A big congratulations and thank you to our Year 5/6 Netball Girls' team, who represented St Mary's so well in the NSW Schools' Netball Cup on Tuesday. Thank you also to Miss Holmes and teachers for training the girls and supporting them on the day. The girls came 6th in the State! A wonderful achievement!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend when it arrives,
Gayle Stratton
CaFe Thankyou
Thank you to our wonderful CaFe group for providing a lovely lunch for our fabulous teachers. Not only was it delicious, it was a very kind gesture and we wish to express our gratitude.
Religious Education
Last week, St Mary's Primary School celebrated our Christian Initiation Mass. All students from Kindergarten to Year 6 attended mass to pray for the students in our school who have received the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation this year.
Christian Leadership Awards
Maria Nelson
Alma Jackson
Nicholas Hennessy
Esther Tony
Remy Magee
Florence McCarthy
Hunter Horan
Josh Shinto
Maleah Hare
Tripp Pearson
Myah Parkes
Ellie O'Neil
George Bouffler
" In Recognition of Community & Common Good"
Leo Clarke-Cima
Bonnie Venner
"In Recognition of Hope and Resurrection"
Class News
Our Kindergarten, Year One, and Two students were enraptured by the performance of Possum Magic at the Orange Civic Theatre. The play captured to joy of Mem Fox’s picture book where Grandma Poss uses her best bush magic to make Hush invisible. It was a wonderful opportunity for our young students to experience delightful literature in the form of a live show. So much fun!
Year 4 Botanic Garden excursion
School News
Newcastle Permanent Maths Competition is an annual competition giving Year 5 and 6 students the opportunity to test their numeracy and problem-solving skills.
Patrick Penberthy-Neil was the proud recipient of the Newcastle Permanent Maths Competition District Award (Central West) in the Year 5 division. Patrick was placed in the top 50 out of over 8000 Year 5 students. Congratulations on a wonderful achievement!
Sports
SPORTS UNIFORM Term 4 (any changes to the uniform days will be sent out in compass)
Kindergarten - Monday & Friday
Year One - Monday
Year Two - Monday
Year Three - Monday
Year Four - Monday & Friday 9th Nov KYUP
Year Five - Monday & Friday 9th Nov KYUP
Year Six - Monday
Congratulations to Keenan Holmes for his recent selection at the Bathurst Diocesan Sports Trials. He will now progress to the Polding Basketball trials to be held in 2024. We wish Keenan the best!
Library News
Canteen News
Student Wellbeing
Parent Information
Please check our School Calendar for upcoming school events, this is accessed from the side panel of the newsletter but if viewed from a mobile device the configuration may not show the side panel.
to view it in full please access the calendar from our school website.https://www.stmarysorange.catholic.edu.au ( see below example )
School Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning (SPB4L)-SCHOOL UNIVERSALS
As learners at St Mary's we are expected to:
BE SAFE BE RESPECTFUL BE RESPONSIBLE
The aim of SPB4L at St Mary's, is to actively teach and model positive behavioral expectations through consistent, reasonable, and proactive strategies that will foster positive relationships with students, staff, and parents.
BE SAFE ❖ We will keep our hands and feet to ourselves ❖ We will follow the rules of the game
BE RESPECTFUL ❖ We will use kind words ❖ We will follow the teacher directions
BE RESPONSIBLE ❖ We will include others and play fairly ❖ We will engage in our learning
Community News
