Newsletter Term 1 - 21st March 2024

Parent Talk

Parent Talk newsletter aims to provide parents and carers with relevant and timely information about parenting, education, wellbeing, upcoming CCSP events and webinars for parents, and significant Catholic news and events.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT represents all parents and carers of students in our Catholic schools. We value and promote the critical role that parents play in the education of their children, and provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents and carers of children in almost 600 Catholic schools.

Parents and carers are invited to subscribe to CCSP’s Parent Talk newsletter to receive future editions keep up to date with how our Council supports Catholic school parents to support their children’s wellbeing, faith journey and academic outcomes.

Click here to subscribe

CCSP would love to know how involved/engaged you feel you are in your child's learning, how comfortable you feel at your child's school, and your thoughts on how schools could enhance family/school partnerships. We'd also love to know what topics you're interested in learning more about so that we can offer professional learning throughout the year.

We appreciate you taking the time to complete our short survey - we value your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you so much!

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK TO GO TO THE SURVEY: https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/survey/57

Kind regards,

Cath Garrett-Jones
Executive Director

Student Parent Teacher Conferences

Student Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd April. There will be an online booking system to make an appointment with your child's class teacher. We welcome all families to attend. We encourage your child to be present the conference to talk about their work and share in their successes. This is an opportunity for families to discuss such topics as:

*Student behaviour and work habits

* How does my child relate to peers and adults?

*What are my child's Mathematics and English goals this term?

*What are some of my child's strengths and achievements?

*What does my child need to continue to work on?

*How can I help my child at home?

*How can we work together to assist my child?

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Student Personalised Learning Plans (PLP)

Over the course of Thursday 7th & Friday 22nd March parents/carers of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will be invited to be part of a relaxed and collaborate conversation with their child, class teacher and Mr Benton to help create academic, cultural and social goals for 2024. These will be recorded on a proforma and tracked by Mr Ben, parents and the class teacher throughout the year. Students have a voice in the way they like to learn and how they would like to celebrate their goals.

In the past some students have chosen to create some fabulous Aboriginal art activities with Mr Benton, or learn more about their culture. These Personalised Learning Plans are also a requirement from the Catholic Education Diocese, Bathurst. Invitations to the meeting have been emailed to parents. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting and working together to help your child achieve their goals.

Lenten Reflection

As we journey through the season of Lent, we find ourselves in the fifth week of reflection, repentance, and spiritual growth. This week, let us delve deeper into the themes of forgiveness, renewal, and the enduring love of God. Let's make this week one filled with forgiveness, renewal, and acts of kindness as we continue our Lenten journey together.

Holy Week Liturgy

Holy Week will be celebrated in the form of a special liturgy that will take place on Thursday the 28 of March. The liturgy will promptly begin at 12:30pm in the school hall. Each grade will present an item that reflects the events of Holy Week. All are welcome. 

Project Compassion Reminder 

Project Compassion is Caritas Australia's annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal. Millions of Australians come together in unity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. 

Thank you to those families who have already returned their project compassion boxes. All boxes need to be returned to school in Week 11. 

St Patrick’s Day Fundraiser 

Students recently enjoyed the opportunity to wear a splash of green with their uniform whilst raising money for Project Compassion. Many thanks to the SRC students and the Mini Vinnies team who joined forces to organise the day. A total of $250 was raised for Project Compassion. 

Yours in faith 

Joshua Meyers 

Acting Religious Education Coordinator 

ENGLISH

We are now in our second year of implementation of the new English syllabus for K-2 and the first year for Year 3-6. Over the next few newsletter publications, we will be providing information about the new syllabus for parents. Below is the first of three, focusing on Kindergarten (Early Stage 1).

Spelling Bee

All students from Year 3 to 6 will have an opportunity to learn the provided list words and take part in the spelling bee rounds in their class this term. Students will have the opportunity to progress to the grade finals and the stage finals. One or two students from each stage will be invited to represent St Mary's at the Diocesan Spelling Bee. See the link to the list words in the flyer below for your child to practice the spelling words. Year 3 & 4 use the Stage 2 lists and Year 5 & 6 use Stage 3. 

ICAS Registration Time  

What is ICAS?

ICAS is an online academic competition, run by the University of Sydney, that gives students the opportunity to challenge their  higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies. It is a great opportunity for students to be academically challenged and extended.

 How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/)  
2. Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here: (shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps)  
3. Enter our school’s access code – WBE353  
4. Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.  

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

ICAS results and certificates
All assessments will be conducted online, at school. We will notify you of the dates that we will run ICAS assessments, and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Your child’s ICAS certificates will be delivered to school. Once we have received them, we will present them to your child to bring home. The back of the certificate will show your child’s ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”. - Use these to enter the Results Portal orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent. 

Approximate Dates

Digital Technologies 5-9 August

English 12-16 August

Science 19-23 August

Mathematics 26-30 August

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Dog Man the Musical
On Tuesday, the children in Year 1 and Year 4 attended the performance of Dog Man the Musical at the Orange Civic Theatre. The show was an amazing portrayal of the best-selling books by Dav Pilkey. Dog Man, the half-dog, half-man police officer has to try to save the city from Flippy the fish and Petey the world’s most evil cat! The show was full of funny songs, catchy dance moves and even pretend explosions!!

All the children thoroughly enjoyed the show. 

2024 CaFE Grade Reps

Kinder: Alicia Holmes, Stacey Tracey (Kinder Orientation Night, Set up Kinder FB group)

Yr 1: Olivia Day-Gorham, Amy Hinchcliff (Kinder Welcome Morning Tea)

Yr 2: Renee Davis, Alicia Holmes (Mother’s Day gifts)

Yr 3: Mel Balchin, Olivia Day-Gorham (Mother's Day breakfast)

Yr 4: Jess McGrath and Katrina Holway (Father's Day gifts)

Yr 5: Kym Flitcroft, Kellie Pickering (Father's Day breakfast)

Yr 6: Kate Pulbrook, Sharon Collins (Easter Egg raffle and eggs. Organise Yr 6 2024 end of year event)

Last week, students from Years 5 and 6 traveled to Bathurst to participate in the Bathurst Winter Sports Trials. These trials are for Diocese Teams in sports such as soccer, netball, rugby league and hockey. 

Congratulations to Braxton, Elwyn and Troy for progressing through to the next trials. They will both represent the Bathurst Diocese at Polding trials to be held in the short future. 

Bathurst Diocesan Community Sport

Dear Parents,

Keep up to date with sporting events and achievements across the Bathurst Diocese. Search CEBD community sport or use the following link. 

https://sites.google.com/bth.catholic.edu.au/cedbsportcommunity/

St Marys is a Nut and Egg Free school 

Please do not put these in your child's lunch box as we have children at our school with severe reactions to these items.

 Children with Communication devices such as Phones and Watches must be handed to the school office in the Morning before class and collected at the end of the day.

Please support your child to meet this school requirement.

If you need to contact your child during school hours please call the school office.

St Mary's CaFE Fundraising with bulbs

Go online to place your order at:

https://www.bulbfundraiser.com.au/STMORANGE

Campaign end date :11/04/2024

Products available to order until this date unless sold out prior

St Mary's Uniform Shop

is run by  Parent Volunteers and is open from 9:00 am Friday Mornings. 

If you have put your order through Flexi schools it will be packed the following Friday and sent home with your child.

The new Active and Creative Kids voucher is now available, helping to make activities more affordable for eligible NSW families. 

Parents, guardians, and carers of eligible school-aged children will be able to use two $50 vouchers per calendar year.
About the new program

• Vouchers are available to those receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A, or Family Tax Benefit Part B, or both.
• Vouchers can be downloaded as a QR code and used toward either an eligible physical or creative activity.
• The $50 vouchers will be issued in school term 1 and school term 3.
• Vouchers must be redeemed before their expiry date. 

For more information, visit Active and CreativeKids.

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/active-and-creative-kids-voucher