Dear Parents Guardian sand Community, 

Events of the Week.

• Tuesday, November 19, 9 am - Parent Science of Learning Learning Walk
• Thursday November 21 School 12 Noon . School Captain Speeches
• Thursday November 21 Year 2 Craft Power Incursion
• Friday November 22. Jogathon/Colour Run.

Upcoming Events:

• Friday November 29 8 am Prep Breakfast
• Sunday December 1: 10:30 Prep Mass   ** First Sunday of Advent
• Monday December 9 10:45 Step Up Day (Students to their new classes)
• Thursday December 12 End of Year Excursion day
• Monday December 16: 6 to 8 pm Year 6 Graduation
• Tuesday December 16 9:15 am End of Year Mass
• Tuesday December 17. 1:30pm End of School Year (Prep to Year 5)

Colour Run/ Jogathon. An exciting week at school with our Major Fundraiser, our Colour Run/ Jogathon. With High Temperatures predicted we will have water stations to make sure the students stay cool during the event. Please remember to apply sunscreen to your child.

Parent Learning Walk. Yesterday we had a number of parents join us for the Learning Walk to observe what is happening across the school for the Science of Learning. We visited classes from all levels and saw how it impacts students at different age groups. The parents were able to observe strategies that increase the amount of student participation and improve their ability to remember what they have learnt. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Changes to School Reports Comments: St Mary's has been very involved in research around school Reports and has collaborated with The Australian Council of Education Research (ACER) on many occasions. I was part of their presentation at one of the ACER Research Conferences speaking on the topic. We have made significant improvements over the years. One of the key parts of School Reports is the teacher comments. We want our comments to be effective for teachers, parents and students. We have been working with teachers this term to make their Literacy and Numeracy comments shorter and more effective, so less teacher jargon and more to the point. A parent should know how the student is progressing and whether they are at the expected standard. A parent should also know what they need to improve and how they can do this. What parents do not want is a comment that has been copied and pasted and could have been used for every student, they want personal comments for their child.  As such, in the upcoming reports you will see comments like these examples.  

'Bill has made excellent progress this Semester and is achieving well above the expected level in Literacy. His growth in reading and writing has been very good, however his spelling did not improve as expected. To improve on Bill’s spelling he needs to practice the following letter sound combinations, ‘eight’ and ‘ tion.’  He could make lists of words with these letter sound combinations and review them regularly.'

'Sophie has shown strong growth this Semester and is achieving above the expected standard in Numeracy. Her problem-solving skills in word problems have improved, but her ability to work with fractions has not progressed as anticipated. To support Sophie in this area, she needs to focus on identifying equivalent fractions and practice converting fractions to decimals. Using visual aids and hands-on activities could help her deepen her understanding.'

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Thank you for your ongoing support for the School

God Bless

Anthony

St Mary’s Faith News

 School and Parish Connections 

Gospel: John 18: 33-37

‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked.

Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’

Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’

Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’

‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate.

‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’

Reflections from our Pilgrimage

ROME

In this week’s newsletter, I’m excited to share about our experience of being part of the Papal audience, visiting the Vatican and a tour around the Vatican Museum.

PAPAL AUDIENCE

For Michelle and myself, attending the Papal Audience was truly an experience of a lifetime.

As we stood in the vast crowd at St. Peter’s Square, we felt the anticipation build. Then, a wave of excitement swept through the crowd as Pope Francis entered, a small white figure among a sea of black suits, joyfully waving from the pope mobile. Cheers of "Papa Francesco" erupted as people moved from one side of the square to the other, hoping to catch a close view of the Pope.

It’s important to note that a Papal Audience is not a Mass but a time for catechesis and prayer. We were blessed with the rare opportunity to hear Pope Francis’s voice, and his message that day was powerful: he encouraged everyone to turn their backs on evil and to embrace kindness and respect in their daily lives.

“The battle against the spirit of evil is won as Jesus won it in the wilderness: by striking with the word of God. You see that Jesus does not converse with the devil, He never conversed with the devil. Either he casts him out, or condemns him, but He never converses.”

Witnessing this gathering of faith and unity was truly inspiring, and we are grateful to have been part of such a meaningful event.

ST PETER’S BAILICA - A walk through Time at St Peter’s

Wandering through St. Peter's Basilica felt like stepping into history itself. Commissioned by Pope Julius II and shaped by masters like Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Bernini, the basilica stands as the largest church in Christendom and a stunning example of Renaissance architecture. Its soaring columns, intricate mosaics, and awe-inspiring altars evoke a sense of both grandeur and reverence.

The interior, largely the work of Bernini, invites you to look upward, where the artistry seems to reach toward the heavens. But what struck us most was the deep sense of holiness as we stood by the tomb of St. Peter, the first Pope. This isn't just a church—it's a place of pilgrimage, where faith and history converge in a way that’s both humbling and transcendent.

St. Peter’s Basilica is a living monument to the universal Church, drawing pilgrims to honor the legacy of the Prince of the Apostles. Walking through it, we felt connected to something far greater than ourselves. 

Prep Mass/Children’s Mass 

We are delighted to invite you to join us for our upcoming monthly Mass on Sunday, 1st December. This will be a special celebration as our current Prep children welcome the new Preps and their families into the St. Mary’s community.

To make this Mass even more memorable, we warmly encourage older students who enjoy singing to join the Preps in a special reflection song. Additionally, older students will be invited to read the Liturgy of the Word, while the Prep children will share the Prayers of the Faithful.

If your family will be attending and your child would like to participate in the Mass, please complete the form sent home last week and return it to the school office as soon as possible.

We look forward to celebrating this joyful occasion together as a school community!

Important Dates for Term 4

Colour Explosion Jogathon is this Friday 22 Nov!

The countdown is on, there’s just two days to go until our Jogathon is here.

Thanks to those who are already doing a fantastic job with their fundraising. If you haven’t started it’s not too late. Go to australianfundraising.com.au and click ‘My Profile Page login’. Search “St Mary’s School – Williamstown”. There are great incentive prizes on offer, starting from when you raise just $10 or more.

What to wear: if possible, please wear a white t-shirt and some old shorts and sneakers.  Children will also enjoy a sausage sizzle and icy pole after the jogathon.

Come along and cheer on the students at Robertson Reserve.

• Prep – Grade 2: 12.20pm – 1.00pm
• Grade 3 – 6: 1.10pm – 1.50pm

We’d love a few more volunteers to help the P&F run this event. If you can spare an hour or two, please sign-up here.

Happy fundraising.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our secondhand uniform shop. 

Our stock is runnng low, especially in the smaller sizes, eg. Prep, Years 1 and 2. We would appreciate any donations, especially before our sale on Step Up Day on December 9.

Thank you

Uniform Shop

We are looking for a casual retail person for our school shop at St Mary's school Williamstown . 

The role involves uniform sales, picking and packing orders and checking stock levels for reordering.

The role is on a Monday between 2pm and 3.45.

There are busy times which are early December and late January and July .

Please contact:markatdavidmarcs@gmail.com