Filter Content
Dear Parents, Guardians and Community,
It has been a busy week at school with Incursions and other things happening. A lot of my time is being taken up with Covid related matters as we try to keep our community safe. Many of our local Catholic Schools are being overwhelmed with cases and many are dealing with 30 to 40 cases in their schools with one school I know of currently dealing with 80. I thank everyone for being vigilant with face masks, getting tested and keeping your child home if they are unwell. The actions of our families is to be commended.
That being the case, we continue to organise events so they are avoiding mixing of classes indoors and for long periods of time. It means we have to change how we have done things in the past, but I do not think any of us want to be in isolation over Christmas. The key to remember is that schools are deemed 'high risk, ' as we have mostly un-vaccinated students.
The following allows us to work with Covid Restrictions.
Last day of School Thursday the 16th of December 1:30 pm Finish
Graduation Year 6: Wednesday the 15th of December 5pm to 7pm
Guard of Honour for Year 6 Students. Wednesday the 15th of December at 1:30pm. Students from Year 6 can leave school at this time. The school will do the traditional Guard of Honour, however, we will space the students out more and we anticipate it will continue into Maclean Reserve. School for Year 6 Students is optional for Thursday. They have graduated, but they are welcome to attend Thursday.
End of Year Awards: Outdoor morning assembly on Wednesday the 15th of December. Christian Leadership awards and the announcement of 2022 School Captains. We will do this as a morning assembly at 9am.
End of Year Mass. This will now be done as a para-liturgy inside the school. This will take place in individual classrooms to avoid the mixing of students indoors. This will be students and staff only.
Other Matters
Step Up day: This will take place on Friday the 10th of December at 9:30am. Students will get a chance to meet their new teachers and classmates. The teacher list we hope to share next newsletter. Class lists will be final by then.
Naplan 2022: Naplan is changing in 2022 as it moves to an online platform. We completed our school readiness test this week that checked whether we had the technology to support it and we were fine. There are two major changes. Firstly, Naplan test will now be adaptive and there is no single Naplan Test. The adaptive will respond to how the student is going, if they are getting everything right, it will make it harder, if the student is getting most of it wrong, it will make it easier. What should happen is that we get a more accurate indication of what level they are at. Currently we can see in the results where a student has given up and stops answering questions so we get no real indication of what level they are. At the other end, when a student gets everything right, we do not know how high they can go, they are just getting everything right at that level. The other major change is that we now have a "Naplan Window," May 10 to 20 2022 and schools decide when they do the test as each child does a different test, it does not matter when we do it. The writing component will continue to be hand written on the same day at the same time. By going online, it also means the school will get results back quicker instead of waiting several months.
School Improvement Plan 2022 to 2025: Morning Tea with the Principal December 3rd 9am. In the staff-room. All welcome.
First day of school 2022: Monday 31st of January.
Reminders: We are hearing that a few students from St mary's are not wearing their bike helmets on the way to school. Can we remind our students that wearing a helmet is expected when riding to school?
God bless and stay safe
Anthony
We bring peace to the world when we bring peace to our world
Advent focuses on repentance each year. During the second Sunday of Advent, we hear John the Baptist proclaim loudly, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
Jesus brings the kingdom to Earth when he becomes human. He’s completely divine and yet completely human, fully God and fully flesh-and-blood.
Jesus came to bring peace. He tells people, over and over, not to be afraid. But peace begins at home, within our walls and within ourselves.
PREP MASS
Many thanks to the prep children who welcomed the new families coming to our school next year. It was such a joy to see them singing so proudly at Mass last Sunday!
YEAR 5 FIRST HOLY COMMUNION
Finally the time has come for the Year 5 children to make their First Holy Communion. After what may possibly be 6 reschedules, this event will happen this weekend. Many thanks to all the patience and understanding of the parents and children!
**** Please note that to keep the St Mary’s community safe - Father Greg is continuing to limit the amount of people in the church to 150 people ****
Upcoming Events
TERM 4 |
|
Saturday 4th December 6pm Sunday 5th December 8.30am, 10.30am & 5pm |
Year 5 First Eucharist
Please note that the following restrictions will be in place for this event: ● 5 members per family (including the communicant) ● Every attendee will be required to register for Mass at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/stmary ● Masks to be worn by attendees over 12 years of age ● Sign in to Mass using a QR code ● Government mandates require that church adult attendees be fully vaccinated |
Wednesday 15th December 9am |
Christian Leadership Award Ceremony
To be held in the playground when the bell rings |
Upcoming Liturgies
At this point in time, we are still unable to gather as a whole school group in the church, we will continue to provide liturgies of important feast dates and occasions over the loudspeaker
Celebration |
Date |
Year Level |
2nd Week of Advent |
Thursday 3rd December |
Year 4 |
Feast of the Immaculate Conception liturgy |
Wednesday 8th December |
Year 1 |
3rd Week of Advent |
Friday 10th December |
Prep |
End of year liturgy |
Wednesday 15th December |
Classroom teachers |
2022 |
|
Saturday 19th February 6pm
Sunday 20th February 8.30 & 10.30am
|
Year 4 First Eucharist
Bookings will be transferred from the original date and time to the new date and times
If these new dates create any problems, then please feel free to contact Father Greg directly after December 6th.
|
Looking out for children’s mental health is essential. To do this, it’s important to know what to look for.
While some signs may be obvious, others are not and mental health troubles may exhibit differently in children when compared to adults.
Click here for further information
St Mary’s Lego Station
St Mary’s School is gratefully asking for donations of any unwanted lego, particularly Lego Mini- Figures you might have at home. We are not collecting Woolworths sets at this stage.
In continuation of supporting families with guiding students in the online world, please find the following resources to support your family through navigating the world of technology safely with your family.
A reminder that the following interactive webinars are being offered online by the Australian Government’s e-safety Commissioner to help parents and carers.
eSafety's parent guide to helping kids thrive online
In Term 1 webinar in 2022 offers tips about how to support young people to socialise, learn and have fun online safely.
It explains how to access information, use technology safely and navigate new online platforms.
The presentation is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 5 to 12 years old.
It will cover:
- how to talk to young people about online risks on different social media platforms and games
- how to help young people develop skills to protect themselves when they are online
- where to go for help if things go wrong and how to access mental health support and information through eSafety.
St Mary’s Fabulous Family Fair, tentatively booked for Sunday 13th November. This all-day event, held in the school and Maclean Reserve, is run every two years. The Fair is a brilliant way to showcase our school within the community, raise funds for the school and most importantly have some fun!!
Planning will commence this year and we are eager to hear from anyone interested in getting involved in any capacity. There are probably lots of families that haven’t had an opportunity to participate or contribute to a Fair due to the impact of the pandemic which meant we had to cancel the Fair in 2020. Please don’t be shy …if you have event management, sponsorship, planning, logistics or happy to get stuck in and help out please reach out to president@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
Christmas Cards
Christmas card orders should be arriving early next week for distribution. Please keep an eye out on the schoolzine app for further updates.
Prep 2022 Morning Tea
We are seeking a current Prep parent or guardian to coordinate the Prep Morning Tea on 31st January 2022. The Prep Morning Tea is a get together in the School Hall after the children have been farewelled in the classroom.
Secondhand Uniforms & Donations
Reminder to parents that Secondhand Uniforms will be on sale in the School Hall on Friday 19th December as part of Prep Orientation, 11.30am – 12.30pm, if you wish to make a purchase in person. Alternatively you can order for click-and-collect by emailing uniformspf@smwilliamstown.catholic.edu.au
We are also seeking secondhand uniforms. Donations are greatly appreciated and can be left at the school office. Please ensure items are clean and in a sellable condition.
School Lunches are back!
Lunch orders are available every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
We are trialing a new supplier - Beaver’s Tail. Everything will be managed directly with Beaver’s Tail (ordering, payment, queries) and not through CDF Pay. This is a change to how lunch orders worked previously, and you need to have orders in the night before.
We will be seeking feedback from the school community towards the end of term. Happy ordering!
Maclean Reserve
Roster details for next week are below, if you are unable to make your shift please endeavor to organise someone to take your shift.
Monday 6 December – Friday 10 December
- Monday – Filomena Morrow
- Tuesday – Rachel Nardo
- Wednesday – Hannah Hage
- Thursday – Nadia Grima
- Friday – Amy Carmont
Jemima Bowen
P&F President (president@smwiliamstown.catholic.edu.au)