Friday 22nd November ~ Issue 36

Child Safety Statement

School Values

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Respect Our School - Hormati Sekolah Kita

Do Your Best - Lakukan Yang Terbaik

Help Others to Succeed - Bantu Teman Untuk Berhasil

Important Dates

Term 4

November

Friday 29th November - P/1/2 Excursion

Friday 29th November - 3-6 Swimming Carnival

December

Friday 6th December - Assembly

Friday 6th December - Christmas Parade @ 6pm

Tuesday 10th December - 2025 Orientation Day ~ Prep - 6

Friday 13th December - Junior Athletics Carnival (Prep - 2)

Friday 13th December - Semester Two reports sent home

Sunday 15th December - End of Year School Mass and Gr 6 Graduation @ 10.30am

Wednesday 18th December - Last day for students

ADVANCE NOTICE 

Wednesday 29th January - First day of 2025 school year for Gr 1-6

Thursday 30th January - First day of 2025 school year for Preps

Tuesday 11th February - PUPIL FREE DAY - all staff at Structured Literacy PD

From the Principal

Dear Families,

Our 5/6 team has enjoyed the most wonderful camp to Rose's Gap in the Grampians. The children were amazing, joining in enthusiastically and having great fun. A huge thank you to the staff and parents who were in attendance. It is a huge ask of them to leave their own families to ensure our students have a camp experience.

We have finalised our homeroom teaching teams for 2025. I have that information listed later in the newsletter. We are currently working tirelessly on classlists and will have that information to you on Monday 9th December, just before Orientation Day on the 10th. Plenty going on!

Have a wonderful weekend, shared with those you love,

 Terrielynn

Catholic School Culture

MASS TIMES – 2024                                                 

Hamilton: Saturday 6pm and Sunday 10.30am                                    

Dunkeld: Sunday 8.30am                  

Glenthompson:  Sunday 8.30am

Penshurst: Sunday 8.30am

Learning and Teaching

School Wide Positive Behaviours

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is:  A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.

For the next two weeks at St Mary’s we are working with our students on the following:

RESPECT -  use people's names

SAFETY - play games in a safe and responsible manner

 RESPONSIBILITY - own the choices you make

Library News

As we are fast approaching the end of the year, all Library books need to be returned to the Library as soon as possible please. Time to check bookshelves, behind couches and under beds for those sneaky books that have been hanging out at your place for the last few months! We will not be borrowing from the Library over the next few weeks in Library lessons, as all resources will need to be back for stocktake.  Thank you very much for your assistance in this.

Tania Stevens

Icy Poles

As we are in Term 4 and heading into the warmer weather, our Grade 6 Student Councillors will once again be selling icy poles at lunchtime on Fridays.  These will be $1 each and will be sold each Friday until the end of the term. Our SRC has decided to support Standing Tall Mentoring Program with the proceeds.

Holiday Office hours

Please note our school office will close Wednesday 18th December @4pm for school holidays, and reopen Wednesday 29th January 2025 @  8.30am.

Bus travellers - town and country

A green bus form will be sent home tonight for you to please fill out and return ASAP. This will then be collated into 2025's bus roll. If you have not returned the completed bus form for your child by the end of the term, we cannot guarantee bus travel at the start of 2025 as it is a duty of care that we know how your child is getting home.

Sports Catch Up

Saturday Morning Netball

Saturday Morning Netball continues this Saturday. Grade 5-6’s are playing at 9:30am, and our Grade 3-4’s are on the court at 10:30am.

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival

This is next Friday at the Monivae Pool. A big thank you to all families who have put their hand up to assist on the day. I will be in contact with you shortly about your role for the day. Students need to do the following on the day:

1. Wear their bathers underneath their sports uniform
2. Bring a towel and a bag for wet clothing
3. Bring a change of clothes (eg. underwear)
4. Goggles and swim caps are optional

The 11 and 12 Year Olds (most Grade 5-6’s) will be swimming between 9:15am and 11:30am.

The 9 and 10 Year Olds (most Grade 3-4’s) will be swimming between 11:30am and 1:30pm.

Junior Athletics Carnival

This will be held on Friday 13th December at St. Mary’s. We will begin at 11:30am, and it will finish at approximately 1:30pm. Families are welcome to attend this event, and our Grade 6 students will be running each event. There is no help required from families for this event.

Dates for your Diary

Saturday Morning Netball: Continues this Saturday @ Pedrina Park

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival: Friday 29th November @ Monivae Pool

Grade 5-6 State Hooptime: Tuesday 3rd December @ State Basketball Centre, Wantirna South

Junior Athletics Carnival (Prep - Grade 2): Friday 13th December @ St. Mary’s

Latham Wishart

lwishart@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au

Parent Access Portal (PAM)

PAM will be released in the coming weeks to all our families - please keep an eye on your inboxes.  I have attached the PAM manual for you to read.

Wellbeing

Child Safety ~ SchoolTV - Confidence and Motivation

Confidence and motivation are two critical ingredients for young people's success. Supporting your child to help nurture these qualities allows them to believe in their abilities and navigate life's challenges with resilience and a positive outlook."

                                                                                                Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

     Building confidence and motivation in young people is essential for their development and overall wellbeing. Supporting  these traits means encouraging your child to set realistic goals, celebrate their achievements, and learn from setbacks. This Special Report from SchoolTV gives us some excellent advice on how to build these important skills in our children.

Tania Stevens

Leadership and Stewardship

2025 Planning

Our 2025 homeroom teachers have been appointed. What a team!

Prep - Madeleine Bell and Erin Wolfe

1/2s - Adam Nankivell, Rachael Edwards and Mharni Gordon/Rebecca Kearney

3/4s - Lisa Schurmann, Latham Wishart and Catherine Egan/Kate Plush

5/6s - Ellen Whyte, Teagan Wishart and Chris Minney/Leroy Perez

Next week I will be working on which teams our LSOs will be in.

Community Engagement

St Mary's Christmas Parade

Our Christmas Parade is just two weeks away! There is great excitement in the air! We will be sending out an update on Monday so there is still time to pop your name on a helper's timetable.

++++Spare raffle tickets. If you have a spare Parade raffle book at home that won't be sold, you are more than welcome to return it back to school for us to sell.+++++

Community Events