Friday 6th December ~ Issue 38

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

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 - please bring a small plate of food to share

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,

The day is here! Our Christmas Parade is on! Thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped in any way - we are so very grateful for your kindness and hard work. It will be a wonderful celebration for our school and community. More details concerning times and meeting points can be found later in the newsletter.

Congratulations to our students in Grs 3-6 who participated so enthusiastically in our Swimming Carnival last Friday. You can read about our age champions further on in the newsletter. We are also very proud of our Gr 6 girls who participated in the School's State Basketball this week. They played with great enthusiasm and skill and represented our school beautifully.

At today's assembly, the students took the opportunity to farewell Kerry Stevens who has worked at our school for a number of decades. The children made a lovely book for her with messages from them all to thank her for her dedication to St Mary's. As a community, we will farewell Kerry at our End of Year Mass, on Sunday 16th December at 10.30am.

There is so much going on at school at the moment so keep a close eye on your Seesaw messages to ensure you are keeping up.

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

Condolences

We send our deepest sympathy to the Hollard family following the recent death of Jax and Wren's great-grandfather, George Habel. All family members are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this sad and difficult time.

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 kind words

SAFETY - Keep hands and feet off others

RESPONSIBILITY - Make the most of the learning opportunities in the last few weeks.

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

Student Leaders For 2025

On Wednesday we were delighted to announce to the Gr 5s who our student leaders are for 2025. While there is always some disappointment, we are so proud of the way the students are happy for their peers. We are so looking forward to working with this wonderful group of children.

School Captains: Jack Bourke and Alani Rook

Fatima House Captains: Johannah Winnell and Beau Plush

Loreto House Captains: Charlie Moyle and Ollie Porter

Lourdes House Captains: Harry San Ba and Nina Roll

Rosaria House Captains: Meki Churchill and Rhys Jackson

Sustainability Leaders: Jedah Brown, Jax Hollard, Bentley Jacobson and Lola Stanley

Art Leaders: Samantha Perkins and Lilly Kuilboer

Student Councillors: Tahlia Fitzsimmons, Hana Churchill, Marcus Knight, Marcus McRae, Rosie Read, Rebecca Shelley, Ryan Smith, Bella Templeton, Sophie Uebergang, Brayden Williams, Deklan Wilmot, Lexi Withers and Selena Brown

Learning Support Officers 2025

Our LSOs will be working in the following areas in 2025. They are invaluable members of our team and we are deeply grateful for the way they support our students and teachers.

Prep - Renee Perriman and Kate Dixon

1/2 - Tegan Elmes, Sophie Button and Vickie Button

3/4 - Debbie Sutherland, Vicki Pierce and Tracy Beveridge

5/6 - Tracy Keen and Casey Rook

Art Room - Kate Dixon

Orientation Day: Tuesday December 10

On Tuesday December 10 we will welcome our 2025 Prep students for their first big day at school. They will be here from 9:00am until 1:30pm. We hope they have a wonderful experience at St Mary's on this day and for future years.

All of our current students will also move into their 2025 classes on this day. They will be in their new classes from 9:00am until 1:30pm. Students will find out which class they are in at the end of the school day on Monday.

Our Yr 6 students will also attend their 2025 school of choice on this day. 

Partnership Agreement

At the end of each year, our staff leaders meet with members of the Catholic Education Office to review the year, celebrate the wonderful work completed throughout the year and identify the opportunities for the following year. We had such a meeting on Wednesday and the CEO was glowing in the feedback given to our school. There is much to celebrate in what we have been able to achieve in our school in 2024.

Sports Catch Up

Grade 5-6 State Hooptime

We are thrilled with the efforts of these six girls who travelled to Melbourne on Tuesday to participate in the State All Star Girls Hooptime finals day!

Firstly, to win both our district and regional finals to make this event is a huge achievement, and playing against the best teams in the state is something to be extremely proud of!

Our girls finished the round robin stage with 2 wins and 2 losses, which then put them into an elimination final. Unfortunately, the girls couldn't quite get over the line to progress further in the tournament. However, to be in the top few teams in the state is quite the achievement. We are so proud of you all!

Thank you to families who took the time to travel to Melbourne and support our team on the day. Thank you to Ben Causer for scoring for our team as well. Your efforts are appreciated by all!

Saturday Morning Netball

What an incredible season of Saturday Morning Netball we have had! To have 5 teams throughout our Grade 3-6 students is an amazing achievement! All I have heard from coaches and families is the enjoyment and development of our students playing the game. This event is the perfect stepping stone for students to learn about netball to then potentially play club and representative netball in the future.

I would like to thank all of our coaches, umpires, scorers, families and anyone throughout the season who has supported our students in the Saturday Morning Netball. Our kids are certainly appreciative of your commitment, and we can’t create these opportunities without your support!

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival

Last Friday, students in Grades 3-6 participated in our Swimming Carnival at the Monivae Pool. It was fantastic to see all of our students demonstrate our school values so positively throughout the event.

Congratulations to Fatima who were the overall winners on the day. 

Well done also to the following students, who won age champion in their respective age group:

9 Year Girls: Lucy Outtram

9 Year Boys: Eron Eldhose

10 Year Girls: Libby Richards

10 Year Boys: Michael Taylor

11 Year Girls: Lexi Withers

11 Year Boys: Marcus McRae

12 Year Girls: Pippa Richards

12 Year Boys: Dexter McIntosh

A huge thank you to families who volunteered for a role on the day, and families who came to support our students. These days cannot be run without your support. A thank you also to Monivae College, for hosting us and being able to use their wonderful facilities.

Well done to all students who were involved in the day!

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

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

2025:

School Athletics Carnival: Thursday 6th March @ Monivae/St. Mary’s

Latham Wishart

lwishart@smhamilton.catholic.edu.au

Parent Access Portal (PAM)

PAM was released last Friday - you should have received an email from St Mary's Student Portal. Please follow the instructions to log in.

I see that we have a few families who have not logged in and completed the consent forms for 2025. If you could please check your emails and log into your PAM account and complete these and the Medical Form ASAP, it would be greatly appreciated. It also ensures we are set up for the new 2025 year.

Many thanks,

Shannon Smith                                                             

Wellbeing

Child Safety ~ School Transitions

“This is a particularly stressful period for both parents and children and it tends to get trivialised. Parents can often transfer their stress onto their child making transitioning unnecessarily more stressful.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Can you believe we are nearly at the end of another year? The time has flown and it is almost time for Orientation Day. This important day on our school calendar gives the students a chance to experience their new classroom for next year. Our students move up into the next grade or area and they meet their teacher (or teachers) for 2025.  Soon, it will also be time for us to farewell our amazing Grade 6's as they head off to secondary school, and welcome a brand new cohort of Preps, ready to learn! 

All of these transitions can bring with them a certain amount of uncertainty or anxiety.  SchoolTV has a special report on School Transitions, which covers starting Primary school, Secondary school and all the transitions in between.  The link to this important report is below,

  Tania Stevens

Leadership and Stewardship

School Fees
At our School Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday 27th November 2024, an increase in school fees for 2025 was approved.  In order to meet our increasing costs and provide the learning programs that we do, it was agreed to raise the fees by 3.0%. This calculates to the following:
Family fee          $1315 (remains the same per family)
Capital fee          $255 (increase of $47 per family)
Student fee        $300 (increase of $9 per student)
Please note that our fees only make up the difference between the Government (Federal and State) funding we receive and the amount the Government determines as the cost of educating a Primary student.  Fees do not mean that we have extra money in our budget to expend on additional resources. 
The Family Fee Assistance scheme will be available again in 2025. Families who qualify for the scheme will pay $520 per annum for primary school tuition fees. The discounted fee covers tuition and capital fees only. It does not cover additional charges such as camps, student fees, and excursions.
In 2025, the due date for school fees will remain at 30th June, 2025. The due date does not apply if you have a regular payment plan in place.
If you have any queries regarding school fees or funding, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Helen O'Brien

$ 400 School Saving bonus 

The Allan Labor Government’s $400 School Saving Bonus is rolling out this week for 2025.  Catholic school students who will be in Prep through to Year 12 in 2025, and who are receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF), are eligible for the School Saving Bonus.  

Catholic school students receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) in 2025 are eligible for additional support through the School Saving Bonus (SSB). The $400 bonus will be provided directly to each school and the school will apply it directly to your fee account.  The $400 School Saving Bonus is available for each child. That means an eligible family with three school-aged children will receive a total reduction of $1,200 to school fees. 

Families who have had their circumstances change (including new healthcare and concession card holders) and who may be eligible for the Camps, Sports and Excursion are encouraged to discuss this with the school.  These are real cost-of-living supports. 

For more information please contact Helen.

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 was  sent home last week 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.

Thank you for your continued support of the School Country Bus Program throughout the year. Please see below key information regarding 2025 bus travel arrangements for the School Country Bus Program.

2025 travel offers

Families of Country bus travellers (not the town buses) have been emailed travel offers today from the Student Travel Assistance Portal for bus travel in 2025. Families have until 14 December 2024 to accept travel offers for 2025.

• if you have changed address or school and your travel offer is incorrect, you will need to decline your travel offer, update your address in your profile (if required) and then submit a new travel application
• accept offers prior to the expiry date.

Bus service waitlist

Where bus services have reached capacity, some students have been placed on a waitlist. The Student Transport Unit reviews the waitlist every day and when a seat becomes available, the system will automatically email a travel offer to families. Priority of access is given to eligible students.

Term 4 travel

Applications for travel in Term 4, 2024 are closed to prepare for 2025. Any families seeking to submit a new travel application for Term 4, 2024 should contact the School Bus Coordinator at the coordinating school for an adhoc travel pass.

Contact

Families requiring assistance with STAP (including requests to change their allocated bus service/stop) can email: schoolbus@education.vic.gov.au or phone:1800 338 663.

Community Engagement

Christmas Card Competition

During Library time at the beginning of term, the Grade 3 to 6 students were invited to enter a Christmas card competition, run by the Member for Lowan, Emma Keely.  The brief was to draw an image that represented what students love most about their local area, with a touch of Christmas.   They also had to explain their image in 25 words or less.  We were very excited on Tuesday when Emma came to visit the 5/6P class to present Lola with her artwork printed on a Christmas card.  Lola received an honorable mention in the competiton, for her artwork depicting the Nucleus and her explanation referencing that we march past this sculpture each year as part of the St Mary's Christmas Parade - very fitting for today!  Congratulations Lola - we are very proud of you!

St Mary's Christmas Parade

THE DAY IS HERE! Thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped in any way - we are so appreciative!

●   All classes are preparing for the Christmas Parade. Students should arrive and meet their classroom teachers in the grounds of Gray St Primary School at 5.45pm. Please make sure that students come dressed in their costumes ready to parade (or as per the information provided by teachers).

● Following the parade, students will remain with their teachers outside the PAC until collected by a parent. Please make sure that you collect your child promptly and notify their teacher before they leave the area.

●  If you are rostered on to help before or during the Parade, Mrs Groves will meet your children at the front of the PAC just before 5.30pm and walk the group down to meet their class group at the starting point.

Don’t forget to sell those raffle tickets! They are due back at school on Monday 9th December.

Money raised this year will go towards establishing a school kitchen which will support the amazing work that is happening in our garden.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact us here at school. Thanks!

Community Events