Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School Newborough eNewsletter

St. Mary’s started the new school year with 43 new smiles. Our Foundation students have settled into school life beautifully. We are thoroughly impressed with their resilience and independence at coming into school, unpacking their bags and commencing the day.

In addition to the Foundation students, we welcome Ashton in year 4, Trudee Ridley who is teaching in Year 1/2 and Lauren Halkett who is specialist teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to all of the children.

Dear Parents

A warm and heartfelt welcome to the 2022 school year. What a wonderful start we have had to the year for our students and staff. I am sure you must all be as proud of your children as we are. They have settled into school life in such a positive and happy way and are engaging in their learning and building relationships with their teachers and classmates. There is a lovely, lively buzz throughout the school, which makes our school a wonderful place to be. It is such a gift to us this year that we are able to have the children in our school where they bring the joy, laughter, fun and excitement that we all love. Whether it is at Kiss and Go in the morning and afternoon, meeting with parents at the entrance to the school, learning in their classrooms or playing on the playground, your children are the life of our school. We celebrate each day that we are all together where your children are receiving rich learning, building friendships and fully engaging in all aspects of school life. I thank each one of you for your patience, understanding and support as we continue to navigate the new year and all it has to offer. Your positivity and communication has a lasting impact on your children and the way they engage with school life. I thank our amazing staff who continue to go above and beyond to ensure life at school is a positive, happy place to be.

While we follow the guidelines and restrictions, and create a new normal for our school, we await with excited anticipation for the changes that we have been assured will be impacting our school in a positive way in the next couple of weeks. We will be having a Welcome Barbeque where all vaccinated members of our school will be invited to gather at school to welcome the new year. We are very aware that we have some members of our community who are not vaccinated and we are challenged by the knowledge that our restrictions have a significant impact on them and this saddens us. We know that there will come a time in the future where we will be able to gather as a whole community, where we are again able to welcome everyone into our school to celebrate together. We look forward to this becoming a part of our reality, however for the time being we must follow the restrictions as they are a mandated part of school life. We feel it is important for us to continue to provide every opportunity we can for our school to build the community environment that is such an integral part of who we are. With this in mind, we will be making every effort to engage our families in a range of celebrations as soon as we are able to. Again, I thank you for your understanding and support, this isn’t an easy time for any of us.

Our focus this year for our staff and students is how our behaviour impacts our wellbeing and learning and the wellbeing and learning opportunities of others. Our BEST, whole school approach to positive behaviour incorporates:

Building Relationships

Expecting Excellence in Everything

Staying Safe Everywhere

Taking Responsibility for ourselves and our Learning

This is a positive focus for all of us as it enables us to see how we can create a warm and welcoming environment that respects and supports each one of us. We focus on how kindness, understanding and thoughtfulness impacts each of us and enables us to bring the best version of ourselves to school each day. Each one of us, at home and at school, are integral parts of the success our children achieve each day when they come to school and we thank you for the part you play in making our school such a positive and welcoming place to be. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful community and look forward to a fantastic year together.

Kind regards
Lisa

CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund)

Families who hold a valid means-tested Centrelink Concession Card may be eligible to apply for the State Government Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF).

Applications need to be submitted to the office by 26th February please.

Families who qualify for CSEF may also be eligible for School Fee Concession and are encouraged to contact the office for more informaltion.

CSEF_Application.pdf

CSEF_Information_for_parents.pdf

Uniform Shop

To place orders online please click the link below.

GippSports Community

As part of Football Victoria's Female Football February initiative, local soccer clubs have joined together to deliver a FREE local festival to promote, support, educate and showcase women and girls soccer in Gippsland.