We welcome any donations for our Father's Day Stall. Please send donations with your child or drop off at the front office. 

Thank you,

St Mary's Craft Group

This week the year 5 students went on an excursion to Murray Road Kindergarten. The students began the morning by introducing themselves to their kinder buddies. From there the students began story time where the Year 5's read a picture book and discussed the characters and settings with their buddies. Once story time ended the students and children headed outside for some play time where they ran obstacle courses, played on the swings and built sandcastles. The morning ended with snack time and singing. The aim of this excursion was for the students to give back to the community by educating the kindergarten children through story time and play based learning. The morning was a success with students eager to return back to Murray Road Kindergarten for future visits. Here is what some of the students had to say.   

Isabelle “The kids were polite and they were not shy which made it enjoyable”

Darby “I enjoyed reading a book to the kids because they found some things in the books fascinating”

Georgia M “It’s nice to read to the little kindergarten kids”

Adeleine “It was a good experience. The children were kind and we had lots of fun”

Patrick “The teachers were really nice and it was fun playing with the kinder kids”

Georgia P “It was very enjoyable when they listened and had their own little thoughts about the story” 

Chad “It was good to lead my buddy in story time and it was fun to have free time with them”

Dear Parents

We have had a very busy couple of weeks with many varied activities and rich, exciting learning happening throughout the school. Our teachers are in the process of writing the mid year reports and the consistent buzz of conversation revolves around the growth the children have had, both in their learning and in their socialisation, independence and resilience building. It is certainly an exciting time to be at school.

This month we have raised a very impressive amount of money for our school, thanks to our wonderful Parents and Friends group. Our Colour Run was our most successful one yet and our Election Day efforts enabled us to raise a significant amount of money. With the leftover food we welcomed Catholic Education Week last week with a BBQ. Again we raised a pleasing amount of money. We had our Walk To School Day walk and breakfast which was supported by more families than we had even hoped for. This was an exciting way to start the day.

We have survived NAPLAN, with the children seeming to take it in their stride, with thanks to the way the teachers and parents framed the value of NAPLAN. The teachers told the children that NAPLAN is simply to find out what the children know so that they know what they still need to teach them. This is a great way to create a positive outlook on something that is often considered a challenge. Once again, our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour shines through the way we approach new things and new learning. We strive to create a positive view on how we learn, grow, challenge ourselves and build relationships at school and this is consistently evident through the staff and children across the school.

We are in the process of Open Days, kinders visiting our school, school tours and enrolments coming in. At this stage we have a pleasing number of new enrolments with several families having visited and expressing interest still possibly to enrol. It is exciting to share our school with new families and to hear their positive feedback to all aspects of our school and the students and staff who make up our wonderful community.  This is a very busy time for us, but vital to the success of our enrolment process.

Our playgroup and craft group are thriving again which is wonderful to see. Our playgroup is growing steadily with some new families joining us.

It has again been a very busy and productive time and we are enjoying seeing our families back in the school again, even on these cold, chilly days.

Please remember that on Monday we have a School Closure Day. These days are integral to the professional learning of school staff to ensure best practice teaching and learning for our students. We understand that this can be an inconvenience at times and we appreciate your support.

Kind regards
Lisa Broeren

Next week we say goodbye to Sue Weir, our wonderful librarian and Education Support Officer, who has decided it is time for her to retire. While we are so sad to lose Sue, we are excited for her that she is ready to start the next phase of her life. Sue has been amazing and a vital part of St Mary's community for 17 years and we will miss her more than we probably even realise. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Sue for the tremendous impact she has made on our school community and for the way she has always gone above and beyond to make St Mary's the best school it can be.

We will be celebrating and thanking Sue at our school assembly on Thursday June 9. We look forward to this special celebration to say thank you to Sue for all she has meant to us and we invite you to attend if you are able to.

The Parents and Friends Committee have again arranged this through Morwell Bakery Out of Dough.

This is a great way to fill the freezer with a hearty, yet easy meal option for those cold nights full of after school activities.

Orders will need to be placed through CDFpay, where you will find a list with an abundance of flavour options available for purchase.

https://stmnewbor.cdfpay.org.au/MonitorOnline/app/#!/login

Please place your order by Thursday 9^th June.

Delivery will be Monday 20th June (last week of term). Time to be advised.

A SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience Post Pandemic

Unfortunately, the mental health of young people has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. As many families settle back into pre-COVID routines, there seems to be a pervasive sense of optimism about what lies ahead.

Unfortunately children and teens are not immune to what is now being termed the “psychological pandemic”. Young people are at risk of not achieving the primary demands of developmental tasks such as procuring independence, identity formation, as well as obtaining and maintaining peer relationships. What kids need most in the current environment is support, understanding, empathy and encouragement from caring adults. They live up or down to the expectations we set for them.

If there is a panacea to the adversity caused by the pandemic, then it is the building of resilience. Resilience is the capacity to face, overcome, be strengthened and transformed by adversity. Never before have parents needed the skills, the knowledge and the strategies to build resilience in their children as much as they do now. There are 7 integral and interrelated components that make up being resilient that can help young people thrive and develop healthy coping strategies.

This Special Report explores the “7 C’s of Resilience” and includes suggested strategies on how adult carers can best facilitate them.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:
https://stmnewbor.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-building-resilience-post-pandemic 

Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund (CSEF)

CSEF is provided by the Victorian State Govenment to eligible families to ensure that children have the same opportunities as their classmates.  If you hold a current Centrelink Concession card you may eligible. Please read the attached information and Application below. Applications close 24th June.

CSEF_Information_for_parents.pdf

CSEF_Application.pdf

NCCD (Nationally Consisitent Collection of Data)

NCCD_Information_Sheet_for_Parents.pdf

Craft Group - Every Tuesday 9.00am in the school hall.

Playgroup - Every Monday 9.00am to 10.30am in the school hall. Please bring a piece of fruit to share.

Uniform Shop

We are currently out of size 4 & 6 windcheaters and size 10 black track pants.  We have ordered more and hope they will be in early next term.  

Our Uniform shop is open for parents to come in every Friday afternoon 3.00 to 3.30pm. Cash only.  Or to place orders online please click the link below. 

Please note if uniforms are purchased online and do not fit we are happy to exchange.

Parishes In Partnership Newsletter

Ascension_2022.pdf

6th_Sunday_of_Easter_2022.pdf

Mass Times: please see the above Bulletins for current Mass times and Vaccination Status requirements.  Fr Daniel OMI 

SchoolTV

Click the link below to access SchoolTV

Lowanna College - Sports Academy 

Lowanna Sports Academy expression of interest for Years 7-12 for 2023, are now open and can be found here: https://forms.office.com/r/ZKZhGWat5N

The Summit - Free School Holiday Camp

FREE_July_School_Holiday_Camp.pdf

School Holiday Camps Program

https://www.vic.gov.au/positive-start-holiday-camps

Life Skills Victoria - Curtains for Certain Drama Group Permforming Looking for Alice

Curtains_for_Certain_Looking_for_Alice_Performance.pdf

Working With Childrens Check

It is a requirement that any parent who volunteers or visits the school must hold a valid Working With Childrens Check card (WWCC). ou can apply for your WWCC at the below link;

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/

Anglicare Victoria - ParentZone Gippsland

PZ_Home_June_2022_Edition.pdf

Kids Help Line  Ph; 1800 55 1800

Congratulations to Patrick Manning who placed first yesterday in Regional Cross 
Country and is now of off to compete at State Level.

Good luck to the students competing in High Jump next week.

June

• Monday 6th - School Closure for Staff Professional Development
• Wednesday 8th - Lucas Proudfoot Performance
• Thursday 9th - Assembly 2.30pm and Pie Drive orders due in
• Wednesday 15th - Division Winter Sports, year 5/6
• Monday 20th - Pie drive delivery, time to be advised
• Friday 24th - Last day term 2, 1.00pm finish

July 

• Monday 11th - First day term 3
• Thursday 14th - State Cross Country
• 19th/20th - Year 3/4 Camp to Forest Edge
• Thursday 21st - Disco 5.00pm (information to follow)

August

• Monday 8th - Possible school closure
• Friday 12th - Western Valley Basketball (year 5/6)
• 29th to 31st - Year 5/6 Camp to Sovereign Hill

September

• Friday 1st - Division Summer Sports (Basketball)
• Wednesday 14th - Division Athletics
• Friday 16th - last day term 3

October 

• First day term 4