Dear Parents, Carers, Boys and Girls,

Moruya Celebrates Parade
This Saturday, 11 March, our town will be holding a community celebration ‘Moruya Celebrates, Yesterday’s Heroes’. The event is about celebrating life in the Eurobodalla and the people who worked tirelessly over many years to raise funds for community needs. The event will begin with a street parade followed by activities at Riverside Park and then Riverlights on our beautiful Moruya River at dusk. 

St Mary’s Primary School will be taking the Moruya community to ‘Neverland’ and we have been very busy putting together a float for the parade. Thank you to the families that have 'revived' and organised their children’s costumes from last year's musical, ready for Saturday. We are thrilled to have some of our new Kindergarten students join us and some of our Year 6 2022 students as well. Also a big thank you to all the parents who have said they will be walking with us in the parade…you are also welcome to dress up!

If you would still like to be part of the parade, it is not too late. The parade begins at 1pm. We will assemble on the school oval at 12:15pm and then at 12:30pm walk down River St to the tennis courts and join our parade float.

The Community Council are running a fundraising BBQ on the day at Riverside Park toward the end of the street parade route. You will find them under the St Mary’s marquee. Thank you to all our volunteers who will help set up, cook, serve and pack away. It’s going to be a wonderful day!

NAPLAN 2023
Next Wednesday NAPLAN assessments begin for Year 3 and Year 5 students. A reminder that these assessments are a snapshot of what your child can do across various domains of literacy and numeracy. These assessments will be held first thing in the mornings so please make sure your child arrives at school on time prior to the bell.

Below is the NAPLAN timetable. If your child is unable to attend one of the tests, then they will have time to complete a make-up test. For online tests (Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy), Year 3 and Year 5 students have until the end of the test window (27 March) to complete catch-up tests.

​​Students who are absent on the above dates will sit the tests from Tuesday 21/03/2023 to Monday 27/03/2023. In the event of technological issues, we also have these dates as back-up for the whole grade/s. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Heffernan or Mr Bateman.

Please see the flyer for more information about NAPLAN 2023.

Personalised Plans (PPs)
At St Mary’s our commitment is to respecting and honouring the diversity of each individual as a fundamental principle of learning and teaching. Each child is unique and learns in a variety of ways and at different rates. Our teachers provide an accessible and inclusive curriculum by planning for teaching, learning and assessment that meets the needs of all students, including those who require reasonable adjustments.

A key part of our education program is to establish a Personalised Plan for students with disability, who require ongoing adjustments to learning. Throughout the year, teachers use evidence of learning and other relevant school data to inform decisions about reasonable adjustments. Personalised plans are reviewed annually and throughout the year as necessary, through collaborative planning meetings.

Consultation and collaboration between teachers, students, parents/carers and other professionals is a critical and ongoing part of this process. During such an exchange (face to face meeting, email or phone call), the student, their parent/carer, teacher and other professionals discuss the impact of the disability, how this affects access to the curriculum and what reasonable adjustments, if any, may be required. We work together as a team to plan the goals that the student will work towards achieving as well as the strategies that will be used to support them.

From the plan, teachers make adjustments to their classroom programs to address the identified student outcomes. Regular review of the Personalised Plans is important to determine if the goals or outcomes are being achieved and to alter the goals or strategies as needed. It is important to remember that this is only a plan and therefore it does not necessarily mean interventions or modifications are happening on a daily or weekly basis. 

If your child has a Personalised Plan, your child’s class teacher and members of the Learning Support Team will be available to meet with you in Week 8 (Monday 20 March, Tuesday 21 March, Wednesday 22 March) regarding your child’s learning goals and to discuss the current Personalised Plan we have in place for your child. 

Bookings will be available via COMPASS from next Monday. If you are unable to book via COMPASS please email your child’s teacher.

On Tuesday 28 March, Mrs Margaret Pollard (Senior Officer School and Family Services) from Catholic Education will be at St Mary’s to support and work with staff in planning strategies for meeting students' learning needs.

Webinar: Anxiety and Resilience
Please find attached a flyer with information on a webinar focusing on the important topic of Anxiety and Resilience. This free webinar will be delivered by Dr Justin Coulson PhD for parents, carers, and staff in NSW and ACT Catholic schools. This webinar will be held on Wednesday 29 March at 7.00pm.