Dear Parents and Carers,

A warm welcome to you all as we commence the 2025 school year! I trust you had an enjoyable holiday break spending time with your family and friends. We are so excited to see everyone back again, ready to start a new year of learning. Special welcome to our new staff, children and families, we are thrilled to have you join our St Mary’s school community.

SAFER INTERNET DAY (11 FEBRUARY 2025)
Safer Internet Day on 11th February is a global day of action dedicated to raising awareness of online safety. It is also an opportunity for staff and parents to engage in meaningful conversations with children about safe and positive online interactions with others. Next week our students will learn about being safe online with their classroom teacher with content from the eSafety Commissioner website.

Great resources for parents and carers are available on the eSafety website, including conversation starters for parents and examples of how to create a family tech agreement for children from age 5. Click on the link to access parent resources https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Next week, all students will receive a ‘Technology Use Agreement’, which needs to be completed for each individual child, indicating agreement that technology will be used in a responsible and respectful way at school. 

Your child will not be permitted to access the internet until the responsible use of technology agreement form is returned to school to your child's classroom teacher.

NAPLAN NEWS 2025
This year students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in NAPLAN online. Year 3 complete Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. Year 3 complete Writing with pen and paper. Year 5 complete Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. All students use headphones during the conventions of language test, the numeracy test and the Year 5 writing test so they can hear audio instructions. 

NAPLAN tests are in Term 1, and will occur between the 12 March - 24 March.