Dear Parents and Carers,
SEMESTER ONE REPORTS – Now Available on Compass
Semester One student reports will be available today, Friday 27 June from 12:00pm, via the Compass Parent Portal.

Reporting plays a vital role in providing feedback to students, parents, and teachers about learning progress. In a standards-referenced framework, teachers make professional judgements about each student’s achievement based on what has been taught and assessed up to this point in the year. Reports are informed by a range of evidence, including assessment tasks, observations, and classroom learning, all aligned to curriculum outcomes.

Students in Years 1–6 will receive an A–E grade for each learning area, using the Common Grade Scale, which provides a shared language for reporting achievement. For students in Kindergarten, achievement for each subject is reported against the NSW Syllabuses using the following four-point scale:

The Engagement with Learning Statements provide insights into your child’s approach to learning. They reflect important aspects such as work habits, communication, responsibility, behaviour, and collaboration, and serve as a valuable starting point for meaningful conversations about your child’s progress. There are four levels of engagement: 

PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS
Parent–Teacher meetings will take place in Week 10, on Monday 30 June and Tuesday 1 July. These meetings are an important opportunity to discuss your child’s progress directly with their class teacher.

During the meeting, the teacher will also talk through your child’s Semester One report, explaining how grades have been determined based on work samples and assessment tasks. Each meeting will run for approximately 10–15 minutes.

We encourage all parents and carers to take part in these valuable conversations about learning.If you haven’t yet made a booking, we invite you to do so. Please contact the school office if you need any assistance with Compass access or the booking process.

The booking portal on Compass will close on Sunday 29 June.

NAIDOC WEEK 2025 – Celebrating Strength, Vision & Legacy
Over the past 50 years, NAIDOC Week has grown into a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history, and strength. As we honour this important milestone, we reflect on the generations who have paved the way—and look forward with hope to the young people who will continue the journey with pride, courage, and deep respect for the past.

In 2025, NAIDOC Week will be held during the school holidays, from Sunday 6 July to Sunday 13 July. The term NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. It is a time to celebrate the rich culture, history, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—and to strengthen the connection between all Australians.

This year’s theme, "The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy," highlights the power of our young leaders, the wisdom of community, and the enduring legacy of ancestors. It’s a celebration of where we've come from—and where we're headed.

At St Mary’s, we will celebrate NAIDOC Week as a whole school in Week 2 of Term 3. We are deeply committed to growing our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, languages, and knowledge systems. By celebrating NAIDOC Week, we deepen our understanding, show respect, and strengthen our commitment to reconciliation and unity in our school and beyond.

We are proud to live, learn, and work on the land of the Walbunja and Brinja Yuin peoples, the First Custodians of this country. We remain dedicated to building respectful, genuine, and ongoing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, local communities, service providers, and organisations.

YUIN BUNAAN - Wednesday 23 July (Week 1)
On Wednesday 23 July, our K–12 Catholic Pathway Schools will come together to celebrate Yuin Bunaan, a special Cultural Day at Captain Oldrey Park, Broulee. This meaningful event is held every second year and forms an important part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations.

The day will be attended by our First Nations students, each of whom is invited to bring a friend to share in the experience. They will join students from Carroll College, Broulee and St Bernard’s, Batehaven.

We sincerely thank our dedicated teachers for their planning and preparation, and we are also grateful to the organisations and community groups whose generous support will allow cultural knowledge to be shared through a range of engaging stalls and hands-on activities.

We look forward to this special day of community, culture, and connection.

SOUTHERN REGION NAIDOC MASS – Thursday 24 July (Week 1)
On Thursday 24 July, St Patrick’s Primary School, Bega will host the South Coast Schools Regional NAIDOC Mass at St Patrick’s Church, Bega, beginning at 11:00am. This special celebration will bring together students and staff from schools across our Southern Region, including St Bernard’s (Batemans Bay), Carroll College (Broulee), St Patrick’s (Bega) and Lumen Christi (Pambula).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Years 4–6, along with our Year 6 school leaders, will represent St Mary’s at the Mass and will travel by bus with students from St Bernard’s.

Following the Mass, there will be a presentation of NAIDOC Awards recognising nominated students and adults from across our regional schools.

We warmly invite parents, carers, and families to join us for this important and meaningful celebration of culture, faith, and community.

Every student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate in each subject area, and an online results report to track development each year. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals.

To learn more about this year’s exciting ICAS competition, visit: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/)

How to participate in ICAS  
If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/)  
2. Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.
3. Read the terms and conditions here: (icasassessments.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-ICAS-Assessments-Schools-TsCs_S2023.V6-1.pdf) 
4. Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here: (shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps)  
5. Enter our school’s access code – SJE888 
6. Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.

ICAS results and certificates
All assessments will be conducted online, at school. We will notify you of the date(s) that we will run ICAS assessments, and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Your child’s ICAS certificates will be delivered to school. Once we have received them, we will present them to your child to bring home. The back of the certificate will show your child’s ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”. - Use these to enter the Results Portal orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent

Privacy collection statement  
The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

• collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam. 

• transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia. 

• share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving). 

• use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes. 

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/. 

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

ICAS Assessments 2025

Parent orders close Monday 28 July 2025

As we come to the end of a busy and rewarding term, I wish all our families a safe, restful, and relaxing holiday break. Thank you for your continued support throughout the semester—I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for another great term ahead.

God bless and take care,

Mrs Sue Heffernan
Assistant Principal