Today was a very special day at St Mary’s! The whole school community came together to celebrate. Many of our parents and grandparents joined us for our Opening School Year Mass and family picnic in our new outdoor area. The playground was abuzz with energy and excitement as the children showed off their school to their families. Thank you to Father George and Mrs Schofield for organising a beautiful Mass and to all staff who helped make the day so special. 

At our formal assembly, we welcomed our youngest Kindergarten students and their families to St Mary’s. 

A very special occasion in the school year is the Year 6 Student Leadership Team Induction ceremony. Today we shared our Year 6 students with the community and inducted our new Student Leadership team into their positions. A special congratulations to the following students who now hold formal leadership positions for 2024.  

School Leaders
Lila W and Ky N

House Leaders
Eyre Leaders -Leo S and Spencer S 
Howard Leaders - Madison C and Levi D
Cassidy Leaders - Cooper C and Mitchell W

Assemblies
Each fortnight we hold a short school assembly in the COLA to present Stellar Student Awards to the children. These are quick assemblies so that learning time is maximised. The names of the award winners are placed in the newsletter and photos are posted on Facebook. If parents are around, you are of course most welcome to join us. 

Our Special School Assemblies are held twice a term and on special occasions in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC). Parents, grandparents and community members are invited to attend and help celebrate the students' learning and talents. Each assembly has a focus grade. Please keep an eye out for upcoming assemblies on the parent Compass calendar. You are most welcome to come earlier and share lunch with your children and their friends. We often host family picnics to coincide with our special assemblies. 

COMPASS parent calendar
Most parents are now using the COMPASS calendar with ease. Please keep an eye out for upcoming events.  If you are having any difficulties accessing it, please inform your child's teacher and/or ask at the front office. 

Games Club
Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the second break, we are having a Games Club upstairs above the toilets, especially for those students who would like to socialise and have some quiet time off the playground. All students are welcome to join Mr Ziino (Student Wellbeing Officer) and me to build Lego and play cards/board games.

If you think your child would benefit from attending but are concerned that he/she may not come on their own, please let us know. We will encourage students to join us. 

Student Management and Support
The students at St Mary's have a reputation for being polite, friendly and very well behaved. Occasionally, as is the case with all children, some students do make wrong choices and this affects themselves and others. We have a Student Management and Support Plan that is well understood by our students. When something goes wrong, we keep things simple  for the students by referring back to our four school values:

Were you being kind?
Were you being safe?
Were you being respectful?
Were you doing your best?

Rarely does a child not know or accept they have not done their best. 

We are here to support your child to make the right choices, accept appropriate consequences and learn from all situations. Occasionally a student may require some time away from their class and teacher to discuss and reflect on their behaviour. Parents are informed if the situation is of a serious nature or if a pattern of misbehaviour is occurring. Thank you for your support with this. When teachers and parents trust each others’ judgement and decisions, the students know what is expected of them and benefit greatly. 

We all want the same thing; For each child to grow up to be the best person they can be. 

Little Investigators Playgroup
Our wonderful Little Investigators Playgroup is up and running again. Mrs Brooke Connaughton organises playgroup each Wednesday morning 9am-11am in the Performing Arts Centre. Children aged 0-5 and their parents from the Moruya community come together for a morning of early year’s learning and fun. If you know of any parents who might be interested in attending our Playgroup, please tell them to come to the PAC next week. Little Investigators is open to all, not only our St Mary’s families and is offered at no cost. 

Fee remissions/financial support
Our school fees will be emailed home each term. Most parents have set up a regular payment plan that helps them manage their school fees. It is important to know that no student will be denied a place at St Mary’s due to financial reasons. We offer fee remissions for those in need of support. Please contact Mrs Annette Hazell at the front office or me directly on noeleen.oneill@cg.catholic.edu.au if you are having any difficulties in paying school fees. All information is held in the strictest of confidence.

Student Information Updates
Email and mobile numbers can be updated through your Compass App. If you have any other changes such as emergency contacts or updated medical information could you please contact Mrs Annette Hazell or Mrs Cathy Smith in the office. It is really important that your emergency contacts are aware that they may be called if we can not contact you. 

Lent 
Last week, our students attended an Ash Wednesday Mass with Father George and parishioners. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church Season of Lent, a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Thinking of others instead of ourselves is difficult for adults, let alone children. Together as a catholic community, we are called to do so.

We continue to pray for those caught up in the tragic events in the Middle East. 

God’s Blessings.

Noeleen O'Neill
Principal

NAPLAN NEWS
NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy – important skills that each child needs to succeed in school and life. The NAPLAN tests are designed to help us make sure students are on track with their literacy and numeracy development. 

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 occur between the 13 March - 25 March.

NAPLAN tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum and every day in the classroom. Teachers will ensure that students are familiar with the test format and will provide appropriate support and guidance. Excessive preparation is not useful and can lead to unnecessary anxiety. NAPLAN tests should be treated as just another routine event on the school calendar. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that NAPLAN tests are just one part of their school program, and to urge them to simply do their best on the day.

If you have any questions about NAPLAN Online, please contact your child’s teacher.

God bless and take care,

Sue Heffernan
Assistant Principal

Our smallest St Mary’s students have had a VERY BIG month. Everything is brand new for them: lunchbox, shoes, uniform, teachers, classroom, friends and school! We are so impressed with how quickly they have adapted to life at ‘big school’. Below is just a small snippet of what they have been up to in February.

School Expectations
One of the first things we learned about was our school expectations. We learned that at St Mary’s we are Kind, Safe, Respectful and Do our Best. We had a lot of fun role-playing what it looks, sounds and feels like to enact these values in the classroom and on the playground. 

Getting to know each other
It is very special to have some of your preschool friends with you when you transition to Kindergarten, but it is super-exciting to meet new friends also. In Kindergarten we are a ‘class family’ and are loving getting to know each other.

English
Kindergarten are extremely excited to have begun the very special journey of learning to read! We began with exploring the concept of “What is a word?”. We have been very busy immersing ourselves in the words that are all around us, and have discovered that we can speak, read and write words. We have been using our bodies to jump out words in sentences, and our fingers to count them. We also love to listen for rhyming words in stories. In the pictures below, we are using a drum to identify the ‘beats’ in words (syllables). 

Butterflies
Kindergarten were intrigued to receive a very plain looking box in the mail. What lay carefully wrapped inside was anything but boring. We discovered two delicate jade green chrysalis! Since opening this mysterious package, we have patiently watched and waited. It was very exciting to see beautiful big monarch butterflies emerge from these tiny capsules. The Kindergarten students made a wish before releasing the butterflies.

Buddies
No Term 1 Kindergarten learning update would be complete without making special mention of our Year 6 buddies. Since the second orientation session, our buddies have been nearby to help us settle into school in the morning, find someone to play with at break times, or, as in the photos below, collaborate with us on fabulous art projects. Year 6 joined Kindergarten last week to learn about the French artist Matisse and his paper collage era. Together, the students created striking paper collages with Year 6 lending their scissor and glueing skills - thank you for your help Year 6!

Genevieve Schofield
Kindergarten Teacher

St Mary’s Swimming Carnival Age Champions
On Thursday, we presented the swimming awards to the students who placed first, second or third at our school carnival back at the start of the term. 

We all at St Mary’s congratulate the following students on their achievements in winning age champion or being runner up in 2024.

In exciting news, the winning house was HOWARD! For the second year in a row it is wonderful to see the Howard house captains Levi D and Madison C holding the trophy high and proud.

Southern Region Swimming Narooma
On Monday 19 February, 32 of our students travelled to Narooma to represent St Mary’s at the Southern Region Swimming Carnival. We witnessed some incredible talent throughout the day. Our students encouraged each other and displayed wonderful team spirit and sportsmanship.Congratulations to all our St Mary’s representatives! We are very proud of your efforts and commitment to doing your very best. Below are the names of the students who represented the school on Monday.

Congratulations to the following students who were named Southern Region Age Champions or Runners Up in their age division on the day:

SR 11 yrs Girls Age Champion - Madison C

SR 11 yrs Boys Age Champion - Spencer S

SR 11yrs Boys Runner Up - Leo S

SR 12yrs Girls Runner Up - Lila W

SR 12 yrs Boys Age Champion - Ky N

The following students will represent the Southern Region at the Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival in Boorowa on Monday 4 March 2024. We wish them all the best and look forward to hearing their results. Good Luck!

Mrs Megan Grant
Sports Coordinator