Newsletter 2025 Term 3 Week 2

PRINCIPAL NEWS - Mr Peter Hughes

Over the past two years, there has been a substantial increase in the support provided to students at St Mary’s who have specific learning needs or face challenges across multiple areas. This progress is largely due to the dedication of our classroom teachers and our Learning Support Coordinator, Kirsty Miller, who have worked diligently to identify barriers to student learning.

Through thorough documentation and formal assessment, they have been able to confirm students' needs and apply for additional funding. This supplementary funding for students with disabilities is provided by the Federal Government through the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) and is administered by the Catholic Education Office.

There are four levels of support for students with disabilities. The first level is QDTP (Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice), where teachers make adjustments to the planning and delivery of lessons to meet the needs of students within the classroom setting.

The remaining three levels—Supplementary, Substantial, and Extensive—involve increasing levels of support and intervention. These may be provided within the classroom or through withdrawal sessions in small groups or 1:1, depending on the individual needs of the student.

More information about these support levels can be found via the link below.

https://www.nccd.edu.au/tools/levels-adjustment-viewer

All applications for funding must be supported by appropriate documentation. Many families with children requiring additional support will be familiar with the regular meetings held with teachers to develop Personal Plans (PPs) for their child. Parents play a key role in identifying and prioritising the goals to be addressed.

Support can be provided across four categories of disability:

• Physical
  
  
• Cognitive
  
  
• Sensory
  
  
• Social/Emotional
  
  

In addition to this, we utilise Federal Government funding to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD), and the School Chaplaincy Program. This funding also assists other students, some of whom are supported through the NCCD process.

The following programs are currently offered across the school:

• Mini lit – An early intervention program for students in Kindergarten to Year Two, focusing on the development and reinforcement of basic literacy skills.
  
  
• Macq lit – An intervention program for students in Years Three to Six who are experiencing difficulties with foundational English concepts.
  
  
• Targeted Literacy Support – For students identified through assessment as requiring support with reading comprehension and story writing.
  
  
• Numeracy Intervention – Designed to revise and reinforce essential mathematical concepts.
  
  
• Social and Emotional Skill Development – For students identified as needing support in building emotional regulation and interpersonal skills.
  
  
• Fine and Gross Motor Skill Development – Programs to enhance physical coordination and motor skills.
  
  
• EALD Support – Assists students who have recently arrived in Australia, and/or have a language other than English, to develop both spoken and written English skills.
  
  
• Indigenous Student Support – In-class support focused on achieving cultural goals and providing academic assistance.
  
  

As a school, we are proud of the range of support we provide and the positive impact it has had on many students across our community. We are also blessed to have a team of highly skilled and dedicated classroom support assistants working across the school. 

If you have any questions regarding the support available for students, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Miller or myself.

AP NEWS - Mrs Katie Thompson

Public Speaking

Well done to all our public speakers for the wonderful way they represented 

St Mary’s at Grenfell last Wednesday. We received a lovely email from St Joseph's who said:

“The St Mary's School participants were outstanding and certainly brought some tough competition. They are to be highly commended for the confident and respectful way they represented your school.”

We thank the parents who supported their children and wish to congratulate Pippa Harris and Alex Presser in qualifying for the Western Region Public Speaking finals that will be held this coming Wednesday 6th August. Also I would like to acknowledge the efforts and skill of Frankie Hardy, Henry Burgess, Rohan Caldwell, Ayla Terry, River Hambilton and Amity Sullivan who have achieved to a high level in public speaking this year. 

The school would like to wish both Pippa (Year 3) and Alex (Year 5) good luck for their next round in the Western Region Finals to be held at St Patrick’s Gundagai on Wednesday. 

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 22

Next

Happy Primary Principals Day to Mr Hughes!!!

Here at St Mary's we would like to send a very BIG thank you to Mr Hughes for his incredible dedication, tireless service and huge sense of humour, for all he does for our school and community. Nothing is ever a problem and he always meets us all with a very big smile or great joke. When you next see him perhaps you could say your own thank you to him. 

Safe on Social - Kirra Pendergast

Have you considered the ethics of AI? 

AI has immense potential to transform society, but it also poses significant risks if not developed ethically. Fairness ensures that no individual or group is unjustly disadvantaged, which is essential in sectors like law enforcement or employment, where biased algorithms could lead to discrimination. Privacy is another critical concern, as AI systems often collect vast amounts of personal data without fully informing users about how it is being used. Without transparency and accountability, it becomes difficult to trust AI decisions, particularly in life-altering situations like medical diagnoses or criminal justice. We also need to consider the environmental

cost of AI, especially the energy required to train and maintain systems, raises sustainability concerns. AI ethics is not just an abstract concept. It directly affects the fairness, safety, and sustainability of the technologies we rely on.

RE NEWS - Ms Jillian Murray

Sacrament of Confirmation

Pope Francis described the sacraments as opportunities for us to meet Jesus and to develop a relationship with him. The Sacrament of Confirmation confirms the person who has been baptised; and at the Confirmation mass, candidates receive the gift of the Spirit of Jesus.

Our Year 5/6 students are preparing to make their Sacrament of Confirmation in a few weeks. They will celebrate this sacrament on Saturday, August 16th. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue on their faith journey.

Can You See the Spirit?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

- Galatians 5:22-23

Grandparent’s Day

Last Friday we celebrated Grandparent’s Day at St. Mary’s! It was a special occasion in which our school gathered together for a prayer service in the Hall to celebrate grandparents and elders of our community for all that they do.

After our prayer, grandparents were then invited to watch a short performance from our school choir and afternoon tea. Grandparents and friends then went into the classrooms to see what their grandkids and friends do during class.

It was wonderful to see so many families and friends celebrating our grandparents!

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 38

Next

SPORTS NEWS - Mrs Leonne Challen

Trent Barrett Legends Gala Day

This event will be held in Harden on Tuesday 12th August (Week 4) and is open to students in Year 3 and 4 who wish to play either tackle football or league tag. Please note while this is not a competitive day we ask that students playing tackle football have previous experience and are registered with a local tackle Rugby League or Rugby Union team please. Permissions for this event are open via Compass now and will close on Tuesday 5th August. All information including teams, draws and parking information will be added to the resources section of the event. Please check regularly as all information will be updated there.

Boorowa Touch and Netball Carnival

This event will be held on Friday October 24th and will be open for students in Year 2 to 6. Students may play either Touch Football or Netball. Teams will be mixed and made up of 10 players. Permissions for this event are open via Compass and will close on Tuesday 12th August. This is a very popular event and the teams fill up quickly. Once we have submitted teams we cannot make changes. All information including draws and parking information will be added to the resources section of the event. Please check regularly as all information will be updated there.

LIBRARY NEWS- Mrs Sarah Sullivan

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN OUR 1/2 CLASSROOMS

GETTING READY FOR BOOK WEEK IN 1/2W

1/2W have been busy this term, getting things ready for Book Week.  Our book this year is “Worms Are Our Friends” by Toni D’Alia. We have used this book to start learning about the life of worms. We have been researching worms using information books and have looked up worms on our I-Pads. We then teamed up with our buddy class, 5/6B to create some awesome information posters about worms using all the facts we had learnt. With Mr William's help, we have also started a worm farm so that we can study the behaviours of worms and next week, we will be creating some great art work for our Book Week display.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 12

Next