Dear Parents,

This has been a very hectic week for students, staff and parents. All were heavily involved with the soccer carnival on Wednesday. We were blessed with ideal weather for a day of soccer and this year we had many more teams involved than in 2023. From speaking with students both at the carnival and again at school, they told me they really enjoyed the day.

It was a huge logistical effort to plan and run the days, especially as it was across three sites. Without the parental support received with catering and managing teams the day could not have gone ahead. I thank everyone who contributed in any way but especially thank Mrs Challen who coordinated the day, members of the school’s community council who took charge of the catering and students from both Hennessy Catholic College and Sacred Heart at Cootamundra who provided our referees.

This morning we had the Mother’s Day Breakfast which was well attended and certainly kept the cooks busy. Our raffle was drawn with the winners being. Thank you to everyone that supported the raffle. Coinciding with the Mother’s Day Breakfast was the Bookfair with some wonderful books. I thank Mrs Dal Molin who coordinated this in the absence of Mrs Murphy.

First Eucharist

Tomorrow we have sixteen students making their First Holy Communion. These students along with all students in Year Four participated in a retreat day organised by senior students from Hennessy Catholic College, the parish sacramental team and their class teachers.

We ask everyone to keep these students in their prayers during this important stage of their faith journey.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Bookings are now being taken for Parent Teacher Conferences on Tuesday 21st May. To make a booking please use the Confrences tab in COMPASS. 

Families with students in our Year One/Two multi-age class will be contacted by their child’s teacher to arrange times when you can meet.

Sacrament of First Holy Communion 

Retreat Day

On Thursday, Year 4 students attended their Retreat Day at the Parish Centre as part of their First Holy Communion preparation. Hennessy teachers and students organised the day's activities which were fun as well as informative for all involved. Holy Communion candidates were also able to practise for their Mass this Saturday.

Mass

Tomorrow, Saturday May 11th at 6:00 pm at St Mary’s Church, our Year 4 students will receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion. 

Could parents please drop their children off to the Parish Centre between 5:30 - 5:45 pm so they can get ready for the Mass. 

We ask members of our community to keep these children in our prayers as they make their Sacrament of First Holy Communion over the weekend: 

Leila Ainsworth

Sophie Anderson

Zach Armstrong

Zoe Armstrong

Leo Boyd 

Samuel Cartwright

Louis Clarke

Jack Collins

Jonathan Eastwood

Tate Owen

Agatha Murphy

Alexander Presser

Ezra Sharpe

Ayla Terry

Alice Wegmann

Arthur Wright

Keaton Bedford

Upcoming events:

May 11th - First Holy Communion mass - 6 pm at St. Mary’s Church

May 24th - Whole School mass - 9 am at St. Mary’s Church

May 31st - Presentation Schools Celebration Day 

Athletics Carnival 

Our Athletics Carnival for students in Year K to 6 will be held next Thursday 16th May at Gus Smith Oval.

Students in Year 3 to 6 will compete in running events – 800m, 200m and 100m age races. They will also participate in Long Jump, Shot Put and Discus. For the 100m, the students compete in the age they are turning this year. In all other running and track events they will compete as Juniors (8,9 & 10 years) Intermediate (11 years) and Senior (12/13 years)

Students in Year K to 2 will be bussed to the oval just before lunch and will have an opportunity to have their lunch, cheer for their Primary friends and then participate in fun-based events including running, shot put, discus and hurdles. At the completion of their events, they will return to school.

Arrival/Departure

Children in Years 3 to 6 may be dropped at the oval from 8:30am. Students who arrive at school by bus will be dropped down to Gus Smith after arriving at school. Students will need to have their name checked off by their class teacher on arrival. This is a legal requirement for our class rolls. Buses will return those students who are not collected from the carnival to school in time for afternoon buses. Students departing from the oval at the conclusion of the carnival will need a note to be given to their class teacher.

Students in Years K to 2 will arrive at school as normal and depart school as normal.

 Lunch/Recess for K to 6

There is no set time for lunch or recess and students are encouraged to eat when they get a break. There will be no lunch orders from school available as a meal deal and a small canteen will be in operation at Gus Smith Oval. Please ensure they have plenty of extra food and drink for the day.

Uniform

All students are to wear their sports uniform or their sports colours. There will be points awarded to houses for students who come dressed up!

Event Timing

Unfortunately, we cannot give specific times for track and field events; however, we will begin with the 800m races at around 9.15am then on to the 100m races. We hope to then have our K to 2 fun races which will then be followed by the 200m races. We will start with juniors moving up to seniors for each race. Field events will begin at the start of the day and will operate on rotation.

Helpers

We would really love some volunteers on the day! Unfortunately we are unable to secure any timing gates this year so will need timekeepers on our lanes – if you are able to help out could you please email me the times you would be available at leonne.challen@cg.catholic.edu.au

We look forward to a fantastic day! Please email me with any questions.

Soccer Carnival

What an amazing day we had both weather wise and all things soccer related! This year’s carnival was our biggest one yet with over 55 teams entered and playing at three different locations! The students had a fantastic time and it was a tremendous chance to come together as a community. A big thank you to our participating schools - St Joseph’s Boorowa, Trinity Catholic School Harden, Young North Public School, St Joseph’s Boorowa, Sacred Heart Cootamundra, Boorowa Central School and Cootamundra Public School.

A big thank you to Paul Cameron for his assistance with the draw and organisation of the grounds and much needed advice! 

Thank you to Brendan Croese and Hennessy Catholic College for the help of their amazing and talented students for the day - we had 20 students ranging from Year 7 to Year 12 and they did an outstanding job. Their enthusiasm and conduct is to be commended. Thank you to Boorowa Central and Sacred Heart Cootamundra for supplying us with 5 additional refs for the day - again they were outstanding in every way. Thanks also to Max Connelly for travelling home from Forbes to assist us on the day and provide some much needed guidance and support. 

Thank you to our amazing Community Council for their hard work with providing a much needed canteen at two locations in order to nourish the hundreds of students, teachers and parents - not forgetting  Mr Peter Hughes for providing many MANY bags of popcorn!!

Thank you to our parents who managed teams on the day and the wonderful staff at St Mary’s who are always willing to help before, during and after these events. It is truly a team event and what an incredible team we have! We look forward to our carnival continuing to grow in success in 2025.

MacKillop Netball & Rugby League

We wish all our Archdiocesan Representatives the very best of luck in their endeavours to be selected in the MacKillop Netball and Rugby League Team today in Canberra. 

Netball - Daisy Sullivan & Annabel Bailey

Rugby League Opens - Jesse Gault

Rugby League 11 yrs - Kynan Burgess, Nixon Gault & Oliver Harden

We look forward to hearing about your day!

Mortimer Legends Day

This event will be held in Young on Tuesday 21st May. It is open for students in Year 5 & 6 who have had experience playing Rugby League/Union or League Tag. There is a division for experienced players and non-experienced players. We strongly recommend that all participants are already registered to play in a local Junior Rugby League or Rugby Union team. Due to both divisions being tackle football, previous experience is essential. Girls wishing to play League Tag may also enter either the experienced or non-experienced division. An invitation will be sent out via Compass for all Year 5 & 6 students.