Next Tuesday at 6pm we will be holding the first of two parent information sessions on our multi-age class structures that will see all students, with the exception of Kindergarten classes, placed in a multi-age class. 

The evening will look at why we are moving to a multi-age model. It will also share the experiences of staff that implemented three classes across Year 3/Year 4 cohort this year as well as the impact of a move to one multi-age class in our Year One/Year Two area. Mrs Eastwood will share her experience of teaching a Year 5/Year 6 multi-age classes previously at St Mary’s. There will be an opportunity for parents to ask questions throughout the evening.

At this stage of the school year we will not be able to fully answer all organisational questions as we are still focused on the current school year. During term four staff will be given time to begin planning the 2025 school year.

A second multi-age information evening will take place on Tuesday 19th November when the teachers for each class will be announced. Student placements take place after this and parents will be advised which class their child has been placed in the last week of term four.

Book Week Celebrations

Thank you to Mrs Murphy for her organisation of Book Week celebrations today. Mrs Murphy has included a report in this newsletter, however more will be in next week’s newsletter once the office has had the opportunity to organise the photos.

Next Whole School Reward

The students have earnt another whole school reward, reaching the red line on the Star-O-Meter at last Friday’s assembly. A younger student suggested to Mrs Connelly and Year 6 that we should have a “Bring Your Wheels to School” day, which they agreed with.

WHEN: Week 8 

• Stage 2 (3 & 4): Wednesday 11th Sept
• Stage 3 (5 & 6): Thursday 12th Sept
• Kinder, 1 & 2: Friday 13th Sept

WHAT: 

• Students can bring their favourite wheels to school on their designated day. (ONLY ONE SET allowed)
• This could be their bike, trike, roller blades, skateboard or scooter
• Students MUST HAVE A HELMET. “No helmet, no ride”
• No hover devices or any motorised or battery operated devices allowed

HOW:

• Each class will get a 30 minute time slot on their wheels day.
• There is to be NO SWAPPING of wheels, to ensure there are no unforeseen injuries. Students stick to using only what they bring.
• All students must place their wheels in the hall before school. The hall will be locked.No students should go to the hall during lunch and recess or take them out. 

• Wheels can only be taken out of the hall for their “wheels time” and at the end of the day.

All students will attend the Whole School Mass on Tuesday 10/09/2024. Parents are asked to drop their Child/ren of at the Parish Centre from 8:30 when supervision begins. Children who catch buses will get off at Hennessy. 

Young League Stars Mixed Tag Gala Day

Our K to 2 teams headed off to Keith Cullen Oval yesterday to experience playing league tag. The event was organised by the NRL Development Team and was the first time our younger students have had this opportunity. Excitement levels were very high!! 

It was an extremely well organised event and a credit to Emma James and the team from the NRL. It was also lovely to once again join with our Hennessy Catholic College buddies to learn some new skills. We look forward to participating again next year!

A big thank you to our parents who attended and supported the students by either managing a team or cheering on the sidelines. We cannot participate in these days without you so we are very grateful that you gave up your time to help!

Thank you also to our amazing teachers that attended the day - Mandy Williams, Vanessa McIsaac, Lucy Fitzgerald, Vivienne To and our legendary bus driver and all round superstar Mrs Dal Molin. As always we are blessed to have such a supportive team at St Mary’s!

A note from Mrs Mandy Williams about the day…..

On Thursday 5th September, at Keith Cullen Oval, six mixed teams from St Mary’s, participated in the NRL South-West NSW League Stars K-2 Tag. It was indeed a gala day from 10:00am til 1:00pm. The weather consisted of beautiful sunshine and everyone had a great day. St Mary’s played teams from Young North Public School. A big thank you to the following parents who were team managers: Cathy Batinich, Jess Deasey, Emma Murdoch, Kylie Wilder, Angela Major, Alecia Denniss, Peter Vaggs and Jordan Robinson. Well done to all students for displaying good sportsmanship, respect and teamwork. Thank you also to Year 11 Hennessy students who assisted with coaching.

Congratulations to Peter Gledhill, Jett Pritchard, Myles Sullivan, Frankie Hardy, Annie Gledhill and Pippa Harris for being 'Players of the Day' for their respective teams.

HIDDEN BOOK HUNT

As part of our Book Week celebrations this week students have enjoyed participating in a hidden book hunt.  A number of books  were hidden in our playground, with students encouraged to read and re-hide the books for others to discover.  Many thanks to Mrs Kitty Hardy for her enthusiastic planning and organising of this fun activity.

BOOK WEEK ARTWORK

Classrooms have been very busy as students have been creating beautiful artworks based on the 2024 Children's Book Council of Australia short-listed books.  These artworks are currently displayed in the library and admin building.  There is a huge variety of art on display ranging from painting, drawing, collage, origami, digital art and chalk art.  What clever and creative students we have at St Mary's!