I welcome everyone back to a new term. I especially welcome the Young family (Kaylah Year 3/4 White and Bianca Year 3/4 Gold) and the Braham family ( Hartley Year 1/2 White) to St Mary’s and trust they will enjoy their association with our school.

I ask everyone to keep the Eastwood family in their prayers. Over the holidays Vicki experienced the sudden and unexpected death of her brother. Vicki will be taking several weeks of leave to spend time with family.

The Easter break was certainly a notable time with many religious events culminating with the celebration marking the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. It was also memorable for the death of Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, a man widely admired for his humbleness, his compassion for others and his willingness to fight for social justice. I don’t think the true impact of his papacy will be felt for a number of years. I along with millions of others will be watching with interest the upcoming conclave to see who is elected as the new pope.

The holidays concluded with the ANZAC day long weekend and it was pleasing to see so many students and staff come along to the ANZAC day ceremony in Young. A special mention to Mrs Presser who played The Last Post and The Rouse. A tough gig considering the importance of the ceremony, the crowd and it also being her first time. Well done!!

As usual we have a lot of events happening in the first few weeks of school. I have listed important events taking place over the next few weeks below. More details regarding these will be sent home or have already been sent home on Compass.

Enrolment Period

The enrollment period for the 2026 school year is now open. Should you have a child starting school in 2026 we invite you to come along to one of our Open Days and then lodge an enrollment form. This will ensure your child does not miss our ‘Kindy, Set, Go’ orientation programme which commences towards the end of term three. 

More details are available from the front office.

If you know of other families considering St Mary’s as an educational option for their children, I ask you to let them know that enrollments are now being accepted.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parent/teacher interviews will take place on Wednesday 21st May. Sessions will begin at 3.10pm with the last session being able to be booked at 7.20pm. Parents will be able to book times from next Wednesday when a link will be sent home on Compass. Teachers may block out sessions to enable them to have a break and something to eat.

Parents who have a child on a personalised plan may be contacted by their child’s teacher asking to meet for twenty minutes to enable a more lengthy discussion to take place so that both parties can work through the plan together.

If parents can’t make that evening, staff are able to meet with you outside the times set aside, possibly before or after school. If you are unable to make it to school a phone conversation will suffice, however face to face meetings are our preferred option. I have asked staff to conclude all interviews by the end of week five. Not long after this teachers will commence gathering data for the semester one reports which go home at the end of the term.

Attendance

Previously I have acknowledged students with a 100% attendance rate. Next week I will be giving certificates to all students that have a 100% attendance rate for term one.

I will also have a focus on the attendance rate of each class with Mr Hughes giving the class with the best attendance rate with a surprise next week. The rates for term one were:

K Blue 95.23%

K Gold 94.75%

1/2 Blue 93.68%

1/2 Gold 92.8%

1/2 White 93.68%

3/4 Blue 94.5%

3/4 Gold 91.3%

3/4 White 95.52%

5/6 Blue 94.16%

5/6 Gold 94.5%

5/6 White 95.32%

These rates are very pleasing with the three highlighted classes being so close, Mr Hughes will surprise all of them next week.

UNIFORM

Welcome back to Term 2. It is wonderful to see all the students back at school safely and wearing their uniforms so well. Just a reminder regarding the transition time for students to be wearing the winter uniform every day. In the first two weeks of school all students are able to wear either their FULL winter uniform or FULL summer uniform, while the weather is still reasonably warm. By Week 3 Monday 12th May, ALL STUDENTS should be wearing their FULL WINTER UNIFORM to school.

We have been in contact with Chapman’s Embroidery and Workwear and new supplies of the St Mary’s school tie were expected to arrive today.

Please find attached the Uniform Policy to help you with attiring your children in the right uniform. 

SAFE ON SOCIAL - Safeguarding our children against Snapchat.

Snapchat continues to evolve, introducing new features that can both enhance and complicate online safety for children and teens. Snap Map, which allows users to share their live location with friends through a visual, interactive map. While SnapMap can be a fun way for kids to see where their friends are, it also presents some significant privacy and safety risks. If not managed properly, it can reveal personal information like where your child lives, goes to school or spends their free time. With the right settings and conversations, you can help your child use SnapMap safely and responsibly. 

Click here for details on SnapMap settings and how to use them or access here the Five Ways for Your Kids to Use SnapMap Safely in 2025.

Kirra Pendergast has written recently on the issues many parents and organisations face when it comes to navigating SnapChat. Please find attached an article on “Corporate-Enabled Child Abuse and Snapchat Is the Crime Scene” but be aware some readers may find some of the language offensive.

During Holy Week St Mary's staff and students gathered together to remember the story of how Jesus suffered and died. They listened to the events of the Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday. On Tuesday this week St Mary's gathered together to celebrate Easter and the new life Jesus gave us through his death and resurrection.

Today we remembered the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand (ANZACS) and the brave men and women who give up so much so much for the country. May we always remember their sacrifice and continue to strive for peace. Peace in our world, peace among people, peace in our country, peace in our families and peace in our hearts.

Western Region Cross Country

We wish our small squad of 25 runners the very best of luck as they compete for selection in the Western Region Cross Country team today in Batlow. It will certainly be a chilly start but I am sure they will have a great day! Thanks to Mrs Presser for accompanying them!

Soccer Carnival - Important Information

Our carnival is fast approaching. Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to help us by managing a team. 

This year we have 6 schools participating with 50 teams entered. We are very excited to host everyone! Due to the numbers we are playing at 3 different ovals. This will mainly affect Year 5 & 6 who will play at two different venues. Year 1 to 4 will play at Gus Smith. Please look on the teams list as this will indicate whether your team plays at Hall Brothers or Cranfield Oval. 

A canteen will operate at both Gus Smith and Hall Brothers Oval. We thank our Community Council who are working hard to provide us with much needed nourishment on the day!

The 5/6 students playing at Cranfield Oval will walk via the short walkway accompanied by an adult to access the canteen at Gus Smith Oval during their breaks. All 3 ovals have toilet facilities.

All information needed for the day is available on the event page in the Resources section. This includes the draws and maps of the field. All information will continue to be updated on the event page.

Please see the team lists here.

MacKillop Rugby League Trials

We wish Nixon Gault and Riley Walker the best of luck as they represent the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese in the upcoming MacKillop Rugby League trials next Friday. Well done on this amazing representative achievement and we look forward to hearing about your experiences!!

Premier's Reading Challenge 2025

Well done to all of the students that have registered and commenced their reading for this year's Premier's Reading Challenge.  We have lots of books that are on the PRC reading list available to borrow from our school library.  The deadline for the completion of online reading records has been extended to Friday, 19^th September 2025.  

Our annual Book Fair will be held in our school library in Week 2 of Term 2. 

Wednesday 7^th May from 8:30am - 3:30pm.

Thursday 8^th May from 7:30am - 3:30pm (Mothers' Day Breakfast)

We see this as an opportunity to promote reading for pleasure and foster literacy through developing a love of books and reading.  Sales from the Book Fair attract a generous commission from Scholastic and this is then used to  purchase resources for use in the library.

Students from Kinder to Year 6 will visit the Book Fair during their library time to browse and preview the books available for sale. During this visit students will create a Wish List of book  titles that they can take home. Parents and students can either visit the fair or complete an online purchase.

PURCHASING BOOKS ONLINE

Students will have a list of book titles on their Wish List. To purchase from the Book Fair, simply go online and search St Marys School (select YOUNG) and make

your payment and return the Wish List form to St Mary’s Library. Further details, including the website details may be found on the Wish List. The purchased books will be sent home with your child. Any titles that are sold out will be ordered and delivered to student classrooms soon after the completion of the Book Fair.

Thank you for supporting our school library. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you require further information.

MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST

SOCCER CARNIVAL

Volunteer Registration Form