Term 1 Week 6 Newsletter 2024

Important Dates

From the Principal

Dear Parents,
Welcome to Week 6.
At last week’s P & F Meeting, we elected our Executive for 2024.

Thank you to: 
President - Ilka Grattan
Vice President - Shelley McGhee
Secretary - Amy Whiteley

The Easter Raffle is conducted each year by our P&F Association as a fundraiser for our school, and the announcement of our major winners is always an exciting event. Raffle tickets for our Easter Raffle will be sent home this week. We rely on donations from our families for our Easter Raffle prizes, and the generosity of our parent community always blows us away. Thanks to the generosity of our families, we had more than 100 winners last year and raised over $4000 for our P & F. We will hold a casual clothes day to remind families to bring in their donated easter eggs on Tuesday, 19th March.

Reading Club - At the end of this term, students who have their Reading Club Booklet signed to confirm that they have read for forty nights will earn a Radical Readers Reward.  Please read to your child, encourage your children to read to you or share a book with you for 5 -10 minutes each night, even on the weekend. Remember, reading improves reading. 
As Dr Seuss said, “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child”. 

The importance of regular school attendance - The effective monitoring and promotion of regular student attendance is a legal requirement for our school. More importantly, it is a fundamental issue to student well-being and has proven implications for student academic progress and achievement.
Based upon research, the NSW Education Standards Authority has determined that primary students with attendance rates below 90% are at risk of ongoing impacts on their learning. Research shows that poor school attendance is associated with:

* lower academic achievement, including literacy and numeracy
* early school leaving
* leaving school with fewer qualifications
* reduced opportunities for students to learn and access educational resources, further
    limiting achievement
* further absenteeism in higher year levels

We will be monitoring student attendance throughout the year. You can expect to be contacted by your child’s teacher if a pattern of non-attendance, regular late arrivals or unexplained absences occurs.

St. Johns College - Year 7, 2025 - Year 6 had a visit from St. Johns College last week, where they received enrolment packages for next year. Enrolment applications for St. Johns College need to be submitted before the end of Term 1.

P&F News

Sport

Paul Kelly Cup - AFL Gala Day - Thanks to Mrs Jacquie Clark, Miss Tilly Wilson and Mr Jack Fuller for their help with coaching our AFL teams last  Tuesday.  The girl's team had a wonderful day and improved with every game. Our Gold team won all of their games, and our Blue team won the final and will now move on to play in Orange at the regional finals!

Diocesan Swimming Carnival - On Wednesday, swimmers from St. Mary’s will represent the Western Region at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival.

Best of luck to Emily Lindsay, Harry Finlay, George Finlay, Austen O’Connor, Slater Gray,
Willow Scott, Millie Morris, Max Muller, Will Cochrane, Marlee Cochrane, Jess Comber,
Louie Knight, Georgie Meyers, Frankie Simpson, Diesel Simpson, Angus McNamara, Claudia Cook and Jake Butcher.

Bathurst Diocesan Winter Sports Trials - Congratulations to the following students who will attend the Bathurst Diocesan Winter Sports Trials this Friday:

Netball:  Indie Wilson, Willow Scott, Milla Porter, Taylor Nichols, Anna Large, Claudia Cook.
Boys Soccer:  Eli Willocks, Tristan Farrelly, Brock Eagleston.
Girls Soccer:  Grace Young, Polly Hubbard, Stella Hubbard
11's Rugby League:  Jackson O’Connor, Thomas Alley, Leo O’Connor, Jake Clarke-Lawrence,
Creadon Mallison, Fletcher Pilon and Slater Gray.
Open Rugby League:  Max Muller, George Finlay, Vin Grey, Gus McNamara, CJ Gordon and
Brax Cooper

Religious Education

Dear Parents,

Project Compassion 2024 - In 2024 the Project Compassion focus will be ‘For All Future Generations’. As it was Project Compassion Sunday last Sunday- each class will commence their fundraising for 2024 this week. This year's theme reminds us that what we do today can have an impact For All Future Generations. This message invites us to step up for those who do not have the essential resources they need for their survival and those whose needs at this time are far beyond ours. By putting compassion into action, we can make a difference today, For All Future Generations.

Third Week of Lent - (Week beginning Monday, 4th March)
Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.
Leaia lives with her five children, husband, brother and sister-in-law on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water caused Leaia a lot of worry.
Their home is not connected to a piped water system, so they had to rely solely on rainwater collected in old fridges. When their water ran out, Leaia had to walk with her young children to collect water in buckets and containers from a neighbour down the street.
With the support of Caritas Australia's local partner, Caritas Samoa, a water tank was installed at Leaia's home. She and her family now have a steady supply of clean drinking water at home. Next year, they will also have a toilet built, with the support of Caritas Samoa, which will further improve their health and living conditions.
“We are very thankful and grateful for the water tank. It has helped us so much and made our daily life easier,” Leaia said.
Watch Leaia’s Story
Please donate to Project Compassion.
Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.
You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes, online by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion or by calling 1800 024 413.
Photo: Laura Womersley/Caritas Australia

Meet 4 Mass - Each year, primary schools in Dubbo organise Meet 4 Mass. This is an opportunity for families and students to come together to celebrate the Eucharist at a Sunday morning Mass. This term, St. Laurence’s, St. Pius X and St. Mary’s are combined.  Year 6 classes from these schools will have their Meet 4 Mass on Sunday 24th March at 9am (Palm Sunday), whilst K-5 from each school will combine on Sunday 7th April at 9am.  We would love to see you there! 

ST. BRIGID'S PARISH - MASS TIMES:
St Brigid's:  Saturday - 6pm, Sunday - 9am and Sunday - 6pm
St. Laurence's Church:  Sunday - 7.30am

Awards

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:

HOUSE AWARDS:
Congratulations to the following students for gaining 10 points for
their Sports House for exemplary behaviour:

LA SALLE:	LENNON:	McAULEY:	MOORE:
Ellie Fardell KB	Lucy Bower KB	Blake Constantine KB	Arshaan Thind KB
Anthony Haylock KB	Aubrie Olsen KB	Liam Sutton KB	Harry Taylor KB
Aria Wright KB	Halle Gardiner KB	Indi Green 1B	Eboni Cook 1B
Hilary Johnston KB	Harvey Howarth KB	Wyatt Grey 1B	Lexi Anderson 1B
Evie McLaren 1B	Merryn McArthur 1B	Maddix Chapman 1G	Thea Casey 1B
Ellie Eagleston 1B	Reggie Green 1B	Mia Benton 1G	Charlie Coyle 1B
Eleanor Quayle 1B	Willow Scott 1B	Livinia Smith 5B	Mackenzie Fuller 1B
Mila Huntly 1G	George Knight 1B	Gracie March 6B	Lewy O'Connor 1B
Louie Fitzgerald 1G	Genesis Godwin 1B	Zander Rowe 6B	Will Large 1B
Michael Gowans 1G	Evie Cooper 1G	Andrew Warman 6B	Lottie Woodham 1G
Amelia Milsom 1G	Clay Crawford 1G	Annabelle Williams 2G	Benji Wiatkowski 1G
Emma Malouf 5B	Jake Jones 1G	Lucas O'Connor 2G	Georgie Grattan 1G
Will Cochrane 6B	Liddy Wellman 1G	Chelsea Meyers KG	Ellie Brown 1G
Tasha Middleton 2G	Jensen Walkom 1G	Skylar Tobin KG	Oakley Coyle 1G
Althea Higgins 2G	Digby Moore 1G		Gracie Lee 1G
Theo Coyle KG	Zac Jacobson 5B		Jack Williams 1G
Beau Georgiou KG	Lachlan Hattenfels 5B		George Finlay 6B
Harvey Woodbridge KG	Amy Cass 6B		Isaac Goodwin 2G
Lola Whiteman KG	Levi Gilholme 6B		Ivy Carney KG
	Tommy Jones 2G		Conor Carroll KG
	Leila Cusack 2G		Harry Lee KG
	Alfie Winterton 2G
	Halle Box KG
	Charlie Knight KG
	Maggie O'Neill KG
	Polly Pearson KG
	Matilda Walkom KG

Community News

BIRTHDAYS:
Celebrating their birthday this week are: 
Alfie Bonham, Tanner Howell, Harry O'Donoghue, Aria Wright
Archie Chippendale, Bede Isbester.
We hope you enjoy your birthday!

Canteen

Canteen Roster

A big thank you to: 
Kim Scott and Jasanna Pilon for their assistance in the Canteen last Friday.
Your help was very much appreciated!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HELP NEEDED:  Friday, 8th March.
If you can assist in the Canteen, please phone the school office.