St Mary's Primary School Maffra eNewsletter

Newsletter Issue 10 TERM 3, Week 2 - 1st August 2025

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Newsletter Issue 10 TERM 3, Week 2 - 1st August 2025

Principals Message
Birthday Messages
Class Awards
Positive Behaviour Award
Star Of The Week
State Cross Country Championships
Celebrating Australian Primary Principals' Day
St Mary's Athletics House Carnival
Upcoming Events
Parish News
Hockey in Sale

Dear Families,

As a staff, we are continually learning, adapting, and improving our practice to provide the best possible education and a safe, supportive environment for the children in our school.

During Term 2, teachers spent time analysing student numeracy data, with a particular focus on place value. Understanding place value means recognising the value of each digit in a number and knowing how to manipulate those values to solve number problems. Teachers identified gaps in students’ knowledge and adapted their teaching to address these. Regular place value teaching groups were held in every classroom, where these essential skills were consistently taught and practised. We are pleased to report that we saw strong progress in students’ understanding as a result. These place value groups will continue throughout the year.

This term, our focus has shifted to spelling. Teachers have begun analysing students’ spelling knowledge and how well they are able to apply this knowledge in their writing. One of our key improvement goals this year is to strengthen students’ phonics knowledge. For the past two years, staff have been using the MultiLit Spelling Program, which has shown positive results. However, we recognise that some students still find it difficult to transfer this learning to their writing. Teachers will be engaging in professional learning to adapt and enhance their teaching so students can better make this connection.

Additionally, teachers are developing their skills in checking for student understanding throughout a lesson. Each teacher will set a personal learning goal using an evidence-based strategy to determine whether students are grasping the concepts being taught. This will be an ongoing focus throughout the term, supported by peer observations and feedback to continually refine practice.

As you can see, our teachers are highly committed to improving their teaching in order to provide the best outcomes for your children.

Wishing you a great weekend with your families.

Kind regards,
Julian

Birthday Messages

July

24th George Trewhella 3/4 Fixter

24th Poppy Keegan 1/2 Hellings

August

2nd Zara Bell 1/2 Hellings

6th Myah Henry 5/6 Sandeman

7th Lila Mynard 1/2 Howard

8th Winnie Lanigan 1/2 Hellings

10th Estelle Chilton 3/4 Schilg

Class Awards

Awards:

Congratulations to the following children who have received awards.

	Class Award
Foundation Stobie	Matthew Wisely Eden Howe
1/2 Hellings	Poppy Keegan Tex Anderson
1/2 Morris	Goldie Harrington Evan Mawhinney
1/2 Howard	Asha Platt Evie Killeen
3/4 Holmes/MacLean	Luke Platt
3/4 Schilg	Piper Bates Jude Hekman
3/4 Fixter	Bay Oldham Skylar Stockdale
5/6 Stobie	Anastasia Dwyer
5/6 Sandeman	Ben Murphy Roy Wilkinson

Positive Behaviour Award

This award is given to a student in recognition of their effort in promoting The Resilience Project’s core principles of gratitude, empathy, mindfulness, emotional literacy and our school values of respect, act and learn.

One student will receive this award at assembly each fortnight. All slips will be counted over the term and the house with the most slips will enjoy a reward at the end of term!

25/7/2025

Tillie Allman

Star Of The Week

To celebrate student's achievements, we will be presenting children with Star Of The Week awards. This is a self nominated award of something a student is proud of. It could be something academic, sports related, or a personal achievement. Have you learnt to ride a bike? Won 1st place in a dance competition? Read a book by yourself? Anything that makes you proud!

Forms can be found on the link below.

Star_of_the_Week_form_updated_2023.pdf

Star_of_the_Week_form_updated_2023 _pdf 3.16 MB

State Cross Country Championships

Our Three State Cross Country Stars!

A huge congratulations to Ben Murphy, Luella Horsford, and Larni Burns—our incredible State Cross Country representatives!

What an achievement it is to qualify for such a huge event and travel all the way to Melbourne to compete against over 90 of the best runners from across the state. From all reports, there were some nerves on the day, but every one of them pushed through, gave it everything they had, and finished strong.

This is a moment they’ll remember for a lifetime, and we couldn’t be prouder of their determination, resilience, and spirit.

Well done, Ben, Larni, and Lulu!!

Celebrating Australian Primary Principals' Day

Today we say a big thank you to our wonderful Principal - Mr Blackford, and Deputy Principal - Mrs Burgiel, on Australian Primary Principals' Day!

We are so lucky to have such kind, hardworking and supportive leaders at our school. Their care for students, staff, and families creates a welcoming and positive environment for learning and growing each day. Whether they are greeting students at the gate, supporting classrooms, planning for the future, or celebrating our successes—they always lead with heart and dedication.

Here's what some of our students have to say about our fabulous leaders:

Mr Blackford is always kind, helpful and fun. He never gives up on things when they get hard. Like when Father was away for Grandparents Day and Mr Blackford ran it for us!!! - Mack

I like saying hello to Mr Blackford in the morning when I come to school. - Eden

He puts everyone before himself and he is a great role model for our school. - Elke

Mr Blackford is smart and clever. He sometimes comes into our room and helps us. Klea

Mr Blackford makes sure the school is safe. - Jack T

He is a good principal. He helps out with others and never gets angry. - Ben

Mrs Burgiel is very good at focussing on learning. She won't give up on you if you don't get it. She will keep helping you until you get it. She is great at making sure everyone behaves and follows the rules. - Darby

She puts everything together and supports and helps kids when they need it. - Elke

She comes into our room to help and she says hello to me. - Ari

Mrs Burgiel does a good job at looking after the yard. She picks up rubbish. She is a good leader because she works hard. Macie

She is helpful when you need it. She helps me with my learning and she helps me when I hurt myself. Cleo

She always helps out in hard situation. - Owen

Thank you for everything you do to make our school a great place to be. We appreciate you today and every day!

St Mary's Athletics House Carnival

We welcome parents, friends and family to our annual Ahletics House Carnival held on Monday 11th August at 14 McLachlan Street, Sale beginning at 9:30am.

Please note, this is a guideline for times only.

Athletics_2025_schedule.pdf

Athletics_2025_schedule _pdf 187.99 KB

Upcoming Events

TERM 3

AUGUST

5th	Foundation 100 Days at school celebration
6th	Peace Mass
8th	Whole School Mass - Mary MacKillop Feast Day
11th	St. Mary's Athletics Carnival
15th	Assumption of Mary Whole School Mass
21st	5/6 Wellington Division Hoop Time
22nd	9am Book Week Parade
28th	Maffra Secondary School Transition Morning 9:30am-11:30am
29th	HDSSA Athletics (TBC)