Dear Parents

We come to the end of another week. This term has had its distractions again with another stint of remote learning due to COVID restrictions. Now we have the weather to contend with, although rain is something we wish for in regional Victoria. Unfortunately COVID has seen the postponement of School Camp for Grade 5/6 and Winter Sport. We are trying to make alternative arrangements for Term Three, as it is our priority that the students have a camp experience.

In Term Three the school is working to re-establish the School Advisory Board. This committee has not met since the beginning of 2020. Due to COVID restrictions throughout last year it was probably not practical with what was happening in our schedules. The committee members were all standing aside as their tenures had concluded. In the first instance we are looking for parents who are interested in some of the dot points below. The meeting arrangements are seven meetings throughout the course of a full year with each meeting after school (time to be determined) to run for approximately one hour. Any parents or carers who wish to find out more about this committee please contact myself by email and we can work through the procedures. It is a great opportunity to become involved in the school and contribute to our strategies from the Annual School Improvement Plan. Issues discussed include, but not limited to;

• Support the provision of Catholic education in the parish by providing a link to the school community
• Promote the role of community in the life of the school
• Promoting and supporting the Catholic ethos of the school
• Act as a forum for discussion on matters concerning education in the school
• Involvement in policy review and development
• Contributing to setting objectives for the school year, providing advice on budget planning, finance-related matters and preparation of reports
• Supporting the parish school in practical ways, such as ensuring the maintenance of equipment and facilities
• Engaging in local promotion of the school
• Communicating with parents/carers and the school’s parent groups and auxiliaries
• Planning for the future and ensuring that the parish school can accommodate future enrolments
• Facilitate the integration of parents/carers and children new to the school
• Contributing to the selection process for the school principal

As a staff, we continue to discuss, reflect and learn about Child Safety and its standards required at school. On Tuesday we worked in groups and worked out our responsibilities with examples of situations that could happen at school. This includes the duty of care we provide, supervision, emergency procedures, mandatory reporting and supporting families. We also understand the conversations we have to have with the students, this is a current topic that starts with being observant to anyone who may appear sad or not themselves. We aim to look after everyone at St Mary’s. This is our job and part of being involved in a school community.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Jason

TERM 2 - Monday 19th April - Friday 25th June

TERM 3 - Monday 12th July - Friday 17th September

TERM 4 - Monday 4th October - Friday 17th December

St Mary's will be closed for the Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday 14th June 2021.

Friday 25th June

WEEKEND MASSES

Heyfield:

Saturday    6:00pm

Maffra:

Sunday    9:00am 

Cowwarr:

1st and 3rd Sunday   11:00am

Newry:

2nd and 4th Sunday  11:00am

Dargo:

5th Sunday   12:00pm

WEEKDAY MASSES

Heyfield:

Tuesday      9:30am

Maffra:

Wednesday   9:30am

Thursday      9:30am

Friday          9:30am

Stretton Park:

2nd Friday  10:00am

Please notify St Mary's if your child is absent from school.  You can do this by calling the office on 51471334 or via the school app using the tile titled 'Report an Absence'.

If you would like to be our next Star of the Week, please fill in the nomination form sent home.  Spare nomination forms can be found at the office.  A new student will be selected for each assembly.  

This is a self nominated award.  Nominations are to go into the gold box located in the office.  

21st May ~ Hadley Parer

Congratulations to Hadley who has shown immense kindness, compassion and humanity when she saved a baby blue tongue lizard when her dad was mowing.  She was extremely thoughtful to pick it up and relocate it to a safe place.  Hadley has also helped move turtles off the road to ensure their safety and has once tried to save 2 baby bunnies.  She loves animals, particularly pelicans.  Hadley wants to be a vet when she grows up.  With her empathy, kind heartedness and patience I'm sure we will be visiting Hadley as a vet with our pets in the future.  Well done!!

Congratulations to our 7 St Mary's students who competed on Monday 24th May at Yarram in the Wellington Division Cross Country.

School Photos 2021 – St Mary’s Primary School

Annual school photos including sibling photos will be taken at St Mary’s Primary School by Arthur Reed Photos on Monday August 2nd, 2021.

There is no need to return any forms or money to school.

Unique image codes will be issued to all students on/after photo day so families can register online to view images when they become available in the webshop. 

Registration is simple, just follow the 3 simple steps on your child’s personalised flyer once you receive it and remember to add the codes for all your children attending this school.

Even if you registered last year, it’s important that you do it again this year using your child’s 2021 image code to link their images for the current year with your contact details.

When images are ready to view and in the webshop, all parents who have registered will be notified by SMS and email.

Once registered, please wait for notification that 2021 images are online to view before making your purchase. 

Notice to all families that School Photos will take place on Monday 2nd August 2021.

St Mary's Maffra is now on Instagram!!  Follow us by searching for us at stmarysmaffra