Dear families,

I wanted to start off by saying a huge thank you to all families who helped out at the working bee on Saturday. Walking around the yard this week I continued to admire how much better the grounds looked and it was great to see children playing in areas that were either not accessessible or too rundown to play in. I was absolutely blown away by the time and effort that was given by our lovely volunteers. All of the shovelling, raking, sweeping, cleaning, lifting and pulling weeds has made such a huge difference to our yard and it actually looks like someone cares about it! It really shows what an awesome community we have and how lucky our students are to be a part of it.

On Tuesday we had a very special visit from Michael Rodd who was 2007 Melbourne Cup winner riding Efficient. Michael spoke to the students about what it is like to ride in the cup and life in general as a jockey. The students were then given the opportunity to ask questions and they really came up with some fantastic questions. Michael’s presentation was very engaging and informative and we were also lucky enough to have both the 2022 Melbourne Cup and Patrobus’ 1915 Melbourne Cup be brought in on horse drawn carriages. It was a unique and educational experience for all students who were engaged throughout.

As you are aware we have now set up the Parent Access Module (PAM) to allow communication between schools and families to be much more efficient. Our permission slips for excursions will now be sent through PAM. If you are having trouble setting this up please speak to Kylie, Tara or myself.

As a school we continue to have the safety of all children at St Mary’s as a major focus in all that we do. We have updated many of our processes and policies at school in line with the revised Victorian Child Safety Standards. These changes help all of our community to keep our children safe. All policies and procedures are available for parents to access on the school website. As always I encourage all parents to contact me if you have any concerns or questions about child safety or any other issues that concern your child.

Please have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Julian

Congratulations and well done to all students who were nominated this fortnight for their wonderful choices in the classroom or on the playground.  This is a weekly award and all nominted children should be very proud of themselves.  

Congratulations to the following students who were drawn out of a box of nominees for this fortnights Positive Behaviour Awards.  St Mary's have introduced this reward system to acknowledge the wonderful behaviour of students who regonise our school values of Respect, Act and Learn.

14/10/2022

Jimmy Stobie

Monte Loadman-Morgan

Roy Wilkinson

21/10/2022

Henry Gately

Luke Vardy

Marnie Bagguley

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.

Week 2/3 

It’s been a great couple of weeks of Sport at St Mary’s. Our focus has been on tennis and all students have made great progress. A highlight of our unit has been tennis clinics run by tennis coach Andrew Peavey. Students have thoroughly enjoyed participating in a variety of drills and games. A big thank you to Maffra Lawn Tennis Club for letting our school use their amazing facility. 

I would also like to again congratulation Ella Higgins, Louis Wilkinson and Ada Phillips on making it to the Gippsland Regional Athletics Championship. It is a fantastic achievement to make it to this level of competition. 

Students had a special visit from Melbourne Cup winning Jockey Michael Rodd, who rode the horse ‘Efficient’ to glory in 2007! Michael gave students great insight to his journey as a jockey and what winning the cup takes and means. Students got a rare privilege of seeing the 2022 Melbourne Cup trophy up close, it was very exciting!!

Our Grade 3/4 students walked to the Maffra Show today.  This has been a tradition for our school which we haven't been able to do due Covid over the past couple of years.  It's great to see the community rebuilding and the children able to join local events again.

Working Bee Success! A huge thanks to those who came to help out with the working bee! Lots of hard work went in and the yard is looking absolutely spectacular. What a great school community we have, thank you again!

DAY FOR DANIEL 28TH OCTOBER

Last term, we were lucky enough to have Bruce and Denise Morcombe visit our school to raise awareness for child safety.

Next Friday, 28th October, is the official Day for Daniel, which is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s national day of action for child safety awareness and education. Day for Daniel is held annually on the last Friday of October in honour of Daniel.

The objectives of Day for Daniel are:
1. To raise awareness about child safety and protection and to promote a safer community for children
2. To educate children regarding their personal safety and empower them to Recognise, React and Report
3. To honour the memory of Daniel Morcombe
4. To raise funds to continue to produce and distribute free educational resources

Children are encouraged to wear anything RED next Friday 28th October. This is not a fundraising event as we donated to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation last term, but if you wish to make individual donations you can. The students will be participating in child safety lessons on this day.

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   12:00noon

WEEKDAY MASSES

Heyfield:

Tuesday      9:30am

Maffra:

Wednesday   9:30am

Thursday      9:30am

Friday          9:30am

Saturday      9:30am

Monday 31st October - Pupil free day

Tuesday 1st November - Public Holiday (Melbourne Cup)

Monday 28th November - Pupil free day

Friday 16th December - Last day of Term 4 (students)

MAFFRA SHOW OCT 22^ND 2022

PRIMARY SCHOOL COOKING PIZZA MAKING COMPETITION

TIME:    10:45     Registration

 11         Start. 

LOCATION: New DOME Food and Wine Court

WHAT TO BRING: All pizza toppings that you would like to put on your pizza

WINNER: $40 1^st place, $20 2^nd place and $10 3^rd place awarded to student

 The Primary School’s name on the trophy to place in their cabinet.    

Enquiries: Connie Dwyer 0428 038 077

Please Note *Free Show Entry for Children *Free Competition Entry

Uniting are very excited to announce a brand new program for parents/carers of 2-12 year olds, which can be done live online or in person!

In a world where children face greater mental health risks than ever before “No Scaredy Cats” will teach parents how to directly support their children to deal with anxiety, manage stress, get problems in perspective, and become more emotionally resilient.

Please see attached flier for booking details and help spread the word about this fantastic free program.