Dear families,

What a fantastic few weeks, term and year we have had. It has been wonderful getting to know this community in the past 6 months.

Thank you to our wonderful families Parents and Friends committee for organising and running our Christmas BBQ last night. It was such a great event, with an awesome turnout from our community. There was such a nice community feeling, with everyone relaxing and having fun. 

I have to say that the Nativity play yesterday was the best I have ever seen. We clearly have some future actors amongst our students. Congratulations to the Foundation team for all their hard work in preparation. Well done to all students and their teachers for the beautiful singing. It was all just perfect.

Thank you to our Grade 6 teachers for organising a wonderful graduation last Friday. What a fantastic way to celebrate and send off our Grade 6’s as they finish their time with us and begin their time at high school.

I truly hope that everyone has the best Christmas and summer break. I am looking forward to what next year brings, working with this great community (after a nice relaxing break of course).

Kind regards,

Julian

9th December ~ Jacinta & Tyler Schoenmaekers

Congratulations to Jacinta and Tyler who volunteered their own time on a weekend to assist in a working bee at the Tinamba Fire Station.  They helped to clean out the fire station and tidy up the gardens.  They did a fantastic job in supporting the community organisation. 

Well done Jacinta & Tyler!!

16th December ~ Summer Roberts

Congratulations to Summer who is proud of herself for playing basketball against the under 12's.  Summer always tries her best when playing basketball & should give herself a pat on the back for taking on challenges.   

Well done Summer!!

16th December ~ Max Roberts

Congratulations to Max who competed in the recent Maffra Triathlon.  He is proud of his and his teams efforts on the day.  Also, Max and his team raised valuable money for St Mary's.  Thank you Max, your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Well done Max!!

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 10/11

It’s hard to believe the end of the year is here already and what an action packed semester two we have had in Sport. Highlights of the semester include: 

• Athletics coaching with Denis Huffer 
• Athletics Carnival 
• Basketball Unit 
• Cricket Clinics with Maffra Cricket Club 
• AFL Clinics with AFL Superstar and former student Sam Berry 
• Tennis Unit 
• Tennis Clinics with Andrew Peavey 
• Games sessions with Reclink Australia 
• Cricket Unit 

A huge thank you to the parents and grandparents who volunteered their time to assist with Athletics Carnival and District events this year. School sporting events can not happen without parental assistance and your help was greatly appreciated. 

 

Term 1 of 2023 is already looking like a busy term with Swimming being our main focus. Students in Grades 1-6 will have 8 swimming lessons with Kemp Aquatics at the Maffra Pool. Our school swimming carnival is booked in for Monday the 20th of February. This will be an exciting event as it has not occurred since 2019. 

The focus for PE lessons in term one will be Hockey and Netball. We will have visits from Hockey Victoria and Netball Victoria which will be fantastic. 

I wish all our families a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you have a safe and relaxing break and I look forward to seeing you all back at St Mary’s in 2023. 

Today St Mary's bid farwell to 21 amazing students.  We wish them the best of luck for next year and hope they all chase their goals, passions and dreams.

SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Maggie Kelly & Jack Murphy

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MACKILLOP (GOLD) HOUSE CAPTAINS

Indyanna Hunt & Peyton Lambourn

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CURRAN (RED) HOUSE CAPTAINS

Archie Fulford & Georgia Rawson

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CORBETT (GREEN) HOUSE CAPTAINS

Jay Lee & Ella Smith

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POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR CAPTAINS

Mackayla Hickling, Hannah Bagguley & Jess Rowley

The teachers for each classroom next year are as follows:

Foundation - Mrs Serrin Stobie/Mrs Tara Battista
Foundation - Mrs Virginia Hellings/Miss Samantha Zabaneh
1-2 - Mrs Belinda Howard
1-2 - Miss Samantha Zabeneh/Mrs Kathy McLean
3-4 - Mrs Bree Burgiel
3-4 - Miss Ebony Fixter
5-6 - Mr Brendan Morgan
5-6 - Miss Rebecca Halley

On Monday afternoon your child will be informed of their classroom 2023 teacher and on Tuesday they will spend some time with their new teachers.

A lot of time and thought goes into choosing the right classes and there is a lot that needs to be considered when making these decisions. We are so lucky to have such great teachers throughout our school and whoever your child's teacher is next year will help them to be successful. If you have any questions about the 2023 classes, please don't hesitate to ask.

Congratulations to Indy Hunt who entered an exhibit in the Tyers Art Festival during November.  Indy entered her artwork and won 1st place in the Under 18 Artist Award section.  Her amazing artwork is titled 'Save The Turtles'.

Monday 30th January is the first day of school for students in 2023.

Please find the dates below for 2023 Foundation rest days;

• Wednesday 1st February
• Wednesday 8th February
• Wednesday 15th February
• Wednesday 22nd February

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