Dear families,

At St Mary’s it is our objective to educate and keep all children feeling and being safe. We endeavour to educate our students on the importance of being safe online and ways to keep themselves and others safe. Cyber safety is something that is taught all year round explicitly in the classroom, through special guests and interactive activities. Throughout the year we will be sharing some resources that may support families to understand ways to help keep children safe online.The three ways the Australian government eSafety commission aims to keep children safe are to connect, reflect and protect. 

Connect safely and with purpose – by keeping apps and devices secure and using social media in positive ways. 

Reflect before we act – by taking a moment to consider how what we do and say online may affect others. 

Protect ourselves and others by taking action – by telling family, friends or colleagues about eSafety and how we can help. 

Please see the links below to some resources and information about cyber safety.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators

https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/whats-on/safer-internet-day-2023 

https://stmmaffra.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/social-media-and-digital-reputation https://stmmaffra.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/cyber-bullying https://stmmaffra.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/internet-addiction 

The most important thing that we can do to protect the children in our community is to have clear and open communication between the school and home. If ever you have any questions or concerns about internet safety and your child/ren please contact your child's teacher, myself or Tara Battista our Child Safety Leader. 

Please enjoy a great weekend with your families.

Kind regards,

Julian

24th February ~ Macy Fulford

Congratulations to Macy who competed in a dance concert recently.  Macy had to show commitment to her rehearsals as her routines needed to be the best performance she could produce.  Her dedication payed off as she won 1st place in her class.  Macy has also joined gymnastics and says she loves it.  Determination, dedication and commitment are great traits to have and will help us throughout our lives. 

Well done Macy!!

24th February ~ Teddy Bristow

Congratulations to Teddy who started Foundation this year.  Teddy has had to adjust to school life and has needed to be brave and resilient.  We all can relate to getting out of our comfort zone and having to do something new or different.  Sometimes this takes extreme courage and strength.  Growing as a person will allow many doors to open for Teddy in the future I'm sure.

Well done Teddy!!

3rd March ~ Ana Franek

Congratulations to Ana who has settled in well to a new country and a new school.  Ana is in Foundation and has relocated from New Zealand.  She has had to make lots of adjustments and has shown great resilience and adaptation.  In making such a move she has demonstrated bravery, courage, flexibility and buoyancy.  These are wonderful qualities to have and will certainly allow Ana to spread her wings in the future.

Well done Ana!! 

3rd March ~ Cooper Lawrence

Congratulations to Cooper who caught his first fish on his own fishing rod recently.  It can take great patience and perserverance to fish. 

These qualities along with persistance and determination are sure to help Cooper in his life journey.

Well done Cooper!! 

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 4&5

There has been so much happening the last two weeks in terms of PE and Sport. 

Swimming Carnival and District Swimming

On Monday the 20th of March students from Grades 1-6 participated in our school Swimming Carnival. The event at the Maffra Pool was a great success, with amazing weather and all students partaking in so many activities. Well done to Curran House on winning the swimming sports shield this year.

I would like to thank all parent helpers and staff for your assistance on running a successful event. It was also so wonderful to see so many parents and grandparents come along on the day. It is occasions like this, where we are able to see how great our school community is.

On Tuesday this week, 24 students from Grades 3-6 competed at the District Swimming at the Sale Pool. Once again we were fortunate to have amazing weather and all students did a wonderful job swimming in their events. Our school won the 3rd place shield which is a great effort considering we have no students who are involved in the swimming club. Next Monday, 14 students will progress to the Wellington District Swimming Carnival. We wish all our students who are going on the best with their events. A big thank you to Morgs, Lindie, Cindy Rowley and Kelly Murphy for their assistance on the day.     

Hockey Clinics

Last week we welcomed Jude and Jane from Hockey Victoria to our school. All students participated in hockey clinics. They were introduced to hockey with a basic skills session and some fun games. All students brought home a flyer with information on how to get involved in hockey. For more information go to the following website, https://www.hockey.org.au/play/hookin2hockey/

Community Sport 

As you all know, Maffra is a very sporty town and there are lots of sports for students to be involved in after school. From hockey, golf, tennis, athletics, basketball, netball, gymnastics, football, soccer, swimming - just to name some. If you have any questions about how to get your child involved in any of the sports listed, please send me a DOJO message.   

Heyfield District Swimming 

A perfect day at the pool. The weather was awesome, students were pumped and everyone was ready to represent the school with pride.

Every student was excited when it came to their race, they did the school proud and swam their hearts out. The support for each other was amazing giving the day a real buzz.

The best part was chatting and meeting students from other schools, it was really enjoyable to share a pool with them. 

We had some success on the day which will see students move onto the next round. Well done to everyone who competed on the day, it was amazing. Well done to the swimmers going onto the next round.

Jack Murphy

Sunny Caffrey recently competed at Stratford in the interschool gymkhana.  She was the only student who represented St Mary's Maffra and was placed in a team with St Mary's Sale.  Her team came 6th overall out of all the schools which competed.  This was a brilliant effort considering there were 141 riders and 41 schools.  Sunny had a wonderful day out, had a lot of fun and won herself numerous ribbons throughout the day.  She won 3 second places, 3 third places, 1 fourth place and 1 sixth place.  Sunny was very excited to share her acheivement with her teacher and her class. 

Great effort Sunny! 

Please find attached the 2023 updated price list for lunch orders. 

If your child is absent from school please call or use the school app to let us know by 9:30am each morning.  We have very strict procedures to account for all children each day.

• Call the school on 5147 1334
• Use the Absent Form on the school app
• Via PAM (Parent Access Module)

If you have not contacted the office by 9:30am, our administration staff will contact parents.  Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Please use the Ipad at the front office to sign your child in if they are late to school.  Also, please sign your child out if they leave school early.  This is a school requirement.  Thank you.

When your child is listed with Gumnuts after school care it is policy for both Gumnuts and St Mary's to be advised of any changes to your child's attendance.  If there is any change and they will or will not be attending on any given day can you please let both parties know.  This will save time and confusion.

Thank you.

Any prescription medication that a child must take during school hours must be signed in at the school office.  NOTE:  All medication must be prescribed by a Medical Practicioner and have the child's name and dosage on the bottle/package.  Any other medication or creams are not permitted at school.

TERM 1

MARCH

APRIL

**  Please go to our school website for the full year of calendar dates.

TERM 1

30th January - 6th April (2:20pm finish, buses will be running)

TERM 2

26th April - 23rd June

TERM 3

10th July - 14th September

TERM 4

2nd October - 15th December

School Photos 2023 – St Mary’s Primary School

Annual school photos will be taken at St Mary’s Primary School on Monday April 3rd, 2023.

More details will be shared closer to the date.  Thank you.

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

Maffra Eagles 12U + 13U Netball teams are looking for GIRLS OR BOYS turning 11, 12 or 13 this year to play netball on Saturdays in the Sale Netball Association competition.

The 13+U team will play in the afternoons whilst the 12+U team will play in the mornings.

Anyone interested – please contact Cindy Rowley 0419 921 637 or Kelly Murphy 0402 404 114 asap.

It's lots of fun and a great way to meet new friends.

Maffra Golf Club welcome Ben Robbins to share his knowledge and experience he has learned over his years about practical ways to positively impact your mental health and better understand the psychology of performance.

Ben is a former student of St Mary's Maffra and is looking forward to sharing an evening so you may learn information and psychological tools to assist you to possibly reach your full potential.