St Mary's Primary School Maffra eNewsletter

Dear families,

This term we have some school closure professional development days. I would like to take a moment to emphasise the importance of these closures for the continual growth of our teaching staff and, ultimately, the enhancement of your child's learning experience.

Professional development days allow our teachers and staff to engage in training sessions, workshops, and collaborative activities that are designed to expand their knowledge and skills. By investing in our educators, we are investing in the future of our students. When teachers are equipped with the latest pedagogical techniques, strategies, and resources, they are better prepared to create engaging, innovative, and effective learning environments.

The knowledge gained during these professional development days directly impacts student learning outcomes. It enables our teachers to tailor their instruction to meet the diverse needs of our students, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and implement best practices in the classroom.

I want to express my gratitude to you, our parents and guardians, for your understanding and support during these closures. Your partnership is invaluable as we work together to ensure that every child receives the highest quality education possible.

Thank you for entrusting us with the education of your children. Together, we are shaping life long learners, caring students and future assets to our community.

Kind regards,

Julian

April

15th Lockie Gallatly 5/6 Sandeman

16th Jundamurrah Pickalla-Mongta 1/2 Halley

22nd Owen Crutchfield 3/4 Burgiel

22nd Charlie Rawson 1/2 Morris

22nd Louis Wilkinson 5/6 Stobie

24th Harper Herbstreit 1/2 Halley

24th Violet Moody 3/4 Fixter

26th Tex Anderson 1/2 Morris

26th Mitchell Watson 5/6 Stobie

27th Tillie Allman 1/2 Morris

28th Jude Hekman 1/2 Morris

May

1st Emmanuel Rodriguez-De Groot 5/6 Sandeman

4th Hunter Roberts F Hellings

Awards:

Congratulations to the following children who have received awards.

	Class Award
Foundation Hellings	Bowie Batalha Macie Lawless
Foundation Stobie	Avery Holmes Arki Elston
1/2 Halley	Henry Horsford Hudson Teese
1/2 Morris	Addie Walker Amber Bagguley
1/2 Howard	Johnny Moyle Hamish Bell
3/4 Burgiel	Louis McQuillen Edith Heinrich
3/4 Fixter	Luella Horsford Alby Bramich
5/6 Stobie	Chevy McMahon
5/6 Sandeman	Cooper Battista

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.

19/4/2024

Coco Matthews

Jack Begg

Harrison Gipp

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

Yesterday, over 55 St Mary's students came together to remember and honor the brave men and women who have served our nation with courage, dedication, and sacrifice.

As we marched in their memory, we were able to reflect on the values of mateship, loyalty, and resilience that the Anzacs embodied. May their legacy inspire us to build a brighter and more peaceful future for generations to come.

Thank you to all students and families for your involvement; you have done our school proud. Well done to our school captains, Sam and Emilyn, who showed excellent leadership skills by leading our school in the march and laying a wreath on behalf of our school community.

The sun was shining, the crowd was cheering and our students hit the track running on Monday at our House school cross country. Well done to all St Mary's students who competed at our cross country. Everyone should be extremely proud of their efforts, their encougement and their team spirit.

Congratulations to MacKillop House who won the Cross Country trophy by a narrow margin.

Thank you to all parents, guardians, friends and those in our community who came along to support our children. Thank you to our helpers on the day which is always greatly appreciated and also those who came along to cheer our students along as they made their way around the course.

Also, thank you to the wonderful staff who ensure such smooth running on such a busy day.

Well done to all students on their efforts and congratulations to those progressing to the next carnival event on 6th May at Heyfield.

MacKillop House Captains Johnni Bramich & Ada Phillips

School Photos 2024 – St Mary’s Primary School

Annual school photos will be taken at St Mary’s Primary School next Thursday 2nd May.

Please be reminded students are required to wear their full winter uniform.

Our school, along with the 45 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale, will celebrate Catholic Education Week from 17 May to 24 May.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is, A New Dialogue of Love, Hope and Joy, inspired by the Scripture passage, ‘See, I am Making All Things New’ (Rev. 21:5). This theme symbolises an optimistic and hope-filled perspective on the world and a renewed approach to fostering positive change. The theme emphasises the belief that transformation and renewal are possible in all aspects of life through individual choices. By following the life and teachings of Jesus, and embracing principles of compassion, peace, goodness, and justice, individuals can contribute to a more hopeful and joyful world, sowing seeds of positivity and hope. Through this theme, Catholic schools aim to inspire young people to reflect on the Christian message and to showcase their efforts in contributing to creating a better world. The hope is for staff, students, families, and parishes to embrace this meaningful time and for schools to celebrate their distinctive mission and share features that are special about their schools.

Members of staff will be attending a Leadership Eucharist and Awards ceremony to celebrate and
recognise outstanding service and excellence of staff and students in Catholic education in our Diocese at presentations during Catholic Education Week. Our school will also be attending the Peace Mass on Friday 24th May.

Last Friday we welcomed Mel and her fury friend Vixen. Together they edcuated children on responsilbe pet ownership.

Primary School Program

The Responsible Pet Ownership primary school program is aimed at 5 to 12 year olds and has been delivered to over 1 million Victorian primary school children. It visits over 800 primary schools each year across the state.

The program includes:

a dog visit
multimedia tools
role play
song and story time

The program focuses on teaching students about dog safety:

when dogs should be left alone
things we should not do to dogs
how can you tell if a dog is happy, frightened or angry
a safe way to approach and greet a dog
what to do if approached by an unknown or aggressive dog

The program also introduces and develops the following concepts:

choosing an appropriate pet
general welfare
husbandry
the importance of identification and registration
confinement and housing
exercise and training

There are a range of presentations designed to target the specific audiences in relation to:

grade level
prior knowledge
learning modes

A comprehensive, integrated curriculum package is available to all Victorian primary schools, free of charge. The curriculum units are supported by a highly interactive resource package, incorporating picture story books and multimedia activities.

For further information please email: vic.pet@agriculture.vic.gov.au

Assemblies will be held every second Friday, which fall on the odd weeks this term, at 2:45pm in the hall, unless otherwise advertised.
The dates are:

Friday 3rd May
Friday 17th May
Friday 31st May
Friday 14th June
Friday 28th June (last day of term)

TERM 2

APRIL

26th	School Closure

MAY

1st	Confirmation Workshop 4:00pm - 5:00pm
2nd	School Photos
4th	Confirmation Commitment Mass - 6pm Heyfield
5th	Confirmation Commitment Mass - 9am - Maffra
6th	HDSSA Cross Country
24th	Peace Mass 11am CCS
31st	HDSSA Winter Sports - Grade 5&6