Dear families,

 I’m sure by now most of you have heard the very exciting news of the arrival of Mr and Mrs Blackford’s baby! Baby August James Blackford arrived safely last week, and we hear that all is going really well! What a joyous occasion for the Blackford family and our thoughts are with them at this very special time. 

Julian is taking some well deserved time at home with his new family. If you need anything while he is away, please direct all inquiries to myself as I am  Acting Principal in Julian's absence. You can reach me via Dojo message, email (tbattista@stmmaffra.catholic.edu.au), phone or you are more than welcome to pop into  school for a chat. 

Today, we had a student free day while the staff engaged in professional learning. We took a deep dive into the curriculum and how we can use data to cater for all the diverse learning needs in our classrooms. These days are so valuable for staff to ensure that we continue to develop ourselves as professionals and keep up to date with the most recent evidence-based education so that we can deliver high quality teaching to our students. 

Wishing the entire school community a wonderful and rejuvenating long weekend! May it be filled with relaxation and laughter. Take this time to recharge your batteries and come back refreshed and ready to finish the term off strong! See you all on Tuesday. 

Warm regards,

Tara

31st May ~ Skylar Stockdale

Congratulations to Skylar who recently presented herself on stage in her first piano performance.  She is extremely proud of herself for displaying incredible courage and bravery to showcase her performance to the public.  Skylar needed to practice and prepare so that she could gain confidence to play her music in a manner she was happy with.  She played two songs at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford.

Preparing to perform in front of people who you don't know takes imense courage and is a great test of resilience.  We wish Skylar the very best for her potential future musical endevours.

Well done Skylar!!

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.

On the 23rd of May, our students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a workshop hosted by Bunnings. This session was designed to teach practical skills and foster teamwork among our young learners. During the workshop, students learned how to construct raised garden beds for our school using screws, screwdrivers, and timber boards. This event marks the beginning of a series of workshops aimed at providing our children with diverse hands-on learning experiences.

Check out our new flagpoles and flags!

We are pleased to let our community know we have new flagpoles and flags as part of our garden progression.  These can be seen as people drive by our school.  As you can see, they bring a fresh and welcoming look to our grounds.

Last Friday our Grade 5/6 students participated in the Heyfield and District Winter Sports Competition.  Students were given the opportunity to choose from 4 sports (AFL, soccer, netball or t-ball) to compete for the day.  Well done to all our teams who participated.  It was great to see all students enjoy being active and having fun.

St Mary’s Soccer Team

On Friday the 31st of May the 5/6 students went to Heyfield Sporting Complex and divided into their set teams to score victory in the hope of moving onto the Wellington Division. Our soccer team and netball team were successful in progressing to the next round. 

The soccer team played against six other schools and won five of their games and came a draw in one. The soccer team should be very proud of their efforts, as every student played extremely well and supported each other throughout the day. A big thank you to the teachers and parents for supporting students throughout the day.   

Lara and Matilda 

St Mary’s Netball Teams

On Friday the 31st of May the 5/6 students from St Mary's Maffra, competed at Winter Sports in Heyfield against other children in the Heyfield District. There were students competing in all different sports, from our school such as Netball, Soccer, Football and T-Ball. 

There were two netball teams, both teams played in the A league this year, as our school is very active and strong. All together both teams played 8 games in total. The Light Blue A team is moving on to the next round to compete against lots of schools in the Sale and District. All students did a great job and tried their best. A huge thank you to our awesome coaches Lyndall and Mrs Orchard. 

By Chilli and Isla

Tee Ball 

On Friday the 31st of May the 5/6’s attended Winter Sports in Heyfield. I competed in Tee Ball with Briagolong Primary School and Heyfield Primary School. We played two games which had four innings. In the first game we lost 16 to 11 and I got 4 runs. In the second game we came back and one of our players scored a home run and I got one run as well. It was a fun day for all students to be involved in.  

By Emmanuel 

Get on board, it's going to be one your kids will not want to miss! This event is for all St Mary's students, from Foundation through to Year 6. Parents, feel free to drop your kids off for a great time, or you are welcome to stay and join in the fun too!

Thurday 27th June (second last day of Term 2)
5:30-7pm
St Mary's school hall

$11 entry (includes a prima and glow jelly)

Wear fluro and come a visit the glow facepaint and glitter station!

Follow the link to book tickets:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1223893?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2RQCfn2ZoKMGpOyxZr8OuArj_XY-qKOM8EbWj0TV_3xCBN5g4LkhzDaVA_aem_AboArK-FM2ZAD4KW1GjBAvxO45n576KUEsdtE8nAK3h317BfyyFRDPH2EXM9QyCPawRxdBJeinb_DCNB7p_4ogBw

JUNE

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

TERM 2

16th April - 28th June

TERM 3

16th July - 20th September

TERM 4

7th October - 18th December 

WEEKEND MASSES

Heyfield:

Saturday    6:00pm

Maffra:

Sunday    9:00am 

Saturday   9:30am

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

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 14th June
Friday 28th June (last day of term)

Interchange Gippsland are trying to expand our community networks with schools. We are a disability support organisation, registered with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We service areas across Gippsland, ranging from East Gippsland, Latrobe Valley, Bass Coast and South Gippsland. We offer a range of services for all ages, along with family events.

At Interchange Gippsland, we have some school holiday related programs running, along with a carer retreat.