Dear Parents and Friends of St Mary’s,

Welcome to Term Four! I hope you had an opportunity to rest and recharge your batteries, ready for a busy and exciting term.

With the unpredictability of the weather at the moment and the need for us to be aware of the risk of a High Fire Danger Summer ahead. We are a Category 4 on the Bushfire At Risk Register (BARR) for more information on what this looks like, please visit the link below:

BARR Information 

The students are required to wear full Summer Uniform by 16th October, and hats will be worn throughout Term Four. We will adopt a “No hat, no play expectation for all students.

Runners are not part of our summer uniform they are to be worn with our sports uniform.

Our School Wide Expectation for Term Four is to “Be a Learner”. As a school, we discussed what that looks like, feels like and sounds like at St Mary’s. The student's responses highlighted that mistakes allow us to learn, be proud of our achievements, try new concepts and learn from others.

Maria

Dear God,

Thank you for the gift of education in every form.

As our children prepare to start a new term;

May Confidence be their foundation,

May Grace be their guide and

May Hope be their compass toward a bright future.

I pray they would have eyes to see the needs of those around them and a heart to love well.

May they face each day with positivity, knowing that no matter what comes their way, they do not have to face it alone.

Amen

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MIDDLE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Grade 3/4 Metaphor Poems , creating a visual image of Spring Flowers using art and words in a poetry form.

Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe, who tragically went missing in December 2003; he was wearing a red T-shirt.

The  Day for Daniel Foundation aims to build a future, where children are free from harm and abuse. We encourage parents, carers and to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety.

We have registered our school to be a part of this fundraising day. On Friday, 27th October 2023, students can wear red clothes and we will be conducting child safety activities.

If you would like to make a donation to the foundation, the link is below.

Click on this link to donate to the Day for Daniel campaign

Religion News:  5th October 2023

Welcome to the month of the Rosary.

Along with the cross and the holy water fonts, the small beads that make up the Rosary Beads are the most familiar and recognised symbols of Catholicism.  The main function of the Rosary Beads is to count prayers, the prayers that are counted on rosary beads are collectively known as the Rosary.

The word rosary means “crown of roses” and each prayer in the rosary is considered a flower presented to Mary. The prayers we repeat are biblical and the mysteries we meditate upon are taken from the lives of Jesus and Mary.

The Rosary is meant as a family prayer and traditionally many families would pray the Rosary each evening as a family together.

October includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7th). 

Perhaps during the month of October, you could take time to honour Mary, Jesus’ mother with the Hail Mary Prayer.

Hail Mary, full of Grace.

The Lord is with thee,

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Prayer for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Term Four Mass

Tuesday the 10^th of October we will celebrate our First Mass for Term Four.  Please come along and celebrate with us. The Mass will commence at 10:00 am in the St. Mary’s Church.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated on the 14^th of November.  This will be an early evening celebration.   The Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated by students in Grade Three, who have been baptised.

ST. MARY'S BOOK FAIR

To celebrate Book Week, St. Mary's Library is organising a Book Fair from Monday 23rd October - Tuesday, 31st October. More details about how to order will be in next week's newsletter.

The new date for school photos is Monday 30th October 2023.

All current orders will be honoured and we would like to encourage you to place an order if you haven't already done so.

Forms have been sent home with students. Please contact the school office if you would like a form. If you would prefer to order online, please use the links below:

School Photo Order Form

QR Code:

Click on this link for the QR code

The Design a Plate fundraiser is still ongoing, this fundraiser gets children to draw an original painting onto a plate, which they can bring home as a personalised piece of artwork.

Each plate is $10.00. 

We appreciate your help in making this program fun for the kids and thank you for your continued support.

Please note that we are limited to one plate per student.