St Mary's Primary School Yarram eNewsletter

Issue 40- 15th December 2023

Filter Content

Issue 40- 15th December 2023

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
PRAYER
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
COMBINED CHOIRS
GRADE 6 FUN DAY OUT
GRADUATION MASS
CHRISTMAS RAFFLE
GRADUATION DINNER
RE NEWS
LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE - ITALIAN
SCHOOL UNIFORM TERM 1 - 2024
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM BISHOP GREG

Dear Parents and Friends of St Mary’s,

We are in the final days of our 2023 school year, and as I write this message to you, I am struck with pride at what we have achieved as a school community this year; and I am blessed in my role to see the growth and development of all our students, both academically and socially.

To all our fantastic staff, thank you for your dedication and commitment in your everyday communications; you wear many hats within your day to meet the needs of our students.

We finalised our calendar events yesterday with our beautiful Graduation Mass and Graduation Dinner. Seeing so many families and the Christmas spirit in our school community was beautiful. Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who helped make these final events a success.

Congratulations to our Graduation Grade 6 students Lilly, Zhali, Brax, Hudson, Harry, Bianca, Seth, and Shekinah. May the future bring you many successes and incredible achievements.

After carefully considering all our students' learning, social, and emotional needs and due to the larger Foundation intake for 2024, our final decision for classes is as follows. The decision allows for smaller cohorts; therefore, we are meeting and targeting the needs of our students.

Prep/One Class -

Kiera Williams - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 12:15 pm - 3:15 pm, & Friday

Hope Haughie- Wednesday, Thursday 9:00 am - 12:15 pm

ESO ( Education Support Officer) - Tracey Richards, Jo Griffiths, Sharon Garland

Two/Three/Four Class -

Anthony Sheedy - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday

Heather Flynn - Wednesday

ESO - Sharon Garland

Four/Five Six Class -

Debra Owens - Monday, Tuesday, Friday

Sue Benc - Wednesday, Thursday

ESO Sharon Garland

Specialist Day - Tuesday 12:15 - 3:15 pm

Classroom teachers will organise Physical Education for individual classes in the initial weeks of Term 1, 2024.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Safe, Peaceful and Holy Christmas, and may the New Year bring health and happiness.

Maria

PRAYER

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

TERM FOUR

DECEMBER

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

18th

19th

Last day of school for students. School starts 30th January 2024

20th

Happy Holidays.

School reopens for students on 30th January 2024

Staff in on 29th January - UNIFORM SHOP OPEN

COMBINED CHOIRS

COMBINED CHOIRS CHRISTMAS CAROLS AT THE REGENT THEATRE

Thank you to our beautiful students who were at the Regent Theatre on 11th December. All your hours of hard work and practice paid off and we could not be more proud of your performance.

GRADE 6 FUN DAY OUT

Our Grade 6 Students had a wonderful day at Gumbuya Park for their Fun Day Out.

GRADUATION MASS

Yesterday was our Nativity and Graduation Mass. Congratulations to Hudson Roberts and Lilly Kidd on winning their awards.

NATIVITY PLAY

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

Thank you to all our amazing Families and our community for participating in our Christmas Raffle. Congratulations to our prize winners:

1st Prize - Fr. Antony Rebello

2nd Prize - Mark Martin

3rd Prize - Macy Sampson

We're sure you will love using your new prizes.

GRADUATION DINNER

Our Grade 6 Graduation Dinner was last night, it was a wonderful evening, we will miss our Seniors and we wish them all a bright future.

Thank you to our amazing caterers, Tracey and Shane Richards. Thank you to all our Grade 5 helpers and staff who made the hall look so beautiful.

Thank you to our parents and families who made the evening special.

RE NEWS

Religious News: Thursday the 14^th of December.

Combined Churches Choir

Thank you to our wonderful choir who sang beautifully on Sunday night. it was very special. Thank you and a big thank you to parents who brought their children out on a Sunday night to support us. I know that this time of year is busy and exhausting but your support was appreciated. We had many compliments regarding our choir. Well done to all, we are so very proud of you. A big thank you also to Julie Papworth for playing on the night as well as her weekly practises with our students.

The Sunday we light the Third Advent Candle. It is rose in colour and symbolises joy. The change in colour reminds us that we are at the midpoint of Advent and we are getting close to Christmas – the day of Jesus’ birth. https://bustedhalo.com/video/watch-advent-two-minutes

Advent Prayer Service: Thank you to Grades Three and Four for leading us in a beautiful Advent Prayer Service on Tuesday. We will celebrate our final Advent Prayer Service on Tuesday the 19^th of December. This will be led by the Junior Grades and will commence at 9:00 am in the Junior Learning Space. Everyone is invited.

End of Year Mass:

Thank you to all classes for their participation in our Graduation Mass. Thank you to Father Antony. This was the last School Mass that Father Antony will celebrate with us. We will all miss him very much and we wish him well in his new Parish. Our Grades Five and Six led us through the Mass, our Grades Three and Four, for their singing and the Grades Prep, One and Two for the Nativity Play. Well done everyone. It was great to be able to celebrate this with our families.

Kind Regards and Merry Christmas,

Sue Benc

LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE - ITALIAN

ITALIAN

We have such exciting news for our LOTE program next year………. we will be learning Italian instead of Indonesian. We have learned about Indonesia for over 15 years and thought it was time for a change. A lot of schools in the Diocese learn Italian and this could give us the opportunity to engage with another school down the track, exchange resources and have the children involved in speaking with a buddy in Italian. I am thoroughly looking forward to working with the students on our Specialist Day and looking at all the different aspects of Italy. I have been to Italy a couple of times and would love to share my adventures and knowledge with the children. We will begin 2024 with a detailed look at the country and culture before we dive into learning the language. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at the school. Have a happy, safe Christmas and New Year.

Debra Owens

SCHOOL UNIFORM TERM 1 - 2024

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays- Summer Uniform

THE SCHOOL OFFICE WILL BE OPEN ON 29th JANUARY 2024

PE days will be announced in 2024

Girls' Summer Uniform: