Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s hard to believe we are entering the seventh week of Term one. The students have settled into school routines and expectations, and I thoroughly enjoy visiting the classrooms to witness their excellent work.

We celebrated Shrove Tuesday with the students cooking pancakes across the school and began the Lenten journey with our students celebrating Ash Wednesday Mass with the parish community.

The Meaning of Ash Wednesday & How We Can Be More Like Jesus

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of 40 days leading up to Easter. It is a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal, reminding us of our need for God’s mercy. The ashes placed on our foreheads symbolise two important things:

1. Our mortality – “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)
2. Our call to repentance – Turning away from sin and striving to live a life that reflects Jesus’ love.

How Can We Be More Like Jesus During Lent?

Jesus lived a life of love, service, and sacrifice, and Lent is an opportunity for us to follow His example. Here are three key ways:

1. Prayer – Growing Closer to God

Jesus often took time to pray and be with His Father. This Lent, we can:

• Spend more time in prayer each day.
• Read the Bible or reflect on Jesus’ teachings.
• Pray for others, especially those in need.

2. Fasting – Making Sacrifices for a Greater Purpose

Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert, showing self-discipline and focus on God. We can:

• Give up something (like social media, sweets, or complaining) to grow spiritually.
• Practice self-control and gratitude.
• Use the time or resources we save to help others.

3. Almsgiving – Helping Those in Need

Jesus always cared for the poor, the sick, and the lonely. We can:

• Donate to charity or give to those in need.
• Volunteer our time to help others.
• Be kind, forgiving, and compassionate to everyone.

Lent is not just about giving something up—it’s about becoming more like Jesus. By praying, making sacrifices, and helping others, we prepare our hearts for Easter and grow in faith, love, and kindness.

Today, we celebrated our school assembly, which our senior students conducted. The assembly celebrated the learning across the school and introduced our leadership for 2025.

Leadership at St. Mary’s is not just about wearing a badge—it’s about setting an example, serving others, and positively impacting our school. Today, I am honoured to introduce our 2025 Student Leaders, who will play a vital role in shaping our school community this year.

School Captains

Macy Sampson

Austin Janssen

House Captains

Blue - Addison Bainbridge/ Eli Kamputa

Red - Jasper Granger/ Ivy Sampson

Green - Sara Fernandez/ Grace Muir

Gold -  Leeroy Griffiths/ Mia Labajo

Student Representative Council (SRC)

Ivy Sampson

Hunter Badham

Kasharna Aliberti

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

TERM 1 2025

MARCH

APRIL

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Happy Birthday to Jason McKenzie, who celebrates hisbirthday on March 9th and to Austin Janssen, who celebrates his birthday on 15th March 15th.

We hope you have a wonderful day. 

Congratulations to Ivy and Lachlan for representing our school and for winning a place in the Wellington Swimming carnival in Sale.

  We are so poud of you for doing so well and for your wonderful sportsmanship. 

Our student had a wonderful morning making pancakes and eating them with delicious lashings of butter, honey and jam.

Mental Health and Wellbeing News

Dear Parents,

This week we began The Resilience Project lessons in our classrooms. For ease of implementation, we have divided the classes as such: Foundation with Ms Ellis, Grade 1/2 with Mrs Moore and Ms Owens, Grade 3/4 with Miss Williams and Grade 5/6 with Mr Sheedy. These lessons are timetabled and will be every Monday afternoon 1:30-2:30. The first classes were an introduction, and the students and teachers enjoyed participating in them. We looked at Gratitude, what it is and how we can incorporate it into our lives. We use GEM (gratitude, empathy and mindfulness) chat cards in the classrooms to help students understand concepts and how they experience these things in their everyday lives. This is something that can be included in conversations at home. I have included the meaning and benefits of showing gratitude, something small that can have a huge impact on our lives.

Benefits

In 21 days of practising gratitude, you rewire your brain to start scanning the world for the positives. You become three times more likely to notice a positive.

In 42 days, you:

• Are less likely to get sick.
• Have higher levels of energy.
• Feel happier.
• Are more enthusiastic.
• Are more focused.
• Are more determined.
• Are more optimistic.
• Have a better quality of sleep.
• Have lower levels of depression and anxiety.

If you would like further information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Deb Owens

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

HOT LUNCH FRIDAYS!

School canteen lunches are every Friday. All lunch orders are to be in by 9:00 on Friday morning. The price list is the same as 2023, please see below for details:

Hot Lunches - Price List 2023

Instructions on placing an order

Please contact the school office if you would like a price list sent home. 

We will be transitioning to our Winter uniform in Term 2. There will be a two week transition period and students will be expected to be in full winter uniforms by the end of the second week of the term (6th June)

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays- WINTER Uniform 

Girls Summer Uniform:

• Blue check dress
• Short white socks 
• Grey Skorts
• White short-sleeved polo shirt with emblem
• Royal blue school jumper
• Black leather school shoes
• Blue/white or grey ribbons

Boys Summer Uniform :

• Grey school shorts
• White short-sleeved polo shirt with emblem
• Blue school jumper
• Grey socks, black leather school shoes or boots

Tuesdays & Fridays —Sports Uniform

Girls Sports Uniform:

• Royal blue track pants/ shorts or sports skorts
• Royal blue sports polo with emblem
• Royal blue sports jacket or polo fleece jumper
• White socks
• Sneakers

Boys Sports Uniform:

• Royal blue track pants or shorts
• Royal blue sports polo with emblem
• Royal blue sports jacket or polo fleece jumper 
• White socks
• Sneakers

School Hats must be worn at recess and lunch times in Term 1. 

Sneakers are only to be worn with sports uniform on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Grade 6 Students may wear their Grade 6 Polo on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Uniform price lists are available at the school office.

ST. MARY’S EASTER RAFFLE

St. Mary’s will be holding an Easter raffle this year and are kindly asking families for an Easter egg or Easter item donation to be used in the raffles. This is a great fund-raiser for our school. Donations can be brought to the school office.

Tickets will be $1.00 each, a book of 20 tickets have been sent home, if you would like more tickets, please let the school know.

Please return all tickets (sold or unsold) to the school office by Monday 24^th March.

The Raffle will be drawn on Thursday, 3rd April.

We will be starting NAPLAN testing for our Grade 3 & 5 students next week (Wednesday, Thursday & Friday).

NAPLAN testing covers: writing, spelling, grammar, reading and numeracy skills.

The Tarra Valley Festival has days and days of entertainment planned over the Easter holidays. The parade is scheduled for Saturday, 19th April.

The theme this year is 'Back to the Future' and as much as we would love to have our school represented in the parade, we understand that this is a busy time for parents and families.

We would like to get an idea of interested students; notes requesting ideas and assistance from interested parents. Your suggestions and help are welcome and very much appreciated.