Newsletter 1, 2016 3 February 2016 Canteen opens on Monday 8

Mercy means Grace, Holiness and Forgiveness
As a school community may we all extend mercy, be patient in offering compassion and comfort to all who
we encounter.
Newsletter 1, 2016
3 February 2016
Dear Parents, Carers and Parishioners,
Welcome back! We have had a wonderfully smooth start to the new school year. The
children have settled well and the learning spaces are ‘a-buzz’. A very warm welcome
is extended to our new families: Michael and Raylene Nissen, Nash and Ashlee
Callaghan, Nathan and Seanine Cooper, Ana and Stanly Nudo, Adrian and Tanya
Stackman, David and Neshelle Whiley, Mark and Fiona O’Farrell and their children.
We also say Hi! to our bright eyed
Kindergarten students and
families who began their learning journey
with us today.
Throughout the year there will be many opportunities to meet other parents and to be
part of our vibrant school community. The first of these will be our Parent and
Friends meeting next Tuesday evening, 9 February. This meeting will begin at 6:30pm
in the Parent Room. Another event to put into your diaries is our ‘Welcome to 2016’
Parent Café evening. This will be held on Tuesday 23 February beginning at 5:30pm.
Child minding will be available for both events.
I look forward to meeting everyone over the next few weeks.
Welcome to our new students
Hugh, Chase, Steffany, Jessica,
Jack, Grace, Inari, Ava and
Samantha.
Calendar
February
THIS WEEK
9
P&F meeting 6:30pm
10
Ash Wednesday
23
Parent Café - Welcome to 2016
5:30pm
Peace and Blessings
Yvonne Rincheval
FOR YOUR DIARY
Pupil-Free Days 2016
16
Infants swimming commences
18
Zone Swimming Carnival
March
Term 1
School Administration Day
Parish School Retreat Day
Wednesday 27 January
Friday 8 April
8
P&F meeting
P&F AGM meeting
Term 2
Catholic Worldview Permeation
Tuesday 26 April
18
Year 6 Retreat
Term 3
Australian Curriculum
Monday 18 July
21
Harmony Day
Term 4
Curriculum Alignment
Tuesday 20 December
25
Good Friday
28
Easter Monday
Canteen opens on Monday 8 February.
Please return the Canteen Volunteer Form to assist with the roster.
April
8
Parish School Retreat
Pupil-Free Day
January birthdays: Amelia C, Beau T, Hannah H, Ava W, Mia C, Kyle M, Macey W,
Kaitlyn H, Bridie McG, Oliver I, Thomas L, Kate M,
Birthdays this week: Jasleen G, Ally H, Noah B
Religious Education
Welcome back to the new school year. I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas break and
enjoyed spending time with your family.
Our first celebration this year is the:
Liturgy of the Word and the Blessing and Distribution of Ashes
11:30am - Years 1-6
12:30pm - Kindergarten
This Liturgy will be held in our school hall on Wednesday 10 February. We look forward
to seeing everyone there.
A date for our Beginning of Year Mass needs to be confirmed. We will let you know as
soon as possible.
Upcoming Events
Liturgy of Ashes
Date and Venue
10 February
St Mary’s Church, Grafton
Weekend Mass Times
God Bless,
Tarnya Jones
Leader of Evangelisation
Saturday Vigil
6:00pm (Daylight Savings Time)
5:00pm (Winter)
This week’s MJR focus is:
Sunday Mass 8:00am
Children’s Liturgy
2nd Sunday of each month
8:00am Mass
St Mary’s Church
Introducing Mrs Janeen Myson’s new Role in 2016
This year Janeen takes on an exciting journey with a few different roles and
responsibilities. Janeen has an extensive background in English, having coordinated and
taught Reading Recovery for many years.
Janeen will support Stage 1 every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning
during their English session. From 12:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday Janeen will support Stage 1 with studies in Religion, Science, History/
Geography, Indonesian, PDHPE and Sport.
Janeen will also assume a new role at St Mary’s as our School Support Worker. In this
role Janeen will be coordinating Mini Vinnies, the LAP program, the Seasons program,
liaising with Dougherty Villa for continued access to the wider community, and be
available to assist our students and parents in any way. Janeen will be promoting the
Parent Room as a meeting point for parents and carers to gather, relax and develop
friendships.
Janeen will continue in her leadership role as Leader of Catechesis.
Janeen is available each morning until 9:00am and after school most afternoons for a chat.
Welcome
Sport News
Dear Parents, Carers and members of the school community.
Welcome back to St Mary’s for 2016.
I am very excited to be fulfilling the role of Sports Co-ordinator this
year. I hope to continue to grow the school’s sporting program and
provide students with the opportunity to engage in a variety of sporting
experiences throughout the school year. Please feel free to contact
me at any time should you have a query or wish to provide feedback
of any sort.
This term students will again be participating in a school swimming
program. Due to both Grafton and South Grafton pools being unavailable at the start of the term, swimming
for Infants students will begin in Week 4 and for Primary students in Week 5. For additional information
please refer to the Swimming note that was sent home last week.
All new students to the school will be given the opportunity on Thursday of this week to trial for the school
swimming team to represent St Mary’s at the Clarence Zone Carnival. A note regarding this has gone
home. Consequently, the team to represent St Mary’s at this carnival will be announced on Friday at the
school assembly.
A new initiative beginning this week is the St Mary’s Running Club. Training will take place on Tuesday and
Thursday mornings and is open to all students, parents, carers, siblings and staff. Further information can
be found in the flyer attached to this newsletter. I look forward to seeing you there.
Matt Green
Sports Coordinator
Tips for Success
Ensure that the School has your correct contact details. The
newsletter is sent to your email and requests for attendance
information to your mobile phone. If your personal details have
changed please contact the Office.
The Skoolbag App provides information. Please check that the
personal information on the App is current (eg your child’s year
level).
The school Moodle provides class information and messages. Notes
can be found in the ’Notes’ section on the front page of Moodle.
At St Mary’s we work hard to keep you up to date with what’s happening at
our school and encourage families to regularly check our website, weekly
newsletters, which are emailed every Wednesday afternoon, and download
our school app.
Skoolbag App
Our Facebook site celebrates the activities that occur at school during
the day. A link to the school newsletter can be found each week.
Many of the School’s upcoming events are saved on the Skoolbag App for
parents information. The areas to check are News and Events (we use the
All personal items brought to school, including clothing, should be
labelled.
News area when a time has not yet been allocated).
These dates/events are ‘pushed’ as required - usually close to the date of
the event.
Please check the App regularly to stay up-to-date.
Don’t forget to change the personal settings for 2016 to ensure that
you receive the correct ‘pushes’.
Borrowing from the school library occurs before school (8:30 to
8:45am) and at second break (1pm to 1:30pm) each day.
Invoices for Resource fees will be sent out over the coming weeks.
The Parish Office invoices families for School Fees. The invoice will
be sent out in the coming weeks.
Items being sent home today:

Commonwealth Bank Information
Items being sent home previously:

Canteen Volunteer Form

Infants and Primary Swimming notes
Just enter ‘St Mary’s Primary School’ in your phone ‘store’ and
Install.
Existing Users: If you are experiencing problems you may need to
install updates.
St Mary’s Primary School Leaders
School Captains and Vice Captains
We feel very privileged to welcome all new and current members of
our school community to St Mary’s in 2016.This year, along with our
fellow Year 6 students, we are very excited to be the leaders of this
wonderful school.
We are looking forward to setting a good example for all our fellow
students to follow and we will wear our school uniform with pride. Our
role involves running school assemblies, raising the flag daily and
leading our school at community events such as the Anzac Day
March and Jacaranda Parade of Youth.
We love to hear from our fellow students, so please feel free to stop
and have a chat with us in the playground anytime you feel the need.
Environment
Hi Everyone, we are the Environment leaders and we will work with you
all to ensure we keep our school a clean and healthy environment.
Our role involves monitoring rubbish in the school, sorting it to ensure
the correct waste goes in the correct place. To help with this, we will be
introducing a new type of recycling bin - you will learn more about this
over the coming weeks.
We will also be running a variety of competitions, so make sure your
learning spaces and eating areas are being environmentally friendly and
clean.
If there are any other ideas you have to ensure St Mary’s continues to
be an environmentally friendly place, please feel free to come and see
one of us.
Sport
Hi Students, we are your sport leaders for this term.
Our main job is to ensure the sports shed is kept clean and tidy and
all equipment is cared for. We will put out a variety of sport
equipment for you to play with, but please ensure you help us by
using the equipment responsibly and returning it to the sports shed
once you have finished with it.
We will also run a variety of games at different times throughout
this term, so keep your eyes out for these.
Community
Hello, we are the community leaders for this term.
Our main role includes setting up the hall for assemblies and
performances. We will also be assisting Mrs Jones and
Mrs Myson with all things regarding our school Mission and MJR.
In addition to this we will be assisting with the exciting Learnscape
projects and all other events that involve our school links with the
wider community.
Activities
Hi students and teachers, we are the Activities leaders for term 1.
Our leadership role involves setting up and running a variety of clubs for
you to be involved in.
Some clubs we are planning on creating are the chess club, drawing
club and reading club. If you have any other ideas of clubs you might
like to be involved in, please let us know
We will also be involved in Year 6 and school fundraising initiatives, so
if you have any ideas about this, please also let us know.
Are you looking for a family friendly action sport?
On Sunday February 6 we will be hosting our annual National Sign On Day! This is your chance to join our club
and one of Australia’s fastest growing sports!
BMX is for everyone, from two-year-olds on mini-wheelers right through to 60+ veterans, we all ride BMX!
National Sign On Day is designed for YOU to come along and try out our exciting
sport, free of charge! It’s a fun and exciting day that includes BMX riding, coaching
and games.
If you enjoy the day (and we hope you do!), you can sign up with our club and join
the BMX Australia family!
So what have you got to lose? Join us at the track!
For more information click here to find us on facebook
The Grafton Regional Art Galley are seeking expressions of interest from young artists for two graffiti wall
mural projects in the gallery’s carpark. It would be great to have a young person and their grandparent
selected to paint the Graffiti wall at the Gallery during the period of Seniors Week 1- 10th April and Youth
Week 8th – 15th April.
This project aims to provide opportunities for young artists to develop their practice and showcase their art
to the community in a professional context. The dates proposed for the project will coincide with the school
holidays, with all materials and safety equipment supplied and the wall prepared before the project starts.
The closing date for submissions is 4.00p.m. on 10 February. Please check the Grafton Regional Art Gallery
web page.
Did you know that by participating in the School Banking Program our school benefits financially in the following ways:

The Bank pays $5-00 for the first deposit

5% is paid on every deposit made (up to $10-00 per individual deposit)

$25 per term when a student makes at least one deposit through the school
Grafton Junior Rugby League Sign On Days
Grafton Ghosts Junior Rugby League will be holding two sign on days at
Grafton Shopping World on Sat 6th Feb & 13th Feb from 9am – 2pm
and a Come & Try day at Frank McGuren field on the 20 th Feb 2016 from 9am-2pm.
Players from 5 years old - U/7s to U/16s for boys and U/7s to U/12s for girls.
Parent/Guardian must be present to register children.
New players will need to bring their original Birth Certificate or current Passport
To register or for further info contact Jo Lucas - 0448864542 or graftonjrl@hotmail.com
Come play hockey with
Sign up soon. Season April to September.
City Bears is a family friendly club focused on good sportsmanship and fair play in all players,
coaches & managers, parents & spectators on and off the field.
Senior teams also for men & women, all abilities.
For more information call Renee Nilon: 0400 095 816
Email: citybearshockey@gmail.com
MAJOS FOOTBALL CLUB
INFORMATION / SIGN –ON DAYS FOR THE 2016 SEASON
WHEN :
WHERE :
TIME :
6th February and 13th February 2016
Grafton District Services Club near the BBQ area.
9:00am – 12:00pm
Don’t forget it is on-line registration at : myfootballclub.com.au
President : Carmel Thompson ......0411 799 268
Registrars : Renee Zimmerman ....0416 154 244
Please note that Shorts & Socks can be ordered on these days
Email
: majosfc@gmail.com
Physie
Physie is for girls 3years to Ladies. Physie is a sport that fuses dance styles such as jazz, ballet, hip hop,
contemporary, aerobic dance and even yoga! Our innovative choreography changes annually and is designed for
maximum variety and fun. Classes are held Tuesdays at the Grafton Primary School Hall.
Registration Day:
Thursday 4 Feb 2016
Venue:
Grafton Primary School Hall Bacon St
Time:
4pm to 6pm
Classes commence Tuesday 9th Feb
For further information visit our website www.graftonphysie.com or call Justine on 0431 470 552 or
email graftonphysie@bigpond.com.