FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Thursday 19th May, 2016
Week 6 Term 2
FROM THE PRINCIPAL - Madonna Davitt
Dear Parents, Students and Friends,
Frank Gilbert Drive
BUNDABERG 4670
Ph: 07 41522167
Fax: 07 41527660
St Mary’s has always prided itself on its family
atmosphere. One of the reasons this is such a
Email: smbg@rok.catholic.edu.au
www.stmarysbundaberg.qld.edu.au
strong aspect of our school is because as
Office Hours
parents you are interested in your child’s
Monday - Friday
schooling and are consequently very
8AM – 4PM
supportive of the school when it comes to your child’s learning.
School Hours
A couple of weekends ago, the P&F President, Mellisa Doyle and I attended a state
8:40AM – 3:00PM
TUCKSHOP
wide conference, organized by the P&F Federation. The focus was on parent
Wednesdays & Fridays
engagement in schools and was presented by Dr Debbie Pusher, a lecturer from
MASS TIMES
Canada who has worked extensively in this area.
SATURDAY
Briefly, she stated that from a school perspective, parent engagement:
6PM St. Patrick’s
 Draws on parents’ knowledge of their child. It recognizes that the parent is
SUNDAY
7AM St. James
the child’s first and primary educator and that rearing a child is a complex
8AM Holy Rosary
activity
9AM St. Mary’s
 Honours the hopes and dreams parents have for their children
5:30PM Holy Rosary
 Recognizes there is a relationship between the school and the parent with
Youth Led Mass 5:30PM Holy
th
Rosary 4 Sunday of Month
each stakeholder has their own specialized knowledge
Parish Office
 Ensures that everyone is strengthened by this engagement
Ph: (07) 4151 6666
The conference offered a deeper insight into the important role parents play in their
Parish Bulletin
child’s education. To ensure that this is always seen as an imperative at this school,
http:/www.bundabergcatholic.net.au
the P&F Association, the School Board and school will work together in the coming
months exploring possibilities, on how parent engagement can be maintained and improved in our school community.
Mayoral Chaplaincy Breakfast
Last Friday, 4 of our Yr 6 leaders attended this annual fundraising
breakfast. This year the speaker was Mr Andy Gourley, the founder
of Red Frogs which is an organization that assists at various
schoolie events at the end of each year and O Week in many
universities. Over the years, Red Frogs has become an integral part
of these events working with the emergency services to ensure
that students are safe and cared for. Over 2 tonnes of Red Frog
lollies are given away at these events every year!
Pictured left: Mayor Jack Dempsey, Madonna Davitt, Steven
Thompson, Julie Barwick, Bella Walters, Maddie Lockhart, Ken
Arriola and Andy Gourley from Red Frogs.
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Winter Uniform
With the cooler weather approaching we remind parents of the school’s approved winter uniform for Prep – Year 6:
 Navy blue tracksuit or
 Navy blue sloppy joe or
School logo
 Taslon zip up jackets with school logo
 Girls can wear navy blue tights under their dress only
2017 Prep Enrolment Interviews
These interviews have commenced for our new families. It has been wonderful to hear such positive comments about the
school from the prospective families when asked why they have chosen St Mary’s as the school for their children. The school
obviously has a good reputation in the wider community thanks to the positive things you have been saying about it.
If you know any family who is contemplating a Prep school for next year, give them our enrolment package. These are
available from the office.
Anxiety – Understanding and Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Children – 9th June
Click here to view flyer with information regarding this upcoming workshop being offered by Early Life Foundations & Catholic
Education - Diocese of Rockhampton. This is free of charge and will take place on Thursday 9th June from 7:30PM – 9PM at
Shalom College.
Pots wanted
If you have any unwanted medium sized garden pots, our Year 6 students would be very happy to put them to good use with
their sustainability project. Send them in to the Year 6 classrooms or school office.
Term Fees
These were due 6 May. Reminder letters will be sent this week. If your account is overdue and you are having difficulty in
meeting this payment, you are asked to contact the school as a priority.
Madonna
Please remember in your prayers….
 Bevan Findlay, grandfather to Conner (Prep G) who is recovering after an accident
FROM THE APRE – David Boge
BLAZE Youth Group
As of 22nd May, The National Evangelisation Team (NET) will be starting a Youth Group called BLAZE for students in Years 4-6.
We are a group of young people who come from all over Australia and the world to
share the good news of Jesus with Bundaberg. By starting this youth group with these
children, we want to give them the opportunity to learn about the basics of the Catholic
faith and to learn more about Jesus. There will be games, plenty of fun and some
aternoon tea will be provided.
Where: Rossolini Place, 66 Woongarra St downstairs
When: Sunday from 22nd May, 4pm – 5pm
You are welcome to stay for Mass at Holy Rosary Church at 5:30pm
We would love to have your child come along, join in the fun, and make some new friends. We will require your child to be signed
in and out of each session.
For any enquiries, please contact Alana or Nick on 0428381640.
God bless,
National Evangelisation Team
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LITURGIES AND ASSEMBLES
WEEK
DATE
LITURGIES 9:00AM
ASSEMBLIES 12:20PM
th
6
20 May
3R
2O’
7
27th May
3G
8
3rd June
9
10th June
1P
Under 8’s Liturgy
4P
First Friday Mass
3B
10
17th June
11
24th June
5B
1H
DATES TO REMEMBER
MAY 2016
Thursday
Monday
Thursday
Friday
JUNE 2016
Sunday
Tuesday
Friday
Wednesday
Friday
JULY 2016
Monday
19
23
26
27
School Board Meeting
School Photo Day
Show Holiday
Under 8s Day
12
14
17
22
24
Spotted Dog Sunday Session – P&F Fundraiser
Field Events Day – Years 4 - 6
School disco
Whole school Athletics Carnival
Term 2 concludes
11
Term 3 commences
3:45PM
2PM – 5PM
5PM – 8PM
WAR MEMORIAL ROLL OF HONOUR SOUNDSCAPE
Some of our Year 6 leaders were special guests last Friday at ABC Wide
Bay studios.
Our students visited the studio to record their voices for the Roll of
Honour soundscape project.
The students recorded the names and ages of some of the 62,000
Australians who died during the First World War. The recordings will
feature in an audio soundscape in the First World War Roll of Honour
cloisters in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial.
HITZ FM BROADCAST FROM ST MARY’S
Hitz FM at St Mary’s
It was a great day yesterday when HITZFM visited our school to broadcast from 7AM to 9AM. The students were able to
interact with the announcers and see how they operated as well as have fun with the jumping castle, 10 pin bowling and table
tennis.
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P&F
Thank you to the following businesses for their generous sponsorship of our event:
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Just One Thing 2016
Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
You are invited to participate in our “Just One Thing” campaign for 2016. We hope to build on the success we had in 2015,
and give all St Mary's families a chance to be involved in our school community. We would especially encourage families who
are new to the school to get involved. Volunteering at the school is a great way to meet people and make friends.
We have over 250 families attending St Mary's this year, and we would be grateful if every family would nominate to do “just
one thing” throughout the year. Please follow the link below and submit your preferences. The school or P&F will be in touch
to confirm your availability for upcoming events.
http://goo.gl/forms/T6KG8hSQLA
Last year’s list will not be carried over, so please fill in this form if you are available to help, even if you filled in a form last
year.
2016 P&F Executive Committee
CURRICULUM NEWS
Congratulations
COEN DANIELS (2O’) and ETHAN CHRISTENSEN (3B) for your work with Mathletics MONEY.
Coen – 100% all round!
Ethan – excellent persistence to reach 100%.
Great work guys – keep it up.
NAPLAN
Well done! Thank you parents from Years 3 & 5 for your support with the NAPLAN assessments. The students were here on
time and ready to go. Teachers reported that while some of the tests were quite tricky, the students worked well and did their
best.
We expect that the NAPLAN provisional results will be with us in Term 3, allowing us two terms to address any areas that
need attention. Individual reports will be distributed either late Term 3 or early Term 4 depending on when they arrive at
school.
Reading – Home Reading
Fabulous work! Congratulations to the families who manage to read with their children every night and also manage to sign
the reading journal – marvellous support for your child and his/her teacher!!
Years 4 – 6 Tutoring Program
The Shalom College St Vincent de Paul group participates in a tutoring program as one of their mentoring activities. The older
student acts as a positive role model and assists a younger student with their school work. We will be running this program at
St Mary’s School on Mondays from 3:15pm – 4PM. Click here for further information and permission slip, which we require
parents to sign in order for their child to participate.
Carmel Ashton APC
WALK SAFELY TO SCHOOL DAY – FRIDAY 20th MAY
This Friday, 20th May is the National Walk Safely to School Day. Primary school aged children across
Australia are encouraged to make those important steps towards a healthier future by participating in
National Walk Safely to School Day.
National Walk Safely to School Day is a community initiative that aims to raise awareness of the health,
road safety, transport and environmental benefits that regular walking (especially to and from school)
can provide for the long term health of our children.
The annual event, now in its 17th year, encourages primary school children to walk to and from school, not just on Friday but
every day. We are encouraging all our students to walk all the way or part of the way to school this Friday.
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MUSIC NOTES
Instrumental Music
We have our own band lesson “Diary Blog”. It shares our weekly learning, tips and tricks, and
many useful web links. It is available to any interested parent. Email Ian King
ian_king@rok.catholic.edu.au for the LINK.
SCHOOL PHOTO DAY – MONDAY 23rd MAY
School Photo Day is Monday 23rd May. STUDENTS ARE TO WEAR THEIR BLUE DAY UNIFORM. MSP Photography payment
envelopes were sent home with each student last week. Click here to read an important note from the school photographer.
Please take the time to read the relevant information on these envelopes and remember these helpful
points:
 Don’t seal envelopes inside each other. You can pay for all children in one envelope however
each child needs to have their own envelope on photo day.
 Family envelopes are available at the school office upon request.
 Please enclose correct money as no change is given. Cash, credit cards, cheques and
money orders only are accepted.
STUDENTS OF THE WEEK
Prep G
Prep S
Year 1H
Year 1KM
Year 1P
Year 2 O
Year 2 PA
Year 3G
Year 3R
NATE GRIFFIN for always putting in 100% effort when completing your work. Thank you Nate.
MADELEINE THELANDER for the way you always take your time when you draw. You’re such
an artist Maddie.
JULIA LECHOWICZ for doing such a great job writing your name, getting your jobs done and
being a super kid!
RILEY ATKINSON for always coming to school with a big smile and excited to learn.
ISAAC TARDENT for always trying your best. Keep up the great work.
JAI HINDMARCH for making an exceptional effort when working on word work! Great job
mate!
MATILDA OLSEN for sharing your wonderful drama abilities and your wonderful singing voice. Super
effort!
ELLOUISE RASMUSSEN coming back to school ready to work. What a star student you are!
JAI MADDEN for applying yourself well to all set tasks. Keep up the great effort Jai.
TANNER MELEIN for always making good choices inside and outside the classroom. Well done Tanner!
WINSTON KIRCHNER for working hard to complete take-away sums. Keep it up!
SOPHIE SCARBOROUGH-KRENES for super work in Maths this week. You have been working carefully and
solving problems. Well done!
LILLIA DALEY for always striving to complete your writing neatly. Well done!
HAYLEY MCKEOWN for listening well at carpet time, engaging in class discussions and working industriously
at desk time.
LARA HOCKEY for listening attentively, making thoughtful responses to questions and working co-operatively
as a class member.
KATE RICHARDSON for being a super listener in class. Thank you for always following instructions so quickly
and quietly. Your work is also fantastic.
NICHOLAS KREBS for always producing fantastic work in all areas. You always try your best and you are so
enthusiastic about everything we do.
BREE ROYAN for always being so willing to help everybody. Your kind and caring nature is never unnoticed.
LAYLAH SAWYER for always putting extra detail into your writing. You make it interesting and are working
on editing. Keep it up.
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Year 4B
Year 4C
Year 4P
Year 5B
Year 5SB
Year 6C
Year 6J
Year 6N
JESSICA TAYLOR for always coming to school with a smile. You are a great friend who always offers a helping
hand.
DEAN MACKEY for working independently and putting 100% effort in everything you do. Keep it up!
EMILIA GRIMA for the exceptional effort you put into your persuasive writing pieces. They are well written
and always entertaining. Well done. PS I will never squish an ant again!!
ALL OF YEAR 4C for making our liturgy as special as it was through your participation and awesome
behaviour. Well done!
AMELIA WALSH for being a ‘speed demon’ with your 3x tables. Super work Amelia!
GABBY MINERS for always showing kindness to others. You are a fantastic friend.
THOMAS PARTON for always coming to school with a fantastic attitude. You are beginning to show real
leadership qualities. Thank you for being you.
JUDAH RICHARDS for always asking questions to clarify your understanding. Your ability to work
independently is a credit to you.
KAHL SCHIFFKE for having a great sense of humour and putting up with Mrs Sears’ silliness. You are a
delight to have in the classroom.
BEN WRENCH for being a great team member when completing a STEM design project. Well done!
STORM DANIELS for always being willing to help others and for being the sparkle in our room.
ALL OF 6N for putting together a great Assembly on Friday. I was very proud when you all performed so
enthusiastically.
CONGRATULATIONS
SO WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN YEAR 6J
In Year 6J we have been doing lots of exciting work.
In Maths we have been learning about Cartesian planes and angles from 180 degree
lines. We also have been writing short stories and starting them off with “sizzling
starts”.
In sport we have been preparing for field events day by practicing high jump, long
jump, discus and shot put. We also are starting interschool sport this Friday. Girls are playing netball. Boys will
be playing competitive soccer and there are mixed teams for table tennis. We are all very excited and can’t
wait!
In Art we have been looking at Van Gogh and Andy Warhol. They both
are very talented artists and both have a very different taste in art. Van
Gough liked to paint dark pictures with a story behind it, while Andy
Warhol was more into bright pop colours and is known for his Campbell’s
soup tin.
All of year 6J is having a fabulous year so far!!!
Isabelle Taylor 6J
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE
Vegetable Garden Project
You may have noticed some work going on near the OSHC building. We are very excited about this project. We are in the
process of setting up an area to have 6 raised vegetable garden beds. We use quite a few vegetables at OSHC including
cucumber, carrot, cherry tomatoes and capsicum. It is quite amazing the quantity of vegetables that the children consume.
While no one is made to eat anything, we do expect the children to choose some healthy options on their plate each
afternoon and it’s often not long before they are trying and enjoying new things. We believe that we are assisting the children
to build lifelong healthy habits by encouraging healthy eating while they are with us. To extend on this, we thought it would
be a great opportunity if we grew our own vegetables.
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The responses of the children to our idea have been mixed. We have some avid
gardeners who can’t wait to be involved, some who have declared a dislike of all
things vegetable related and some who raced in and made signs as soon as we
mentioned that we may be able to set up a stall and sell any surplus vegetables we
may have. We are sure that once our project commences that the children will
love it. Bunnings have kindly donated us some tools, vegetable seedlings, worms
and a compost bin. We also have Georgie-Lee from Leaf It To Me Veggie Gardens
coming in to plant with the children and teach us about companion planting and
composting.
Vacation Care
The flyer and booking form for the upcoming vacation care period is attached to this newsletter. We have a couple of new
activities this holidays with a Bollywood dancing session and a trip to Flip Out. As usual the excursion permission forms are
attached and need to be completed when booking. There is also a waiver for Flip Out that needs to be signed if your child will
be participating in that activity.
Araluen Mitchell OSHC Co-ordinator St Mary's Bundaberg
St Mary's OSHC 07 41511792 OR 0429415117
TUCKSHOP
The school tuckshop operates on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the term. Please place orders by 9AM.
Click here for Term 2 Menu
Click here for Term 2 Gluten Free Menu
STUDENT BANKING – TERM 2 COMPETITION
Students who make a minimum of 5 deposits to their Dollarmites account between Weeks 2 and 8 of Term
2 will go into a draw for a stationery prize pack from the Commonwealth Bank. Keep up the great savings!
Click here to view information on how School Banking is improving your child’s “Common Cents”.
BUS FARE ASSISTANCE SCHEME
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COMMUNITY NEWS
Carina Speedway – Saturday 21st May
Click here to view flyer with further information.
Move It Expo - 4th June & Ring Road Run – 5th June
Click here to view flyer with further information.
Shalom College Musical – The Addams Family – 9th, 10th & 11 June
Click here to view flyer with further information.
Take the Plunge Community Café School Holiday Activities
Click here to view flyer with further information.
Sunday Children’s Chess Tournaments 2016
Sunday Children’s Tournaments will most likely be held on 29 May, 31 July, 28 August, 30 October and 27 November. A 2016
Grand Prix will be held in conjunction with the Sunday Tournaments. There will be two free draws of $10 and $15 each
Sunday. For scoring, a competitor gains three points each Sunday they attend. If a lower rated player defeats a higher rated
player, they will get four points. If a higher rated player defeats a lower rated player, they will get one point. In the event of a
draw a higher rated player defeating a lower rated player will get half a point. If a lower rated player draws with a higher
rated player they will get two points. QJ ratings will be used for competitors. If a competitor has no QJ rating, the DOP will
allocate a rating. Players attending for the first time do not have to pay the playing fee of $10 on that day!!!
Many lucky draws for vouchers from Maccas, Subway, Red Rooster, Eagle Boys and Cold Rock Ice Creamery!!
A T Menham Chess Club Secretary
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