Dear Families,

A big hello from Lake Dewar Bacchus Marsh, where I am joined by our Year 3 and 4 students and the staff who are supporting our students. Camp gives our students so many opportunities that cannot be replicated in a classroom. I always love attending school camps as it allows me to get to know each student outside of the school setting and hopefully, they get to know me better as I take my Principal hat off and become a teacher on camp. We are so proud of our Year 3 and 4 students as they embrace the activities, have the confidence and resilience to go out of their comfort zone, all whilst having loads of fun. There will be many stories for tomorrow night and lots of laundry to be done! They have been delightful to work with and have grown up in two days.

Thank you to Anthony Speranza for taking the reins as Acting Principal and to Angela Mason, Catherine Le Hunt and Daniela Borgese for sharing the role of Acting Deputy Principal. Erica is always there in the mix, in her quiet, calm and organised manner, for which I thank her for. I also thank the rest of the staff for taking extra yard duties, to enable the staff to attend camp. Our photos will be shared via Seesaw next week.

School Closure Day - Friday 18th August

In accordance with the new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022, and as outlined in the previous newsletter, Friday 18th August will be a School Closure Day. This day allows us to give time in lieu to our teachers, as directed by the enterprise agreement which recognises the workload of teachers. We apologies for the late notice. TheirCare is available for child care, if required.

St Mary's Cake Stall

Last Monday afternoon we re-established the St Mary's Primary School Cake Stall tradition. Thank you to the many families who contributed to the Year 6 Graduation cause. A total of $857 was raised. Our next Cake Stall is on Monday 31st July 3:20pm - 3:45pm. All funds raised from our Prep to Year 5 stalls will go directly to purchasing equipment for our Zen Zones.

Middle Years Mass & Grandparent/Special Friends Mass

Last Sunday our Year 3 and 4 families joined us at 5:30pm Mass to celebrate Mass together and to farewell Bernadette Milne, our St Mary’s Parish worker for many years. Bernadette has worked with so many of us over the years and supported each sacrament in her gentle and caring manner. She has supported many children and their families, for which we are so appreciative of. We wish her all the best and look forward to catching up with her.

It was wonderful to have so many join us to celebrate our Grandparents/Special Friends Day Mass and morning last Friday. The Church and school felt so alive with our visitors and we loved sharing our learning with our special guests. The children always love hearing about school in the ‘olden’ days and have many questions! Thank you to Louisa, Kasia, Claudette, Tony (Louisa’s brother) and Kala McInnes for helping to set up and assist with the serving of our important guests. This day is always a highlight for all of us. We were also visited by Mr Josh Burns, the Federal member of Parliament for Macnamara and the chair of a Parliamentary Joint Committee of Human Rights.

Women's World Cup Soccer fever - Bela, Siena and Olivia

Congratulations to Bela who had the opportunity to walk onto the pitch for the Matilda’s versus France friendly soccer match, and Siena and Olivia who accompanied the Nigerian players for their World Cup match against Canada. I'm sure this was a highlight for them that they will never forget!

Yr 3 & 4 Netball Team Morning

Some of our students played their first netball match last Saturday. They are called Saints Leopards and played at Orrong Romanis Reserve winning 17-2! This was their first ever game and played super well as a team and loved every moment! Thank you to our parent Ruth for getting this team going.

Trivia Night

I look forward to seeing what our parents and carers looked like when they were at school, this Saturday night! Please join us for a fun evening, with all proceeds going towards our landscaping project.

Landscape Update

Early Monday morning Anthony, Heinz and myself met with Paul Pritchard of Paul Pritchard Landscaping Design and Construction Pty Ltd. I have known Paul for many years and taught his children at a previous school. Paul’s work is fantastic and we look forward to working with him to improve our outdoor spaces. Paul has worked with many schools and with another associate received an award at this year's Garden Show. A huge thank you to our parent Heinz for his constant support and networking on our behalf. He is an integral part of this exciting project.

St Mary's Primary School Fete

Last week our hardworking Fete committee met in preparation for our St Mary’s Primary School Fete on Saturday 18th November. We thank them for their work and the many people involved to raise money for our landscape project.

Casual Clothes this Friday and donations to St Vincent De Paul

Our Year 6 Social Justice Leaders together with Ms Earle are raising awareness of the 2023 St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal. This Friday all students are invited to wear casual clothes and bring a gold coin or more as a donation. This money goes directly to St Vincent De Paul via Margaret and Sister Barbara, our St Kilda East conference leaders.

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you.

Mrs Cathy Ferrari

TheirCare Program