Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of Term One.

The mornings are darker and the nights are getting shorter.

Term One seems to have flown by!

Congratulations to all of our students in Years 3 and 5 who have completed NAPLAN over the past few days. They have done an excellent job and should be very proud of their efforts.

To our students who have represented SHNPS in swimming, Congratulations on your results, and well done on bringing such school pride to SHNPS.

Our major fundraiser this term is Hot Cross Buns from Grey's Bakery in Kerang. These orders are due tomorrow. Please support the school in purchasing some of these yummy treats for Easter. Orders can be placed at the office.

Attendance

As we near the end of Term One, it is important to be in contact with the school if your child is absent. We encourage families to log absences on Sentral or call the office.

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.

There are times when we will need to contact you. Do we have your most up-to-date contact details? If not, please contact the office so we can update our records. Please remember to contact the school if any of these details or your circumstances change.

School Council

School Council is seeking enthusiastic parent representatives to join our team. School Council is our governing body which makes important decisions to do with funding, and budgets, communicating with our community, and develops the best possible programs for our students.

We meet every third Monday of the month at 5.30 pm. The work this year will be around our new buildings and school development.

Should you wish to join this team, please contact the office.

Communication

As parents and carers, you will at times need to meet with classroom teachers to clarify classroom programs and sometimes discuss problems that may have arisen. The teachers and Leadership Team will endeavor to meet and discuss any range of school issues as soon as possible, however, please be aware staff meetings occur each Tuesday and Wednesday night straight after school. There is an assumption all teachers will attend meetings on time. No teacher will dismiss your question or concerns, so calling to organise a time to meet will ensure the question or issue can be addressed with plenty of time and no interruptions. Don’t forget you can always message on Seesaw.

School Review

Last week we completed our School Review. It was a fantastic opportunity to see how SHNPS went with our goals for the previous 4 years . We also set new goals for the next 4 years.

The major focus of our work will be improving student outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy, embedding school-wide positive Behaviour, and ensuring we have teachers planning collaboratively.

Student/Parent and Teacher Chats

Thank you to all of our families who attended our chats. Unfortunately due to the weather, we lost power and had to postpone the night ones. Thank you to everyone for their flexibility in completing these.

Drop Off

Please ensure students are not dropped off at school before 8.30 am. Before School care is available at St Mary's PS. We appreciate families' support with this.

Student accident insurance

The Department of Education does not provide personal accident insurance for students.

Parents are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any ambulance attendance/transport costs. Reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. Complete a Google search on ‘Student Insurance’ if you are interested.

It is recommended that personal property stays home as there is no insurance cover for personal belongings.

Harmony Day

🌍🧡 Harmony Day 🧡🌍Please join us in celebrating Harmony Day on Thursday, March 21st by wearing something orange! This might be a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, or even just a hair ribbon. Students will participate in Harmony Day activities in class.

Open Day

This Sunday we have our Open Day for Foundation in 2025. Please encourage any new families to SHNPS to come along.

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

Brea