P&F Committee:

All are welcome to join our school P&F Committee. If you would like to be involved, come along to our next meeting. If you are unable to attend our monthly meetings due to work or other commitments, please feel free to email and you will be added to the group so you can contribute and stay connected.

Next P&F Meeting:

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th November from 2:15-3:15pm, prior to school pick up. All welcome! Please meet at the school library, via the school office (to sign in).

St Mary’s School Community Fair – Term 1 2026: Friday 27th March

It is here again – our St Mary’s School Community Fair! Planning and organisation for this event is well underway. If you would like to join the St Mary’s School Community Fair Committee, please send through an email (see below). It is a fantastic way to be involved and every volunteer helps ensure the success of the event! Thank you to all those already supporting this fundraising event.

Look out for the Stall Form which will be coming home next week – this form includes all stalls at the fair and calls for volunteers to coordinate, work shifts and/or donate to the different stalls.

If you would like to run a stall at the fair let us know via email or add it to the space provided on the fair stall form.

If you would like to sponsor entertainment for the fair in exchange for advertising for your business, please let us know!

Book Stall – we will be having a book stall at our school fair: please drop off any second hand books in good condition that you no longer want or need to the office – these will be sold at the fair. Thank you!

Thank you in advance for your support of our major school fundraiser.

Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th November as part of our P&F meeting at 2:15pm. Please meet at the school office to sign in. All most welcome to attend.

Castlemaine Rotary Truck Show 2025 - Campbell's Creek:

29th and 30th November - we are seeking volunteers to work a shift in the hot food van at the truck show on these dates. If you are able to offer some time to work on either of these days, please let the office know. All shifts run by our St Mary's community volunteers will raise funds for our school P&F committee! Times include Saturday 10am-1pm and 1-4pm and Sunday 9am-12pm and 12-3pm. You do not need to work the entire three hours of course - you can offer one hour. Thank you!

Toast:

Toast is available each morning for all students who would like some extra fuel before they begin the school day. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who prepare and serve the toast each morning and to those who collect the bread as well as top up the supplies! If you would like to join the roster, please let myself or Jo Lawrence know or you can pass your name onto Krystal in the office.

THANK YOU to Castlemaine Fresh, our local fruit and vegetable store, who has kindly agreed to donate a bag of fresh fruit per week to our school. We wanted to add some fresh chopped fruit to our breakfast on offer each morning for our students to enjoy! Some will also be available if needed for those students who require it during the school day, particularly at fruit snack time in the mornings.

Sushi Lunch Orders:

Every Friday, students have the opportunity to have a sushi lunch order provided by Lunch Box Sushi Castlemaine. If you would like to organise this for your child/ren, please jump online to School lunch online to organise ordering. Orders need to be placed prior to 5pm each Thursday afternoon.

Second Hand Uniforms:

Second hand uniforms are available from the school office should you require any. Please also donate any uniform items you may no longer need for others to use. Thank you! (New uniform items can be purchased from Hip Pocket Castlemaine).

Sensory Garden:

A huge thank you to all those families who have been involved in this project. We appreciate your ideas, time, labor, donations of materials and effort to bring this project to life!

If you would like to contribute your time or any ideas or materials, please let us know via email.

We would also like to acknowledge ASQ for supplying us with sand at cost price, enabling us to retain some of our funds for other materials and items for the space – THANK YOU!!

A massive THANK YOU also to the Martin, O’Toole, Aldridge, Hunter and Millen-Carney families for your generous donations of materials. We are very grateful for your contributions!

The next step is refining the area with finishing touches, adding final pieces and some sensory engaging accessories including a teepee, windchimes, the chalk board, musical instruments, bird feeders and sandpit play equipment as well as storage areas for equipment. Stay tuned for any future working bees!

Term 4 St Mary’s Parents and Carer’s Catch Up:

Stay tuned for our next catch up this term - details out soon!

Family/Student Volunteers – Church:

The Parish is seeking student helpers to run the projector at church on Saturday evenings at 6pm mass and on Sunday mornings at 10:30am mass. This does not need to be each week. If your family/child is happy to assist, could you please leave your family name/their name at the office plus a contact number. Thank you!

Parents of St Mary's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/14Fws3874w/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Clare Grainger

P&F Committee President

c-majella@hotmail.com

Year 5/6

Mr O'Sullivan and Ms Brown