PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Welcome to Term 2. I hope that you and your family had a restful term break and enjoyed the beautiful weather that autumn has provided. We are starting to feel the winter creeping in and the daylight hours are shortening. God certainly created a kaleidoscope of seasons.

It was wonderful to take part in the Swan Hill RSL ANZAC Day service at 10:30am yesterday.  Our school captains did a terrific job of representing the school, laying a wreath and reading a poem during the service. Thank you to the many families that also attended, either in Swan Hill or other towns. We cannot forget the sacrifices that our armed forces have made in the past and continue to make, to keep our country safe. As a school, we held an ANZAC service at 9:00 am this morning (Friday).

Vehicle movement around the College

There's been a growing concern regarding parents/guardians dropping off or picking up their children in restricted or unsafe areas around the school premises. While we understand that parking can be challenging around the school site, it's crucial that students are dropped off and picked up in designated safe zones.

What we are seeing:

• Cars stopping in Bus drop off zones.
• Cars stopping within the no stopping area of the school crossing.
• Students getting out of cars that are stopped on the road.
• Students walking across the street, when being dropped off, rather than using the school crossing.

I am asking all families that drop off students in the morning to do so in Rutherford Street.  There is a bus bay in Rutherford Street (see yellow in the diagram to the left) that must remain clear in the afternoon, therefore free for drop offs in the morning. This is not too far for your child to walk

In the afternoon, all school buses move away from the school site at 3:20 pm.  Please wait until after this time to pick up your child, or ask them to walk to a safer area e.g. Rutherford Street west of High Street.

Fines for drivers of vehicles disobeying the road rules are:

• Stopping your car in a bus zone has a maximum penalty of $387 and 2 demerit points.
• Stopping too close to a school crossing will result in a $183 fine.
• Speeding up to 10 km/hr over the 40km speed limit around a school is a fine of up to $494.

Please help to keep all students safe. Drop off and pick up in safe areas, and encourage your child to use the school crossing.

Catholic Education Week and CESH (Catholic Education in Swan Hill) Mass

All staff and students of St Mary MacKillop College will travel to St Mary’s Primary on Friday 3rd of May to celebrate our annual CESH Mass. The students from St Mary’s Primary Sea Lake will also join us to celebrate our Catholic Identity and this year the added celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the forming of the Ballarat Diocese.

On returning from the Mass, our students will celebrate back on our school campus with a shared BBQ lunch, provided by the school.

Catholic Education Week is earlier than usual but segues beautifully as we begin our Grade 6 Transition Days on Wednesday 8th of May. On this day we welcome Grade 6 students from all Primary Schools across the area, with St Mary’s Primary attending on Thursday 9th of May and St Joseph’s Kerang joining us on Thursday 16th of May. We are very excited to welcome all prospective new students, and Damien Hirst has many exciting experiences planned for them.