An Extract from our Beginning of the Mass

"We warmly welcome all new students to our school community, particularly the Prep children and their families, who are beginning their school journey.

The theme of this Mass is "Community".

We all have a desire to belong somewhere. Rarely does anybody want to be alone and being part of a community is something that makes our lives richer.

As members of the St Mary’s school and Parish, we are a community that believes in the strength of unity. When we unite for a common purpose, in our belief in God, something powerful happens.

As a united community of faith, we join together to create a place where anyone can belong. No matter what challenges we currently face, belonging to a community of faith means everyone is welcome. When people walk into our community they can come, just as they are, and discover who they are in Christ.

During this Mass, we are going to think about our Community at St Mary’s - old friends we have had for years and new friends we will make in this new school year. We give thanks to God for the gift that is the Community of St Mary’s in 2023."

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As we welcome to the 2023 school year! It has been an absolute joy to meet and greet students and their families this week as they have arrived at school.

A very warm and friendly welcome to the students, families and staff who have begun their school journey with us this year. We hope that St Mary's provides you with a positive and strong educational experience and a true sense of community and connection.

Thank you to all the families that have introduced themselves to me so far and I hope you will always feel welcome to contact me if there is anything that you would like to discuss.

A day at St Mary's!

Please be aware of the following information regarding bell times and supervision. It is important that you support us in our daily routine so that we can ensure the safety of all students.

8:30 - 8:45 Students arrive in the yard

8:45 begin to move inside to unpack for the day

8:50 - 9:00 Morning Gathering with Class Teacher

9.00 – 11.00 Learning time

(fruit or vegetable/brain snack & recess snack time during this session)

11.00 - 11.10 Eating time

11.10 - 11.45 Break

11:45 - 12:45 Learning Time

12:45- 12:55 Eating Time

(main lunch meal)

12:55- 1:55Learning Time

1:55- 2:25Break

2:25- 3:15 Learning Time

3:15 Dismissal

• Supervision is provided by members of staff for students from 8.30am until 3.30pm.

• Students should not arrive at school before 8.30am.

• Teachers are on duty at recess and lunch breaks.

• No child is to leave school before the dismissal bell unless permission has been granted. In these circumstances the student/s need to be signed out on the at the Office.

After-school Pick-up

Thank you to all who are following the guidelines for the pick-up zone. The flow of traffic through this area has moved very smoothly for the beginning of the year. It is vital that this continues for the safety of the children.

For the safety of everyone, please remain in your vehicle at pick-up time unless you need to visit reception. Proceed through the pick-up loop as indicated with red arrows, being mindful of the road entrance (marked with ‘keep clear’). Students will enter vehicle in the green pick-up zone (current disabled car parks). Vehicles in the pick-up zone may be politely asked to re-enter the pick-up loop if their child is delayed to avoid a bank up of traffic.

If you wish to walk up to collect your child, please park away from the pick-up area.

Welcome to our new staff!

We are very fortunate to have such an exceptional staff group at St Mary's and we have really enhanced the team this year with the following new team members. A very warm welcome to our school community!

A special welcome to our new staff:

Kylie Minter (F/1)

Anushka Vaz (Gr 1/2)

Steph Archbold (Gr 3)

Cara Hine (Gr 3 and Art)

Marty Demosthenous (Gr4/5/6)

I wish them all well as they become part of the wonderful community of St Mary's.

SeeSaw

Hopefully you are all set up on Seesaw – the platform we use to show some of the school day, student work, make announcements and communicate to you and the teachers. It is a fantastic platform and by the end of the year, will be a great record of your child’s work for 2023.

PAM

This platform is more of the administration aspect of school. You can lodge your absent days, download end of semester reports, book in Parent Teacher meetings, update medical information and provide permission for excursions. I encourage you to spend some time setting up Seesaw & PAM ASAP so you don’t miss anything!

Thanks for the great start to 2023. I am looking forward to being part of such a welcoming community.

John Doherty

St Mary's School, Castlemaine

Respect, Resilience, Responsibility

2023 Beginning of the Year · 11 Feb 2023

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