Thank You and Farewell!: Over the past term we have had the privledge of having Mrs Gai Melville lead us as Acting Principal while Mrs Jo Flynn has been overseas. This was Mrs Melville's first experience of a 'country school', and I believe she will be returning to the city with a new understanding of education west of the Blue Mountains! It has been lovely having Mrs Melville with us and we wish her well as she heads back to the 'big smoke'!!

Chess Competition: Last Monday our school hosted the first day of our local Interschool Chess Competition. A huge 'thank you' to Mrs Brown for all the work she put into making sure the 180 visiting students had a great day and the competition ran very smoothly. Congratulations to all our students who competed in this competition, we were very proud of both their efforts and their behaviour. They were wonderful ambassadors for McAuley!

RE Test : Each year our Year 6 students are asked to complete an exam on the Religious Education Curriculum they have studied throughout their primary years. Congratulations to all our Year 6, many of whom received certificates of Distinction or Credit.

Cheese Toasties: Mrs Garnon has been working with the Mini Vinnies students to provide some very yummy Cheese Toasties for those who have ordered them in Yrs 3, 4 & 5. Our Year One children are very excited as they can order a toastie this Thursday!! All other grades will be next week!

Sporting Gala Days: Last Friday a large number of students travelled to Bathurst to participate in a local Soccer Gala Day. This was a great success and we were very proud of our students. Thank you to Mrs Livingstone for all her work in coordinating our students into teams and organising the logistics of our attendance. Thank you to Mrs Belmonte and Miss van Kemenade who also accompanied the students. A very special 'thank you' to Mr Andrew van Kemenade for also taking the time to be with and guide our students on the day. Apart from Soccer last week, we also had a Rugby Gala Day on Wednesday. Thank you to Mr Bishenden for looking after our Rugby boys and for the work that went into their preparation. From all accounts, both days were a great success and our students made us proud!

ICAS Registrations are now open for all ICAS exams. For further information and to register, please see the ICAS News page in this Newsletter.

2M Assembly: We were thoroughly entertained by Year 2M when they held their Class Assembly last Wednesday. Thank to to Miss Williams and all in Yr 2M for their hard work throughout the term, and their great presentation of this work! Well done!

Prue McCarthy - Different On The Outside, Same On The Inside: Each year our Year 5 students have a visit from Ms Prue McCarthy to experience a show she has written on disability inclusion. This is a wonderful opportunity to look at life through the eyes of one who has to circumnavigate life and all its challenges while living with significant disabilities. We look forward to hosting Prue each year and the ongoing discussion her visit brings. Unfortunately, Prue is currently experiencing even more health issues and has had to postpone the show until a later date, so we now look forward to rescheduling her visit.

Parent Teacher Student Conferences: A huge 'thank you' to all who came along to our interviews this week. It has been a massive two days, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to touch base with parents and families so we can look at how best to move forward in helping our students to gain the best from their schooling.

Class Plays: Over the next two weeks we have our Year 2 and Year 6 Class Plays being held in Kenna Hall. Please come along and join us for these plays. We thoroughly enjoyed the Year 2B play which was held today, and are looking forward to all the other plays! Please come along tomorrow, Thursday 27th, to see both Year 2Y (10.00am) and Yr 2M (12.00pm) perform their plays. Next week Year 6 will be having their class plays. Yr 6B will be at 2.10pm on Tuesday 2nd July, and both other Year 6 plays are on Wednesday 3rd July. Year 6M wil be at 1.00pm, and Year 6Y at 2.10pm. Please come along to support our students and enjoy the show!

Sheahan Showcase: The annual Sheahan Showcase is happening again this evening, and we are delighted to have our Senior Choir as part of this event. Thank you to Mrs Allan for all the work she has put in to coordinating our student rehearsals and visits to James Sheahan leading up to this Showcase. We are vey proud to be part of this event and our students have worked hard to be ready.

Visiting James Sheahan Students: Over the past term we have had Mrs Sue Dean and her group of students studying Early Childhood visiting our Infants students to see how their little minds grow and grasp the new learnings they are constantly presented with. It is so lovely to have such a close relationship with our Catholic High School and to have many of our 'ex students' able to come back to their roots as they move to their higher levels of learning. This is a very special connection and we value it greatly.

Work Experience Student: Next week we welcome Miss Alice Commins back to McAuley as she completes her Work Experience. It is always a pleasure to have former students come back to see McAuley from a different perspective, and to know they will always be welcome.

Kinder Retreat: Our Kinder children will experience their first Retreat this week! Thank you to Mrs Cain for all her hard work in preparing to offer these students such a lovely experience. The theme 'The Apple Of My Eye' is so beautiful, and is the perfect summary of their relationship with God our Father.

Have a wonderful week!

Robyn Petty

Assistant Principal