P&F Committee:

All are welcome to join our school P&F Committee. If you would like to be involved, please e mail me or 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 me and I will add you to the group so you can contribute and stay connected.

Next P&F Meeting:

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 17th September from 2:15pm to 3:15pm prior to school pick up. All welcome! Please meet at the school library, via the school office (to sign in).

Sensory Garden:

Plans are well underway for our Sensory Garden! We have a sub-committee formed and have held our first official meeting last week. Thank you to everyone involved so far! We will be having an initial working bee for major works including tier levelling, hole digging, trench digging and material drop off. The area will be out of bounds for our students because of this for the final week of term.

If you would like to join the committee for helping develop our new school sensory garden, please email Clare (see email below).

Stay tuned for future working bee dates. Many hands make light work as they say! School will provide a bbq – a nice opportunity to gather together, contribute and connect. This is such an exciting project for our school and our students…looking forward to seeing this new learning and playing space come together!

St Mary’s School Community Fair – Term 1 2026:

It is here again – our biannual St Mary’s School Community Fair! Next year we will be holding this event in term one on Friday 27th March. We have already commenced planning and organisation for this event.

We have a few members already but would love for more to join! 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!

If you or your business would like to sponsor the fair in any way through donations or helping to fund some of our entertainment on the afternoon, please let us know! 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.

Term Three Student Special Lunch Day: Soup & Flat Bread

WELL DONE to our amazing senior students, Mr O and Mrs Burchett for your preparation and assistance to serve this special lunch to the school. It was very much enjoyed! Congratulations on a brilliant effort!

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).

Term 3 St Mary’s Parents and Carer’s Catch Up: Sunday 14th September

Join us for a cuppa and or breakfast on Sunday 14th September at Saff’s Café Castlemaine from 8:30am. All most welcome! A lovely opportunity to connect and meet new members of our wonderful school community!

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

St Mary's School, Castlemaine

Respect, Resilience, Responsibility

TERM 3, WEEK 6 · 29 Aug 2025

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