Principal's Panorama

Welcome back to St Mary of the Angels for another year to all of our young people, skilled helpful adults (SHA), Parent/Carers and wider school community.   

I would like to welcome our Early Stage One class and two new young people; Callie and Alexander and of course our Transition class who started today!

Additionally, we welcome;

• Libby Lockwood our Assistant Principal and Religious Education Coordinator 
• Nicolle Shamley our Stage Two Classroom Teacher
• Annabel Cullen our Early Stage One Classroom Teacher
• Nioka Levy our Aboriginal Education Assistant

We look forward to immersing them into everything we do in this tiny and yet brilliant school community.

Our Commissioning Mass, celebrated on the 7th of February, saw our Skilled Helpful Adults (SHAs), accept the honour and challenge of supporting our young people and school community.  It was mind blowing to see the number of SHAs that our school has in relation to our enrolment numbers. Truly punching above our weight in adult density.  

We also saw our Year Six students; blessed with the 'light of leadership' and inducted into their role as peer mentors for our school community.  I am looking forward to seeing these young people embrace the role with gusto!

Let's Celebrate:

Thank you to Gayle Moses who is taking a well deserved break from volunteering her time each week, reading with our young people.  In this day and age of instant gratification and self service, it is a blessing to have people such as Gayle supporting our young people.   The aim of our young people being supported by our wider school community, is not only to support the academic outcomes of our young people but also to build connections beyond their own family and school.  If we rely on the fact that we are a 'culture of the environment we are surrounded by' then this connection can lead to:

• Building trust
• Improved mental health and reduce loneliness
• Build a culture of care and connection
• Ties us in to our community
• Promote our shared learning goals
• Increased social learning opportunities 
• Boosting engagement with our school and community for all and maybe... just maybe, we will be fostering future volunteers, and every rural community needs those!

We cannot thank Gayle enough for everything she has done for our young people in her time volunteering at St Mary of the Angels.  A true angel herself. Thank you Gayle.

Parents and Friends Association Support

Thank you to our Parents/Carers who supported the St Mary of the Angels Parents and Friends in their fundraising efforts, even before the school year commenced, at the Lamb and Potato Festival and the Show and Shine.  

Additionally, we had a number of our current and past young people and their siblings volunteering their time! 

Huge kudos to: Casey and Zac J, Brianna M, Mackenzie E, Catherine F, Rhys N.  If was delightful to see our community respond so positively with our young people when they were serving and preparing meals.  Makes your heart soar.

Parents and Friends Associations promote social interaction and a strong sense of community. They encourage community participation in educational and social justice programs and also help motivate parents to become involved in school life.  The challenge at this stage for our P&F is that it is small core group of committed volunteers who volunteer at every event and as the years progress, the number of volunteers is dwindling.  Our current P&F would very much appreciate some extra support.  Whether that is donating time to run or serve at a fundraising event, donating produce (cakes/slices/scones) for stalls/show; every small amount reduces the workload for everyone.  

Unfortunately, if the decline in support/numbers continue, the Parents and Friends Association as a stand alone committee, may be at risk and will have to be absorbed into the School Advisory Council.  This will limit fundraising for additional resources, school camps (especially bi-annual Year 5/6 Camp) and of course it will limit our social interactions and community building opportunities.

We have the Guyra Show on this weekend and we are looking for more volunteers, especially for Friday's pavillion shift.  If you can support, please contact the Parents and Friends Committee via email; smotaparentsandfriends@gmail.com 

School Fees

School Fees will be billed out centrally from Armidale Catholic Schools Office this week.  Please check your COMPASS App for account totals. 

If you have not already arranged a direct debit of fees, please contact the school as soon as possible.  If you and your family owe school fees, the school will be in contact to support you to arrange a payment plan.

School education costs more than most people imagine, on average it costs approximately $15,300* per primary school student per year. 

Fees are calculated for St Mary of the Angels via a formula which takes into account the Base Funding from State and Federal Governments which is reduced by the DMI (Direct Measure of Income) of the local area the school is located.

This Capacity to Contribute either means the school is provided with more or  less funding depending on the mean income of its parents.  

The school then is provided with additional funding depending on six additional factors; such as remoteness, size, population factors etc.  

The difference between funding allocated to the school (Schooling Resource Standard  SRS which is base funding with loading) and the cost of education per students is then passed on to our families by the way of school fees.

If you would like to see a pictorial representation; please jump onto the Catholic Schools NSW website HERE

*funding and cost calculations provided by CSNSW Here

Have a safe and blessed fortnight,

Zoe