PREP

Here we are at the final newsletter for Semester 1!

We are so proud of our Preps. They have come such a long way since the beginning of the year, and we cannot wait to see what amazing things they achieve in Semester 2.

We LOVED catching up with you all at Learning Conversations this week. It was wonderful to see the children sharing their work and feeling so proud of their achievements. Meeting together highlights just how important the partnership between home and school is in helping our Preps grow and succeed.

We had the BEST day today at Milo's Birthday Party! What a fun way to celebrate learning all of our initial sounds and meeting our LLLL characters. Thank you to all of the families for helping put the costumes together – the effort everyone made helped create such a special day.

Tomorrow is our Green and Gold Dress-Up Day to support the Socceroos. If your child doesn't have green and gold, they are welcome to come out of uniform and join in the fun. We also have Fun Food for lunch (Baker's Delight pizza and chips) and will be watching St Mary's Got Talent. Good luck to our "Spicey Boys and Girls" for their dance performance! Parents are welcome to attend St Mary's Got Talent at midday. Please keep in mind that this is an event organised by the students, for the students, and we encourage our senior students to take ownership of running the competition on the day.

We hope that you all enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday break. Thank you for your support throughout Semester 1, and we look forward to seeing everyone back for another fantastic term in Term 3!

Elissa Rodger erodger@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Emma Roberts eroberts@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Liza Alexander lalexander@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 1

Congratulations to all our wonderful students on a great semester and for doing a great job of showcasing their work at learning conversations. It was lovely to see so many of our families come in and chat about their child’s learning.

We’ve had a wonderful term, with lots of highlights. We think Science works and Fantastic Mr Fox were among our favourites.

Next term we look forward to getting ready for our whole school performance and swimming lessons.

We hope you all have a restful break and we will see you in Term 3

The Year 1 Team

Leah Martin lmartin@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Abbey Hayes ahayes@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 2

Students have recently completed their unit of learning on Measurement. They thoroughly enjoyed participating in fun, interactive, and hands-on activities where they used informal units to measure length, mass, and capacity. It was wonderful to see students applying their learning in practical ways and developing their understanding through exploration and investigation.

This week, we have begun reviewing a range of addition and subtraction strategies. Students are reinforcing these skills through engaging games and collaborative activities that encourage mathematical thinking and problem-solving.

In Literacy, students have been revising the different spellings for the /er/ sound. They have been practising decoding words that include this phoneme, as well as applying their knowledge when writing words containing the /er/ sound.

Students have also been learning about similes and how authors use them to create vivid pictures in the reader's mind. We have explored how similes compare one thing to another to help describe what something is like, and how using similes can make our writing more engaging and descriptive.

We have recently concluded our Geography unit. Students have enjoyed learning about the hemispheres, the Equator, the continents and oceans, and exploring why time and weather differ between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It has been fantastic to see students develop a greater understanding of our world and their place within it.

In Religion, students have been learning about and exploring God's love in creation and how Christians are called to care for one another and the natural world. Students represented their learning by drawing a portrait of themselves in their favourite natural environment and writing about ways they can demonstrate love and care for God's creation in their everyday lives.

A huge thank you to all the parents and loved ones who attended our Learning Conversations this week. It has been wonderful to share and celebrate your child's learning and growth throughout Semester 1.

This Friday is shaping up to be an exciting day with:

Fun Food Day
The St Mary's Got Talent Grand Final
Students encouraged to wear green and gold or Socceroos-inspired colours as we cheer on Australia in their Soccer World Cup match against Paraguay.

We wish all our Grade 2 families a fantastic, safe, and restful mid-year break. Thank you for your ongoing support throughout Semester 1. We look forward to welcoming our students back for Term 3, refreshed, recharged, and ready for another exciting term of learning.

Warm regards,

The Grade 2 Team

Matt O'Dowd modowd@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Deb Holland dholland@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 3

What a fantastic first half of the school year we have had! It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of Term 2, with just one more day to go and an early finish at 2:15pm.

Thank you to all families who attended Learning Conversations. It was a wonderful opportunity to come together and discuss the first half of the year, celebrate achievements and look ahead to future learning goals. I was incredibly proud of all students for the way they confidently displayed and discussed examples of their work from throughout the semester.

Today we enjoyed our excursion to Red Rock, which was a great success. Students had the opportunity to connect their classroom learning with real-world experiences and represented our school wonderfully. We were very proud of their behaviour, enthusiasm and willingness to participate.

A reminder that our next Prayer Gathering will be held on the first Friday back in Term 3. Reading parts will be sent home before the holidays, and any practice that can be done at home is greatly appreciated.

Looking ahead to Term 3, in Numeracy we will be focusing on multiplication and division, developing strategies and building confidence with these important concepts. In Literacy, we will be exploring a range of non-fiction texts and learning about the features and purposes of different text types.

Good luck to Skye, Fletcher and Percy who are participating in St. Mary's Got Talent. We will be having pizza for Fun Food on this day too.

We wish all of our students and families a safe, happy and relaxing holiday break. Thank you for a wonderful semester, and we look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for Term 3!

Matt Absalom mabsalom@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 4

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the school year. As we come to the end of Semester One, we would like to thank all families who took part in our Learning Conversations. They are a valuable opportunity to celebrate each child’s achievements, discuss their progress and learning goals, and continue the strong partnership between home and school.

We are incredibly proud of our students and all they have achieved this semester. They have embraced challenges, shown resilience, and continued to grow as learners and members of our school community. We look forward to seeing this growth continue throughout Semester Two.

Next semester, we welcome Meg Knight to the Year 4 team as she takes over from Paula in the classroom. It is wonderful to welcome Meg back to the St Mary’s community. Meg brings a wealth of experience, warmth and enthusiasm, and is looking forward to getting to know the students and families. We are excited to have her as part of the Year 4 team. While stepping away from the classroom, Paula will continue to work closely with Year 4 and remain actively involved in supporting students, staff and families across the school.

Thank you for your continued support throughout the semester. We wish all families a safe, relaxing and enjoyable holiday break filled with special moments with family and friends. We look forward to welcoming everyone back next term and hearing all about your holiday adventures.

Paula Parish pparish@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Amanda Delorenzo mdelorenzo@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rebecca Gallagher rgallagher@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 5

Well done to all students for the hard work and effort they have put into their learning this term. Their dedication and persistence have been greatly appreciated, and they should be very proud of all they have achieved.

In Literacy, we wrapped up our History unit and our class novel, The Night They Stormed Eureka by Jackie French. Students completed their one-page summaries and information reports on the Victorian Gold Rush, producing some fantastic work that demonstrated their growing understanding of this important period in Australian history.

In Numeracy, we finished the term with our unit on time. Students learned the difference between 12-hour and 24-hour time and practised converting between the two systems. They particularly enjoyed creating their own daily schedules using 24-hour time.

Last week, we welcomed families to our Open Classroom to showcase some of the amazing work produced throughout the term. Students proudly shared their History projects, which included a written report on a topic of their choice and a supporting artefact. They thoroughly enjoyed researching, creating and presenting their work.

We have also completed our Religious Education unit by designing a new St Mary's Church, inspired by our excursion to St Brendan's Church and our own St Mary's Church. Students thoughtfully considered the features and purpose of a church and incorporated these ideas into their designs.

Thank you to all the parents and families who attended our Open Classroom. We truly appreciate the strong school-home partnership and enjoyed the opportunity to connect and celebrate the students' learning together.

Wishing everyone a happy, safe and restful holiday break. We look forward to another wonderful term ahead!

Rachel Downard rdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Rachael Cahill rcahill@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

GRADE 6

Halfway through Year 6 — can you believe it?

Tuesday’s Learning Conversations were a fantastic way to celebrate the students’ hard work and achievements this semester. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come in; we know how busy life can be! Hopefully, those who weren’t able to attend have had the opportunity to look through the work that was sent home on Wednesday.

Congratulations to our netball team, who were runners-up in Ballarat last week, and to our footballers, who represented the school at the Greater Western AFL 9s on Wednesday. There were plenty of great efforts on both the courts and the fields, and we are very proud of all involved.

We are looking forward to the St Mary’s Got Talent finals on Friday. It promises to be a wonderful way to finish the term.

A reminder that school finishes at 2:15 pm on Friday to kick-start the holidays. We hope everyone has the chance to relax, have fun, and enjoy some quality time with family and friends!

Jess Downard jdownard@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Jodie Hassett jhassett@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Maegen Potter mpotter@smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Administration News