From the Deputy Principal 

Dear families,

Walk Safely To School Day, Friday 17th May

We are looking forward to National Walk Safely to School Day tomorrow. The annual campaign encourages all primary school children, their parents and carers to walk safely and regularly to school. The event seeks to promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment. Children who are regularly physically active are healthier, perform better academically and are less likely to be obese or overweight.  

The objectives of Walk Safely To School Day are:

• To encourage parents and carers to walk regularly with their children, all or part of the way to school.
• To promote the health benefits of walking and create regular walking habits.
• To help children develop vital road crossing skills and ensure children up to the age of 10 years hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.
• To reduce car dependency and traffic congestion, especially around schools.
• To reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles.

Tomorrow there will be 3 meeting locations in Prahran, Windsor and St Kilda East. Together, students, parents and staff will then walk approximately 1KM to school, arriving in time for the school day and a free breakfast courtesy of our P&F. Please see the map below for meeting locations and times. Parents are advised to supervise and walk with their children. If they are unable to do so, please give verbal permission to the staff members at the meeting location Friday morning. We hope to see as many families as possible actively travelling on this day, and we hope that the meeting locations and walking routes to school start healthy habits for everyone!

Meeting at 8:00am, departing at 8:15am

• Windsor Siding Playground, 118 Union Street Windsor. 1.4KM ~ 20mins
• Lumley Park Playground, 21 Jessamine Ave Prahran. 1.0KM ~ 15mins
• Hewison Reserve, 351 Inkerman Street St Kilda East. 1.0KM ~ 15mins

Inform & Empower Term 2 Student Webinars

Over the last fortnight students across Year 1 to Year 6 have been involved in the Term 2 Inform & Empower program. The focus this Term is on balancing screen time with green time, especially with understanding the effects of using screens before bed time in the middle and senior years. Below are some tip sheets for parents relevant to each year level that demonstrates what was covered, and also provides some conversation starters that families can enter into with their children.

COMING IN TERM THREE, Next Athletics After School program

New from Athletics Australia, and coming to St Mary’s Primary School, is Next Athletics. Next Athletics is a fun, dynamic games-based athletics program run after-school. Students will be participating in a Next Athletics clinic during their PE sessions this Term for a sneak peek at the program.

Register for Next Athletics and receive your FREE participant t-shirt. For more information, visit the website: Next Athletics, and see also their socials Facebook and Instagram.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) On School Students with Disability

Please note that our school is currently preparing to complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. 

Parents can refer to the fact sheets below for further information