Dear Parents,

Welcome back for Term Three!

It was wonderful to welcome back our students last Monday. Despite the cold and wet conditions, there was a sense of excitement as the children walked through the front gate. I’m sure it was difficult for many of our students (and teachers!) to wake to the sound of the alarm clock and leave the comfort of a warm bed. However, there was plenty of enthusiasm as children reunited with their friends and teachers.

For our teachers, the school holiday break provided a well earned rest as well as time to plan and prepare for the term ahead. As Principal, school holidays are an opportune time to organise additional school maintenance and cleaning. From an OH&S perspective, there are some jobs that are much easier to organise in the absence of students.

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, Term Three promises to be `action packed’ with more learning opportunities. Our major focus will be our Art Show, with a particular emphasis on the Visual Arts Curriculum, with an opening night scheduled for Tuesday 10th September. In addition to our Art Show, we will be celebrating Italian Day, Father’s Day, Book Week and Footy Day, just to name a few. As always, our newsletter and SIMON / PAM are our primary sources of communication so please look out for further information

As communicated last term, our school closure day for Term Three will be Friday 2nd August

Sacraments

Please keep our Year 4 and Year 6 students in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Sacraments of First Eucharist and Confirmation respectively. We thank their parents, Godparents and Sponsors for their ongoing support in their journey of faith.

The Sacrament of First Eucharist:

Parent / Child workshop - Thurs 25th July 6pm at St Judes Church
Commitment Masses - weekend of 27th/28th July
Reception of Sacrament - Sat 14th September (2pm or 4pm)

The Sacrament of Confirmation:

Reflection Day - Wed 31st July (revised date)
Reception of Sacrament - Thurs 1st August (5.30pm and 7pm)

Baby News - Mrs Louise McEwan (5/6 Blue)

Congratulations to Louise and Chris McEwan on the safe arrival of their second child Annabel during the school holidays, a little sister to Evie. All are doing well!

We look forward to meeting baby Annabel.

Robyn Hunter - former crossing supervisor

A decision has been made to acknowledge Robyn’s contribution to our school community with a park bench seat and memorial plaque. The seat has been ordered and will be installed near the footpath outside the St Marys gate. This seems like the most appropriate location as it looks directly out to the school crossing where Robyn served the community for many years.

Robyn’s husband John is extremely grateful for this acknowledgement and will attend a short service later in the year when the seat is ready.

As some families have indicated that they would like to contribute to an acknowledgement of Robyn’s service, we will send out communication in regards to making a donation towards the seat - completely voluntary.

The Music Bus

www.themusicbus.com.au

The Music Bus runs lessons each Friday afternoon on the basketball court.

Lessons are available in:

· Keyboard (Prep - 6)

· Ukulele (Prep - 6)

· Drums (Year 1 - 6)

· Guitar (Year 2 - 6)

If you wish to register an interest to join please complete the following online form:

Music Bus enrolment form

School Fee Statements

We wish to advise that statements dated 19/7/2024 were issued on Monday 22 July 2024 to all families via email. A reminder fees for 2024 are due in full on 20 September 2024, end of Term 3. If you have a direct debit please disregard the due date. Should you have any queries in reference to fees please do not hesitate to contact Lorelle Clark in the office.

School Blog - check it out!

I would like to continue to encourage parents to access our school blog to see what’s happening around our school, particularly specialist classes and extracurricular activities. Our students contribute to the posts on a regular basis - I strongly encourage you to `like’ a post of leave a comment. The students get a real buzz to know that parents are appreciating their posts!

http://blog.htws.catholic.edu.au/

Warm Regards.

Adrian Scutt

Principal

Time to eXcel

St Mary's Fundraising Activity