“...Love each other as I have loved you....” John (15:12-17)

Term Three, what a term it has been!

As we reach the end of another incredibly full and exciting term, I think it is fair to say that we are all ready for a holiday!

Before we head off for a well-earned break, however, it is wonderful to reflect on just how much our students have experienced, achieved and learnt throughout Term 3.

Where our students shone brightly at our Creative Arts Evening. It was wonderful to see their confidence, creativity and talent on display. There is something very special about watching our young people have the courage to stand in front of an audience, perform and share what they have been learning. We are incredibly proud of every student who participated and grateful to our staff and families who helped make the evening such a success.

Our Brain Olympia team also represented St Mary of the Angels brilliantly this term. After competing in the first round in Inverell, the team progressed to the next stage in Tamworth. An outstanding achievement and a wonderful reflection of their teamwork, knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Sport has certainly kept us busy too!

Last Friday, many of our students represented the school at the Soccer Gala Day, demonstrating teamwork, skill and excellent sportsmanship. Across the term, our whole school has also enjoyed developing our golf skills with Dylan each Friday.

Students have learnt new techniques, developed their accuracy and, most importantly, enjoyed trying something new.

Music has filled our classrooms through the NECOM Music Program with Ms Schmidt, with students developing their musical knowledge and skills through singing, movement, rhythm, games and playing instruments.

At the heart of who we are as a Catholic school has been our continued journey of faith. Throughout Term 3, students have participated reverently in a range of Masses, liturgies and prayer experiences (inlcuding the Angelus daily from Week 8).

These celebrations give us precious opportunities to come together as a community, reflect on our faith and strengthen our relationship with God and with one another.

Our Year 6 students attended another STEP Day at O’Connor Catholic College, providing them with an opportunity to explore secondary school life, participate in new activities and begin building their confidence for the transition ahead. It is hard to believe that our Year 6 students are already preparing for this next exciting chapter!

There have been plenty of other special moments along the way.

We celebrated the joy of books and reading through our colourful Book Week Parade, welcomed our dads, grandfathers and special people for our Father’s Day BBQ Breakfast, and came together to recognise and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and achievements during our NAIDOC Week celebrations.

And amongst all these special events, excursions, performances and celebrations, there has been an enormous amount of learning taking place every single day.

Across every Key Learning Area, our students have worked hard, challenged themselves, made mistakes, tried again and continued to grow as confident and enthusiastic learners. While the special events are often the moments that make our photographs and newsletters, we are equally proud of the quieter achievements that happen in classrooms every day — mastering a new sound, solving a difficult maths problem, writing a wonderful sentence, asking a thoughtful question, helping a friend or persevering when learning becomes challenging.

Growing Up in a Digital World – A Message for Families these holidays

As we head into the school holidays, when our children may have more time to access games, devices and online entertainment, it is timely to remind ourselves that being able to access something does not necessarily mean a child is developmentally ready for it.

Children are still developing the skills they need to understand complex themes, regulate emotions and impulses, recognise risk, interpret the intentions of others and distinguish appropriate behaviour from behaviour they see modelled around them.

This is one reason that age ratings and classifications matter.

What do the Australian classifications mean?

Australia's classification system provides families with information to help make informed decisions about the films and computer games children access.

G – General: Content is very mild in impact and is suitable for everyone.
PG – Parental Guidance: Content is mild in impact. Some material may confuse or upset children, and parental guidance is recommended.
M – Mature: Content is moderate in impact and is not recommended for children under 15. Although M is an advisory rather than legally restricted classification, it may contain violence or themes requiring a more mature outlook.
MA 15+ – Mature Accompanied: Content is strong in impact and is a legally restricted classification. Children under 15 can only access MA 15+ content under particular conditions involving a parent or adult guardian.
R 18+ – Restricted: Content is high in impact and is legally restricted to adults aged 18 and over.

The classification is important, but so is the consumer advice accompanying it.

This tells families why a particular classification has been given, including factors such as themes, violence and language.

Why does this matter?

Children do not experience media in exactly the same way adults do.

Something an adult recognises immediately as exaggerated, fictional, sarcastic or inappropriate may be processed quite differently by a developing child.

Children also learn through observation and imitation.

The language, humour, ways of resolving conflict and social interactions they repeatedly encounter can become part of the behavioural repertoire they bring into their own relationships.

This doesn't mean that every child who sees inappropriate content will imitate it.

It does mean that adults should consider not only whether content frightens a child, but also the behaviours, language, attitudes and ways of interacting that it normalises.

This becomes particularly important with online games because the classification of the game itself is only one part of the experience.

Online multiplayer games may also involve communication and interaction with other players.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner therefore recommends that families consider children's age and developmental stage, establish accounts using the child's real age, review communication settings and use parental controls appropriate to the individual child.

YouTube is not the same as children's television

It can also be easy to think, "They're only watching YouTube."

However, open video-sharing platforms contain an enormous variety of user-generated material, and children can move rapidly from one piece of content to another through searches, links and recommendations.

For primary-aged children in particular, unsupervised access is worth thinking carefully about.

The eSafety Commissioner recommends that parents consider a child's readiness for the content and experiences they might encounter online, provide ongoing support and monitoring, establish family rules and understand the privacy and safety settings of the platforms their children use.

For younger children, YouTube Kids provides a more controlled environment and includes parental controls such as the ability to set time limits and turn off search functionality. However, parental involvement remains important even when child-focused platforms are being used.

A useful holiday check-in

The holidays can be a great opportunity for families to sit alongside their children and ask:

What games are my child actually playing, and what is their Australian classification and consumer advice?
Who can communicate with my child while they are playing?
What videos and channels are they watching?
Is autoplay or unrestricted searching enabled?
Are parental controls appropriate for their age and developmental stage?
Could I watch or play alongside them occasionally so I understand their online world?
Does my child know they can come to me if something online makes them uncomfortable, confused or worried?

Our goal is not to remove technology from children's lives. Digital games, video and online spaces can provide opportunities for creativity, entertainment, connection and learning.

Rather, just as we gradually give children greater independence in the physical world as they demonstrate readiness, digital independence should also develop gradually, with guidance, supervision and conversation along the way.

Keeping children safe online works best when school and home work together — helping our young people develop not only the technical skills to use technology, but the judgement, resilience and responsibility to use it well.

If you would like some additional resources please check out;

eSafety Commissioner HERE and
Australian government Australian Classification Guidelines HERE

Notice of AGM and Election of the Executive Committee

We hereby provide notice of the School Advisory Council Annual General Meeting which will be held on at 6:00 pm on November 2nd 2026.

Current Members:

Ex-officio Members

Principal: Zoe Nugent

Parish Priest (Administrator): Father Stephen O’Shea

2026 SAC Members:

Chairperson: Mitchell Hope

Secretary: Jeanice McCosker

Staff: Eleisha Outridge

General Committee Member: Penny Furphy

General Committee Member: Rita Williams

General Committee Member: Josephine Cruickshank

Nominations for general committee roles will be called through the school newsletter and COMPASS and/or on the school website at least fourteen (14) days prior to the Meeting. A nomination form will be provided with this call for nomination and will also be available from the School. Please note there will be one general commitee role available for nomination and all executive positions (Chairperson and Secretary) will be up for re-election (annual basis).

Summer Uniform – Looking Ahead to 2027

A reminder that as we prepare for Term 4, students will return to wearing our summer uniform.

We ask families to take some time over the coming weeks to check that uniforms still fit comfortably and that students have the items they need for the warmer months.

A reminder that 2026 is the final year of our transition period to our new school uniform. We have deliberately allowed families time to transition gradually, recognising the cost involved in replacing uniform items and allowing existing items to be worn while they were still serviceable.

From the beginning of 2027, our new school uniform will be implemented in full, and all students will be expected to wear the advertised uniform which can be purchased through Alinta.

As we reach the end of the transition period, we will also be reviewing our second-hand uniform supplies.

Older uniform items that no longer match our current uniform will be removed from circulation and donated,
while current uniform items that remain in good condition will be retained in our second-hand clothing pool for families to access.

We encourage families who have outgrown current uniform items in good condition to consider donating them to our second-hand pool.

This is a wonderful way of supporting other families in our school community while also reducing unnecessary waste.

Thank you to our families for your support throughout the transition. Wearing our school uniform with pride contributes to our young people’s sense of identity, equality and belonging and helps us present ourselves as one school community.

Best Wishes to Mrs Ahumada and Mrs Williamson

As the term concludes, we also wish Mrs Ahumada and Mrs Williamson all the very best as they begin their family leave.

This is such an exciting and precious time for both families as they prepare to welcome their beautiful new babies. We will certainly miss seeing them around St Mary of the Angels, but we cannot wait to hear their wonderful news and eventually meet the newest little members of our extended school family!

We wish them both a safe, happy and restful maternity leave filled with many beautiful moments.

Finally, thank you to our students, staff, parents, carers and wider community for another wonderful term.

The strength of St Mary of the Angels continues to be the people within it and the way we work together to support our young people.

Best wishes to all of the students studying for their HSC exams!

Have a safe, restful and very well-deserved holiday break. We look forward to welcoming Mrs McHugh (Lockwood), Mrs Reinke, our SHA's, all our families and young people back refreshed and ready for Term 4 on Tuesday 13th October!

Zoe Nugent

Principal

Polding Athletics

High Jump - Ned N

Polding Athletics - High Jump