From the Principal

Term 3 Week 8

2022 NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION CONFERENCE

This week I have had the privilege to attend the 2022 National Catholic Education Conference in Melbourne with over 1400 delegates. The Theme of the conference being, “The Future is Listening”.

At the opening of the conference the keynote speaker’s stated, ‘ Catholic schools give Australian families the choice of a high quality, faith based, holistic education’.  From humble beginnings 200 years ago, Australia’s 1,755 Catholic schools now education more than 785,000, or 1 in 5 Australian students.  Everyone of these Catholic School being a  Sacrament of Hope.

At each workshop we have been challenged to stretch our students to their full potential.  To give all students the opportunities they need to fulfil academic excellence,  that is far greater with a faith filled world where children are safe and know that God loves them unconditionally.

The conference spoke of always singing the song of Jesus, education being the keys to the Kingdom that open the door, listening to what the Spirit is saying,  offer the children to follow Jesus,  student voice,  student goal setting, collaborative learning, staff voice, positive relationships and engagement.

On the final day we were challenged in the future to listen more extensively, listen more attentively, listen more discerningly and to leave the conference with ENERGY from all 1400 people in Catholic Education being together. 

YEAR 4 LAKE KEEPIT EXCURSION

Year 4 students head off to Lake Keepit on Monday morning for an overnight stay. We look forward to seeing the photos of all your adventures. Thank you to the parents and teachers who are accompanying the children.  

FETE COLLECTION DAYS

Thank you to the Fete Committee for organising the Fete collection days.  Thank you to all the families who sent in bags of lollies today.

FATHER'S DAY  

Father's Day is a celebration of fatherhood; a time for us to honour, celebrate and to be thankful for all of the men, father figures and male role models in our lives. We recognise the very important role you have in the lives of children, so thank you to all of the dads and father figures in our school community. We hope you all enjoyed a very happy Father's Day on Sunday and were able to celebrate with the special people in your lives. 

Thank you to the P & F for organising the Father's Day Stall for the children last week. Thank you also to the Mini Vinnies children for assisting at the stall. 

TEACHER AIDE APPRECIATION WEEK 

Last week, we enjoyed a special morning tea to celebrate Teacher Aide Appreciation Week and say a big thank you to our wonderful Education Assistants; Mr Josh Cain,Mr Jock Sweeney, Mrs Jodi Troon, Mrs Jenny Teege, Ms Gen Tavener, Ms Emma Widders, Mrs Liz Stahlhut, Mrs Felicity Turnbull & Miss Phoebe Biddle. St Mary's is extremely lucky to have such an amazing team of dedicated adults working in our classrooms each day. 

SAC MEETING - Term 3 Meeting

I thank the SAC members for their continued support and advice with the organisation of the the school. Key points discussed were TechOne Finance System & Building & Maintenance items.

O'CONNOR STEP DAY

Year 6 students went to O'Connor last week for a very enjoyable day at the Agricultural Farm, Science Labs Design & Tech Labs and PE.  Thank you O'Connor for hosting our Yr 6 students.

NAPLAN 2022

Naplan results for Years 3 and 5 went home to parents with the students last week. The envelope contained individual student report & a letter to parents.

2022 NAPLAN results show a high level of success for our students in both Years 3 and 5.

In NAPLAN a National Minimum Standard is defined as: 

Band 2 is the minimum standard for Year 3.

Band 4 is the minimum standard for Year 5.

Our highlights include:

In Year 3

• Reading, 92% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Writing, 94 % of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Grammar & Punctuation,  87% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Spelling,  90% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Numeracy, 91% of students above the National Minimum Standard

Very pleasing results in Year 3 were achieved with 62% of children achieving in the top two bands for reading, 61% for Grammar & Punctuation, 55% for writing.

In Year 5 

• Reading, 93% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Writing, 84% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Grammar & Punctuation, 88% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Spelling, 74% of students above the National Minimum Standard
• Numeracy, 91% of students above the National Minimum Standard

Congratulations on these results, children, teachers & parents.  

Thank you to the staff who have worked so hard to improve our student outcomes across the school!

POLDING ATHLETICS - Friday 9th

Good luck to our students, David Moyo, Jessica Newsome, Lucy Bible, Stephen Chin, Will Douglas-Menzies, Sophie Schumude & Molly Schmude who are at the Polding Athletics Carnival today in Newcastle to represent the Armidale Diocese!

R U OK DAY

Thursday this week was R U OK Day. It’s our national day of action when we remind Australians that every day is the day to ask, ‘are you OK?’ and start a meaningful conversation whenever they spot the signs that someone they care about might be feeling unhappy.

TERM 3 PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Visiting our classrooms I see calm classrooms with happy smiling children engaged in their learning. The children are very busy learning new concepts, consolidating past concepts and showing a love for learning. The teachers are looking forwarding to meeting with parents for Term 3 interviews and sharing the achievements the children are making.

TERM 3 PUPIL FREE DAY

Please note that the last day of the Term will be a PUPIL FREE DAY (23rd September) for Staff Professional Development. 

ANNUAL MY SCHOOL SURVEY

Thank you for responding to the survey. I look forward to your responses as they will assist in setting our goals for 2023.

AFTER SCHOOL PICK UP

Parents please be aware that the end of the school day is 3:10pm. 

Parents can collect students from 3:10-3:30pm from the Rusden Street Entrance or

3:10-3:20pm Dangar Street - Library Gate.

Walkers exit by the Rusden street entrance.

Bus students exit at Jessie Street.

If you are not able to collect your child by 3:30pm you might like to consider After School Care at St Mary's. Contact William on 0410841628 or email info@esteemkidsgroup.com.au

WWCC

Working With Children Check is part of the Government's keeping schools safe. The check is free if you are a volunteer. It only costs if you need it for work commitments.

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-working-children-check 

Please send your WWCC number, as well as your date of birth, if the school doesn't already have it, so your information can be verified before you volunteer to assist at school or school events. smaadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au 

NEW ENGLAND SINGS - TERM 3 DATES FOR YR 3-6

CONCERTS: Date: Sunday 23rd October (directed by (with Paul Jarman) 

Venue: Armidale Secondary College (Butler St)

P & F DATES

P & F meeting Term 3, 14 September at 5:30pm in Staff Room.  

All parents and friends are welcome to attend. 

Fete 13th November 

DISCO Term 4 Week 1, Thursday 13th October