Principal Talk with Mrs Lowe
Catholic Schools Week Tours
It was wonderful to show many families around during Catholic Schools Week.
If you know of anyone who would like to learn more about St Mary's please encourage them to contact the Office to arrange a tour, our doors are always open.
Our School Explorer’s Program will commence on Friday 31 May. Our school readiness program aims to increase the children's familiarity with the primary school setting. Copies of the program are available from the School Office.
Enrolling Now
Enrolments can now be placed online. Go to https://enrolments.stmarysc.nsw.edu.au/enrol/ to enrol now.
Enrolments packs have been sent home with students who have siblings commencing in 2020. If you did not receive your bag please contact Belinda in the School Office.
Information can also be downloaded from our website http://www.stmarysc.nsw.edu.au/enrolment.html
School Photos- Further Change of Date
Due to St Mary's having our largest ever number of MacKillop Hockey Representatives, we have had to change our photo date again so as not to clash. Please note that our school photos will now be taken during Week 10 on Monday 1 July. Ordering can be done online by inputting the 9 digit code AN3 WE9 3JZ on the Advanced Life website http://www.advancedlife.com.au/ . Envelopes were sent home last term.
Student/Parent/Teacher Conversations
Our Three-Way interviews will be held on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 May. These conversations are a chance for your child and their teacher to share with you some of their achievements and educational goals. Conversations last for ten minutes and will be held in the Multipurpose Hall. Please be mindful of families waiting after you for their interview. If you feel that your conversation is not finished within the allocated ten minutes please arrange another time to meet with your child's teacher. This year bookings will be done online by using the following link.
Student/Parent/Teacher/Conversation Bookings
Our website also has a link to the Three-Way Interviews booking site on the top navigation menu bar.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Bella, Isabelle G, Billie, Bree, Regan, Ellie and George who have been selected in the MacKillop Hockey teams at the trials last Friday.
Catholic Education and the Upcoming Federal Election
As you will be aware the Federal election will be held this Saturday 18 May 2019.
As always Catholic education does not advocate or direct votes for any party. We do seek to ensure everyone who is interested is well informed on policies relevant to education.
School funding has not been a focus of the election campaign to date and is not expected to feature further in the days remaining in the campaign. In contrast, the policy positions of the major parties with respect to Early Childhood education are substantially different.
Much information is available through each party’s website and through news outlets. Alongside this, specific to Catholic education the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has prepared a guide to the federal election on their website with a number of resources. The guide can be accessed at:
https://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/news-events/2019-federal-election
The links below (and attached) are available through the NCEC federal election page and provide further information including Facts on School Funding and FAQs documents for the 2019 Federal Election.
2019 federal election overview provided by NCEC
https://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/news-events/2019-federal-election
Facts on school funding
https://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/images/2019_NCEC_Facts_on_School_Funding.pdf
Frequently asked questions
https://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/images/2019_NCEC_FAQs.pdf
Party responses to questions from NCEC regarding Catholic education
https://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au/images/2019_NCEC_Election_Party_Responses.pdf
Baby news
Congratulations to Mrs Jenny McCarthy who has become a grandmother, welcoming Eleanor Florence, into the family.
NAPLAN
As you are aware, Tuesday was the first day of NAPLAN, which our school is doing online. Unfortunately, we have experienced many connectivity issues during the test and these issues are currently being investigated. This seems to be reflected nationally.
Please be assured we have procedures to follow to minimise any impacts on our students, including rescheduling the tests if required.
National test authorities have advised they regret any inconvenience this has caused to schools and students, and are working to rectify the issue as soon as possible.