Principal Talk with Mrs. Lowe
Hold on to your hats!
Welcome back for the final term of 2023. I hope you all enjoyed some dedicated family time over the holiday break.
We have an action-packed term planned, so please keep a close eye on the calendar and newsletter for information, dates and updates.
Upcoming Events
School Photos
Next Tuesday, 17 October, is our school photo day. Please send your child to school in the FULL SUMMER UNIFORM, with the correct school socks (grey with green and gold stripes for boys and white anklet or long socks for girls), clean shoes and tidy hair. Please ensure your child also brings or wears their school jumper, only wears hair accessories in our school colours and that their jewellery aligns with our school policy (studs or sleeper earrings and/or a simple chain with a religious medallion or cross only). Children do not have to have their hair tied back on school photo day if desired.
If you have not ordered your package yet, please do so as soon as possible.
Boorowa Touch Football and Netball Carnival
The Boorowa Touch Football and Netball Carnival, for ALL students in Years 2 - 6, will be held on Friday 20 October. Please see this newsletter's School Sports section for the latest news and details.St Mary's 120th Anniversary Dinner Dance - Last chance
The St Mary's Dinner Dance is a wonderful opportunity to have a social night out with other parents, staff and community members. The staff have put much time and effort into planning what promises to be a fantastic night. Now is the last chance to purchase your tickets. Please support this event; it would be terrible to have to cancel due to a lack of numbers. https://compasstix.com/e/tqzy0hvou2
Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 Excursion
On Monday, 23 October, our Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two students will go ot the National Zoo and Aquarium for their annual excursion. Information has been sent out via the Compass Events. Please complete the online consent form and payment ASAP or contact Belinda for assistance if required. If you need financial support with this, please let me know.
Mufti Day Fundraiser
On Wednesday, 25 October, the students may wear mufti clothing to school for a gold coin (or more) donation. This money will go towards a fantastic cause right on our doorstep. With the support of the Parish, Rob and Cathy Hunt, ex-St Mary's parents, are in the process of renovating the Convent residence to create a short-stop foster home for babies waiting placement. Currently, there is a shortage of home care positions in NSW. Cathy and Rob, along with the help from one of our mums, Tressa Mattox, have registered their charity organisation and need some assistance with some of the costs they are encountering.
On this day, the students can also buy a treat from the tuckshop.
Grandparents Day
On Friday, 3 November, we invite our parents, carers, grandparents and special friends to St Mary's to share our Grandparents Day. The day will commence with Mass at 9.30am. Following Mass, our visitors will move to the MP Hall for morning tea. After morning tea, our students will perform on stage. Given it is 120's years since the roots of St Mary's Primary School were planted, our theme is the 1900's. After assembly, visitors may have a look around our fantastic school facilities and visit classrooms.
Also, St Mary's is renowned for its incredible morning tea spreads; let us not disappoint this year. We ask families to donate a plate of food to share on this special day. Our Year 4 families, coordinated by Allison, Claire and Elise, are asked to support with the setting up and serving of morning tea.
Please mark this date on your calendar.
Absences
CE has brought to attention the emerging absenteeism increase across the Canberra-Goulburn schools, particularly since COVID-19.
St Mary's absenteeism rates are the highest they have ever been. We realise this is partly due to parents' vigilance with keeping sick children home (thank you); however, it is also related to additional days off for family travel and long weekends.
The following information outlines the absenteeism categories and our current rates across each grade.
Year Level Term 3 Kinder 89.80% Year 1 90.10% Year 2 92.00% Year 3 85.30% Year 4 89.80% Year 5 86.40% Year 6 90.50%
The other noteworthy fact is that 17% of student absences for the year remain unexplained. This equals to 365 separate unexplained absences in total!
** Please check your child's status by logging onto the parent portal, looking at the "Attendance" tab, and updating any explained dates **
As of this week, an automatic email will be sent to parents at 10am each day if your child is marked absent without an explanation, asking for the notification to be completed by logging onto the parent portal. This is an easy process once you get the hang of it. Let's work together to improve our statistics this term.
Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn has asked each school to aim to achieve a rating of 90% this term; let's see if we can blitz that!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the Office.
If you make contact with the teacher directly about your child's absence, please include Belinda in the Office as she is the one who enters the information into Compass.
Operation Christmas Child
In order to have boxes packed and ready for collection to be sent overseas, items for Operation Christmas Child can kindly be returned to school by 1 November.
Below are ideas for items that can be donated.
