Principal Talk with Mrs. Lowe
Upcoming Events
Mission Day - tomorrow!
Our annual Mission Day is an opportunity to raise funds for Catholic Missions - a fantastic charity that supports families in third-world countries with food, clothing, shelter, clean water and education.
Our students all contribute to Mission Day by donating goods, organising activities, providing morning tea and lunch, and by participating in a fun selection of things to do.
Please see the schedule details in Mrs Skelly's section in this newsletter.
Refurbishment Opening and Blessing
Next Thursday 23 November, we welcome Senator Deborah O'Neill, Mr Ross Fox Director of Education and the General Vicar Fr Richard Thompson to Bless and Officially open the refurbished Mercy Building.
The building work was funded by the Catholic Education Office, the Australian Government and St Mary's Primary School.
Other special guests include our Parish Priest Fr Joshy Kurien, Mr Brad Gaynor, CECG Senior Officer, Sr Rosemary Hart, St Mary's Parish Associate, the Chairman of our School Board Marty Reynolds and our former Chairman Andrew Pursell, Reané Strode on behalf of the Parents and Friends Association, and Sister Gabrielle representing the Sisters of Mercy.
2024 School Fees
We are very conscious of the current cost of living pressures and have worked hard to keep fees to a minimum. However, we are not immune from rising costs and unfortunately need to pass on some of these costs in the form of increases in school fees.
The annual school fees for 2024 are shown in the table below. The school fee in 2024 will include the tuition fee and all school-based levies (except for excursions). Catholic Education has also reviewed and updated the arrangements for family discounts, which are also set out in the attached table.
Your school fees are used to support the delivery of high-quality education and maintain and improve facilities, including the funding of all staff and the maintenance and improvement of facilities at the school.
Our students continue to benefit from a high-quality educational experience and a wide range of learning and co-curricular opportunities. We continue to see improvement in academic achievement of students, particularly in literacy and numeracy. This commitment to learning combined with knowing each child continues to nurture the growth and development of every child.
We are very mindful of the impact that any fee increase can have on families. We have carefully considered these impacts in setting the 2024 school fees and have attempted to keep the increases to a minimum. If you have any concern that fees in 2024 may cause hardship for you and your family, I encourage you to contact me for a confidential discussion on the assistance available to support your child.
We value your partnership and we sincerely thank you for your continued support of our school. If you have any questions about school fees or require assistance on any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Change to Travel Arrangements
Our staff have a duty of care for your children until they leave school via the method arranged. If there is a change to their normal arrangement, please notify the Office or submit a 'Change to Travel Arrangements' form on Compass, prior to 2.45 pm. It can cause confusion and distress for students and teachers when your child thinks they should be doing something different from their usual arrangement. If we have not been informed of a change by a parent or carer, we will have to insist your child travel by their usual arrangement.
The School Explorers Program
Tomorrow, we welcome back our preschool friends for the fifth The School Explorers session. This week, the children, accompanied by their Year 5 friends, will participate in the 'Swipe-It!' educational technology session.
Last week, the students had a wonderful time with the art, craft and construction activities.
